Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Right Way to Proceed

A few days earlier.

Ivy had been in a foul mood. It had already been three days since she enrolled at Rhine Academy of Magic, and all that time she had been desperate to find a teacher who could answer her questions. Naturally, she had found no one, and that made her feel as if she were wasting her days away. Even in class, she had no energy.

"Selene, I'm home~"

The moment Ivy returned to the dormitory, she collapsed onto the specially prepared cushioned mat. Inside it was stuffed with the pure white fur of a snowland holy spirit. Rumor had it that it had the power to turn the hardest-working person into a creature of pure idleness, though such a blessing hardly seemed like a blessing at all.

"Oh my, what's wrong, my lady? You look as listless as a patch of weeds trampled for hours by a crowd of burly men."

Selene, who had been preparing a drink for her young mistress, turned around with a smile. As the guardian spirit of the Starry Night family, she had come here as well to look after Ivy's daily life. Mostly, though, it was because of the heartfelt pleading of her father, Bard. Without someone keeping an eye on her, his precious daughter would surely be led astray by some monkey from who knew where.

"Ugh. My brother's better. He actually managed to run away from home with his own strength and didn't come to this awful place to be a teacher."

Ivy buried her face in the soft cushion and did not even bother to complain about Selene's poisonous tongue. Instead, she found herself thinking of her brother. He had actually slipped away and run off from home the day before enrollment, even though their father had prepared every single arrangement for him.

"Young master's absence is his loss. You know what kind of treatment he'd get once he goes home, don't you?"

"Yikes. I hope he survives."

Remembering the strict family discipline Selene could unleash, Ivy couldn't help shrinking a little. Selene might smile all day long, but when she got angry, she was terrifying. Ivy's brother was undoubtedly courting death, and all Ivy could do was silently make the sign of the cross for him.

"Oh yes, my lady. I saw that person."

"That person?"

"The one we met in Delis... Why are you so excited? Girls who are too forward are looked down on, you know."

Selene spoke with a sweet smile, and then, seeing Ivy leap up from the cushion and rush straight toward her with shining eyes, she could only pat the girl's head and say with a hint of helplessness,

"Quick, tell me."

"He seems to be working as the teacher for the self-study class now. That white-haired witch is there too, so you should be careful, my lady."

The only thing the eternally ninety-nine-year-old girl worried about was the Witch of Magic. If Ivy went looking for Ruby, they would inevitably come into contact. And if things were really as she suspected, and the goddess of magic was trying to find herself a man, that would not be good at all, though she did not think her own lady would ever fall for someone like that.

"I understand. I'll go take a look."

Ivy nodded. Now that she knew where Ruby was, things would be easier. There was no need to go straight to him. She would observe in secret for a few days first.

And so, when Ruby was teaching class, a pink head hid in the corner and watched him. The moment he took out a lighter, Ivy's eyes lit up. To Ruby, it was only a simple arrangement of a few parts, but to the people of this other world, it looked so refined. To create something like that merely for the sake of making fire was enough to convince Ivy that Ruby was the one she had been looking for. After that, she listened to him speak of the crafts of his homeland, entranced, and by the time she came to her senses, class was already over.

The lighter that had fallen into a student's hands was immediately bought by her at a high price, and it was now tucked away in her pocket.

Thus Ivy naturally came to want very much to get close to Ruby, but she had not expected his popularity to be rather high. After class, students surrounded him with questions, after all the things he proposed were far too advanced. As for Ivy, because she was too small to stand out, she was unable to catch his attention at all.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed. Ivy felt she could not go on like this. She had to be bold, had to rush in bravely. And so began the story of the girl willingly offering herself to the chopping board to become ingredients.

---

"No."

Ruby had experienced many things since arriving in this other world, but this was the first time someone had tried to buy him as a person. For certain reasons, however, he had no intention of selling his body.

"Why not? I have money. I can buy you."

Ivy had made up her mind long ago: she had to buy Ruby and keep him by her side forever. She could sense that she and Ruby carried the same scent. No need to think about it; they would surely get along wonderfully.

"Don't be ridiculous. I still have cooking to do."

Ruby shook his head and slipped both hands under Ivy's armpits, lifting her down from the table and setting her on a chair in the kitchen. Outside, the hungry students were already eyeing them like wolves. If Ivy kept disturbing their lunch any longer, she really might be eaten on the spot.

"You used to love money..."

Ivy puffed out her cheeks and complained unhappily. Even after being driven off the chopping board, she did not leave the kitchen. Instead, she curiously examined the equipment here. There was no need to ask; all of it had been made by Ruby, and the complexity was worlds apart from that lighter.

"Magiuna, you should go outside first."

Ruby wanted to spread out and cook, and did not want Magiuna to be smoked by the oil fumes, so he reminded her. To be honest, he had thought she would react a little more strongly after hearing Ivy's words. Unexpectedly, she simply said nothing, looked at the pink-haired girl for a moment, then opened the refrigerator, took out a cup of coffee for herself, and sat by the window to watch the scenery.

Ivy refused to leave, and Ruby did not force her. He let her remain as an audience while he cooked. Ruby's cooking speed was already fairly fast, but it still took him an hour to finish everything the students had ordered. By then, Ivy's little face was already glossy with grease from the smoke.

"Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"

Ruby had already recognized Ivy as the girl who had once been tossing money around. It was late enough now, and she did not seem to have eaten before coming, so he asked.

"I don't want food. I want you."

"We don't have much left for ingredients. Would fried rice with eggs do?"

Ruby looked around for something edible and found two eggs and half an onion in a corner. He could not help marveling at how well the students here ate.

"Listen to me!"

"I am listening."

As Ruby answered, he continued frying the ingredients in the pan. The aroma rising from the food caused Ivy, whose stomach was empty, to swallow a great deal of saliva. In truth, she had already been hungry for some time, but she had endured it all for Ruby's sake. Only heaven knew how tormenting it had been to watch one delicious dish after another being carried past her.

"Weren't you asking me for money when we were in Delis? Why won't you sell yourself to me?"

Ivy asked in great confusion. Originally, she had even wanted Ruby to take all the money she had on her. Yet now he was like a different person, as if he no longer liked money at all.

"Because I already have enough."

"Enough? Money is something one can have enough of?"

Ivy tilted her head at his answer. Even her father, who was wealthy beyond measure, often muttered that they were short on money again because they had opened dozens of new branches in other empires and such.

"Though I don't know why you want to buy me as a person, if you need help with anything, I'll help you. If not for you, I wouldn't have come here."

Ruby placed the finished fried rice with eggs before Ivy. In his heart, he still held a favorable impression of this girl who had thrown money at him. Whatever her reason, without her support he might have needed to save up for a very long time, though in the end he hadn't actually needed it.

"Mm... this taste... why won't the tears stop..."

Ivy cautiously lifted a spoonful of golden fried rice. Selene had repeatedly warned her not to eat random things outside, saying it was dangerous, but in the end she could not resist the temptation and took one bite. That single bite made her whole body tremble violently, and two lines of tears slipped down her cheeks without her noticing. Even as the tears would not stop, she kept eating mouthful after mouthful.

"Because I put onions in it."

With Ruby's flat reply, this attempted human sale finally came to an end. After he sent Ivy off, the goddess of magic, who had been silent all this time, finally reacted.

"How did it feel, making a girl cry?"

Magiuna pressed both hands against the wall, trapping Ruby within her body, a classic wall slam.

"I don't know."

"This was unavoidable."

"The moment I heard her say she wanted you as a person, I wanted to throw her straight into the Forest of Monsters. Do you know why I didn't?"

"Because I believed you would reject her. You are mine. From the moment you incurred that debt, it was destined that you could never leave my side."

Scarlet and black eyes met. With warm breath brushing close, Magiuna's words slipped into Ruby's ears without missing a single syllable.

"Calling yourself worth only one silver coin is a bit too arrogant."

Ruby's heartbeat quickened at those words. After a moment, he reached out and flicked the goddess of magic on the forehead.

"That's a special price for you alone, idiot~!"

Another forehead flick! Magiuna was extremely dissatisfied with Ruby's habit. As she spoke, she smashed the same forehead that had just been flicked straight into Ruby's. The result was only natural: both of them ended up clutching their foreheads and collapsing onto the floor.

---

PS: Another update will be posted later.

The Supreme Demon Lord: Do you think I'd get jealous on the spot and fly into a rage? Too naive. Such a tsundere doesn't exist. The real bonus is taking them down after the fact!

Readers below the stage: Then tell us, Lord Supreme, what if you fail?

The Supreme Demon Lord: Then throw the little girl into the Forest of Monsters!

Thunderous applause broke out below the stage.