“I’ve put the remaining materials we need in the team storage box, so just go ahead and get started.”
Leaving the final pile of troublesome matters to Ibuki Mio, Lomeo stood up and left.
“It’s about time to wrap things up. Let’s give it one last push.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ibuki Mio carefully put away the white porcelain bottle emitting a faint fragrance.
Lomeo’s words were concise, yet they stirred up layer after layer of ripples in her mind.
“The thirteenth of this month. The last day of the contract.”
“It will come in handy.”
“Let’s drag this price war out to the very end…”
It will come in handy… to the very end!
What confidence this is, and how… ruthless!
Ibuki Mio frowned slightly.
The thirteenth—why is he so fixated on that date?
There must be some reason…
From the public showdown at the dessert shop, to the interest-free loan for the ‘Talent Development Program,’ and now today’s price cut…
“No, he’s not obsessed with the timing. This is a hint!”
This is actually a series of interconnected, relentless moves!
From the very start, Lord Lomeo never intended to give Sylvia Valentin even a moment to catch her breath!
A ten percent price cut—it looks like just a probe, just a move to shake up the market for the followers.
But as someone from the Higan Chamber of Commerce, Ibuki Mio was all too familiar with this kind of maneuver!
How could this possibly be just another probe!
Today, no secondhand peddlers were brought into the fray.
Which means this move wasn’t ruthless enough!
Then the next blow must go all out!
Win quickly and decisively!
This so-called ‘continuation’ is not just another small probe.
This is the final signal before a full-scale assault!
But… why does he dare to do this?
Unless Sylvia’s goods are about to plummet in value all of a sudden…
The caravan?!
His hint just now—he actually meant to bring the caravan back to the Academy?!
“Perfect… not a single flaw!”
Now Ibuki Mio understood why today’s price-cut event was necessary—
Lomeo was testing Sylvia’s reaction, while giving the other middlemen a warning about risk!
At the same time, he was putting pressure on her, testing her initiative!
He even mentioned adapting to circumstances just now, to see if she could grasp this fleeting opportunity!
By then, this bottle—this ‘gift’—would probably become a ‘mercy’ granted by the victor to the defeated!
“I only just understand now…”
Ibuki Mio pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart pounding wildly.
She thought she could finally see through Lomeo, but only now did she realize she might have only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg.
How could the son of a border noble have this kind of awareness?
No wonder Kafnir gave his full support to his plan, without a single word of objection.
And herself, as his ‘partner’—if she couldn’t even grasp this much of his intentions…
She must not disappoint him!
Not even pausing for a rest, Ibuki Mio turned straight around and walked quickly toward Kafnir’s dormitory.
*****
“You’re saying… make the move ahead of time?”
After listening to Ibuki Mio’s analysis, a trace of surprise flickered in Karenina’s deep blue eyes.
“Yes, Lord Kafnir.”
Ibuki Mio bowed.
“Lord Lomeo’s signal is crystal clear.”
“We must strike before Sylvia has time to react and catch her off guard!”
Ibuki Mio raised her head.
“My suggestion is to advance the final plan to tomorrow—the twelfth!”
“Tomorrow?” Karenina mused.
“Yes!”
Ibuki Mio continued,
“Tomorrow at noon, we’ll do another price cut.”
“At the same time, we’ll dump all our remaining stock onto the market, including the batch of Silver Bell Marrow Solution from Instructor Ankat!”
“And… it’s time for the caravan you’ve detained to ‘just so happen’ to arrive at the Academy.”
Karenina’s eyebrows rose.
Pulling the rug from under her!
“Is this your own idea, or…?”
“It was Lord Lomeo’s hint.”
“To utterly crush Sylvia… Yes, if it’s him, that’s exactly what he’d want.”
Karenina recalled Lomeo’s previous words, and combined with Ibuki Mio’s current decision, it all made perfect sense.
For the team’s future, and for… the Russel family’s bitter enmity.
The examiner’s moves were always so precise and elegant.
“Alright.”
Karenina stood up and gazed at the round moon outside the window.
“Tomorrow at exactly twelve noon, the caravan will arrive at the Academy.”
“You only have one morning to prove yourself.”
“Thank you, my lord!” Ibuki Mio bowed deeply, and at last a weight lifted from her heart.
*****
The next day, the twelfth.
Lomeo slept in for once, not crawling out of bed until the sun was high in the sky.
The plan was going so smoothly, it was almost boring.
Right now, all the small-time players in the market should be tentatively dumping stock, helping him push down Sylvia’s psychological price point.
The next probe would expose Sylvia’s misjudgment of inventory and trigger an even bigger rush.
When noon on the thirteenth arrived, and the Academy announced the shop restock plan…
Sylvia’s defeat would be sealed.
All he needed to do was show up with the bottle of Dragon Scale Ointment, offer her some “humanitarian concern,” and sign a long-term cooperation deal—thus avoiding the villain’s path.
“Business is all about long-term investment.”
Lomeo stretched lazily, in excellent spirits.
His liver exhausted from the Phantom Sea, it was time for a little nap!
Just then, the door to his dormitory was pounded.
It was that overly energetic idiot, Kaixia.
“Big Bro! Big Bro! Something huge just happened!!”
As soon as the door opened, Kaixia burst in, face twisted with worry and panic.
“Big Bro, stop selling so much, I’ve still got a pile stashed!”
Kaixia was so flustered she was barely coherent.
“Why is the price even lower than yesterday!!”
“What are you talking about?”
Lomeo stared at her, totally confused.
Are the middlemen making a move?
He instinctively pulled up the Academy badge’s personal terminal.
“…Huh?”
One glance and his blood pressure shot straight to the top of his skull.
Credits.
His personal credits were skyrocketing at a pace terrifyingly visible to the naked eye!
[+10]
[+15]
[+8]
The numbers were jumping faster than his heartbeat!
“No… no way…”
Lomeo felt his hands and feet growing cold.
He shoved Kaixia aside and bolted from the dorm, racing straight for the market district.
When he shoved through the crowd and saw the scene before him, he felt the world spin and nearly lost his balance.
In the center of the market, the First Squad’s booth had expanded several times over.
Ibuki Mio stood at the front, calm and commanding.
Behind her, boxes and boxes of alchemy materials were being unloaded—among them the pristine Silver Bell Marrow Solution he’d gotten for free from Ankat!
“Everyone! Limited supply today! Another ten percent off! Only while stocks last!”
Ibuki Mio’s clear, forceful voice rang out like a general waving the command flag on the battlefield, sweeping up credits.
Students scrambled to the front, desperately raising their Academy badges high for fear of missing out on this last “lifesaving straw.”
“Stop! Stop right now!”
Lomeo tried to rush forward, to grab Ibuki Mio’s shoulders and make her halt this mad clearance.
But just as he opened his mouth, an invisible force from the contract gripped his throat.
“Don’t… don’t earn…”
He used all his strength, but only a few muffled syllables came out.
He couldn’t speak!
The contract was clear—he could not, in any form, actively interfere with the proper progress of this wager!
And “persuading teammates to give up profits” clearly counted as interference!
“Understood! I absolutely won’t give Sylvia any opportunity. I will go all out and sell everything before noon!”
Ibuki Mio’s words were resolute, like a warrior with a code.
“I…” Lomeo opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
What did I say to make you do this to me?!
I’m begging you, can’t you be a little less competent!
Where are my useless teammates?
Weren’t we supposed to have useless teammates to bail me out?
Why is everyone possessed by the god of war?!
Ibuki Mio!
If you keep earning like this—
If you keep earning, I’ll really become a slave master!!
In Lomeo’s mind, only one thought remained.
Cut prices!
Sylvia! Just cut your prices already!
Come on, fight a price war with me! Please! Push the prices down for me!
Don’t let everyone buy out all my stuff!
But no miracle happened.
The frantic sales lasted the whole day.
Until there was nothing left in the square.
“…Ha, how could I have a dream like this?”
Staring at his badge, with its credits now swelling severalfold to nearly 1800 points, Lomeo felt his mind going blank.
This was the amount Sylvia took three years to save up?!
“No, why?! What did I say that was wrong?!”
“At least… at these prices, I can’t lose—unless something happens to make Sylvia’s stock worthless…”
Just then, a clear chime rang out across the floating island.
Immediately after, a mechanical female voice sounded in everyone’s badge.
[Urgent Notice: Due to action by the Russell Empire authorities, the Academy’s official partner caravan has safely returned through the blizzard.
[Currently, via intra-Empire teleport, it will arrive at the Academy at noon today.]
[A large stock of basic alchemy materials will be replenished and listed soon.]
“Aw, come on!”
Seeing the message, Lomeo felt everything go dark.
Damn it, how did the caravan come back?!
And right at this critical moment?!
Wasn’t the caravan supposed to be robbed by bandits and vanish forever in the game storyline?!
“No, this doesn’t match the game plot at all—what is this unknown territory?!”
“Is someone conspiring against me?!”
*****
Meanwhile.
Inside the Valentin dormitory.
“Miss…”
The attendant’s voice trembled, his face white as a sheet.
“The First Squad… they’ve dumped all their stock… And… and the official caravan has returned.”
“I know.”
Crack!
The intelligence terminal in Sylvia’s hand was crushed into pieces.
She stood up, the mysterious blue scales at the back of her neck spreading out in an instant, strange and beautiful.
“Prepare the carriage.”
“To the market.”
There is no way the son of a border count could have made this plan.
Just who is behind this?