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EP.90 A Suspiciously Well-Stocked General Store (5)

The basilisk’s belly skin.

Due to their large size, a single catch yields many by-products, but they’re not easy to catch, so the overall price of the by-products is very high.

Among the basilisk’s by-products, the ones commanding the highest prices were the venom sac, teeth, back skin, and belly skin.

The part Vine brought me was precisely the high-priced belly skin.

‘The back skin is most valuable when made into equipment, while the belly part is so soft to the touch that it’s used for luxury items for noble ladies or royalty.’

Even if not used for luxury items for royalty or noble ladies, when made into clothing, it becomes powerful equipment that can resist most poisons.

“This much….”

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this was the most valuable monster by-product I’ve ever received.

It wasn’t just a small piece of belly skin; this length was practically the entire belly skin in one piece.

With this, there’s no need to think twice.

I decided to willingly hand over the ownership of the magic wand to Vine.

“Thank you.”

“I should be the one thanking you. Bringing me something so precious.”

“No matter how expensive that is, it’s still just a by-product. This, on the other hand, is a finished product.”

If I were the person who made that wand, would I have exchanged it for the basilisk skin?

‘I’m not sure.’

For now, I had no information on how that magic wand was made.

It wasn’t easy to determine its exact value when I didn’t know what materials were used or how it was made.

So, my decision on the value of unique equipment was based on whether I felt ‘this is good enough to hand over’ or not.

‘In other words, it’s entirely up to me.’

And right now, I was very pleased with the basilisk belly skin.

I was excited to see how much the shop would offer for this.

It was a by-product of such high quality that someone like me wouldn’t even dare to look at it normally.

“Anyway, I’ve completely transferred the ownership to you. From now on, take good care of it. Though I’m sure you’ll do well even without me saying so.”

Vine smiled brightly as if to say, why are you stating the obvious?

===

**

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When exam period comes at the Academy, its impact extends to the surrounding stores as well.

Especially at Ash General Store, the largest in the Academy city, the influence of exams was particularly strong.

It becomes the period with the highest sales of the year.

The store was crowded with students coming to buy necessary consumables for the upcoming exams.

“You don’t have any?”

“We’re all out. They’ll be in stock next week, so please come back then.”

Ash General Store, with its long-standing reputation as the largest general store, always struggled with shortages during exam periods.

“Why didn’t you order in advance?! The exam is coming up soon, what are we supposed to do?!”

“We’re sorry. The quantity we can order is limited…”

“Argh!! Why is there always a shortage during exam periods? Can’t you stock up more?”

“We’re very sorry!”

The staff at Ash General Store had to work hard to appease the irritated students.

They too wished they could stock up on plenty of items.

But this time, it wasn’t possible.

A sudden monster wave had caused a shortage of supplies.

As a result, they had to receive fewer supplies than usual.

Even if students complained about the lack of items, it was impossible to procure them unless they fell from the sky.

“What should we do? No matter what, this level of shortage is unprecedented.”

From the students’ perspective, with exams right around the corner and unable to get the items they needed, they could only pace around anxiously.

Especially first-year students who didn’t know that Ash General Store always struggled with shortages during exam periods often fell victim to this situation.

But even being in a higher grade didn’t make the situation any better.

“Did you get what you needed?”

“No, I couldn’t get anything either. Why did the stock run out so quickly this time?”

“I heard all the supplies were diverted to the frontlines because of the monster wave.”

“Ah!”

Upon hearing the inevitable circumstances, the students looked crestfallen.

If they took the exam in this state, their grades would surely hit rock bottom.

“Try contacting home to see if they can urgently get something for you.”

“Is that the only way to get what we need?”

And even Class A couldn’t escape the despair of not being able to obtain the necessary consumables.

“Hmm.”

“Umm.”

“…..”

“Nngh.”

Shine, Fran, Ariane, and even Vine.

Unlike the other kids who were pacing around anxiously, they already had all the consumables needed for the exam.

Their conscience pricked them about ignoring their friends who couldn’t get the items they needed.

But as for telling them the location of the general store…

‘The owner will hate it.’

‘He’ll absolutely hate it.’

‘He says we’re noisy even when we go there.’

‘He’s not friendly, so he’ll be disgusted if a lot of people suddenly show up.’

The employees at Ash General Store treat customers with utmost respect.

Since most of the customers are nobles, the employees are thoroughly trained.

After all, if they cause any problems, it would be troublesome for the store owner.

On the other hand, the store owner…

‘No, something bad will definitely happen.’

‘But isn’t it a bit wrong to pretend we don’t know?’

‘Ugh, what should we do?’

While the friends were exchanging glances to communicate,

From an unexpected source, the teacher threw a lifeline to the clamoring students.

“I’ve heard that many students couldn’t get the items needed for the exam. If you sign up here, we’ll provide you with basic consumables, so those who couldn’t get them should write down their names.”

Wooooah!!!

The students cheered at Rebecca’s words.

“I was terrified thinking we’d have to take the exam without any preparation! What a relief.”

“Don’t get your hopes up too much. It’s really just the bare minimum.”

Despite the teacher’s words, the students breathed a sigh of relief.

They were satisfied with at least not having to take the exam empty-handed.

Meanwhile, there was a place that was upset by the academy’s decision.

“No, this is unacceptable from the academy! Where did you get these items from? Is it right for the academy to force low-quality goods on the students?”

It was none other than Ash General Store.

Ash General Store had been subtly raising prices on items that were in short supply.

Students had no choice but to buy items at inflated prices due to the shortage.

But now that the academy had decided to provide consumables, their business was ruined.

“We went through so much trouble to procure these items because the students were in an uproar about not having them, and now no one’s buying! How are you going to take responsibility for this? The goods are piling up in our warehouse! We’ve suffered enormous losses!”

“Does the academy need to concern itself with how a general store sells its goods? Don’t be unreasonable.”

“How is this unreasonable? It’s not too late. Please stop providing the students with low-quality goods of unknown origin.”

Ash General Store had been making money off academy students for a long time.

They even had connections with the headmaster, so the faculty couldn’t easily confront them.

There were rumors that they were distant relatives of the headmaster, or that they had some dirt on the headmaster, leaving him powerless.

But regardless of the truth, shouldn’t there be a line that shouldn’t be crossed?

The current behavior of Ash General Store was intolerable.

They had crossed the line.

“Why do you think the goods provided by the academy would be of low quality?”

“Ha! Aren’t they items of unknown origin? The goods I procure are supplied to the military. So naturally, the items provided by the academy can’t be as good as ours!”

Rebecca burst into mocking laughter at the bold and brazen claim of the Ash General Store owner.

“Well then, shall we compare? Let’s see which is better.”

The source of the items that the academy had decided to provide to the students.

Rebecca was confident, knowing exactly whose items they were.

This was a bet she couldn’t possibly lose.

“Are you really going to do this? Do you want to see me go to the headmaster?”

“Please, both of you, stop fighting and calm down.”

An academy staff member tried to mediate the fight between Rebecca and the Ash General Store owner, flustered.

But the two who were already fired up couldn’t be stopped.

“Go ahead. I’m not scared at all. I knew you were someone who played money games with kids, but isn’t this going too far this time? How can you gouge students like this? I could tolerate up to double the price, but going over triple is crossing the line, don’t you think?”

Using the monster wave to make personal gains was bound to be criticized.

Moreover, the targets of this business were students, weren’t they?

Not only that, but the Ash General Store owner was also badmouthing what Rebecca had prepared for the students.

Shamelessly saying that their store was on the brink of bankruptcy because of her.

Her anger started to rise as the absurdity of it all hit her.

“When supply is short and demand rises, it’s natural for prices to go up.”

“That’s why I said I would provide the missing supply.”

“As a teacher, shouldn’t you focus on education instead of acting like a merchant?”

“If I had gouged the kids like you did, I wouldn’t be qualified to be a faculty member. But I have no such intention.”

“That’s…!”

Rebecca cut off the Ash General Store owner’s words.

“Of course! You’re going to say you couldn’t help but raise prices because the quality of the goods deteriorated, right? That’s why I’m suggesting we compare. Let’s see which is better quality – your store’s products or the items I’m going to provide to the students.”

Despite Rebecca’s confident attitude, which should have made him uneasy, the Ash General Store owner didn’t back down, apparently furious.

He was confident because his goods were supplied to the military.

He thrust out his plump belly and readily accepted the bet.

“Fine! Let’s do it!”

“Oh my, why are you two doing this? Please calm down and have a rational conversation.”

“Sounds good. I’m already looking forward to it.”

“I don’t know where you think you’re going to get better items, but I’ll shatter that shallow belief that they could be better than military-grade supplies!!”

“That shallow belief that your store’s products are the best, I’ll be the one to shatter it.”

Rebecca was confident.

She would thoroughly crush Ash General Store!

She intended to make them deeply regret ‘price gouging’ the students.

And she had a reason to be so confident about winning this bet.

Bang!

Rebecca slammed the table as if she was about to break it.

“If it’s proven that your goods are inferior to what I bring, you’d better be careful about price gouging students in the future. That is, if you don’t want to close your store.”