The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　That's a cobra with its tail buried in the flowerpot!

　When Dak saw it, it also opened its eyes very keenly and swayed its slender snake body in Dak's line of sight.

　He was immediately shocked!

　"Do not be afraid."

　The shop assistant at the cat flower shop was a young woman in her early twenties. Her hair was tied up with a headband, and she was wearing an apron and gloves, looking very simple.

　She probably noticed that Dak had been browsing for quite a while, so she came over and patiently explained, "This is a new variety of cat grass, snake grass. Don't worry about it biting; it's essentially a plant."

　Dark wasn't afraid, he was just a little surprised: "Since we already have snake grass, could it be...?"

　"Of course." The shop assistant brushed a strand of curly hair that fell to her eyelids and chuckled. "We just received a new batch of stock, including many kinds of animal-shaped cat grass. Would you like to go inside and take a look?"

　……

　The various varieties of cat grass are all very important. If you like any particular animal, you can comment here and I'll do a survey.

　I'm asking for votes - recommendation votes - monthly votes - I hadn't planned to ask for monthly votes, but I suddenly realized that the new book is already in 11th place on the monthly vote ranking. If it moves up one more place, there will be a monthly vote prize!

Chapter 50 Darkdemon's Mistake Triggers Further Developments

　Step into the shop assistant's secret room.

　When Dak opened his eyes, he was dumbfounded.

　"What kind of genius designed and improved cat grass?"

　The room was filled with dozens of pots of cat grass.

　Various kinds of cat grass become drowsy under the influence of special spices.

　The most eye-catching one is a giant snapdragon!

　The scene of plump goldfish with white scales and red fins growing on the grass is like a nightmare!

　If cat grass is a creation of earthly bliss, then snapdragon is a creation of the devil!

　Around the snapdragon, there are a bunch of other strange new varieties of cat grass, such as snake grass, skunk grass, hedgehog grass, earthworm grass, eel grass, pigeon grass, abalone grass, mouse grass, octopus grass, spider grass, scorpion grass, lizard grass, etc.!

　Seeing that Dak was too surprised to speak, the shop assistant asked, "So? Do you have any varieties you like?"

　Dak raised his hand and pressed his chin back down, then said after a while, "That goldfish is not bad."

　"Really?" the saleswoman exclaimed excitedly. "I think it's really great too. Those dull, lifeless fish eyes, that mouth that never closes, and the way it's a little plumper than a regular goldfish—wow, it's so cute!"

　Dark: "Heh."

　The saleswoman continued her enthusiastic explanation: "Actually, this batch of new varieties was specially improved by someone we hired. It's still in the testing phase, mainly to see how the feedback is. If the feedback is good..."

　Dark interrupted, "I'm really looking forward to your finished product. How about we go take a look at the cat?"

　The shop assistant hesitated for a moment before replying, "It's also a question mark."

　……

　Back in the shop, Dak continued to pick out cat grass, and finally chose a kitten that looked like an American Shorthair from a bunch of cat grass.

　Dak doesn't have a preference for any particular breed of cat; he likes them all.

　Rather than saying he picked the kitten, it would be more accurate to say the kitten bit his finger.

　The way she clung to his hands with her two fleshy pads and sucked on his fingers instantly captivated Dark's heart.

　[Rage - 1]

　The effect is immediate.

　The hidden danger of "rage" that had been building up inside seemed to have been somewhat alleviated by its appearance.

　If described in the style of a cartoon, his cheeks would definitely be round right now.

　Cat grass isn't expensive; a pot of it only costs 50 credits, and a small bottle of cat juice costs 1 credit, enough to last two or three weeks.

　Dak readily paid the credits and planned to take the insect tree and cat grass back to his dormitory first.

　As he passed by the forest cafe, he glanced inside and suddenly saw Emma arguing with a female student.

　Both of them were holding the same book, and both had expressions that bordered on anger.

　But judging from the expressions of the other female students around her, they didn't seem to care.

　Instead, they nodded frequently.

　……

　"Is this what a women's tea party is like?"

　Dak smacked his lips, thinking this place was truly a den of iniquity.

　So he left without looking back.

　By the time I got back to the dormitory, it was already 3 p.m.

　He placed the cat grass on the spacious balcony and, following the shop assistant's instructions, tied the protruding straps from the flowerpot to the railing to secure it.

　That way, the cat grass won't run away.

　Once it gets used to the environment here, it will probably be impossible to drive it out.

　Then, Dak used some special spices he bought from the shop assistant and sprinkled a few grains on the cat grass's head, and it became drowsy.

　……

　After finishing these tasks, Dak moved the most important insect tree to his desk, compared it with the descriptions in the book, and carefully observed and recorded it.

　Once his suspicions were confirmed, he took out the magic dropper and the mind bottle, preparing to transfer the two drops of "arrogance" stored in the mind bottle to one of the insect branches of the insect tree.

　The whole process takes ten minutes. At the front of the worm branch is a small hole like the mouthparts of a worm. A little magic can be injected to open it, and it will close when the magic dissipates. There is also a layer of liquid mucus inside, which can lock thought matter inside.

　After being injected with the substance of thought, the insect's branches harden and take on a strange "heavy" state, hanging down like ripe fruit.

　Once it droops to a certain arc, it means that it can no longer hold anything inside.

　Darke judged that there should still be a drop of "arrogance" stored in the worm branch. So he immediately used the "dragonfly skimming the water" method to extract the overflowing drop of "arrogance" and inject it into the branch.

　In this way, there are now three drops inside.

　The Nasdaq's "arrogance" index, plus a slight increase this week, is now at 104 points.

　Overall, he has now controlled the various values ​​of the Seven Deadly Sins quite well, and has entered a good state of only slow growth.

　His next plan is to try to create a magic card infused with 10 points of "arrogance"!

　The planned production time is next month, which is after Halloween.

　The three drops of "arrogance" at present, as well as the two drops of "arrogance" that will be extracted next month, will be preserved until the beginning of next month.

　During this time, he must take good care of the "insect tree"!

　And to acquire more comprehensive knowledge about magic card making!

　In addition, the plan to collect flower cards also needs to be put on the agenda.

　He glanced at his remaining credits and decided to go to Traveller Street again.

　Of course, the first thing to do is to move the insect tree to the balcony to bask in the sun.

　……

　Dark had only learned about the Flower Cards from Diana and Rose, and his knowledge was very limited.

　But he probably knew that this kind of thing was currently being circulated through two channels.

　One way is to "send" the floral plaques, which are sent out by inserting them into the door cracks of student dormitories.

　Dark had previously received a white mandala flower card.

　He initially thought it was a model similar to "distributing flyers," but later found that not everyone could receive this "gift"!

　It's clear that the other party targeted a specific person.

　Another route through which Hanafuda (flower cards) spread was through Travellers' Street.

　It appears that someone sold a large number of floral plaques to some shops in Traveler's Street, and those shops then gave the floral plaques away as free gifts to students who came to shop.

　But not everyone receives a gift.

　As far as Dak knows, the only shop that definitively delivers floral tributes is the Quirky Candy Shop.

　So he decided to go to the candy store first.

　Even if we can't get anything out of them, it's good to get one more card.

　……

　Returning to Traveler's Street, without a strong sense of purpose, Dark's vision broadened considerably, and he noticed many details he hadn't paid attention to before.

　The biggest treasure trove in Traveler's Street doesn't seem to be the shops, but rather the street stalls that are everywhere!

　The older students who set up stalls on both sides of the street really sell everything!

　He even saw a kind of semi-finished magic card that was almost cheating, with a completion rate of over 90%!

　The academy stipulates that each person can only use magic cards that they made themselves.

　But where there's a will, there's a way; school rules are rules, but people are flexible.

　As he walked, Dak suddenly had an idea and noticed an upperclassman selling costume cards!

　……

　Guess where Dark made a mistake in this chapter?

Chapter 51 Darkdemon's Covetous Eyes on the Masquerade Ball

　The costume-themed magic cards are exceptionally popular at St. Marian Academy.

　Students always hope to take off their old school uniforms and put on their favorite clothes as soon as they enter Traveler's Street.

　There are no changing rooms at the entrances and exits of the traveler's street.

　If you don't have a costume change card, you'll need to borrow a space at a clothing store and bring a complete outfit, which is neither convenient nor attractive.

　However, the clothing stores on Traveler's Street only offer the latest trendy clothes, and do not provide dress-up cards.

　Therefore, if students want to obtain costume cards, they can only either make them themselves or buy them from stalls set up by older students.

　However, because the costume cards are actually very complicated to make and don't earn many credits, not many people sell them.

　Dak stopped to look out of curiosity and discovered that all the costume cards sold at this stall were "Halloween-themed".

　When it comes to Halloween, pumpkins, candy, ghosts, and costume parties naturally come to mind!

　On Halloween Eve in St. Marian, there will be a grand costume party that turns the entire castle into a stage!

　If you can catch the hidden "ghosts" at the costume party, you can exchange them for academic credits!

　The person who catches the most "ghosts" will even receive a special title.

　As Halloween draws ever closer, some experienced upperclassmen are already gearing up, and Dark occasionally hears them talking about it in the common room.

　For first-year students, Halloween is a rare opportunity to earn a lot of credits!

　In short, on that day, no one will wear school uniforms anymore!

　Dark certainly didn't want to be the only exception.

　Since he happened to come across it, he decided to pick out a costume card to use, since it wasn't expensive anyway.

　I glanced at the prices for the three tiers of "credits".

　Dak didn't pay much attention to it.

　He squatted down and examined it carefully for a while.

　Since it's a Halloween-themed collection, most of the costume cards here have very high body coverage. Of course, there are also succubus-themed cards with extremely revealing designs, but those are in the minority.

　The most numerous series are "Vampire Series", "Knight Series", "Monster Series" and "Royal Palace Series". Although there are many others, they lack uniformity.

　"First year, a noble academy?"

　The senior student who was setting up the stall asked casually.