As the sun reached the west, painting the land in a warm golden hue, Vlad had sold nearly all the syllabi and uniforms that Max’s bots had captured.

The towering mound of books had dwindled to a modest stash.

"There are still around fifty books remaining," Max said, counting through the pile.

"So some of them actually chose to buy the books later rather than from us," Vlad sighed. "At the end of the day they are just kids, choosing petty grudge over profit."

As if Vlad was the one to talk. Not that he would ever admit it, but yes. He was very petty.

The refusal of Leo’s offer and the ten percent increment to the share of the students who had supported him was proof enough of that.

"Ah... e-excuse me." A soft, hesitant voice called out, drawing the attention of both of them.

It belonged to a girl wearing a large pointed hat dyed a deep shade of purple. Her ear-length hair was the same color, only several shades lighter. Her emerald green eyes were fixed on the ground, too timid to meet Vlad’s face directly.

"Yes, do you need the books?" Vlad asked, turning toward her.

She pulled her hat down quickly, trying to tuck her face beneath its wide brim.

"Y-yes," she answered a moment later.

"Alright, sign here," Vlad said, extending Max’s treasure map toward her. His own and Chloe’s had no space left for signing.

"Ah... C-could I trade with something else instead of credits?"

"What do you offer?"

She slipped a leather backpack from her shoulders and set it carefully on the ground. When she opened it, a neat arrangement of tightly sealed test tubes was revealed, each one holding liquid of a different color, some tucked into the bag’s inner pockets and others secured to its interior by small leather straps.

"Th-these are potions."

"Potions!" The word lit something up behind Vlad’s eyes instantly, the gleam of a person coming face to face with something that had previously only existed on a page. "May I take a look?"

"S-sure."

The girl drew out a test tube filled with blue liquid and held it out to him.

"Th-this potion relaxes strained muscles. Y-you can use it to recover stamina."

Vlad was already brimming with several exciting questions, but he held himself back. Unlike Max, this girl was clearly very introverted. He didn’t want to scatter her with his energy before the deal was even made.

"How many books do you need, and how many potions are you offering in exchange?"

Before the girl could answer, the boy who had just finished his own exchange with Vlad called back over his shoulder as he walked away, "If I were you, I wouldn’t accept her deal. She’s the daughter of a traitor. Who knows what she might have added to those potions?" He clicked his tongue. "Tch. Not that it matters. Why am I even bothering telling an extortionist?"

The girl’s whole body trembled at the words.

"N-nevermind. I don’t w-want to trade."

She snapped the bag shut and turned to leave. She had barely taken two steps when Vlad called after her.

"Hey. Your potion."

He extended his hand to return the test tube.

His hand was empty.

His head snapped sideways. Chloe stood there with the test tube tilted vertically over her open mouth, the last of the blue liquid draining down into her stomach. She lowered it with the quiet, unbothered satisfaction of someone who had done absolutely nothing wrong.

"Chloe..." Vlad said, his eyes narrowing to a flat line.

He crossed to her in two steps and caught her ear between his fingers, pulling firmly.

"It belonged to that girl. Who permitted you to drink it?"

"Ahn! I was thirsty..." Chloe answered, rising onto her heels to relieve the tension on her ear.

"What did I teach you about stealing food?" Vlad asked, tightening his grip.

"I didn’t steal. It was in your hand," Chloe replied, wrapping both hands around his wrist.

If she was taking something from Vlad, it didn’t count as stealing. Every edible thing in Vlad’s possession was for Chloe. It had always been that way. So why was she being punished for it now? It was completely unfair.

Vlad loosened his grip and pressed his palm to his face. Although he didn’t give much thought to the boy’s claim on the potion girl, he was still concerned about the effects of the potion on Chloe.

"Do you feel anything different?" he asked.

"My ear hurts," Chloe replied, rubbing the reddened cartilage.

"Anything else?"

She clenched her fists, going still for a moment as though listening to something moving through her.

"I feel refreshed."

Vlad looked past her toward the potion girl, who had already made it halfway out of the forest.

"Hey, wait. I will take the exchange," he called after her.

If a sloth like Chloe, who only moved her feet when food was on the line, felt refreshed by the potion, it was obviously too valuable to pass up. Of course, it might have some side effects, but Vlad could analyze them at his leisure now that Chloe had already drunk it.

"A-are you sure?" the girl asked, pausing mid-step.

"Yeah. Your potions look interesting. I want to see what the others do."

She turned and came back toward him in short, quick steps, opening her bag again as she approached.

"O-one potion of your ch-choice per book," she said.

As she began leaving after trading, a mild breeze brushed past her, sending her hat flying.

She quickly followed the flying hat. It landed on the ground a few metres away.

She lowered herself to grab the hat but it lifted upward as a hand grabbed it from the other side.

"Here," said Max, extending the hat forward.

The girl looked at him with her large emerald eyes and a serene but flustered expression.

For a moment, everything stopped between the two as they stared at each other in complete silence.

She quickly snatched the hat from his hand and ran out of the forest.

Several seconds passed and Max was still frozen in place.

"Hey Max, we are done here. Let’s pack up and leave," Vlad called out to him, snapping him out of his daze.

Max sprinted towards Vlad and asked, "Bro, what was that girl’s name?"

"I didn’t ask," Vlad replied, gathering the remaining books.

He handed Max his treasure map and revealed, "Check the last name. It’s her."

Max’s eyes darted to the bottom of the map, a faint smile appearing on his face as he read the name aloud.

"Lisa Sandles, so you are really here."

"What’s with the stupid smile on your face?"

"N-nothing," Max answered before gathering his bots and mini-cart.

As they prepared to leave, Vlad handed all the remaining books to Max to exchange for credits.

Max was hesitant to accept the sudden gift, but Vlad insisted, offering them as a token of their friendship.

’Hehe, I only possess eleven books of my syllabus. With this I avoided first place in Orientation and gained the maximum profit,’ he snickered inwardly. ’Just like this, I need to lay low and avoid Seraphina for as long as I’m in the acad—’

His thought stopped mid-sentence as he walked into Max’s back, who had suddenly halted in front of him.

"Why did you suddenly sto—" Vlad’s words died in his throat, his eyes falling on a beautiful woman with long red hair standing before them.

"Se...Seraphina?" Vlad murmured, taking a hard swallow.