Magicapita

Chapter 181: Unwilling Measures


Cæ knew that his interactions with affluent students had not been optimal.

He knew that there was more he could have done to build connections, to build goodwill with families, to perhaps even build a relationship with them and have a nice implicit partnership with them of sorts where both parties mutually benefited.

If he had accepted the marriage proposal from Melia, achieving his goal would have been much easier.

But he didn't do any of these even though he knew that they were better for his own stated goal.

It was irrational, but the truth of the matter was that he hated these people.

Not the students themselves, although he harbored disdain and contempt for them as well. But rather for their parents and guardians, the people who led these families to maintain the current structure of power that benefited a handful of elites at the cost of the rest of society, especially the bottom half that lived in the slums, because there simply wasn't enough mana-conducting substances to direct magical energy to all people.

His hatred for these people had only grown after he witnessed them fighting to prevent the people of the slums from getting any opportunity to make use of their magical talent. They had gone as far as trying to massacre all the students with a master mage and would have succeeded if not for Headmistress Lenolia's intervention.

And even then, there were plenty who were injured who had yet to be healed entirely due to a shortage of qualified senior heart healer surgeons.

All because the affluent elite of the city feared being displaced by a new surge of powerful talents who could threaten to tear down the dominance in society that they had built over years, decades, and centuries.

He deeply hated these people.

It also didn't help that the identity of the person responsible for Lilia's death was a man who was part of this community.

The idea of smiling at them and shaking their hands to gain their power and use it to further his goal was good in theory, but it was one that he could not bring himself to actually do.

He shook his head at Serulia.

"I don't care to earn your goodwill for the sole sake of getting something out of you."

Her eyes widened at those words before she averted her gaze.

"I see…" her tone was low. "Then… how about earning my goodwill to become f-friends?"

Cæ's stormy gray eyes shifted to her as he studied her.

"…I suppose I don't have a problem with that."

He wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea, but he didn't care to try to avoid it either. Although he never had any intention of making any friends in the Elendir Institute of Magic, he had inadvertently found himself with some friends nonetheless.

Yet, Serulia turned her head back towards him with an expression lit up with a hint of delight.

"Then, from this day forth, we are friends."

Cæ raised an eyebrow. "I don't think people typically become friends through such verbal declarations, you know."

"T-Then how do they become friends?" she leaned in closer, her light blue eyes lit up with curiosity.

"You…" Cæ leaned away with a frown. "…don't have any friends?"

"What? Hah! What an absurd question. Of course, I have many friends! More friends than you can imagine."

Cæ stared at her with dubious eyes.

"W-What reason are you looking at me like that for?!"

Cæ heaved a soft sigh, shaking his head. "More importantly, thanks for the information. I'll review it once more tonight and try to internalize it as much as I can. If it pans out as your intel suggests, then I will definitely apologize for mistrusting your goodwill."

"Hmph…!" she flipped her head away. "I was not doing it for you. I was merely acting in my own self-interest. I cannot have the image of the Vritra Family tarnished."

"Well, another thing that might tarnish the image of the Vritra Family is its beautiful daughter spending time with a man in his room after dark," Cæ pointed out the window.

The twilight sky darkened a bit with each passing moment.

Her cheeks flushed at his compliment. "T-Then, I will take my leave. I cannot have people think that I am in a relationship, for your good more than mine."

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Cæ raised an eyebrow. "My own good?"

"If my suitors suspect you to be in a relationship with me, then they will undoubtedly target you and make your life hell," she replied, getting up as she patted her villit.

Cæ couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful the ethnic attire of her homeland suited her, complementing her beautiful dark skin.

She averted her eyes under his gaze. "T-Then, I will get going."

Cæ stood up, nodding seriously. "Thank you for the information."

"You are welcome. Good luck. Make sure not to fail tomorrow. For the sake of the Vritra Family."

A small smile uncharacteristically emerged on his face as his expression softened momentarily.

"I'll keep that in mind."

It wasn't long before she departed, leaving him alone in his room.

Her floral scent still remained in the room, distracting his mind.

He simply shook his head, returning to the material at hand as his attention drew back to his strategy for the match tomorrow.

"It's going to be difficult."

He continued reviewing the material and refining his strategy up until the night before, heading to sleep to get some good rest.

He didn't talk with anybody else for the rest of the day.

Even his friends, understanding how busy he was, knew that they ought not to have disturbed him.

That made him disconnected from what unfolded in the rest of the magicademy.

"Place your bets!"

One boy boisterously roared into an excited crowd of students, standing at a table in the school restaurant earlier that evening.

"Who do you think will win?!" he asked with an emphatic tone. "Who do you think will lose?! Put your money where your mouth is!!! WELCOME TO THE MORNEL BETTING EXCHANGE!"

His roar stoked the excitement of the crowd of students that cheered.

"WOOOO!!!"

"VIRLYD IS GONNA WIN!"

"I'M PUTTING MY MONEY ON KYRELL!"

"FOOL! DRANST WILL BE THE ONE TO WIN!"

"HAHAHA! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE LOOKS ON YOUR FACE WHEN MIRA WINS!"

The students gathered around the table in a dense rush as they began signing receipts and paying cash to the boy.

"Hehehe…!" Mornel grinned as he raked in all the money. "This is going to be juicy!"

"I'm betting ten leenars on Cæ!" Kelton roared as he pushed through the crowd, placing a crumpled ten leenar note on the table. "HE IS DEFINITELY GOING TO WIN, Y'HEAR?!"

The crowd started laughing at him for betting on the one who was the least likely to win among all seven candidates.

"Hah! He's good, but you have too much faith in him!"

"Hehehe, I'll be taking that money when Virlyd wins!"

"You should ask Cæ for a refund when he inevitably loses!"

"Rgh! Damn you bastards!" Kelton roared.

"Hey, don't gamble!" Natana grumbled, trying to pull him away. "Otherwise, I'll tell your parents."

"Oh come on, don't be a spoilsport!" Kelton complained. "Just try to have fun for once! Also, you should put some money up for Cæ too. We gotta show support for the big bro!"

"Hmph! I don't care to participate in such nonsense!"

The crowd only continued growing more excited and rambunctious as students excitedly discussed what could happen the very next day. They had been treated to a very delightful set of matches just that day, and the excitement for witnessing them had not faded.

It only made them even more excited for witnessing the following day's match, with the seven strongest matches the next day.

"Move."

The crowd froze as Silian's cold voice cleaved through the noise.

They parted as he walked through, pulling out a cheque from his pocket.

"EEHHHH?!"

"How much are you betting, you rich bastard?!"

"Damn, I wish I were born in an affluent family!"

Silian didn't even bother trying to retort to the comments that came flying from the crowd.

He simply placed his bet on Virlyd, who had defeated him, taking one look at the image of Cæ placed on the table among the seven finalists, before closing his eyes and walking away.

He wasn't the only affluent student who partook in the betting campaign, either.

"My…" A woman with drill-like hair that twirled down in two pigtails arrived with a clique of girls. "Looks like the plebeians are doing something fun. Why don't you let me participate as well?"

"Delilah…" Kelton snarled.

He recalled her.

She was the one who had provoked him to hit her last year. If not for Cæ stopping him, he would have undoubtedly been penalized for assault.

"I'm going to place, let's see, about a hundred thousand leenars on Virlyd," she remarked with a sneer. "He is noble and will defeat that filthy slum mongrel."

The students shuddered at that number.

"A hundred thousand!"

"That's more than my monthly household income, dammit!"

"Ah, I wish I were born rich!"

"Still, she nailed it by going for Virlyd!"

"Hohoh, of course I would go for Virlyd!" She smirked with anticipation.

Delilah and Silian weren't the only ones, however.

Gambling was a popular pastime among the affluent class of the country, as they had enough money to engage in it to a serious extent without suffering great losses. However, there were plenty of cases that gambled away everything they had because of an uncommon gambling addiction.

They drove the numbers up to a significant degree as the makeshift gambling house in the school began growing more and more serious.

Far away in her office, Headmistress Lenolia heaved a sigh as she watched all of it unfolding in a crystal ball resting on her table.

Strictly speaking, gambling was prohibited on campus, but she decided to let the students have fun and bond over the event. The excitement for the outcome was so universal that it even bridged some of the gap between the commoner and the affluent class of students.

She simply sent a message to the administration to watch over it and monitor the situation, whether it's good or bad. In particular, if students started betting outrageous amounts relative to their economic status, that likely was something that could not be tolerated.

She put the matter aside, dispelling the feed from the artifact before returning to the work she had.

The Magic Contest was a source of great work for her not just because of her identity as the Headmistress of her branch, but also as her identity as as a member within Twilight. The designs that the organization had for the future required a lot of labor from her to plan everything perfectly so that everything unfolded as it was supposed to.

Her expression grew complicated as she thought about what it was that the organization was trying to accomplish.

She had never once felt conflicted about what she had done in the service of her ideals of equity. She had always harbored a righteousness that she, to a great extent, hid within herself, showing merely a portion of it on the outside.

This time, however, she truly didn't like what she was going to do, even if she knew it would help with her goal.

"I have grown more attached to these children over the years."

She closed her eyes.

"Nonetheless, what must be done, must be done."

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