The street vendor was clearly startled when he heard Luke’s words.
He quickly closed the sketchbook and scrutinized Luke and Ize for a long while before finally spotting the exclusive insignia of Starlight Academy on their sleeves.
He cried out in alarm, “Young masters, why are you dressing so shabbily and pretending to be commoners!”
Ize chuckled, “And here you are, selling imperial 8th-tier mage pin-up pictures at Quiet Moon Pier—aren’t you afraid of being reported?”
To be honest, even though Kleia looked young, she was actually over a hundred years old. Ize was genuinely worried he might end up with a stye on his eye from seeing such things.
The vendor was much calmer now, showing the indifference of someone with nothing left to lose, “I’ve fallen so low I have to sell this stuff. If you young masters want to report me, feel free. I’m just curious—if your Dean saw her own students looking at her pin-ups, what do you think she’d do?”
At that moment, a mechanical voice sounded in Ize’s mind.
[The Divine Choice System is at your service. Please make the most suitable choice as soon as possible!]
[Choice 1: Immediately report Kleia using a voice-transmitting Magic Stone. Difficulty: A. Reward for completion: Protagonist Value +10.]
[Choice 2: Buy the sketchbook to study it in detail later. Difficulty: A. Reward for completion: Antagonist Value +10.]
[Choice 3: Laugh out loud, “I’m not bored enough to report something this silly!” Difficulty: E. NPC Value +10.]
Ize’s heart tensed. It was easy to imagine that if he really did report this to Kleia and let her know he’d seen that picture, the outcome would be catastrophic.
He burst out laughing, clapped the vendor on the shoulder, and said heartily, “I’m not bored enough to report something this silly!”
Seeing Ize take it so lightly, the vendor thought he saw hope of a sale and eagerly continued, “Young master, one look and I can tell you have discerning taste and good judgment.”
Since they were both Starlight Academy students, the vendor switched to a different sketchbook and smiled, “I also have one featuring Angelica from Liyue Academy…”
At the mention of that name, Ize’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly interrupted, “No, no, no, I’m not into that sort of thing. Boss, you sure have a lot of stuff.”
“Of course!” The vendor boasted, “My goods all come from ‘Miaomiao Bookstore,’ completely legitimate sources.”
Ize pulled a wry smile. He could only say that Miaomiao Bookstore had an impressive range of business. They sold everything.
“I’ll pass on the sketchbooks. The beauties in them are not for the likes of me.”
Luke didn’t look interested either and nodded in agreement.
Just as the two were about to leave, the vendor called out to them again.
Both of them were Starlight Academy students—surely loaded with cash. It would be a shame not to earn a little more from them.
“Young masters, I also go by the nickname Know-it-all. If there’s any news you want to hear, you can always ask me—though it’ll cost you, of course.”
Know-it-all, now that was an unusual nickname.
Ize paused, clearly intrigued, “Do you really know everything?”
Know-it-all’s face lit up with pride, “Of course. If I don’t, I’ll give you some useful information for free.”
Free information?
Not bad. Ize grinned, “Then, do you know my true identity today?”
Know-it-all was taken aback, “Aren’t you just a Starlight Academy student?”
“Ah!” Ize suddenly lost interest. “Let’s go, Luke. Seems like your name doesn’t live up to the reputation.”
“Wait.” Know-it-all refused to accept that, calling after them, “Young master, I’m a Know-it-all, not a fortune-teller. Besides, there are so many people in the world—why should I go around collecting information on ordinary folks?”
Luke piped up, “That’s because your abilities are lacking. My senior isn’t just any ordinary person.”
He pointed to a popular bestselling novel on the stall, “Do you know who wrote this book…”
Before he could finish, Ize smacked him firmly on the back of the head.
Know-it-all, quick-witted as ever, immediately caught on, “Don’t tell me—you’re the author of this novel?”
Ize would never admit to that, not even under torture. “Careful what you say—after all, you’re Know-it-all!”
Know-it-all grinned, “Forgive my ignorance. As promised, here’s your free tip.”
“Did you know, there’s a new scam organization cropping up in the Empire?”
“This organization is quite interesting. They specifically target those naive-looking noble students…”
Hearing this, Ize felt a bad premonition.
“The scammers are very experienced. They’ve got plenty of elderly members who deliberately fake falls or pretend to be ill, picking out those lone, naive-looking rich kids. If anyone tries to help, they’ll be accused of pushing the elder down and get extorted.”
“If their family or academy can’t cough up enough money, the victim is sold off to the mines as a laborer to pay off the ‘debt.’”
Good grief—even this world had staged accident scams.
Ize asked suspiciously, “Aren’t they afraid they’ll mess with the wrong people and have some powerful family wipe them out?”
Know-it-all grinned, “That’s what makes this group so interesting. The masterminds behind it are probably people from the Empire’s noble circles themselves.”
“All the major noble lords and magic academies turn a blind eye to it. Their goal is to train their own young scions.”
Ize sensed something odd in the air. He took a deep breath and asked, “So why are you telling me all this…”
“Young master, you’re sharp.” Know-it-all chuckled. “It seems your academy has already had one student fall victim.”
“Male or female?” Ize pressed.
“Female, and apparently she’s someone important,” Know-it-all replied. “But she’s got backbone. She’s extremely stubborn and refuses to contact her family or academy for help.”
Ize asked helplessly, “So where is she now? Don’t tell me she’s already been sent to the mines?”
“That’s not it.” Know-it-all continued, “She claims to be skilled at making potions. Right now she’s working for the Quiet Moon Merchant Guild, making potions to pay off her debt. But the scammers only gave her three days. If she can’t earn enough in time, she’ll be sent to the mines.”
At this, Luke whispered, “Senior Ize, doesn’t that sound a lot like Senior Emma…”
Ize pulled at the corner of his mouth.
It was almost certainly Emma, no doubt.
Ize really wanted to know—if he did nothing, would anything bad happen to him because of it?
If Emma really was sent to the mines, Kleia would definitely go get her back, right?
As a background character, an ordinary bystander should probably not get involved in this sort of trouble.
Otherwise, it’d go against his survival philosophy of ‘keeping a low profile’!
Just then, the system notification sounded again.
[The Divine Choice System is at your service. Please make an appropriate choice as soon as possible]
[Choice 1: Immediately inform Kleia of the situation using a Magic Stone. Difficulty: A. Reward for completion: Protagonist Value +10.]
[Choice 2: Go cause trouble for the scam group, and have all the costs charged to Emma’s debt. Difficulty: A. Reward for completion: Antagonist Value +10.]
[Choice 3: Rescue Emma discreetly without leaving any trace. Difficulty: C. Reward for completion: NPC Value +10.]
Out of the three options, the lowest difficulty is C-rank?
Is there even a way to win here?