Episode 721

Episode 721

“Come to think of it, Angrago. I told you not to get interested in the festival, but you kept saying you’d participate.”

‘Oops.’

Angrago realized he had made another slip of the tongue and blamed himself.

Maybe because the food had gotten worse since the semester started, his intelligence seemed to have dropped.

“Like this…”

“It takes more mana than I thought.”

“That’s true. I’ll help recharge whenever I get a chance.”

“It’ll take quite a while though, is that all right?”

Salko declined Lee Han’s offer.

Even just listening to the explanation, the process of charging mana into the artifact seemed to take much more effort than expected.

Wardanaz helping out with each and every task would be a waste of time, especially with how busy he already was.

“No. I just meant to charge it with my own mana.”

“…I-I see.”

After temporarily charging everyone’s paper artifact, Lee Han asked,

“So… what do you all think? About meeting up periodically?”

“I agree. Moradi might not agree, though.”

“I agree too. Of course, Tutanta might not understand the situation and cause dissent, but well.”

Lee Han looked exasperated.

Priest Tijilling, who was listening, nodded.

“Look at those two. Priest Tijilling looks fed up as well.”

“…What I mean is, I agree to meet up.”

“Ah. Right. Got it, so we’ll take that as agreement.”

“Cooperation is always welcome, Wardanaz.”

“Exactly. Gathering our forces to burn those seniors wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

At Nigisor’s words, the other students turned their gazes as if they hadn’t heard.

There were some extreme opinions, but right now, the second-years had to stick together.

The fantasy of meeting reliable seniors to receive advice had long since disappeared.

Harder and more complex lectures, bigger responsibilities than in first year, seniors who were only out to use the juniors…

The only way to endure such a situation was through unity.

“By the way, Wardanaz. Did you bring in a lot of food?”

Giselle suddenly voiced her question.

Same as before, Wardanaz had been talking as if he had secured quite a bit of food.

There shouldn’t have been any opportunity to smuggle anything in at admission, right?

“To a certain extent.”

“How?”

“Oh. It’s time to head to class. Well then, let’s all meet at the next gathering. Good luck, everyone.”

At Lee Han’s words, not just Giselle but even the others absentmindedly replied, ‘Yeah, good luck.’

Giselle only realized it was nighttime after Lee Han had already disappeared.

“Wait. It’s night right now.”

“…Amazing. Even though it’s night, when he said he was going to class, it didn’t sound strange at all.”

---

When morning came, Lee Han visited the seventh floor and headed to the kitchen club.

He wanted to check up on the things he’d heard yesterday before class started.

“Wahaha, Wardanaz!”

Falkrius, who had been tending a cauldron as big as himself and prepping ingredients since dawn, brightened up at the sight of Lee Han.

As a junior handpicked to one day lead the kitchen club, his arrival could only be a welcome one.

“Glad to see you, glad to see you! Did you come to help out with our soup club’s work?”

“Yes, Senior Falkrius.”

“Puhuh. But there’s no need for help. One of the soup club’s rules is, ‘Everyone cooks their own pot.’”

Falkrius held up his hand to stop Lee Han from helping.

The kitchen club was often misunderstood as having ironclad rules.

Strict entry conditions, meticulously managed club properties, and the members moving in perfect order every mealtime led to the misconception, but in truth, the club was relatively free.

Selling food to Einrogard students in the club’s dining hall was entirely up to the individual.

As long as you sourced your own ingredients and cooked and sold them, that was it.

The club just helped its members.

“Then is the rumor about one dish costing a gold coin fake?”

“That’s real.”

“……”

“Wahaha! It’s a tradition and identity of the -Iactus Soup Club-, so we can’t raise it more. Sorry, but I ask for your understanding.”

“I was curious if it was possible to lower the price, not raise it.”

“???”

Falkrius looked flustered at the completely unexpected question.

No other junior or senior had ever asked that before now.

There had been plenty of people wanting to raise the price, but to lower it?

“You’re asking if it can be lowered?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“…Uh, just curious?”

“Junior. Have you ever wondered why there’s no ballroom near Einrogard?”

Normally, near imperial academies, there were not just social clubs, but ballrooms and banquet halls attached so that club members could dance and drink.

Basically, students liked to play, and getting into a boarding school usually meant you were from quite a wealthy family.

Naturally, citizens of nearby cities welcomed such students as cash cows.

But Einrogard didn’t have any of that. Excursions outside were rare to begin with, so you had to travel quite far to find a village.

“I haven’t really wondered about it…”

“Think about it. Why do you think that is?”

“Students don’t go out, and you can’t operate for the townsfolk, right?”

“Puhuh, correct! Smart kid. If you think about it, it’s only natural. That’s why nobody bothers to ask.”

“??”

“To me, the question of lowering the price sounds just like that!”

“……”

Lee Han looked awkwardly at his senior, who burst out laughing.

It wasn’t that funny a question, was it?

Falkrius wiped his tears of laughter and apologized.

“Sorry. Could be a reasonable question! Maybe I laughed too much?”

“So, is it allowed?”

“Hm! I’d say no. The other members would take a loss.”

“I see. In that case, when do you make the oath?”

“What oath?”

“The oath not to sell cheap…”

“Ah. Did you hear that from someone outside the club? Wahaha! Half the rumors in Einrogard are nonsense. Who’d actually take a formal oath, spending expensive reagents, not to sell cheap? Only a fool would.”

It was more like a verbal contract; the kitchen club wasn’t so well-off as to require a full oath, using costly reagents, that you wouldn’t sell things cheap.

“Puhuh. Don’t believe silly rumors too much. I once heard that an undying monster lived here in Einrogard. I spent over a year looking and never found it.”

“That’s…”

“Senior! We’re here.”

Accompanied by tired voices, other members appeared from behind.

It was morning, but their faces were full of fatigue.

Looking down, one hand of each was holding a bronze goose, while baskets full of screaming mushrooms were gripped in the other.

“Wardanaz? That’s you, right?”

“Hello.”

“Glad to meet you! I really wanted to meet you.”

“We had to yield a bit because of other club guys causing trouble, but you’ll definitely like our club the best.”

The seniors smiled brightly.

Thunk!

Then one collapsed to the side. Lee Han freaked out and shouted.

“Are you all right?!”

“Oh. I’m fine. Don’t worry. Just heard too many screams from the farm.”

The noise the screaming mushrooms emitted was toxic; even a wizard could faint or be seriously hurt if exposed too much.

“We wanted to pick some crescent moon honey fruit, but there were too many monsters there today.”

“We really need more mercs. At this rate, we won’t even be able to go into the east side of the farm.”

“…Wait. Senior.”

“Oh. Why? Do you have any questions?”

“Why do monsters appear on the club’s farm or ranch?”

“Hm? Of course monsters appear on farms or ranches…”

The senior tilted his head and then stopped.

“…Now that I think about it, monsters don’t usually appear on farms or ranches outside, do they?”

“I guess not, unless they drift in from somewhere.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry about that.”

The senior apologized and explained.

The club’s ranches and farms were a little different in concept from those outside.

How to secure food efficiently in Einrogard?

Normally, you’d farm or raise livestock, but busy students handling such hard labor to get what they needed was almost impossible.

But sometimes mana produced miracles.

Where mana pooled, unexpected changes and anomalies took place—including the rapid growth of crops and livestock.

Land where crops and animals thrived and flourished even without being tended.

The kitchen club students had identified several such places and used them for farms and ranches.

‘I feel like I’ve experienced something similar.’

Listening to the seniors, Lee Han grew thoughtful.

Come to think of it, he had experienced something similar.

When tending Professor Thunderstep’s garden, hadn’t the crops grown even more plentifully than expected?

He had assumed it was due to the staff given by the wood spirit, but hearing the seniors, his own mana had likely played a huge role.

“But where mana pools, monsters also gather. It’s inevitable.”

“You get used to it—it’s nothing, haha.”

As much mana pooled as there was, the kitchen club farms and ranches were practically monster dens.

Every time the members wanted to secure ingredients, they’d assemble a party and gear up for battle.

‘I got my hopes up for nothing again.’

Expecting a normal farm or ranch, Lee Han squeezed his eyes shut.

He’d had unreasonable hopes again.

Looking back, the senior who had fainted from the screaming mushrooms was still unconscious.

“You’re late! Did you guys go without me?!”

“Yeah. You lazy bum.”

“S-Sorry. Can’t you share just a little, just today?”

The late senior looked at the ingredients the others brought and pleaded desperately.

But the members were cold. Falkrius burst into laughter.

“Wahaha! Nice joke you got there?”

“S-senior. Please, just this once.”

“If you’re preparing the food, I’ll help!”

“There’s no ingredients! If you’d just lend me some…”

“Aren’t there some ingredients over there?”

Falkrius pointed. The late senior looked.

There was a stone on the ground.

“You can boil it, right!”

“…Who’s going to eat that?!”

“Then you should have gotten up early and brought ingredients. Puhuh. Why did your friends get attacked by bronze geese and fainted from screaming mushrooms since dawn!”

Falkrius laughed heartily and slapped the late senior’s back.

“If you don’t earn anything today, you can just earn tomorrow. Puhuhu.”

“I have equipment to buy today, senior! Then lend me some gold!”

“Wahahaha!”

“Senior!”

“Wahahahaha!”

The late senior hung his head, realizing further words were pointless.

“Huhu. One less competitor.”

“I’ll dominate the dining hall today.”

Watching the seniors eagerly mutter, Lee Han, not understanding, asked,

“Is there a reason to compete?”

“Of course, junior. We all sell for one gold coin. Then which food will students buy? The tastiest and most plentiful dish? Or a soup with just a stone boiled in water? If you’re not prepared, you’ll end up with nothing.”

“…!”

Seeing the competitive fire in the seniors’ eyes, Lee Han realized.

The kitchen club was by no means a congenial social club.

It was rather a fierce battlefield just like Einrogard itself!