“Welcome back, students,” said the teacher in charge of us.

It’s been a journey finding him. His location was unknown since we wandered a lot before we finally found him.

The teacher sipped tea from a white, oval cup, sitting on an elegant table. The sight was peculiar since the area around was dirty compared to the cleanness of the table.

There were tables and chairs surrounding him, however the quality was lacking compared to the one in front of us. A single group of students were there, all of them slept on the table head down.

“Here’s what we could gather from the dungeon,” said Arakawa, setting the bag on the table.

The teacher's eyes narrowed, stroking his beard.

Much of what we gathered was the items which fitted, some unrefined mana stones had to be discarded.

He gazed at each of us, scrutinizing our appearance. The man’s stare lingered on me for a second later since he then turned his attention to the bag.

“Good job. You all may take a break while the appraisal is conducted.”

He inspected the bag. He raised each unrefined mana stone in the air, letting it bask under the afternoon sun.

“Yes, sir.”

Arakawa and the rest found seats around the teacher.

I was planning to do the same, but—

“And, Taetel,” said the man, stopping his actions.

Huh…?

“Come here, I want to talk to you.”

What does he want?

“Sure.”

Ignoring the curious stares by all the people nearby, I followed the man. We kept strolling through the forest until we found ourselves near a carriage.

“Ms. Tanimura has told me some interesting things about you.”

“Oh? I wonder what she said about me.”

I have no possible idea on what he might be referring to. In fact, my teacher might’ve lied or told misinformation to him.

Yeah, definitely.

…

…

Is this what I think it is?

“Let’s head inside the carriage and talk inside.”

Crunch.

As I continued following him, I stepped on a tree branch. It alerted a nearby bunny, the animal hopped away with every inch of its strength only to get a hole blown through its head by a ray of light.

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“Free food.”

I went over to the dead bunny’s corpse, and discreetly crouched. I pretended like I was skinning it with my sword while in reality monsters drank the blood spilled.

“What are you doing? Leave the animal alone, it serves no use,” he said, tapping his finger on his arm.

“Got it.”

The amount of time was enough for the spiders to consume blood to keep living. They won’t be hungry any longer. Might I add, the mana dust was left in the bag hence my actions.

A horse was stationed near the carriage, the coachman being a regular middle aged man. Inside the carriage, we both sat opposite to each other, facing each other.

“You must be wondering why I called you. Well, don’t panic, it isn't anything bad, quite the opposite considering what she told me.”

“What do you mean?”

Is it—!

“I heard you asked her if discounts apply for slaves. This must mean you’re looking to buy some, right?” he said, smiling at me.

…

…

…

What a turn of events.

My question wasn’t in vain.

…

“Does that mean it does apply?” I asked, getting more invested in the conversation.

“Not quite,” he said, shaking his head. “One of my close friends has opened his first shop slave near the area and he’s looking for customers. Since competition is tough he hasn’t been getting many customers.”

“So you’re hoping I can bring revenue to him. Not that I dislike the idea however like you said, there is a lot of competition. What stops me from going to the competitor?”

“Correct. This is why I precisely brought you here. I can get you a tremendous discount since I know the seller, in addition you’re going to be one of his first customers. How about it, doesn’t sound like a bad deal?” he asked, stretching his hand towards me.

“Is it okay for you to make underhand deals with me as a teacher?”

Ha, I bet he doesn’t care. No, this is how this academy works.

“Don’t act ignorant. You fully understand how this is no different than what the rest of the staff does,” he said, smirking.

“Look, I’m happy to take the deal, but I don’t want to hear any rumors surfacing about my involvement. The Chaim name will never be sullied.”

“There’s no need for those words. In fact, I’m the one risking myself, talking to a random kid who I’ve never met,” he said, chuckling.

“As long as the feeling is mutual,” I said, shaking his hand.

“By the way, where exactly is the place?”

Rather than going right now, I’m guessing we’ll have to schedule an appointment of sorts. Plus he still has to inform his friend about my arrival.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re—I mean, you’re going there right now.”

Scratch that, we’re going now, not that I’m complaining.

“Hm, you’re staying?”

“Unfortunately so. I have to wait for the rest of the students. I’ll make an excuse for your absence.”

“I doubt it’s going to be that easy.”

“Never underestimate a teacher’s influence.”

The circumstances were beyond suspicious, still there was no chance I would deny the opportunity. In addition, risking the life of a student is something they won’t let happen.

“Last thing, take this,” said the teacher, handing an envelope. “This'll be the requirements needed to obtain the discount, just show it to him when you get there.”

I nodded, taking the envelope. The teacher hopped off, leisurely leaving me alone with the driver. Once he was gone from my field of vision, the coachman reined the horse forward.

The carriage moved at a decent speed. I watched our surroundings change from the forest to another forest.

There wasn’t much to comment on.

I’m trying to pass time, you see.

The ultimate destination.

The ultimate reward.

Haha.

I’m joking.