<680 – Irresponsible Pleasure (28)>
With the last thrilling proposal from Pasible Yep, who showed his true form as an evil skeleton like a superstar of the denouncing world, the agenda of the butler of the foundation came to an end.
Finally, the executive meeting was left with only the last person’s agenda, that of Oknodie.
Just like in auctions, the final turn usually holds the biggest bomb waiting to boom.
Just how fearsome will Oknodie’s proposal be?
This was a moment that made even Sing, who was not an executive, feel extremely tense.
‘There’s no way I can stay calm thinking about all the events that unfolded each time Oknodie went out.’
Oknodie’s first outing led to the downfall of the Sebiche Ducal House, a powerful family in the Kingdom of Florence.
Her summer vacation cruise ended in a real duel with the Apostle of Anrage, followed by training in the Tower of Training, and a confrontation with the Director.
Oknodie’s autumn outing triggered an impressive fire show by Rosgini, elevating the reputation of the Red Magic Tower, accompanied by a demon-hunting contest, the Revolutionary Army’s raid on Kanelle City, the imperial capital’s invasion, the overthrow of Seonhwang, the demon hunt of the God Emperor, the beginning of Empress Masugaki’s reign, and even the opening of the Underworld.
In the year 982, just a year later, did this troublemaker become tamed? Not at all.
Immediately after the start of the new school term, she skipped a grade and suddenly jumped into the third year, claimed she was starting the Saintess Alliance, knocked down the saint who invaded the Academy, smashed open the doors of the underground prison, and took down the Demon King’s Four Kings who had infiltrated.
Next, while she didn’t go out herself, she sent her friends out a plenty, using the excuse of rescuing the foundation executive Pasible Yep to train them.
Her time spent with the special examiner Hyeolbiggaek only served to boost Sing’s growth exponentially.
And now…
A new opportunity for growth had arisen.
One of the direct subordinate commanders to the Director of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation.
An order to accompany the butler of the foundation on a demon-hunting expedition.
Just hearing either of those two keywords made explosive growth feel like a given.
Now, it was time for Oknodie to show ‘something beyond that.’
What on earth would she reveal?
Even if she does show it, would she be able to handle it herself?
Sing had every reason to feel a surge of fear.
“I honestly don’t really get help like that! But since I finally became a foundation executive, I thought about giving you some annoying tasks!”
Oknodie’s ‘annoying task’.
Darknodi and Sing’s faces instantly stiffened.
A naughty child.
A terrifying child.
The Foundation’s Agassi.
A girl who has frighteningly grown up.
A heartless killing machine clueless to emotions.
The images surrounding her are diverse, yet there’s a common misconception people often have.
If she’s that bad of a child, she’d probably just make others do her work and be really lazy.
Sing could confidently say that’s a ridiculous notion only held by those who have only skimmed the surface of Oknodie.
Contrary to appearances, Oknodie is surprisingly diligent.
To an almost terrifying degree.
In a semester, she’d attend at least ten lectures, and despite the fact that moving between lecture times is hardly visible, she’d be perfectly punctual, attending every class.
…As long as she doesn’t impulsively skip out of the Academy.
In any case, by the time witnesses talked and he went to just catch a glimpse, Oknodie had already left.
If on some strange day a unique dish or dessert that could hardly be connected to her immense appetite came out in the cafeteria, then perhaps that lunch break would be the only time they could manage to see her!
Once, this happened:
“Wow, it’s Sing!”
“… The electricity went out in the training grounds, and I was told to check if a stupid bird got its beak stuck in the magic circle, and ended up here, only to find something worse than a bird. What on earth are you doing, Oknodie?”
“If I peck the wall harder than a woodpecker, that makes it feel defeated and increases the effectiveness of the
“… I certainly didn’t want to know that strange knowledge, and I don’t want to either. Just pull your head out of the wall, it’s unsightly, and that’s why the recovery magic circle won’t get fixed.”
“Well, you see? If I forcibly move while the wall’s regrowth is stronger than my power, it…”
“… Hurts your neck?”
“The recovery technique collapses, and that’s a tenfold fine! Haha. So uh, could you just scratch the wall once without ruining the technique?”
Every day felt more bizarre than running into a rare monster in the most unexpected ways for the most peculiar reasons — Oknodie was diligent enough to do odd things unfathomable to anyone else from dawn to midnight, like giving every species of bird residing on Gift Island a taste of defeat and frustration.
“Wow, it’s Sing!”
“I didn’t expect to run into you at the waterfall. Have you stopped your quirky deeds of tormenting the birds?”
“This week is the one where I blow bubbles bigger than fish! Doing this will extend my time breathing underwater a little bit! Want to join?”
“… I have no use for such ridiculous entertainment. I came to train my waterfall-slicing technique with my sword.”
“Then never mind!”
Even while swinging his sword repeatedly, getting soaked under the falling water throughout the weekend, he’d seen quite a number of giant fish burst out of the surface, flipping and flopping like they were realizing ‘if you don’t like the monk, leave the temple,’ then fleeing the river with
The weirdness of what he could do whenever he wanted was one thing, but considering the obsessive determination to plunge into that field, it was clear that a simple task wouldn’t be so easy.
Just how horrific of a task awaited if it was enough to make the likes of her feel annoyed?
‘… Whatever it is, I just hope I’m not involved, but it seems that’s not likely.’
Sing’s unfortunate premonition soon became reality.
“Lately, the speed at which the automatic background music generates is too slow. So I need someone to listen to the songs played by my instrument, but you can’t be too weak, nor can you collapse or die too fast! Plus, I can’t give up on my routine, so you should be able to follow the same speed and movements as I do without me saying anything!”
To Sing, it was nothing short of a life-threatening level.
“…”
The empty eye sockets of Pasible Yep, gazing at the silent one, seemed to convey unspoken words.
You get it?
Sing shook his head vigorously, expressing his strong refusal, yet his objections were ignored completely.
“You are overly self-serving.”
Just when despair was about to wash over him, the unexpected savior turned out to be the butler of the foundation.
The butler was not pleased with Oknodie’s agenda.
“Why should we put forth the effort to support that sort of nonsense?”
“Hmph. Can’t we do this little favor in celebration of my executive promotion?”
“Usually, no. Just look at Galik.”
“I’m not like him!”
“… That may be, but granting your request is hardly an easy thing to consider. First, show me what sort of instrument you have.”
Excited, Oknodie infused her surroundings with power, making the crimson violin float around her. The immense aura of painful energy that radiated from it made even the spirits caught in magical artifacts who screamed in agony seem trivial in comparison.
“!!”
The performance leapt forth.
Even a minor difference in melody could inflict pain through mana, and a single wrong note would double the suffering, leaving the entities within the instrument utterly unable to resist.
This was a cruel structure that was far worse than just trapping souls in plants and torturing them!
‘A daughter was born who surpasses the father.’
Looking at the estimates, this was no task for ordinary Division 2 butlers of the middle realm.
To qualify, they’d need to have measures to counter various spiritual attacks from other realms and survive in a setting where detection could lead to death or worse for an extended period. Only then could they barely meet the ‘minimum requirement.’
“How fast can you move?”
“Want a demonstration?”
Oknodie instantly showcased several of her movement techniques.
A consecutive jump maneuver, soaring through the air without touching the ground, leaping over her familiar [Mana Board].
A straight break movement technique, using [Wall Pass] spells every time she encountered walls or obstacles, piercing straight through.
She had learned to evade mana detection by matching her mana wavelength to the detection patterns precisely, as skillfully as avoiding the academy’s security system.
She even displayed a new aerial technique, combining the continuous deployment of mana platforms with accelerated mana booster rolls.
These bizarre methods of movement seemed to suggest she didn’t know how to walk; only tracking experts would dare think of following her shadow.
It’s almost crazy to think that while tracking her down, anyone would be doing something as mundane as enjoying a musical performance.
“… Something’s off. The song is fascinating, but is it really life-threatening to listen to? I wouldn’t be surprised if someone slipped off the roof or got wedged in a wall while following those insane movements.”
“Oh, right! I didn’t tell you the development of my playing technique for the BGM! I’ve been trying to implement a song that automatically inflicts damage or status effects while playing music in the Boss Room. Give it a listen!”
Suddenly, as the melody from the violin changed, the pain and effects of
