Chapter 79 : Chapter 79
Chapter 79. Give and Take
“They’re going to listen in too?”
Olivier frowned upon seeing Adellian, Michelle, and Odekerkh.
“The more heads, the better.”
“If this many people know, this……”
“Why? Is it something the Vice Principal and the Principal shouldn’t know about?”
At Adellian’s words, Olivier approached me. And she whispered in my ear, ‘I don’t like her.’
‘Why on earth is she a professor?’
She is truly a person far too removed from being a professor.
“Then… do I have to explain it again?”
Olivier asked, looking at me.
“No. That friend summarized it in between, so we understand what you’re talking about.”
Adellian looked back and forth between Olivier and me with sparkling eyes. It felt like she was expecting praise. Then again, she was the one who said she respected Olivier the most among the professors. So she would want to be praised by Olivier even for trivial things.
“Yeah, sure.”
My goodness, just give her some praise. After coming up with a scam-like plan.
Olivier’s plan was to open a betting and gambling business on the martial arts tournament.
The martial arts tournament of Saint-Denis Military Academy was said to have always been popular. To the extent that relatives of the cadets, nobles from around Saint-Denis, and well-off citizens would flock to watch. She said people even came from other provinces.
‘When people gather in a place like this, what do they do? Bet, of course.’
She said that professional gamblers would also gather in droves and open a betting market on the cadets’ performance. Olivier said that by riding this wave and opening a gambling market, they could make a lot of money.
“What is your reason for doing this?”
Adellian asked, looking at Olivier.
“What have I been talking about until now?”
“……Money.”
“Right, money is money. Why do we need money? Because our school is about to be short on money.”
“Yes? Why? I thought the subsidies and donations were substantial.”
“Her Highness the 3rd Queen said she was going to take care of that part. Very cleanly.”
“Cleanly… did she say she was going to cut off the subsidies?”
Olivier nodded.
Adellian gasped, ‘Heop!’, and looked at me.
This makes me have to ask.
“What’s the problem if the subsidies are cut?”
“The royal subsidies and the noble donations. If they’re all cut off, we’ll have to close down within a year.”
It was a question for Adellian, but Olivier explained.
“W-wouldn’t it be b-better to charge an e-entrance fee instead?”
Odekerkh, who had been listening quietly, cautiously offered his opinion. It seemed the betting and gambling Olivier mentioned was bothering him. So he had proposed the most conventional and gentle method.
“No can do. The Vice Principal and the rigid professors will oppose it.”
Olivier mimicked Vice Principal Potecus, saying, ‘The martial arts tournament is a sacred event. Yet you propose to sell it for money, are you in your right mind?’
“Won’t they oppose the idea of betting and gambling?”
Piontek, who saw betting and gambling as a stranger affair than charging an entrance fee, asked.
It was a point I was also curious about.
“Aish, of course, we have to do it without them knowing. With people from outside the school, excellent talents who know gambling well.”
Ah! That would solve the problem.
There is no way for the school to sanction what happens outside the school. Even if they threaten to rule by law, calling it illegal, it’s a matter of doing it without their knowledge.
“How about it? It’s good, right? You guys need money too. Ah, maybe she doesn’t need it?”
Olivier said, staring at Adellian.
Adellian’s face turned red. A sense of gloom also wandered across her face, as if she felt disliked.
“She’s a bit stiff, but you saw, right? She’s smart.”
“Then again, she is the top of the school.”
“Maybe that’s why she’s even stiffer? Still, she’s smart, so she’s good at making plans and such.”
“Right, because she’s the top of the school.”
At the back-and-forth between Olivier and me, Adellian’s eyes turned red and bloodshot.
She also bit her lip tightly, looking like she would cry if touched even slightly.
“She’s kind of cute?”
Olivier, seeing such an Adellian, burst out laughing.
“Don’t cry, I was just teasing you because your reaction was cute. So… what are you going to do? Are you going to give setting up a market a try?”
At Olivier’s question, I stroked my chin and pretended to think. It was a very interesting proposal. But if I jump at it, I’ll just lower my value. So I need to wait until Olivier’s heart is set on fire.
“You’re going to do it, right? Let’s do it. You’re in the plan, so you have to do it. If you do, I’ll treat you well.”
She’s quite the impatient type.
As Olivier spoke with a nasal tone, the expressions of everyone present were dyed with astonishment. She was famous within the school as a bad-tempered professor…….
“What’s the split going to be?”
“Um… 7 to 3. It’s a market I’m making, so you have to accept that much.”
“What are you talking about? I’m the one fighting. Isn’t it too much to take 7 while running a fraudulent gambling operation?”
“It’s for the school. The school. You should cooperate as a cadet.”
“I’m fine with not being for the school.”
Olivier looked at me with a face full of dissatisfaction. She repeatedly stretched and contracted her facial muscles to swallow her rising irritation.
“6 to 4! That’s a big concession.”
“Wouldn’t you call it a lot if it were the other way around?”
“This is a complete daylight robbery. I do the planning, I gather the people, I pick the players, I did everything. All you do is go out and fight.”
“Isn’t it the person who does all the fighting that needs to do well for you to make money?”
“…….”
Olivier’s eyes filled with killing intent.
Naturally, Piontek and Michelle, who were next to her, slowly distanced themselves.
“5 to 5! Just take it at this point.”
“It’s a little disappointing, but it’s not bad.”
“Good. It’s a deal. No take-backs.”
“I won’t take it back, but I’m about to start the negotiations now.”
Olivier blinked her eyes with a bizarre expression, as if asking what I was talking about.
“I’ll start with a question. Do you know Homilia Sotolts?”
Olivier’s gaze turned cold and sank.
“Why those bastards? No, how do you know those bastards?”
I felt a deep hostility from her. At least it meant Olivier was not a Hoso Merchant Guild person, so it was worth entrusting her with the task.
“Because all the ones who tried to kill me were from there.”
“……What is this? I don’t understand right now.”
Olivier furrowed her brow deeply. Then she shot an intense gaze that meant to explain kindly.
“There were three clashes. One at the Black Market, another during the semester opening exam, and the last one on the way to school on the opening day.”
“That was all the work of the Homilia Sotolts bastards? How did they know you?”
“It seems there’s a spy from them somewhere quite close.”
Olivier’s face twisted viciously.
“Targeting a prince of a nation is the same as saying let’s go to war! Uresra, those son of a bitches!”
“They’d probably always want a war.”
The frequent provocations in the north, the spy that had even entered the royal family. Those bastards were steadily preparing for war. It might even be a situation where they just need to create a suitable pretext now.
“I shouldn’t be at the school right now……”
“You still have to be at the school for now.”
Olivier made a face asking what I meant.
“There’s something you need to do inside the school.”
“What is it?”
“It seems there’s a spy from Homilia Sotolts in the school.”
Olivier let out a hollow breath as if in disbelief.
I nodded with a sense that it was nothing to be surprised about.
“No, no. What?”
“It’s just as you heard. So, Professor, you just need to find the spy. If you find them before the martial arts tournament, I’ll give you a 6 to 4 split.”
“……7 to 3.”
This person.
“6 to 4. I won’t take more than that. If you don’t like it, well, it’s something I can just look for on my own.”
Olivier, showing her reluctance through her expression and actions, said, ‘Alright. I get it.’
And that, with great displeasure.
“But are you sure?”
“Nothing is certain. That’s why we have to look.”
“You wouldn’t have suspected without anything. Isn’t there something you’ve got a hold of?”
“The semester was reorganized so suddenly. Do you think that was a coincidence?”
A strange light flickered in Olivier’s eyes. It seemed she had an inkling of something.
“I’ll have to let the kids loose and poke around. Don’t tell me this martial arts tournament has something to do with it too?”
“We’ll have to look into that too, won’t we?”
“You’re not just bluffing without anything, are you?”
“Maybe I am.”
Olivier let out a loud, hollow laugh of ‘Ha!’. But she did not ignore me or refuse the task she was given.
“But.”
Michelle, who had been quietly tearing at her bread until now, slyly raised her hand.
Olivier looked at Michelle with bewildered eyes.
“Since when was she there?”
“Since a while ago……”
“The kid has no presence. You need to develop some presence.”
“I’ll try.”
Michelle bowed her head deeply and then looked at me. It seemed she had something to say.
I moved my hand as if to tell her to say what was on her mind.
“You’re planning to rig the betting, aren’t you?”
At Michelle’s words, everyone made sounds of ‘Hmm!’ or ‘Keolreok!’ to hide their awkwardness.
“Do you know what you’re doing? The winner?”
At the following question, everyone’s gaze shifted restlessly between me and Olivier.
“Right, what are you checking before setting up the market?”
“Is Maxim going to win? There are many other people.”
“C-can we d-decide the r-rankings?”
From Adellian to Piontek and Odekerkh, they let out the questions that came to their minds.
Olivier pointed at me with her finger.
“As long as he doesn’t do anything stupid, he’ll win.”
“Maxim is strong, but is he that amazing?”
“He did fight with Gwanju, so I thought he was a contender for the championship… but there’s also Dwight… is it possible?”
“Th-there will be variables. I-is it really possible?”
This time too, they expressed their doubts in turn.
“If someone on my level shows up, I don’t know. Other than that, it won’t be easy to beat him. He’s a guy who does unbelievable things. No, how did he even copy that?”
Olivier’s eyes sparkled. It seemed she found it fascinating that I had copied the sword style called Flame Flower Wild Dance.
But I found it even more fascinating. Because the sword she used was not the sword of this place, Poinus.
‘Is she from Jishu?’
Jishu was a country that could only be reached by passing through the frozen lands of Uresra and crossing an endless desert. The people of Jishu fought daily to obtain water. So the people of Jishu were accustomed to battle. Their personalities were also belligerent.
‘The swords they showed were similar to the Flame Flower Wild Dance.’
Their swords were ever-changing. The swords they used also resembled a crescent moon, making it difficult to grasp the point of the slash. The flowing swords made flowers bloom and drew spiderwebs, making it impossible for the opponent to move. So I had all sorts of trouble throughout the fight.
‘In the end, I tore them all apart, though.’
Anyway, it was a very difficult and tricky sword.
That aside, it’s not easy for Poinus and Jishu to even meet, so how did Olivier come to use such a sword? I’m curious about what happened during the long time I was gone.
“I asked how you copied it.”
Olivier urged for an answer.
“I just watched and did it. I have a good short-term memory.”
I mixed a moderate amount of lies and a moderate amount of truth in my words to the stubbornly questioning Olivier.
Olivier scratched her cheek and observed me. Only her sound of ‘Hmm’ floated in the air.
I’m getting nervous for no reason.
“Let’s just say that. Instead, if you lose, you die.”
As if she had given up on thinking deeply, Olivier made an annoyed face. And she poked my chest with the end of her sword hilt. It felt like I could hear her saying, I’m trusting you, so do well.
Now that she’s gone this far, it seems like it’ll be a big problem if I really lose. Not that I plan to lose, or have the confidence to lose, anyway.