Chapter 83

Thursday ended with us unable to open the door and unable to confirm what was inside, so we postponed it to Sunday.

The next day, Friday, found me once again with Sharl in an advanced curse study session, as usual.

Then, Saturday.

That morning, I trained in martial arts with Sharl at the park. Afterward, we parted ways and reconvened at Sharl’s place for a study session.

In the morning, we reviewed the week’s lessons focusing on the fundamentals, and when lunchtime arrived, we ate the meal prepared for us by Chloe.

“Sharl, the potion from the other day was really good. The soda flavor was great. The caramel macchiato flavor got high praise from Toko and my mom,” I commented.

“Really? Haha, those were confidence works!” Sharl beamed proudly.

She wore an arrogant smirk.

“Thanks,” I replied.

“Sure thing. Anyway, I’ve started working on ginger ale and sports drink flavors. By the way, did Toko request anything?”

“Ah, well, Toko doesn’t have any specific requests, but my mom loves tea, so maybe that’d be good…”

“My mom loves tea? Tea? Tea…”

Sharl seemed deep in thought.

“Is tea difficult to make?”

“No, not difficult, but there are so many kinds, right? Which one would be best?”

“Kinds of tea, you say…”

I shrugged in response.

“My mom doesn’t have a sensitive palate, so she probably wouldn’t mind any choice. She’s the kind of person who puts mayonnaise on natto,” I added.

Sharl looked somewhat bewildered.

She also puts it on ramen.

I really think she’s strange.

“Eh? Does that combo actually work?”

“I don’t know, but knowing her, it’s probably best not to worry about it and go with something simple.”

“Huh… well, then I’ll try making a tea-flavored one. By the way, would you mind coming over again tomorrow? I’ll show you some alchemy.”

“Alchemy?”

Hmm, I’m not sure if I’ll understand it…

And Chloe, who was standing behind Sharl, was shaking her head sideways…

“I’m curious, but I have a part-time job tomorrow,” I replied.

“Part-time job? Did you start one?”

“Well, actually, it’s work at the academy. Mr. Wallace requested a cleaning job.”

“Mr. Wallace asked you? Hmm… cleaning a room? I hear the professor’s laboratory can get messy…”

“Yeah… it seems like researchers’ rooms tend to be that way, huh?”

“Not exactly, it’s cleaning an old lab basement. Apparently, they received permission, and they want it cleaned. I, along with Senior Andy and Senior Joan, have been nominated for this task.”

“So… the basement, huh?”

“Yeah. Maybe you could show me the alchemy next Sunday?”

“Hmm…” As I said that, Chloe shook her head even more vigorously than before. I understood what she meant.

It would absolutely be dull.

However, Sharl looked very pleased.

“Alright! Let’s do it!”

Here we go again…

“Um, yeah… Anyway, you might be surprised that there’s a basement. I went there on Thursday—it was pretty unsettling.”

“I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never been there. What’s it like?”

Sharl seemed genuinely intrigued.

“Honestly, it’s creepy. It’s also made of stone and feels really old. We made it all the way to the door of our destination, but the door was rusted and wouldn’t open.”

“Rusted? Well, it is old.”

“Yeah, exactly. And in the end, we couldn’t open it, so Senior Joan went to make an item to repair the door.”

“Huh? Repair the door?”

“Yeah, she’s working on some such device.”

Sharl tilted her head in curiosity.

“Anyway, my phone’s ringing—oh, it’s Klaus. Can I answer it?”

“Of course,” Sharl nodded.

I tapped the call button and held the phone to my ear.

“Hey, Klaus! What’s up? I’m good, thanks.”

“Yo, Tsukasa! You good? Remember, you told me to sell that bear?”

“Ah, yeah? Did it sell?”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk about. There’s something that’s been bothering me.”

“Huh?”

“Something’s off. Ilmera’s bear sold just fine for 420,000 mana.”

“Wow! That’s a lot!”

“Yeah. Well, yours… it fetched 120,000 mana.”

“Huh? That’s quite low, isn’t it? But still, 120,000 mana is a lot.”

There’s a difference of 300,000 mana.

“Well, get this—the meat from the bear you hunted was apparently spoiled.”

“Spoiled? Well, yeah, that’s bound to happen. How long has it been since you got it, do you think?”

“No, no… bear meat imbued with Astral magic is considered a rare delicacy and sells well. So, I placed the meat into a preservation device right after getting it from you,” Klaus explained.

“Preservation device? What’s that?”

“Think of it as… a magical device that makes the meat last longer by preventing bacterial growth. I know, I’m no expert, but that’s basically it.”

“Useful stuff.”

“Yeah. But despite that, the meat was spoiled. Apparently, it’s been days since it started decaying.”

“Days? No way! I hunted that bear the same day.”

“First time out of town, right?”

“Yeah, no doubt about it!”

“Hmm… well, I thought maybe the device was faulty, but Ilmera’s bear was fine.”

“Right… well, 120,000 mana works fine for me. That’s still a big sum for a student, anyway.”

“True… Thanks for understanding. Drop by when you’ve got some free time to pick up your payment.”

“No problem. Thanks, Klaus.”

“Sure thing. Later!”

The call ended.

“What was that about?” Sharl asked as I set my phone down.

“Apparently, the bear’s meat was spoiled, which dropped the price by 300,000 mana.”

“Ruined even though it was in the preservation device?”

“Yeah, apparently so. They said it looked like it had been a few days since it began going bad.”

“Days…?”

Sharl frowned, deep in thought.

“Hey, that bear you hunted… was it the same one when you saved those seniors from the Grizzly Bear?”

“Yeah, the same one. Ilmera’s kill came out fine, so maybe my attack caused the meat to spoil?”

Maybe my magic has a corrosive property?

Nah…

“Anyway, can I tag along with you to work tomorrow?”

“Eh? On the job? Are you really coming?”

“Yes. Don’t you think three people will be enough?”

“Probably, but the seniors and the professor said they might call in more help depending on the state of the room…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I don’t need the pay. I just want to check out the basement.”

“Ah… well, as the student council president, maybe you can come along without problems.”

“Great! Then, let’s meet at 1 PM in front of the D Building bulletin board.”

“Got it. I’ll meet you 10 minutes early at the boys’ and girls’ dormitory split.”

“Alright!”

That settled, Sharl said, “Alright, let’s do a quick review focused on Curse Studies this afternoon.”

I wanted to relax a bit and chat more, but I suppose we should get to work…

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