Chapter-06 · EP-084

Episode 84: Barrage of Questions

Because I had slipped out of class to meet with Count Okumoto, when I returned to the classroom, I was surrounded by my classmates.

"Hey, hey, Shirou, what was Count Okumoto like?"

"No, just a normal old guy…"

I answered Yuno's strange question seriously.

"I thought he'd be super dapper, being a noble."

"No, he was dapper, though."

These were really weird questions.

"A thank-you gift? Did you get like a letter of appreciation? Or an award?"

"No, nothing like that. But he gave me this as a thank-you gift."

I answered Maika and placed the small box from Count Okumoto on my desk.

"What's this?"

I gently opened the lid.

I took out the transparent stone inside and showed everyone.

"An amulet?"

It was Sendo who noticed. You were here too?

"You know a lot, Sendo."

"Well, by graduation we have to challenge the Goblin Fortress on the 10th floor. With that, we wouldn't have to fear attacks from Goblin Magicians. I'd like to get one myself someday."

"But they're pretty rare, right?"

"Yes. Well, unless you're a noble or very wealthy, you probably can't get one."

"Since it's the 10th floor, it's useless until we're third-years."

"That's right. It's an item to cancel offensive magic, after all. It's only useful when fighting monsters that use attack magic."

"I wonder how much it would sell for."

"Huh? You'd sell something you were given?"

Hearing our conversation, Isuzu Konno butted in.

"Wait, wait! If you're selling, I'll buy it!"

"Here comes the unscrupulous merchant. I'm not selling."

"Eh, why not? Then a potion would be fine. I'll buy that!"

"I told you, I'm not selling to you!"

"Eh? Why?"

Konno's family ran a shop near the Sapporo Dungeon in Hokkaido, dealing in dungeon items. So she wanted to buy rare items from me cheaply and sell them at her family's shop for a high price.

"As if I'd sell to someone who's just going to resell it!"

"It's not reselling! It's procurement!"

"Either way, I'm not selling. Besides, I just got it from Count Okumoto. If I sold it right away and he found out, that would be bad."

Even I had some common sense.

"You were all ready to sell it a moment ago…"

I ignored Yuno's comment.

"I'd pay a high price for it. Even a Rank 1 would be fine. I'd go up to 15,000 yen."

The unscrupulous merchant didn't seem to give up.

"You can buy one for 10,000 yen at the academy store, right?"

"Well, I heard that if you buy up all the potions at the store and sell them high, you get expelled. But if a student obtained the potion themselves, it's apparently fine."

It seemed she had actually tried to buy up all the store's potions before. What a terrifying woman.

Then Enoshima, overhearing our conversation, called out.

"Hey, Konno-san, is it true you'd buy a potion for 15,000 yen?"

"Of course!"

"I got one to drop last week, but I don't think I'll have a chance to use it, so I was thinking of selling it. If I can make an extra 5,000 yen, maybe I'll sell it to Konno-san?"

The academy store operated on a non-profit basis, so both the buying and selling price of a Rank 1 potion was 10,000 yen. The academy covered any fees. That was only within the academy. At regular stores, prices varied; the buying price was lower, and the selling price was higher.

"Don't do it, Enoshima. If Konno is offering 15,000 yen, you could sell it for even more at a regular store."

"Huh? Really?"

"Hey, stop interfering with my business!"

I helped out Enoshima, who lacked common sense. Konno complained, but I scolded her: "Don't try to profit by cheating your classmates! Go get your own in the dungeon!"

After that, I was freed from the barrage of questions. The usual three, Yuno, Maika, and Iori, remained around my desk.

The topic of Count Okumoto was already over, and we continued chatting idly.

"By the way, everyone have plans for Golden Week next week? Shirou, are you going back home?"

"No, I'm not."

"Eh? I thought if you were going back, we could go together."

"Yuno, are you going back?"

"Yeah. Mom said Dad is lonely. Maika?"

"I don't have any particular plans either, so maybe I'll go home."

Then the two looked at Iori.

Noticing their gaze, Iori answered before being asked.

"I heard Murasakimura and the others will be doing club activities during Golden Week, so I decided to join them."

"That's tough."

"No, teaching helps me re-evaluate my own technique, so rather than tough, I find it rewarding."

"Huh, is that so?"

Then the three looked at me.

"So, Shirou, what will you do if you're not going home? Don't tell us, the dungeon?"

Asked, I confessed.

"I'm planning to go to Okutama for an overnight trip."

"Okutama?"

The three said in unison.

"Yeah. I'm going to the Okutama Dungeon."