Chapter 7

006. Those Who Made the Wrong Choice (2)

Eve von Loengrin.

The first emperor of Loengrin was a legendary virtuous ruler, unmatched in wisdom, magic, and martial arts.

Even without the historians' grand embellishments, the princes and princesses were generally competent.

And Eve von Loengrin, the youngest princess of this generation, was renowned for her talent, which was destined to leave a mark on the era.

At the age of four, she could sense mana, and at five, she mastered a 9th-tier spell. At eight, an 8th-tier spell; at ten, a 7th-tier spell. Now, at sixteen, she has mastered a 5th-tier spell, making her an exceptional-level mage.

She was a bundle of talent, a kind of talent that was impossible to envy.

In the royal family, which values seniority in magical practice, she shone brightly, and her light was even more pronounced when contrasted with the darkness of her older brother, Wolfram von Loengrin.

Despite being only sixteen, she surpassed the undergraduate students, and even the academy students did not underestimate her magical skills, talent, and knowledge.

She already held a pass to the lab and was currently making a name for herself in the field of light magic research.

Pride in the royal family, confidence in herself, a charismatic presence that overpowered those around her, the youngest Jefrin Student Council President, and a beautiful appearance—Eve, possessing all these qualities, appeared at the graduate lab with ease today.

"Hello, senior."

"Hello, Princess."

A senior she knew greeted her. More of a political operator than a pure researcher.

Eve didn't particularly like him, but opportunists were sometimes necessary. She needed to develop the ability to recognize when they were plotting something cheap, so she kept him around.

"Princess, you're really amazing. Hehe."

"…What do you mean?"

"No, I'm really impressed by you… Oh, right. Would you like one?"

As he said this, he handed her a small, round something wrapped in paper.

A sweet fragrance, the scent of fruit, sugar? And… artificial, but not to the point of being offensive, just a faint hint.

"…Candy?"

"Yes. Hehe. I bought one too."

"…?"

For Eve, candy was an incredibly luxurious snack.

Regardless of her status as a princess, high-quality candy often cost over 500,000 rin per piece.

Good fruits grow in places with dense mana, and naturally, such places attract mana beasts.

Fruits supplied to the royal family are grown with considerable risk.

Candies made from such fruits were something she rarely tasted even when in the royal palace.

"…Umm, candy."

So Eve hesitated. She was torn between the fear of losing her refined taste and the desire to give her brain a sugar boost. After a moment of deliberation, she accepted the candy.

"I'll take it. Thank you, senior."

"Yes, yes!"

The naive senior bowed, and Eve smiled as she put the candy in her mouth. Then,

"…Huh? Hehe."

"It seems you like it."

Eve couldn't hide her smile.

A refreshingly sweet taste, a candy that felt like it was healing her heart.

One might think it's a fuss over just a piece of candy, but this level of candy is a luxury that is hard to come by even in the royal family.

"Where did you get this?"

"…You didn't know? …Oh?"

"Senior?"

"Ah, I thought you knew…"

The senior was overly flustered, and Eve tilted her head in confusion. Who could have sold it to cause such a reaction?

"Who? I really don't know…"

"…Selling items from a cart in front of the Magic Department from dawn, wasn't that on the princess's orders?"

"…?"

"That wasn't a punishment? Ah, no, then…"

"Repentance? I don't think anyone around me has done anything that bad…"

She genuinely tilted her head in confusion. The senior stared at her for a moment, then closed his eyes and said, "Wolfram… Wolfram von Loengrin, the prince."

"Really?"

"Early in the morning, he was selling fish soup and candy, and I thought it was on the princess's orders, so… I bought it."

Thud.

A strawberry-flavored candy fell from Eve's mouth.

To be honest, in her life history,

This was the first time she had dropped food from her mouth since she threw away a pacifier in shame when she was one year old.

***

Even if Wolfram were a convenience store owner in a game, he still had to attend classes.

Using the Student Council President's privilege, one could graduate by attending only one day a week, but the current commoner Wolfram couldn't do that. He had to complete his major, take general education courses, and meet the required credits.

Since the real Lee Young-jin had never experienced college life, it was quite an enjoyable experience, except for two factors.

"Ugh… Gah."

After selling items from a cart from dawn, attending classes naturally led to severe muscle pain. A Strength 2 stat didn't allow Wolfram to handle two tasks a day.

The next issue was… the whispers around him.

[What… Is that Wolfram?]

[Didn't he leave school?]

[Isn't the Student Council President Eve?]

[He did something and still comes to school?]

[…Shh! Don't make eye contact!]

I didn't do anything, yet I'm being criticized, and I'm being looked at as if I did something. I didn't do anything, yet I'm being treated like a zoo monkey. But strangely, I can feel a sense of malice and hostility.

I know. I know, but… actually, I kind of expected it.

The real Lee Young-jin was a high school graduate, and Jefrin Academy is a combined high school and university.

So, could I experience campus life? I had a small hope.

But how about it?

Looking around, to my surprise, no one met my gaze.

"Alright. The eight attributes of mana. When applied to each concept, the following inferences are possible. So…"

The professor, who could be a useful ally in the original story, is quite cheerful despite being a bit verbose. But now, he's only looking at the board and explaining. Why? Because if he turns around, he'll meet my gaze.

And the students avoid my gaze the moment I look at them.

Muttering, the teacher speaks,

Scribbling, the students take notes.

An eerie silence fills the classroom, and I continue taking notes in the suffocating atmosphere.

Anyway, Wolfram did the dirty work, but I have to provide the strength in this dog-like situation.

The campus life I dreamed of was doomed from the start.

***

After the lecture, when I returned to the convenience store, I sighed deeply.

The store was filled with the traces of candy-making, and the sweetness was driving me crazy.

"I don't like it too sweet… Should I change the order?"

Although the codfish soup and candy were profitable, this wasn't worth it.

But I shook my head.

"Instead of investing in new things, I should get the existing ones on track."

Of course, there are items that will definitely become popular. The destruction of Sharp in Act 2 is a prime example.

Melpieu, a fourth-year student who always came in second in the Magic Department, cast a grand spell that temporarily contaminated the pens of all students, claiming that exams should be abolished.

As a result, the concept of "pen" within the Magic Department was shattered, and items that could be used as pens but were not pens had to be procured from outside.

It was a brilliant episode.

Anyway, if it's not a definite hit, I need to be careful with the orders.

I also need to attract customers to this convenience store. For that, I need to highlight its strengths.

If I had better stamina, I could pull the cart and sell items every day, but I would be exhausted after attending classes.

I have a lot to do. As I was pondering my future schedule,

Ding. Ding. Ding.

A clear chime rang out, signaling a customer.

Surprised that someone would come to this store, I looked up and saw a customer.

"It's been a while, Wolfram. I never thought I'd find you here."

The current Student Council President and my younger sister was glaring at me.

***

"What are you doing here, running a convenience store? What's your plan?"

She threw a direct question, and I shrugged.

"Plan? I took over the convenience store as part of a contract and am running it normally."

"Can you definitively say there are no negative elements involved?"

"Of course. Want to see my resume? I've even prepaid this quarter's taxes. I'll get a refund later."

"…What?"

"Alright. Anyway, I'm running the store with a clear conscience."

"You're saying you haven't done anything wrong?"

"Of course. Check the documents."

With that, Eve took the documents in front of me and examined them for a moment before clenching her fist.

"That's impossible."

"It's possible."

Her face turned red with anger.

Eve can be described as a leader with a strong sense of justice, a charismatic authoritarian who is full of prejudices.

In simple terms, she firmly believes that "Wolfram is evil, Ayla can't be trusted, Kelters can be trusted, and the school is corrupt."

She collects "evidence" to support her beliefs and acts accordingly.

One mistake and she becomes a tyrant.

Therefore, Eve is extremely cautious when making decisions, and once a decision is made, it is never reversed.

How do I know? I've seen it a lot in the game. It's even written in the setting book.

In other words, Eve believes that Wolfram is the villain and is sure that he is doing dirty deeds, so she came to investigate, thinking he must have some ulterior motive.

"…So, the first thing you did was go to the Magic Department and sell food and candy. Did you tamper with the food or candy?"

"Here's the ingredient comparison chart. I used the same ingredients as the previous owner."

I handed her a paper that read "Ingredients are normal."

Eve clenched her fist in frustration.

"But… the probability that you added something strange during preparation is…"

"Don't nitpick and don't insult my seniors."

"What?"

"Even if they are corrupt, they are still graduate students of the Magic Department. They are skilled in all forms of contamination and mutation. Verifying, comparing, and blocking all variables is their most common ability, isn't it? If the food they made had a problem and they didn't notice, wouldn't it be better for them to drop out of school immediately?"

"…Ugh."

Eve's face turned red, and her eyes welled up with tears.

The fact that the villain she believed in had no flaws was her greatest humiliation.

"According to the school rules, you, a non-Maestro of the Magic Department, are not allowed to do this!"

"It is allowed."

"Huh?"

"Article 3, Section 1. All students of Jefrin have the duty to freely discover and develop their abilities. Article 17, Section 6. Even if it's not in their major, if they believe they have a talent, they can prioritize its discovery, even if they delay changing their major. However, they must prove their achievements."

"…Huh?"

"I took over a failing convenience store and started making a profit from the first day. Is there a problem with that?"

"…Ugh, ugh!!"

Eve stomped her feet and rolled on the ground.

That old habit.

"If you have no complaints, leave."

"Then what about the candy?"

"The candy?"

"The candy the seniors bought! I tried it too! Where did you get such high-quality candy? I'll trace the illegal funds!"

"Oh…"

High-quality?

The candy I grew?

"Ugh, um. Was it good?"

"Of course! It was overwhelmingly better than the candy supplied to the royal family! Did you put drugs in it? To brainwash the seniors!"

"No, it's just good."

"What? You must have used some dirty black magic. Did your fiancée Ayla make you do it? Ha!"

"It's made from the fruits I grew."

"…?"

Eve tilted her head.

"It's made from fruits I grew using my secret method."

"…?"

"…Here, try this."

I picked a ripe fruit from a nearby sapling, wiped it, and handed it to Eve.

Eve took it and took a bite.

"…Hehe."

She smiled like a child.

I remember that face.

…When Kelters gave her something, she would smile like an idiot. It was a cute character trait.

But…

Maybe because she's my sister. Maybe her body rejected it.

It gave me goosebumps.

"Anyway, thank you for saying it was good."

"…Ugh. There's no way. The fruit you made…"

As she said this, Eve held the fruit and trembled.

"I'll throw it away."

"I'll take it and investigate!"

"…Do as you please. Just make sure to throw the trash away properly after you're done."

"…Eek!!"

Her ears turned red, and she stomped on the convenience store floor.

Hey, hey. If you break the tiles, it's all my money, you know.

"I'll keep an eye on you. If you use any more dirty tricks, I'll shut you down on the spot."

"Go ahead."

"EEEEK!!"

Eve turned around, clearly upset by my response, and I called out to her.

"Eve von Loengrin."

She ignored me and tried to walk out of the convenience store, but stopped at my next words.

"If you like it so much, why don't you buy a bag of candy? I'll give you a great deal, 10,000 rin per piece."

"…EEEEK!!"

She left the convenience store with a bag of eye candies, and I shrugged.

"I sold a cup to the graduate students for 50,000 rin, but she bought 100 pieces at once."

This is what it means to be a royal.

If she had bought more, I could have given her a few extra as a service.

"No. If I did that, I'd have to see that creepy smile a few more times…"

After all, she's my sister.

I didn't want to see that terrifying smile too often.