Dark Demon's Mistake Leads to Further Trouble / Dark Demon Sets His Sights on the Bal Masqué

That was a cobra with its tail buried in a flowerpot!

When Dark saw it, it opened its eyes with equal alertness and swayed its slender body at him.

He was stunned on the spot!

"Don't be afraid."

The clerk at Meow Meow Flower Shop was a young woman in her early twenties. Her hair was tied back with a headband, and she wore an apron and gloves. She looked very plain.

Perhaps she had noticed Dark browsing for a while, because she came over and patiently explained, "This is a new variety of Meow Meow Grass called Snake Grass. Don't worry, it won't bite you. It's a plant, essentially."

Dark wasn't afraid, of course. He was just a little surprised. "If there's already Snake Grass, could it be that..."

"Of course." The clerk brushed a curly strand of hair away from her eyelid and chuckled. "We just got a new shipment, with lots of different animal varieties of Meow Meow Grass. Would you like to take a look inside?"

The different varieties of Meow Meow Grass are all important. If there's an animal you'd like to see, let me know, and I'll look into it.

Please vote—recommendation tickets and monthly tickets! I hadn't planned to ask for monthly tickets, but I just noticed the new-book monthly ticket rankings, and I'm in eleventh place. One more spot and I'll get a monthly ticket prize!

Chapter 50: Dark Demon's Mistake Leads to Further Trouble

Entering the shop clerk's secret room.

Dark opened his eyes and was completely dumbfounded.

"What kind of design genius came up with these improved varieties of Meow Meow Grass?"

The entire room was packed with dozens of pots of Meow Meow Grass.

Under the influence of a special fragrance, all kinds of Meow Meow Grass were drowsy.

The most eye-catching was an enormous Goldfish Grass!

A fat goldfish with white scales and red fins growing atop a blade of grass looked like something straight out of a nightmare!

If Meow Meow Grass was a creation of earthly bliss, then that Goldfish Grass was a creation of the devil!

Around the Goldfish Grass were other strange new varieties, including Snake Grass, Skunk Grass, Hedgehog Grass, Earthworm Grass, Eel Grass, Pigeon Grass, Abalone Grass, Mouse Grass, Octopus Grass, Spider Grass, Scorpion Grass, Lizard Grass... and plenty more!

Seeing that Dark was too astonished to speak, the clerk asked, "What do you think? Is there a variety you like?"

Dark reached up and pushed his jaw back into place. After a moment, he said, "That goldfish is nice."

"Really?" The clerk immediately brightened. "I think it's especially nice too. Those vacant, slightly lifeless fish eyes, that mouth that never closes, and the way it's just a little fatter than an ordinary goldfish—wow, it's so cute!"

Dark: "Heh."

The clerk continued enthusiastically, "Actually, we specially hired someone to improve these new varieties. They're still in the testing phase, and we're mainly seeing how people react. If they're well received..."

Dark cut her off. "I'm looking forward to seeing the finished products. How about we go look at the cats?"

The clerk faltered. "Sure, okay."

Back in the shop, Dark continued browsing the Meow Meow Grass. From among the many pots, he eventually picked a little kitten that looked like an American Shorthair.

Dark didn't have a particular preference for cat breeds. He liked them all.

Rather than saying he'd chosen the kitten, it would be more accurate to say the kitten had latched onto his finger.

It held his hand with its two little paw pads and sucked hard on his finger. In an instant, it won Dark's heart.

[Wrath -1]

The effect was immediate.

The hidden threat of "Wrath" that had been building inside him seemed to ease a little with the kitten's arrival.

If this were a manga, his cheeks would surely be round and chubby right now.

Meow Meow Grass wasn't very expensive. A pot like this cost only fifty credits, while a small bottle of Cat Juice cost one credit and would last two or three weeks.

Dark paid the credits without hesitation and planned to take the Insect Tree and Meow Meow Grass back to his dorm first.

As he passed the Forest Coffee Shop, he glanced inside without thinking and suddenly spotted Emma arguing her case with an upperclasswoman.

They were both holding the same book, their expressions serious enough to verge on anger.

But judging by the other upperclasswomen nearby, they didn't seem bothered.

If anything, several of them were nodding along.

"So this is the Ladies' Tea Party?"

Dark smacked his lips, deciding the place really was a den of demons.

Then he walked away without looking back.

By the time he returned to his dorm, it was already three in the afternoon.

He placed the Meow Meow Grass on the spacious balcony, then followed the clerk's instructions and tied the strap sticking out of the flowerpot to the railing, securing the pot in place.

That way, the Meow Meow Grass wouldn't run around.

Once it got used to its new surroundings, he probably wouldn't be able to get rid of it even if he wanted to.

Then Dark sprinkled a few grains of the special fragrance he'd bought from the clerk over the top of the Meow Meow Grass's head. It soon grew drowsy.

After finishing that, Dark moved the most important item, the Insect Tree, onto his desk. He compared it with the description in his book, observing and taking careful notes.

Once he'd confirmed his suspicions, he took out the Magic Brain Dropper and Thought Bottle, preparing to transfer the two drops of "Pride" stored in the Thought Bottle into one of the Insect Tree's branches.

The whole process took ten minutes. At the tip of each branch was a small opening like a worm's mouthpart. Injecting a little magic power made it open, and it closed again once the magic power dissipated. Inside was a layer of liquid mucous membrane that could trap the thought substance.

After a thought substance was injected, the branch hardened and took on a strange "heavy" quality, drooping like a ripe fruit.

Once it drooped to a certain angle, that meant it couldn't hold any more.

Dark judged that the branch could probably store one more drop of "Pride." So he immediately used the Dragonfly Skimming Method to absorb a little of the excess "Pride" and inject it into the branch.

That brought the total inside to three drops.

Dark's "Pride" score, including the point he'd quietly gained this week, was now 104.

All in all, he had his Seven Deadly Sins values under pretty good control now. They'd entered a healthy state of slow, steady growth.

His next plan was to try making a Magitech Card infused with 10 points of "Pride"!

He planned to make it next month, after Halloween.

The three drops of "Pride" he had now, along with the two drops he'd absorb later, would all be kept until the beginning of next month.

In the meantime, he had to take good care of the "Insect Tree"!

He also needed to master more comprehensive knowledge about making Magitech Cards!

Besides, it was time to put his plan to collect Flower Cards into action.

He glanced at his remaining credits and decided to visit Traveler Street again.

Of course, first he had to move the Insect Tree to the balcony to bask in the sun.

Dark had only asked Diana and Rose about Flower Cards, so he knew very little.

But he had a rough idea that these cards were currently circulating through two channels.

One way was by giving them away. Someone would slip a Flower Card through the crack beneath a student dormitory door, for example.

Dark had received a White Mandala Flower Card this way before.

At first, he thought it was like handing out flyers. Later, he realized that not everyone received this "gift"!

Clearly, whoever was behind it was targeting specific people.

The other way Flower Cards circulated was through Traveler Street.

Apparently, someone had sold a large number of Flower Cards to some of the shops there, and those shops gave them to students as gifts when they came to shop.

But not every shop gave them away.

As far as Dark knew, the only shop that definitely did was Wonder Candy Shop.

So he decided to check out the candy shop first.

Even if he couldn't find out anything, getting another card would be nice.

When he returned to Traveler Street, Dark's lack of a pressing objective broadened his perspective. He noticed many details he'd previously overlooked.

The biggest treasure trove on Traveler Street didn't seem to be the shops, but the stalls scattered everywhere!

The upperclassmen selling things along both sides of the street really had everything!

He even saw a nearly complete Magitech Card, over ninety percent finished—something that was practically cheating!

The academy stipulated that everyone could only use Magitech Cards they had made themselves.

But where there were rules, there were loopholes; rules were rigid, but people were flexible.

As he walked along, Dark suddenly noticed an upperclassman selling Costume Change Cards!

Can you guess where Dark made his mistake in this chapter?

Chapter 51: Dark Demon Sets His Sights on the Bal Masqué

Costume Change Cards were incredibly popular at St. Marian Academy.

Students always wanted to take off their old uniforms and change into their favorite clothes as soon as they entered Traveler Street.

There were no changing rooms at the entrances to Traveler Street.

Without a Costume Change Card, they had to find somewhere in a clothing shop to change, and they also had to bring a complete outfit with them. It was inconvenient and hardly stylish.

But the clothing shops on Traveler Street only offered the latest fashions, not Costume Change Cards.

So if students wanted one, they had no choice but to make it themselves or buy one from an upperclassman's stall.

But making Costume Change Cards was actually very complicated, and they didn't earn many credits, so not many people sold them.

Dark stopped to take a curious look and discovered that every Costume Change Card at this stall was a "Halloween-themed" design.

When people thought of Halloween, they naturally thought of pumpkins, candy, monsters, and a Bal Masqué!

On Halloween Eve, St. Marian held a grand Bal Masqué that turned the entire Castle into a stage!

Anyone who caught one of the hidden "monsters" at the ball could exchange it for credits!

The person who caught the most "monsters" could even earn a special title.

With Halloween drawing closer, some experienced upperclassmen were already getting ready. Dark occasionally heard them talking about it in the common room.

For first-years, Halloween was one of the rare opportunities to earn a large number of credits!

In short, no one would be wearing their school uniform that day!

Dark certainly didn't want to be the only exception.

Since he'd come across the stall anyway, he thought he might as well pick out a Costume Change Card. They weren't expensive.

He glanced at the prices, which were listed in three "credit" tiers.

Dark didn't pay them much attention.

He crouched down and browsed through them carefully for a while.

Since they were Halloween-themed, most of the Costume Change Cards here covered nearly the entire body. There were a few succubus designs that showed a shocking amount of skin, but they were in the minority.

The most common designs were from the "Vampire series," "Knight series," "Monster series," and "Royal Palace series." There were plenty of others too, but they weren't grouped into any particular theme.

"A first-year from the Noble House?"

The upperclassman at the stall asked casually.