"Did you really grow it yourself?"
Salko asked with a voice mixed with astonishment and curiosity.
He was a student from the Tower of the Blue Dragon, hailing from the Wardanaz family, one of the prestigious families within the empire.
To think that such a boy had personally grown those fresh, appetizing, glossy, and tempting potatoes. It was hard to believe.
"Yes, I grew them myself,"
Yi-Han nodded firmly.
The other Black Tortoise students who had been watching chimed in.
"It's true that Wardanaz grew them, Salko."
"I even had a meal that he prepared last time! It was delicious!"
"Is that so? What did you offer in return?"
Salko asked his friends.
Upon hearing this, the Black Tortoise students hesitated.
...We just ate them...
"Surely you didn't obtain them without any payment?"
Salko asked, his expression turning stern, as if he might wield a hammer at any moment. The Black Tortoise students were frightened.
The motto of the Tutanta family was simple.
-Those who don't work, shall not eat.-
No matter how close they were as tower friends, if they had obtained something without working for it, it was an unforgivable act.
This is what conscienceless nobles and knights would do!
"Uh... Well..."
Yi-Han, who felt helpless, spoke up.
"I treated them as a reward for helping me."
"!"
The Black Tortoise students looked at Yi-Han with moved expressions.
'Wardanaz...!'
"That's right! That's how it happened!"
"We helped Wardanaz!"
Upon hearing this, Salko's expression softened.
"Thank goodness. I was worried that you might have obtained them without any payment."
"There's no way we would do something like that, Salko."
"My least favorite word is 'unearned.' Salko."
"Right, I understand."
As Salko was about to leave, Yi-Han asked him.
"Would you like to take a potato?"
The reason Yi-Han asked Salko this was simple.
Everyone loved the potatoes grown in the garden. Even the princess had praised them.
Of course, Yi-Han had his doubts about whether the princess really enjoyed everything she ate, despite the recent rumors among her followers.
And earlier, Salko had stared intently at the potatoes in Yi-Han's sack.
Either he really liked potatoes or had a grudge against them.
"...No, I'm fine. I don’t have anything to pay you right now."
“It’s okay, I don’t mind.”
"Don't insult me, Wardanaz. Dwarves of the Tutanta family don't receive anything without doing something in return."
'But you're an elf...'
Before Yi-Han could finish his sentence, Salko hurried away, as if staring at the potatoes for too long might tempt him.
"It's a tough time for thieves like me,"
Ratford, who had met Yi-Han, nodded his head and explained the recent events.
Originally, the students from the Black Tortoise had diverse backgrounds, and they tended to gather separately and have their own fun.
However, as time passed, individuals who stood out began to emerge.
Tutanta Salko, a dwarf, or rather an elf, was one such individual, thanks to his exceptional magic skills and rock-solid sense of responsibility. Friends who followed Tutanta had increased.
'Why not Nillia...'
Yi-Han suddenly felt sorry for Nillia.
Although Nillia had also given a lot to the Black Tortoise students, they didn't trust her as a leader, no matter how much they liked her. It was the opposite with Salko.
'Is it the difference between dark elves and elves? No, it doesn't seem to be because of that.'
Anyway, the followers of Salko increased, and at the same time, the black market operated by the Black Tortoise also grew in size.
Students from the Blue Dragon and White Tiger, having heard the rumors, also started to come and exchange various goods.
This, in turn, led to a gradual increase in problems.
-"Why does this cost five loaves of bread?"-
-"You shouldn't do this here!"-
-"Hey, this coffee is fake! Give me back my bread!"-
-"I can't refund once you've bought it! And I already told you, it's fake coffee made from dandelions!"-
With students from other towers coming and going, problems inevitably increased.
However, the Black Tortoise students found it difficult to strongly retaliate when friction arose with students from other towers.
The opponents were either from great noble families or knightly families.
So, the Black Tortoise students requested help from the most trustworthy Salko, not Nillia.
After much deliberation, Salko agreed but firmly stated that his rules must be followed.
-"If you want the guys from the other towers to follow my rules, you must abide by them first!"-
-"Understood. Tutanta!"-
-"We must, of course, follow your rules!"-
-"Remember, if you don't work first, you shouldn't eat."-
-"That's a good rule!"-
"The guys from the other towers will never abide by it!"
-"Likewise, dealing in stolen goods is prohibited."-
-"..."-
-"..."-
-"What's the matter? Any problems?"-
-"None! None at all!"-
Naturally, there were complaints, but the fact that other problems disappeared thanks to Salko's growling was true.
Upon hearing the explanation, Yi-Han was furious.
"As always, because of a few troublemakers, good people suffer. Because of those White Tiger guys, thieves like you and me are starving."
"That's right."
Ratford strongly nodded in agreement.
"It must be hard, Ratford. So, what are you doing?"
"Ah, I'm fine. I'm secretly selling stolen goods."
Yi-Han was slightly impressed by Ratford's calm response. He was a professional thief, after all.
Running a black market within a black market...
"Of course, since I can't do it openly, the scale has reduced significantly. Instead, I'm doing something else."
"?"
Ratford pointed to a corner of the black market. Some Black Tortoise students were sitting there, doing something other than business.
"Look closely at this. There are three cards, one of them is the Emperor card. I'll flip and shuffle them... if you find it, you get double the money."
Flipping three cards, shuffling them dazzlingly, and doubling the money if you find the Emperor card.
...It's gambling!
"Is gambling okay?"
"Tutanta doesn't like gambling, but... he has allowed it. Obviously, if we prohibit that as well, there would be too much dissatisfaction."
When it came to the proportion of criminals, the Black Tortoise had the most.
Thieves Guild, Gambling Guild, etc., those backgrounds usually led to the Black Tortoise.
Salko knew this and turned a blind eye to this money-making through gambling, considering it labor.
Apart from the card matching gambling, there were other activities like chess betting, lock picking (which seemed to be Ratford's job), among others.
'Is this some kind of adventurer's guild?'
"Aargh! My bread!! My three days' worth of bread!!"
"Sorry, I tried to mix it up slowly..."
A White Tiger student cried out in despair, having lost his property.
"Don't give up, Dukma. You were just unlucky this time. Let's try one more time!"
"It's not too hard! You'll succeed this time!"
Yi-Han looked at the person shuffling. It was a face he had recognized before.
Ymirg, the giant mixed-blood he had met in Professor Mortum's dark magic class.
Yi-Han marveled in a peculiar way.
‘Surely, being a giant would make his opponents let their guard down.’
To anyone looking, Ymirg's massive hands seemed clumsy and slow.
But Yi-Han saw clearly.
He noticed the slight sleights of hand Ymirg was performing while shuffling the cards.
‘He's quite skilled.’
In a world of real magic, it was easy to think there was no place for magic tricks based on skill and technique.
However, there were those who mastered such hand tricks.
They were the gamblers of the Gambling Guild.
Using magic for cheating was risky, so they relied on pure sleight of hand.
Yi-Han speculated that Ymirg might be from the Gambling Guild.
"Never gamble against Ymirg," Ratford advised, mistaking Yi-Han's gaze.
Even Ratford, with his own hand tricks, had never beaten Ymirg.
Such was his unmatched skill within the Black Tortoise.
"I'm not really interested in gambling, Ratford. I was just watching for fun."
Yi-Han clenched and unclenched his fist, making a coin disappear. Ratford, amazed, exclaimed,
"As expected of Mr. Wardanaz! I always thought you had the qualities of an outstanding thief, and I wasn't wrong!"
"Keep your voice down, it’s embarrassing if others hear it."
Receiving such fervent reactions for a simple coin trick was rather embarrassing for him.
"No, Mr. Wardanaz. If you have such skills, you certainly deserve a place here."
"..."
Yi-Han was momentarily tempted.
It sounded plausible.
'Was all my practice meant for this moment?'
To extort bread and meat from the pockets of the White Tiger students...
"But I belong to a different tower."
"I'll talk to them. There are friends who owe you favors, Mr. Wardanaz, it should be fine."
But before Ratford could rise, Salko appeared from behind.
Behind Salko, the Black Tortoise students stood like guilty culprits.
"Wardanaz. When I asked around, these friends here said they got food without paying anything."
'Damn these blabbermouths.'
Yi-Han cursed the Black Tortoise students internally.
If you're going to deny it, at least stick to your story.
Yi-Han was different. He was confident he could deny until the end of the world.
"I had no choice. Our family motto is 'Share food with the hungry.'"
Yi-Han's demeanor had the power to make even nonsense sound serious.
The listening students unconsciously nodded in agreement.
Indeed!
It made sense why Wardanaz was feeding his friends...
"I'm not blaming you, Wardanaz. It's not your fault. I came to apologize for my friends' mistakes. It was irresponsible behavior, typical of lazy nobles or violent knights."
Salko bowed in apology, and the Black Tortoise friends hesitantly followed suit.
Then, students from other towers waiting outside the black market protested Salko’s description.
"That's too harsh!"
"Lazy nobles? You have no idea how hard the life of a noble is!"
"Do you understand the heavy honor and responsibility we bear as knights?!"
'Same tower, but really unlucky to have them.'
For a moment, Yi-Han almost sided with Salko.
Such shameless and conscienceless people...
Salko blatantly ignored them.
"I'd like to make them pay for what they ate, but my friends don't have that much right now."
"There's no need to worry about that."
The friends from the Blue Dragon meticulously recorded every single silver coin in the ledger, but he had no intention of doing the same for the Black Tortoise students.
"No, I'll pay instead."
"!"
Yi-Han was surprised.
Offering to pay on their behalf.
'The Tutanta family must be quite wealthy.'
Being from a famous stonemason guild family in the empire, they certainly wouldn't lack funds.
Yi-Han pondered how much to charge for the tomato vegetable stew he had prepared last time.
"I've heard rumors that you, Wardanaz, wander around the academy at night. Is that true?"
"I don't know what absurd rumor you've heard, but that's completely false."
"..."
"..."
Students from the Blue Dragon and White Tiger outside the black market were dumbfounded.
'Has that guy got a face of iron...?'
'It seems the Wardanaz family also trains in emotional control.'
Despite Yi-Han's denial, Salko resolutely continued his point.
"I have some information that might be helpful."
"!"
