[V10EX1] Monica Everett Splurges Out

Monica made occasional business trips to Minerva and the royal capital, but most of her time was spent on magical research at her Sazandol home.

Her day-night sleep cycle was now much better compared to her days in the mountain hut (or so Monica believed), but she retained her habit of losing track of time when engrossed in a subject.

This was especially prevalent since Monica’s hobbies were essentially an extension of her job.

After a few instances where her sense of time got exceptionally bad, Monica’s disciple suggested that she take designated ‘rest days’, which Monica accepted.

A ‘rest day’ referred to a day where she ‘does not have to work.’

Of course, this meant Monica was free to work if she wanted to. However, if she chose to work on a rest day, she was only allowed to do so in the morning or the afternoon.

Then, she would have to stop at the designated meal time, as well as take a tea break in between. In addition, she had to turn off the lights before midnight to avoid staying up light. These were the rules for rest days.

There were a few times where Monica accidentally forgot about the rest day rules when Isaac was away, but her disciple eventually heard about it through Nero or Lana. After every instance, he took away her work with a smile the next time they met. Thus, Monica now did her best to adhere to the rules.


“Ugh, so bored! Talk to me. Praise me. Hell, even worship me. Because I’m the greatest!”

It happened one morning on a rest day. After finishing breakfast and sipping her post-meal coffee, Monica noticed the black cat Nero rolling around at her feet and making a commotion.

Apparently, Nero had gotten bored due to being forced inside by today’s heavy rain.

“Well, how about a game of chess then?” Isaac suggested, removing his apron.

He had just finished cleaning the table after breakfast. In response, Nero stopped rolling around, got up, and smirked mischievously.

“Challenging me to chess? You got guts, Sparkles, I’ll give you that.”

“You seem quite confident.”

“Yeah, because I’ve already learned the secret to chess. The key is to build a sturdy foundation so it doesn’t collapse.”

“…Foundation?”

Isaac tilted his head in confusion.

By the way, the ‘chess’ Nero was referring to involved two players alternatively stacking chess pieces on top of a board. It had many unique rules, and the loser was the one who topples the structure.

Monica considered explaining this, before suddenly coming up with an idea. She had bought something just for times like these.

“Oh, then we can try this! I have just the thing.”

Monica dashed into her room, then returned to the living room holding a wooden box she retrieved from her storage shelf.

There was a hinge on the side of the box, allowing it to be opened down the middle. It appeared to be some sort of trunk, except thinner.

Once it was open, Nero peeked inside to find a series of squares. He began reading the words written inside with curiosity.

”‘Bought a house. Receive five gold from everyone else as celebration‘… What the heck does that mean?”

“Um, there was this really fun game I played while staying at Marquis Highown’s mansion… So I wanted to try playing it with you two as well.”

The board game Monica played before had the simple goal of reaching the goal as fast as possible. However, it seems Monica had purchased a different one which was a bit more complex.

Monica reached into a compartment and took out a set of pieces and wooden coins. The coins apparently had gold and silver variants, as Monica placed five gold and ten silver in front of each player.

“You roll the dice and move your piece forward that number of spaces. Then, you gain or lose money based on the space you land on. The winner is the person with the most money after everyone reaches the goal.”

“Hah, I see how it is. So the richest guy is the winner.”

Unlike the previous game’s single route, this one had branching paths. One such branch was labeled the “Adventurer’s Course”, which appeared to be high-risk high-return.

Nero tapped it with his front paw.

“Adventure, huh? That sounds cool. I’m going this way no matter what.”

Nero looked up at Isaac and grinned before continuing.

“Hey, Sparkles. I’ll be nice enough to lend you some money if you go broke.”

“I suppose that does sound pretty interesting.”

Isaac chuckled as he placed his piece at the start line. Nero grabbed his piece with surprising dexterity for a cat’s paws and did the same.

Both of them seemed enthusiastic about the game.

Getting excited, Monica also placed her piece down.

＊　＊　＊

In a slight monotone, Monica read the text written on the space she had landed on.

“…‘Started a new business. Collect ten gold from other players‘…”

Nero, who had already reached a debt of nearly fifty gold, stared at Monica in complete disbelief.

“Monica… You’re seriously stealing from us again…?”

“Wait, no… No, I didn’t mean to…”

The stuttering Monica attempted repeatedly shook her head, until she was interrupted by Isaac handing her ten gold coins.

“If it’s for the sake of my master’s future, then I don’t mind at all.”

“You should mind…!”

After only thirty minutes into the game, Monica already possessed a hefty pile of gold coins. Her luck had been so good that it was scaring her.

Every other square she landed on involved collecting gold from other players. This made her feel like a greedy and unscrupulous merchant.

“Ugh, I… I wasn’t trying to trick anyone…”

“I wouldn’t mind being tricked by you, Master.”

In response to her disciple’s dazzling smile, Monica covered her face with both hands.

“No, please believe me! That’s not my intention… Ugh…”

“We should be the ones crying after you stole all our gold,” Nero retorted, looking somewhat exasperated as he glanced at the board.

All three were about the same distance from the goal, but the difference in wealth was readily apparent.

Monica possessed an overwhelming lead with almost 200 gold. Nero was at rock bottom with a debt of over 50 gold.

Meanwhile, Isaac was in second place with 18 gold and 30 silver. A safe and uneventful life.

Following Monica, Isaac rolled the dice and moved his piece.

”‘Your business returns a profit. Gain five gold.‘… Glad to see everything is going smoothly.”

Isaac added five gold to his pile under Nero’s resentful gaze.

“Sparkles, your life is way too ordinary and boring.”

“An ordinary life, huh? I like the sound of that.”

When spoken by a man with a history tumultuous as his, those words possessed considerable weight.

In response, Nero took the dice from Isaac and retorted with confidence.

“Creatures will stagnate once they lose their sense of adventure! Watch and learn! Hah!”

Nero rolled a five. He advanced five spaces on the Adventurer’s Course, which landed him on…

”‘Driven to the brink of death by a flock of wyverns. Pay twenty gold for medical expenses‘… That doesn’t make any sense! I’m the strongest! How could I lose to mere wyverns?!”

Isaac muttered, “I certainly learned a lot,” with a straight face as the the powerful black dragon pounded the desk with his front paws, before collapsing to the ground.

Next, Monica grabbed the dice and stared at the board. Now that it was her turn, she wanted nothing more than to reach the goal without exploiting the other players.

While chanting, please land on a safe space, in her mind, Monica rolled the dice.

“Yah!”

She rolled a three. Monica read aloud the text on the space she landed on.

”‘Scam the player to your left and gain ten gold. Splurge on luxury.’”

With the blood drained from her face, Monica turned to her left to see Isaac.

For some reason, Isaac was staring back with a gentle smile. His blue eyes were full of anticipation.

“How will my master scam me, I wonder?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Ugh… I’m an evil woman…”

Isaac pushed ten gold toward the sobbing Monica, then rolled the dice.

He rolled a six, which landed him on the exact same space as Monica.

In other words, ‘Scam the player to your left and gain ten gold. Splurge on luxury.’

Isaac reached out a hand toward Nero, with his palm up.

“Sorry about this, Nero-senpai. Guess I’ll scam you with a meat dish.”

“Sparkles! You little…!”

After extorting the already debt-ridden Nero, Isaac collected his earnings and smiled at Monica. He looked happier than ever before.

“Monica, let’s splurge together.”

And so, Monica Everett ended up splurging with her disciple. She could be heard muttering, “I’m sorry for being an evil woman…” for the rest of the day.

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