kscans

Chapter 433 - The After-Party and the Next Event

"Alright, cheers again!"

"Kukuku, which is to say, the dark banquet has no end...! Cheers!"

"Mm, cheers."

Parfait, Natsu, and Chris had started their after-party in the base's dining hall. They had finished their first round at the Maid Guild's cafe, but it wasn't enough, so they moved the party to their base.

They had a massive amount of sweets they had bought from the Maid Guild. The Mandragora and Golden Mandragora had sold for such a high price at the Apothecary's Guild that they had plenty of money left over even after paying the land tax. So they had splurged and bought a huge amount.

Strawberry parfaits, various donuts, protein... drinks and Japanese-style sweets were laid out on the table, and Parfait's group was enjoying them.

They would hesitate to do this in the real world for financial reasons, but this was virtual reality. This was the result of buying as much as they wanted of everything they wanted to eat.

That said, they still had to pay taxes next month, so they hadn't spent all their money. This sweet festival was being held after securing about a third of the money they would need for next month's payment.

"I'm glad we made it in time."

"If we had just earned money from Mandragora from the start, we wouldn't have had to grind in the dungeon."

"Chris-chan, you shouldn't say that. But yeah, we should have done this sooner..."

The ninety nine Mandragora and one Golden Mandragora had almost completely covered the hundred thousand G tax. It had sold for so much that they didn't even need the money they had saved up. In terms of hourly earnings, Mandragora farming was definitely better.

"I am not angry. Grinding in the Kogin Copper Mine was fun too. I was just remarking that we could probably cover the tax with this every month."

"My friend Chris. The price of Mandragora fluctuates. There is no guarantee it will sell for the same price next month, and the Golden Mandragora is a rare gathering item. We cannot rely solely on this."

"That is indeed true."

"And besides, I do not want to see Kappa and cucumbers for a while...!"

Natsu, who seemed somewhat traumatized for some reason, wrinkled her brow. Then she shook her head and started eating a chocolate donut with gusto.

Parfait nodded as if to agree that she didn't want to see Kappa and cucumbers either. She finished her orange juice with a straw and placed the cup on the table.

"We'll have to find another way to earn money for next month. It would be nice if we could get money more easily."

"I do not know if it will make money, but I heard there is an event next month?"

Parfait smiled and nodded at Chris's question.

"That's right! They haven't announced what kind of event it will be yet, but I hope it's something that beginners like us can enjoy!"

Parfait had high hopes for what would be her first event. She loved festive occasions where everyone could have fun together.

"Calling us 'ranked beginners' is a bit odd, but I agree that the first event should be something everyone can enjoy. If there were a Clan War event, we wouldn't even be able to participate."

"Oh yeah, Clan Wars. It's impossible now since it's a hundred versus a hundred, unlike before. Apparently, allied clans can participate, but we're not planning to go that far to join in."

The Clan War, which used to be ten versus ten, had been expanded to a scale of one hundred versus one hundred. The ten versus ten Clan War still existed, and it could be held anytime as long as players agreed to it, like a personal duel, and a battle field could be secured.

There was a system called alliances that linked clans together, so it was possible to gather a hundred people that way, but so far, no clan that did so was particularly strong. It had been proven that a clan that could field a hundred members on its own had an advantage in coordination.

Incidentally, Parfait's clan, "Mont Blanc," had systematically set themselves to not accept alliance requests and were turning them all down.

"Rick should have his birthday next month. Even if he joins, that only makes four of us."

"Speaking of birthdays, isn't Ginny-chan's birthday next month too?"

"Mm. At the end of the month, I believe. And Abel's is the month after. Aside from the real world, we will need money if we are to hold a birthday party here as well."

"We'll have to earn a lot. But is there anything that makes good money? Mandragora is a bit of a hassle, so I plan to grow something else."

Mandragora attracted monsters, which made them profitable but also a pain. She planned to grow fruit or something instead. Since Parfait was leveling her Cooking Skill, she was also thinking of using them as ingredients to raise that skill.

Besides, every time she harvested something from the field, her cultivation skill experience would increase. She couldn't afford not to do it, as it would allow her to gather rare items and increase her harvest yield.

But that alone would be tough to cover the land tax. They needed money for other things too. Especially for banquets.

"Why not consult Rick? He is supposedly knowledgeable about investing, so he should know ways to make money. He taught me the alchemy of selling a donut I bought for a hundred yen to my mother for a hundred and twenty."

As Natsu said this while eating a donut, Parfait nodded.

"Come to think of it, I was thinking about that. Rick-kun seems like he'd be good at that sort of thing. Also, about the donut thing, I'm worried about your future, Natsu-chan."

"Fear not. I shall not do it to anyone but my mother...! In any case, I heard the reason Rick is playing this game is to practice pseudo marketing. He also said he has no interest in fighting monsters."

"Then maybe we can entrust all of our clan's money management to him..."

"I do not think he will let you spend wastefully, you know? Rick is strict about that sort of thing. His hobby is saving money. Or staring at his bank account."

"...I was wrong. It would be a problem if banquets like this decreased!"

Natsu and Chris agreed with that sentiment.

"By the way, Parfait, are you okay?"

Parfait tilted her head at Chris's sudden question.

"Okay with what?"

"There is the game event, but there is also a real-world event, is there not? It is in two weeks, you know?"

"A real event? Is there something in two weeks?"

"There should be a test. Are your preparations in order?"

Parfait completely froze. The light vanished from her eyes.

"For the record, I am fine. I have never studied for a test in the first place. Facing it with one's usual ability is the royal road. Darkness is darkness because it is always dark. If a ray of light occasionally shines in, then it is no longer darkness...!"

"I do not understand what you are saying at the end, but I agree with displaying one's usual ability. So, how about you, Parfait? If you're at your usual level, it means we will have to help you study."

"Please do. Seriously, math is impossible for me... oh, I have a good idea, let's have a study session here."

"Rejected."

"I also cast a vote for rejection."

"...May I ask why?"

She thought studying here would be quite productive, but Parfait was surprised by the rejection from both of them.

"Because if we study at Parfait's house, Hayato-dono will bring us sweets as a token of gratitude. And he always has protein on hand. How wonderful."

"The same goes for me. My own mother secretly calls him a 'Creator.' To not be able to eat the donuts of my friend's father, that is something I, for one, am a little dissatisfied with."

"So you've been conditioned by my dad's food...!"

"However, I believe this is a legitimate reward. Parfait, you are, well, you are difficult to teach."

"I can tell Chris-chan chose her words very carefully..."

Natsu patted the dejected Parfait on the shoulder.

"It is not that my friend is incapable of studying, but she is poor at acquiring knowledge that does not seem useful. Or rather, she is too uninterested in things she has no interest in."

"I'm just bad at memorization. I mean, what's the point of finding the area of a circle? There are no such perfect circles in real life, and I don't think I'll ever use it in my life, you know? Besides, if pi is an approximate number, then the area is just approximate too!"

"Well, it's not about what you do with it, isn't that just how arithmetic and math are...?"

"And do we really need to memorize the periodic table of elements!? What's the point of memorizing it with mnemonics!? You can just search for it on a tablet in an instant!"

"Calm yourself, my friend. Your mother, Esha-san, said it, did she not? Even if you cannot get the score, the knowledge is necessary."

"...You're right. She said that not knowing something, not just about studying, increases the chances of being deceived. When I told Benny-shisho that story, she got really down for some reason, though."

Something must have happened, but Parfait didn't press the issue. She remembered it well because it was a rare sight to see Simon invite Benitsuru out for a drink, and it was an even rarer situation for both of them to be hungover the next day.

As Parfait was wondering what had happened, Chris clapped her hands.

"Alright, then starting next week, we will have a study session at Parfait's house. We will also reduce our game time."

"How cruel!"

"What are you saying? If it is thought that your grades have dropped because you were absorbed in the game, you might be banned from playing. To avoid that, you have no choice but to work hard."

"Ugugu..."

"What, it is only for ten days or so. Besides, the event will start after the tests are over. I did not say you cannot play at all, and it is only natural to endure a little to grasp a good future."

"You sound more like a mom than my mom does..."

"Did you say something?"

"I didn't say anything, so please stop cracking your knuckles."

And so, it was decided that for about a week starting the next day, Parfait would have a study session at her home.

Later, Diite heard that there was talk of holding a study session in the virtual reality and strongly pushed for them to do it there next time, but she was rejected by everyone except Parfait and became a little dejected.