Chapter 172 171: Finances

We had left the Caverns with little issue, and it had been decided that we would make a return to the Adventuring District the next day after the Academy was over to get a feel on the prices for our spoils.

When we pooled everything together and counted what we had gotten, I had to blink a few times as I stared at the list, which had been double checked by Leone and I.

There were 132 Ghoul Cores, 98 Ghoul Crystals, 31 Goblin Fangs, 49 Serpent Scales, 27 various Serpent Bones, and 5 Serpent Fangs.

That was... 342 individual materials, and we needed to sell it all off.

The Cores were after Leone and kept half of her own shares as well... which was rather insane.

After we had counted everything out and organized each into a separate pile on the table, we then had to discuss how everything would be split when sold.

How much would go to a 'family' account, which would be used for general expenses, the main on being groceries.

Then how much would each individual person get?

Which was a surprisingly heated debate...

Between Anput and Leone; the Jackalkin and Vampire were currently hissing at one another as they stood on opposite sides of the table, both arguing on who deserves more.

Jahi and I had decided to let them fight it out; both had good points, after all...

Though I was getting a bit of a headache from the argument.

"You just stand in the back casting spells! Therefore, I should get the higher cut! I'm up close to every monster we fight!"

Anput leaned forwards, her fur bristling as she glared at Leone, while the Vampire's ashen hair sparked a little, her crimson eyes flaring.

"And you can only do that because Kat and I support you from the back! You'd be overwhelmed otherwise! Do you know how many times I stopped Ghouls from encircling you today?!"

Hearing my name suddenly dragged into the mix, I sighed as I glanced at Jahi, wondering why she was being silent.

Her amethyst eyes were alight with mirth as she watched the two go at it, making me sigh again.

Now wasn't the time for her to be admiring them...

Coughing, I drew the attention of the two snarling women, making them frown as I glanced between them.

"We'll be placing half of what we make into this family account, leaving the remaining half to be split between the four of us. 10% will go to Jahi, 10% to me, and 15% to each of you; unless, of course, you decide to continue arguing, in which case you can have fun with just 5% each."

The two women frowned again, while Jahi tilted her head, curiously asking "Why do you and I get 10%? Or more specifically, why am I getting 10%? Aren't I the head of this family?"

Giving her a dry look, I said "You are; which means you're the one in charge of that other 50%. As for me; I don't need the money, since I don't buy anything besides food and other necessities. Though I would like to be paid. As for these two, I'm hoping that if we invest in them now, they'll start making their own money from their dream professions; alchemy for Leone, smithing for Anput."

Jahi nodded, a smirk on her face as she looked between the other two; when they heard that Jahi technically had access to 60% of the overall funds...

They were currently trying to glare at her, wanting a larger cut, but...

"Maybe I'll give you both a little extra if you... please me~? Though I imagine Kat'd be the one you'd need to try and get that money from."

That made them turn towards me, their gazes both hopeful and pleading, only to frown when I shook my head, crossing my arms.

"Nope; you won't be getting a single copper extra from me. You're both grown, get your own money. I'm not your parents, nor am I the 'main' wife. So, deal with your 15%. I think I'm being generous with that number alone."

Letting out sighs, they both stared dejectedly at the table, and I was tempted to throw in the fact that Leone would always make more than Anput; after all, she would likely keep the materials she needed or wanted...

Ah...

Now I know what Jahi was feeling earlier; they were rather entertaining to watch bickering...

The room fell silent for another few moments, before Jahi said "Alright, I'm going to be going with Kat down to the Adventuring District to sell everything off tomorrow; are you two coming with or are you going to stay home?"

Anput pursed her lips before saying "I'll be going; I want to know what everything comes out to."

Leone nodded, making Jahi chuckle.

"Good! That means we can all go out to eat somewhere and-"

Cutting her off, I gave her a dry look as I said "Conversely, I can make us dinner and we can retire early, since we have our tests in two days. I'd rather not you all not flunk out of our classes. Especially you, Anput."

The Jackalkin grumbled in annoyance, making Jahi and Leone chuckle, much to her annoyance.

"Alright, we'll be home early mother~! No need to worry~!"

Giving her another dry look, Jahi grinned widely at me as she leaned on the table, her eyes heated as she said "Now that's a wonderful thought to end the night~ You as a mother..."

The other two gave me equally heated gazes, making me sigh.

I likely had another long night ahead of me...

~~~

I was correct; another long night was certainly what awaited me, and it was much like before.

Once bound, I was handed away to each woman like an offering, meant to appease their urges.

After that, we had another uneventful day at the Academy; with the tests being tomorrow, Vice-Headmaster Bijilo and Professor Xiant were offering us self study time, telling us it would be best for us to review everything on our own or in groups rather then relying on them to guide us through our review.

As for our Combat Classes, we did more basic practices to warm us up for the fights against the Professors the next day, each telling us that a review of the basics would be the best help to improve our scores.

When we finally made our way out of the Academy, we were all surprised by the lack of Jillian being a pain in each class; she had grown even more reserved since her banquet, but I definitely knew that her hatred for Jahi had grown.

If looks could kill, Jahi would have been dead, crushed into pulp, tossed into a fire, and the ashes spread across the world to prevent anything from piecing her back together.

However, she made no snarky comments, no provocative statements...

She didn't even glare that often anymore; she seemed to be trying her best to distance herself from us.

Which, admittedly, was slightly worrying; I'd rather keep an enemy close than let them slip further and further away into the murky background.

It made it easier to accuse her of something if she remained obvious with her hatred, but...

Sighing, I moved that up to the top of my list of things I needed to keep an eye on.

What she had said during the banquet was rather worrisome.

Well, there was little I could do as of now besides be on guard, so I turned my attention back to the here and now, which was the Adventuring District.

We were going to first try the Guild, then we would move to the Alchemist Organizations and the Smithing Organizations if the price didn't sound too high.

As we walked, I tried to keep an eye and ear out for anyone else doing business as well, specifically with the materials we had on us.

However, the market was incredibly boisterous, with merchants shouting out to promote their wares, parties of adventurers laughing and joking with one another, and the sounds of people fighting, hammering away on anvils, and even the very rare sounds of explosions.

It truly was the typical Adventuring Hub feel, with the large variety in people walking around us, the different things being sold and purchased, and so much more.

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Next chapter will be a bartering one as well as them buying some things, so more of a slice of life-ish chapter, before we move onto the tests, which will be a few chapters; obviously, the Combat Class will have each of their perspectives, but I won't draw it out, so I hope it doesn't get too long.

Anyways, I was just curious as well, but what did you all think of the spells I thought up last chapter? Obviously Megiddo was inspiration for two, what with using the ice as a way to affect light. Then there was elementals, as well as Domains.

Were they too... standard for spells? It is kind of hard to create something completely 'original' when there are SO many other places that have already expanded on ice magic already...

I just hope to add my own twist on them!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed these chapters, and I hope you enjoy the ones to come!

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