Rules Are Important

The empty scream tore through the air. "S-stop it!!!"

What answered that scream wasn't another voice. It was the crunch of something shattering, the heavy thud of it slamming into the ground, and the sharp whoosh of a long object being hurled through the air once again. Only after those two sounds finally died did a human voice break through—Elsia's triumphant cheer.

"Husband! Did you see that? What a steal!!!"

It meant that the living hell the blond student had endured during Elsia's turn was finally over. She'd swept up a full third of the displayed merchandise. Half of it was so badly damaged it probably would've been better if it had been completely destroyed, but even so, she'd more than made back her investment.

Hye-ji and Ayeon quickly joined in, scooping up the goods. The blond student stared at the now-devastated display with a hollow expression before snapping back to his senses and trying to kick us out.

"Get the hell out of here, you fucking bastards!!!"

"Shut the fuck up. I haven't gone yet. I'm up right now."

"Wait!!!!!!"

The moment I got ready to fling the gun like Elsia had, the blond student desperately blocked my path. The number floating above his head had gone up by one—he must have regressed from the future where I actually threw it.

He frantically started scribbling more rules onto the signboard where he'd written the original ones.

Throwing the gun to hit something is invalid. Approaching the merchandise and firing is also invalid.

"Isn't this pathetic? You said there wouldn't be any changes."

"This is the last time!!! All of that is invalid now!!! Invalid, I said!!!"

"Is that all you're adding? For real this time?"

"Yes!!! So hurry up and finish it already!!!"

He was screaming with veins bulging in his neck, all pretense of politeness completely abandoned. In the end, even throwing was banned. Not that my shooting skills were worth a damn anyway.

That's not true.

Still, I refused to give up. I quickly took a stance.

"Here I go?"

"Hurry up!!!"

"Yah!"

I gripped the gun backwards, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠preparing to swing it with all my might. The blond student looked at me and burst into loud laughter.

"Hahahahaha!!! What a pointless—"

—BOOM!!!!!!

Right up until the moment I swung the gun and smashed the cash register over.

The register toppled, spilling cash everywhere. Countless bills fluttered down like snow while coins cascaded out with a metallic clatter. And finally, my own laughter.

"Invalid lololololol."

The blond student, who had spaced out again at the sound of my laughter, immediately started protesting.

"Y-you fucking bastard!!! Why the hell—"

"Got a complaint? Should I have said 'invalid hehehe' instead?"

"This isn't merchandise!!! It's against the rules!!! I'm reporting you to the Academy!!!"

"Where exactly is the rule violation?"

There wasn't one. I hadn't thrown the gun, nor had I approached the merchandise to shoot it. I'd simply swung. If the cash register didn't count as merchandise, he should have announced that beforehand. This was the Academy, after all—a place where the weak couldn't survive.

The student couldn't refute my explanation. Instead, he chose to collapse weakly on the spot and faint. He'd decided to escape from reality. With the nuisance gone, it was time to collect our legitimately earned spoils.

"Girls! Let's grab this quick!"

Hye-ji, Ayeon, and Elsia began frantically picking up the cash. There was quite a lot, but with three people working together, we didn't miss a single coin. Every last bit of the loot was secured.

That was when a furious roar suddenly blasted toward us.

"Stop bullshitting meow!!!!!!!"

It was Caersi. She was so angry that the fur on her ears and tail had puffed up massively. Elsia immediately stepped up to confront the enraged cat saintess.

"What the hell do you guys even think rules are, nya!!!"

"Miss Furry! Why do rules exist in the first place!"

Elsia planted her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest proudly. Her enormous breasts seemed to perfectly symbolize her confidence.

"They're there to stop people from doing shit like this, nya!!!"

"No, that's not it! You still haven't adapted to the Academy, have you!"

"Don't spout nonsense, nya! Then why do rules exist at all!!!"

Elsia pointed dramatically at Caersi. Her chest jiggled heavily with the motion, as if emphasizing the importance of what she was about to say.

"They're there to take advantage of anything that isn't written in the rules!"

"...Fuck meow."

Caersi now wore an expression of utter exhaustion. She even let slip a hint of resignation, as if regretting that she'd ever hoped this conversation would make sense.

On the other hand, I was deeply moved. Unlike her initial clumsy, airheaded self, Elsia had now perfectly adapted to the Academy. Overcome with emotion, I pulled her into a tight hug and roughly tousled her hair.

"Aww, well done, you little shit."

"Heheheheheheheh~"

Elsia's face instantly melted into a sloppy grin at my touch. Anyway, Elsia was clearly the MVP of this stall. She more than deserved this treatment.

Even so, Caersi still couldn't accept it and spoke up again.

"No matter how you look at it, this is too much, nya! It's just a difference in wording, isn't it!"

"You still don't get it? How important a difference in wording can be?"

"Try explaining it then, nya."

Caersi crossed her arms and glared at me fiercely. I kept stroking Elsia's hair while giving a simple example so she could understand easily.

"For example, do 'selecting' and 'picking out' mean the same thing?"

"Of course they do, nya!"

"No. You're wrong."

"Why, nya?"

Caersi clutched her head in confusion.

"Listen carefully. 'Selecting' is target designation. 'Picking out' is non-designation."

"What the fuck is the difference, nya!!! It's not that important, nya!!!"

"It's insanely important. The world of duels is far more profound than you think."

In the cruel world of duelists, a single word could mean the difference between life and death. That was why no amount of emphasis on meticulous rules could ever be enough. The same went for how the blond student had lost to me, a duelist. He simply hadn't understood the importance of rules. Because duels were serious business.

"It's why they even have a Duel Academy."

"Fuck..."

Caersi's shoulders slumped as her face fell into a gloomy expression. The sight made my heart ache a little, so I patted her shoulder and made an offer.

"Still, I'll pay the tithe with this."

"Got it, nya!"

Caersi perked up instantly at my words. It was a perfect demonstration of the historically excellent effects of financial therapy. The Lord probably wouldn't turn down incoming money either. What a relief.

Hey now. This is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fair share. A fair share.

Anyway, things were already looking good from the very first stall. Even though we couldn't run any profitable businesses ourselves, we could still enjoy the festival like this.

We moved all the loot we'd obtained to Hye-ji's room. Originally I hadn't planned to put it there. Since Elsia had been the one to get most of it, we'd first decided on her room. However...

"W-wait just a second!!! You absolutely cannot see it today!!!"

Elsia panicked and blocked our approach. It was the first time I'd ever seen her look this flustered.

"How bad could it be that you haven't cleaned? Hye-ji's room is already a total disaster."

"I'll kill you later. Today I'm not holding back—I'm squeezing every last drop out of you."

"Ah, shit."

I'd spoken without thinking and received a declaration of revenge from Hye-ji. Meanwhile, Elsia continued expressing that we absolutely could not see inside.

"Let's just take a look. What's in there that's so bad?"

"I said no today, fuck!!!"

"...Alright."

She was even abandoning her usual concept to stop us. We considered moving it to Ayeon's or Caersi's room instead, but...

"This lady's room is also somewhat difficult to show."

"...It needs airing out, nya. The catnip scent won't go away, nya."

"What the hell did you two do, you crazy bitches?"

Both Ayeon and Caersi expressed their refusal. In the end, by process of elimination, we had no choice but to move everything into Hye-ji's room.

What on earth could be in there?

With our hands now free, the only thing left was to enjoy the festival. Since I didn't care where we went, I decided to follow the heroines' choice this time.

"So where should we go play with this money?"

The heroines thought for a moment after hearing me. Then the opinions started coming in, beginning with Hye-ji.

"Let's go somewhere we can make more money. Preferably somewhere physical."

"Then how about looking for a stock or coin investment competition!"

"...Have you lost your mind? Let's just go to a simple coin-flip place."

"There's a duel shop with the theme 'King of Memorization'! Let's try that one, nya!"

However, our hopes were not to be fulfilled. Because...

"Student Shinu. So this is where you were. Hah... hah..."

There was one visitor who had come looking for me. It was none other than the Academy President's secretary, the lizard beastman. From the way she was breathing heavily, it looked like she'd been running all over the place searching for me. As a cold-blooded lizard, her face should have been pale by nature, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠today it looked even more bloodless than usual.

"There's something urgent I need to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

I was curious why the lizard beastman had suddenly come looking for me.

I'm not so sure. I don't think there's anything left to talk about.

No matter how I thought about it, there was no particular reason for me to meet with the lizard beastman anymore. The hostage rescue plan and the Academy demolition were both already somewhat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prepared. All that remained was waiting for the right moment. That was why I thought there was no reason for her to come find me right now. But the lizard beastman seemed to have a different idea.

First, she closed her eyes and took several deep, calming breaths to steady herself. After a moment, she opened her eyes and stared directly at me. Her gaze was endlessly serious. I unconsciously tensed up in response to that look. At the same time, a heavy voice flowed from her slowly opening mouth.

"You. Let's do a job together."

For some reason, it felt like I was about to enter a whole new world. What kind of new world, I wasn't sure.