CHAPTER 104: NEW MONEY

"What do you mean by that?"

Rosanna floated over to the edge of the platform, her translucent form rippling in the wind.

"Simple mathematics, darling. The problem isn’t that Talia needs to marry. It’s that she needs to marry someone of appropriate status who can provide an heir."

"Right..."

"So become that someone."

Aegis sat up.

"What!?"

"Darling, this is a very practical matter. For one, you’re fertility-blessed." Rosanna turned, moonlight passing through her ghostly tits in a very distracting way. "You are especially equipped to produce a widespread bloodline. How do you think I had seven children with my third wife?"

"Your what?"

"Did they not teach you that in history class?"

"They definitely did not."

"Typical. They always leave out the interesting parts." Rosanna drifted back over. "The point remains. If you were a noble of sufficient standing with sufficient wealth, House Stone might consider you a viable alternative to Darius."

"That’s insane."

"Is it?"

"I’d need to become a noble, which is basically impossible in like, what, a few months? Then I’d need to amass enough wealth to make House Stone give a shit. We’re talking millions of gold."

"Two million, to be precise."

"How do you know that?"

"I asked around."

"You asked—you’re a ghost! Who did you ask?"

"Details, details." Rosanna sat down beside her, close enough that Aegis could feel the chill radiating from her form. "The point is, if you want to save Talia from this marriage, you have options. Difficult options, but options nonetheless."

"Become a noble millionaire in less than a year."

"When you say it like that, it sounds impossible."

"It IS impossible!"

"For someone else, perhaps." Rosanna’s smile turned sly. "But you’re not someone else, are you? You’re the woman who climbed the Sky Piercer with twigs for arms! Who talked your way into my personal training despite having no right to be here."

"That’s different."

"Is it?"

"Yes! This is... like, changing fundamental social structures!"

"Everything becomes nothing but a set of clever tricks if you’re clever enough, darling."

Aegis flopped back onto the platform.

"Even if I could pull it off, would Talia even want that?"

"Would you like me to ask her?"

"No! That’s—wait, can you?"

"I could certainly try."

"... This is so weird."

Still, Aegis considered it. The "becoming a noble" part, not the "having Rosanna wingman for her" part.

---

The next morning, Aegis walked through the academy halls with approximately zero hours of sleep and a brand new life goal: become a millionaire noble in a vaguely short amount of time.

[No pressure or anything.]

She’d already started working through the logistics. The noble part was actually easier than the money part—there were a few ways for exceptional commoners to earn titles. Win the Winter Trials, save a member of the royal family, make a significant contribution to the kingdom’s magical knowledge...

[All theoretically possible. Just highly unlikely.]

The money was the real problem. Two million gold was more than most minor noble houses had in their entire treasuries. She’d need to—

"NYAAAAA!"

"ACK!"

Something small and violent slammed into her back. Aegis went sprawling, her face meeting the floor with a wet smack.

"Got you now, nya!"

Kai’Lin sat on her back, triumphant. Her sister emerged from behind a pillar.

"Finally managed to ambush the treacherous... BITCH, nya~"

"Good job, sis!"

Aegis gritted her teeth.

[These fucking cats.]

Aegis twisted, throwing Kai’Lin off. The catgirl landed in a crouch, hissing. Mei’Lin circled around, trying to flank.

"Can we not do this today?" Aegis asked, getting to her feet. "I have a lot on my plate."

"Too bad, nya! We’re gonna—"

Aegis pulled her shirt off.

Both catgirls froze.

Aegis knew how these catgirls worked at this point. She knew what she needed to do... even if her reputation could potentially not survive it.

"What are you doing?" Mei’Lin squeaked.

"You keep attacking me." Aegis tossed the shirt aside.

WOBBLE WOBBLE, her tits bounced free.

"So," Aegis continued, "I figure we should just fuck and get it over with."

"WHAT?"

"That’s what you want, right?" She started undoing her belt. "All this wrestling and mounting? Classic foreplay."

"That’s not—we don’t—NYA!"

Kai’Lin’s face turned the color of a tomato.

Aegis dropped her pants. Her cock sprang free, already half-hard from the adrenaline.

The twins backed up against the wall, eyes wide.

"Put that thing away, we’re trying to kill you!"

"You’re insane, nya!"

"I prefer enthusiastic."

"We’re assassins!"

"Terrible ones."

"We killed twelve people last year!"

"And yet you can’t kill one commoner with a dick."

"Because Professor Nazraya said—"

Mei’Lin slapped a hand over her sister’s mouth.

"Nothing! Her words do not matter, nya!"

Aegis took another step forward. The twins pressed themselves flatter against the wall.

"Anyway, so you can’t kill me, but you keep attacking me anyway. You know what that sounds like?"

"Shut up!"

"Sounds like you want attention."

"We don’t—"

"Want me to pin you against this wall and—"

"NYAAAA!"

Both catgirls vanished in puffs of smoke, leaving behind only the lingering scent of embarrassment and cherry blossoms.

[That’s a neat trick. Wonder if they’ll teach it to me one day.]

Aegis pulled her clothes back on, ignoring the shocked first-year who’d just rounded the corner and gotten an eyeful.

"Academy life," she said by way of explanation.

The first-year nodded frantically and basically sprinted away.

[Need to figure out the catgirl situation before the Winter Trials. Can’t have them jumping me during an important event.]

---

She made it back to her dorm without further incident. Lune was at her easel, painting something that looked suspiciously like Aegis’s cock from memory.

"Is that my dick?"

"It’s abstract art."

"That’s definitely my dick."

"It’s exploring themes of power and vulnerability through organic shapes."

[Whatever.]

Aegis flopped onto her bed, face-first into the pillow.

"My life is so weird."

"Just now figuring that out?"

"I need advice."

"About?"

"How to befriend people."

Lune’s brush stopped moving.

"You need advice on friendship? And you’re asking me?"

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"You have more friends than anyone I know."

"I have people I fuck. That’s different."

"Is it?"

"I dunno."

Aegis rolled over to look at her roommate. Lune had paint on her cheek, a smudge of blue that matched her usual monochrome aesthetic somehow.

"How would you befriend someone like... Serilla?"

"The transfer student who keeps trying to steal Liora?"

"Yeah."

"Why would you want to?"

"Hypothetically."

"Hypothetically." Lune set her brush down. "Well, Serilla wants control. She needs to feel like she’s winning. So I would guess you’d need to give her something to win that doesn’t actually cost you anything. Almost like a trade. Talia keeps Liora, and she gets... something, provided by you."

"That’s... actually smart."

"Why ask me this question if you expected a poor answer?"

"What about someone like Darius?"

"The pompous one trying to marry Talia?"

"That’s the one."

"Money. Power. Status. Make him see you as an equal. Then, even if he doesn’t like you, he’ll respect you."

[... Wait, could that be the key?]

"And if I can’t?"

"Then you can’t befriend him. How can one befriend a person who doesn’t view them as equal?"

Aegis stared at the ceiling, processing.

"What about Sophie?"

"Your sister?"

"Yeah."

"The one you make out with constantly?"

"We don’t—okay, yes, but—"

"Aegis." Lune turned to face her fully. "What’s this really about?"

"I told you. Friendship."

"Oh, come on."

"It’s not—"

"What’s the real problem?"

"I need to..." Aegis paused, trying to figure out how to phrase it without mentioning the System. "I need to make sure certain people don’t become problems later."

"Enemies?"

"Potentially."

"So you want to neutralize threats through friendship?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds manipulative."

"It is manipulative."

"Thanks."

"But that doesn’t make it wrong." Lune picked up her brush again. "Sometimes manipulation is just understanding what people need and giving it to them."

"That’s a very pragmatic way to look at friendship."

"I’m a very pragmatic person."

They fell into comfortable silence, Lune painting and Aegis thinking.

"The thing about friendship," Lune said suddenly, "is that it’s not actually about the other person."

"What?"

"It’s about you. What you’re willing to give. What you’re willing to risk." She added another stroke to her painting. "Sophie doesn’t see you as a friend because you’ve never been vulnerable with her. You’re always the big sister. The one in control."

"I’m not in control of anything."

"But you act like you are." Lune glanced at her. "Serilla’s the same way. So is Darius. You’re all playing power games. If you want to befriend these people, for some reason, you could start by showing them more than that. More of you."

"And the twins?"

"The twins want to kill you."

"Besides that."

"I think they’re lonely." Lune shrugged. "They have each other, but they’re isolated. Foreign. Everyone treats them like exotic pets or potential threats."

"So?"

"So treat them like people. Not obstacles to overcome or comedy relief. Just... people."

Aegis sat up.

"When did you get so insightful?"

"I observe. It’s what I do." Lune smiled slightly. "Though I admit, most of my observations are of your penis."

"I guess that’s how we became friends."

"Are we?"

Aegis blinked.

"Aren’t we?"

"I don’t know." Lune turned back to her painting. "You tell me. Have you ever been vulnerable with me? Or am I just the convenient roommate who doesn’t ask questions?"

The question hung in the air like a challenge.

"I..."

"It’s fine." Lune’s voice was carefully neutral. "I’m not actually demanding anything. But, do you see my point? Sophie, for instance. You make out with her, sure, but does she understand you? Do you understand her? What you need is to think about how much of yourself you’ve shown and given to people like Sophie. How much of you do Serilla and Darius and the twins know? Then, and only then, can true respect be achieved."

Aegis laid back down, staring at the ceiling.

The paint on Lune’s brush made soft sounds against the canvas.

"Friendship," Lune said quietly, "as I understand it, is just vulnerability mixed with respect. Everything else is just networking."