Chapter 43: Cool Beans
Having the next two days off after orientation, Kir decided to do some exploring of the school. He wanted to do so with Stella so he could ask her more questions about Hell and its relationship to the world, but she'd been in a strange mood ever since getting her reward.
It was not a usual occurrence at the Academy, which seemed to operate on the same five-day schedule as everywhere else Kir had been, which wasn't many places. Four days in school for every one day off would be his life once the next week started.
Hanging out with Rainier was an option... he didn't want to consider because he still felt awkward about crushing on both him and his girlfriend. So instead, he decided to make good on his money-making plan.
The school had a dozen arboretums in the Tower of Earth, and one in each of the other elemental towers. The central tower had the Grand Garden on the roof of the Arena, and according to the school map, there was a restricted garden beneath the girls' First Year dorms.
All of the school's arboretums provided ingredients for potions and food, with the restricted garden in the central tower reserved solely for food production.
Thus, Kir made his way to the Earth tower, deciding to start from the top. The top story was a mountainous environment, not the sort of place Kir was looking for. He took one look after the elevator opened and pressed the button for the next garden.
The next garden contained a completely different biome, a swampy one, and he caught a glimpse of students walking away on planks suspended through the center of the bog. Garden after garden, he refrained from stepping past the elevator, until at last he found what he was looking for.
The environment was a humid jungle, and it brought a name to Kir's memory.
"Vietnam..." Kir muttered to himself as he stepped out of the elevator. He had memories of eating the food, and of studying the place. Most importantly, for what he wanted, he remembered the nation as the source of his favorite beverage...