Chapter 98

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Good morning.

Today's weather is a downpour.

It doesn't matter today since there's no practical exam in the afternoon.

When I went to the cafeteria for breakfast, the former Goddess and the former President were sitting at the usual seat we always sit at, and Cavendish was talking to them.

I didn't feel like getting close, so I had breakfast at a seat near the entrance and left quickly.

In the morning, I mass-produced boards as long as I had materials.

Someone will definitely want them!

By the way, when I reported the Dragon Seal to Chief Tailsmya, he was very surprised.

I handed over the Dragon Seal and had Chief Tailsmya try it out. The magic array was transcribed without any problems, but more magic power was required for the burn-in than usual.

Since it only requires flowing magic power to burn in, it seems they will have the servants, who can't use much magic, try it out.

As long as the Dragon Seal's magic power doesn't run out, it should be usable, so I'm relieved.

I was also made to create Dragon Seals for the sound-gathering magic item, camera, monitor, and cable magic item!

I'm fine if I don't have to mass-produce them!

I also added a feature to prevent misuse to each seal.

They will apparently verify if the seals can be made with something other than a dragon's magic stone.

I don't know about that, though.

They also asked about the characters I wrote, but when I said they were from my previous life and that we learn over a thousand characters in the Young Academy, they gave up.

Chinese characters are hard, right? I'm not even confident I can read and write all of them!

When I went to the cafeteria for lunch, the former Goddess was standing at the entrance.

Next to her were the former President and Cavendish.

I passed by without being noticed and sat at a seat on the side, but since the former Goddess might come, I ate at a seat by the central wall.

So I couldn't meet up with Jiro and Shell.

They should understand the situation, though.

I thought about borrowing the training ground in the afternoon, but since it was a downpour, I considered the indoor training ground. However, it was already reserved, so I couldn't borrow it.

By the fourth day of the exam, the stress seems to be building up, and the Knight students apparently wanted to move their bodies.

What should we do? Since they are usually diligent, they don't get anxious about the exam, and the physical enhancement training they finally succeeded in is so enjoyable that they don't feel like doing anything else.

So, let's go to the old magic item shop to kill time! We can stay dry with a barrier even in a downpour!

When we arrived at the already familiar magic item shop and tried to enter, Diggory, who was at the front, stopped us.

When I wondered what was going on, I heard shouting from inside.

"Why aren't there any cursed magic items?! I thought there would be some here! Are you going to pick your customers just because you're a secondhand shop? I have the money, so just give them to me!"

I could only see her back, but the former Goddess was shouting at the shop owner.

I don't know why she wants cursed magic items, but I don't want to get involved, so I left without entering the shop.

Since she might go to other old magic item shops, I decided to observe from a nearby café.

I drank tea while watching from the window.

As usual, I only ate the fruit part of the extremely spicy dessert, and the rest was eaten by Arlshein.

After a while, the former Goddess came out of the shop looking very angry.

She disappeared somewhere while still wet, and after confirming she was gone, I headed to the old magic item shop.

"Welcome! Oh, you guys came at just the right time! We just got in some cursed magic items two days ago. Did you smell them?"

The shop owner greeted us with a smile.

"Huh? When I peeked earlier, you said there were no cursed magic items?"

"Did you hear that? You're a bad person. The customer who just left has come here before, and they are very picky but pay poorly. Since these items don't sell often, I'm selling them at a low price, but when they tried to haggle, I lost the will to sell."

"I see! It's annoying when items other than fresh ones are haggled over, right? Especially cursed magic items, which are just for fun. If you can't pay, you should just give up, right? Why did that customer want to haggle over cursed magic items?"

"Well, they said something about being able to skillfully remove curses and use them effectively."

"Hmm, to be able to remove curses that even the Church's Cardinals struggle with, you must be very confident, right?"

"Yeah, well, as long as they pay, I don't care what they do with them, but when they act so superior and demand them, it's a no-go."

"Ahaha, no wonder you didn't want to sell!"

"Exactly. So, are you guys going to buy them?"

"We'll buy them, at the listed price!"

"Thank you!"

Diggory grinned, and the shop owner grinned back, then brought out the cursed magic items from the back of the shelf.

"Still, you guys are quite curious, collecting so many cursed magic items. What are you going to use them for? Just out of curiosity, you don't have to answer if it's a secret."

"Well, we're not really using them for anything. At first, we used them to play pranks on people we didn't like and for curse removal practice, but now it's just a hobby."

"Ah, I see, there are collectors for everything."

"Exactly, it's just a habit now."

"Sure, if you have the means, you can collect whatever you like."

"Yep, I plan to keep it up until I get bored. Thanks again!"

Diggory's relaxed atmosphere and talk convinced the shop owner that we were just rich kids with a hobby.

We bought the cursed magic items and left the shop.

Before entering, Diggory had already removed all the cursed magic items he had previously bought and unsealed. Impressive!

This shows how smart Diggory is, even though he often acts silly!

We returned to the academy and, since we had nothing to do, decided to cook rice for the first time in a while!

When we arrived at the academy, Shell arranged for us to borrow a room and went to call Jiro while Diggory washed and soaked the rice.

After talking about rice, Jiro and Shell arrived soon.

Yugram was trying it for the first time, but Diggory and Shell enthusiastically recommended it, so he seemed interested.

The chicken was marinated and left for a while.

To make the young people, who tend to eat only meat, eat vegetables, I made miso soup with lots of vegetables.

The broth was made from mushrooms, which are apparently magical creatures. They are huge and have a yellow-green and purple polka-dot pattern, but they make good broth! The polka dots disappear when cooked.

There was also a light salad and kinpira daikon.

The daikon leaves were used as a garnish.

After cooking the rice and frying the chicken, it was done!

Yugram, who was trying rice for the first time, initially complained that it looked like bugs, but when he saw the two next to him eating it enthusiastically, he tried a little and got hooked! Now he's eating as much as the others.

At this rate, the rice will run out quickly.

We definitely won't do this at the castle! Definitely!

After everyone ate until they couldn't move, we returned to our room.

On the way, we encountered the former Goddess coming out of the cafeteria.

Since we were all full from eating rice for the first time in a while, we were completely off guard and didn't have time to put up a barrier! What a mistake!

"Ah, where have you all been? You weren't in the cafeteria, and everyone was looking for you!"

She was mainly talking to Shell, but her gaze moved from Arlshein to Yugram and Diggory, looking at them as if she was sizing them up.

She seemed to ignore Jiro and me.

She wriggled her body and looked up at us with big eyes.

Upon closer inspection, her face was quite well-featured, more cute than beautiful.

Her hair was white and reached her waist, she was short, and her figure was slender. Her eyes were large, and her nose and mouth were small.

Her face resembled a two-timing woman.

The male Galen had a more beautiful and godly face.

Shell, looking very unwilling, asked,

"What do you want?"

She replied,

"Well, I don't really have anything specific, but everyone was worried because they couldn't see you."

"We always have a barrier up, so it's normal that they can't see us."

"Um..."

"If you don't have anything, we'll be on our way."

Shell cut her off, and the rest followed in silence.

Despite her protests, we ignored her.

Everyone's legs were disproportionately long, and they walked very fast! A normal lady would never be able to keep up! The former Goddess, trying to keep up, eventually gave up.

As soon as we turned the corner, the obstruction magic item activated! The former Goddess was kicking the wall.

"Ugh, what is this! I'm a beautiful girl, so you should at least react a little! And the magic item shop only has external items! If I don't get a rare item here, I won't be able to reverse-harem later! Cavendish and Etchett fell quickly, but why is there no connection with the others! Sure, I haven't completed the encounter events, but after meeting so many times, there should be some reaction!"

She was kicking the wall so hard it hurt to watch, but she must be tough, the former Goddess.

"Yeah, I need that! With that magic item, I can do whatever I want! A piece that doesn't listen to me shouldn't even exist! I won't accept it!"

She kicked the wall one last time and left.

"Ugh, a piece! As expected of a former goddess, she thinks humans should move as she pleases! Scary!"

"Her evil nature is understandable, no wonder she failed!"

"I'm also curious about the magic item she wants."

"Right, from the way she talked, it seemed like something that can twist people's wills and make them do as she pleases! It's scary to think of giving such a thing to her!"

"Should we change our plans for this weekend and visit the magic item shops?"

"Indeed, she talked as if such a magic item exists and will be available soon. We haven't encountered any magic items that control people among the cursed items we've obtained so far."

"Since we only have the morning exam tomorrow, we can visit nearby magic item shops, and the others on the weekend."

"Right, I'll send a letter to change the schedule."

"Then, let's quickly finish the morning exam tomorrow!"

Everyone laughed lightly at Yugram's summary and dispersed.