Chapter:39 Another Ordinary Day

After three agonizingly sleepless days, Renko finally had a full night's sleep.

[Status: Rested]

[06:30 AM]

She woke up after a comfortable full night's sleep and the first thing she saw... was her missing roof.

'What the fuck?'

The apartment unit was missing a roof, not to mention even the ones next to hers were also missing their roof and the source of this problem was a Chaos Dragon who was sitting on her knees, getting scolded by a normal human.

"YOU CAN'T CALL IT CLEANING IF THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO CLEAN!"

"I am sorry! I am sorry! I am sorry!"

The chaos dragon Tohru was sitting on her knees, being scolded by the office lady... what's her name again? Koba something.

'Yeah, NO! I ain't busting my brain over something like this.'

Renko turned in her bed only to see Tatsu's apartment through the missing wall. The poor yakuza househusband woke up from the commotion, sat up in his futon, and stared at the missing roof before returning to sleep.

'That's what you call an appropriate response!'

[07:30 AM]

It seems that the incident was a dream, or maybe not, who knows? All Renko cared about was the fact that her apartment roof was back to normal. 

She stood up from her bed, made her way to the bathroom, and freshened up.

'What about breakfast?'

She still had half a carton of cup noodles left but should she go with them now that her cooking skills have advanced so far?

'Of course not! I will make the perfect meal for myself!'

Set the pan on the stove!

Crack 'em eggs!

Whisk 'em in a bowl!

Add spices!

Oil the pan!

Pour the batter!

Let it sizzle!

Flip!

And breakfast's ready!

[Burnt omelet and toast

Description: There's no hope left for you, might as well stop trying.

 -20 HP per bite 

- 10 CP per bite]

[Cooking skill: +0.2 EXP]

*Slam!*

Renko collapsed on the kitchen floor.

'No... hope!'

[8:30 AM]

The school began just like it should have, the morning bell announced the beginning of homeroom and the teacher started with the roll calls. 

Renko was last since she was a transfer student and today, her response was surprisingly energetic and quite... strange?

"Renko, Ivanov Renko"

"Here teacher, you are looking ravishing as always."

The teacher, Reiko Terajima, stared at her incredulously before jotting down her name and looking back at her again,

"You are Renko, right? Not someone else pretending to be her?"

The classroom erupted in a mixture of laughter and puzzled murmurs. Renko's sudden burst of energy seems to have caught quite a lot of them by surprise. Finally being able to relax had made her impulsive, rash, and altogether an idiot.

But she couldn't help it!

How long has it been since she was finally able to kid around like an impulsive teenager? Forever she tells you!

Plus she was quite pent up and the teacher just happened to be one of her types.

"Yes, I'm Renko, the one and only,"

She replied with a small smile. The teacher shook her head in exasperation before her eyes suddenly hardened,

"Don't tell me Yasuda put you up to this. Seems like he and I need to have a word."

Shin Yasuda, their perverted English teacher. A man with medium-long reddish brown hair tied in a small ponytail with chin-length hair strands hanging on either side and red eyes.

He had a particular liking for high-school girls and did not attempt to hide it. Still, he never tried to touch them, only acted overly friendly and made idiotic remarks about the girls. He was also quite annoyed by the mere presence of boys in his class. Although he seemed rather unreliable, he was still a good teacher who would help out his students if they came to him with any problem. 

But of course, that was as far as Renko got to know him. 

"Looks like Yasuda's in trouble."

"Hah, that's what he gets for ignoring us!"

"Hey, do you think Yasuda and Terajima are a thing?"

"What? No way!"

"Let's all pray for the safe passage of his soul."

Renko listened to all the students talk about Yasuda as if he were a lost cause and chuckled.

'High School is quite fun!'

The rest of the homeroom proceeded without any more surprises, and as the day unfolded, Renko found herself navigating from one class to another and it was only Now that she got to know the dates for their trip to Kyoto.

[School Trip To Kyoto: 13th June to 15th June]

Renko glanced at her phone.

[11th June 2015, 11:45 PM]

'Fuck'

The trip was scheduled for Sunday morning! And Renko had to go to Kyoto on Sunday too. What were the odds of that?

'Pretty fuckin high!'

She thought about it for a minute before concluding that she ought to leave this problem to future Renko.

[12:30 PM - Lunch Break]

"Hey Renko, you ready for Kyoto!"

Shouted Yuki as she slammed into the purple head who was lost in her thoughts,

*Cough*

'Not the stomach!'

Hori pulled the fluff ball off of Renko, allowing her to catch her breath.

"Sorry, but I won't be able to join you guys."

Renko apologized to the group of four that seemed to have gathered in the corner of the classroom. In all seriousness, Miyamura was seated on the right-hand side corner of the class, Renko sat just left of him and Hori sat directly in front of him followed by Tooru and Yuki in the same line.

It seems like they had the monopoly on this side of the class!

Renko explained to her friends that she had a prior engagement for three days and she was really sorry that she couldn't join them on the trip.

"Yeah, something popped up all of a sudden and I really have to take care of it."

"But Renko. This would be our last trip as students!"

"Don't worry Yuki, we can all go on a trip after graduation or during the summer break."

"But still!!!"

Yuki whined and complained for the rest of the day, at one point Renko even contemplated the option of gagging her but the fluff ball was too cute to be punished.

The day continued uneventfully, and the chatter in the classroom about the upcoming trip to Kyoto intensified. Renko couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment at missing out on what could have been a memorable experience with her new friends. However, her sense of responsibility regarding her prior engagement prevailed.

'More like money prevailed over all desires!'

Indeed, Renko was more concerned about buying out the mountain property for the least amount of money and not paying tax instead of officially registering as a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

As the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Renko gathered her belongings and prepared to leave only to be cornered by Yuki's continuous expressions of dismay at Renko's absence on the trip. Exiting the school building, Renko navigated through the familiar streets toward her destination for the day, the bookstore she visited yesterday. 

She was quite looking forward to finding even more craftsman skill books or maybe some sort of new skill from the other genres.

[04:00 PM]

After about half an hour of walking, she reached the old-fashioned bookstore. It was still as deserted as yesterday and the receptionist was the same woman.

"Oh, it's you. Back so soon?"

Renko offered a polite bow,

"Yes."

With that, she made her way to the very back of the store, right where she found the bundle of books yesterday. The dusty air and the faint scent of old paper greeted Renko as she reached the section of the store with the skill books.

Renko was feeling... excited? Or maybe the word, 'desperate' would better suit her state of mind. In just half an hour, she browsed through at least five hundred books consisting of various subjects such as language, biology, politics, economics, physics, etc, etc, etc, but she had yet to find another skill boo. Not to mention the creaking wooden floor under her feet that seems ready to cave in at any moment causing her to be especially careful as to where she steps or stands.

*Sigh*

Sighing heavily at her defeat, Renko leaned against a shelf only jolt upright when she heard the familiar *ping* of the system notification.

[Skill Book: Basics of Herbalism]

[Learn Skill: Basic Herbalism?]

{Yes} {No}

 'No'

She pulled out the dust-covered book only to realize it was exactly as its name suggests, a book on herbs and their properties. She rang her finger along the spine of several other books but none reacted. Just as she was about to turn to another section, another prompt popped up in front of her.

[Skill Book: Basics of Apothecary]

[Skill Book: Basic Botany]

[Skill Book: Basics of Infusion]

[Skill Book: Basic Emulsion]

[Skill Book: Basic Tincturing]

[Skill Book: Basics of Decoction]

[Skill Book: Basic Compounding]

[Skill Book: Basics of Salve Making

[Skill Book: Basics of Diagnosis]

Renko's eyes widened as she began pulling out one book after the other. Some with inconvenient tools painted on them while the others with some sort of medical photo, but they all had one thing in common. 

'These are all on medical subjects.'

Which was a disappointment since she couldn't use normal tablets or other store-bought medicine to restore MP and HP. All except for nicotine that comes in cigarette sticks. Maybe, just maybe she would be able to brew potions through all these skill books.

'Whatever, I guess I will search someplace else.'

And just like that, the afternoon drifted by...

****

How about this... if the 'collects' reach 1.1k, I will release an r18 chapter? 

Nothing, don't mind. It's coming in a couple more chapters anyway.