Ch.283283 – Battle for the Prize

<283 – Prize Scramble>

Zaku, who had won a box of black bread for 50,000 points that could be looted at any time, gathered the auction participants with a gloomy face.

“If you try to steal the black bread by force, I won’t be able to stop you with my skills. So I’ll hold a second auction. I’ll surrender the black bread and withdraw to whoever gives me the most points.”

It was his judgment to pass this heavy burden to one of the three powerhouses—Oknodie, Hero Ishtar, or Imperial Second Princess Massgakki—and quickly retreat from this place where he didn’t belong.

However, as he practiced what he would say while looking at his reflection in a puddle, an ominous visitor approached him.

“Dark mana is so convenient♡ The hierarchy is so clear~?”

Pure dark mana forced a command on Zaku’s body.

In the end, the box of black bread fell into the hands of Second Princess Massgakki as her food supply.

* *

After the first auction, the participants realized that the probability of suffering losses due to mutual checks and looting was higher than losing out due to insufficient points.

They formed tight alliances, seeking members to team up with.

“The hero, the princess, and Oknodie are all dangerous. At times like this, if the weak don’t band together, we won’t be able to take anything.”

“Yes, I agree! Let’s support each other as women! Should I give you a bikini armor as a gift for our friendship meeting?”

“I don’t need it…”

Rozini the fruit tree arsonist and Ppoyi the bikini armor warrior.

“Hahaha. When backed into a corner, we end up as this team again, huh?”

“A relationship you can rely on is reassuring.”

Giselle and Son Ocheon, who had been together since before the entrance exam.

“I’ll provide the muscle. In return, I’ll leave the thinking during the auction to you.”

“Fufu. I’ll gladly offer my noble lady’s insight.”

Arcadia and Hestia, who formed an unexpected alliance.

“Weakling♡ Black bread shuttle♡ Make sure you do your job as a meat shield properly~?”

“There’s never been a moment when I regretted learning this dark mana more than now…”

Second Princess Massgakki, who made Zaku her pathetic shield.

“I guess Zaku is effectively retired.”

“…That princess’s dark mana is quite dangerous. If she could control even Oknodie…”

Ishtar and the hero’s partner, Saint Yufi, watching the princess with suspicious eyes.

“We’re the remaining pair.”

“I found a white stone. Want to eat it?”

“I don’t need it.”

The assassin duo, Zhang and Oknodie.

As the auction participants split into these six groups, the sound of a boat carrying the second day’s item approached.

Jona grabbed the dark curtain covering the item, looking around at everyone who had come out to the auction site as if they had been waiting.

“I will now reveal the second item of the desert island auction. Today’s item is the <Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll>.”

Ppoyi raised her hand brightly.

“Yes, me! I request a product description for the Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll!”

“Request denied. This is not the Academy. If you’re a friend of the Academy, use your own judgment to estimate the product’s value and establish an auction strategy.”

This was a place to apply knowledge, not to learn it!

Ppoyi looked disappointed at this stance that demanded proof rather than patience.

But this was reality.

The Academy, no matter how brutal, was still an educational institution.

It existed for learning.

The Foundation only provided scholarships necessary for learning, not direct education.

Unless they were prospective scholarship students aiming for Academy admission, there was no reason to teach current Academy students.

“I made a mistake. If Sandcooker were here, he’d be much more knowledgeable about the detailed specifications of petrification scrolls.”

“So are we giving up on this item?”

“You don’t necessarily need to know the exact value to participate in an auction. Sometimes you can learn by watching those who do know the value.”

“Amazing! Rozini, you’re good at side-glancing, aren’t you?”

“…Is that a compliment?”

Magic scrolls are typically produced by magic towers of the corresponding color.

Scrolls that allow even those unfamiliar with magic to use spells in a limited area are expensive consumables used by nobles or high-ranking adventurers.

Unless you’re associated with a magic tower like Sandcooker, only high nobles, wealthy merchants, or exceptional adventurers would recognize various scrolls.

‘Giselle with her discerning eye and wealth. Fallen noble Arcadia. Imperial Second Princess Massgakki. Golden badge mercenary Hestia. Hero Ishtar. These are probably the people who can estimate the scroll’s value.’

Of course, Rozini was also among those who had a vague idea.

Given the modifier “absolute,” she could guess that the scroll’s effect was very powerful.

At the very least, she believed that petrified material wouldn’t simply shatter easily.

“The starting bid is 3,000 points. Bids will increase by 3,000. For bidding…”

“30,000.”

Everyone was slightly surprised by Giselle’s declaration, which raised the bid significantly from the start.

However, it was understandable coming from Giselle.

Son Ocheon, who had paired with Giselle, was currently enrolled in the Knight Department.

He was a member of the advanced class with decent combat ability.

But it was undeniable that he fell short compared to the skilled participants in this auction.

Having a scroll like this to supplement his lacking combat power wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Still, it seemed excessive, as Arcadia, Massgakki, Hestia, and Ishtar showed no signs of raising their hands.

“Let’s follow suit.”

“Okay. 60,000!”

Ppoyi acted first, then asked:

“By the way, why are we trying to buy that?”

“…I didn’t expect you to double the bid when I said to follow suit… Sigh. It’s fine. It’s my fault for not giving clear instructions.”

Rozini glared at Giselle, who wore an inscrutable, mysterious smile, and said to Ppoyi beside her:

“Giselle’s team is strong. They have enough food in their magic backpack and decent combat power. If they strengthen their only weakness, defense, they might survive until the end of the auction and take all the items.”

“Ah, so we’re checking the competition?”

“The scroll itself will surely be useful somewhere. Even if we don’t use it here, taking it back to the Academy might help someday. The fact that we can have it appraised by Sandcooker, a yellow magician, is also attractive.”

A decision with various calculations behind it!

“70,000.”

“Giselle. 70,000 points have been bid.”

Rozini covered her mouth and asked Ppoyi:

“Add just 30,000 points. We’ve joined forces, right?”

“Do you want it that badly?”

“At least I don’t want to hand it over to those suspicious squinty eyes.”

“Hmm… Alright. I’ll add it!”

“100,000.”

Giselle turned her head with a smirk.

“Rozini. 100,000 points have been bid. If there are no new bids in one minute, it will be confirmed at 100,000 points to Rozini.”

After watching the time elapse on his wristwatch, Jona announced that the auction was confirmed.

“The second day’s auction item <Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll> has been sold to participant Rozini for 100,000 boarding points.”

Although it was a somewhat excessive investment of points, it undoubtedly held Giselle back.

“Now, let’s trust this scroll and try to hold out until the last day. We can somehow survive by gathering and grilling whatever we find, whether it’s raw fish or anything else.”

The best strategy would be to secure the scroll, hold out as long as possible, and then collect more auction items in the latter half before returning. But she was also prepared to use the scroll if attacked along the way.

However, the other students could easily guess Rozini’s strategy.

“Rozini, shh!”

“What’s with you suddenly?”

As Rozini stared at the finger pressing against her lips, contemplating whether to bite it, Ppoyi sent her a gaze that was like her usual bright voice but with a lowered line of sight.

“We’re being ambushed.”

“!!”

“This presence… probably two people.”

“That can’t be. I set up flame magic traps on the path down to this cave…”

Before Rozini could finish speaking, something flew from the front.

Ppoyi, who had been protecting Rozini by deflecting the projectiles with nimble movements, heightened her body’s tension.

“The trap you set up. What kind was it?”

“Wooden pillars engraved with explosion formulas. When the plant stems binding the pillars are cut at ankle height, the wooden pillars fall, causing explosion, impact, and flash damage.”

“What if someone recovers the trap without letting the wooden pillars fall?”

“…The wooden pillars with the engraved formulas would remain.”

The silhouette of an intruder gradually approaching the campfire lit on the cave floor.

Rozini was dumbfounded as she saw the figure shouldering a large wooden pillar in one hand, preparing to throw it.

“How strong are you!?”

“Sorry. Although I haven’t mastered mana tempering techniques, I’ve never stopped training my physical strength.”

Chapter 1, Raging Hestia.

The hidden talent who didn’t trigger a chapter boss transformation thanks to Oknodie’s mine removal threw the wooden pillar.

Bang!

The cave interior became chaotic with dazzling explosions, blasts, and impacts.

A circular shield that sprang from the ground blocked Hestia’s tank-like charge.

Ppoyi, true to her evasive bikini armor warrior nature, quickly escaped the impact range and counterattacked with a low tackle!

Crash!

Ppoyi, kicked away shield and all, flew far.

A heavy fireball with substantial mass flew toward Hestia’s face as she took another step.

Whoosh!

The fireball, split in two by an axe strike with destructive mass, scattered.

The seven fire arrow magic projectiles that followed were all burst by a hand axe that Hestia instantly drew and threw from her waist.

“Ambushing is unfair!”

Ppoyi, who had been grumbling, extended a long whip from inside the cave to repeatedly block Hestia’s hand axe from threatening Rozini.

Then the whip, which was about to bind Hestia’s axe, was quickly withdrawn in front of her.

Bang! Bang!

“My, a whip that even blocks bullets. I didn’t expect there to be an expert-level weapon user in the lower class. Should I say as expected of our D’s friend?”

“Guns are even more unfair!”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any personal grudge. Just… you should have considered that possessing a treasure beyond your abilities would lead to this. We’ll take that scroll as negotiation material to use with Giselle.”

Ppoyi, blocked by Arcadia’s gun, gritted her teeth and raised her shield instead of her whip.

“Hmph. Aren’t you underestimating my marksmanship too much?”

It wasn’t such soft marksmanship that could be completely blocked with just one small shield.

Arcadia confidently aimed her gun.

But Ppoyi’s evasion ability easily exceeded her expectations.

‘…She’s fast!’

Ppoyi charged, moving between the areas lit by the overturned campfire’s embers and the darkness, faster than the gun muzzle could aim at her body.

Arcadia’s shots repeatedly missed Ppoyi, and when she finally caught her in the firing range, the circular shield deflected the bullet.

Ppoyi, who had finally broken through the check and extended her whip, was too late as Hestia’s axe was already heading toward Rozini.

“Tsk. You drove us to this.”

Riiip.

Clang!

Hestia, who had no intention of killing, tried to strike with the flat side of the axe.

But when the scroll tore, Rozini’s entire body was affected by the <Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll>, absorbing all the impact Hestia had put into the axe.

It felt like when you punch a hard tree, rock, or wall, and the recoil makes your hand vibrate!

“Ah. Darn. She used it.”

Just as Ppoyi couldn’t hide her disappointment, Hestia also lowered her axe with a deflated expression.

“So what happened with the petrification?”

“Like this.”

Hestia pointed to the stone statue of Rozini.

Ppoyi pressed her finger firmly against Rozini’s skin.

A hardness that could be described as metallic rather than stone!

Indeed, it was a hardness befitting the expression “Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll.”

But this scroll had an incredible drawback.

“So when does this wear off?”

“How would we know?”

“…So I have to fight 1 vs 2?”

“Do you want to surrender or fight?”

Ppoyi boarded the boat reserved for those who surrendered, returning to the cruise ship with the Rozini statue.