Before I head back to Fukagawa and visit the black market, I’ll first need to grab some things from the dorm, mainly Sara’s cultivation cartridge… I’m hoping to sell it for a decent price, I guess she was right after all… Hopefully she’s not at home though, things have been a bit awkward since last night.

I enter our dorm and… Sure enough, there she is, casually eating a sandwich at the dinner table. *SIGH*

“Why do you have to sigh as soon as you see me?!”

“D-Don’t worry about it Sara, I’m just a bit tired ha-ha…”

Things are becoming more tense as no one is talking… fine let’s just apologize:

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to see that last night. We were both a bit drunk and one thing led to another, we didn’t take it very far though and we were both consenting adults so I don’t think it’s really fair for you to be so mad about it.”

“I’m not mad or anything! I just don’t want you guys doing that stuff in front of me! B-Besides didn’t you eat those sandwiches I left for you this morning… it’s m-my apology for interrupting and getting mad like that or whatever.”

“Those were yours? No wonder they tasted so ba-”

The way she’s looking at me tells me I shouldn’t finish that sentence...

“D-Different, no wonder they tasted so different ha-ha… Anyways, thanks for the peace-offering.”

“No problem, but I have to warn you… No never mind…”

“Oh come on, now you have to tell me!”

“It’s just that, I don’t think Juniper is that interested in you, I mean you only know her for a couple of days right? Maybe she’s just trying to take advantage of you? While we were having girl talk, she was asking me all these intrusive questions about your duel…”

“Really? Like what? Was she interested in the type of magic I used?”

“Y-Yeah… something like that…”

I guess Sara does have a point… I only know her for a couple of days, she might just be getting closer to me in order to steal my unique cartridge or something… She might even be a spy who knows of my powers?! No, don’t go too far Reo… She’s a nice girl, besides, she already was my roommate before I showcased my explosion magic.

Let’s remain vigilant though, she could be using me, a Machia, for profit or something… Besides… I realized it when I was rubbing her chest, but… I still somewhat feel for my girlfriend I left behind in the Netherlands…

Ha! Funny really… Even after all those years…

What am I even saying?... Am I just making excuses?...

Argh! Starting a harem is way more difficult than I originally envisioned!

*SIGH* Alright… Let’s ignore all my girl-problems for now, they won’t go away by just thinking about them.

I head to my room, stuff the cultivation cartridge I got from Sara in my backpack and say goodbye to her before heading out.

I was just about to walk out the door before I suddenly hear Sara calling for me.

“Wait!”

“Huh?”

As I’m turning around, I can feel two small, but soft cushions pressed against my cheek.

*PA-DING* *PA-DING*

Did… Did she just?...

I turn around completely to look at Sara, her face is flushed and she’s still standing on her tippy-toes.

“W-Why did you-“

“O-ONLY FOR THE POINTS OBVIOUSLY!... D-Don’t forget that I’m very competitive...”

With those words, she slams the door in my face…

Goddam… Women sure are hard to understand…

…

I finally arrive at Fukugawa, still a bit flustered from Sara’s sudden actions.

I softly slap my own two cheeks to regain focus again before showing my chip-implant to the guards and entering the backstreets.

Alright, before I sell my cultivation cartridge to the scary lady, let’s first ask around how much this cartridge is worth here, I don’t want to get scammed...

I’ll address the first street vendor I can find, I’ll also deepen my voice, just to be careful.

“How much for this blank cartridge here?”

“This yellow one here? 150 U-Coins, no haggling!”

“Bit much don’t you think? I know of a shop that sells them for less.”

“145 U-Coins, last offer! If you’re not buying anything, just leave!”

Seems like Miss Izumi’s shop really does have fair prices…

“I’ll think about it… By the way, how much can you give me for an orange cartridge?”

“An orange cartridge ey? You got some pretty good stuff there kid…”

The rat-looking man is now uncomfortably eyeing me up and down.

“I’ll give you 400 for a blank one, 600 if it has something good and 950 if it has a mana cultivation magic. Well, not like you’ll just be carrying around a mana-cultivation cartridge in a dump like this though.”

I flinched a bit after hearing that price for the mana-cultivation one, it’s enough to buy a house! No, even a small mansion!

The rat-man noticed my surprise and immediately followed up with:

“You’re not stupid enough to bring something as valuable as that to this place though, right laddy?”