Chapter 49. Special Discount Store (1)

The black ship carrying the 49th batch of students cut through the waves without hesitation.

For about two days, the 49th batch cadets had worked tirelessly on the dragon scale harvesting, without even a moment's rest. Now, they were scattered around the black ship, taking a break.

However, their overall mood was far from good.

A few looked relatively fine, but most wore irritated expressions.

One of them, unable to contain his frustration, finally let out a harsh expletive.

"Damn, we worked our asses off, but the harvest is nothing but crap!"

The curse that echoed across the deck was met with many nods of agreement from the 49th batch.

Seeing the dejected faces of his peers, Jerry couldn't help but smile faintly.

"Damn..."

The story about most of the 49th batch drawing blanks during the dragon scale harvesting.

He had accepted the suggestion, but it still felt dubious.

To be honest, he had mostly gone along with it, thinking it was a chance to be fooled.

But what do you know?

After the dragon scale harvesting ended and he heard the stories from his peers, it turned out that the kid's words were all true.

Moreover, the information about the three individuals he provided was also true, and thanks to his luck in monopolizing them, Jerry managed to secure over 3,000 points.

While 3,000 points might not be a huge amount for a second-year, it was a significant achievement to have earned that much when everyone else drew blanks.

Just as a sense of gratitude towards Yuli was rising in his heart...

'Wait? Now that I think about it, I didn't see that kid among the qualifiers, did I?'

With his distinctive dark hair and unique, brash demeanor, he should have been noticeable.

Yet, Jerry had no memory of seeing him before leaving the island.

"...Did he fail?"

Muttering this, Jerry soon chuckled.

"No way, that kid couldn't have failed."

It was more likely that the number of qualifiers for the 50th batch was unusually high, and he had simply missed seeing him.

Or...

"Maybe he was up to some weird shenanigans and showed up late? Hehe!"

With that playful mutter, Jerry forgot about Yuli and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A boy walking surrounded by ten black sword soldiers.

He was clearly Yuli, who had headed to the mainland two days ago.

Some of the 50th batch cadets showed curiosity at Yuli and the black sword soldiers, but those who rolled their eyes quickly had to avert their gaze.

The aura of the black sword soldiers surrounding Yuli was far from ordinary.

The killing intent was so strong that just looking at them made one's spine chill.

The 50th batch cadets who had glanced over broke out in cold sweat.

'What, what is this? Why is he like that?'

'Did something happen?'

While the black sword soldiers were usually stern, this level of killing intent was unprecedented.

Clearly, something had happened, and they were curious about what it was.

But who would be bold enough to approach such black sword soldiers and ask what happened?

On the other hand, Yuli, surrounded by these intimidating black sword soldiers, seemed completely unfazed.

He kept grumbling, his mouth moving under his long hair.

"Come on, even if that's the case, is it really necessary to have ten black sword soldiers for just one kid?"

"..."

"Isn't it?"

"...Be quiet and walk."

"Roger that."

Yuli, receiving a fierce glare from the black sword soldier, quickly shut his mouth.

A moment later, a one-eyed man, seeing Yuli standing before him, spoke.

"Yuli Holland's dragon scale?"

"Checked, no issues."

Since this was expected, the one-eyed man showed no particular reaction.

He was only curious about where this kid had been and what he had been doing until now.

"Where did you find him?"

"That's..."

The people who brought Yuli in looked perplexed.

The most senior-looking black sword soldier, after exchanging glances, spoke in a low voice.

"...In the deputy commander's tent."

For a moment, the one-eyed man thought he had misheard.

He blinked and asked again.

"What did you say?"

But his hearing was fine.

What was abnormal was the place where Yuli had been found.

"...Inside the camp, in the deputy commander's tent."

"My tent?"

"Yes."

The one-eyed man's head turned sharply towards Yuli.

Under that intense gaze, Yuli scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.

"Hehe, it just looked better than the other places."

"You...!"

The one-eyed man's single eye showed a complex mix of emotions.

'He was hiding in the camp? In my tent?'

The journey from the Forest of Beginnings to the mainland took a full day by boat.

During the month-long survival test, it was impossible for the numerous black sword soldiers to travel back and forth such a long distance repeatedly.

Thus, a temporary camp was established outside the northern wall.

In fact, there was no particular effort to hide the black sword soldiers' camp from the cadets.

If they wanted to, other cadets could have found the camp as well.

But who would be crazy enough to sneak into a place teeming with black sword soldiers?

'...But there was one.'

A kid who boldly did what no one else would.

A lunatic who even sneaked into the deputy commander's tent.

"Hmm..."

The one-eyed man's expression became peculiar.

'Did he deliberately wait for this moment to sneak in?'

The camp was usually under strict surveillance by the resident black sword soldiers.

Even a skilled cadet would find it difficult to sneak into the camp.

But for one day in a month,

For a few hours, the camp would be completely empty and the security lax.

'Especially when even the overall supervisor of the forest, me, was away.'

That was the time when all the tests were over, and hundreds of black sword soldiers entered the Forest of Beginnings to clean up.

In other words, it was the perfect moment for someone with a specific purpose to sneak into the camp.

The one-eyed man glared at Yuli.

"Body search?"

"Done, no issues."

"Anything missing from my tent?"

"When we checked... nothing was missing."

"Nothing? Nothing at all?"

"Yes."

The scar on the one-eyed man's face twitched.

'So he entered my tent for no reason?'

Honestly, he couldn't understand.

It didn't seem like Yuli would sneak into his tent without a specific purpose.

'What was in there?'

The tent in the Forest of Beginnings' camp was a temporary residence for a month, so it wasn't much.

It was more like a makeshift office.

There were only a few bedding items, some furniture, and a few documents that needed urgent attention.

Those documents weren't something a cadet would be interested in.

'So what was the reason?'

The one-eyed man's single eye narrowed as he looked at Yuli.

'Purpose... purpose...'

If Yuli Holland's original purpose wasn't in his tent, then why did he sneak into it?

'If it was this kid...'

Suddenly, the one-eyed man's eye sparkled.

He used mana to lower his voice and relayed a command to his subordinate.

[Search the supply warehouse immediately.]

A high-level mana control technique that allowed the voice to be heard only by the intended recipient.

The subordinate, understanding why the deputy commander used this method, nodded and moved quickly.

The one-eyed man, who issued the command, then asked Yuli.

"Just to be sure..."

"..."

"Do you have a penchant for thievery?"

As soon as the question was asked, Yuli flared up, looking indignant.

"Hey, how can you say that! And 'thievery' too! What else is there with 'thievery'?! I just wanted to hide in that tent!"

"..."

"Of course, the best place to hide would be the room of a high-ranking official! I figured they wouldn't search the room of the highest-ranking person. How can you say that!"

Yuli looked genuinely indignant, as if he had been hurt by the earlier comment.

But that look didn't last long.

Creak.

The people who had gone to search the supply warehouse at the one-eyed man's command returned with a few large sacks.

After reporting to the one-eyed man, they poured the contents of the sacks in front of Yuli.

Small pebbles and dirt spilled out.

Rustle.

Seeing the pile of pebbles, the one-eyed man chuckled.

"No thievery, you say?"

"What do you mean?"

"These sacks were supposed to contain 10-point items stored in the supply warehouse. As you can see, they are now filled with pebbles."

Points.

The silver coins with holes were valuable only to the cadets.

To the black sword soldiers, points were just fake money, a common item to be managed.

Especially the 10-point items, which had been in the warehouse for a long time as surplus stock, were not a major concern for the black sword soldiers.

'This kid managed to find them.'

Although they were surplus stock, they were worth at least 100,000 points.

Moreover, being the lowest denomination, the quantity was substantial.

'He couldn't have moved them all at once, so he must have hidden them somewhere to collect later.'

Since the Forest of Beginnings would be closed for a while after this dragon scale harvesting, it was a good opportunity to come back and collect the hidden points.

However, it must have taken a considerable amount of time to hide the points, leaving him no