<300 - Suspicious Trends>
A treasure chest appeared from the sandcastle that had nothing.
In fact, it was hard to even call it a sandcastle.
The material used was the remaining ice block that had seeped into the ground from the grand magic of the professor.
In a broad sense, it could be called a sandcastle, and Oknodie was delighted that a treasure chest emerged from the sand-less sandcastle.
Upon opening the chest, seven 50ml ampoules filled with unidentified rainbow-colored liquid came out.
“Wow! Rainbow set! I love this 1-tier reward!”
“…Does classifying the value of rewards mean you’ve gotten such treasure chests before?”
“Of course! It’s common sense for a treasure chest to appear in a well-made sandcastle, right? Let’s make tons of them together in the future. I think it turned out much better with Reap’s help!”
Even she thought Reap had a knack for it.
A body trained to peel flesh down to 1mm for torture.
While there exist ditzy maids who can only break and overturn everything, there are also intricate assassin maids like her with delicate dexterity.
However, no maid in the world could have had the same experience as her.
Children who built sandcastles in their childhood were not suddenly visited by adults sneaking in treasure chests to fill the castle — like Santa Claus.
If such an event occurred, Christmas wouldn’t be a holiday, it would be Sandcastle Day.
“It seems like you are favored by the gods, Miss.”
“Me?”
“Could it be that Jonnas puts rewards in the sandcastle every time… though it could be possible…”
Oknodie frowned, dismissing the nonsensical remark within the safe zone.
He probably didn’t commit the absurd act of using his metal manipulation ability to pierce a coffin underground and send a metal box to the inside of the sandcastle.
He wasn’t the type to go through that much trouble for fun either.
“If it’s not Jonnas, then the only one who could do such a thing would be a god.”
“Aah, the first quest rewards are gifts from the god!”
Does she not realize?
Reap thought it was all rather strange.
Giving something usually implies expecting something in return.
Joy.
Or fear.
Bestowing power seeks gratitude, while punishment seeks fear.
In either case, they expect a reaction from humans.
The larger the intensity, the more the recipient feels the influence of whoever is acting upon them.
Just as the academy students become conscious of the principal’s points.
Those tied to the foundation become aware of the director’s points.
And those connected to the divine become aware of the god’s points.
But how can Oknodie not know this?
It means the god didn’t want it.
To be thanked.
‘What could the reason be?’
Before the auction started, Reap asked Jonnas about the question troubling her.
Jonnas answered while watching Oknodie hiding in the box, playing hide and seek.
“It’s simple. When a god conceals their intentions, it’s because they cherish the target.”
“If they cherish, shouldn’t they make them value it even more and follow them?”
“The goodwill of someone in a high position can ruin a person’s life. Just like how a noble shows kindness to an illegitimate child only to be poisoned by the jealousy of the favored wife.”
“…!”
“In the case of a church, jealousy among the believers can become problematic. Even for Oknodie, there’s the weakness of Dark Mana and being associated with the foundation.”
“He’s in a worse position than a noble’s illegitimate child.”
Understanding clicked as she listened.
Though the foundation has immense power over the world, in return, its members are reviled by it.
The hidden foundation scholarship students are the ones who fear, while Oknodie, who has revealed his identity, easily becomes a target of suspicion and hostility.
“Thus, the god who was playing with Oknodie hasn’t revealed their identity. That’s what I think.”
“If so, what kind of god do you think that is? As you know, besides the one true god, there are 24 major gods recognized in mainstream theology.”
“Currently, it’s impossible to know. It’s unclear what has the god captivated enough to watch over you.”
Yet surely, if there is something that could be the reason, it would be this.
Oknodie, while attempting to escape from the box that had closed suddenly due to the wind, was hitting it while his hands and feet stuck out in real-time.
Not knowing front from back, he was running around aimlessly, bumping into a tree and falling backward, eliciting a combination of comedy and cuteness.
“The god must want to comfort our lonely Miss who plays by herself a lot. So, by giving ‘rewards’ in activities that take a long time, like building a sandcastle, they do this.”
“Could be a benevolent deity.”
“Evil gods aren’t exempt from understanding cuteness.”
“Then we must report this more.”
Whatever it may be, this was certainly crucial information.
There was no escaping a report to the higher-ups.
“For your safety as well, it’s imperative. The interest of a colossal being tends to disrupt little things inevitably, and the greater the interest, the larger the changes will be.”
Those favored by the god of warriors become berserkers, losing their reason and engulfed in perpetual madness and anger.
Those favored by the god of magic become unable to cope with overflowing intelligence and enlightenment, becoming crazy and isolating themselves from the world.
If Oknodie blindly accepts the favor of the god, he may face a terrible end.
“Jonnas. What if someone is favored by a harmless benevolent god like the god of love?”
“There’s no such thing as a harmless god.”
Jonnas firmly stated.
“Someone might love another so much that they freeze and imprison them in the freezer forever or become frozen themselves.”
“Is that something you’ve heard of?”
“It’s something I witnessed while carrying out the foundation’s directives. It’s also why the academy is dangerous.”
As they progress through the grades, the academy students tend to rely on the grace of gods to cover their lacking abilities.
Reap could only hope that the Miss’s innocent nature remains unsullied by the machinations of the gods.
*
“I will now reveal the product of today’s auction for the uninhabited island. Today’s item is [Mana Flow Technique Manual for Maids].”
In an auction, participants’ weaknesses come to light.
Some weaknesses target social standings, some economic vulnerabilities, and some psychological flaws.
The weakness targeted against Reap was a physical aspect.
“The starting bid for the auction is 1 million points. I will raise the price by 1 million each.”
“One million.”
Reap bid without hesitation.
The Mana Flow Technique is the realm of special abilities that humans first reached out to, aiming to surpass physical limits.
How to utilize an external method and where the enhancement occurs.
The efficacy, carefully established through data accumulation and sacrifices in life, was defined as a flow technique.
The entire vision of that flow technique is leaked.
It’s bound to be a vulnerability.
Even understanding the foundation’s thoughts was impossible.
The Mana Flow Technique Manual for Maids is the foundation’s asset.
Why would they auction such a thing?
“You abandoned it yesterday at four million, right?”
And why was Oknodie showing interest in that?
“Then I’ll bid four million!”
“Oknodie. Four million points.”
From where does he get all those points?
Everything was full of questions.
‘Still, there must be a reason. There’s the maid candidate that the Miss seems to like.’
The child named Titosso seemed like a natural-born maid.
The daughter of the lord’s family beside her, or the merchant friend who had birthed and popularized Prill, were the same.
Oknodie might intend to create a maid solely devoted to him before going through the foundation’s hands.
‘If only you had told me in advance, I wouldn’t have wasted so many points.’
It’s a pity, but there’s nothing to be done now that it has happened.
Buy tomorrow’s product, finish the auction.
Thoughts in the ninth-day auction, where only a bit of solid ground was left, as it began to peel away.
Reap’s benevolent ideas came to an end just a day later when the 10th-day auction commenced.
“Four million points!”
To think that it was not unusual for the Miss to bring up four million points again, as she was fully prepared to have spent all her points returning home.
Even for the Miss, who was generous to Reap, having such an unending supply of points was strange.
“I contest this.”
“Please state your case.”
“Can you confirm whether the Miss really possesses that much points?”
Isn’t she trying to cheat the bidding?
Reap’s blatant accusation was accepted by Jonnas.
“Oknodie, participant. Could you present your ticket to confirm your points?”
“Here you go!”
Oknodie casually handed over the ticket.
And Jonnas, who was rarely surprised, received the ticket and was left speechless.
[Oknodie, No.99999999]
99,999,999 points.
Maxed out boarding points.
Considering the points already spent, it could be assumed that they must have replenished at least as much as had been consumed overnight, or perhaps exceeded the 100 million mark, making it impossible to gauge even with the diminished points.
Either way, it was abnormal.
At least as far as Jonnas understood.
Originally, combining all the boarding points on that cruise ship would not yield anywhere near 99,999,999 points.
“Did you commit fraud?”
“Do you have evidence?”
Oknodie asked back, grinning brightly.
Jonnas was convinced.
Our Miss boldly pulled off a point scam!
