214 – Fixing Bad Habits
As usual, Jezel arrived early at the classroom, but when she noticed that someone who should have been there was missing, she felt puzzled.
“Isabel. Where has our little lady gone?”
“That’s what I want to ask. Didn’t you call for her first?”
“Sadly, I haven’t even seen her today. She’s probably off collecting something strange again.”
Collection-mania Oknodie. Considering her obsession with collecting, it wouldn’t be surprising. Still, she’s a model student who never misses class. She’ll come around when the time is right. The two thought lightly of it.
“Let’s start the lecture.”
“…!”
Until Oknodie never showed up, the lecture began.
“Oknodie isn’t at the lecture.”
“She might be late because she’s collecting some rare materials.”
“This has only happened once before.”
“…that incident.”
“What if she’s in trouble again?”
“Let’s go look for her as soon as the lecture ends.”
The dorm supervisor would likely let them through since there had been that ‘incident’ previously. With that thought, the two visited the supervisor’s office, only to hear an unexpected response.
“Francis, the dorm supervisor. I’m worried that Oknodie hasn’t shown up, could you check if she’s inside?”
“That child has gone outside the academy with formal permission. You don’t need to worry.”
“Outside? Oknodie?”
“Well, this is fortunate. Isabel, you have a letter from Oknodie waiting for you.”
Could the meals she prepared actually have a positive effect? Like a child writing a letter to her mother when leaving home, a letter from Oknodie was waiting for Isabel.
━━━
Dear Isabel,
I’m sorry, Isabel. I’ve been called by the Foundation for a brief outing. Don’t worry about not being able to follow the lectures. I’ve finished all my midterm exam preparations! They say attendance will still count, so I won’t fall behind in my studies while I’m away from the academy. Hehe. Isn’t that totally enviable?
Just promise me one thing. Don’t feel too lonely without me! Send my regards to Uncle Jezel, Uncle Ohcheon, Older Sister Arcadia, Dorothy, Hestia, Jiang, and Titosso, and the Mob too. Does that mean I made two promises instead of one? Hehe, let’s just treat it like that!
I said it would be a week, but I don’t know when I’ll come back. I’ll try to hurry back as soon as possible. Honestly, there’s not much to do out here. I miss you. I’ll work hard to return quickly!
Warm regards, Oknodie.
━━━
Her hand holding the letter trembled.
“The Foundation. The Foundation has taken her.”
“Is that really true?”
The letter passed to Jezel by Isabel. As Jezel read it, her expression gradually stiffened.
“She has indeed been taken. I can’t believe Oknodie was made to leave the academy this way.”
“What do we do?”
“We can do nothing. Being at the academy, we have no way to retrieve Oknodie who has left for an unknown location.”
“Then we have to just let Oknodie disappear?”
“We can only hope she returns.”
Would the infamous Wahyhiemhai Foundation really return Oknodie, who had brought shame upon them countless times, just after a week? All they could do was trust that the Foundation would send Oknodie back.
“…I’ll look for a way.”
But if it’s not Jezel but rather his connections, there just might be a method.
“If necessary, I’ll also contact the Esornia Expedition Team for assistance. I’m sure the adventure friends will help if I tell them it’s my request.”
With that, Jezel and Isabel’s connections began to move to retrieve Oknodie, who had been dragged to the Foundation.
Beyond the Dimensional Gate and away from the academy, a man dressed in a morning coat approached the main entrance as if he had been waiting.
“Lady Oknodie, is it?”
“Where is Jonnas?”
“Today, I’m here instead of him.”
Not Jonnas, but a stranger. Honestly, what a disappointment. One reason for her outing from the academy had vanished.
“Then what about Reap?”
“You’ll see Jonnas later.”
Neither the butler nor the maid were her people. Her mood soured a bit.
“Let’s get in.”
She climbed into a carriage where the outside view was obscured. As she threw a glance out and saw the wooden planks hammered over the windows, she wondered why they had to travel in such a stifling carriage. The not-Jonnas butler replied.
“We reinforced the outside with iron plates to avoid being targeted.”
“…It’s suffocating.”
“Please bear with it. It’s a measure for safety.”
They traveled like that for a whole day. The food provided midway was even tasteless black bread.
Being tasteless is bearable. But it’s hard to tolerate if it’s food already filled in a Cooking Handbook. She felt quite bad.
“Almost there. Please get off.”
Without an escort, they exited the carriage and entered a facility thoroughly protected by multiple barriers.
Inside the facility, adults passed by in Pierrot costumes, all wearing masks. They belonged to the “Pierrot Masked Group,” which was ranked in the mid-tier among the villain organizations scattered across the continent.
“Do you know where this place is?”
“I do.”
“Surely you don’t. This is the lower organization of the Foundation…”
The dullard was just as dull in response. The slow blinking was even more sluggish than a snail. His foolish face turned to astonishment.
“You do?”
“The Pierrot Masked Group. They take in orphans, claiming they become acrobatic performers, train talented kids to sell to upper organizations as assassins, and use the rest as fodder for the circus animals, right?”
“…Did Jonnas teach you that? It’s information that isn’t disclosed to scholarship students enrolled at the academy…”
“Stop with the petty talk and tell me why I was brought here.”
“…The person who summoned Lady Oknodie is the Director in charge of managing the Foundation’s butlers. Typically, scholarship students see him only once.”
It seemed the shabby butler wanted to set a serious tone.
“When a scholarship student repeatedly fails to fulfill their mission, a ‘punishment’ is required. That’s when a punishment is due.”
If anger could stack, that was an offhand remark that maxed out stacks.
“Too bad! I prefer administering punishments to receiving them.”
“Don’t maintain such a rude attitude. I may be ignorant, but the Director who has crossed over from the Eastern Empire would never tolerate a scholarship student challenging his authority.”
“Well, the same goes for me. Think that’s the reason I’ll be returning!”
She cheerfully tapped the butler’s leg lightly with her palm.
“Ugh!?”
Dark Mana is similar to radiation. A little is harmless, but surpassing a certain level makes one feel like they’re getting ‘radiated’ as the body rapidly deteriorates. The same thing was happening to the catch-all butler’s leg.
She filled him up with Dark Mana, causing him to writhe and collapse.
If it were Jonnas, he would have easily shaken off a malicious grip.
Clearly, this nothing compared to Jonnas.
“Did you think such a thing would happen when you messed with someone else’s butler? Seriously.”
She stepped lightly over the writhing butler spewing black smoke and called the Pierrot masks.
“Can someone take me to the Director?”
What was supposed to be a week away wouldn’t even take three days.
Looking around while hesitantly taking the lead, boredom crept in by looking at the back of the mask’s head.
Though versatile, the character has some limitations.
They may scheme but won’t harm others.
‘A character with a harmful disposition? They don’t harm people.’
The Director ripped up the report.
It was worthless rubbish.
Did they investigate Oknodie in a chaotic manner?
Or was Oknodie so thorough in concealing her true colors that even the Foundation’s investigations were deceived?
Either way, such a scrap of paper was useless.
“Did you call me?”
“I heard you’ve poisoned the butler with Dark Mana and dispatched him. Aren’t you afraid of the backlash? Your only source of support turning against you.”
“Not really? The Foundation dislikes weaklings.”
The energy emanating from that girl was entirely different from what Jonnas had reported as “controllable.”
No signs of the Foundation’s scholarship student were present at all.
They are only aware of the misfortunes awaiting them if they don’t comply with the Foundation’s orders.
Or pretending to enjoy sadistic behavior, masquerading like a harsh being trying to avoid a shattered sense of morality.
Oknodie displayed none of the traits typical of a Foundation scholarship student.
She had no feeling towards killing.
Didn’t know what guilt was.
The ultimate scholarship student the Foundation aspired to create.
A useful worker.
She was utterly different from that.
They are no different than puppets who follow orders as commanded without possessing a self.
Oknodie was nothing like anything.
She could not be defined by anything.
“Why do you have the Foundation’s hat?”
“I won’t tell you.”
If you dare, come at me.
I’ll make you like the moron you sent before.
With a cold smile, Oknodie said.
The Director thought.
This girl is immune to force.
Surprisingly, he even lacked the confidence to suppress her with strength.
Perhaps he could understand why the Boss keeps a particular watchful eye on her.
“ The reason I called you here was to question you about your disobedience to the Foundation’s orders and to correct your declining reputation, but… it seems ordinary means won’t work with you.”
Upon the Director’s gesture, Pierrot-masked torturers and illegal healers hidden behind pillars quietly exited the building.
“Is it because of the academy? The reason you look down upon the Foundation’s orders.”
“I’m angry because they brought a trash event under the guise of a new event!”
“Event. Certainly, the Principal used such words. So the academy is the cause.”
Finally, the Director understood.
If it’s the academy, it can surpass the Foundation’s influence.
It’s possible for her to be led astray by those who spew empty platitudes, promising to free her from the Foundation’s grasp.
“Then let me tell you. Do you know what the academy has been doing in a place you’re unaware of? Do you know the Arcadia Princess from the Kingdom of Florence?”
“…What are you planning to do to Arcadia? If you even move a finger, I’ll ensure you all die.”
“It was not us who touched her. It was the academy.”
The Director handed over a freshly received report.
“Just yesterday, a blockade order was placed on the [House of the Duke of Sebiche], the birthplace of the Arcadia Princess. In other words, your dear friend’s hometown is on the verge of disappearing because the Academy has determined it to be a key ally of the Foundation.”
He had already received reports through an internal informant about the relationship between Arcadia and Oknodie.
The report received by Jonnas must have reached him as well.
Realizing the Academy’s actions threatening her close friend, Oknodie would undoubtedly redirect her enmity towards the Academy instead of the Foundation.
Hehe. Checkmate. To save your friend, you must now follow the Foundation’s will.
You can no longer defy the Foundation.
With a triumphant air, the Director spoke, but Oknodie responded.
“By the way?”
“?”
“You’re ruining things so badly that you’re already in a mess. What does that mean?”
This girl was simply more vicious than expected.
A friend, and her ancestral family was on the brink of demise.
Does nothing come to mind?
Jonnas, what have you raised?
