"Even if it came to that, I wouldn't go hawk grilled fish, not even under a grey sky."

"Why?" Yueyu looked at Qianya, pale-violet eyes reflecting her like still water.

"Because... there's no need," Qianya said, mood soft as dusk, and she shook her head. "What I cook, I don't want anyone but friends to taste." She carried crafts like blades under silk—no need to show off cooking.

"Then in twenty days, Qianya, how'll you solve your credit points?" Dawn Sugar Snow smiled, interest glimmering like sun on frost. "Without credits, campus life freezes."

"...We'll see." Qianya scratched her head, embarrassment flushing like a shy dawn. "I only have a rough thread."

"Pfft, pfft—honestly, I haven't planned either," she laughed, bubbles of sound rising. "Let's work on it together, Qianya."

"Mm." A small nod like a leaf in wind.

"Are these really free to take, Senior?" The question drifted like a kite tugging its string.

"For freshmen, of course they're free." The senior at the knickknack stall smiled as memories fluttered like paper cranes. "I had that happy time too—shame I can't go back." Her smile broke into tears like rain.

"Boo-hoo, if only I'd spent fewer credits back then," she sniffled, dew in her lashes. "I'm living paycheck-to-paycheck, every moonlight spent."

"...Huh?" The sound rose like a bubble popping.

"Senior, does the campus even offer loans?" The words fell like pebbles in a pond.

"Well... yes." She sniffed, voice wobbling like jelly. "Student Council loans exist, but only for first-years who overspent and ran out. They'll only cover basic living. If you can't repay, you pack up and get booted, wah..."

"Looks like saving's best." Qianya picked up a scroll she fancied, the parchment holding a thread of wind like a faint breath. "Senior, how much is this?"

"Oh, that wind-element scroll?" The senior waved, words light as chimes. "A cheap little toy. If you buy anything else, I'll throw it in for free."

"Mm, I see..." Qianya's gaze swept the stall like a breeze; nothing truly caught like a hook. She grabbed a toy that looked cheap, casual as a pebble.

"This one, Senior." Her decision fell like a gavel, light but firm.

"Oh?" The senior's eyes chilled like frost, then her smile thawed back. "Good eye, junior, hehe. That's our best—an Icicle Crystal. It's packed with divine magic, enough to refill your stamina in a heartbeat!"

"...A high-tier healing item?" The doubt hung like mist.

"Ahem." The senior coughed, awkwardness rustling like dry leaves. "Top-tier healing item."

"..." Silence pooled like ink.

'Fair. A common stall rarely puts out true treasures.' The thought slid like a shadow under lamplight.

"I'll take it, Senior! How many credit points?" Her voice lifted like a kite on wind.

"Free for freshmen." She pointed to a ledger, pages fluttering like gulls. "Just sign your names. I'll claim it from the Student Council later."

"Mm." Agreement settled like snow.

"Xuewei, what about you? Want anything?" The question glowed like a lantern.

"Me? No..." Xuewei shook her head, gentle as grass.

"Alright." The word tucked itself away like a folded fan.

Qianya wrote her name with practiced strokes, ink flowing like a stream. She took the wrapped gift and, under the senior's bright smile, drifted to other shops like a leaf.

"Qianya, I didn't know you collect little toys." Dawn Sugar Snow smiled, eyes crescent like moons. "You care about that scroll even more than the crystal ball."

"I do care about this scroll." Her voice wrapped around it like a ribbon.

Qianya drew out the scroll. Even holding it in her right hand, she felt knowledge stream like a river. With just this grip, she could command a wind-element miracle—something priceless, like starlight in a jar...

"Ha..." Dawn Sugar Snow's words drifted like cool fog. "That scroll's probably a spare-time doodle from her. She mixed in a touch of her Authority, so it tugs at you. In truth, it's a keepsake first-years might toss like tissue."

"But that crystal ball you bought is good." Her tone warmed like sunlight. "Its divine magic can haul a drained second-year back to fighting shape. In real combat, enemies won't watch you heal, but it's meaningful all the same..."

"It didn't cost anything! Either way, I'm ahead!" Qianya's grin flashed like a fox under moonlight.

Dawn Sugar Snow watched her bluffing, smile rippling like water. She nodded with understanding. "Maybe I didn't think it through. Even if I gave you better gear, you might not use it and might invite trouble. These little toys suit children best~"

"I've said I'm not a child..." The protest fluttered like a sparrow.

Before Qianya finished, Xuewei came over and measured their heights with her hand, gesture neat as a ruler under light.

"I don't need the reminder, dummy Xuewei!" Qianya rose on tiptoe, pinning the hand on her head like a dragonfly caught.

"We both know what the other will look like grown." Her hope flared like a lantern. "So my future's promising!"

Stare—sharp as a needle of ice.

Xuewei's gaze turned less kind, a winter wind across bare branches.

"W-what? Did I say something wrong?" Qianya asked, guilt fluttering like a moth.

"Haha..." The laugh floated like a loose leaf.

"Alright, you two, enough." Dawn Sugar Snow tugged Yueyu along, steps light as petals. Qianya and Xuewei saw and had to follow like trailing kites.

'Hey, Qianya, do you think Dawn Sugar Snow noticed something?' The thought pricked like a thorn.

'What do you mean...?' Her reply drifted like smoke.

'Our identities and our purpose!' The words clanged like a bell.

'She already knows who we are and why. Don't forget, this is Yueyu's dreamscape; we're outsiders.' Calm settled like snow on stone.

Qianya shot Xuewei a helpless look, eyes like clouds passing. Then she broke the line of sight and focused on browsing, steps weaving like threads.

"There are so many things I care about. Should I... buy more?" Desire flickered like candlelight.

Thrifty Qianya felt her hands slip, like rain on stone. Every item here was a rare treasure to her; her greedy gaze stuck like honey.

"Qianya, Qianya? They've gone far! Let's catch up!" Xuewei shook her arm, urgency trembling like reeds.

"Xuewei, these are free for us. Why not scoop more while the river runs?" Qianya turned to her, tone steady as a stone.

"No. I don't believe in free lunches." Her words rang like iron. "Didn't you say it? If we spend wildly, we won't stop..."

"But..." Qianya looked back, unwilling, eyes snagged on prized goods like fishhooks. Each holy relic here could spark a world war outside. Miss it now, and it might never return.

'What am I doing? Calm down. I have to stay calm!' Her inner voice steadied like a hand on the helm.

Qianya closed her eyes, breath deep like tides. When she opened them, desire had folded back like a fan.

"I'm better. Let's go." Resolve set like a stone in a stream.

To cut lingering ties, Qianya strode after Yueyu and the others, pace quick as comets, leaving Xuewei's short legs pumping like drums.

"Wait for me, Qianya! You're way too fast!" Her plea skittered like hail.

At the corner ahead, Dawn Sugar Snow and Yueyu halted, still as statues in frost.

"Mm, this one's interesting..." Dawn Sugar Snow turned a toy sword carved from ice, light glittering like crystals. Inside that humble bauble, a spirit was nestled like a firefly in glass.