Protect the Magic Pants Mass Production Factory (2)
Esdinas Academy. A place everyone dreamed of entering, but for some, it was harder than plucking stars from the night sky.
For a girl named Alheina Silverstar, it was no different. She was furious. Refused outright for admission, the admissions officer shaking his head the moment he laid eyes on her, even turning down her offer of under-the-table funds with a flat "impossible." And above all, her registry sister—the woman lugging around those ridiculously oversized assets, Yurha Silverstar—had waltzed right in without a hitch. That pissed her off most of all.
What kind of place was Esdinas Academy? A gathering spot for the elite from every corner of the continent. Sell luxury goods there, and the parents, families, and connections of these students would buy them up in droves. Academy kids set all the trends, and the networks they built shaped their adult lives forever after graduation.
Lack of mana didn't mean you couldn't survive the world. No breasts didn't mean you couldn't feed a child. Alheina had money. Enough to hire hundreds with overflowing mana, enough to station wet nurses in three shifts for any kid she popped out.
But money alone couldn't buy her into the academy. In the end, she had choices, and one was infiltrating as a "capitalist"—participating in the academy's various business ventures as a supplier representative. That was her only ticket in.
But she hadn't bothered. No point, and parading her flat chest around would just earn pitying looks like, "Even that gets in?" With enough cash to crush any count or even marquis house on a whim, Alheina saw no reason to pick a fight. She was far more valuable outside those walls.
But then...
"Hey! Alheina! Get your ass to the academy now!"
Her twin brother had dragged her there by force.
"Some Jerque exercise or technique or whatever—they say it actually makes it grow!"
Castor Silverstar. Her twin brother, one of Silverstar's Seven Stars, a mega-tycoon with even vaster capital than hers. And he had sent her packing off to the academy.
Why? He couldn't get in either.
A girl getting rejected? Fine, whatever. But a guy? That was a catastrophe.
"Castor Chairman, isn't it under 3cm?"
The man claimed skipping academy was to "earn more money," but a "genius boy" already swimming in cash had no such excuse.
"If it grows, it'll pass 3cm."
"That's why you couldn't get in, right?"
"Good lord... So how's he gonna have kids later?"
"He'll try hard. Throw money at it somehow."
If admission weren't impossible...
"Money can't fix that, can it?"
Even those who could use Mana Drain had balked.
"Um, er, sorry, Chairman. I don't think I can Mana Drain you."
Not a conscience thing—even Mana Drain needed something to work with, at least two finger joints... Kyah!
Stuff like that happened all the time. Her twin's hysterics were milder toward his sister, a fellow sufferer in shared misery.
She'd thought so, anyway.
"Hey, sis! I can grow it!"
Castor had latched on the second he heard, desperate beyond belief.
"Can't go myself—too embarrassing. You get it for me! No, you have to! It's gotta be worth a fortune!"
Was he desperate for the commercial potential? Or just thrilled to solve something money couldn't buy?
Either way, Alheina entered the academy on her twin's command-not-command, mindset a bit light.
Academy folk would know it meant "money," so they'd hesitate against Silverstar's nose for profit.
Crossing Silverstar could cut off all their group products and services overnight.
"Impossible, President Alheina."
So she was shocked.
"What do you mean, Ederson Lionheart?"
"Exactly that. Magic Pants are Phoenix's unique invention, not the academy's."
She hadn't imagined faculty blocking her path like this.
"Listen, everyone. I'm just asking for a sample of these Magic Pants."
"Can't do that."
"The academy doesn't own them, and they're not freebies. Why?"
"Because..."
"They're not for sale."
From the academy side, the man himself approached.
"Phoenix."
"I'll handle this as the Magic Pants creator."
"You planning to sell them?"
Blond, tanned thug vibe. Add a black ear piercing, and he'd fit right in the "Golden Sun Thing" vids Alheina binged on Silverstar's magic network.
"If the price is right, sure."
"Hey now."
"Let's talk first, then decide, yeah?"
This Phoenix Golden Tan grinned at her like a predator eyeing fresh meat, ready to strip her clean.
A bit later, in the old school building's reception room, I welcomed a girl.
Silverstar signature gold hair, leaning platinum. Figured a president would suit up, but she showed in a frilly dress fit for Evangeline.
"Calling me here alone like this. What's your game?"
Alheina eyed me warily. Dropping formalities on first meet? She talked down to peers or the broke, but one look at her face or eyes told anyone why.
"Chances to chat one-on-one with a beauty don't come often."
"Hmph! Beauty, huh? Y-You've got an eye for it."
Cocky miss weak to compliments. A twisted soul, one of the academy's rejects.
'Flat chest means no college entrance exam—same deal.'
No matter the cash, denied even the door in a credential-obsessed world? Brutal.
Main villain in Yurha's route, puppet master of Silverstar's shady dealings—but glance at her chest, and you got why she turned wicked.
"Hey, why the stare?"
"Just thinking, a bit more up top and we could've been classmates."
"...Ha."
Alheina smirked, leaning back on the sofa.
"Cheeky. You rich?"
"Infinitely so."
"Richer than me?"
"For now?"
"Fun. Wonder if it's true. Think you can survive without Silverstar?"
She propped her feet on the table, crossing her legs.
"Silverstar touches everything folks eat and drink continent-wide. Unless you're self-sufficient in some backwater, the whole place grinds to a halt without us. You sure you wanna act this bold?"
"Gonna blacklist me?"
"Nothing stopping me."
Blatant threat.
"No products, no affiliates, no services. Confident you can hack ancient times solo?"
"But you'd stay under 3cm down there."
Twitch. Her brow jumped.
"In this mana-capitalist world outpacing modern tech, you'd have it all—except chasing that male joy with something smaller than a finger joint."
"Ha, haha..."
"Castor Silverstar sent you, right?"
"......You."
Alheina flashed a venomous smile.
"What balls to square up like this? My bro ain't pushover."
"Bro, huh. Wonder if that title still fits soon."
Alheina.
"Bet you'll call me bro before long."
Side heroine in Yurha route, unlockable with conditions.
"What're you on about?"
"I know about your gadget."
"Huh?"
"Fake Breast Device. You made it, right?"
"......!!"
No poker face holds when stabbed dead-center.
"Fake Breast Device? Me? I get why you'd think that, but so what?"
"Castor Silverstar, that genius capitalist, wants exclusive rights to Magic Pants."
I set a pair on the table.
"Not selling these for big bucks."
"...What?"
"Even if I do, sandwich price—something folks grab for lunch."
"...You're insane?"
Alheina glared daggers.
"Not one sandwich—a whole factory's worth per set. No clue on your tech's value?"
"I know. But seller sets the price."
"You...!"
"Question."
I reached out to her.
"...What?"
"Hey, Miss Alheina."
Stood, gripped her sofa back, leaned in close.
"Want me to get you into the academy?"
How to conquer the twins.
"Listen up. Even if born to kill each other, siblings ain't easy marks."
Yurha said it.
"But add reason? Changes everything. Love trumps blood. See? Make someone love that body—or craft one that gets loved."
Flip one twin, pit 'em against each other.
"Wind Fart Pills to Alheina. She'll come running like a dog."
"...Fine. Let's hear it."
Her venom slowly ebbed.