– Since Student Phoenix purchased the Golden Carriage, we will come to retrieve it in three days. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to move the contents yourself. I need to take a call for a moment.
Yurha Silverstar left the scene.
The Golden Carriage was left abandoned in front of the Old School Building, which, in the blink of an eye, seemed to have become its new owner.
Of course, it wasn’t the ‘carriage body’ of the Golden Carriage that had been purchased.
Ludmila and Evangeline whispered among themselves, “With that magic stone, couldn’t we buy the whole carriage?” and “If we add just a little more money, we could buy the entire carriage”, as they grumbled.
I understand.
They had to move everything from the carriage into the Old School Building, and since there was no proper place other than the break room, it was turning into a storage room.
However.
Yunia, separate from all that, kept thinking about the “magic” Phoenix had shown during the purchase process of such a vast amount of goods.
Refined magic stones.
They were artistically carved by an artisan with such care that it seemed almost wasteful to use them as magic tools. They were beautiful gems, infused with mana.
Even if someone extracted the mana inside and sold the gemstones themselves, they could fetch a hefty price.
Alternatively, one could melt the mana from the stones and drink it in the form of mana liquid, matching the stone’s purpose.
But what worried her was that not even Yurha Silverstar or anyone else noticed where these stones came from.
Only Yunia noticed.
She had harbored some suspicions for a while, but seeing it up close this time, she became certain.
For the moment, no one was in the break room.
Yunia took a deep breath, gathered her hands to her chest, and released a small amount of mana.
A faint rainbow-colored mana.
The seven colors of mana shimmered in turns before Yunia refined it into a single color, creating non-attribute mana.
A formless light.
She slowly began to “solidify” it.
Bang!
“…”
The moment she resolved to solidify it, the mana exploded.
“Ah…”
Though the explosion was tiny, Yunia unconsciously let out a sigh of disappointment.
“This is it.”
“What do you mean ‘this is it’?”
“!!”
Yunia turned around.
There stood Phoenix, who had just entered the room carrying a box full of clothes.
* * *
‘Damn.’
Yunia noticed.
No, I meant for her to notice, but I didn’t expect her to start testing her mana this soon.
“Miss Yunia, here’s what you wanted.”
I set the box down on the break room table.
“Since it’s something I ordered, I brought it myself. Later, you can take it to your room. Inside-”
“Whether it’s a Grand Mage’s fashion magazine or some rather risqué red lace lingerie, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Yunia approached me.
“How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“That.”
“Yunia.”
I moved closer and put a finger on her lips.
“The fewer people who know, the better. Because with this, we can deal a blow to Silverstar’s economy.”
“…”
“I trust Miss Yunia understands what I’m saying, right?”
Nod.
Yunia glanced at the sparkling magic stone in the corner of the break room.
Even if we talk one-on-one, we never know when or where the conversation might leak.
“Silence.”
Bang.
As Yunia lightly tapped the floor, wind-element mana spread out, constructing a barrier of wind in an instant.
A completely soundproofed, silent space.
No conversation from here would escape outside.
“You didn’t earn money by using your life, did you?”
Yunia looked up at me with a worried voice.
“It’s not like I just got permanent mana damage, is it?”
“Absolutely not.”
I made a light gesture, mimicking cutting my own throat.
“It’s just that much mana being used up. Mana is something you can replenish, right?”
“Isn’t that just a quick fix? You’ll have to replace what you’ve lost.”
“I’m the kind of person who can easily recover mana just by doing photosynthesis.”
“That’s… not a joke, right? Does that mean you can absorb mana from the atmosphere that easily?”
“Exactly.”
I wasn’t lying, and since I already told Yunia, there was no reason to hide it. If it were someone else, they might not understand, but Yunia would have immediately realized after seeing the ‘refined magic stone’ I brought out.
“Miss Yunia, do you know what that magic stone is?”
“…It’s mana extracted directly from Phoenix’s body, shaped like a magic stone you’d collect from a monster’s body.”
“Exactly. And it’s a rare technique that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
“…You’re essentially creating a ‘core’, aren’t you?”
A core.
Although we call it a magic stone, it refers specifically to the ‘magic stones extracted from the heart of a beast.’
“How did you do it?”
“A core, when you think about it, is essentially a crystallized structure. You create a crystallization framework with water and stability attributes, then construct an inner space where the mana of a specific attribute can remain stable.”
“…”
It’s a complicated discussion from a mana-theory perspective.
However, it’s not impossible…
“It’s like making a croissant.”
“A croissant?”
“Before it’s baked, the dough is thin, but once it’s baked, it puffs up. The same goes for the magic stone.”
Just like how the inside of a well-baked croissant is filled with air, the inside of a refined magic stone is filled with ‘mana’.
“Miss Yunia, I’m going to say something that might sound arrogant, but I’m only telling you this because I trust you. Please don’t take it the wrong way.”
“I’ll listen and then decide. What is it?”
“For me, refining a magic stone is easier than baking bread.”
“…??”
Yunia twitched her eyebrows and tilted her head in confusion.
“Bread… you just knead the dough and sprinkle some sugar… Agh!”
Oops.
Without thinking, I pulled Yunia’s cheek as I usually did with Evangeline.
“Ah, ahaha…!”
“Ouch…!”
“I’m doing this on purpose.”
“Why are you so sensitive about baking when you’re not usually this reactive to other things?”
“Everyone has certain things they just can’t overlook. Now get ready, she’s coming.”
It seemed like I had already been caught.
Whoosh.
Yunia released the Silence spell.
The wind gently flowed outside the break room, and soon we heard footsteps approaching.
“What are you two whispering about with such a strong barrier in place?”
Ludmila entered the room carrying a box.
She was holding it with both arms, yet not a single drop of sweat appeared on her forehead.
“Oh, I see. Slacking off, are we?”
“We’re not slacking. I was just getting scolded by Yunia.”
“Scolded?”
“For selling it at that price.”
“Ah, yes, that’s definitely something worth being scolded for.”
Ludmila nodded approvingly at Yunia as she set the box down.
“At least a C-rank beast… no, just from the surface alone, it looked like a B-rank beast’s core. Even though the mana contained inside wasn’t even close to B-rank, more like lower than C-rank, it was still such a finely crafted core that it’s something I rarely see myself.”
“Wait, was that a ‘named’ beast’s magic stone?”
“Indeed, Miss Yunia. Even as someone who’s been in the field as [Cutting Wind], I’ve rarely seen anything like it. Whenever one of those appeared, our entire mercenary group would celebrate.”
Ludmila reminisced, though with a hint of regret, shaking her head as if recalling missed opportunities.
“Thanks to Phoenix, we were able to gather everything we needed, but still, it’s a shame to let something like that go. And…”
“You’re wondering if I have more, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Ludmila stared directly at me, pointing to my inner pocket.
“Do you have a space pocket in there?”
“Bingo!”
I reached into my inner pocket.
“I’ve got a few more to show—”
“Absolutely not!”
Yunia grabbed my wrist and pulled it out.
“Take care of your body—or rather, your money—better!”
“What do you mean ‘body’? How is a body worth money?”
“Of course it is! Do you know how many people are after Phoenix’s mana through Mana Drain? Even that Senior Yurha was dangerous!”
Yunia glanced at Ludmila, subtly trying to change the topic.
“That senior looked at you like something was off!”
“Like she’d found a wealthy fool to take advantage of.”
“That’s not what I meant…!”
Yunia bit her lower lip, her face full of uncertainty.
“That expression looks like…”
“Hey! Phoenix!!”
Evangeline burst into the break room, shouting at me.
“You, what’s your relationship with that demon!!”
“I should be asking, ‘Which demon?’ But you must mean Senior Yurha. Why?”
“That Yurha Silverstar…!”
Evangeline shoved a piece of parchment in my face, her face flushed red.
“She’s asking you to write down anything you need!! She says she’ll send what she can as a ‘service’!”
“…Service?”
Ludmila’s expression twisted.
“Yurha Silverstar, offering a service?”
“Calm down, everyone. She’s just saying that. No way she’d actually give us something for free.”
I tried to soothe everyone as I took the parchment Evangeline handed me.
“She’s just trying to figure out our tastes, then she’ll probably sell us related products afterward.”
“…That’s really it?”
“Of course.”
At least, that’s what I thought.
“No way Yurha Silverstar would actually give something for free, right?”
I could say that with confidence from a player’s perspective.
In her route, not once did she ever do anything for “free”.
* * *
[At the same time, in the empty lot by the Old School Building.]
“You’re late.”
“Rather than late, you’re probably early.”
Instructor Esta approached Yurha Silverstar, who stood with her hands behind her back, waiting in the empty lot.
“What’s the reason for calling me here? Is this a conversation between instructor and student, or…?”
“Between a ‘little sister’s master’ and a friend.”
“A friend? Are we friends?”
“Our relationship may be complicated, but after 10 years of helping each other out, wouldn’t you say we’re at least ‘frenemies’?”
“Hmph.”
Instructor Esta sighed as if exhausted.
“So, what is it? Silverstar employer.”
“My, my. Can you say that so freely? You could get penalized for double contracts.”
“It’s not enough to get me fired. But.”
Instructor Esta shook her head and gestured toward the Old School Building.
“No matter who you are, Yurha, I can’t just hand over information about them.”
“I know. That’s how important this is.”
“…What are you planning?”
“It could be a great investment, or it might be a weakness. But most importantly…”
Yurha pulled out a refined magic stone from her bosom.
“If this isn’t just a one-time thing, there’s no more attractive man than him.”
“A… man?”
“Exactly. So, Instructor Esta…”
Yurha clutched the magic stone tightly, bringing her hands together as she smiled brightly.
“Do you think the special class in the Old School Building would accept another student?”
