Chapter 42 – Mo Lan the Swindler

Chapter 42 – Mo Lan the Swindler

“How are you so good at doing business?” Lilith said in disbelief. “An Apprentice-level Grimoire and Golden Pen Technique only cost 5 Mana each! How dare you charge 50 Mana?”

“Senior, you’re looking at it wrong! The Grimoire and Golden Pen Technique require a permanent payment of 5 Mana—that means losing Magic Power capacity forever. Mine only requires a one-time payment of 50 Mana with no loss to your Magic Power cap, and you permanently own a Status Card. Isn’t that a better deal than Grimoire?”

Mo Lan had thought this through carefully.

If she charged permanent Magic Power like the Grimoire did, she’d be developing so many cards in the future—who would have enough Magic Power to buy them all?

Better to charge a one-time Mana fee per card. Small profits, high volume.

This would solve her Magic Power consumption problem while leaving room for future Sorceress Magic developments.

She’d even come up with two names for her future Sorceress Magic products.

Gacha Magic—designed specifically for gamblers. Pay permanent Magic Power to unlock a card pool with corresponding drop rates, then pay one-time Mana to draw cards.

Card Album Magic—designed for those who couldn’t afford to gamble and just wanted guaranteed purchases. Pay permanent Magic Power to unlock a card album of the corresponding tier, then spend one-time Mana to buy the cards you wanted.

Either way, she would never come out at a loss.

Lilith looked again, but still thought it was too expensive. Mainly because her Magic Power was stretched impossibly thin—a bit of research on the Bloodthirst Needle and it was gone. So she had to haggle:

“You just said it only costs 10 Mana to make a Status Card. Doubling the price would already be a huge profit. Five times is way too much!

“Come on, give your senior a discount?”

“Senior! I’ve already given you a discount!” Mo Lan pulled out another contract. “Take a look—for everyone else, this is my price!”

“What? Future card upgrades require paying you an additional 50% of the upgrade cost in one-time Mana?” Lilith felt the world go dark before her eyes.

“These are upgradable cards you can use all the way to Peak level! I’m not like Lady Traci and the others, selling a new version of their Sorceress Magic for every rank. I’m only charging a small upgrade commission.

“And you three don’t even need to worry about that. Since we’re all Sorceresses here, I’ll waive the upgrade commission for your three cards.

“But please don’t bring up the 10 Mana thing again—you’ll hurt my card sales!”

Mo Lan said with a beaming smile, “Thank you for your guidance, Senior Lilith. ‘Close as Sorceresses may be, keep accounts clear.’ Fair trade means no one feels burdened, and it solves my urgent needs. It’s simply perfect!”

Lilith: “…”

Was that what she’d taught her?

This girl had learned a little too well!

Just moments ago she’d been naively offering to give cards away, even making grand declarations about giving free cards to every young witch in the entire school.

Now she’d turned into a swindler who could out-sprite the sprites?

She’d originally thought Mo Lan was a soft little rice cake, only to discover she was filled with black sesame—dark on the inside.

She suddenly found herself missing the old Mo Lan.

Glancing at the other two juniors, who were standing off to the side watching the show like it was none of their business, corners of their mouths twitching with suppressed laughter, Lilith couldn’t help but say:

“Aren’t you two going to bargain at all? It’s this expensive and you’re fine with it?”

“It’s fine! Fifty Mana? I just need to eat a few bunches of Breadfruit and I’ll recover it. Moira, whenever you need Magic Power in the future, come to me. We can sign a contract and I’ll lend it to you,” Vasida said.

“I think it’s fine too. After all, it’s just a one-time Mana expenditure—it’ll recover in a few days,” Sylph added.

Lilith looked at the two of them. One had a Halo so bright it could blind you, and the other’s Halo was dimmer but still far brighter than hers.

No wonder they were so generous!

With both juniors saying this, what else could Lilith say?

“Fine, fine! I’ll let it go this time. But if you keep charging this much, I’ll have to think twice!”

At least she now knew Mo Lan wasn’t truly naive—once she’d turned the corner, she was craftier than a sprite.

Mo Lan had known her senior would agree. Lilith’s Halo might be dim, but she could certainly afford 50 Mana.

Lilith didn’t forget to remind Vasida and Sylph: “You two—stop buying things without haggling just because you’re rich. No fortune can survive the way you two spend!

“Even at the Witch Market, if you don’t know the going rates and don’t haggle, you’ll end up paying more than everyone else.

“And out in the Wilds, if you throw money around like that, people will treat you like easy marks and swindle you without a second thought!”

“Understood, Senior!” Vasida and Sylph nodded obediently.

Mo Lan happily handed them the contracts.

Having spent 30 Mana to make the cards and earned 150 Mana in return, her Mana reserves rose from 180 to 330—suddenly much wealthier.

“A pleasure doing business! When I release new cards, you three will be the first to know!” Mo Lan said, positively glowing. “Oh, and Senior Lilith, could you spread the word among the second-years for me?”

Lilith raised her chin. “That’ll cost you extra!”

“I’m planning to make Breadfruit juice tonight. How about I send you a big pitcher?” Mo Lan offered.

Originally she’d been in desperate need of Breadfruit juice, but now that she had income from selling cards, it wasn’t so urgent anymore.

Lilith, who still hadn’t mastered making juice with Culinary Magic and could only prepare it by hand, was shamefully tempted. But still annoyed at a certain little swindler of a witch, she said irritably, “Fine, fine! Now get going! The other young witches are probably already halfway up the hill, and you three are still dawdling at the door!”

One moment of curiosity had come over to take a peek, and it had cost her 50 Mana. She was full of resentment.

Her remaining Magic Power wasn’t even enough to upgrade her Status Card to Intermediate.

Forget breakfast—she’d have to drink Breadfruit juice and gnaw on Breadfruit!

Just thinking about the taste of Breadfruit, Lilith put on a mask of suffering.

“Goodbye, Senior!”

They really had spent too long here. The first-year young witches had already left.

Mo Lan took the lead, running toward the Academy Castle.

Vasida and Sylph followed close behind.

“Moira, slow down! We left early today, so even with the delay we won’t be late! Don’t worry!”

Sylph called out while running after her.

“I need to catch up with them and try to sell a few more Status Cards before class starts!” Mo Lan shouted back over her shoulder. “You two take your time—I’ll wait for you up ahead!”

At that moment, Mo Lan seemed to possess boundless energy, putting both Sylph and Vasida to shame.

The two of them resigned themselves to slowing down.

“Senior Lilith is really something! As if anyone could swindle this version of Moira. She’d be the one swindling them!”

“I know! Moira has a real talent for business!”

“She’s such a little money-grubber!”

“We should learn from her. We’ll need to earn Magic Power by selling our Sorceress Magic someday too!”

“Mm!”

…

(End of Chapter)