Ch.6464 – Righteous River

<64 – Righteous Lecture>

“Oknodie. Why do you look like that?”

“I feel like I had a strange dream last night.”

I definitely dreamed something last night.

But I can’t remember what it was.

Just an incredibly unsettling feeling that’s hard to describe!

“Hehe.”

“Uncle Giselle, you seem to be in a good mood.”

“I came up with a good idea last night.”

Isabelle, who was eating with us in the cafeteria, said with an incredulous face.

“If this person ever opens a store, I’m absolutely never shopping there.”

“What did he do?”

“I sold flags.”

“Whaaaat?!”

“Of course, I didn’t actually sell all the real flags. I made a bunch of fake ones.”

I was speechless.

There are many strange players in the world, but this is the first time I’ve seen an NPC who thought of making and selling flags.

“This is all a technique I learned from Miss Oknodie’s creativity. Excellent adaptability and creativity are exactly the qualities required at the Academy, aren’t they?”

“Isn’t that kind of bad for your credibility as a merchant?”

“Haha. You’re so clever, Oknodie. Of course, I prepared properly for that aspect. To be precise, I didn’t sell fakes, but rather the possibility of buying real ones.”

“What does that mean?”

“I mixed real flags among the fake ones and sold a 1% chance of winning a real flag.”

He was selling random flag gacha.

So that’s why some of the tickets sold by ticket black market merchants included fake tickets that couldn’t even be used for the entrance exam.

I’d bet 1000 points that was also this Giselle person’s doing.

“How much did you sell them for?”

“You can try for 100 points per attempt. Would you like to try, Miss Oknodie?”

“No thanks. I’ve already collected many.”

“Hmm. I see. Then how about this? Would you sell me some of your flags?”

I was thinking about selling flags, but there’s an issue with the price.

“I was thinking of selling real flags for 100 points each. Would that be okay?”

“Why not? I’ll buy them immediately.”

I handed over 10 flags while receiving points transferred to my magic watch.

“Hehe. Now I can raise the winning probability and sell more fake flags, turning the 10 flags you sold for 1000 points into 10000 points.”

“…I’m definitely never buying anything from your store either, Uncle Giselle.”

A black market merchant’s business tactics are too scary!

* *

There’s homeroom during first period on Mondays, but not on Wednesdays.

At Gift Academy, which is closer to a university than a high school, homeroom is a time for announcing school events and weekly activities.

<Adventure Department>

<Developing a Discerning Eye Classroom>

So Wednesday’s first class is <Developing a Discerning Eye>, which I took after homeroom.

It’s taught by a stylish beautiful professor who looks good in a silk hat and butcher’s apron—her name is Bronze but her chest is platinum-grade, an exemplary professor.

“Would anyone like to buy this before the lecture? It might be advantageous for listening to the lecture.”

Giselle spread out a mat inside the classroom.

On the mat were earplugs of various sizes that could fit snugly in the ears.

“This is your chance to choose earplugs in your desired color and shape. The price is very reasonable at just 3 points per pair.”

“If 3 points lets you avoid hearing ‘ding-ding-ding’ in your ears, it’s a profitable business.”

“It might seem a bit expensive for the equivalent of one meal, but when you think about the terrible eardrum terrorism, it’s honestly worth buying one.”

Students began willingly paying points and buying earplugs.

Among them was the wealthy frontier noble and scaredy-cat social butterfly <Titosoga>.

“Titosoga. Let’s buy a microphone later and have fun singing and playing music.”

“Yeah. It’ll feel like having a mirror ball and will definitely be exciting.”

“Hehe. Should we?”

A poor fool who was dragged around by his older sister’s persuasion that buying lighting equipment would make him popular, lugging around cumbersome lighting equipment…

…or so I thought, but unlike in Professor Sadaco’s terrifying fifth period <Adventurer’s Night Activities> class, Titosoga had actually become popular among the students.

‘It would be funny if someone actually bought guns from the PX or tried to board a plane without shoes.’

I’m not sure if he’s truly popular or just a plaything for the popular kids, but anyway, I’m glad Titosoga has made friends!

“Ah, it’s the seniors who abandoned us and ran away that time!”

“Seniors! How could you do that to us!”

Titosoga, who had the loudest voice in the class, and his popular friends cutely protested to the second-year seniors with puffed cheeks.

“Haha. Sorry, freshmen. It would be cheating if we arbitrarily told you about the test assignments or helped you.”

“Was that it?”

“Think about it. How annoying would it look if clueless second-years who’ve already been through it helped you with the surprise assignment the professor prepared for you?”

Both freshmen and sophomores are wary of the professors.

“Since it’s coming from Senior Bigstone, who even criticizes professors to their faces, I’ll believe you!”

“Since it’s from Senior Bigstone, who’s bold enough to confess to his crush, it can’t be a lie. I’ll believe you!”

“I’ll let it slide just this once, since you’re somehow still treated like a human and hang out with female friends despite failing a public confession, making you a surprisingly popular senior!”

Is that how freshmen tease people?

Titosoga’s popular friends are too scary.

I should never get on their bad side.

“Hey, you guys. Don’t tease Bigstone too much just because he seems easy-going. He’s our friend and your senior.”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Take it easy.”

Unlike the easy-going Bigstone, the female friend who received his public confession and the quiet second-year senior beside him were not easy opponents even for Titosoga’s popular crowd.

Above all, becoming friendly with seniors means you might get advance notice about such terrible assignments, so social activities that focus on seniors’ goodwill are quite clever.

In fact, on Earth, there were players who focused on such social activities to navigate academy life.

“Good to see you, students.”

But not with professors! Being close to professors is the shortcut to becoming a teaching assistant and graduate student!

“In our last lecture, we tested your ‘discerning eye’ with a practical exercise to find hidden alarm clocks in the classroom and disable them. And the students who remained after disabling all the alarms excellently received their bonuses.”

“What?! Professor, you’re saying the freshmen received bonuses? When we couldn’t do it last year?”

“Hmph. It was your mistake to underestimate the freshmen’s potential and leave the classroom first. Leaving was your freedom, so don’t blame this professor.”

“Did these kids come from some professional treasure hunting expedition team?”

“Don’t misunderstand. 11 out of 20 were found by a single student.”

The second-years looked back at the freshmen with deeply regretful faces.

They looked at Oknodie, whom the professor was indicating with a gentle face—the freshman who had found the most clocks.

“Since I gave you a taste in the last lecture, I’ll add some light theory in this lecture.”

“You’ve probably felt the importance of a discerning eye. But you still lack knowledge about what to look for with that good eye.”

“Let’s hear from you. Student with the lighting equipment. What would you look for with your excellent discerning eye?”

Titosoga, looking a bit pale from the attention converging from all directions, answered.

“Professors with scary lectures.”

Laughter erupted from all around.

Professor Bronze asked with her expression.

You’re not talking about me, right?

Titosoga shook his head vigorously, actively denying it.

I think I understand.

The professor Titosoga fears now is Professor Sadaco, whom we’ll see again in fifth period today.

“If you can use your discerning eye to identify professors with scary lectures, you could maintain a pleasant student life. You there, the student who sold lots of earplugs, what about you?”

“I’d like to find lectures that are good for business. So far, my discerning eye has been satisfactory.”

Once again, laughter filled the classroom.

Even Professor Bronze nodded in acknowledgment of the student’s discerning eye, which allowed him to use business to earn points just three days after enrollment.

“A discerning eye that can identify tools to solve deficiencies felt during lectures would be good too. For a prosperous academy life.”

“But what this professor wants to teach you in this lecture is somewhat different.”

Professor Bronze’s hand went inside her suit jacket.

Her hand, fumbling around the vicinity of her bulging justice pocket, grabbed something and pulled it out.

“What this instructor wants to teach is how to identify items and owners that are acceptable to steal from. Methods to discern unrighteous individuals and unrighteous items.”

Professor Bronze waved something in her hand.

The second-years who saw it widened their eyes.

The freshmen who didn’t understand soon realized why.

“For instance, a certain wicked professor who oppresses and despises fellow professors is an unrighteous person.”

“If such a professor prepared a biased quiz favoring imperial nobles under the pretext of assessing new students’ abilities, then that exam’s answer sheet is also an unrighteous item.”

This professor stole a fellow professor’s quiz questions and answers…!

A lecture began that students couldn’t help but focus on even if they wanted to.

Except for Oknodie, who hadn’t attended any imperial noble professor lectures.

“That seems to have the name of the professor from the fourth period lecture I attended…”

Isabelle’s murmur made my eyes sparkle.

If I can help Isabelle, my precious cook, that’s a different story!