Beast Academy: Raising Baby Beasts with Cashback 500%

Jeryon didn’t comment. He merely listened seriously to his subordinate’s report.

”Last year, the businesses managed by the Ashbourne family head also began experiencing a crisis. Their business situation has become even worse this year.”

”They have already used up all their shared assets. But they still have to keep burning money to stabilize the company’s finances. Because of that...”

Jeryon’s subordinate paused and swallowed before continuing.

”...They need the assets inherited by the late Samuel Ashbourne, which are still currently under the name of his only daughter.”

”His only daughter is Shani...?” Jeryon asked, his voice choked.

”That’s correct, Young Master.”

”So that’s why they’re looking for Shani.” Jeryon’s voice carried a hint of anger.

He calmed himself before asking again, ”Where have they been all this time? Don’t they know where Shani is?”

Jeryon was still trying to salvage the family’s image in his eyes.

But his subordinate’s answer felt like a slap to the face. ”They never searched for her after Samuel Ashbourne and Tala Kestrel were declared dead.”

Jeryon’s brows furrowed deeply. He gritted his teeth.

His anger was already reaching its peak, but his subordinate wasn’t finished.

”There are traces indicating that they have prepared a contract to bind Miss Shani Rowan to them. Regardless of Miss Rowan’s beast gene, the first thing they wanted to do was ensure those assets fell into their hands.”

”They just left Shani out there to fend for herself for seventeen years. And now they suddenly show up to claim her inheritance!”

Bang! Jeryon slammed his fist onto his desk in anger.

At the same time, he felt relieved that he hadn’t revealed Shani’s identity to the family. He had almost ruined Shani’s life.

”To go as far as doing something so dishonorable... The Ashbourne House really is finished.”

...

During the afternoon class, Shani caught Jeryon secretly staring at her several times.

What was unusual was that Jeryon’s gaze resembled the way Shani looked at Jeryon whenever she remembered his tragic fate.

It was like he was looking at a lost puppy.

’Did he suddenly start feeling sorry for me?’ Shani wondered. She shrugged her shoulders and chose not to think too much about it.

That night, Shani continued experimenting with Red Worm Jelly.

This time, she wanted to add flower extracts because some baby beasts liked food with floral scents.

There were several fresh flowers inside the paper bag on her desk: jasmine, tuberose, buddleia, moonflower, and honeysuckle.

Shani picked up a bundle of jasmine with five stems. She was about to untie the ribbon when a system notification sounded.

[Host, it has been almost one week since you gave a gift to Target Jeryon of Argenor. You only have 24 hours left before the one-week deadline expires. If you do not give him a gift within one week, you will receive a punishment.]

Shani was baffled. ”I have to give Jeryon a gift every week?”

The system didn’t answer, but that was answer enough.

”Punishment? What kind of punishment will I receive, System? It won’t take back all the cashback money I’ve received from Jeryon, right?”

Shani shuddered at the thought.

[If you do not give a gift within one week, you will receive a Penalty Mission.]

”A Penalty Mission? What’s that?”

[A mission received as punishment.]

The system answered in its usual formal tone, leaving Shani only able to suppress her frustration at such an... infuriating answer.

”I mean, what kind of mission?” Shani rubbed her chest.

[If Host wants to know, Host can fail.]

Shani quickly shook her head.

Right now, her finances still depended entirely on the system. If the mission forced her to spend a large amount of money, she would suffer a huge loss.

”I didn’t know it would be this troublesome. Do I have to keep giving Jeryon gifts for the rest of my life? What happens after we graduate? What if I can’t reach him anymore?”

[If the total value of gifts given reaches the limit, Host will no longer need to give gifts.]

”How many gifts is the limit?” Shani asked quickly.

She stared hopefully at the wall of her room, but the system gave her no answer.

”System! System!” Shani tried calling it several times, but the system’s voice no longer came.

Nyx, who had woken up after hearing its mother’s voice, stared at her in confusion as she talked to herself while repeatedly hitting the air.

”Meoww~” He meowed, but its mother seemed busy in her own world.

Nyx tilted its head, shook it, and then tried to close its eyes again.

But its eyes suddenly opened, and its ears twitched. It turned toward the door while sniffing the air.

”Meow! Meow!” It meowed excitedly.

Shani was still busy calling the system and didn’t notice her baby beast. Then, a knock came from the door.

”Shani, are you inside?” Jeryon’s voice came from outside.

Shani quickly opened the door. ”What is it?” she asked, looking at the young man standing tall in front of her.

”I want to give you this. Vitamins for Nyx.” Jeryon lifted the paper bag in his hand. ”I sent you a chat, but you didn’t reply.”

Shani chuckled awkwardly, not wanting to explain why. She had been so focused on the system that she hadn’t even noticed what was happening around her.

Shani took the paper bag from Jeryon’s hand.

At that moment, Nyx’s high-pitched crying came from inside the room. The little baby beast sounded desperate.

Even though neither of them understood the baby beast’s language, they could understand Nyx’s emotions because of the connection between them.

”It seems Nyx wants to see you,” Shani said. Jeryon hadn’t seen Nyx since the last examination.

Shani let Jeryon into her room. Sure enough, the little black furball immediately meowed excitedly when it saw Jeryon. It seemed like it wanted to jump toward its father, but its legs weren’t strong enough yet.

Jeryon picked Nyx up. The baby beast immediately nuzzled its soft head against Jeryon’s chest.

Shani couldn’t help but chuckle at how stiffly Jeryon was holding Nyx.

She then placed the paper bag Jeryon had given her on the table. That was when she noticed the bunch of jasmine flowers and remembered she had to give Jeryon a gift.

’The gift doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. It just needs to be a gift, right?’ A gleeful smile appeared on her face.

She picked up the bunch of jasmine, walked over to Jeryon, and held it out to him. ”This is for you.”

Jeryon, who had been trying to find the right position to make Nyx comfortable in his arms, suddenly froze. His stiff movements stopped completely.

He could only stare at the flowers and then at Shani. A red blush appeared on his ears beneath his golden hair.

Nyx turned toward its father, disturbed by the loud sound coming from its father’s chest. The little soft ball didn’t know that its father couldn’t control his own racing heartbeat either.

Seeing that Jeryon didn’t respond, Shani became slightly nervous. ’Does he not like flowers?’

Shani then smiled widely. ”For you,” she said again.

Inside, she was screaming, ’You won’t reject a gift from someone who is giving it to you with a smile, right?’

Little did Shani know, her smile was like a sudden ray of light, leaving Jeryon completely dazzled.

With stiff, robotic movements, Jeryon took the flowers. He then immediately turned around, putting his back toward Shani.

”Thank you,” he said, his voice slightly choked.

Shani didn’t pay much attention to Jeryon’s reaction because the system notification announcing that the cashback had been successfully received sounded in her ears.

Only Nyx noticed the increasingly loud pounding coming from its father’s chest. Its small furry face tilted upward with a worried expression, wondering if something was wrong with its father.

Aside from its father’s reddening face, Jeryon’s expression looked normal. Nyx meowed worriedly.

”Nyx, what’s wrong?” Shani asked when she heard Nyx meowing.

”It seems Nyx is sleepy,” Jeryon replied before placing Nyx in its baby bed.

Without turning back toward Shani, Jeryon quickly walked toward the door. ”I’ll head back now. Those vitamins are for the infant phase. They’re good for keeping Nyx healthy.”

Thud.

Jeryon closed the door behind him. He pressed a hand against his chest and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

Meanwhile, Shani stared at the closed door in confusion before turning her attention to the vitamins for Nyx.

She was already used to Jeryon’s strange behavior, so she didn’t think much of it.

She was more interested in the vitamins he had brought. There were three pills inside the small vial. After looking up the price online, she found that one vial cost 1,000 Credits.

”Even Nyx’s premium milk only costs 650 Credits.” Shani could only shake her head.

But after thinking about it, she realized why it was so expensive. According to the books, baby beasts in the infant phase only needed milk.

However, for wealthy people, milk alone wasn’t enough. They gave their baby beasts additional vitamins and other facilities.

Baby beasts were weak and easily stressed. That was why wealthy people whose baby beasts had high ranks would do all kinds of extraordinary things from the very first day their babies were born.

It seemed Jeryon was now one of them.

...