Chapter 78: Cold Moon
One month after his fight with Lugh, Kir was in good shape.
He’d finally figured out how to harness his mana internally and to good effect.
Problem was, his fight with Lugh had revealed to the Arcane Knights that Kir’s ability to cast was sealed away. He had all of one week of peace before the first third year came around, trying to provoke him.
Chancellor Lumis’ announcement that wagers for expulsion and crippling were now banned due to the coming war prompted a rash of new duels. The obvious loopholes were to take away a student’s supplies and money, which wouldn’t be immediate but would hit poorer students harder.
Kir felt bad that he might have set the example for that, having demanded gold as compensation for dueling him.
After refusing the first attempt, he now had first-years challenging him every other day. Someone had started spreading a rumor that a first-year defeating a second-year could allow you to take their place.
Such a rumor was clearly targeted at Kir. When he continued to refuse, Kir started taking his lunches to go.
His money situation hadn’t improved. Even though Kordia eventually hit on the fact that his feathers could basically bankroll him beyond his debt, Kir didn’t want to introduce a bunch of angel feathers into the market suddenly. For one thing, given their color, it wouldn’t take long to connect the source to him. For another, he still had two months before the interest on his debt started.
As he told Kordia, "If I end up absolutely needing it, I will sell some feathers. But for now, don’t worry. I’ve got a plan."
He tried seeing if Moshui would buy some, since she at least seemed trustworthy, and had gotten one gold for the trouble. Her operation was surprisingly low on liquidity for being a renowned artist sought out by adventurers.
"I’m not in it for the money," was all Moshui said when Kir asked. "But I could throw in a magic tattoo for a couple of the big ones."