Acquisition of Cards

"Gems, huh? Such valuable things can't just be sold casually!"

Two days later, Hikaru called Jaden over, and together, they went to Tome-san's shop, asking if there was a way to sell the gems.

Upon seeing the gems they brought, she immediately shook her head. "At the very least, you'll need a parent's signature!"

Hikaru and Jaden exchanged glances. Jaden shrugged carelessly and said, "It's fine for me."

"I..." Hikaru seemingly had no parents in this world.

"Then what if we ask a teacher?"

"If you trust your teachers, that's fine."

Thus, Hikaru contacted Professor Crowler.

"Honestly, you two! Encountering such dangerous things at night and not even telling anyone?" Crowler, rarely losing his temper, scolded them, "Mamma mia, do you even recognize me as your professor!"

"Sorry, sorry, Professor! That's why we're here, right?" Jaden quickly pressed his hands together pleadingly.

Crowler shook his head helplessly and asked for an explanation.

Dueling and defeating the Shadow Riders, gaining gems in the process?

It was said that even the King of Games, Yugi Muto, had once participated in Duelist Kingdom and won plentiful treasures...

So, such occurrences weren't rare among duelists.

What worried Crowler more was that these two students, at such a young age, suddenly acquired a huge amount of gems, he feared they might stray down the wrong path.

Speaking of which… Jaden Yuki, if he remembered correctly, was the son of a KaibaCorp executive from a very well-off family. Probably, no problem there.

As for Amagi Hikaru, Crowler recalled Hikaru's file…

Background: Unknown; parents: Unknown; even his name was self-declared. A student with an extremely mysterious background.

"I can vouch for you two, but you must tell me, what do you intend to do with the money after selling the gems?"

Jaden tilted his head, then suddenly said, "Ah, and we can renovate the Slifer Red dorm and our Fusion Club too! Paint it red!"

"You are not allowed to randomly renovate Academy property!" Crowler grumbled, then turned to Hikaru.

"As for me, Professor, I want to purchase a few rare cards."

"Oh? Which ones?"

"Future Fusion, Time Fusion, Scrap Fusion... and if possible, Dark Magician..."

"Super Mamma mia! Forget about Dark Magician!" Crowler shook his head repeatedly. "Not only is it unavailable, but you couldn't afford it with just those gems."

"Yeah, that's right, Hikaru." Jaden also spread his hands helplessly. "I asked my dad before. Cards like Dark Magician just aren't available for sale. Honestly, I don't really get it."

Crowler, however, understood.

First, even if someone owned a Dark Magician, they would never sell it, the card's value far exceeded money!

Secondly... KaibaCorp would make sure sellers understood why they couldn't sell it.

"The other three cards, though rare, should be obtainable," Crowler mused.

What about Hikaru collecting Fusion Spells?

Very normal. It seemed Hikaru hadn't changed despite suddenly coming into wealth, and that was good.

"That works too!" Hikaru said promptly.

Those three cards were powerful Fusion Spells.

In the original, "Future Fusion" was an Equip Spell that, upon activation, could immediately Special Summon a Fusion Monster and send Fusion Materials from the Deck to the Graveyard.

"Time Fusion" allowed you to discard the card to Special Summon a destroyed Fusion Monster without summoning conditions in the next Standby Phase.

"Scrap Fusion" could use materials from the opponent's Graveyard, and even their Extra Deck Fusion Monsters, for a Fusion Summon!

Among these, except for Time Fusion being more of a bonus, the other two were absurdly strong Fusion Spells, perfect for Hikaru!

After hesitating a bit, Crowler signed the application form for the two of them, then turned to Hikaru.

"If you trust me, Hikaru, I can help you collect these three cards."

He puffed out his chest and patted it proudly. "Your professor has many connections in the card market and is quite familiar with the card vendors. If you trust me..."

"Of course, I trust you, Professor!" Hikaru nodded at once. "Professor Crowler, you're the professor I trust the most in this Academy!"

"Hikaru!?"

"Of course, Professor! The day you stood in front of all of us students, you were so cool! Of course, we trust you!"

"You delinquents…" Crowler spun around dramatically, biting a handkerchief, tears welling up. "Mamma mia, to think, to think..."

"Alright, leave this to your professor!"

All this time, he had maintained "dignity" before the principal under the name "Amagi Hikaru's teacher." Hikaru didn't need favors to be the top of his year by merit, and despite not using an Ancient Gear Deck, Hikaru always respected him, maintaining his dignity!

He should help Hikaru at least once!

Without turning back, Crowler grabbed the documents and strode away.

"Your teacher seems pretty nice," Captain Gold said, sighing.

Indeed, although Professor Crowler wasn't good-looking and his personality was a bit eccentric, as a "professor," his character and abilities were absolutely sound.

Even though he lost a duel against Jaden and was tricked by Camula in the original, he really wasn't a joke as a "legendary" duelist.

In Hikaru's original world, buying new card packs was just ordering online or picking up from a card shop—maybe some out-of-stock issues, but it was mainly just "courier delivery."

But here—in the cannon, new card packs and rare card boxes were locked in safes, escorted by dozens of planes, and guarded with anti-theft measures until they reached Duel Academy.

In this kind of world, Crowler could even know beforehand what rare cards were available and purchase them ahead of time, and that proved his information network was far beyond a student's reach.

With a legendary duelist acting as an intermediary, whether buying or collecting cards, it would surely be far easier than Hikaru stumbling around himself.

Afterward, Hikaru planned to take advantage of his free time to learn some alchemy from Professor Banner.

Back in canon, Banner secretly disappeared around the fifth or sixth Shadow Rider's appearance, though here, even after the "Sixth Shadow Rider" appeared, Banner was still happily teaching Hikaru every day.

Hikaru didn't know when Professor Banner might suddenly vanish, so he studied diligently.

The students finally enjoyed some peaceful days, while the first semester of the first academic year was about to end smoothly.

And just as the semester was ending, the Academy's annual "School Festival" was about to start.

It was a prime opportunity for clubs to recruit new members.

Moreover, there was one more thing…

"How did I forget about Dark Magician Girl?"