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Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes
Waiting for Enrollment
Admin said there were still papers to be processed so it would take five days before they were officially enrolled. Terrified of Hikaru, they left the guidebook on the counter and explained things three meters away.
Is this really how they treat a student who pays an absurd amount of tuition fees? Hikaru thought. His fees had been waived, though.
Hikaru and Lavia had some free time now, but they still had something important to do: finding a place to live. There were no dormitories, so they would have to rent a room in Scholarzard.
「Wow
 This place is great!」
They’d gone to a real estate agent. Among the places they’d checked, Lavia liked one on the third floor of a three-story building. It wasn’t a particularly huge structure, but there was only one unit on top that they could all have to themselves with an open roof terrace. It was spacious and had two rooms in addition to a living room, dining room, and kitchen. At the back of the apartment was a well and a place to do laundry, out of sight from the main street. It reminded Hikaru of the streets of Paris, though he’d never been there, and it seemed he would not have the chance to.
「There’s plenty of light and it’s only a few minutes walk away from the academy. Wonderful place, isn’t it?」the agent said, rubbing his hands with a smile on his face.
「How much?」
「There are plenty of people who are attracted to this great place
 It’s 800,000 gilans a year.」
Hikaru didn’t think he was overcharging. It was the best location for people of the academy. The interior was nice and it was on the top floor as well. There was a possibility that the agent set the price a little bit higher after seeing their attires. He could be thinking they were from well-to-do families. That wasn’t a bad thing, though. It meant the agent could trust them.
「Hmm
」
Hikaru checked for dust on the window frames and walls. A neat and tidy place. The agent could be telling the truth – a lot of people wanted the apartment. The previous occupant must’ve only left recently.
It had already been furnished, most of it provided by the lessor, though the previous resident left their table and couch. All they really needed were new mattresses and beddings. They could occupy it starting today.
「How about 400,000 for half a year?」
「It’ll be the middle of winter six months later, Sir. We won’t find a new tenant. Please rent this place for a year.」
「600,000 until spring. I have the option to renew the contract then.」
「I might agree for 700,000
」
「You’re kidding, right? Do you even have someone who’d take this place at this time of the year? 620,000.」
「Hmm. How about 680,000?」
「640,000 gilans.」
「650,000 gilans.」
「Fine. You have yourself a deal.」
Hikaru signed what seemed like a check for the contract, which glowed faintly when he held his guild card against it. One could withdraw money with it by bringing it to the Adventurers Guild. How convenient. He could see the academy’s southeast gate from the roof terrace. Lavia was standing beside him.
「Are you sure about this, Hikaru? You spent quite a lot of money.」
「We have plenty of funds. But if you’re worried about money, want to go make some? They should have an Adventurers Guild here.」
「Let’s go!」
It seemed the countless undead monsters in the underground dungeon didn’t diminish her love for adventuring. They made their way to the Adventurers Guild.
「Oh
 this place feels different.」
The Scholarzard Adventurers Guild’s building was a peculiar structure. Shaped like a cylinder, the counter at the center was round as well. Alongside the wall was the request bulletin board. There were tables and chairs as well for meetings between adventurers.
As soon as they set foot in the building, several adventurers turned their attention towards them. Some whistled as they saw Lavia, but none made any particularly aggressive move. That was most likely because most of them were older; their ages ranging from late twenties to thirties. Compared to the other guilds, there seemed to be more women adventurers here.
「Or maybe it’s the race?」
The adventurers were grouped according to their race. Those with blue skins hung out only with their fellow blue-skinned brethren.
「There’s not a lot of requests here.」Lavia said.
「Well, this is a provincial town.」Hikaru replied.
Hikaru studied the rank E request bulletin board. Most of them were kill quests for monsters unknown to him as well as escort requests to towns he didn’t know about. There were plenty of requests in which the academy was the client, asking for materials to use for lectures and research. The academy didn’t just study martial arts, but sorcery and other fields as well.
「Hmm? What’s this?」
【Plant Hunter】
【Drakon Kidney Flower’s Leaf】Need as many as possible and preferably young leaves.
【Reward】Basic Reward 500,000 gilans. Additional 100,000 if the leaves are in good condition.
【Client】National Academic Research Institute
The request was most likely related to the matter Mikhail was talking about. Although the academy itself was the client, not the principal.
「You there. You look very lovely. All right, you may join my party.」
Hikaru turned around to see three men – a blonde, a redhead, and a green-haired guy – wearing the academy’s uniform. Judging from the fine clothes they were wearing underneath, they were from well-off families. They were older than Hikaru, though, about 18-20 years old.
「


」
Lavia quickly hid behind Hikaru.
「Hey, I’m talking to you. Come here. I said I’ll let you into my party.」
「


」
「Say something!」
The blonde guy raised his voice at Lavia who just stared at him in disgust. His friends simply sighed. It seemed the blonde one was prone to behaving rashly.
「Let’s take a few requests.」Hikaru said.
「If that’s what you want.」Lavia replied.
「You want to rank up too, right?」
「Are you doing this for me?」
「Yeah.」
「Okay. Let’s do it!」Lavia flashed a smile.
「Hold it! How dare you ignore me!」the blonde guy interrupted.「I’m Roy, a member of the Yellow Tiger clan and a student of the academy!」
「Which requests should we take?」Hikaru asked.
「Kill quests take time, so I think we should take the Plant Hunter requests.」
「I. said. stop. ignoring. me!」
The guy reached for Lavia’s shoulders, trying to make her turn around, but before his fingers could touch her, Hikaru grabbed his wrist.
「Who gave you permission to touch Lavia?」
「Finally, you noticed me. You must be an idiot to seize my hand – me, a member of the Yellow Tiger clan. Now, off you go—」
Roy tried to break free of Hikaru’s grasp, but the powerful grip prevented him from doing so.
「Wh-What?」
「Weaklings shouldn’t act tough.」
「Are you calling me weak?!」
【Soul Board】Roy “Yellow Tiger” Rumania
Age: 19 Rank: 2
19
【Magical Power】
..【Mana】1
This guy’s a pushover. Wait, he’s a member of this so-called “Yellow Tiger” clan, but he has points on mana and not strength?
「Th-This can’t be happening! How can a brat like you pin me down?!」
「Because I’m stronger than you, duh.」
「I’m of the valiant Yellow Tiger clan!」
「Looks like you didn’t inherit the valiant gene, then.」
Hikaru stepped forward, forcing Roy back. He almost fell over, but his friends held him up.
「A-A-Are you saying I’m a good-for-nothing?!」The guy seemed to have lost it, his red face turning even darker.
「Hey, stop it, Roy.」
「That’s enough. We’re in the guild.」
The red and green-haired men tried to stop him. The adventurers noticed the ruckus and watched.
「Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Backing down after being made fun of is a disgrace—」
Roy couldn’t finish his words. In a split second, Hikaru was behind him, and struck the back of his head lightly. He collapsed on the floor.
「Wha
 What?」
The red-haired man had no idea what had just happened, but Hikaru wasn’t about to explain anything.
「Hey, redhead. Make sure you collect this nuisance.」Hikaru said.「How about this request, then?」
Hikaru took the memo off the board with a nonchalant look.