The Storm Wolf: Gathering Clouds - chapter 1 Magician- 1.3
Imported from SF2 with no description.
From far away on the other end of the hallway, I noticed the dragon with bright green scales, but I didn’t have the luxury to avoid him today. I could only sigh and resign myself to moving forward.
“Explorer senpai,” I greeted him with a simple nod, not wanting to be disrespectful.
“Why so formal, Richter? We’re good friends!” The dragon enthusiastically slung his arm around my left shoulder and, with an attitude that could hardly be justified as mere over-enthusiasm, half-forced his arm around my neck. “Just call me Infinity.”
“Senpai, I believe one of the key elements of friendship is mutual respect.” I tried to push him away a bit forcefully, but the massive figure over two meters tall didn’t budge an inch. “Making subordinates engage in behavior that borders on sexual harassment means there’s no way for us to deepen our relationship. Not reporting this to the Academy is already do you a big favor, and I’m certain I can’t see you as anything other than a pimp—someone I despise the most.”
After all, there were many other people in the hallway, so I chose the word “bordering”—unwanted sexual transactions absolutely fall within the scope of sexual harassment.
“Who knows you are not into female,” the dragon shrugged. “Besides, there are others who meet your preferences...”
I had zero interest in hearing whatever nonsense he had to say next, so I pushed him harder this time, and at least senpai backed off a little.
“We’ll pay you in adamantine!” The dragon called after me as I walked away, which involuntarily made me stop in my tracks. “The entire Academy knows that adamantine’s price has doubled due to your frantic acquisitions.” I had to admit, this offer was tempting, but memories of being pinned against the wall by a certain vixen still outweighed it, so I resumed my stride toward the cafeteria. “Half of the Academy’s adamantine supply is only circulated within the Alchemy Faction!”
I stopped again, turning back to face the Explorer senpai and locking eyes with those yellow irises that were clearly scheming something.
“During your time assisting us with the experiment, the Alchemy Faction will grant you access to the trading network.” Realizing I had taken the bait, the dragon narrowed his eyes slightly as he cautiously offered more details. “At least once a week, no more than three times, and each session’s specific time will depend on the experiment’s content, but rarely would it require more than four hours.”
The spindle-shaped pupils dilated as if he’d found the perfect moment to strike his prey—we both knew I couldn’t possibly refuse such favorable terms—half of the Academy’s adamantine!
“I’ll consider it.” Trying to keep calm, I replied with a flat tone, though the cunning smile that flashed across the dragon’s face showed he believed he had already succeeded.
“Saturday 2 PM, the Alchemy Faction’s office!” He turned and waved without looking back, his huge tail swaying as he went.
“I said ‘I’ll consider it’!” I called out in frustration, but it seemed no one cared about this superficial statement except me.
Sighing, I smoothed down my fur and entered the cafeteria, intending to quickly satisfy my physiological needs.
The crowd was relatively sparse at this time, and I quickly ordered breakfast at the terminal. As I was about to pay, I couldn’t help but feel a certain pride in my thorough understanding of transactional behavior over this past year of practice—there’s no problem that a larger number can’t solve—if there is, it’s simply because the number isn’t large enough.
“And mine too.” Piqsirpoq took my terminal from behind, letting another cafeteria terminal scan the barcode on the screen.
“I think this payment system needs more security verification,” I complained after glancing at the extravagant dinner-level amount I had been charged.
“As one of the Academy’s top ten wealthiest, such a comment lacks class.” Piqsirpoq casually waved it off, perfectly embodying the idiom I recently learned, “It's easy to give advice when you’re not in the thick of it.”
“Someone’s keeping track of that?” No matter how accustomed I was to people talking behind my back, it still felt unsettling when it happened so directly.
“The gossip board updates on the first day of every month. It has some useful information, like tower-climbing records or psychic rankings.” He showed me his terminal. “As for the more playful stuff, like counts of STDs, those are listed too.”
“Isn’t that highly private medical information?” I couldn’t hide the disgust in my tone, momentarily unable to believe that Piqsirpoq would be interested in such things.
“I said it’s just for fun; nobody knows if it’s true or not,” he defended himself with a slightly defensive tone.
“Isn’t that exactly the point…” I muttered softly, trying not to sound too sharp. Our relationship had finally become more stable, and I didn’t want to revert to how things were before.
He didn’t respond, and fortunately, the conveyor belt arrived just in time with our breakfast, perfectly defusing the awkward situation.
“Is that all you’re having?” Piqsirpoq tilted his head as I grabbed the carton of soy milk.
“Today’s busy,” I muttered, tearing open the package with my teeth and chugging the pale liquid with a slight grassy taste before tossing the trash into the recycling area for decomposition.
“Party?” As I headed towards the kitchen prep area, he called after me again.
“If I can make it in time,” I replied with a vague promise while waving my hand, then slipped through the sliding door into the kitchen, where my arduous training-cum-chores awaited.