Episode 94

“You really grew these yourself?”

Salko asked, his voice mixed with surprise and curiosity.

The boy was a student of the Azure Dragon Tower, from the renowned Wardanaz family—one of the greatest houses of the empire.

That such a boy had grown such fresh, appetizing, glossy, and enticing potatoes himself was hard to believe, even hearing it straight from him.

“Yes. I grew them myself.”

Ihan nodded coolly.

Other Black Tortoise Tower students, watching the situation, stepped up.

“Wardanaz really did grow them, Tutantha.”

“We even got to taste them ourselves the other time! They were delicious!”

“I see. What did you pay for them?”

Salko asked his friends.

The Black Tortoise Tower students hesitated.

…They just ate them…

“Don’t tell me you got them for free??”

Salko glared menacingly. The impression he gave off was fierce, as if he might swing a hammer any second, and the Black Tortoise Tower students were frightened.

The Tutantha family motto was simple:

-Those who do not work, shall not eat.

No matter if they were from the same Tower, getting free food without working was an unforgivable crime.

Such things were done by conscience-less nobles or certain knights!

“Uh… well… no…”

Ihan, who couldn’t watch any longer, stepped in.

“They helped me, so I served them as thanks.”

“!”

The Black Tortoise Tower students looked at Ihan with moved expressions.

‘Wardanaz…!’

“That’s right! That’s what happened!”

“We helped Wardanaz!”

At that, Salko relaxed his expression.

“That’s good. I was worried you all might have done something like getting food from others without giving anything in return.”

“That couldn’t happen, Salko.”

“My most hated word is freeloading, Salko.”

“Understood.”

As Salko was about to walk away, Ihan asked him,

“Would you like a potato?”

The reason Ihan asked Salko was simple.

Everyone liked the potatoes from the garden. Even the princess had praised them.

Of course, lately Ihan suspected—contrary to his followers—that the princess just had no taste buds and thought everything was delicious…

Previously, Salko had also been staring intently at the potatoes in Ihan’s basket.

It was either that Salko liked potatoes, or he had a personal vendetta against them.

“…No, I’m fine. I have nothing to pay you with right now.”

“You can just take one.”

“Don’t insult me, Wardanaz. A Tutantha dwarf does not accept charity without labor.”

‘But you’re an elf…’

Before Ihan could say it, Salko darted away, as though he’d be tempted if he stared at the potatoes too long.

• * *

“These are hard times for thieves like me.”

Meeting Ihan, Ratford nodded and explained the situation.

Originally, the Black Tortoise Tower students were so diverse in their backgrounds that they tended to gather separately.

But as time went by, distinctive figures naturally stood out.

Tutantha Salko was just such a dwarf—no, elf.

With superior magical ability and a responsibility as steadfast as rock, more and more friends followed Tutantha.

‘What about Nillia…’

Ihan suddenly felt sorry for Nillia.

Nillia had also done a lot for the Black Tortoise Tower students, but while they liked her, they didn’t trust her as a leader.

She was the exact opposite of Salko.

‘Is it the difference between dark elves and elves? No, that’s probably not it.’

Either way, Salko’s followers increased, and the black market run by the Black Tortoise Tower grew larger.

Rumors brought Azure Dragon and White Tiger Tower students to trade all sorts of goods there.

Naturally, more people meant more problems.

-Why does this cost five loaves of bread!

-You can’t do this here!

-Hey, this coffee’s fake! Give me back my bread!

-We can’t offer refunds once you’ve bought! And I told you up front it was fake coffee made from dandelion!

With students from different Towers coming and going, more problems were inevitable.

Still, Black Tortoise Tower students struggled to stand up to students from other towers, who were mostly scions of great noble and knightly houses.

So the students turned to the most reliable one, not Nillia but Salko.

Salko, after some thought, agreed, but firmly said they had to follow his rules.

-If you want students from other towers to obey my rules, you all have to obey them first!

-Got it, Tutantha!

-Of course, we have to follow your rules!

-Remember, if you don’t work first, you don’t eat.

-A good rule!

-But students from the other towers will never keep it, right?

-Stolen goods are also banned.

-……

-……

-Is something wrong? Any problems?

-No! No!

Of course, there was some grumbling, but Salko’s fierceness did eliminate a lot of other issues.

After hearing all this, Ihan was indignant.

“It’s always a few troublemakers making decent people suffer. Thanks to the White Tiger Tower brats, thieves like you and me are about to starve.”

“Exactly.”

Ratford nodded vigorously in agreement.

“It must be tough for you, Ratford. So, what are you doing these days?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I still sell stolen goods quietly.”

Ihan admired Ratford’s calm reply. Truly, he wasn’t a pro thief for nothing.

Running a black market within the black market…

“Of course, I can’t go public anymore, so it’s much smaller now. Instead, I do other things.”

“?”

Ratford pointed to a corner of the market, where several Black Tortoise Tower students sat doing something other than trade.

“L-look at this closely. There’s an emperor card out of these three. I’ll shuffle them now… Find it, and you get double your bet.”

After flipping three cards, he shuffled them rapidly—find the emperor and you win double.

…It was gambling!

“Is gambling okay?”

“Tutantha doesn’t like gambling, but… he allowed it. Banning it on top of everything else would have caused too much discontent.”

By percentage, Black Tortoise Tower had the most criminals.

Thieves’ guild, gambling guild, etc.—such types usually entered the Black Tortoise Tower.

Salko knew that and let money games pass as labor.

Besides card gambling, there were chess matches, lockpicking competitions (which seemed to be Ratford’s job), and various other things.

‘Is this an adventurer’s guild or what?’

“Augh! My bread!! My three days’ worth of bread!!”

“S-sorry. I shuffled a bit too slowly…”

A White Tiger Tower student screamed, clutching his head. Looked like he’d lost his riches.

“Don’t give up, Duke-ma. You just had bad luck this round. Try again, just one more time!”

“It’s not that hard! You’ll get it this time!”

Ihan looked at the opponent. It was a familiar face.

The giant-blooded Imirg, whom he’d met in Professor Mortum’s black magic class.

Ihan marveled in his mind.

‘It makes sense—giants would lull their opponents into a false sense of security.’

Anyone would think Imirg’s huge hands were clumsy and slow.

But Ihan, watching closely, could see Imirg using tricks while shuffling the cards.

‘He’s good.’

In a world with magic, it’s easy to think there’s no place for skills and sleight of hand.

Still, some mastered such techniques.

These were the gambling guild’s gamblers.

Using magic would get you caught, so they relied on pure dexterity and skill.

Ihan guessed Imirg must be from the gambling guild.

“Never, ever play against Imirg.”

Ratford warned, misreading Ihan’s stare.

Even Ratford, who had some skill, never won against Imirg.

That’s how unmatched Imirg was inside the Black Tortoise Tower.

“I’m not really interested in gambling, Ratford. I just thought it was fun to watch.”

Ihan clenched and unclenched his fist. A coin vanished. Ratford exclaimed in amazement.

“As expected of Lord Wardanaz! I always thought you had the makings of a master thief—I wasn’t wrong!”

“Keep your voice down, or I’ll be embarrassed if people hear.”

Even a simple coin trick brought such a heated reaction, it was embarrassing.

“No, Lord Wardanaz. With those skills, you deserve your own spot here!”

“……”

Ihan was momentarily tempted.

It sounded quite appealing.

‘Did I practice those tricks all this time for this very moment?’

To swipe bread and meat from White Tiger Tower students’ pockets…

“But I’m in another tower.”

“I’ll put in a good word for you. There are plenty here who owe you, Lord Wardanaz, so it should be fine.”

Before Ratford could even get up, Salko appeared behind him.

Trailing behind were the same Black Tortoise Tower students from earlier, standing like guilty criminals.

“Wardanaz. I asked again and it seems these friends really did eat without paying.”

‘Those loose-tongued idiots.’

Ihan cursed the Black Tortoise Tower students.

If you’re going to deny it, at least stick with it.

Ihan was different. He’d deny until the world ended.

“I had no choice. My family motto is ‘Share food with the hungry.’ ”

Ihan had a way of being taken seriously, even when spouting nonsense.

The students found themselves nodding in agreement without even realizing.

Of course!

No wonder Wardanaz always fed his friends…

“I’m not blaming you, Wardanaz. It’s not your fault. I came to apologize for my friends’ mistake. What they did was the kind of irresponsible behavior done by lazy nobles or violent knights.”

Salko bowed his head in apology. The Black Tortoise Tower friends bowed their heads, too, looking sheepish.

Then, other tower students waiting outside the market protested.

“That’s way over the line!”

“Lazy nobles?! You don’t know how hard the life of a noble is!”

“Do you realize the burden of honor and responsibility we must bear as knights?!”

‘They’re tower-mates, but still, what a bunch of jerks.’

For a moment, Ihan was tempted to take Salko’s side.

Such shameless, conscienceless brats…

Salko just ignored them as if he hadn’t heard.

“My first wish is to make them pay for what they ate, but they don’t have the means right now.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

The Azure Dragon Tower friends had kept records of every silver spent, but had no intention of doing that with the Black Tortoise Tower kids.

“No, I’ll pay for them myself.”

“!”

Ihan was surprised.

To pay for them himself.

‘The Tutantha family must really be rich.’

It was a famous stonecutter guild in the empire, so it wasn’t possible for them not to be wealthy.

Ihan wondered how much he should charge for the last tomato-vegetable stew.

“I heard a rumor you prowl the school at night, Wardanaz. Is it true?”

“I don’t know what nonsense you’ve heard, but that’s a total lie.”

“……”

“……”

The Azure Dragon and White Tiger Tower students, listening outside the black market, looked dumbfounded.

‘Has that guy got a face made of steel…?’

‘Maybe the Wardanaz family trains their kids to show no emotion.’

Despite Ihan’s denial, Salko kept going unwaveringly.

“I have some information that might help with that.”

“!”