If It Pays, I'd Even Sell Lewd Pics (3)
"Since Phoenix, my fellow student, has bought the golden carriage, I'll come pick it up in three days. Sorry, but you'll have to move the contents yourselves. Excuse me for a moment, I need to take this call."
Yurha Silverstar stepped away. The golden carriage, left all alone in front of the Old School Building, suddenly became the property of the Old School Building. Of course, the purchase only covered the 'body' of the golden carriage.
Rydmila Lionheart and Evangeline di Ershi had grumbled things like, "With that mana stone, couldn't we buy that carriage too?" and "If we just added a bit more money, we could probably buy the whole thing outright."
I got it. We had to move everything from the carriage into the Old School Building, and aside from the lounge, there wasn't really anywhere else suitable, so the lounge was turning into a warehouse.
But.
Separate from all that, Unia kept thinking—and rethinking—the 'magic' Phoenix had shown during the process of buying this massive haul of goods.
Refined mana stones. Flawlessly cut by what anyone could see was a master artisan's hand, they were such artistic gems that it almost felt wasteful to even engrave magic seals into them to turn them into magic tools.
Even if you extracted the mana inside and sold the stones as-is, they'd fetch a pretty penny. Or you could melt the mana to suit the stone's purpose and drink it as a mana elixir. That was another option.
The only worrisome part was that neither Yurha Silverstar nor anyone else had figured out where those mana stones came from.
Only Unia had caught on.
She'd had her suspicions before, but seeing it right in front of her like this had turned those suspicions into certainty.
The lounge was empty for the moment. Unia took a short breath, then cupped her hands over her chest and released a tiny bit of mana.
A faint rainbow-colored mana. The seven hues sparkled brilliantly in turn, and soon Unia refined it into a single color, shaping it into non-attribute mana.
A formless glow. Very slowly, Unia began to 'solidify' it.
Pa-ang!
"......"
The moment she willed it to solidify, the mana exploded.
"Ah...."
It was such a tiny mana explosion, but Unia let out a sigh full of disappointment without realizing it.
"That's what happens."
"What do you mean, 'that's what happens'?"
"!!"
Unia spun around. There stood Phoenix, entering the room with a box stuffed full of clothes.
* * *
Crazy.
Unia had caught on. Well, I'd shown it to her on purpose, expecting her to figure it out, but I didn't think she'd jump straight into testing it with her own mana like this.
"Miss Unia. Here's what you wanted."
I held out the box and set it down on the lounge table.
"Since I ordered it myself, I brought it personally, but next time you can just take it to your room. Inside here—"
"A grand mage's fashion magazine or some super red lace lingerie—it's the kind of thing you can have or not, doesn't matter."
Unia walked toward me.
"How did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"You know."
"Miss Unia."
I stepped right up to her and pressed my index finger to her lips.
"The fewer people who know, the better. Because with this, we can deal an economic blow to Silverstar."
"......."
"I figured you'd get it, Miss Unia. Right?"
She nodded.
Unia glanced slyly at the glittering mana stone in the corner of the lounge.
Even alone like this, you never knew when or where word might spread—
"Silence."
Pang.
Unia lightly stomped the floor, and wind-attribute mana spread out, instantly forming a barrier of wind.
A perfectly quiet space where no sound could pass in or out. Conversations here wouldn't leak.
"You didn't make money by selling lives, right?"
Unia looked up at me with a worried voice.
"Nothing like permanent mana damage, right?"
"Absolutely not."
I lightly drew the edge of my hand across my throat.
"It's just that much mana got extracted. Mana's something you can just refill, yeah?"
"Isn't that like the fox and the grapes? You have to refill what you lost."
"I'm the type who can recover mana easily just through photosynthesis."
"That's not... a joke, is it? You mean you can absorb ambient mana that easily?"
"Yeah."
I wasn't lying, and since I'd already shown Unia, there was no reason to hide it.
Anyone else might not notice, but Unia would've clocked it the moment she saw the refined mana stones I'd pulled out.
"Miss Unia. That mana stone—what is it?"
"...Mana you extracted directly from your own body. Shaped just like a mana stone harvested from a mana beast."
"Bingo. And this is a super rare secret art that doesn't exist anywhere else."
"...That's basically making a core."
Core. We call them mana stones, but this specifically means ones 'extracted from a mana beast's heart'.
"How'd you do it?"
"A core looks like a mana stone on the outside—a crystal, right? You form the crystallization structure with water-attribute and persistence properties, then build an internal space so the attribute mana inside can stay stable."
"......."
It's complicated from a mana studies perspective. But it's not impossible mana-wise—
"It's like making a croissant."
"A croissant?"
"Croissant dough is pretty thin before baking, but when it's done right, it puffs up, yeah? Same with the mana stone."
A well-puffed croissant's hollow inside is filled with air; a refined mana stone's is filled with 'mana'.
"Miss Unia, this might sound arrogant, but I'm saying it straight because it's you. Don't take it the wrong way."
"I'll hear it and judge. What is it?"
"For me, refining mana stones is easier than baking bread."
"......???"
Unia twitched her eyebrows and tilted her head.
"Baking... isn't it just mix the dough right, sprinkle sugar, and... Ack!"
Whoops. Without thinking, I pinched her cheek like I would Evangeline's.
"A-Ahaha...!"
"That was for hurting."
"Uw, ugh.... You're not usually sensitive, so why get like this about baking?"
"Everyone's got their line in the sand. Anyway, they're coming. Drop it."
It was already busted, but whatever.
Whoosh.
Unia dispelled the Silence spell. Gentle winds flowed out of the lounge, and soon footsteps headed our way.
"What were you two whispering about with a barrier up?"
Rydmila Lionheart entered the lounge carrying a box. She had boxes on both shoulders, yet not a drop of sweat on her forehead.
"Ah, I see. Slacking off?"
"Not slacking—just getting chewed out by Miss Unia."
"Chewed out?"
"For selling it at that price."
"Oh, yeah, that's definitely chew-out worthy."
Rydmila nodded approvingly at Unia as she set down the box.
"At minimum, it was a C-rank mana beast core... no, surface-wise, even B-rank. Though the mana inside was below C-rank, I'd rarely seen one so perfectly formed."
"Was it, by chance, a 'named' grade mana stone?"
"Yes, Miss Unia. Even running around as Gale, it was hard to come by. If one like that dropped, the whole mercenary band would celebrate with a feast."
Rydmila shook her head wistfully, savoring the memory but clearly regretting it.
"Thanks to Phoenix, we got everything we needed, but still, a waste is a waste. And...."
"You wanna know if I have more?"
"Yes."
Rydmila stared pointedly at me, eyeing my inner pocket.
"Do you have a sub-space in there or something?"
"Correct!"
I reached into my inner pocket.
"A few more to show—"
"No!"
Unia yanked my wrist and pulled my hand out.
"Value your body—no, your money—a little more!"
"My body? What, is my body made of money now?"
"Of course! With all the people who'd mana drain you to steal your mana!! Even that Yurha senior was dangerous just now!"
Unia shot Rydmila a glance, trying to steer the topic.
"That senior's eyes on you—they were weird!"
"Probably the look of 'jackpot, rich sucker'."
"Not that...!"
Unia bit her lower lip uncertainly.
"It was exactly like that expression...."
"Hey!! Phoenix!!"
Evangeline came rushing into the lounge and yelled at me.
"What's your deal with that demon!!"
"Who’s the demon? But yeah, you're talking about Senior Yurha. Why?"
"That Yurha Silverstar...!"
Evangeline shoved a parchment at me, her face beet red.
If you need anything, write it down!! She said she'd service whatever she can get!!
"......Service?"
Rydmila's face twisted.
"Yurha Silverstar, service?"
"Calm down, everyone. It's just talk. You think she'd actually give freebies?"
I took the parchment from Evangeline to soothe them.
"She's figuring out our tastes with this, then sourcing related goods to sell us."
"......I-Is that it?"
"Obviously."
Probably.
"You think Yurha Silverstar would actually do free service?"
Player experience confirmed it. Even in her own route, she'd never given anything for free.
* * *
[Meanwhile, at the Old School Building's clearing.]
"You're late?"
"Less late and more like you got here early."
Instructor Esta approached Yurha Silverstar, who stood with hands behind her back in the clearing, and stopped.
"What'd you call me out here for? Is this instructor and student business, or...."
"As 'my little sister's teacher' and as a friend?"
"Friend. Are we friends?"
"It's a complicated relationship, but after ten years of helping each other out, 'frenemies' fits, don't you think?"
"Hah."
Instructor Esta sighed in exasperation.
"So, what's this about, employer of Silverstar."
"Oh my. Can you say that so casually? You could get punished for double-contracting."
"Not enough to get fired. But."
Instructor Esta pointed toward the Old School Building and shook her head.
"I can't hand over info on them carelessly, not even to you, Yurha."
"I know. I know how important they are too."
"......What are you thinking?"
"Could be a great investment, or a weakness. But more than that...."
Yurha pulled a refined mana stone from her bosom.
"If this isn't a one-off, there's no man more appealing than him."
"Man...?"
"Right? Um, Instructor Esta?"
Yurha clutched the mana stone tightly, clasped her hands, and beamed.
"Does the Old School Building special class accept returning students, by any chance?"