Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Fun Game (1)
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1:20 p.m.
The College Board process was still underway, but an unusual calm had settled over Cleam Hall. With lunch hour in full swing, plenty of seniors were ordering chicken or pizza, while others had headed out to the cafeteria, leaving empty seats behind.
"Ah, I can't take it anymore. I really wanna lay into that Sion punk."
In the midst of that peace, Esher was the only one still fuming, his face beet red.
"What does he have to be so cocky about? ...No, seriously, what's with all the chow he's scarfing down since earlier?"
Sion's desk was piled high with burgers. Seven Burger, Spicy Bacon Burger, Spicy Chicken Burger, and more.
"What the hell? Aren't those the same burgers we got?"
Esher had gone for a walk with Kain to "get some air" while picking out the menu, so he had no idea Rae had ordered them.
"Huh, yeah? Same burgers, huh. What a coincidence~"
Rae played innocent. No way was she admitting she bought them—he'd just complain nonstop.
"Ugh, screw eating. I should toss 'em."
Esher started to chuck the burgers in the trash but yanked them back just in time. Elise was shooting him a death glare.
"...Could you please refrain from such foolish acts that lower the quality of our meal?"
Elise had been savoring her burger since earlier. She'd ordered a bulgogi burger large set and was taking five minutes per bite, practically melting it in her mouth.
It was a familiar sight to Esher and Kain. She always made a huge fuss on regular meal days.
"Argh, I'm losing my mind here."
Esher trembled in frustration all by himself.
"Can you just chill for a sec?"
Even that seemed to irk Elise.
Esher forced a grin and stomped out.
"Skinny little pig bastard."
He didn't forget to flip Sion off on his way.
I demolished every burger in thirty minutes flat. Eighteen kinds of burgers and a whole chicken, all shoved down the hatch.
Just the right amount for a meal.
"Phew."
Now my belly was full, and my mana had refilled to over half.
Time to give it another shot.
I took off my gray socks and set them on the desk. Couldn't strip down to my underwear right here, so socks it was for submission.
"..."
I gripped the sock and pictured the mana formula for 「Heater」. Having intuitively grasped the circuit diagram, I implemented it straight-up and infused the heat.
"Hup!"
The mana formula clung to the sock.
Next up: the imprint formula.
I split the mana stone crack. Socks came in pairs, after all. I placed half on the sock and enacted the imprint formula just like that.
Vrrrrm—
The mana stone vibrated naturally and melted away. It had seeped into the imprint formula as the medium.
"...Done?"
No flashy external effects. Guess that's what you get with a lowest-grade enchant.
I trickled some mana into the sock. It warmed up like a heater when I fiddled with it.
"Perfect."
Lowest-grade enchanted item complete. If I had to name it, [Heater Socks].
I repeated the process on the other sock.
Not too tough, but it drained almost all my mana.
Time was already 5 p.m.
"Those who've finished can submit and head out."
Shelton spoke up right on cue.
Most seniors were still pouring their hearts into it, double-checking just in case. No need for me.
Intuitive understanding. An enchant perfected the genius way.
I grabbed the sock pair and approached Shelton.
"All done?"
"Yes."
"Hm. You slept through most of it. Guess you did, though."
Shelton's tone was oddly prickly, but I decided to withhold judgment.
The Shelton of now might not be the money-grubbing bastard from back then.
Yeah, worth giving him one chance.
"What enchant did you go with?"
"Heater."
Shelton swiped through his tablet PC, searching my face.
"Sion Askal, D- average... Isn't that a bit high difficulty for you?"
Coming at me with grades out of nowhere. Sneaky.
"So, what's the enchanted item?"
"These socks."
I held out the pair. A furrow creased Shelton's brow. Looked coin-vending-machine-ready.
"Socks... These look worn."
"Yep. Worn 'em."
His whole face scrunched up like he'd bitten a lemon.
"Pretty dirty. Couldn't grab new ones from somewhere? We let you go out."
Pfft. Laughter erupted from somewhere. No need to hunt down suspects.
Too many culprits.
"Yeah, should've picked some up."
"Sigh... Fine. Received one pair of socks from Sion Askal. Your enchanted item will be evaluated directly at the university association's workshop, graded, and returned later. You're dismissed."
He gestured at the door. I left the hall but had no intention of going home.
Gonna wait a bit.
Shelton struck me as the type to pull something shady.
6:10 p.m.
The College Board assignment: Mana Capacity Evaluation I had fully concluded. All the seniors had packed up and gone home, and supervisor Shelton was "tidying up" items in the now-empty Cleam Hall.
"..."
He glanced silently at his watch.
Ten minutes until the university association overseer arrived. Time to handle business first.
He scanned the surroundings. The bookshelves near the podium provided solid cover.
These long fixtures blocked the front CCTV, and the rear one wouldn't catch him with his back turned.
So...
Shelton turned away as if boxing up Gerkken's enchanted item—the bucket. He pulled a syringe from his pocket.
No ordinary syringe. A disposable mana extractor, 20,000 ren a pop.
Why he'd specifically targeted Endex.
"Wonder how today's assignment went..."
He muttered idly as he jabbed the syringe into the bucket's imprint formula. Sluuuurp—it drew out the mana as liquid.
Freshly made enchants retained the enchanter's mana for 2-3 hours. This tool targeted that.
Of course, it'd wreck the existing enchant structure, but he was an expert among experts. Rebuilding a low-grade one took three minutes flat.
"..."
Shelton transferred Gerkken's mana from the syringe to a special reagent vial, rebuilt the bucket enchant in a flash, and boxed it.
Then he did the same to Elise's rabbit doll and Soliet's wooden sword.
What did he gain?
Information.
Soliet, Gerkken, Elise.
Intel on the trio hailed as Generation Talents' mana.
Feed today's extract into the magic tower's ultra-high-performance analyzer, and he'd narrow down their unique attributes, potential, and even possible 「Spectrum」 evolutions.
Scouting firms would pay at least 400,000 ren per head.
1.2 million total for three.
Worth the risk—a massively profitable venture.
"Heh heh heh..."
Shelton tucked the three mana-filled vials securely in his pocket.
Careful not to trip any CCTV, he turned slowly, opened the door, and stepped out—
"—Guhk!"
Something slammed into his shoulder.
Like getting hit by a car, his body floated whoosh, then crashed into the hallway, tumbling end over end five or six times.
"Urgh..."
"Ah, sorry about that!"
A sudden indoor collision.
Someone yelled apologies, but the sprawled Shelton first checked his pocket for the vials.
Smashed.
All the 400,000-ren vials shattered to bits.
The liquified mana inside evaporated in seconds, naturally.
"You crazy son of—!"
Shelton glared up at the perp, hair standing on end.
"Sorry. Is it something important?"
Endex senior with piercing blue eyes and golden hair.
He gnashed his teeth, glaring daggers.
"Important? Of course it was!"
"Oh, really sorry. I'll pick it up for you."
The guy scooped up the glass shards from the floor. Shelton clutched his nape. Now he got why crash victims grab their necks first.
Pain aside, the loss spiked his blood pressure.
"...Do you have any idea how much you just broke? More than your whole worth—"
"That expensive, huh? What was it?"
"..."
Shelton was at a loss for words.
"Huh? What was it?"
The guy asked again, but he couldn't say.
Shouldn't say.
Getting caught meant jail time.
"...Never mind. Not that expensive."
"Really? Even if it's cheap, I'll compensate—"
The guy rummaged in his pocket and pulled out three bills.
"Only got 30 ren right now, but here..."
He mumbled, lips twitching. Shelton read it as remorse, but it was stifled laughter.
"You messing with me?"
"No. Still—"
"Hand it over."
"Pardon?"
Snatch—Before Sion could finish, Shelton swiped the 30 ren.
"This settles it. Consider yourself lucky."
He stuffed the money in his pocket and turned away.
Clomp clomp—Watching him go, Sion muttered blankly.
"...Man, that guy's a total psycho."
He shook his head and left the hall.
Silence blanketed the empty corridor once both were gone.
In that utter quiet, rustle—
A footprint pressed down.
The silent arrival picked up a glass shard from the floor. Sniff sniff—he inhaled the scent of mana.
"...It has a fragrance."
Mana's aroma. He could smell it. His own mana carried a distinct scent—a side effect that messed with stealth.
"Intentional, was it."
Gerkken Kal Dun.
He murmured low. At first, he'd thought it mere payback for Shelton dissing his enchanting as "dirty." But factoring the mana traces from the shattered vials and this smell...
"..."
Gerkken stared wordlessly down the hall.
Sion Askal was long gone.
Old building temporary quarters.
I stripped off my underwear the second I got back and laid it on the desk. Planning to apply today's enchanting lesson.
No mana stone medium, but I had a substitute.
[Plants that circulate mana like mandragora can serve as mana stones or cores.]
Info from the 「Explorer's Almanac」 I'd borrowed from Gerkken before.
The SZX-9500 measured one mandragora root at D~E-grade mana stone levels.
Smart use could enchant my underwear with 「Heater」.
"If I 'remember' it..."
But I didn't want to burn through the mandragora one-use.
Rich-kid mentality? It wasn't that ultra-rare or pricey.
Anyway.
Simple way to remember mandragora: eat it.
Like Perion, ingestion activates it.
A bit uneasy, but hey.
Just one root. Won't kill me.
I popped the root in my mouth.
Gulp.
My insides heated up. Bursts of fever rose. Sweat beaded on my forehead.
Feeling those definite effects, I intoned,
"Remember."
[101 / 103 (-1)]
「Notebook」 memory saved. Capacity barely ticked down—good.
One root, not a leg. That helped.
I opened my palm.
Next, expel the freshly remembered mandragora as a mana core.
An ultra-pure mana core carrying mandragora properties, at just 1 capacity cost...
"—Recall."
A ginseng-hued mana core coalesced in my palm.
Size of a pinky nail, but way more efficient than a C-grade stone.
"Okay."
Now, slap this on the underwear and do a proper 「Heater」 enchant.