Magic Tools! Cheaper Than Shoes!
After Lucia spent a night sleeping in peace, the next day arrived.
Sunlight poured fiercely through the gaps in the curtains.
Today was the last day of February. At the same time, only two days remained until the start of the new term.
It felt a little pathetic counting down breaks and openings when I wasn't even a student, but anyway.
Soon Laward and the heroines would return to the Academy.
The main event of the second semester was conquering the two heroines whose endings had not yet been locked—Rebecca and Veronica.
The story of the sword-otaku gyaru mage and the problem child on suspension was about to begin.
My junior had told me (without being asked) that those two heroines had the highest conquest difficulty of all.
They were deliberately placed in the second semester so that players who had grown familiar with the game could tackle them.
In the game's flow, Laward would size up the heroines during his first year, decide on his targets, and only properly pursue them starting from the second year.
Whoosh—
I pulled the curtains open and stretched both arms wide under the sunlight.
"Weather's pretty nice."
I had things to buy today, so I planned to head out quite a distance.
Before that, though, I needed to check whether Lucia was awake.
Still lying in bed, I rolled onto my left side, groping across the nightstand for the Ring of Disguise.
Tap, tap—after a few fumbles my fingers closed around it.
I roughly shoved it onto my finger and headed for her room.
Something I had only recently discovered: wearing the Ring of Disguise kept my appearance in peak condition even without washing or grooming!
It probably wasn't meant for that, but it was brilliant all the same.
Knock, knock—
Lucia's room.
The moment I entered, her little sisters pressed tiny fingers to their lips and made soft "shhh, shhh" sounds.
Big sister was sleeping, so be quiet—that was the message.
"Still out, huh."
When I looked down at Lucia and spoke, the girls flailed harder, thinking I meant to wake her.
She was still as death.
If I hadn't felt the warm, steady breath against my fingertips, I might truly have mistaken her for a corpse.
Normally even the faint sound of my hand on the doorknob would have made her eyes snap open. Not today.
She had pulled the blanket all the way to her chin and slept as if the world did not exist.
Color had returned to her once-pale cheeks, and the dark circles that used to reach under her eyes had lightened considerably.
Twelve hours had already passed, yet her face looked as peaceful as if she had just drifted off.
She slept like a baby.
The fatigue she had piled up must have been immense.
School by day, guild work and childcare by night. No room to rest.
If sleep debt were a real thing, Lucia had gone bankrupt.
She was credit-blacklisted.
The challenge condition was "deep sleep," so forcing her awake would be pointless.
I carefully began to close the door—only to meet a cluster of glittering little eyes peering through the crack.
Lucia's sisters sat huddled together, watching me.
"Shh."
I pressed my own index finger to my lips.
At the low, stern tone the children flinched, then clamped both hands over their own mouths.
The solemn way they nodded was pretty funny.
Click.
I shut the door with exquisite slowness so no sound would leak out.
Then I walked down the corridor and headed outside.
Destination: the commercial district.
District 3 of the Marquisate.
Unlike District 6, which had been shoved out to the edge, this place sat squarely in the middle of the Marquis's territory.
Lucia still looked like she would sleep for a good while longer, so I had plenty of time.
In the heart of the commercial district a building of eye-searing colors appeared.
Magic Tools! Cheaper Than Shoes!
Honest shop run by a graduate of Watermelon Magic University, Class of 151!
All items 30% BLAST SALE! (Actual bombs also available)
Posters scrawled in multicolored magic ink plastered the outer walls like wallpaper.
It was an outrageously flashy shop—and, on the other hand, a complete mess.
Not a shred of aesthetic sense to be found in that grotesque taste.
No doubt about it.
This was the very store I had seen in the game.
Ding-a-ling—!
The moment I opened the door a raucous bell assaulted my eardrums.
The interior was even more spectacular than the outside.
Display shelves whose organization was highly questionable.
Scrolls rolled around like toilet paper.
Every kind of junk piled into mountains so high there was barely room to set a foot down.
"Nyeh— welcome—."
A maid who looked half-soulless offered a perfunctory greeting.
She was holding a broom as tall as she was.
With the shop in this state, what was the broom even for?
"If you're looking for something— just say so—."
Not a single gram of soul remained in that voice.
"I heard Veronica works here. Is she not on shift today?"
"We don't sell people— if that's what you're after, try District 6—."
I just came from there.
And could you not say it like there's a method for that?
I had carefully avoided mentioning what District 6 was really like, and now the mood was getting unnecessarily dark.
I had hoped to catch a glimpse of the fifth and final heroine while shopping, but today was not the day.
"Fine. I'll just look at what I came for."
"Nyeh— take your time— the boss is crazy— everything's on sale—."
"Ah. Talking to the boss would be faster."
Literally—she spoke far too slowly.
"I'm planning a bulk purchase. Could you call the owner?"
"I am the owner—."
This lunatic woman…
"Why are you looking for me—?"
The maid—correction: the maid who turned out to be the owner—tilted her head and asked.
Watching her was somehow entertaining.
Interest sparked without warning.
Class of 151… how old would that make her now?
Thirties?
"Bulk, you say— should I get my hopes up—."
"What I want are communication tools."
I spoke while scanning the shelves.
"Ones that can reach a very long distance. Long-range communication."
"Hmm— just a moment—."
She casually tossed the broom aside and plunged both arms deep into a mountain of junk.
Crash, clatter.
The sound of things collapsing was deafening.
Inventory management clearly meant nothing to her.
"Found them—."
A moment later she yanked something free from the wreckage.
Thud.
What she set on the counter were two kinds of matchboxes.
One matte black.
The other a vivid red.
What they shared was the shop's name scrawled across the front in white cursive.
She drew a single match from the black box.
With surprising dexterity she stood the black-headed match upright on the counter.
"Black is the 'King'— and red are the 'Soldiers'—."
Next she stood a red match beside it.
She had been setting them up so easily from the start; the more I watched, the more impressive it became.
A match with a red head and brown body.
It was a stretch, but just as she said—soldier. It even gave off a faint nutcracker vibe.
"Usage is simple."
Ssskrk—!
She struck the red match. A small flame bloomed with the acrid smell of sulfur.
Then she struck the black match and handed it to me.
She held red; I held black.
Soon the flames changed strangely.
They were not merely burning—indistinct shapes wavered inside the fire.
Within the match flame her face was reflected like a mirror.
"Right now the red match is looking at me, so you can see me—."
It wasn't just the image.
Sound also rode the crackling vibration of the fire and came through crystal clear.
"When you light a red match— it connects to the 'King' who holds the black matchbox—."
Looking closer, each match was numbered.
Red number 1 would connect one-to-one with black number 1.
Yeah, that tracked.
After all, they were matches.
There was no better item to hand out to the Houndry guys.
"But the screen is tiny. It's just a match flame, after all."
I flicked the black match toward the fireplace behind me.
Whoosh—!
The instant the matchstick landed on the firewood, the flames roared up fiercely.
The fireplace's massive blaze itself transformed into one giant screen.
Inside the seething fire, her startled face appeared, enormously enlarged.
"Huh— how did you know—?"
"This isn't my first time handling magic tools. There are always one or two applications like this."
"Hmmm—."
"I'll take these."
I decided to buy.
Secrecy, functionality, and versatility.
Every condition was perfect.
Magic tools in this world always came with some flaw or another, but these ranked among the very best.
"Is stock plentiful?"
"Of course— I can send them out today. But—."
She cocked her head again.
"When do you plan on paying—?"
"Don't worry. That side's plentiful too."
I pulled a heavy gold bar from my pocket and set it on the counter.
Golden light brightened the dusty shop.
"This is the deposit. I'll send the rest once the goods arrive."
Her eyes sparkled as well.
The first sparkle of the day.
Scribble, scribble—
I wrote down the delivery address for the magic tools and closed the entrance door behind me.
Click.
"Huh— so you were Lord Karma—?"
Finished with shopping, I returned to the hideout.
In one corner, delivery boxes sent by the maid-owner already stood stacked like a mountain.
What the—why so fast?
"You've returned, sir!"
The guild members' spirited voices rang through the lobby.
The energy in their tone told me it was already night.
I put off distributing the magic tools for now.
I would do it once Lucia woke up.
No need to push work forward while she slept.
She was finally serving as my secretary for once.
I summoned a system window in the air.
The challenge-clear notification still had not appeared.
I didn't even need to open the door to know.
She was still sleeping like the dead.
"…A full day has already passed."
School starts the day after tomorrow—are you going or what?
Yeah. Patience.
Even if I want to wake her, hold back.
I cast the thoughts aside and entered my room.
The moment the soft mattress met my back, my eyelids grew a thousand times heavier.
Huh…
Come to think of it, I hadn't washed even once today…
Sssss.
My vision sank into darkness.
The next morning.
The instant I opened my eyes, a system window floated before me.
It greeted me even earlier than the morning sunlight.
Miracle Morning!
Encounter Lucia after she has slept soundly for a full day.
Reward: 200 Coins granted.
Coins held: 500
Finally it triggered.
Checking the time, nearly forty hours had flown by since Lucia fell asleep.
A day and a half, then.
The credit-blacklisted debtor had miraculously paid off her debt.
Smacking my lips, I immediately tapped the [Shop] icon—
—!
Cheerful notification chimes erupted one after another.
A familiar sound by now.
This sound meant…
Sun and Moon
"Senior, let's camp here for now."
Having become a second-year, Laward faced the Joint Sports Festival.
During the hunting exam, Laward and Lucia lost their way.
"Camp? Here?"
"What choice do we have? The festival lasts until tomorrow, and our overall score is still lower than the other academies. Since we're already lost, we might as well wait it out here."
"Honestly I don't care how the score turns out."
"Huh?"
"Even if it isn't us, there are people who can pick up the points. Veronica's back, after all."
"What are you talking about! We have to camp! We absolutely have to camp!"
"Laward… is camping the real goal here, more than the score? Do you want to sleep with me that badly?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"Doesn't work on you… this kind of teasing…"
"Anyway, let's sleep. I learned how to make a simple tent just in case something like this happened."
"Just in case something like this…? Well, whatever…"
Their first night together passed like that.
This is not an awkward attempt at a scene transition.
Lucia really did fall asleep the instant she lay down.
She dropped off so fast one might have suspected she was dead.
Laward even pressed his ear to her chest to listen for a heartbeat.
He could have checked her pulse or breathing, but he deliberately chose to listen to her heart.
And he discovered that pressing one's ear to Lucia's chest was, in fact, rather difficult.
They got in the way.
Lucia woke two days later, and they lost the Joint Sports Festival.
It had little to do with the festival, of course—but the world was destroyed.
Endings cleared so far: 9
Endings remaining until Stage 2 privilege unlock: 1
"What the…"
The Laward inside the ending scripts was getting worse by the day.
How was a guy like that supposed to clear a harem route…
Truthfully I had never expected to clear an ending while completing a challenge.
An unexpected harvest felt nice, but first I needed to check on Lucia in her room.
With that thought I threw off the blanket—
Whump!
Something that had been hiding under the covers lunged at me.
In an instant she was straddling me.
Before I could even gather my wits, fine black hair cascaded down and tickled my face.
Then her sky-blue eyes met mine.
A sky brighter and clearer than usual.
With an expression that lifted my mood just by looking at it, with cheeks flushed red, Lucia leaned in.
"Good morning! Lord Karma, the absolute best morning!"
Lucia bounced up and down on the bed—on top of me.
"Let's go for a walk!"
What the hell is this now.