I need the money.

　A corner of the cafeteria in the school.
　At Yifa's sudden confession, Amu and I stare back at her face in silence.



　Fast half a year has passed since I entered the school, and the season has become autumn.

　I take a lecture and practice practical skills.
　The past half year has been a repetition of that process, and I just finished my second exam the other day.
　I laughed at the fact that both Yifa and I did better than most of the students in the practical skills, even though neither of us should be able to use magic in the proper sense of the word. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

　I was getting used to life here.

　And.

''Uh ... money?''
Yes.

　Yifa nodded.

'Is there anything we can do to help?'

I'm sorry.

　Amu, sitting next to me, pokes me in the side with his elbow.
　Then he whispered to me.

"You're giving Yifa an allowance?
I didn't.
You are a...
'Wait, no. Yifa is here as a squire, so she should be paid by your father.

　In fact, they were sent to me regularly, along with my living expenses and so on.
　But I don't know how much money they sent me.

"Isn't it enough?　Are you paying attention to that?
No....
Oh, well, I get paid enough to do that. I'm fine, I'm fine.

　Yifa waved her hand in denial.

'Then why?'
'I mean, uh ... hopefully there's a little more of it, or maybe a little more of it, but ...'

　Yifa stammered, as if she was having trouble saying it.

　When I looked next to him, I saw Amu staring at me with his eyes.
　Ah, I guess that's what I'm talking about.

　I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.

I know how you feel, Yifa......... Most of the people who go to the school are children of nobility or rich people. Some of them probably beat slaves at home on a daily basis, especially those who run farms and mines, because I hear they only treat them like cattle. I can only imagine how lonely you must be.

　I continue.

So, I know you want to be free as soon as possible, but to free the slaves, you need a guardian.

　The guardian is obligated to pay part of the compensation for the freed slaves when they commit crimes, or to assist them in times of need.
　This is, in essence, a system to keep slaves from being freed without a fight.

　Apparently, when wars broke out in the past and slaves flooded the marketplace, the number of freed slaves also increased, and those in need committed crimes or were left lying dead in the back alleys.
　The Eastern Roman Empire in the previous era had a similar purpose and put a limit on the number of slaves that could be freed at once, but it was probably more serious here because some slaves had the blood of the demon race in them.

''You can only be a guardian as an adult. It doesn't have to be an ex-master, but it's hard to ask your father to do it because he got it from you, and he'll have the right to manage the property, so you can't ask a bad guy to do it. So can you wait until I'm fifteen years old?　If you want, I'll be your guardian, and I'll set you free.

　I became friends with Yifa because I needed someone to help me in my time of need.
　No matter how strong you are, there is only so much you can do by yourself.
　I wanted friends other than the strongest umbrella.

　Yifa was smart and a talented mage. Although she is a woman, it doesn't matter as there are many women in the Empire who are independent and successful.
　She will make it big, I'm sure.

　That being the case, there is no need for Yifa to be a slave.
　It's even more convenient for her to be a free status.
　In addition to that, they can sell their debt, so when they come of age, I'll free them as soon as I can.

　I was thinking that this is what I was going to say.

　After a few moments of pause, Yifa shook her head as if in a panic.

'Oh, no, no. It's not that I want to buy myself back right now.
'Oh, yeah...'

　What was the point of my lengthy explanation?

"There are a lot of nice rich kids out there, and they'll have fun in the dorms.
It's true that Yifa has more friends than you.
That's great, but can Amu stop stabbing me in the street like that?

　You know, there are things I don't like to hear, too.

But thank you. Seika.
'Yeah, yeah but then why do you need the money?'
"Uh, uh...

　Yifa looked away, as if she was having trouble saying it, and then suddenly said, as if she had an idea.

''Se, Seika-kun don't you think real magic is about money?''

　I'm confused.

What do you mean?
Look, look. In fairy tales, amazing wizards make all kinds of wishes just by waving their wands.　But with our four-attribute magic, no matter how much you study, you will never be able to do that. This is not real magic!
Oh, ah... hmm?
Well, what's the real magic then?　It's the money!　Money can be exchanged for anything. You can't have everything, but you can make most wishes come true!　Yes, money is the real magic!　..........well, who wouldn't want something like that!

　Yifa leaned forward and said, her eyes were slightly dilated, and I doubted she knew what she was saying.

　Amu and I look at each other in silence.

I feel like Yifa's spirits are crying right now.
Yeah, don't say that.
It's true. You're such a help to me in general. If you told me the real magic was money, you'd have the world at your mercy.
Ugh....

　Even Amu blends in and Yifa looks down.

　By the way, Amu already knew about the spirit of Yifa.
　When I asked her if she could tell me about it, she told me right away.

But....it's true that money is important.

　Amu says with his cheekbones.

'I've heard stories of adventurers who died because they were stingy with their equipment, and if you're new, you've heard them at least once. Whatever it is, you need something to get ahead of you.'
Ummm ... well ... yeah.

　Even in a previous life, there was no place in the world where money existed where it didn't matter.
　The world has changed and that's still the case.

Do you understand, both of you?　What do you think I should do?
You should have just begged him for money.

　And Amu points to me.

"You're the master, aren't you?　You should at least do your squire a favor.
I'm sorry, Amu, but I don't have any money.
Why? At least you should be getting more than Yifa, right?　Are you playing with women?
Seika-kun...
No, I don't. For me, I need paper to make a spell.
That's some costly magic.
I remember buying a lot of them in town.

　Amu muttered with his cheekbones and Yifa said as she remembered.

　By the way, I've already told Yifa about the Hitogata I use.
　It's no use hiding it now that Amu knows about it.

　Or rather, I wanted to avoid creating a gradient of information among my relatives as much as possible.
　Living cunningly is my goal in this life, but I don't consider myself handy enough to manage different secrets for different people.

　That's just the way it is.

So, as much as I'd like to have the money.
I'd like to get some money for myself if I could. I wonder if there is any way I can earn money.

　I thought about it, but I can't think of anything.

　The most common sideline for poor students is to work as a substitute writer.
　But the literacy rate is high in Rodnea, a school town, and there are many substitute writers in every neighborhood. There's no way this is profitable.

　I'm sure there are students working to earn money for school, but I don't know what they are doing and there is no one to tell me what they are doing.

　In my past life, I was very wealthy, but I didn't have any business acumen, so....

The truth is, I'm in a bit of a financial bind at the moment. There's still a little more money to be sent back....
You too? Do you know where you can make some money?　We're from a distant land, so we're not very familiar with city life.
Well I think I know one thing that might help.

　Amu said.
　I expected it for a moment, but when I looked closely at him, I could see a greedy smile on his face, and I was getting anxious.

"You'll both have to keep your next vacation free, won't you?

　Yifa and I look at each other.
　What can I do? I'll go out with you. We'll give you some money.