Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Akacoin?
[First, I will issue demerits. Some students attempted to enter unauthorized areas during free time just now, so I had no choice but to detain them, assign 5 demerit points, and place them immediately in the punishment room.
You ask what kind of punishment they receive in the punishment room? They must continuously perform extractions.
If their mana runs out and they cannot extract, they are tickled all over with feathers. It's already a painful punishment, but being tickled in a mana burnout state is reportedly near unbearable.
Well, I wouldn’t know personally.]
So they make students extract just to make money.
The suspicion turned out to be true, but… no one was surprised.
What shocked them more was the intensity of the punishment.
“Are you… serious?”
“Tickled in a mana burnout punishment?”
Students who had experienced mana burnout knew how awful it was.
And now they were telling them to keep using mana while being tickled?
The severity of this punishment was extreme.
[This should encourage more cooperation from students in academic administration.
And I’m slightly disappointed in Instructor Naily. The students should have been made to use more mana so that today, they couldn’t think of anything else. But since the students got distracted, this happened.]
‘…Ah. So that’s my fault?’
Idnia realized why this had happened.
She had completely drained all the prepared resources today, so students were released from labor much earlier than expected.
Some students who had less mana burnout wandered around the academy and entered areas not yet authorized for students, racking up huge demerits.
‘Phew, good. Looks like I’ll avoid failing.’
Idnia thought positively.
Meanwhile, Magram’s broadcast continued.
[And I will award merit points. To Mari of the Euros dormitory, 1 point for reporting a wolf approaching a teacher.]
“Eh? A wolf approached a teacher?”
“Wolf?”
Students were horrified.
They realized that a predatory wild animal had been near their living area. If things had gone wrong, someone could have been injured.
[The wolf was handled by staff, but we had no choice but to leave the body behind. Why do you think that is, Gibbs?]
[Uh, that… you mean that?]
[Yes.]
“Well… the students entered a restricted area, so there was nothing we could do?”
[Exactly. Some students entered the restricted area at that time, so in handling them, we inadvertently allowed a dangerous creature to approach student areas. This is exactly why you are urged to follow school rules.]
Idnia snickered at that.
She was the one who had killed the wolf, yet they said it was staff.
It was obviously a lie to reassure students that staff controlled the situation.
But to phrase it so carefully…
‘They want to say students broke the rules and it became dangerous. Smart move. Academy professors…’
Magram quickly switched topics before the lie could be exposed.
[And everyone, I know you are struggling because there are currently no lounges or convenience facilities.]
“Ah!”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
The students agreed.
“We’re paying such expensive tuition, and in a school you reached via a teleportation spell, this is all the facilities we get!?”
“Rip-off! Scam!”
The awe and shock they felt when arriving through the teleportation spell from the Angel Cathedral had already faded.
After experiencing adaptive creatures and the teleportation spell, all that remained were cheap meals and poor dorm conditions.
At that moment, Idnia’s door opened.
“Ah! You’re here first.”
It was Mari from Astraea returning.
“Ah, Mari, congrats on the merit points from the shop.”
Idnia sincerely congratulated Mari, who had earned merit for the wolf she reported.
“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Thanks to the guidance of many, and I just happened to notice it…”
“Yes, but this broadcast is very important, so listen carefully.”
Idnia stopped Mari from downplaying herself and focused on the broadcast.
Currently, students were only allowed in the dorms, the plaza in front, and the path leading to Lecture Building 1.
There was no space for students to secretly meet and conspire.
Dorm rooms were shared by two, with thin walls—not suitable for secret plotting.
That’s why when Mari of Astraea and Prince Lorenzo of Mazdari met, the event concluded successfully in one place.
But not all events could fit into such small spaces.
Magram’s broadcast hinted at the expansion of space.
But… that wasn’t all.
[So, I will briefly give you information normally revealed one week after admission. This academy already has lounges, gyms, swimming pools, archery ranges, swordsmanship halls, billiards rooms, reading rooms, meditation rooms, and more.]
The students murmured.
All these facilities were already available?
[In fact, these facilities are unlocked one by one for each dormitory when the dorm’s total merit points surpass 50.]
“Eh?”
“What does that mean?”
Other students didn’t know, but Idnia had a vague understanding of the system.
[From now on, dorms will compete using merit points. The dorm that first reaches 50 points selects the first facility. For example, if Zephyros dorm reaches 50 points first, they choose the swimming pool. Then it becomes Zephyros dorm’s exclusive facility. Students there can use it for free, and depending on collective dorm decisions, they may allow other students in—but conditions can be set. They could even run a profit business, charging entrance fees or making others crawl through.]
“Whoa?!”
“Unbelievable!”
“They’ve built the facilities and now force dorms to compete for them?”
The students were shocked by the academy’s absurd rules.
Euros dorm students were especially worried.
They were only 32 students—the fewest in any dorm.
Such a competition seemed heavily unfair.
“Unfair! We have the least students, so we won’t get any facilities!”
“Yeah! The smaller dorm is at a huge disadvantage!”
Their objections fell on deaf ears; Magram wouldn’t change anything.
[Also, the cafeteria will soon open. It’s a shared facility, so dorms cannot compete for it.]
“Ah, the cafeteria…”
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
Students sighed in relief.
However…
[The cafeteria will not use regular currency. Instead, we will introduce a substitute currency called Akacoin.]
‘Of course…’
Idnia clicked her tongue at the mention of Akacoin.
[We worried that excessive commercialization might creep in from students buying things in a place meant for education.]
As if.
This academy was designed to make money. Designed to milk students and their families. What nonsense.
Yet Magram continued with smooth words, representing the academy’s reasoning.
[To cultivate your academics and character, we had to implement Akacoin. You can earn it at the shop, and you can exchange it for Empire Sealing and Penny—but a floating exchange rate applies.]
“Floating exchange rate?”
“What does that mean?”
[At the start of the semester, when students are unprepared, the exchange rate is high. By the end of the semester, it lowers. Any Akacoin not used by the end of the semester is invalidated.]
“….”
The students were all bright, but initially, few could grasp what it meant.
“What does that mean, Idnia?” asked her roommate, Mari.
“It’s a system to milk students. At the start of the semester, students need things, so they sell Akacoin at a high rate. Later, the exchange rate drops, and any leftover coins are invalidated at the end. Likely, even at the lowest rate, Akacoin is more expensive than Sealing and Penny.”
“Then why not just not use the cafeteria? If all students go together to the shop…”
“That’s why students cannot enjoy sweets from outside. Also, dorms operate their own facilities and earn Akacoin by trading between dorms.”
“Why trade Akacoin? Why not just take money?”
“That’s the thinking of a poor student clinging to real currency…”
“Huhhh.”
“…”
She wanted to say she was also poor. But even for someone like Idnia, a noble, it wouldn’t matter.
She focused on explaining the new dorm rules.
“Rich students already have cash, so they seek convenience even at a premium. Dorms with facilities may charge for them in Akacoin. Other dorms will follow suit, so Akacoin use spreads.”
“Can’t all students unite to fight against this?”
“Impossible. The dorm with the most students will inevitably take the facilities first. They’ll want to use the facilities for profit. No reason to boycott Akacoin.”
“Even if one dorm is large…”
“The second dorm will likely support Akacoin too, since they can also get facilities. The gap isn’t big.”
“So, the first and second dorms support Akacoin….”
“Yes. Most students will end up supporting it. Even if the Crown Prince convinces everyone, there will still be many goods in the academy village Blackcow purchasable only with Akacoin.”
“Ugh… that’s a terrifying strategy.”
The academy would profit massively from issuing Akacoin.
Plus, with the floating exchange rate, leftover coins at semester’s end are nearly worthless.
Yet students still must exchange them.
This system was pure profit.
In games, similar currencies had expiration events. Idnia, with prior gaming knowledge, understood. Few students would grasp it fully from Magram’s rapid, fragmented explanations.
[Well then, enjoy dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow. If you want more of my sexy voice, tune in again. Adios!]
Magram hummed as he finished.
“Ah?”
Idnia was surprised.
Remarkably, Magram’s humming was the opening song of “Awakened Girl Concert.”