Having recomposed themselves from their compulsive shopping spree, Jay and Vilda were now focused on Vedran's stall, who still didn't understand what just happened.
"Ahem, Vedran, what a surprise that you work at the rural market~!" Jay said, taking the opportunity to inspect said esper's stall, "But this is good too, I'd like some meat please!"
Although the stall wasn't as big as the one of the merchant who had shouted the offer just a moment ago, it certainly wasn't small in any sense.
Thanks to the fact that it was already late, in the same way as with several other stalls in the meat section, almost no meat could be seen in this stall, evidence that it was not doing badly at all.
"I got nothing, you were too late..." Vedran replied as he grabbed a rag and began wiping down the counter of his stall.
The truth was that he did have some meat left over, but that was something he preferred to keep for personal consumption, always paying of course.
"Ah, well how unfortunate, then I'm afraid I'll just have to leave... taking my things and the information on how the blond managed to find you so easily with me." Jay said as he smiled looking directly at Vedran.
The moment Jay finished speaking, Vedran paused for a moment, making it clear that he was interested in what Jay had to say.
"...Do you know how?" Vedran then asked.
He had always had that doubt, how exactly it was that he had managed to get the attention of such an annoying person as Nico.
He had already come to the conclusion that they had been spying on him, after all, they wouldn't be able to know where he worked if that wasn't the case.
But that was where the doubt arose, why they decided to investigate a student who had only been at the Academy for a few days and who had also done nothing but keep a low profile to the extreme.
He had even come to think that it was his fault and that he wasn't really keeping a low profile.
"Of course I do, though in return-"
"Before you say anything... if you ask me to join you or your group, or your boss's group, or anything like that... then I'll have to decline." Vedran added.
While it was true that he was interested in how he got Nico's attention as well as how his information was leaked, the last thing he wanted was to get himself into a mess just like the one he had just gotten out of.
The fact that Jay was being followed by Vildan didn't help with this either, so Vedran had to set the record straight from the start.
"Pft, of course not!" replied Jay, laughing at the misunderstanding as he scratched his cheek, "While I won't deny that the title of young master doesn't displease me at all, I don't have a group I could offer you to join nor is it in my plans to create one, so you can rest easy."
Although it took him slightly by surprise, Jay understood where Vedran's concerns were coming from, so he didn't mind too much.
"If so... then name your price." Vedran added.
Because this was a problem that concerned his privacy and security, he was even willing to pay a good amount of merit points just for the sake of getting to the bottom of it.
As to whether he had sufficient funds for this, he was confident since unlike normal students, Vedran did not spend for anything more than the basics.
In this aspect, Vedran would undoubtedly get along well with Noah.
"Since I am a generous person, I will only ask for the humble figure of.... 999 merit points." Jay said, with a pained expression, as if he was taking a loss by offering this price.
On the other hand, both Vedran and Vildan were surprised by this, after all, although Jay had said it was a humble figure, that was far from being the case for both of them.
It should be taken into account that not only had they not been working for long, but even Jay, who had the highest salary among the three of them, would not be able to pay that figure even if he wanted.
So even though Vedran had his decent amount of savings from living frugally, it wasn't enough.
"I... I can't afford that price." Vedran replied, though it was clear from the tone of his voice that he was somewhat reluctant, which was understandable.
"Jay, don't you think that price is... a bit high?" Vildan added, feeling a little bad for Vedran.
Changing his expression to one of surprise, Jay then spoke, "If we were talking only about culprits, then yes it would be too high, but what I'm offering you is not only that, but also how you'll be able to avoid this kind of incident... permanently."
With those words, this time not only Vedran was interested, but Vildan as well, as he didn't think Jay would have come up with something like that in such a short time.
Not wanting to waste his moment, Jay continued, "If you don't have enough points, fortunately for you, I have a way in which you could pay me without having to spend a single point, indeed, I'll even give you the information before you pay for it in full. Though of course, it's all up to you."
Hearing this, Vedran started to think, considering whether it was in his best interest to accept this deal.
Bringing his gaze to Jay's face, on which was planted a smile, Vedran's doubts grew larger.
He knew almost nothing about this character, except that he was an esper and that he had a strange sense of justice motivated by... who knows what.
Since his contact with other people had usually been limited to work-related matters, he was not experienced enough to determine exactly what type of personality Jay had.
However, if there was one thing he was somewhat certain of, it was that it would at least be worth listening to what Jay would have to say.
"...Okay, you have a deal...but-"
Without him being able to finish, Jay grabbed Vedran's hand and shook it before speaking, "Great! You won't regret it!"
Just like that, happy that he could have taken advantage of almost every offer the market had to offer but mostly thanks to Vedran accepting his proposal, Jay returned to the training center, accompanied by Vilda, but not before asking for something more.
"Also, I know that you still have meat, so give it to me."
"..."
***
Back at the Training Center, despite not having finished his daily quota of work, Jay wasn't cleaning, and instead was in a training yard.
This yard was not as large as the ones he normally cleaned, which could fit over a hundred students without any problem, instead, this yard was designed for a single student to be present.
Further evidence of this was that there was only one wooden dummy present, and this was located in the center of the courtyard.
Jay was standing in front of this dummy, stretching his arms and legs, in his mind replaying a movement, specifically, a kick.
While it was true that he had neglected his personal training for a few days, that was only because he was getting used to the new routine he had to follow from now on.
And now that he had successfully managed to balance his time, he could get back to improve himself, from his wind control, to his Phantom Trace, and ending with calibrating his energy parameters, all were aspects that Jay wasn't willing to let fall behind.
Even now, while most of his attention was focused on how to accurately mimic the baron's movements, in Jay's view was his energy control window, which was monitoring the expenditure that the wind surrounding his entire body was generating.
It was somewhat mentally tiring to keep so many things active at all times, but thanks to the fact that Jay already had experience multitasking, mainly because of his little ones, the result of this training outweighed the expenditure it caused.
Suddenly, Jay moved at great speed and launched an axe kick towards the dummy, all his movements being surrounded by wind.
*BAM!*
A loud sound of wood being struck rippled over the surroundings, making it clear that the force that caused the sound had not been light at all.
It was a decent blow that would have made even a rank (D+) pugilist reluctant to take it head on, but even so, the sour expression on Jay's face meant that he was not satisfied with the result.
"...Haa, looks like I'm still far from being able to mimic the kick, either in strength or speed... if only I could meet him in person..." Jay said, placing his hand on his chin before turning around and returning to his original position, "Anyway, for the time being I can only keep perfecting that kick to get as close as possible."
In that way, the minutes flew by, with Jay training hard to get better, only stopping when his energy reserves were at a dangerous level or to watch the time, eagerly waiting for his special guests.
Finally, half an hour later, a certain tall young man with wine-colored hair accompanied by another smaller young man whose hair was gray entered this courtyard from a wooden hallway.
The difference in their expressions could not have been more different, with the tall one having a bitter expression and the other with a bright smile that did not seem to be one of happiness.
But if one had to mention something they had in common, this would undoubtedly be that they were both wearing the same attire, namely the Training Center employee uniform.
"Guys, you've arrived, hm.... although we are not the same size, it looks like there will be no problem for you to wear my uniforms. You both look good!" Said Jay, who was just taking a break from his training.
At these words, Vedran just let out a sigh as Vildan's smile grew brighter.
"It fits me well, doesn't it?" Added Vildan as he spun around and inspected his attire, apparently he was pleased with how he looked with the uniform on.
Stepping closer towards Jay, Vildan then continued, "By the way, leaving aside my appearance, I understand Vedran having to wear the uniform since he'll be paying you the price for the information working, but... could you remind me why I'm wearing this too?"
As he had said, the reason Vedran was wearing the uniform was because that was the method Jay had chosen so that Vedran could pay full price for the information he wanted.
Unexpectedly, Vedran agreed much easier than Jay expected, without having to convince him or offer him something else.
This was because what really worried Vedran was that maybe Jay would ask for something involved with using him as a thug or so, but since it was just manual labor as a janitor, something he had already worked at for quite some time in his school years, he had no objection against it.
"Well... the truth is that I was thinking of asking if there was another janitor position for you, since the pay is good and on top of that you get a residence with it, I couldn't think of anyone better for the job than you, Vildan. I'm sorry I did it without telling you about it." Jay said as if he was a little embarrased of what he was saying.
Faced with this, Vildan was quiet for a moment before scratching his head and saying, "...If that's the case... then I guess I don't mind wearing this for a while. Right, since I'm dressed like this, I guess I could help a little, it's not that hard either."
After saying that, Vildan grabbed two brooms nearby, one he handed to Veldran and the other he kept to start sweeping the courtyard.
A slight smile could be seen forming on his face, probably because of what Jay had said, indicating that he was thinking of his welfare.
As for the person responsible for this, namely Jay, he was thinking something different, 'Hm, it may not be the right thing to take advantage like this... but free manual labor is too convenient to pass up.'
Also with a smile on his face, Jay then joined the two espers in their task of cleaning up.
