309 – Director’s Mansion
The cruise ship, having bulldozed through dozens of trees, piles of concrete that looked like roads, and several additional facilities on the sandy beach, finally came to a stop.
Students who found a banner that read, “Congratulations! Welcome to the Wahyhiemhai Foundation Director’s Mansion” trembled with guilt and fear.
“Are we really that much of a mess?”
“Basically, we just flattened Papa’s personal estate which he prepared to welcome his daughter with his own ship.”
“We didn’t have to go that all out, did we, Jiang?!”
Titosso wailed, holding a much heavier, sturdier, and glittering light stand than before.
“Wow. Did Titosso change the light stand?”
“+5 Enhancement!”
“Wow. That’s great~ You even got a treasure-level artifact.”
“Treasure-level?”
“Didn’t you know? The item’s rank changes every +5 Enhancement. +5 means treasure!”
“Oh, I see!”
As Titosso and I exchanged this conversation, Isabel suddenly interrupted with surprise.
“Is that really true? That treasure-level artifacts found in ruins were items that had been enhanced to +5?”
“Exactly!”
“Then how about relics?”
“Relic-level is +10 Enhancement!”
“I didn’t realize Enhancement was that amazing…”
“But why is Isabel curious about this?”
“…Well, I’m the second candidate for the Exploration Team leader of Esonia. Explorers make a living by excavating treasures or relics from ruins.”
“Oh right, Isabel wasn’t a chef!”
While chatting warmly, we landed on shore, greeted by men in fancy clothes who were caked in dirt, smiling but visibly irritated.
“Welcome to the mansion, Lord Oknodie.”
“We are guides and butlers tasked with escorting you to the mansion.”
“Butler? Like Jonnas?”
Heh. Hmm… Huh?
“Are you really butlers?”
“Are you doubting us?”
“But… you look weak, uncles.”
The butlers’ faces rattled like fierce bulldogs ready to attack, as if they were thinking about ripping me apart.
It’s not like I was wrong, right? There’s no way they look stronger than Jonnas.
Just then, in the suddenly tense atmosphere, a response came not from the front, but the back.
“Of course. I am the lady’s butler. She isn’t just an ordinary scholarship student, is she?”
“She’s the Chief Scholarship Student!”
“Therefore, I stand in a position that can be called the Chief Butler.”
“Aha!”
Leaders are usually strong. Monsters have powerful leaders too. So, butlers must have a similar system!
“Jonnas, what happened with the ship’s landing?”
“The brakes broke.”
“You could’ve dropped anchor to stop!”
Upon the butlers’ question, Jonnas answered calmly without a blink.
“I didn’t know.”
That was the face of someone who surely knew but acted otherwise.
Reap, who locked eyes with me from behind, winked discreetly, avoiding the butlers’ gaze.
I can wink too!
“Oknodie, did something get in your eye?”
“Want me to help?”
“No… it’s fine…”
Feeling embarrassed by the kindness of Jiang and Titosso, I thought maybe winking should be done secretly after all.
“Hahaha! The road to the mansion is really long. Is she showing off that she’s a rich girl?”
“The Foundation is one of the largest organizations on the continent. It’s not strange for it to own a luxurious private island the size of a palace.”
“Say, don’t you secretly own a private island or something?”
“Of course not. I have a warehouse for hiding treasures and smuggling ships, plus staff and employees, but I wouldn’t buy an island. I’ll think about it if my business expands tenfold, though.”
“Hey, at least you can think about it…”
As a merchant, Jezel’s words implied a certain degree of wealth, but the other students just reacted with mild indifference.
However, it was hardly enough for them to deem wealth an extraordinary trait, considering students from noble or royal backgrounds, including even a princess.
On the flip side, the poor students, possessing only talent, gazed at Jezel with longing eyes.
The perpetual divide of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer exists even among academy students!
The wealthier noble students and the princess looked at me with eyes longing for that endgame!
“Oknodie, are we going to get scolded?”
The ever-fearful Jigoku, who smashed the grand private island of the rich house, subtly asked.
Praying that it wouldn’t be the case, I felt a playful urge to scare my subordinates asking for reassurance, but I held back the impulse since it would be cruel to bother Jigoku too.
“Of course not. It was Papa who sent a ship to play a little prank by taking the Apostle of Anrage. Would he get mad over something like this? He’d let it slide because of his daughter’s cute tantrum!”
“A little prank…? A cute tantrum…?”
[What kind of prank involves the deaths of a thousand crew members and uprooting the island’s entrance?]
[Experience Points for Fear +1]
Eek.
Why do I get scolded every time I open my mouth?
“When you compare it to what Papa did, what we did is practically nothing. Just look at that protruding spike trap sticking out from the wrecked ground.”
The students looked bewilderedly at the spike trap jutting out among the ground ruined by the ship.
The butlers replied with brazen faces.
“It’s a spike trap for repelling intruders. There were other types of traps set up as well, but the ship barged in and destroyed 90% of the trap installations near the landing site.”
Titosso, who had been collecting shells as souvenirs on the beach, let out a small hiccup.
“By the way, that shell is actually a bomb shell. If you open it, a bomb inside will explode. I recommend placing it down carefully.”
See? What we did really isn’t a big deal!
[The scary Papa’s daughter is a source of fear.]
[Experience Points for Fear +1]
…But why do they keep being scared of me!?
The residence that is referred to as Papa’s mansion and recognized as a tower emanated a tremendous magical field from the entrance.
[You possess the Title [Experienced of the Apocalypse].]
[Title Effect: Partial Resistance in World-Unit Areas.]
As soon as the resistance alert popped up, I realized something.
The inside and outside of the mansion are places from different dimensional planes.
The tower’s outline, which was captured by the naked eye, only faintly reflected another dimension’s shape but could not show its true form.
The true nature of the mansion could only be known upon entry.
The butlers stated.
“Lord Oknodie and your friends have been invited to the Main House’s mansion, but if you feel burdened, you may refuse and wait here. It’s an invitation, not ‘detention’ or ‘confinement.’”
Make your choice with your own will.
But if you enter, you’ll face something harsh.
With the implications subtly expressed by the butlers, I hopped gleefully into the entrance.
Who’s coming in?
Waiting inside were upper-class students who rushed in.
Lower-class students, who are typically on the bottom, like pirates or scholarship students, didn’t enter.
They turned down the mansion exploration due to fears of experiencing something similar to what happened on the cruise ship.
I understand their feelings.
The weak newbies are often scared of participating in events, worried about where they might get picked on.
Later, they’ll regret such timidity, but it doesn’t concern me whether they live life carelessly or nurture their characters poorly!
BEEP. CLUNK.
The butlers presented their staff cards and boarded the elevator.
As I confidently attempted to step aboard too, the butlers shook their heads.
“This route is for those who have access to the respective floors. Students, excluding butlers and maids, should use the stairs over there.”
“Aha. It’s a shortcut concept then. Can’t help it!”
It’s unreasonable to have to wander through a maze from the entrance to the boss room after overcoming a dungeon multiple times!
In games, shortcuts are implemented for those who have shown their capability, allowing faster navigation through complex areas.
If this elevator serves as that shortcut, it’s only natural to comply.
I might insist on riding if I were alone, though.
“Ugh. I don’t want to walk.”
“Can we sneak a ride?”
“Let’s knock the butlers out and take a ride.”
Seeing Titosso, who is weak in strength, and Jiang, who suggests stealth and infiltration, trying to pressure me into using brute force makes me worry about what kind of trouble they might cause.
It’s a bit shady to sneak off alone while leaving my friends, so I decided we would all get on board together.
“Once you ascend to the 20th floor of the mansion, there is a [Cafeteria]. We’ll be waiting there, Miss.”
Jonnas and Reap then entered the elevator and went up to the upper floors far above.
The floor number displayed on the control panel was a whopping 50.
“April, aren’t you coming?”
“I’m a lowly cleaning maid and have no history of visiting such important facilities. I need to go up the stairs with all of you.”
“What about that weak butler uncle of yours?”
“… I stayed behind to guide you, so you don’t take the wrong stairs and get lost.”
Jezel showed curiosity at the floor number.
“How high does this mansion go?”
“To my knowledge, it goes up to the 50th floor.”
“Why is the cafeteria 20 floors high?”
“The director’s mansion assesses the level of its visitors and opens reception facilities to those qualified, structuring it so that special facilities open every ten floors.”
“So, Oknodie’s father expects you to have the skills to at least reach the 20th floor to meet him.”
A strange tension seeped among the upper-class students.
“Is the progression through the floors done individually?”
“As a group, since you are guests. Being invited, the difficulty won’t be too high. At most, only one will drop dead from overheating.”
“…”
Some lower-class students, who were contemplating slipping in with the crowd, took a step back.
