Olivier Antre, a second-year male student at Esdinas Academy, felt utterly desolate about his predicament. Despite the vacation, he hadn’t managed to leave the academy grounds.
“Senior, do we really have to go this far?”
“Of course!”
Olivier suppressed a bitter laugh at the sight of his respected senior and family member, Karas Antre.
Karas looked like he hadn’t slept all night—dark circles were deeply etched under his eyes.
After three days of camping near the bushes without a proper wash, his scent was less than pleasant.
“We absolutely must challenge the students of the Old School Building. That’s the only way to make it into the special class for the second semester. Even just a little advantage could change everything…!”
Karas’s eyes were already filled with a disturbing glint of determination.
His gaze pierced through the thick foliage, fixated on a building beyond, invisible from this vantage point.
“Olivier, this is an opportunity. If you make it into the Old School Building’s special class next semester, even Viscount Antre will look at you differently.”
“Is that your only goal?”
“That’s part of it, but there’s also this!”
Karas slapped his lower body with conviction.
There was no need to specify what he wore under his pants since Olivier was similarly attired.
“The Magic Pants—a miraculous artifact—or even anything remotely related to it would be worth it!”
“Are you planning to appeal to their sympathy for a handout?”
“Sympathy is fine! If we can get anything out of it, it’s a win! Even showing our faces might help sway their ‘selection’ decisions!”
“Or they might just remember us in a bad way.”
“Why are you always so pessimistic? What if, by chance, the second-semester special class ‘Azure Dragon Class’ ends up composed of three men and one woman?”
“In my opinion, it’ll be four women.”
“That’s unacceptable! The gender ratio must be balanced! No matter how much the ‘Miraculous Sun God’ blesses us with divine gifts, it’s intolerable for a school life surrounded solely by seven beauties!”
What would he do if it wasn’t?
Run out onto the road and jump in front of a carriage, shouting, “Put me in the Old School Building!”
“Can’t you just quietly accept the blessings of the ‘Great Divine Teacher’?”
As someone whose relationship with his girlfriend had improved significantly thanks to the blessings of the Magic Pants, Olivier found it hard to understand why anyone would want to antagonize the benevolent Sun God who granted such miracles.
What if the Great Divine Teacher took offense and declared, “I’m leaving the academy” before disappearing?
“…You’re not trying to get us expelled, are you?”
“Why would I do that? Do I look like someone who would force someone to quit the Academy just to invite them to the Antre estate?”
“…”
“Why aren’t you—oh, here they come!!”
Before Olivier could respond, a glimmer of light emerged from the restricted area leading to the Old School Building.
“The Golden Carriage of Silverstar! I knew this was the right path! Everyone, block the way—”
Boom! Before Karas could rally the other students, a powerful gust of wind from the carriage sent him sprawling to the side.
“!!”
Through the raging wind, Olivier saw her—a blonde-haired, red-eyed beauty leaning slightly out of the carriage window, her staff pointed outward as she cast wind magic.
“Wow.”
For a moment, their eyes met, but all Olivier could do was let out an awestruck exclamation.
“Phoenix, you’re so lucky.”
Was it his imagination?
He thought he saw the girl’s lips curl into a faint smile.
“…”
The Golden Carriage of Silverstar sped down the road, and Olivier stood there, staring after it, lost in thought.
“…If I align myself with them, maybe I’ll find an opportunity?”
Olivier felt like he had just stumbled upon a vital clue.
* * *
Seated in the coachman’s seat of the Golden Carriage, I caught glimpses of familiar supporting characters as we sped through the roads. Students lined the paths, trying to catch even a glimpse of us.
Those who merely stood by the road were easy to ignore. For those who actively blocked our way, it was like a mini-game—I sent them flying with wind magic every time they appeared.
Even we wouldn’t stoop so low as to commit roadkill.
‘They’re as persistent as ever.’
Even as the carriage left the Old School Building grounds, people kept trying to cling to us.
I wasn’t entirely sure what rumors were circulating within the academy, but countless students were determined to make contact with us in any way possible.
I understood, though.
For some, it was a family mandate.
For others, their post-graduation success depended on it.
Some people might even have been promised an absurdly large reward just for arranging a meeting with the special-class students from the Old School Building.
In that sense, I should probably thank Yurha.
Since Yurha openly goes around claiming, “This one’s mine”, she effectively filters out countless individuals by cutting them off midway.
“Senior Yurha.”
“Yes, what is it?”
Yurha, who had approached the side of the driver’s seat where I was sitting, responded to my call.
“Do you receive a lot of complaints?”
“Oh my, what sort of complaints are we talking about?”
Yurha asked, her face lighting up with amusement.
“Maybe things like customer feedback directed at Silverstar—complaints about prices being too high or something?”
“More like requests for favors, invitations to parties, or demands for information—things like that. I assume you get tons of those.”
“Tons. Absolutely.”
She didn’t deny it.
“Just during this vacation, for instance, people somehow found out I was going to a resort and bombarded me with messages asking if they could come along.”
“What did you do?”
“I’ve declined all of them for now. But if there’s a family or a trading company that catches your interest, let me know. I could arrange something like a ‘lunch with Phoenix’.”
“And how much would you charge for someone to have lunch and chat with me?”
“Hmm, at the very least, the equivalent of an Academy staff member’s annual salary?”
Not even a stock market tycoon’s lunch meeting would cost that much.
Was my status that high, or did this world’s nobles and wealthy have that much money to burn?
“Do you know why other magic researchers envy the special-class students of the Old School Building? They wonder what kind of magical research discussions the special-class students have over meals. What kind of knowledge Phoenix might share. That’s what they envy.”
“But from what I’ve heard, all we talk about is whose chest got bigger or whose waist got smaller.”
“…”
“I’m joking, not being crass. We don’t talk about such things during meals.”
The secrets of the world.
The truth of the heavens.
Those are topics reserved for trials like the Seven Star Trials, not something to discuss casually over dinner.
“By the way, Senior Yurha, if you actually proceeded with these lunch meetings, how much would you personally pocket?”
“I wouldn’t do it.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not a date. It’s a formal meal to share constructive magical theories.”
Yurha glared at me with half-closed eyes.
There was reproach in her gaze, but her eyes also briefly shifted to those seated inside the carriage.
“For some, such meals happen three times a day, every single day. But for others, they’re moments worth burning their annual salary to experience. If they found out that what they paid for was just a casual ‘lunch date’, how do you think they’d feel?”
“I don’t see anything wrong with spending an annual salary for a lunch date.”
I once knew someone who spent a third of their yearly income on a “fan meeting” with a streamer they admired.
They enjoyed the meal but then saw the streamer kissing their manager in the parking lot afterward. They spent the rest of the night drinking and crying to me.
Afterward, they became obsessed with 2D waifus and spent their money on gacha games. Ironically, it was their tips for [Esdinas of Heaven] that helped me achieve a rare in-game accomplishment.
“Senior Yurha.”
“What is it?”
“How much would I have to pay to arrange a meal with you?”
A lunch date—a potential way to achieve the “Extravagant Spending” achievement.
“If it’s a business discussion about Silverstar’s future and vision, that’s not lunch conversation material….”
Yurha made a circle with her fingers.
“If it’s a lunch date, I’d accept it since it’s your proposal.”
“For free?”
“I said I’d accept, not for free. Hmm, but since I’m your senior and you’re still a student, how about a single silver coin?”
“Senior?”
I pulled out my wallet and took out a blank piece of paper conjured with magic.
“Write it down.”
“Write what?”
“The price you want.”
“…Would this suffice?”
Yurha held the paper in one hand.
Smooch.
“How about this?”
She waved the paper with the imprint of her lips and winked at me.
