"You did awesome, Ana!" Lily looked at Ana with wonder and started praising her skills.
Ana just shyly chuckled at Lily's remarks and said. "It is nothing, and I didn't win that easily. Just as Professor Mori said, I got lucky."
Saying that, Ana's mood degraded. She knew she was not at the top of the rankings, yet she had hope in her heart that she could climb this rank. But it seemed impossible now, as she was having a hard time defeating the one that was right above her, making it feel like she was climbing a steep mountain.
"Hey, why are you making that face?" Lily squinted her eyes at Ana before putting her hands on her hips. "I see you are disappointed with the result of the battle, right? Ahhh…why are you being like that? You know, I can't even dream of reaching top 15, and top 80 is already hard for me."
Ana became stumped, seeing Lily downcast now. So she quickly removed her own and said it with a smile. "I believe you can rise too and challenge me. But remember, I won't stop moving forward."
Lily's move instantly changed as if a switch had been clicked. "Yes, we won't give up and won't stop moving forward. But first, let's go to the class and get your reward. You won the fight, right?"
Dumbfounded, Ana didn't expect Lily to act for her just to make her motivated. However, it wasn't like she denied such things. Laughing up a little, Ana and Lily strode towards their class. "Let's go, I really want to make a big demand of this duke's son."
…
Bright Emerald Class.
Currently, students were waiting and calmly chatting among themselves as no professor was present in the class. For the next professor to come, it would at most take two minutes.
At that moment, Ana and Lily entered the classroom, catching everyone's attention, especially Ana, as she had become somewhat famous in her class.
The two friends walked up the stairs, heading toward their bench. This time, Troy and his group didn't occupy their bench and were sitting on their respectful benches.
Just as Ana and Lily came beside Troy's bench, they stopped. Looking at them, Ana said. "I have won the battle, and get ready to accomplish what I wish for."
"Tsk." Sneering to himself, Troy asked. "What do you want?"
"I know you have many sponsors under you. I just hope you send them to my city to open up shops close to fifty to seventy." The moment Ana finished saying her wish, Troy turned his head at her and looked at her with bewilderment.
With disbelief in his eyes, Troy said. "You want my sponsors to go to your city? Are you serious? How can I even convince them in the first place? This is outrageous."
The sponsors they were talking about were businessmen and some hidden forces that supported the heir to the throne to their liking. This knowledge wasn't secret, as everyone knew of it, and it is seen as a highly competitive market.
Because the one who chooses the best prince with the best potential could have a chance to rule the area if that prince gets to sit on the throne. These types of practices were mostly seen among Kings, Dukes and Marquesses. So, at first, Ana was surprised when she learned about it and decided to exploit it for her own benefit.
"That isn't my issue. If you can't do it, then it will let everyone here know how incompetent you are, and people won't believe your words." Ana left for her seat before smirking at Troy.
Troy was left frustrated again as he saw people watching him, probably curious about his choice. He knew his next words would decide his image, which was very important for someone like him.
At that moment, their next professor came for their next subject.
Ana and Lily were sitting behind Troy, but they hadn't heard any reply yet. Ana decided to wait until the end of this class, as she thought Troy might be not answering in the fear of the professor. But she was proven wrong, as Troy said, without turning back. "Your wish will be fulfilled."
This brought a smile to Ana's face as she and Lily calmly, with peace in their minds, focused on the teaching while Troy sat in his position with a darkened face.
…
All of this was unknown to Benimaru, as he didn't have any source to know this and didn't have time now to learn about it as he had been busy recently.
Benimaru, Ravenna, Fiain, and his guards were cleaning the shop they were assigned to. The shop they got from Blarg was made of wood, and it had two floors. The top one is for residential purposes, and the bottom is for doing any kind of business.
Benimaru was expecting an empty shop at the center, but those were already occupied, so he got one in the middle, closer to the walls. He didn't get a position of his desire, and to top it off, it wasn't even cleaned. So, before he could set up the shop, he had to clean it up properly.
At first, Benimaru thought of hiring some locals to do the cleaning, but later he felt it would be a waste of time and especially money. So, folding his shirt and his pants, he went down to work, and as he expected, with their strength and capability, it didn't take time.
The sun was resting right above their heads, announcing it was noon.
"Great job guys. Now bring all the boxes inside, and we will be done." Dusting off his hands, Benimaru congratulated everyone for their hard work.
The guards quickly went to bring the boxes, as Benimaru's praise quickly ignited back the fire in their hearts. Ravenna and Fiain didn't want to get left behind, so they also went to shake hands.
After a few minutes, all the boxes full of weapons were unloaded from the carriages and brought to the shop. Then they started to decorate the best ones for display and put the rest in the storage room.
They were all magicians and warriors, they can be considered superhumans now, so this type of continuous labor was nothing to them.
Finally, putting on the price tags before the weapons, they finally announced the end of their shop decoration.
"Everyone, we will open up the shop after we are done having our lunch." Benimaru said this to everyone with a smile on his face.
Ravenna instantly asked, hearing Benimaru's decision. "But, we don't need to. We can go on till the night without food."
Just as Ravenna said, food was not mandatory for them anymore. Food is eaten by normal people because they lack a way to fill up their energy other than by consuming various types of food. But for them, who are walking on a different path, they no longer need them, as the mana in the air can recharge their bodies.
"No, we can't." Shaking his head, Benimaru instantly denied Ravenna's request. "Remember what I told you guys earlier? We are here as businessmen, we are not magicians or warriors. Just simple human beings, trying to make profit. So, we can't open the shop during this lunch hour. Even if we don't eat, we have to at least put on an act."
"Oh." Ravenna and others felt they gained enlightenment after hearing Benimaru's words. It wasn't their fault, as they were demons to begin with and had zero knowledge of how humans lived.
Closing the doors of their shop, they had a little lunch, just to satisfy their tastes.
Finally, the time came for them to open the shop and live their new life.
Benimaru looked at the guards and said to them, "You two, guard the doors from outside, and the other two, take position in two corners of the store."
Nodding their heads, the guards quickly took their position while also checking if their armor was properly worn, as Benimaru had warned them about it earlier when they were eating.
Shifting his focus to the girls. Benimaru said. "You guys are ready to welcome the customer. Also, try to be as humble as possible. Do your best not to irritate them."
Ravenna and Fiain rapidly nodded their heads as they felt this task was more arduous than watching over their base and hunting other demons.
Readying themselves up, Benimaru put on the sign that their shop was open and went to his position, which was behind the counter, as he would do the cashier's job.
Then the waiting game begins.
They waited for 10 minutes.
30 minutes.
1 hour.
2 hours.
Time passed and it was already afternoon, but not a single customer came to their shop. All of them gave their shop one or two glances before leaving, probably thinking of the authenticity and quality of their shop.
This made Benimaru's face darken. 'Well, why did I think it would be easy to begin with?'
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