153 It's Mahun Greed All The Time

Both Odeta and I were credited with the rescue of the students and the capture of the bandits.

I asked the Instructor what made those bandits so difficult to catch and he told me it was because they usually do a grab and run while laying traps behind them to slow down any pursuers they might have.

I noted that we didn't encounter any traps while searching for them until I realised that was what those bandits we encountered on the way were trying to do and we caught up to them before they could even start laying them.

Also technically, Eugene actually allowed the bandits to get caught by helping his teammates to escape and warn us in time to catch up to them.

Pretty funny how fate works huh?

I wondered aloud how there could be bandits so close to the capital and Instructor Henry had clammed up with a complicated look on his face. He then told me not to ask too much about it so I decided to head back and ask Mother about it instead.

It turns out that she had a lot of things to say about that topic.

"Ara, ara? That is all thanks to the greed of Mahuns my little one~" Mother answered easily when I asked her about it over dinner.

"Eh? How so?"

"Ufufufu~ I'm sure my dearest little one already knows that this Kingdom enslaves others as one of their main pillars of economy, yes?"

I nodded slowly, "There's crime slaves and as well as captured slaves that slave traders would capture outside of the borders right?"

Mother tapped on her nose playfully, "That's what the masses are led to believe but Mahun nobles in the Lehcarouc Kingdom will do anything to earn more money, even if it means enslaving and selling people of their own Kingdom~"

"Eh? How would that benefit them in any way?"

"Ufufufu~ Free labour for one my little one~"

"Ah… So those bandits are actually…"

"Ufufufu~ Funded and supported by the nobles themselves, yes~"

Wow… Ok… I want to say I'm surprised but that really explains quite a bit about this… The bandits aren't hard to catch because they are skilled or anything like that, but more because the nobles funding them are helping them along the way.

Then I realised something.

"But Mommy… I think some of the students that were captured today are nobles themselves too?"

"Ara, ara? That is known as getting rid of the competition my dearest little one~" Mother giggled, as though it was something she sees on a daily basis.

Knowing her, it probably was.

I bit my lip, "So they capture the heirs of other noble Houses…"

"And then use them as slaves in some remote location so their House would lose their heirs and be in danger of collapsing. Either from expending too much resources in locating their child or because of internal strife for the heir position~ Sometimes it could just be for a ransom too~" Mother finished with a sweet smile on her face while stirring her cup of tea.

She then took a sip from said cup of tea before placing it down on the saucer, "And once that happens… The conspirators swoop in and take the House for themselves or divide up their assets if there's multiple rival Houses involved~"

"Umm… How does Mommy know all this?"

Mother's eyes seemed to shine mischievously, "The heads of the Houses may change, but the servants… Ufufufu~ They don't change, especially when it's servants trained by our family~"

"And umm… The… The Royal family doesn't care?"

"Ara, ara? Who said they aren't involved in this either? After all… Aren't they standing at the top of the hierarchy?"

Ok, this is starting to sound like things I would be better off not knowing so I guess I should stop asking anymore questions about it now…

I turned to see what Odeta thought about the issue but she was too busy wolfing down the piece of meat on her plate to care.

Oh well, I think it's better for her that way too.

Mother then gave me a lazy smile, "Ufufufu~ Don't worry my little one~ If there exists a noble family foolish enough to target you in their schemes, just let Mama know~ Mama will take care of them for you~"

Yeah, that definitely doesn't sound ominous at all, Mother.

Honestly it wasn't really that surprising to learn that corruption exists around here and cutthroat politics was also a normal occurrence.

So we have bandits sanctioned by nobles running around kidnapping people literally right outside the capital city. What's next? Finding out some guy was breeding and experimenting on monsters in a basement underneath their house?

You know what? Don't answer that.

I'm already feeling stressed just thinking about it… Maybe I should just--

"Dessert is served, Mistress~"

Ohhhh!! I smell cake!! Gimme gimme!!

*

Godsday came around and that meant Alchemy class with Lisa.

She was already missing for our Lumenmancy class which was already pretty weird so I was hoping to catch her in today's class.

Unfortunately, when I reached the classroom in the morning, I found it empty of any students or even Lisa. There was, however, a note attached to the door of the class.

'Professor Lisa is away to gather materials for the next class. Students of her alchemy class should prepare a report on the basic herbs required to make a healing, stamina and mana potion for class next week.'

Seriously? You're telling me a teacher can just up and disappear like that with no repercussions whatsoever? Don't any students or parents complain about this at all or is this just something that was just accepted here?

What if a teacher just decided not to teach and then disappears for the entire year? Do the students just not care about it or will the school do something about it?

Unless this is just limited to Lisa which also plays to the reputation that she currently has?

Doesn't this actually tarnish the school's reputation? Like whoever heard of a teacher just not showing up for class like that unannounced and… Oh wait… It's not uncommon but it's not like it doesn't happen in the other World either…

I suppose there's also the possibility of a teacher encountering some kind of monster and then suddenly dying out on the field too… A little morbid but this was that kind of World after all.

Well, there's no one around to answer this question of mine so I was thinking if I should just head home for today, only to stop when a female Mahun student I didn't recognise suddenly ran up to me.

"Umm… You… You are Aster, right?"

I eyed her warily, "Yes? Umm… Who are you? Do you need something from me?"

"Yes! I'm err… I'm just a messenger… I mean… Err… Professor Lisa asked me to pass this to you!"

She reached into her bag and pulled out a letter to hand over to me.

Once I had taken it off her hands, she simply bowed and sped off again without waiting for my reply.

How odd.

I carefully tore open the letter and unfolded the paper inside, expecting to see Lisa's explanation for what happened last week.

Instead, all I got was a 'Come to my place on Obserday morning~ Dress sexy~'

What the heck Lisa.

You're lucky you're hot so I'll at least hear you out and maybe give you a good spanking if you explain yourself properly.

I sighed and stored the letter away, feeling a little more confused than before.

Now what? I'm suddenly free of classes and the assignment she gave the class was on a subject that I was already familiar with and could complete in less than half an hour…

Oh right… Weren't the school clubs starting to recruit new members now? I was so caught up in this that I didn't even go and check them out.

I think Odeta was also looking at them today since she doesn't have classes today.

Oh, that's right, it seems like some of the students' opinion of her changed after knowing that she helped rescue the students yesterday. She's also become quite a celebrity now.

Guess I could go check that out too and maybe see if there's some kind of club that interests me.

Hey, it's a magic school in a magical World, there must be some sort of magical club as well right?

I made my way towards the school field where most of the clubs had set up stalls to try and recruit new members.

I was kind of expecting that school festival type of gathering and it looked like I was right for the most part.

The only part where it was different was the fact that Odeta was standing on top of a pile of unconscious students with her fists raised high in the air while students cheered around her.

"Who's the boss?!" She roared.

"Odeta!"

"Who's the strongest?!"

"Odeta!"

"Who's the best sister?!"

"Big sister Aster!"

"Yeahhhhh!!"

…

I slowly backed away from the field before anyone could spot me and then headed back home. I'll just ask Katsuki to pick Odeta up in my stead later on…

Why the heck is this week just filled with all sorts of crazy stuff?!