Chapter 70
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 70
A phonograph.
It was a device used to record and play back sound, equipped with a turntable for spinning records and a flared horn.
In modern times, they were mostly used as decorative items for their vintage charm, but in the world of Myrillin Saga, they were still commonly used for their original purpose: listening to music.
So, did I seek this thing out just to listen to music? Of course not.
This item had a "special" use.
"Sir, are you interested in this piece?"
As I was dusting off the phonograph with my hand, an employee approached me.
"How much? There’s no price tag."
When I asked the price, the employee’s face lit up like he’d hit the jackpot, and he launched into a long-winded sales pitch.
"Ah, this phonograph was commissioned about a hundred years ago by Count Doleone. It was crafted by the dwarf Cold Raymond, who was famous for his woodworking at the time, and—"
"Enough. How much?"
When I cut him off, the employee rubbed his hands together and flashed a greasy smile.
"Haha, that will be 20 million Krone."
What? Twenty million for this piece of junk?
"You’re getting greedy."
Thump—.
I flicked my finger against the brass horn.
A dull thrum echoed as a cloud of dust scattered. Even if this thing had the grand history the employee claimed, it had lost its value over the long years of neglect. Besides, if it were actually that valuable, they wouldn’t have stored it like this.
How dare he try to rip me off.
‘The special value of this phonograph only applies to me, the player.’
To anyone else, it was nothing more than an antique that took up space. He must have seen my academy uniform and thought I was just some naive young noble. He shouldn't be trying to fleece me like this.
I immediately countered with half the price.
"Ten million. It’s a nuisance for you anyway, isn’t it? It doesn’t sell, and it just takes up space. You don’t want to throw it away, but it’s a pain to keep. I’ll take this white elephant off your hands."
"…Half price, just like that? That’s beyond my authority."
"Then get me the person in charge."
The employee flinched at my demand, looking intimidated. Before calling his superior, he asked for my name.
"…May I ask the gentleman’s name?"
I shrugged.
"You’re better off not knowing."
"Pardon? But to call the manager, I at least need—"
I cut him off, sounding intentionally annoyed.
"It’s Roen Devalis. Now go get him."
"!"
His eyes went wide, and the employee scurried off to fetch the manager.
A short while later, a man who appeared to be the person in charge arrived. He greeted me with a strained, awkward smile.
"Ahaha, so you’re the young master of House Devalis?"
"That’s right. I hope you’ll offer a more reasonable price."
After that, I "negotiated" appropriately with the manager, and I was able to purchase the phonograph at my desired price.
Seven million Krone—roughly one-third of the initial asking price.
It was a satisfying negotiation. I felt like my infamy might have increased slightly in the process, but I’m sure it was just my imagination.
*
The next day.
"Put it here."
"Yes, sir."
A delivery man brought the phonograph to the Student Council President’s Office. I had him place it on top of an empty cabinet.
A brass-horned phonograph sitting atop a classic wooden cabinet—the once-bare office finally felt a little more elegant. During my negotiation for the phonograph, I had also managed to get a few LP records thrown in for free.
"Installation is complete, so I’ll be on my way."
"This is for the delivery. I’ll be counting on you next time."
"Yes, sir!"
I stuffed a thick wad of cash into his pocket, and the delivery man left the office with a beaming smile.
After he left, Ciel stared at the phonograph with a dubious expression. "A phonograph? Have you suddenly taken up music appreciation as a hobby?"
"Taking a liberal arts course on classical music will do that to you."
"Even so, if you were going to buy one, you could have gotten something better. What is this antique? Did you even check if it works?"
With a practiced hand, Ciel infused it with mana, wound the spring, and placed the needle on an LP record.
Screech—.
"..."
The turntable spun for a moment, made a harsh grinding noise, and then stopped abruptly. The needle was also completely worn down, doing nothing but scratching the record.
It was a hundred-year-old object that had been left to rot, so this was the expected result.
With an awkward expression, I removed the LP. "Actually, it’s for decoration."
"Ah. I see. It does look quite stylish. It’ll serve well as a decorative piece."
"..."
I avoided answering and discreetly opened my status window.
[Union Student Council President's Office]
• Comfort Level: 100
• Items Owned: [Cold Raymond's Phonograph] x1
• Effect: [When installed in a player-owned space, the amount of affinity gained from visitors increases slightly.]
Although this phonograph couldn’t play music, it was an item effective at raising affinity. There were other pieces of furniture with set effects that could multiply this bonus several times over. I would have to collect them whenever I had the chance.
"Anyway. What time is today’s meeting scheduled for?"
I closed the status window and turned to Ciel.
The first student council president meeting had been held on the day I first woke up in this game world. The second meeting was scheduled to take place today in this very office.
"It’s at 3 PM. Everyone has confirmed their attendance."
"That’s a relief. We’ll proceed with the meeting as planned. Secretary."
I turned my gaze to Eleina, who was sitting on the sofa.
"This is your first task since being appointed secretary. You can handle it, right?"
Even if it was an honorary position, it still involved attending the monthly meeting and taking minutes. At my question, she clutched her quill pen, her eyes burning with determination.
"Yes! I’ll do my best!"
*
A short while later.
"It’s been a while since we’ve all gathered like this."
The now-familiar faces were gathered in one place again. Following the first meeting at the beginning of the semester, I had convened the second one today.
The main purpose was to exchange information for the upcoming athletic festival. Although Ishtal and Freya were organizing this year’s festival, it was fundamentally an event for all Union students. The other student council presidents had the right to voice their opinions and audit the event’s proceedings and budget, making a meeting like this essential.
Click.
Ciel placed a cup of freshly brewed tea in front of each person seated around the table. I took a sip of my tea, then glanced around at everyone, gesturing for them to take in the surroundings.
"What do you think? Better than that gloomy, dark conference room from last time, isn’t it?"
"Yes, the atmosphere is certainly much better. Is that phonograph for use?"
Elena showed interest in the device, so I gave her a brief explanation.
"It’s for decoration. It’s an antique, so it doesn’t work. I picked it up from Stella’s Bookstore yesterday."
"Oh, I see. If it worked, I would have loved to have one in my office. What a shame."
Scribble—.
As I was having this trivial conversation with Elena, Eleina, sitting on the other side, was jotting something down with her pen. It seemed she was recording our conversation in the minutes.
"Eleina, don’t record this."
There was no need to record such idle chatter.
Scribble—.
But the quill pen continued to move ceaselessly. She seemed to have no intention of stopping.
"You didn’t just write down that I told you not to write, did you?"
Scribble—.
"..."
Even if it was her first job since being appointed, wasn’t she taking her secretarial duties a bit too seriously? It’s not like she was compiling the royal annals.
"Fine… do as you please."
Perhaps one day, even this idle chatter would be worth reminiscing about. Just as the mood was lightening with such meaningless conversation, it happened.
Bang—!
"Before that!"
Kiriel suddenly slammed her hand on the table and shot to her feet. The table trembled, and Beatrice’s teacup overflowed.
Kiriel looked startled and quickly apologized to Beatrice. "Ah, sorry. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I’m fine. Ciel, do you have a handkerchief?"
"Right here."
Beatrice wiped the small spill on the table. Watching the scene, I gave Kiriel a warning.
"Kiriel, causing a scene again. If you pull something like this one more time, I’ll have you removed immediately."
"S-Sorry. No, wait—I’m not sorry to you!"
Kiriel glared at me and raised her voice.
"You! How on earth did you become the Student Council President? You must have used charm magic on the Union’s faculty! There’s no other explanation! It's either brainwashing or charm magic!"
"..."
Here we go again.
At the sudden accusation, everyone’s eyes turned to Kiriel. Of course, I knew she was lost in some strange delusion, so I played along.
"…Are you saying I’m an incubus or some other kind of demon?"
"Yes! I’m not saying you’re definitely a demon, but if you were, it would explain everything!"
"I’m afraid it’s already been proven that I’m not a demon. I received treatment from Elena in the past."
"What?"
"That’s how it is, Miss Kiriel."
Elena smiled faintly and tilted her head.
"W-What? When?"
"It was at the beginning of the semester. We met at Cafe Seraphium. Elena treated me then."
As I glanced at her, Elena spoke up.
"Suspecting another of being a demon is a grave offense, but I’ll let it slide this once. Understood?"
"Uh, yes. Thank you, Elena."
But Kiriel, unable to let go of her stubbornness, continued to press her suspicions.
"Then maybe you used a similar illusion-type magic… Human mages can use that, can’t they?"
"As you know, I can’t use any magic besides alchemy."
"Ah, then what about an artifact of that kind? You’re famous for having a lot of artifacts…"
"There’s no convenient artifact that can brainwash academy professors. And even if there were, just how many people would I have to use it on?"
"Then you colluded with the Chairman…"
"Do you think that old man has that kind of power? You’d be better off suspecting I bribed some other influential figure."
"Th-Then a hidden power among the students…"
Kiriel’s voice trailed off. She seemed to glance at Freya for a moment, but then shook her head as if changing her mind. It appeared that even she realized accusing Freya here would be going too far.
It seems even an idiot has that much sense.
"Is your little detective game over? If you have nothing more to say, go sit in a corner. Don’t waste the precious time of busy people."
"Hmph."
"That’s enough chatter. Let’s get to the main topic. Freya, the materials?"
"Right here."
Freya distributed the documents she had brought. It was a breakdown of the athletic festival’s budget, neatly organized with charts and graphs.
"Hmm."
Kiriel skimmed it with a puzzled look before moving on, but Elena and Beatrice read through the documents carefully, checking the details.
"As expected of your transparent and clean work, Miss Freya."
"You’re too kind."
"I agree. However, one of the suppliers is listed an unusual number of times. Do you happen to know anything about this?"
Beatrice pointed out the high volume from a specific vendor, and Freya answered calmly.
"That item was originally a yearly donation, but it became difficult to procure this time, so we had to use a different route. The details are explained on the back."
"Ah, so that’s what it was. The Galevier Merchant Guild from the Gilbert Kingdom. It seems you received help from Senior Jeremy. Is that correct?"
"That’s right. Senior Jeremy was a great help."
When Freya affirmed it, Beatrice glanced at me and spoke loud enough for me to hear.
"Indeed. He is a reliable person. Unlike someone else."
"Why are you looking at me?"
"No particular reason. Please pay it no mind."
"..."
Seeing her pick a fight for no reason, she must still be a little peeved about what happened at the bookstore yesterday.
I shrugged and offered Freya a piece of advice.
"About some of the merchant guilds selected as suppliers for the athletic festival—you might want to reconsider. There might be a disruption in their supply chain."