In Olsylvia Academy, the Filomena Nobility Academy area, Bella, Princess Kriss, and Princess Khalifa came to a small, newly opened shop. In Olsylvia Academy, each society had to earn their own activity funds.
Opening a shop was a silently accepted practice of the academy and was also a way for societies to earn money. Individual members of a society could also privately sponsor; in the past, Chairman Nina had done this for the Rose Society.
This wooden shop was clearly set up by one of the foreign races, even the writing on its sign was unfamiliar. The foreign script was beautiful yet unrecognizable to Bella. In her vocational studies, she was most familiar with Dragon Race’s writing.
Really, it was a rather awkward situation. Bella was a Demon King, but she could barely understand the demon language. Thankfully, although Bella couldn’t read the sign, Kriss and Khalifa both studied Elvish.
“Bella, this sign is in Elvish. It’s okay if you can’t read it; after all, you did pick Dragon for your foreign language studies…”
“Oh, so it was like this. I’ll be counting on you two to translate for me, then!”
Ninety percent of the students studying Elvish were females; men usually didn’t consider this type of foreign language. This alternate world’s Elven Race was also similar and consisted of mostly females.
After walking inside the store, Bella voluntarily shut up, letting Kriss and Khalifa lead the way. The interior of the shop was very quaint and simple, and there was not a single customer inside either.
“Welcome… How may I help you?”
A pair of beautiful Elven maidens, seeing that they finally had customers, eagerly rushed up to them. Since Bella was wearing Knight armor, the two Elves had assumed she was a follower of Kriss and Khalifa.
Bella took advantage of their lack of attention in order to closely appraise the two Elven maidens. In fact, this was the first time Bella had seen Elves since coming to this alternate world. She had encountered Demons, Dragons, Beastmen, and God Race, but never Elves.
The Elven Race was comprised of a multitude of different tribes, similar to the Beastmen Race’s tribal alliance. The most commonly seen elves in human society belonged to the Moon Elf Tribe.
The Moon Elf Tribesmen were textbook elves, with blond hair and pointed ears. They were built tall and slender, and their chests weren’t overly large, just the perfect size.
In her past life’s isekai novels, Elves were all portrayed as beautiful and handsome to the extreme. Now, Bella finally confirmed these fantasies in person; both Elven maidens were far more pretty than the average human beauty.
“Umm… We’ll bother you for a table then. We’re just here to eat and will leave shortly afterward. You are a restaurant, right?”
“Yes, Your Highness is very pretty!”
“Thank you, please lead the way!”
Kriss’s exceptional beauty easily surpassed these two Elven maidens; she had won back some face for the Human race. However, she wasn’t purely Human either, and even among the top 10 beauties of Olsylvia Academy, besides Kriss and Isaman, the rest could only be considered average among Elves.
Elven maidens were born with a natural grace that human women simply couldn’t compare to. Among Bella’s harem, the girl with the most outstanding natural elegance was Betty, the “Source of Infection” from the Chaos Bringer camp.
This Elven shop was a restaurant and was set up similarly to a human bar. Yet, the sign outside was translated by Khalifa as “Fruit Shop”!
Bella looked around the restaurant and discovered even more Elven maidens; they were all innocently looking over Bella and her friends. Besides the elves, there wasn’t a single additional customer.
Bella was baffled. This restaurant was filled with Elven beauties, so why wasn’t there a single customer? Unless all the men of Olsylvia Academy had joined a “fraternity” to study philosophy?
Unlike Beastmen, female elves fetched a far high price in the black market. Even these ordinary Moon Elves would be expensive. Bella didn’t believe that not even a single pervert came to ogle these girls; there must be a different reason for the lack of business.
Near the bar itself, Bella discovered an elf that was remarkably different from the Moon Elf girls. This beauty’s long hair was silvery white; from afar, Bella had almost mistaken her for Kriss or Ariel.
In fact, her appearance was on par with Kriss’s. Currently, her moon-white irises were focused on a message crystal in front of her, as if she was talking to someone else. This was the only girl that hadn’t looked up at Bella’s group.
This elven girl was wearing a delicate crystal crown, signifying her status as an Elven princess. Bella snuck a glance at her contact crystal and saw that she was currently talking to a man. This left Bella even more curious; an Elven woman would rarely speak casually to a Human male.
In history, the only human men who were able to obtain the love of an Elven princess were all great heroes. Unfortunately, due to their disparity in lifespans, such couplings would always end in bitter widowhood for the elves involved.
Bella quietly sneaked behind the Elven princess. She wanted to see exactly who she was chatting with. After seeing her caller, Bella thought that the man’s face looked familiar and that she had met him before. Upon getting within earshot, Bella discovered that the Elven princess was actually speaking in the Human language.
“Prince Daniel, my thanks to you and your society for providing this land, but the rent is a bit too high. Could you maybe…”
“Princess Delias, the price is already meager. If you’re struggling to make payments, then maybe we can renegotiate the payment method. Perhaps by inviting some of your fellow…”
“Aren’t you Prince Daniel? How come you have free time to come tease these Elven sisters?”
On the other side of the message crystal, Prince Daniel’s face suddenly blanched with fear. His earlier confidence had evaporated like a puff of smoke with the appearance of Bella. His harrowing experience at the battle of Sarni had traumatized him so severely that he feared Duchess Bellina as much as he feared his father, Emperor Alfred the Third of the Gabriel Empire.
“Duchess Bellina, why are you here? I was discussing some private matters with Princess Delias…”
“What is there to talk about! It’s not like you’re courting her, just call another time. Goodbye!”
As soon as Bella finished, she cut the connection. Prince Daniel had the badge of the Golden Legend Society pinned to his chest. His society was the archnemesis of Bella’s Rose Society, so interfering with their affairs was only natural.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Prince Daniel could only stare at the message crystal, frustration all over on his face. He had almost acquired those beautiful Elven maidens before they were ripped away by Bella. Besides, since she was currently famous and beloved in the entire southern region of the Gabriel Empire, he couldn’t do much to her even if he wanted to.
Although Bella wasn’t currently in Sarnia Duchy, her fief was currently undergoing a large scale expansion. Except for the Norlander Duchy under the leadership of Duke Brandon, the other territories in the south had all bent their knees to the Sarnia Duchy.
There was really nothing that Prince Daniel could do to Bella. He could only report the matter to the leader of the Golden Legend Society, Carlos, and hope that he would be able to take care of things. However, Carlos hadn’t returned to the academy yet. He was still busy fighting with his sister, Caroline, over the wealth of the family.
“Oh, little sister, you’re a Duke! I never would’ve guessed! I had thought you were some rich lordling or something.”
“Oh right, what was that guy talking to you about? Can you tell me?”
“This… Okay!”
Princess Delias of the Moon Elf Tribe decided to personally serve Bella’s table. When she stood up and Bella saw her uniform, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment; Delias was wearing the dress of Alessandra Academy.
Their uniform was very similar in design to Olsylvia Academy’s. It was very conservative, to the point where Bella wanted to beat the designer to death. She didn’t know if the two uniforms shared a designer, but regardless, they were both very ugly.
As Bella continued to appraise the rest of the elves, she finally realized the reason for the lack of customers: all of them were wearing the conservative uniforms of Alessandra Academy.
This uniform exposed absolutely nothing, while also concealing the body shape of its wearers. Putting it on around school was one thing, but trying to open a restaurant while wearing such a plain uniform was hopeless.
Since Princess Delias could speak human language, she and Bella had no trouble talking. In their brief exchange, Bella came to a basic understanding of the Elves’ situation.
Delias was the princess of the largest Elven Tribe, the Moon Elf Tribe, and she was a student of Olsylvia’s neighbor, Alessandra Academy. Due to a lack of funds in their society, Delias had decided to run over to Olsylvia Academy to make some quick bucks.
Since Alessandra Academy hosted actual battles for their societies’ territories, and the elves were beaten out, they could only retreat here for an opportunity.
Bella took a glance at the menu, and with the help of Kriss and Khalifa translating, she realized that the majority of it was simply fruits. Not only that, but they were also outrageously cheap, leaving Bella speechless.
For example, a Flaming Dragonfruit was sold for 20 coppers in a regular human market and 30 coppers in the imperial market. Yet Delias was selling them at 5 coppers apiece. And this was one of the most expensive items on the menu!
“Delias, aren’t your prices too low? Also, do you only sell fruits?”
“It isn’t that low, is it? In our home forests, these fruits are provided for free by Mother Nature.
“Furthermore, my tribesmen do not hunt. As a result, I don’t know what else to sell besides fruit; do you have any recommendations? Earlier, Prince Daniel suggested that I send…”
“Stop. First of all, don’t talk to that guy anymore in the future. I’ll take care of your rent with the Golden Legend Society, but you’ve to move. This place isn’t suited to your business.”
After studying Delias long and hard, Bella finally understood everything. This Moon Elf Princess was far too innocent, as innocent and simple as nature.
In this world where the strong preyed on the weak, people who were too kind and pure would never make it in the business circle. This area was under the control of the Golden Legend Society, and Prince Daniel had extorted a rent of 100 coppers a day from the elves.
Bella was extremely distrustful of the Golden Legend Society! Once Delias was unable to make payments, who knew what kind of strange requests they’d strongarm the elves into completing in order to make up for it. With their natural innocence, the elves would easily fall for such an underhanded scheme.
Bella quickly came to grasp the cause of the failure of Delias’s shop. First, their uniforms were exceedingly reserved and didn’t provide any eye candy. Second, they were selling at too “kind” of a price, resulting in a lack of customers.
This area was the Filomena Nobility Academy; the students were all highborn and didn’t lack money. If they only spent a couple coppers, they would be laughed at by all their friends.
Therefore, in order to flaunt their noble statuses, the students here were willing to squander ten times as much money on the same item. Maybe if they had opened their shop in Frank’s Civilian Academy, they would’ve had more business, and it would have at least been better than here.
And finally, there was a reason that Bella hadn’t thought of: the elves working here were far too beautiful. This made the majority of human women too dispirited to visit. After all, not all humans were like Kriss, who could stand tall and proud next to an Elven beauty.
In order to preserve their self-esteem, the majority of Olsylvia Academy’s female students refused to walk through the doors. This included even those who were studying Elvish.
“Grand Duchess Bellina, this isn’t right! You don’t owe Daniel any rent! Fifty silvers isn’t a small fee…”
“Delias, just call me Bella. If you don’t mind us, the Rose Society is willing to lease some shop space to you for free, and we’ll match half of your profits.”
Bella’s proposed conditions left Delias unable to refuse. With free rent and half of their profits, along with expert business help from the Rose Society, Bella’s only requirement was that they had to change their uniforms to something she personally designed.
Bella had already grown absolutely sick of seeing Olsylvia Academy’s uniform all over the place. With the addition of the similar monstrosity that was Alessandra Academy’s uniform, she was afraid that she might develop a phobia of school uniforms.
Delias and the rest of the Moon Elves quickly agreed to Bella’s proposal. In fact, the knowledge that the Rose Society was comprised entirely of women was what made Delias affirm her decision. She remembered that before she had left, her mother had warned her repeatedly to be wary of every action and word from a human guy.
Since the Rose Society was all-female, then it must be the safest place for them. Delias and the rest busied themselves packing up the shop to move in a couple of days. As for the rent they owed to the Golden Legend Society, Bella asked Kriss to deliver it to Prince Daniel.
In the end, Prince Daniel refused to accept the rent. He was too afraid to escape Duchess Bellina’s money, and after all, a mere fifty silver was nothing to a royal.
“Kriss, I’m sorry. I know we were supposed to have a nice, long chat, but Delias and them are too pure. I’m afraid they’ll run into some problems…”
“Bella, you aren’t planning to do the same thing as my good-for-nothing brother, right? Why is it that you’re looking at Delias with the same expression as you gave me when we first met?”
“No way. I truly just want to help them. Really, Kriss, you’ve to believe me…”
“Forget it. Anyways, Lord Vice Chairman, I think you are forgetting something vital. Giving away our Rose Society’s territory… Once Chairman Nina finds out, the fireworks will fly.”
Kriss’s words wrenched Bella back to cruel reality. She finally remembered that the Rose Society only had the old event building and the McPherson Monastery.
The location of the old society event building was too poor, and the McPherson Monastery was in the Forbidden Book. A place with such a dark past was totally unsuitable for opening up a shop.
“Kriss, Chairman Nina won’t blame me. Now that our Rose Society has more members, it’s time to expand our territory.”
The twenty or so female knights from the Knights Branch had all joined the Rose Society after returning from their trip. With the influx of new members, it was more than enough for them to resume normal activities. It would never be the small society it once was.
Bella was planning to set up Princess Delias with a prime location to start her business. Through her, she would investigate Alessandra Academy in order to prepare for their upcoming exchange match.
