Chapter 106: Farewell to the Life of a Young Master
The calendar flips to a new day.
[May 31st, noon.]
[The temperature is rising; wearing long sleeves already makes you sweat nonstop.]
[This is the last day of May, and also the day when midterm results are announced.]
[Even though it's only the midterm exam of the first semester, you already understand that these days of ordinary youth will eventually come to an end.]
[What you must do is live to the fullest, leaving no regrets until graduation day — the day when you can smile and bid farewell to that time.]
[However, that day came too fast, too suddenly, that you had to face parting before you were even ready...]
Inside the Chaldea Academy cafeteria.
"No, how could this happen..."
Eikou's hand trembled slightly, his face pale with horror; he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"There's no way this is happening to me! Damn it!"
Amid the crowded cafeteria full of noisy chatter, only Eikou sat quietly at the table, looking as though the joy of the academy no longer had anything to do with him.
His whole body shook; the number before his eyes was so blinding that he checked his phone again and again, unable to believe the balance in his e-wallet.
Pain, despair, disbelief — he absolutely didn't want to face this cruel reality.
"I'm broke aaaaaaa!"
Who the hell touched my QP?!
[Today, you planned to have lunch with your classmates. After topping up your meal card, you glanced at the balance in your bank account.]
[And then you were horrified to discover — there's less than 2000 QP left in your card.]
[Beep Beep~ your "Young Master" life experience card has finally expired. Please top up your account to continue the experience.]
"Oh God, my eyesight's been getting seriously worse lately..."
Eikou quietly set his phone down, pretending to rub his eyes calmly,
"Opening my wallet and not seeing a single coin inside… that's terrifying."
Sitting across from him were two Knights of the Round Table — Gawain and Tristan — and their reactions were even more shocking than his.
"What? You actually managed to blow through tens of thousands of QP in just a few days?!"
"It's hard to say… but yeah, that seems about right..."
Eikou shamefully admitted.
"Your ability to burn money is truly terrifying," Tristan said, sweating. "Don't tell me you've been frequenting those… married women-themed shops lately?"
"Who the hell would go to those shady places?! Don't lump the stores you go to together with me!" Eikou yelled.
"I don't go there! I didn't even know those kinds of shops existed! But if not that, then how do you explain blowing through a five-digit savings in just a few days?"
"I…"
Eikou lowered his head, scooped up a spoonful of omelet rice into his mouth, and started replaying his recent expenses in his head.
"Bought game disks and a console, topped up in-game, upgraded my PC, then paid insurance for the motorcycle that's about to arrive…
"Paid off the debt at Enma-tei after that date with Melusine, lent money to Oberon, and treated Artoria to a meal too…"
Oh crap. With that kind of combo, even hundreds of thousands of QP wouldn't survive.
He immediately realized that going broke was only natural.
"Haizz…"
Gawain, sitting across from him, sighed like an older brother:
"I told you already — if you keep wasting money like this without budgeting or tracking expenses, your savings will vanish in the blink of an eye."
"I know, I just didn't think it'd happen this fast..."
Eikou exhaled a long, weary sigh.
Just when he thought he was about to reach financial freedom, his luxurious Young Master life at the academy hadn't even lasted a few days before reality smacked him back down to the status of a broke student.
[Today, your savings are nearly depleted.]
[To maintain the necessary expenses for social interactions, it seems you'll have to obediently start working part-time again soon.]
[Travel, events, and social activities during breaks — they're both the path for you to grow stronger and the places you have to spend money...]
[The luxurious life of a young master has now drifted far away from you!]
"I've decided..."
A faintly serious look appeared on Eikou's face.
"To be safe, from today onward, I'll start saving more. This break, I'll work part-time with Oberon, earn as much as possible, and then during summer, we'll go to the beach together."
"Not so fast,"
Gawain shook his head,
"Let's wait until today's exam results come out before making plans."
"You're right..."
Eikou, losing all confidence, slumped over the table.
"If my exam score doesn't make it into the top 10 of the grade, forget the vacation — I'll be tortured in the Land of Shadows until the break ends."
"Hang in there, I believe you can do it!"
The two Knights of the Round Table looked at him with eyes full of trust.
At that moment, a commotion broke out outside the cafeteria doors. A loud voice echoed down the hallway:
"The midterm results are out! Have you checked them yet?!"
Eikou's nerves instantly tightened; he raised his head at once.
His heart pounded wildly.
It was time to face the final outcome!
[You hurriedly shoveled a few bites of rice, then dashed off to check the results.]
[The corridor of the classroom building was packed. The ranking sheet posted on the wall was surrounded by a crowd, as lively as when the class placement results were first announced.]
[You squeezed your way through the densely packed crowd, straining to see the ranking list.]
[You started counting from the top of the grade — the first five spots were taken entirely by elite students, none of which concerned you.]
[And the one right after fifth place was…]
Amid the noisy crowd, Eikou tried to make out the names written on the board.
"Fifth place is Gawain, sixth is Yu Ji, seventh is Ereshkigal, eighth is Karna, ninth is Artoria Caster, and tenth is…"
Please, let it be me, please!
The top nine spots were already taken by geniuses — at least leave the last one for me, right?!
"Wha… what…"
When he clearly saw the name in tenth place, Eikou's eyes widened.
"It's Jason?! How?!"
And his own name — Mochizuki Eikou — stood boldly at eleventh place!
"Ah… a…"
He took a sharp, cold breath, feeling as if the sky was collapsing before his eyes.
"Damn it, I was so close! Just a little bit more! I can't believe that trash — that guy who's only good for summoning Heracles — actually beat me!"
Gawain and Tristan both sighed, patting his shoulder in sympathy:
"Ehem… this break, you'd better go to the Land of Shadows for some training."
"I don't wanna goooo!!!"
At that moment, a slender, elegant hand reached out and firmly grabbed the back of his collar.
Eikou blankly turned his head, and what entered his sight was a fair, alluring face radiating the mature charm of a grown woman.
"Y-You're…"
It was Scathach.
Ahahaha — I'm fucked up, right?