Loxibrook's Transcendent Market mainly catered to low- and mid-Sequence Transcendents, so the quality of its goods was uneven.
The Main Academy of the Magic Academy, by contrast, clearly went upmarket. Fine potions and equipment filled the shelves in dazzling variety, and high-Sequence materials turned up now and then.
Still, noble mages demanded noble goods, and noble goods naturally came with noble prices.
In a tastefully decorated shop with the most outrageous prices of all, Li Fei gave the store's prized treasure, [Exquisite Heart], one last longing look. Its enormous attribute bonuses had her drooling. Put a divine artifact like that in a mid-Sequence Transcendent's hands, and slaughtering everything in sight wouldn't be a dream.
Unfortunately, its price tag was denominated in [Sacrificial Gems].
Even the female teacher beside her went pauper-eyed at the sight of that piece of equipment. Her pupils brimmed with yearning, exactly the way she looked at Li Fei.
The three of them moved on to the next shop, which was crammed with specimens and pelts. Glass display cases held jars and bottles of multicolored blood, bizarre plants, organs from unidentifiable creatures, and tiny embryos. Some of it was still moving.
Nothing in this shop was safe to touch carelessly. Li Fei had already given up any thought of finding a bargain and got straight to the point.
"Excuse me, do you have a withered purple Dream Demon eyeball?"
"Let me think… Ah, one moment, customer."
The gnome shopkeeper, a monocle perched over one eye, pondered in his unhurried way for a moment. Then a deep green tentacle slithered out from under the counter and opened the display case.
"I recall that a few years ago, Little John ordered a purple Dream Demon eyeball from me… But three days after he paid the deposit, he died in a dragon's lair. So I've kept it all this time."
It really existed!
Li Fei took the glass bottle the tentacle handed her. It was filled with slightly cloudy liquid, and at the bottom a fist-sized gray eyeball slept quietly.
It was hard to appraise an item through glass, so she asked for guidance.
"What I need is a purple…"
"Purple is an occult element. It symbolizes decay and disease, not appearance."
The gnome shopkeeper carried on at a leisurely pace. "Just as the number 13 signifies misfortune and calamity while 6 is an omen of good luck, colors have always been vital occult symbols. Yet so many young people overlook them…"
He might well be a retired teacher from the Magic Academy. He had the full air of an old pedant who loved to lecture, and the moment professional knowledge came up, there was no shutting his mouth.
"Thank you for the lesson, sir. Your learning is truly admirable, and we younger folk ought to follow your example."
Li Fei played the humble student first and laid the flattery on thick. Only then did she ask about the price. "If I wanted this eyeball, what would I have to pay for it?"
"Fifty-seven thousand credits."
The moment money came up, the gnome's speech turned crisp.
Credits were the Magic Academy's common currency, and one credit had the purchasing power of two gold coins.
"Sir, actually…"
Li Fei smiled shyly, trying to knock the price down.
But her negotiating skills centered on "how to make the most of her physical advantages," and in front of men she couldn't even be bothered to throw a wink. Ten parts of The Art of Tea yielded not one part of effect. The visual impact of her charm alone couldn't sway the will of a powerful mage, so her little scheme fell flat. She fell back and made a second request.
"Then can I pay with Goldsmith Notes?"
"Of course."
This time, the gnome agreed gladly. "One hundred nineteen thousand seven hundred gold coins."
"…? Shouldn't that be one hundred fourteen thousand gold coins?"
The smile froze on Li Fei's face.
"The market rate for buying credits with gold is 2.1 to 1."
The gnome shopkeeper was in no hurry. "So, one hundred nineteen thousand seven hundred gold coins. It's a fair price, young lady."
Li Fei had run into the same problem as when she'd exchanged Witch Points.
Purchasing power was one thing, and the actual exchange rate was another. With Witch Points or credits, you could get certain very rare items relatively easily. But those rare resources circulated in small numbers on the open market. Unless you had solid connections or sheer luck, paying in gold usually meant paying a premium, whether by bidding at an auction or by publicly seeking a seller with a bonus attached. Sometimes you couldn't buy them at any price.
So anyone who wanted to exchange gold for these currencies had to bear an extra cost.
After her pleading got nowhere, Li Fei sighed and got ready to pay up. The gnome's price was fair, after all, and at the very least a better deal than paying with Wealth Points.
"Um, I have credits. I can lend them to you."
Annesia spoke up suddenly.
Li Fei froze, then blinked. "That's over fifty thousand credits…"
Annesia nodded lightly and handed Li Fei the silver brooch from her collar.
—She hadn't been Sequence 6 for very long, so where had she gotten so many credits? This young lady had won the exchange event and only got five thousand!
Li Fei immediately recalled what the Dean had said, in person, on the day she first heard about Folded Space B-01.
Annesia had made outstanding contributions in Folded Space C-11, which earned her an entry ticket to the contest for the Holy Altar and a place as a candidate for Gold-rank student. But the academy's rewards clearly didn't stop there. It had also handed out a hefty sum of credits. That was the good thing about the Magic Academy: for outstanding students, it never skimped on real money, instead of fobbing them off with a certificate.
Of course, this was no time to speculate about what feat the white-haired girl had pulled off. The point was whether to accept her kindness.
Miss Top Courtesan was no longer the green rookie she'd once been. Back when she first entered the trade, her head had been full of commissions and sales figures, her mission to max out every client's credit card, and she'd grabbed every bargain going. Now she was a seasoned PR professional. Having fully enjoyed the value of [Connections], Miss Top Courtesan had to consider things more thoroughly.
For instance, the "favors" of distinguished, high-potential clients were a currency no less valuable than [Sacrificial Gems]. An offhand remark or an effortless helping hand from them could bring results that otherwise took heaps of money. This showed most clearly with Dean Nicole. Whether it was the deal with Yusura or the Gold-rank brooch hidden in her ring, both mattered enormously to Miss Top Courtesan. Only after realizing that had she put "client experience" first and commissions second.
And then there was another matter: as a rising Transcendent, Li Fei had to keep up appearances. That meant that having accepted costly gifts, she had to return something not too far below their value. Even if no repayment was due yet, the debt would catch up with her sooner or later. Miss Top Courtesan still had a headache over the eleven storage items she'd received as birthday gifts. Accepting had been easy, but when those ladies' birthdays rolled around, the return gifts would make her wish she were dead.
Of course, if they became family, there'd be no problem. Lady Zhihua's mountains of potions, her storage sachets, and the painstakingly prepared [Lucky Goddess's Smile] were more than Miss Top Courtesan could repay even after years as a living bodhisattva. Yet she'd accepted them with a perfectly clear conscience. Spoiling one's wife is only proper, hehe.
—So, borrow the credits or not? A huge sum like this would earn a fair bit of interest deposited at City Hall…
—Borrow! Exchanging favors strengthens relationships!
Li Fei blinked, and in the span of that blink she sorted out her thoughts. Then she smiled sweetly.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
She took the brooch, now warm and scented with a young girl's body fragrance, and slapped it down on the counter with a flourish.
"Boss, ring it up."
…
It was getting late. Li Fei announced that she would cook dinner herself to thank Senior Sister for her generosity and the teacher for her hospitality. The white-haired girl couldn't refuse such warm insistence, so she decided to go back to the teachers' dormitory with them first and look for the books she'd been longing for in the library after the meal.
The only problem was that the dormitory the Main Academy had arranged for teachers was far too luxurious. It was row upon row of villas, elegant yet delicate in appearance, with wooden railings and arched colonnades that gave off a classical, romantic air. No wonder people always lumped mages and nobles together.
A beautiful elf attendant stood beside every villa, ready to serve the noble mages at any moment. Their identical postures and smiles looked a little eerie, like a row of breathing statues.
"There, that's the place."
Melodia was about to lead the two female students inside when the neighbor's door suddenly opened.
A portly old man stepped out.
His eyes sat deep in their sockets, his whitish hair was thin, and his cheeks sagged. The years had stolen the elasticity from his loose skin. A round belly stretched his robe taut, and he walked like a penguin, his bulky body swaying slightly from side to side, endearingly clumsy.
The old mage was very short, too. When he stopped in front of a tall, slender young female elf outside the door, he didn't even reach her collarbone, though his waist was two sizes wider than hers. It was like setting a dirt-yellow bowling ball next to a slim white pin.
"Where's Hileria?"
The old mage tilted his face up, studying the graceful, pure and lovely elf maiden, and spoke slowly.
"Mother was transferred to another district."
The elf beauty answered.
"What a pity. Your mother was an excellent attendant."
The old mage sighed, and a look of nostalgia surfaced in his aged eyes.
Evidently, though the squat old man was ugly, there was something kindly and cultured about the way he spoke.
"You flatter her, my lord."
The female elf lowered her head.
"Then tonight, you'll keep me company."
The short, stout old man gave the instruction genially, then carried his hefty belly back inside. Before going in, he courteously nodded a greeting to Melodia.
For the first time, Li Fei saw emotion in an elf's eyes.
The newly grown elf stood frozen for a moment, her fingertips clenched and her body trembling. Terror, bewilderment, and sorrow flickered through her clear pupils. The one thing missing was anger.
She looked left and right as if seeking help, yet pressed her lips together hard, as though afraid she might blurt out a plea.
After a brief struggle, the fleeting light drained from those lovely eyes. The young elf turned as dim and numb as the others, as if her soul had been pulled out. With stiff, mechanical steps, she walked silently into that quaint wooden house.
"This…"
Annesia covered her mouth.
She finally understood what Teacher Melodia had really meant by her offhand remark: "If you run into any problems in daily life, these mage attendants will come in handy." And she understood the weight of the words "generation after generation."
Annesia wanted to do something, but the moment she took a step, the two beside her stopped her at the same time.
Melodia glanced at Li Fei, who understood and swallowed her words.
The Magic Academy constantly drilled the law of the jungle into its students. "Harm that turns a profit is no unjust struggle; only torment without reason is," went one such lesson.
But with so many students, there were always a few naive and kind-hearted ones. As a teacher, Melodia had both the experience and the duty to teach them, to snuff out the mercy in their hearts that might hurt them, rather than pass that responsibility on to another student.
"What do you intend to do?"
The blonde teacher put on a stern face.
"I want to… help her."
The white-haired student's voice was full of fragility and hesitation.
"Miss Annesia, your aptitude is outstanding, and your diligent, steady attitude suits a mage well. The Innate Talent and spell-like abilities you possess are nothing short of miraculous. If we sent you to the Holy Church, you could become a Saintess on the spot. With a foundation that good, plus your remarkable contributions in Folded Space C-11, which will be recorded in the school's history, the Main Academy intended to promote you to Gold-rank student. But the Dean and I jointly decided to postpone that and give you other rewards instead, because while you were saving the faculty and students of this academy, you saved the enemy too!"
Melodia criticized her gravely. "But from where I stand, you haven't realized your own shortcomings at all. Instead, you rashly mean to change the fate of a stranger, a fate settled long ago. Let me tell you plainly: if you knock on that door now, that mage will praise your kindness and send his elf attendant away. Then he'll just find another elf, because that is a right the Main Academy has granted him. Will you go on offering help to each new elf then?"
"And as for the elf you help, unless you buy her with credits, she'll stay in this place like her family before her, and sooner or later she'll face the same thing again."
"But even if you bought her, she'd only go from a public attendant to your personal attendant. She wouldn't feel any happiness at all, because a mind twisted since childhood can't be set right even by a High-Sequence mage of the Order school."
"If you're willing to offend other mages and spend a mountain of credits just to own a private plaything, then by all means, go ahead."
Seeing mist fill the white-haired girl's eyes, Melodia's brow furrowed even deeper.
"I'm very fond of Loxibrook, but I have to admit that Loxibrook's laws have given many students too much sympathy and softness. When I get back, I'll report this to the Dean."
"…"
Annesia looked blankly at her teacher, then lifted her head.
The once-lovely, dreamy violet sky suddenly looked hideous and terrifying to her, like a giant maw ready to devour people. Even the peaceful air seemed to carry a nauseating smell.
The witch's instincts awoke from deep within her soul and made her want to destroy. But she didn't even know whom to point her staff at.
The sense of helplessness made the white-haired girl's head droop again.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
"Where were you wrong?"
Melodia's voice came.
"I shouldn't… have been kind."
Annesia mumbled.
Then the white-haired girl heard a sigh, and the next moment her head bumped into something warm and very springy.
"What's wrong with kindness? I'm just like you. I hate this hypocritical, cold-blooded place, and I wish I could grow wings and fly back to Loxibrook."
Melodia pulled her student into her arms, her tone softening.
"You have to understand: kindness isn't a mistake, and neither is evil. Weakness is."
"Your mistake lies in a useless good deed. You can't save a walking corpse who won't even ask for help, and you certainly can't rewrite the rules that create such walking corpses. Acting rashly will only offend other mages and make you pay a price you shouldn't have to bear, and it might even spill over onto the people around you."
"But if you were as strong as Bai… Bai Mengtian, you could build a Loxibrook of your own and enforce the order that you love in your heart."
"Thank you, Teacher. I understand."
Annesia said in a muffled voice, her face red.
As she spoke, she shook her head a little, as if she were being smothered and couldn't breathe.
—Saved the enemy too? Isn't Folded Space C-11 also nicknamed Hacksaw Ridge?
—Still no match for Lilith.
Li Fei dabbed at the traces of tears she'd squeezed out of the corners of her eyes, as if the touching scene had moved her.
Of course, no emotion like pity could ever arise in a soul as deep as the abyss. In truth, she'd have loved nothing better than to stuff a hundred mage attendants into every rival's quarters tonight and settle the ownership of the [Holy Altar] off the field.
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