<301 - Lady's Growth>
Without evidence, crimes cannot be acknowledged.
As a butler, I could turn a blind eye to the lady’s crimes.
However, a director who loses ‘fairness’ is questioned on their capabilities.
If higher-ups doubt Jonnas’s qualifications upon hearing reports later, another director will be dispatched next time.
Not a butler who will just be on the lady’s side, but a neutral and possibly even more dangerous individual with ill intent.
Just look at the danger level of the other executives, evident just by observing the Apostle of Anrage having a blast on that cruise ship.
“Then, I will temporarily pause the auction while we conduct a few inspections. Do other participants agree?”
nods
Reap nodded slightly.
The slight tremor in her indifferent eyes showed that she was worried, just like Jonnas.
There would be no mercy.
The inspection would be thorough.
Since you’ve committed the crime, I just hope you don’t get caught.
That’s all I wish for.
[Search Eye]
[Mana Identification]
The higher level function of insight.
The advanced function of identification.
Only by climbing even higher in such identifications is the level of [Mana Identification]—a high-level insight function—allowed to thoroughly inspect the boarding tickets.
Internal spells are intact.
No traces of damage to defensive spells.
That’s why it makes even less sense that a large amount of points was simultaneously deposited.
[+1 million]
[+1 million]
[+1 million]
[…]
It’s not common to have so many tickets in the million range.
Ninety consecutive appearances of tickets indicate foul play.
Yet, the signals for ticket forgery are suspiciously silent.
No fraudulent access was detected.
Unauthorized point injections went unnoticed.
This implies a few facts.
Firstly, the lady is fully ‘seeing through’ the anti-counterfeit features embedded in her boarding ticket.
She has ‘understood’ the spell structure of the boarding ticket just like a master craftsman who can see through all the structure of an artifact.
Just like a professional authenticator who has spent a long time observing one artifact.
Secondly, the lady succeeded in creating a sophisticated ‘imitation’ that could fool the forgery detection signals.
It would take more than clumsy manual dexterity or body movements to activate such devices even if they detect the presence of security devices.
The artifact, being the foundation’s point card, is the work of a craftsman that no petty thief or bandit could aspire to challenge, yet the lady breached that security.
“Please explain this abnormal history.”
“Abnormal? I don’t know anything about that! I just got the points I could earn!”
“Then may I request recovery for the points that cannot be explained?”
“Ugh~ No way~!”
Is this some childish tantrum?
But she actually is a child, so I have no counter.
“I might have completely borrowed someone’s points and exploited them! How could I admit something so embarrassing!”
“Indeed… that could work. Understood.”
“Really?”
“Since the source of the points has been clarified, we will resume the auction as is. Do other participants agree with this explanation?”
“I agree. As an Assassin Maid, it’s a very plausible excuse.”
“??”
The party that provided the explanation is playing dumb and looking puzzled.
With that level of acting, she could easily deceive an inspector sent from the foundation’s upper management.
‘The lady has grown up. Learning how to pass the buck onto a dead crew member after torturing them to death because they owed all the points with no evidence. ‘
The academy rewards bigger rewards for taking bigger risks.
It seems the lady is making effective use of her time at the Gift Academy.
‘Now that’s the lady I taught.’
I don’t wish for the innocent lady to be tainted by darkness.
But neither do I wish for her to fumble about feeling helpless and crying like a child in the face of an imminent crisis.
Having the resolve to act decisively in the face of unavoidable danger is also wisdom for survival.
‘No matter how pure a child is, if the environment doesn’t permit, they cannot fully maintain that purity.’
Let’s check if there’s a dead crew member when we return to the ship.
And if possible, let’s burn a few corpses to eliminate the evidence.
There can always be excuses like magically creating blood and withdrawing dozens of liters, or saying I kept regenerating limbs and breaking them a thousand times.
In such a way, I could explain the source of points that vastly exceed those allocated to the cruise ship.
Just incinerate all the corpses and it’s done.
The dead do not speak.
The only worry is if our students, engrossed in this shipboard rebellion, become too lenient and that there is no dead crew member.
If that’s the case, I too must harden my heart.
I would need to fabricate perjury if there were no corpses.
There’s no guarantee that someone who has once committed perjury won’t betray and confess to an inspector.
Testimonies from the living are dangerous.
Only the dead can guarantee the lady’s safety.
‘I suppose someone has to die.’
After all, the crew on that ship are either blinded by the prospect of a windfall after years of long service or have committed grave sins against the foundation and are trying to pay off debts.
I wouldn’t feel guilty about hardening my heart and eliminating one of them.
Jonnas sincerely believed that.
His determination was precisely why he was granted the title of ‘Wahyhiemhai’ from the Director of the Foundation.
*
“Directly learning inferior Mana Flow Techniques isn’t good. It interferes with training on higher techniques.”
“It’s okay! Such techniques are perfect for Titosso to learn!”
‘She wouldn’t claim they were inferior.’
The lady who glanced at the Mana Flow Technique for Maids that was won at auction evaluated its value with one sentence.
That intrigued Reap somewhat.
She knows the lady’s strength and talent.
But Jonnas and herself had never taught her Mana Refinement Techniques or Mana Flow Techniques.
Those techniques assist in lacking physical or mana capabilities.
If acquired at too young an age, one might be clumsy in handling their inherent physical and mana capabilities, leading to an overreliance on the powers of the techniques.
Just as delighting in increased strength that doubles can lead to negligence in enhancing one’s base stats, ultimately resulting in regression.
‘Even so, the lady has indeed become stronger. In foundational abilities and amplification powers.’
At the academy, first-years are not taught usable flow or refinement techniques.
They provide a far more competent foundation compared to the jumble found in the marketplace, but it’s still just a foundation.
There’s no way the lady could learn anything as impressive as what she uses.
‘There’s no harm in being ambitious. And vision is not to be shared with anyone.’
Understanding that Oknodie keeping things secret was entirely understandable, Reap did not directly ask.
She confirmed that the reason for obtaining the flow techniques was not to learn for herself but to establish a dedicated maid troupe following only her.
“I’m glad. I was just thinking April wasn’t up to the level of a Cleaning Maid. If she needs training, I can assist.”
“If needed, I’ll ask for help!”
“So… are you thinking about holding out for another day?”
After the seventh day’s prize [Catching a Thief], they had already encountered prizes twice alone.
Eighth day: [Standardizing Academy Cafeteria Menu to Nutrient-Rich Lunch Sets for a Year].
Ninth day: [Mana Flow Technique Manual for Maids].
From the tenth day onwards, the tier of rewards changes.
The difficulty of holding out inevitably increases.
Usually, even on an uninhabited island, it would be like that, but right now, the environment had turned almost hellish.
There was absolutely no food, and maintaining the island’s shape was becoming difficult.
“I’m going to hold out!”
“Don’t you think everyone waiting at the cruise ship will worry?”
“Hm~ It’s okay! There’s a Warrior around, so somehow it will be fine.”
“Even if there are other executives from the foundation?”
“A Warrior isn’t the kind of mid-boss that weakens when they become allies!”
While the meaning was unclear, her trust towards the warrior was evident.
Having fought frequently, she must have felt her strength.
Is this what you call friendship that grows through fighting?
So youthful.
Reap felt a smidge of warmth, but Oknodie cheerfully added.
“Besides, the executives left on that ship are well-matched, right~?”
“Well-matched… you say?”
“The Apostle of Anrage can’t maintain their self for more than three days, so eventually, they’ll rise up with their crappy self after time passes. Even a Warrior should be able to endure that!”
The heart that was joyfully watching froze cold as if it were a lie.
“Where on earth… did you hear about the Apostle of Anrage?”
This is dangerous.
The executives of the foundation, whose souls are tied to the cruise ship.
But if they aren’t high-level officials, they shouldn’t even have access to such information.
This is bizarre.
There’s no way Jonnas would slip and let such information reach his mouth.
I need to ascertain the source of this.
“Hm~ It’s a secret!”
“What if I absolutely want to find out?”
“You’ll have to force your way to find out!”
…I’m feeling a little guilty towards the lady.
Still, this is a decision for her safety.
Reap drew her genuine throwing knife from the dagger belt at her thigh.
“What you desired, Lady. From now on, I will suppress you with all my power. If you spill the information, I will let you go safely, but…”
“If I don’t spill it?”
“…I will forcibly knock you out to ensure the auction cannot continue.”
