episode_0023

“What, whatttt?! You want to see the ledger?!”

At the request to see the ledger, the owner was amusingly startled. His startled reaction was so similar to the [Bubble Collapse] card that I almost laughed without thinking.

“Hey, hey kids. Why would I show a valuable ledger to a mere student?! Don’t be ridiculous!!”

“Excuse me, but I am not a mere student. As I just said, I am a ‘Judgment’.”

Elfelt put her hand into her cleavage, and

“Right now, I can act on behalf of the Duel Academy Headmaster.”

She elegantly took out her student ID, which had a shiny coating, or more precisely, a card proving her identity as a ‘Judgment’, using her middle and index fingers.

“Ju, ‘Judgment’…? What is that?”

“It was newly established for fair duels. The scope of its supervision has been greatly expanded from before, including ‘Duel Academy Authorized’ card shops.”

The owner received Elfelt’s card, looked at it intently, and his face gradually stiffened. I wondered what was written in the effect section to make him react like that. I wanted to see it too.

“Ugh……. Fine. Look here.”

Finally, the owner took out the ledger and handed it to Elfelt. Arianna and I stood on either side of Elfelt and looked at the contents together.

“…Just as expected.”

The ledger showed entries for purchasing 3 copies each of [Spirit of the Lock], [Earth Absorber], and [Earth Shackles] listed across two pages.

“If you’re going to make up fake names, at least put a little more effort into it.”

There were customers with carelessly made-up fake names that were obvious at a glance.

“They, they aren’t fake names!! They are names that actually exist!! A-about half of them!!”

“Yes. Let’s say that’s the case.”

But the problem wasn’t just that.

“W-were these cards this expensive? That’s an incredible price…….”

“That can’t be. That selling price is hard to see for Silver Rare cards.”

It was also a problem that Silver Rare cards, which were not particularly rare, were sold at a high price exceeding Gold Rare, reaching 10 times the existing market price.

“You sold them at such a high price?”

“I, I didn’t sell them! I just sold them because *that side* said they would buy them at that price!”

“So you sold them. Even making up fake names to sell off all the stock.”

“Ugh…….”

With the owner’s excuse, which was no different from a confession, we roughly grasped the situation.

“It seems those guys have no intention of giving up on the meta/environment.”

“I agree. To think they would even resort to such dirty tactics.”

Those who oppressed ‘Hand Traps’ at the Duel Academy had now started cornering the market on ‘Hand Traps’.

The fact that they are even trying to make money on top of manipulating the environment is truly the worst.

“It wasn’t long ago they were making them unusable through oppression, and now they’re buying them up themselves…? They’re going too far.”

“I agree. ……Owner, I will report this matter to the Headmaster. Depending on the situation, be prepared to have your ‘Duel Academy Authorized’ certification removed.”

“W-wait a minute. That’s a bit much. It’s not like other stores didn’t sell them either!! If that were the case, everyone would have to have their certification removed?!”

At the mention of reporting, the owner hurriedly made excuses, dragging in other stores as well.

“Rest assured. Because I will demand it from and report all of the other stores too.”

“Th-that……. Ugh. Why did something like ‘Judgment’ suddenly appear…….”

The owner groaned, covering his head.

‘……No. This isn’t enough.’

Although it’s a satisfying sight to behold, this alone cannot solve the fundamental problem right now. After all, all the cards ended up in the hands of those scumbags.

No matter how much ‘Judgment’ can act on behalf of the Duel Academy Headmaster, they likely won’t be able to confiscate the ‘Hand Traps’ that have fallen into the hands of those nobles.

In the end, ‘Hand Traps’ still didn’t reach the hands of the Duel Academy students.

“…Elfelt. Could you help me with something?”

It seems I have no choice but to step forward.

“There’s something I need the Elder, no, the Headmaster’s help and permission for.”

“Yes? What is it suddenly…? What are you planning to do?”

Elfelt asked in surprise when the Headmaster’s name was mentioned.

“Because I want to see someone ruined.”

I replied with a smile. Like when finding an unexpected kill angle during a duel.

“W-wh-what?! W-what are you planning to do to, to our store!!”

“No. Not you, mister. Well, I do have other business with you though.”

After calming down the thoroughly terrified owner,

“Could you purchase some cards?”

I opened my ‘Binder’ and took out a few cards.

*

A little while later.

“Thank you for the good trade, Owner! Go home safely! Come again anytime! I love you!”

We left the card shop, being seen off by the owner all the way to the exit.

“Wow……. Flattering like that is a bit uncomfortable to watch.”

“Seems he’s realized I’m a valuable customer.”

His expression changed every time I took out a card, and after selling, he became completely subservient. It was amusing how his way of addressing me changed in real-time from student to customer, then owner.

“Still, it’s a bit……. Didn’t you sell them too cheaply? I think they are cards that could fetch a much higher price if put up for auction.”

Elfelt asked as if to check if that was okay. While I was selling, Elfelt next to me was also fidgeting and frowning as if she wanted to buy them herself.

“Because by my standards, they weren’t cards of that much value.”

I sold 3 cards to the owner.

Cards included in the Structure Deck, with a slightly higher rarity. Although they look pretty, if you buy single copies online, they cost almost 500 won, and at most around 2000 won.

“Even if I sold them cheaply, it’s not exactly a small amount, is it? It’s enough money to eat the sandwich I had today for lunch for a whole year.”

“That’s true, but, I would rather have bought them myself at that price, so to speak.”

They were sold for over 100 times the price. Judging by the mister’s reaction, it seems he bought them cheaply, but still.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of selling so much that it ruins the card market price here. This is to make him realize that I am a more valuable customer.”

“Sigh. I feel like my senses will become strange if I’m with Sir Gisu.”

“Right? I already feel a little strange too.”

For that purpose, a few cards from a Structure Deck are cheap enough.

In fact, the cards I needed most from that Structure Deck weren’t those ones anyway.

“It looks like we’ll be busy if we visit all the other card shops too. Let’s move.”

Elfelt demands the ledger to gain leverage, and I sell cards to become a VIP, a ‘customer whose mood absolutely must not be upset’.

With that, a fierce kill angle that those who tried to exclude ‘Hand Traps’ can never escape from is slowly being prepared.

“Heh heh heh heh.”

“Ohh. A face as evil as when you’re concentrating on a duel…!!”

When I smiled, finding it unintentionally amusing, Arianna trembled.

“…Do I look that evil?”

“It’s quite chilling when seen from the front. But it’s not bad.”

“Yes. It’s my favorite expression!”

Leaving Elfelt aside, what on earth does Arianna like about me? I understand less and less.

*

Duel Academy Dormitory, a special room that can only be used by children of families who have made large donations to the Academy.

“Past!! What on earth are you doing right now!!”

Past van Dill was hearing his enraged father’s voice over the phone.

“If these damned cards didn’t exist, our family’s deck would be the strongest, wouldn’t it? This is for that.”

“That’s a foolish thing to do!! What’s the point of stopping the distribution in the Duel Academy and the surrounding card shops?! Do you think a mere individual can stop the use of cards?!”

“At least until I graduate, I can definitely achieve results. As well as kicking away the ladder of those arrogant commoners.”

The person who swept up all the ‘Hand Traps’ on the card shop street was this student, Past.

As soon as the duel in the central plaza that morning ended, he mobilized all his servants and cronies to completely wipe out the ‘Hand Traps’ on the card shop street.

As a result, almost all the ‘Hand Traps’ that existed in the Duel Academy city, [Ekaléo], came into Past’s hands.

“The reason our family succeeded is because the deck is strong, isn’t it? For that, we must put in this much effort.”

To control the usage of ‘Hand Traps’ as we have done until now.

“Stupid fellow!! That’s not it!! What is strong is not the deck. It’s the insight, skill, and sense for viewing a deck! We succeeded because we were strong duelists!”

“If that’s true, isn’t your insight poor, Father? To choose a deck that would collapse with just one or two cards. This side is also troubled, you know.”

“Ugh…!! Enough, do you know how much money you’ve spent right now?! Damned fellow, I didn’t give you the family card (funds) for that! How do you plan to fix this?!”

The amount Past used for this stockpiling was more than half of the family’s assets held in the bank.

“I plan to sell them little by little, so don’t worry. I will receive at least 3 times the price I bought them at, of course. Only to those who are so high up that one must yield/lose to them, who couldn’t help but use them.”

“W-what…?”

“There’s only good things, isn’t there? Only people who have received our permission can use these damned nuisance cards, and even then, they have to scrape together money and offer it up. It’s the best, isn’t it!”

As if just imagining it made him happy, Past chuckled and laughed.

“W-wh-what……. You stupid fellow!! Do you think that will work?! Do you think that will be permitted?! Because other people are fools…!!”

“Yes, yes. I’m busy, so I’ll hang up now. The money spent will quickly be refilled several times over, so don’t worry. The profit I’ll see in the future will surely be vastly more than the money spent today…”

Bang!

“Whoa?! What. Did he hang up? Putting it down so loudly.”

Past fidgeted with his ear, startled by the loud noise from the phone, and plopped back into the chair.

“Do you think that will be permitted, it’s something everyone has done as if it were obvious?”

It’s natural for the price to go up if there’s a valuable card. Discovering powerful cards and preempting them is a common occurrence. It’s not special at all.

It’s just that the scale is a little larger this time.

‘Less than a year left. If I can just hold out until I graduate, that’s enough. After that, I can just sell everything off. If I can just maintain my grades until now, surely a solid spot in the Knight Order will be…’

“Young Master!!”

While chuckling foolishly, lost in a rosy fantasy, the servant opened the door with a bang, startling Past again.

“Si, so noisy, what is it! Cannon. What is it?”

“Th-this is serious. Something serious has happened…!!”

“What is it?”

“An outsider is releasing cards!!”

Cannon, the servant who had participated in the card stockpiling today and had even lent his family’s name as compensation, promising to give him a cut if things went well in the future, cried out, trembling with a pale face.

“Releasing cards? What do you mean? There shouldn’t be enough supply anywhere to release.”

“No. They are releasing them!! 3 cards for the price of one lunch meal!!”

“What?”

Past’s thoughts stopped for a moment, unable to understand the words.

“…Don’t say something absurd! That can’t possibly be possible, can it?”

The price of one lunch meal? That’s ridiculous. If it’s 3 cards at that price, it’s less than 10% of the proper price. That’s an impossible number.

“I didn’t believe it either. But look at this!”

The servant fumbled through his pocket, and

“I ended up buying them myself right away!! For the price of 3 meals!!”

He held out 9 cards to Past.

There were 3 copies each of [Spirit of the Lock], [Earth Absorber], and [Earth Shackles]. Non-shiny Normal Rare ones.

“That’s ridiculous. Don’t make me laugh…?”

Past received the cards, half in doubt, held them up high and shone them under the ceiling light.

“Huh?”

And tilting his head back as he held them higher and higher,

“U-uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!?!”

Crash! Bang!

“Y-Young Master?!”

Just like that, his chair fell backward, and he fell flat on his back.

“Th-th-this. What is this, damn it!!”

Because something that should never have happened had happened.