Chapter 118
The Expansion of Notos
“Would you like a big portion?”
“Yes, please. Give me a lot.”
Idnia always fermented even the hard ship biscuits and made use of them, so she took the leftovers when others didn’t eat. The server in armor seemed to know this and gave her a big portion.
As usual, the academy had put effort into making the food taste terrible. Today’s meal was ship biscuits (likely expired and worm-eaten), along with fish and vegetable scraps made into a watery soup.
When Idnia took a bite, it really felt like chewing wet cardboard.
The fish soup didn’t smell fishy anymore—but it had also lost all savory and salty taste. It didn’t feel like food—it felt like eating inedible material.
“Looks like they extracted the sugars and amino acids.”
“Huh?”
“You see, even old ship biscuits, despite being moldy or bug-infested, have some glucose from the flour. But they removed all of that. The bugs with thin skins probably died too.”
Thanks to a powerful extraction spell, even soft-bodied bugs like moth larvae or maggots were drained of nutrients and died. Hard-shelled bugs like weevils survived due to resistance to extraction.
“So it was a side effect of pest control magic?”
“No, I think pest control was just the excuse. The real goal was to extract sugars.”
In the world of Awakened Girl Concerto, magic technology is advanced—it’s like an arcane version of the Belle Époque era. Newspapers exist, food is somewhat decent, and edible oils are made cheaply from cottonseeds. Crops can be transported from afar using freezing magic.
But even with that, sugar is still very expensive.
Most mages wouldn’t waste their mana extracting sugar from food. It takes a lot of magical skill—and those who can do it would usually prefer extracting something more useful, like oil from cottonseeds.
However, at Dynaise Academy, where mages are everywhere and there’s a weird dedication to feeding students bad food—it was totally possible.
“They didn’t use the extraction spell to kill bugs—they just took out the sugar and served it to the students. The bug corpses are still in the food.”
Idnia broke a biscuit and showed the dead bugs stuck inside.
“This is… brutal.”
Other students finally understood what was happening.
Even the worst ship biscuits had small amounts of glucose, maltose, and even a little fructose. Extracting those left behind dry starch, fiber, and gluten. Technically, your saliva could break that down into sugars, but… it tasted awful.
They thought food had already hit rock bottom—but this was even lower.
It wasn’t just the taste—it was the deliberate intent of the academy to make the food taste this bad that made them angrier. They used magic to extract everything that made it food.
It was just… a husk in the shape of food.
“Although… there’s one good thing.”
Christien Dupont, a student, sprinkled seasoning on his meal as he spoke.
He admired Idnia and was trying to find a way to talk to her—this was the perfect moment.
“When you add seasoning, it soaks in really well. The food falls apart easily, not too hard. I have some leftover—want some?”
Because the food’s structure was damaged by the extraction spell—and the bad flavors were also removed—seasoning like sugar, garlic, basil, oregano, and salt actually worked well.
“Thanks, but I’m fine.”
Idnia politely declined. She had already eaten proper tea and bread at Professor Buremheid’s lab and wasn’t that hungry.
But what really caught her interest was where Christien got that seasoning from—Notos Dorm’s black market.
“Spices! Sugar! Get them here!”
The Notos dorm students were selling seasoning in secret. But then…
“Hmm?”
Idnia noticed something strange. The Notos students were quietly handing out packets of powder like it was some shady drug deal.
‘Looks like a sketchy drug transaction… but they’re just seasoning. Still, how are they getting paid? I don’t see money or Academy coins changing hands. Are they… running a tab?’
She realized they were keeping records and letting students buy on credit.
This system wasn’t necessarily bad, but if students started owing debt…
‘So Lorenzo from Notos is fighting in a completely different way… sneaky, but clever.’
Current dorm shop rankings:
- 1st: Euros (Idnia’s dorm) – 28 points
- 2nd: Boreas – 23 points (they got lucky catching some escaped magical test subjects)
- 3rd: Zephyros (with Izolde and Rudolf) – 16 points
- 4th: Notos (Lorenzo’s dorm) – 9 points
Everyone thought Zephyros would be in the lead due to population, but small dorm Euros ended up first. Meanwhile, Notos seemed to care less about the official shop ranking and more about exploration, smuggling, and underground markets.
Now, it was starting to pay off.
“Hey, I’ll take some seasoning and bread.”
“Of course, thanks. But…”
“What about payment?”
“Put it on my tab. Come on, you think I won’t pay? I’m the son of a count.”
‘Sixth son, though… and his family business is failing,’ thought the Notos student, smirking internally.
Still, when Lorenzo gave a look, the student handed the food over.
“Thank you as always. Oh, and soon we’ll have candy too—cheaper than the academy store.”
“Wow, you southerners really know how to hustle. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Zephyros student poured seasoning all over the meal and forced himself to eat.
“Damn. I can’t eat this without seasoning anymore.”
Lorenzo watched him with interest.
“So what’s the current debt list?”
“Yes, many students now use our black market instead of the official store. We’re cheaper. We can’t compete on things like fresh donuts, though—they’re hard to smuggle in frozen.”
“We could just buy them out early and sell them ourselves—but that would draw attention. I advise against cornering the market on fresh snacks.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“No need to provoke suspicion. This is enough for now. So, how many students from each dorm are buying on credit?”
“Zephyros: 12 students. Euros: 3. Boreas: 8. And the numbers are rising.”
“Hmm. Sounds like it’s time to open the gambling den.”
Lorenzo and his Notos dorm group had begun controlling students through debt. They used essential supplies, created dependency, and then encouraged debtors to gamble. When those students fell deeper into debt, they would lure in more friends in exchange for debt forgiveness.
They would soon control students completely, without needing the official store at all.
‘Originally, I tried to recruit Idnia to help us earn points… but who would’ve guessed that Euros—not Zephyros or Boreas—would take 1st place?’
At the start of the term, everyone—including Lorenzo, Karl, and Rudolf—thought Euros was the weakest dorm. They tried to recruit Idnia to gain an advantage.
But surprisingly, Euros shot to the top—led by Idnia.
Still, Lorenzo didn’t mind. Being in last place meant no one paid attention to him—and that let him quietly grow his influence.
‘How embarrassing. I confidently asked Idnia for cooperation at the beginning of the term… and now we’re dead last.’
🌟 After Lunch: Sadia’s Class
“Today, we’ll learn long-distance telepathy magic. The Whisper Spell—‘Guit-Sok-Mal.’ Just the one-way version.”
It used very little mana—great for daily use—but mastering it was difficult.
“The incantation is hard. Repeat: ‘Guit-Sok-Mal.’”
“Guh… Gwit?”
Everyone struggled with pronunciation.
Idnia sighed. It was easy for her.
‘It literally means “Whisper.” But I guess in Eldar language, the syllables are awkward. Anyway, the chant is easy for me… but the key is that this spell uses almost no mana. I wonder if Professor Buremheid’s enhancement is working?’
She tested it with her practice partner, Bolson from Boreas.
[Can you hear me? If you can, raise your left hand.]
“Yes! I can hear you!”
Bolson nervously raised his hand.
The spell worked perfectly—with barely any mana used.
‘Ugh… I hate to admit it, but Professor Buremheid’s spell is amazing. It works so well. I guess he really does want me to win the Wizard Ball instead of just squeezing me for money like Magram. He gave me bread, too…’
Idnia was starting to feel relieved. After struggling so much with pulse-type mana pathways, the problem was finally solved—making her feel better, even if her pride was slightly wounded.
