The haul was significant for Taichi, whose daily income was less than 10,000 yen.
However, the haul was insignificant for the massive Suzuki family, who would have no interest in such a small collection of items.
Thus, the idea of having the Suzuki Group acquire his underwater treasure fell through. The 18 kilograms of gold with an unknown origin and purity, along with some low-quality jewelry, wouldn't fetch a good price. Still, it could be sold for tens of millions of yen. The problem was that middlemen would take a huge cut, and it was hard to say if he would even get half of the true value.
He had no choice but to try his luck at a jewelry store.
800,000 yen.
That's the price the store offered for a gold bar weighing about 500 grams. It was a blatant rip-off, taking two-thirds of the value. Frustrated, Taichi decided to hold on to his treasures and find a better buyer later. As for the gold bars, jewelry, and land deeds, he brought them all back to Takemi's Clinic.
That's right, Taichi was playing hooky today!
He had signed in when he arrived at school in the morning, and he transformed into X in the staff break room. As long as he slipped back into school before the students left and pretended to be working, no one would ever know he skipped. Ah, the price of not making big money was having to endure being a salaryman a little longer.
However, when he came back, Tae Takemi wasn't at the reception desk, and he didn't know where she went.
After lunch, Taichi leisurely returned to school, though his face looked glum. The train fare had emptied his wallet again. He climbed over the wall to get into school, and just as he lay down in the staff break room, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the day.
But Taichi, whose hopes had been temporarily dashed, had no motivation to pretend to work, so he continued to doze in his chair. After all, he was a janitor. Unless a teacher or the principal needed him, it was fine to be a little lazy.
But someone didn't want Taichi to be lazy. Three students who weren't going to their club activities or going home barged in, bringing a cat with them.
"Oh! This place is great! From now on, whenever you guys are at school, I'll just come here and sleep at Taichi-san's place," Morgana the black cat said, walking around the small room. It was clean and tidy. If only Taichi had more money, he would've gotten a beanbag chair.
"Why are you three here instead of going home?" Taichi asked, rubbing the corners of his eyes.
"Because we have something important to tell you!" Ryuji Sakamoto said, turning from the room to look at Taichi. "Remember that queen, princess, and her guard captain who came out of Kamoshida's Palace? I saw them in real life today! Oh, I didn't see the queen, just the other two."
"Tell me more." Hearing Ryuji's reason for being there, Taichi's spirits lifted immediately. He'd worry about Yukino Yukinoshita later, but if he remembered correctly, Shizuka Hiratsuka was a bit of a rich woman. Maybe he could ask her if she was interested in buying gold and jewelry.
According to Ryuji, Chiba and its surrounding areas were no longer suitable for living, so the locals were relocating in large numbers. This included students and teachers. Shujin Academy took the opportunity to enroll a new batch of students and hire new teachers to boost the school's reputation and manpower. Shizuka Hiratsuka and Yukino Yukinoshita had arrived at Shujin Academy under these circumstances and were placed in Ryuji's class.
"Since it's a private school, I heard most of the new students got in through connections."
It was a mystery where Ryuji, whose social connections were on par with Ren's at this school, got this information.
"I saw something, too," Ann Takamaki said with a mysterious expression. "During the break, that Kamoshida guy went to flirt with that Yukinoshita girl."
"I see. So that girl named Yukinoshita is the one Kamoshida plans to target," Morgana said, hopping onto the table. "No wonder there was a Shadow in Kamoshida's Palace that didn't belong to him and could move freely."
"What do you mean?" Ren Amamiya asked Morgana curiously.
"They're competing for ownership of the Palace," Morgana explained. "One of those two sisters also has a Palace."
"And what happens in the real world affects the Metaverse."
"If Kamoshida succeeds in capturing that student named Yukinoshita, then the competition will be won by Shadow Kamoshida, and both Shadows will jointly recognize Shadow Kamoshida's 'king' status."
"Which means Shadow Kamoshida will become even more powerful! And the trouble we'll face will be even more dangerous."
"What should we do then?" Ryuji asked, becoming frantic. "Should we go explore that Yukino Yukinoshita's Palace?"
"We don't know yet if the one with the Palace is Yukino Yukinoshita or her sister," Ann reminded him.
"Let's try typing her name in," Ren said, full of initiative. He pulled out his phone and opened the Otherworld Navigation app, ready to enter Yukino Yukinoshita's name in the first field.
And then... it failed!
The one with the Palace wasn't Yukino Yukinoshita.
This surprised Taichi, who raised an eyebrow. He had assumed that with Yukino Yukinoshita's "correctness," she would definitely have a Palace. It seemed his preconceived notions about "canon characters" were wrong.
"Does anyone know her sister's name?" Ren looked up at the other two.
Everyone fell silent.
"What if I go and ask her?" Ann suggested.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Ryuji said, shaking his head with a slightly loud voice. "Yukinoshita is very cold and distant to everyone, just like a snow woman."
"Yuki-chan is not a snow woman!" The door to the break room suddenly opened from the outside. A pink-haired girl with a bun stood there, her face red with anger. Behind her, Yukino Yukinoshita stared at the people in the room with a somber expression.
"...Idiot! I told you not to be so loud! They heard you!" Ann scolded Ryuji, who had shrunk back.
"Tch." Taichi scratched his head, which had begun to itch, and reluctantly stood up. "Please don't misunderstand."
"We weren't secretly bad-mouthing Yukinoshita-san. Would you two please come in and listen to our explanation?" Taichi walked over to Ren, poking his arm. "Quickly, open the app and take them to the Palace to prove our innocence."
"Wait, wait! Are we really going to involve two people who have nothing to do with this?!" Ryuji frowned in displeasure.
"If you don't want the police to come and take Ren to a correctional facility tomorrow, then don't question my decision."
Haruno Yukinoshita, the doting older sister, would absolutely do something like that.