I Can't Bear to Spend Money on the Watcher!

Sword Flower University, Harvest Orchard. Dressed in her work uniform, Mifa stepped out of the treehouse to begin her shift for the day. She looked up, and the sunlight of the radiant stars embraced her with shameless abandon. The entire orchard seemed to have become their exclusive plaything, sweltering under the scorching glare. The weather bureau had clearly forecasted scattered clouds today—truly typical of Jialesi's clouds, straying off course before morning was even over, just like the nobility. Although the orchard's glass curtain walls blocked out the heat, Mifa wasn't fond of such a bright working environment. Her hometown was renowned as the City of Melons and Fruits, but the price paid was at least twenty hours of full daylight every day. During her first few days in Jialesi, she had spent every night lying on the lawn watching the stars, occasionally even falling asleep right there—the sensation of having no rays drilling into her eyes as she slept was simply blissful. After exchanging greetings with the other student part-timers, Mifa sat down behind her wooden counter. Spread out before her were rows of "fruit trees," yet what hung from their boughs were not fruits, but fluorite crystals sealing sorcery spirits within. Enclosed beneath the glass curtain walls, the orchard held hundreds of trees, and each tree bore at least twenty "fruits." In other words, several thousand sealed sorcery spirits were housed here, including no small number of advanced Two-Winged and Three-Winged spirits. This was the sorcery spirit exchange center of Sword Flower University: the Harvest Orchard. Much like the Forest Library, Sword Flower University had refused to construct a conventional, rigid trading center. Instead, they had adopted this orchard format so students would see various rare sorcery spirits dangling overhead every time they set foot inside. It was far more exhilarating than flipping through a spirits catalog. You can see them, but you can't pluck them—ha, crave all you want. Though it appeared completely unguarded, the orchard was actually the handiwork of a Legendary Sorcerer. The last student who had attempted to steal a fruit had nearly ended up incorporated into the trees. It could not only suppress sorcery spirits and strike down thieves, but also continuously nourish the spirits through the medium of the trees themselves. Even across all of Jialesi, it was an illustrious trading platform—though its spirits' average quality fell somewhat short of the Grave of Knowledge at Truth University. As for the work environment, Mifa had nothing to complain about. Most of the time, she simply sat behind the counter browsing the Curtain and scrolling through the forums. Though not a local to Jialesi, Mifa was by no means poor. Both her parents were sorcerer commissioners in their city's agricultural bureau, considered upper-tier elites back home. It was precisely thanks to her family's cultivation and influence that she had managed to test into Sword Flower University in the first place. It was also at her parents' urging that Mifa had enrolled in the university's work-study program right from her first year. She didn't lack for money, but the reward for working for the university wasn't just cash—it was Sword Flower points. Sword Flower points were not currency for consumption, but a metric used to evaluate students. Earning competition awards, placing near the top of final exams, or inventing miracle sorcery procedures would all grant points. Once points reached certain thresholds, a student's status rank would rise across four tiers: ordinary white student, excellent green student, honorary gold student, and legendary orange student. Ascending in student rank naturally brought substantial benefits, and most students were eager to participate in campus life to earn points. Yet before entering Sword Flower University, most students had been the celebrated darlings of their hometowns. Arriving at the university, they naturally believed they could acquire points by winning awards and competing for first place. On her first day here, even Mifa had harbored notions like, *I'll study hard, I'll take top three in my year, I'll compete in tournaments,* and *If I become the Sword Flower and Truth University tries to poach me, should I accept?* Reality swiftly delivered a stinging slap to these arrogant youths. Their current competitors were all prodigies of the same age. Only the absolute pinnacle few could outshine the crowd; everyone else was merely green foliage meant to set off the blossoms. However, it usually took students a year or two to thoroughly recognize and accept their own mediocrity. By then, few avenues remained for them to accumulate points, leaving them to graduate as "ordinary students." Having received strict warnings from her parents, Mifa had taken the safest route from the very beginning: working. Though the payout was modest, working for the university was the most reliable way to obtain points. Her parents had calculated it long ago: as long as Mifa worked consistently for four years and graduated as a normal sorcerer, she would easily graduate as an "honorary student." An "honorary student" enjoyed tremendous advantages. Not only did they retain their student status forever, allowing them to use campus facilities even after graduation, but there was an even greater perk—Sword Flower University gave hiring priority to honorary students for faculty and staff positions! If she could secure a position at Sword Flower University, Mifa could settle down permanently in Jialesi! She wouldn't end up like her parents, assigned after graduation to an agricultural city bathed in twenty hours of daily sunlight, where despite a decent quality of life, they could only glimpse the splendor of urban existence through Curtain video plays. Settling in Jialesi and becoming a "reserve noble" was her parents' ardent wish, as well as Mifa's own aspiration. Still, she didn't work purely for the points; she genuinely liked this part-time job at the orchard. Every day, students came by to buy and sell sorcery spirits, offering Mifa glimpses into their lives. Some were unremarkable in daily campus life but brought home rich hauls from the Void Realm; some purchased spirits from a wide variety of factions, seemingly preparing to shift their specialization; others spent fortunes on spirits outside their own faction, perhaps buying a birthday gift for a lover... Buying and selling sorcery spirits required hard cash; there was no more direct vote than that. In addition, one could easily encounter campus celebrities at the Harvest Orchard—such as the Orange Dancer, the young noble of Vosloda, and— *Creak.* The glass doors swung open, and the day's first customer strode down the orchard path. Watching her approach, Mifa reflexively held her breath, feeling the sunlight against her skin grow noticeably warmer. "Good morning, Mifa." Sonia sat down across from her and smiled. "What a coincidence. You're on duty again today." Mifa suppressed the flutter of excitement in her heart and nodded vigorously. "Yes, what a coincidence!" It wasn't a coincidence in the slightest. Mifa had specifically asked her supervisor to assign her morning shifts and hadn't taken a single day off for an entire month. She knew that Sonia always visited the Harvest Orchard to offload her spoils after returning from the Void Realm, so she had guarded the counter faithfully. If anyone in the university understood the Red-Haired Sword Princess's growth best, Mifa dared to say it was herself—not even Professor Trozan could compare. When Sonia had first come to sell spirits, Mifa had been the one to assist her. Drawn together by Sonia's striking looks and their shared background as out-of-towners, the two had become friendly acquaintances on their very first meeting. Back then, Mifa's impression of her had been "a warm, approachable prodigy sorceress." Soon, however, Mifa realized that "prodigy" was nowhere near sufficient to capture Sonia's caliber. The Red-Haired Sword Princess dropped by to sell spirits almost every two or three days. What was more, she brought in so many that Mifa had felt compelled to check the news to see if any "sorcery spirit warehouses were burgled" or if a "red-haired phantom thief" was on the loose. Later on, it wasn't just the sheer quantity. Mifa noticed that most of the spirits Sonia sold were drops from Fishcleaver Dragons, as though she were being hunted down in the Void Realm by a Fishcleaver Dragon protection society. Fishcleaver Dragons were knowledge creatures known to drop Swordsmanship Orbs with the highest frequency. Given how many Sonia had slain, she must have absorbed at least one Swordsmanship Orb, perhaps even two—a speculation that could cure low blood pressure for any student in the Swordsmanship Department. Add to that the widespread rumor that Sonia had stepped into a Vortex and gained a full complement of wings overnight, and Mifa's gaze toward her had gradually filled with reverence. Sonia wasn't merely some prodigy sorceress. She was a maiden favored by the gods, a sorcerer watched over by the stars! Mifa was utterly convinced that the name of the coming era would be Sonia Servi! And so Mifa had joined Sonia's fan club. She followed updates on Sonia's life and wished the club president would share more daily tidbits about the Red-Haired Sword Princess. It was difficult to describe the feeling, but merely knowing that Sonia was diligently cultivating every day and had recently summoned another new swordsmanship spirit filled Mifa with energy. She was destined to remain an obscure, tiny star, yet she still yearned to trace the trajectory of a legendary meteor. "Let's sell these spirits first." Sonia presented four sorcery spirits, and Mifa immediately scanned them with her work bracelet to assess their prices. Two nights ago, news had already spread across the campus Curtain that Sonia's soul had recovered and that she had excused herself early from a gathering of friends to explore the Void Realm. Mifa naturally wasn't surprised by Sonia's spoils. However, something seemed slightly unusual here—though all four were one-winged sorcery spirits, one of them, the Fierce Claw spirit, was relatively rare in the Sea of Knowledge. If Mifa remembered correctly, the primary source of Fierce Claw spirits was the dire wolf-dragons that roamed in packs across the Time Continent. A bold hypothesis flashed through Mifa's mind, but she said nothing. As always, she attended to Sonia professionally, quoting the purchase prices for the spirits before concluding, "Since your student rank is 'excellent student,' there is a 5% bonus added to the purchase price, which has already been factored in." Having earned a scholarship last semester, Sonia had naturally acquired plenty of Sword Flower points, and selling sorcery spirits to the Harvest Orchard also increased points—Sword Flower University encouraged students to sell their Void Realm spoils to the school to expand the variety of its collection. Of course, due to the student body's overall caliber, the top student sorcery spirit platform in Jialesi was naturally Truth University's Grave of Knowledge. As for the Harvest Orchard... at best it ranked in the top three, though there were about five universities competing for those top three spots. As an "excellent student," Sonia enjoyed a 5% markup on items sold to the Harvest Orchard, a 5% discount on purchases, and waived consignment fees. For an ordinary sorcerer, these perks were little more than negligible, but for a heavy seller like Sonia, that 5% preferential treatment likely cost the university money. Naturally, the university's losses were none of Mifa's concern. If she had her way, she would gladly offer a 500% bonus. Sonia decided to sell them all. "I'd like to purchase a miracle and a sorcery spirit." The Harvest Orchard was linked to the Star Pole Hall, which compiled the *Starry Miracle Catalog*, allowing students to purchase miracle sorcery procedures directly here. "Please go ahead." "First, an offensive miracle based on Sword Mark and Heart Sword. Preferably one that doesn't require other rare sorcery spirits." Mifa looked it up. "There are three miracles that match your criteria. The mid-tier True Gold miracle 'Heart Pen' is priced at 15 gold coins; the low-tier Brilliant Gold miracle 'Sword Prison' is 58 gold coins; and the high-tier Brilliant Rainbow miracle 'Heart Form' is 100 rainbow coins. Would you like to view the demonstration footage for these miracles?" "No need." Sonia's face darkened. "I can't afford any of them." This was the drawback of rare sorcery spirits—as one of the Five Matchless Secret Sword Spirits, Heart Sword served as the foundation for miracles of remarkably high caliber. The most expensive, Heart Form, was a high-tier Brilliant Rainbow miracle considered formidable even in the hands of Sanctuary Sorcerers. If it were Slash Sword combined with Sword Mark instead, one could easily find a whole batch of cheap, high-tier Brilliant Silver miracles. Still, after speaking, Sonia hesitated. "Let me see the footage for Heart Pen." Mifa turned the light screen around, letting Sonia watch the combat footage of Heart Pen. The screen was transparent. While Sonia watched the display, Mifa gazed at her from behind it, trying to look nonchalant. *The Red-Haired Sword Princess is truly incredible! As expected, the only one who can ever amaze me is you, and only tomorrow's Sword Princess could surprise me even more! Your outfit when you fought the Orange Dancer was ridiculously cool, though you're always so cool anyway! How can you be so amazing?! Super-amazing Sword Princess, please remember to take good care of yourself, eat well, sleep well, and be happy every day!* *Uuu, what a pity that you won't be sleeping because you're visiting the Void Realm. I really wish the president would take more photos of your sleeping face... Sorry, that's a bit too much of me, but I really want to see it!* "...All right, thank you." "Would you like to buy it?" The country girl subconsciously nibbled on her fingernail, entirely unaware of the effect her little habit had on her fan. "...Not for now." It wasn't that she lacked 15 gold coins, nor was she entirely unwilling to spend 15 gold coins to buy a miracle procedure for the Watcher. But buying it would instantly cut her liquid assets in half, drastically reducing her safety margin against risks. And besides... fine, she just couldn't bear to spend 15 gold coins on the Watcher. She hadn't even spent 15 gold coins on herself! Curse it all—if only they could trade sorcery spirits in the Void Realm. Sonia would rather help the Watcher research a new miracle herself than spend 15 gold coins on someone else's procedure! Just thinking about parting with such a hefty sum made her physically ache to the point of losing her appetite, even if her purse could technically take the hit! Besides, it wasn't as if the Watcher's Sword Painting miracle was unusable; it was just a bit trash... Perhaps in the future, they would obtain a spirit that synergized even better with Heart Sword... Their team's current combat strength was sufficient anyway... With these three rationalizations, Sonia talked herself out of spending the 15 gold coins. She continued, "Are there any sorcery spirits that can quickly calm one's mental state?" "Plenty," Mifa replied. "Calming Heart, Still Heart, Thought Banishing... virtually all of them belong to the mind faction." Mind faction spirits had no flaws other than their exorbitant cost. Though cheaper than miracle procedures, their prices were still enough to make the country girl weep into her pillow at night. Suddenly recalling something, she asked, "Are there any miracle sorcery procedures that include the Sincerity spirit and produce the effect of quickly calming a sorcerer down?" Mifa gave a prompt, affirmative answer: "There are." ... When the transaction concluded, Sonia hadn't grown her assets this trip; on the contrary, she had sunk a sixth of her wealth into the deal. Even so, the country girl was in good spirits, as this investment clearly promised an ideal return. Seeing Sonia prepare to leave, Mifa finally couldn't suppress her eagerness to connect with her idol. She murmured, "Do your best!" The country girl looked at her, bewildered. "Pardon?" "Good luck tonight!" Mifa pumped her fist. "I know you'll definitely win at Locus University!" *Locus University?* Sonia was taken aback. "Wait, what do you mean?" "Sword Flower University is having an intercollegiate exchange with Locus University tonight!" Mifa said. "Didn't you know?" "I know about that." Sonia had indeed heard about it. Just as Truth University held exchanges with Sword Flower University, Sword Flower naturally held exchanges with other institutions. "But what does that have to do with me?" Mifa froze. "You're one of the participating students! And I heard Senior Leonie volunteered to step down from the champion slot, leaving you to handle the champion match!" Intercollegiate matches typically consisted of five bouts: vanguard, forward, center, vice-champion, and champion. Sonia's immediate reaction upon hearing she would fight the champion match was exhilaration. After all, the champion match was the showdown between each school's strongest student; this meant Sword Flower University was publicly acknowledging her as the strongest student of her class! Yet she soon realized a glaring issue: because the champion match was the premier highlight, it was always saved for last. "...Mifa, do you know what time these exchange exhibition matches usually last until?" "Usually until around three in the morning," Mifa replied after a moment's thought. "After every bout, instructors from both universities offer commentary and guidance, and they even hold rematches on the spot so students can fight another round under the teachers' direction... After all five bouts conclude, there's also the professors' exhibition match." "That's where a single professor takes on five students from the opposing university at once. That's the real crowd-pleaser of the night." "If not for an unexpected accident during the last exchange, it would have gone until three in the morning as well." In the Starry Realm, the more important a sorcerer competition was, the later into the night it was scheduled—the later, the better. This was because the stars represented the gaze of the Starry Law Master. Although no one went out of their way to preach faith in the Starry Law Master in daily life, everyone harbored a subconscious reverence for the starry canopy overhead, yearning to receive the favor of starlight. Sonia blinked. "Then what time does the champion match start?" "Midnight."