After hearing Furina's request, Teacher Wang subconsciously adjusted the position of his collar.
This was his habitual action when facing matters that required formal handling.
He cleared his throat, plastered a professional smile on his face, and tried his best to make his tone sound both formal and cordial:
"Very well. According to the management regulations of the Soul Fighting Area, entering this place for sparring matches requires a venue usage fee of 10 gold coin per person."
His gaze swept over the young faces before him, and he quickly calculated in his heart, "Considering that you are borrowing it as an entire class, the expected usage time is quite long, the number of people is large, and there is a teacher leading the team... How about this, I'll give you a discount, a one-time payment of 500 gold coin will suffice."
After saying this, Teacher Wang felt quite proud of himself.
10 gold coin per person, over thirty people would be over three hundred, and adding the fees for extended usage time, 500 gold coin was already quite a favorable price.
He felt that he had already shown enough sincerity.
However, Furina's reaction was completely beyond his expectations.
"Please—" She drew out her tone, a glimmer of craftiness flashing in her heterochromatic eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a look of righteous indignation, "I am a teacher. Now that I am bringing my students to borrow the school's public Soul Arena to train their actual combat abilities, you actually want to charge money?"
Her voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
That tone of unquestionable questioning caused the surrounding air to quiet down a bit.
Teacher Wang was stunned.
He blinked, the smile on his face frozen there, as if confirming whether he had misheard something.
He had served as the Soul Fighting Area administrator for five years, having handled countless venue rental matters, and had never encountered such a situation.
"Er, this... I, I am just following the rules..." He subconsciously defended himself, his tone revealing a hint of grievance and bewilderment.
He had clearly already given a discount, so why did it feel like he was the one doing something wrong?
Moreover, the school's regulations were written clearly in black and white; he was just acting according to the rules.
So what if she was a teacher? Although there was indeed no precedent in his memory of a teacher bringing an entire class of students to borrow the Soul Fighting Area, the regulations didn't explicitly state that "teacher-led teams can use it for free" either!
Furina took half a step forward, her slender finger almost pointing at the tip of Teacher Wang's nose. This action caused everyone present to hold their breath.
"First, let me ask you," her voice remained calm, yet carried an unquestionable sense of oppression, "Is Shrek Academy short on money?"
This question came suddenly and directly. Teacher Wang almost instinctively blurted out: "Of course Shrek is not short on money! As the number one academy on the entire continent, how could we possibly be short on money?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that he seemed to have fallen into some kind of logical trap. But the words were already out and couldn't be taken back.
"Then isn't that right?"
Furina's lips curled up slightly, revealing a "see?" expression, her heterochromatic eyes flashing with wisdom under the lights, "Since Shrek isn't short on money, wasn't the original intention of building the Soul Fighting Area to provide students with a place to spar, train, and increase their actual combat experience? If it were for profit-making matches, charging some money would be justifiable..."
She paused deliberately, letting this sentence hang in the air for a moment.
All the students' eyes were focused on her, waiting for what came next.
"But I am doing this for teaching purposes now," her voice suddenly raised a few notches, "to ensure my students get the training they deserve! Moreover, I applied as a teacher. In this situation, you actually still want to charge fees?"
Her gaze was as sharp as a knife, as if it could see through people's hearts: "Let me ask you again, does the rulebook explicitly state that 'teachers borrowing the Soul Fighting Area need to pay fees'?"
Fine beads of sweat began to seep out on Teacher Wang's forehead.
He opened his mouth, wanting to speak several times, but in the end, he could only answer truthfully: "... There is no explicit regulation."
"Then that settles it, doesn't it?"
Furina withdrew her finger, crossed her arms, and looked at him leisurely, her posture resembling a teacher instructing a student who had made a mistake, "Since there is no such regulation, yet you insist on charging fees, can I then interpret it as—this money is either Shrek trying to scrape oil off the students, or..."
She leaned closer again, lowering her voice, but still loud enough for those around to hear clearly: "... that you, a teacher, want to line your own pockets?"
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