<310 - Director's Mansion 2>
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Director’s Mansion
1F – Entrance Layer
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Gazing at an endlessly ominous sign, Isabel remarked.
“It feels just like a ruin.”
“Indeed. The first floor exists to repel those who haven’t been formally invited or are seeking to intrude upon the mansion.”
As the butler inserted a card into a square-shaped slot embedded in the wall, sounds of devices shutting down and traps being deactivated echoed throughout the long corridor.
“Of course, you are all guests who have come with formal invitations, so there’s no need to worry.”
The corridor was quite lengthy.
It was long enough that it would take a solid 10 minutes to walk through.
The students felt nervous, anticipating that ascending the floors might not be as easy as it seemed.
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Director’s Mansion
2F – Layer of Wooden Dolls
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As they climbed the stairs and opened the door, wooden dolls, reminiscent of what they would normally see in the training facility for aspiring knights, appeared before them.
Inside the second floor, which closely resembled an actual training ground, the wooden dolls made creaking sounds as they moved their joints, each wielding different weapons.
“Passing through here is simple. Just defeat all the attacking wooden dolls and reach the opposite end of the corridor to ascend the stairs. I will lead the way, so please follow me.”
Oknodie began walking, calling the butler a ‘pathetic servant’ as if he were out for a leisurely stroll.
‘Is that skill really pathetic?’
Of course, that was Oknodie’s own thought.
To the other students, the skills of the butlers were quite impressive as well.
With a peculiar gait, the scarecrows armed with various weapons approached the butler and swung their weapons.
From the distance, it developed into a chilling scene, but the butler effortlessly batted their attacks away.
The distance between the students and the pathetic butler was growing.
It wasn’t the time to watch like it was someone else’s problem.
“Are you not coming along?”
With Oknodie’s urging snapping them back to reality, the students also relaxed a bit.
“I forgot to think we could fight with weapons since the butler was blocking them with his bare hands.”
“Right?”
“We don’t need to deal with multiple dolls at once, we have enough people to handle one each.”
“Isn’t this too weak?”
“It seems easier than expected.”
The lighthearted mood lasted only a moment.
Out of nowhere, the sound of [Level Up] echoed from the corridor.
Suddenly, the weight of the attacking scarecrows intensified.
The strength of their attacks differed.
The movements of their joints became noticeably smoother.
Everyone sensed a foreboding future.
“Wait… are they getting stronger bit by bit?”
“Probably? Don’t you think?”
“Why don’t you know? It’s your mansion.”
In response to Ishtar’s grumbling, Oknodie cheerfully replied.
“I’m also meeting Papa for the first time! I wish I had known it was such a fun house, I would have come over sooner!”
“Oh Ishtar…”
“I-I didn’t know! Just because I didn’t know doesn’t mean I can’t ask questions. Don’t look at me like I’m trash…”
Even while Ishtar was flustered from being unintentionally treated as garbage, the butler, leading the way at a snail’s pace, was aggravating the students’ spirits.
Unable to stand it anymore, Son Ohchun urged from behind.
“Can’t you go a bit faster?”
“Have you forgotten? I am both the guide and the butler. The butlers of the mansion have an obligation to test the visitors’ capabilities. In addition to the floor’s challenges, we are conducting a butler’s test to confirm if you possess adequate skills.”
If they raced through, they could easily pass before the difficulty of the layer increased, but this meant the guide was intentionally allowing the difficulty to rise to a certain point.
Indeed, they themselves thought that they were more than capable of tossing away the attacking wooden dolls.
“I have a question. Can we take their weapons?”
“Feel free to try.”
Without hesitation, Hestia seized a great sword from one of the wooden dolls.
The doll that lost its weapon suddenly turned a fiery red.
Boom!
Surprised by the wooden doll rushing toward her at incredible speed, Hestia swung her hammer.
With a bang, the doll shattered.
The impact was so loud it felt as if it were made of metal rather than wood.
“As you can see, a toy that loses its weapon is hiding a mechanism that causes it to go berserk.”
“What about ownership of the weapon you took?”
“If you want it, you may keep it, provided you can handle the other mechanisms.”
Hestia contemplated for a moment before setting the great sword down.
“Why did you put it down?”
“We were invited as friends of Oknodie. If someone invited were to steal items from the mansion recklessly, the family members wouldn’t just sit by and watch.”
The students, feeling guilty as they thought they could overpower and steal items from the mansion, appreciated Hestia’s common-sense warning.
Realizing the atmosphere had cooled, Arcadia and Jezel, who had been sneaking weapons, dropped them all to the floor.
“How many dolls have we taken down in that brief moment?”
“Specifically, we broke the fallen dolls and then took the weapons.”
Jezel declared, shaking off any dust.
The warrior, observing the fluctuating mood, quietly relinquished his stolen weapon.
“You have a holy sword, yet you want to snatch someone else’s weapon?”
“…I only brought it as enhancement material. I thought I could if I tried hard enough.”
Ishtar remembered that the conditions for enhancing the light stand were unexpectedly lenient, and she had hoped to use the iron swords in this place for enhancing the holy sword.
Of course, even if RPG game heroes generally walked into someone else’s house to loot items and justifying it as something for world peace, stealing from a friend’s house was still out of line.
After putting aside their greed, the group only knocked down the attacking wooden dolls, and by the end, even the wooden dolls had gotten fairly strong enough to be annoying if approached carelessly.
“I’m curious how much stronger they’ll get in about ten more minutes. Not that I want to experience it.”
Setting aside the mix of curiosity and fear, everyone continued to ascend the layers.
Next after the wooden dolls were arrows flying deftly.
They had to walk slowly through arrows zipping toward them at an infuriatingly fast rate.
After the arrow-throwing, suddenly, the floor opened up with a loud clatter, revealing a trap room connecting to the lower floor.
As time passed, the speed of the traps opening increased, and the number of openings grew.
“What’s this? Sounds fun?”
“It’s also good training.”
It almost felt like a place that one might want to visit occasionally for fun!
However, as time passed, the upper-class students began adjusting to this unfamiliar environment.
And they began to estimate their limits.
“Enduring the time the butler requires isn’t that difficult, is it?”
“How long could we really hold out if we set our minds to it?”
The desire for challenges of so-called veterans and the pride of strong men was ignited among the students!
Jigoku was the first to light the switch for action.
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Director’s Mansion
9F – Target Layer
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“This is the Target Layer. Targets that get closer from a distance explode automatically if you allow a gap. The equipment needed for shooting can be rented at the entrance of the layer and returned at the exit.”
For Jigoku, who suffered from a severe case of trigger-happy syndrome, it was an irresistible temptation!
Bang bang bang!
Upon hearing the butler’s instructions, Jigoku instantly grabbed a gun and started blasting the targets approaching ferociously.
Even the leading butler was startled by the speed and accuracy of his shots.
“I’m shooting! I’m shooting! Ammo keeps getting supplied and targets are infinite! I’m shooting! Hahaha! This place is totally a paradise!”
When Jigoku reached the exit, he lingered, waiting even after everyone else had passed.
Finally, the butler could take it no longer and spoke.
“How long will you just shoot from there? Are you going to leave me?”
“I’ll live here from now on. This is my home starting today.”
Jezel expressed her genuine concern.
“Have you been mentally contaminated by the hidden traps of the Foundation?”
“Pretty sure he just wanted to shoot his gun! I get that he’s excited about getting a heap of experience points, but right now he should hold back. Papa might be waiting for us in the dining room!”
“Ugh. I can’t let you down, Oknodie, but… you have to promise we’ll be back later.”
“Butler Uncle, can we do that?”
“Sigh. After the meal, it will be possible. The sole duty of a guest is to attend the dining table, remember that.”
Jigoku was being dragged along like a kid who couldn’t let go of a toy in a corner.
From an observer’s perspective, it looked like Oknodie was leading the butler, who appeared older due to their stature.
“Snicker. Oknodie seems like the adult here.”
“To be told that by Titosso, that says a lot.”
“What? Jiang. What’s wrong with being told that by me?”
“Feels like having my shoes chewed by a harmless squirrel?”
“Eww. I’ll chew you up!?”
“But can we really call this a house? To my eyes… it looks more like a soldier training camp.”
Just as the warm atmosphere was breaking, a cold remark from Northern Grand Duchess Irene froze the mood instantly.
