“Wow… The facilities are really nice… It’s a shame such a place was left abandoned.”
Choi Ji-yeon also took a look around the mansion.
She was certainly impressed by the mansion, but her attention was particularly drawn to the extensive material cultivation area.
There was also a park for ornamental purposes, but upon closer inspection, there were many rare flowers and trees that were hard to find outside, along with facilities openly cultivating materials in bulk.
“Did they use magic to manage this? I didn’t know regular magic could allow for this level of cultivation…”
That was Choi Ji-yeon’s impression as she examined the cultivation facilities.
She wasn’t just interested in the size of the mansion or other amenities; she was particularly intrigued by the magic that allowed for the cultivation of such demanding materials.
‘Well, the Taesan Clan specializes in mass-producing materials, after all.’
The Taesan Clan is the organization that produces the most materials in the world.
With the land manipulation and life force manipulation of Taesan…
If you handle these two functions well, it can allow for the bulk production of even those tricky, rare materials—despite the individual cultivation being challenging.
With land manipulation, they could probably extract or form any decent ore vein.
And coupled with life force manipulation, if they control the ley lines and interfere with the herbs themselves, they could easily cultivate even the notoriously finicky herbs that die off like a blowfish.
Moreover, they can continuously produce a massive amount of food even on this land, which is small compared to the world.
In a world where many lands are eaten away and contaminated by dungeons, there’s no other place that produces as much food abundantly as Taesan.
Furthermore, they are actively bringing in skilled alchemists and other professionals in manufacturing.
The variety of materials produced is extensive, and their quality is top-notch. Those who handle them are also top-notch experts.
The value of potions and such produced by the Taesan Clan is nothing short of astronomical.
‘The potion Yeon-hwa gave me was from the Taesan Clan too, right?’
Especially among the three great clans, exchanges like that occur often.
The Taesan Clan is rich in materials and food from the earth, along with the processing techniques.
The Changhae Clan has an abundance of all-purpose personnel who work with monster by-products sourced from the extensive gray areas they occupy, with healing, combat, and support skills manifesting uniquely.
The Gop-hwa Clan is overflowing with combat personnel unmatched in battle and armed processing technologies.
With these formidable forces aiming to firmly join hands in this small region, to outsiders, they might appear to be one single entity.
Moreover, it wasn’t surprising for Choi Ji-yeon, who was likely to succeed the Taesan Clan, to have such interests.
‘…If nothing extraordinary happens, I’ll become the clan head…’
If unspectacular events occur, she’ll smoothly take over the position of clan head.
But this world, while seemingly peaceful, is one where terribly chaotic disasters happen quite frequently.
Even without counting the top-tier invasion, all sorts of annoying things occur all the time.
The upcoming secret incident during her second year is just one example.
At that time, it would just be brushed aside as a major incident, but if left unattended, it’s a disaster they’ll regret bitterly later on.
Sigh.
What gloomy thoughts before a meal.
Watching Choi Ji-yeon crouched down and examining the herbs, an inexplicable sense of melancholy washed over him.
He pushed that feeling aside and continued with the tour.
As the last guest, Choi Ji-yeon, started to wrap up her tour of the mansion, the orange glow of sunset began to cast over the garden.
Everyone’s stomach was starting to rumble.
Checking the time, it was the perfect time for dinner.
After giving Choi Ji-yeon a brief tour of the mansion, he quickly gathered the group and led them to the dining area.
“So, we’re eating here?”
“Yes…”
The dining area was quite nice.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been sticking to my side, tilted her head.
This vast mansion has multiple dining rooms.
There’s a massive dining room on the first floor of the central area, along with one each on the west and east sides of the first floor.
The facilities were great. The setup was well done, and cleanliness was not an issue. They could use it right away without any preparation.
There’s plenty of space, providing a sense of openness, and the kitchen is right next door, making it convenient to prepare meals on the spot.
That spaciousness is always a good thing, after all.
However, dinner wasn’t going to be in one of the dining rooms on the first floor; instead, we decided to use one of the rooms.
To be exact, the top floor of the mansion.
With one wall opened up, it provides a good view of the outside… sort of.
It was a little too open, but thanks to magic, strange bugs couldn’t get in, maintaining a perfectly pleasant temperature.
The orange glow from the ceiling lights created a cozy atmosphere inside.
“It’s not overly crowded, and the space here is more than enough, right…?”
“No, I’m not saying anything. I just thought we’d dine in the first-floor dining room.”
“Um… that one’s a bit too spacious…”
At that question, I awkwardly turned my head to respond.
This was entirely a choice influenced by my preferences.
You know how it goes, dining rooms feel too large, leading to a sense of alienation? That sudden sense of emptiness strikes.
With too much empty space, it gives off a loneliness vibe.
Having a large dining space isn’t a bad thing, but it somehow feels devoid of warmth.
In any case, I preferred feeling snug and bustling around.
“Okay then, everyone take a seat.”
“I’ll bring out the food right away.”
I said that while using the artifact, the Confession Necklace, to gesture them inward.
Truthfully, this room wasn’t small either.
The large rectangular dining table positioned in the center was ample enough to hold a good amount of food.
The long sofas were comfortable to sit on even together, and there were spacious armchairs as well.
There were also a fair number of vacant spots, so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable.
“But…”
“…”
“…?”
Yet, everyone was just staring at me with strange looks without moving.
Even Hong Yeon-hwa, who was up front next to me, and Choi Ji-yeon, who was about to step in casually, suddenly halted and started reading the atmosphere.
‘What’s going on?’
I looked around the room to see if anything was wrong.
There were no particular issues. The spells were functioning correctly, and visually, there shouldn’t be any problems…
“Yeon-hwa, stop blocking the path and hurry in.”
“What are you doing blocking the passage? Move aside already.”
Hong Yeon-hwa flinched at the voice from behind.
“Yeon-hwa, what’s wrong?”
At her seemingly dissatisfied reaction, I gently tugged at Hong Yeon-hwa’s sleeve.
Hong Yeon-hwa glanced down at the sleeve being pulled.
“Oh, let Hae-yul go in first.”
Then, she reacted as if a light bulb had clicked above her head and weakly pushed my back.
“What? I was just guiding everyone…”
“No, no, this kind of thing is usually for the homeowner to enter first. Now, hurry…”
She stumbled inside.
“Dad?”
“Oh? Uh, yeah…”
Blinking vacantly, I sat down on the long sofa, still holding the hand of Seo-yul, who was urging me.
While Seo-yul can eat on his own now, he’s technically still at an age where I should be looking out for him.
Hong Yeon-hwa then came closer to me as if wondering what she was hesitating about, and Elia, who entered gracefully behind her, naturally sat beside Seo-yul.
“Ugh.”
“Ahahaha, how blatant.”
The mentor Selov and Professor Riana, who was glancing at him, sat across on the long sofa.
Baek Ahrin and Choi Ji-yeon took their seats on the nearby armchairs.
“Hmm…”
I tilted my head slightly at the suddenly arranged seating but… whatever.
Honestly, I was a bit too tense to focus on that.
Shaking my head free of tension, I opened the spatial pocket wide.
With the wings of the sky stretching in various directions, I rummaged through the spatial pocket and pulled out several dishes.
“Wow! What is all this?”
“Hey, is that a dragon’s shellfish? That must have been hard to acquire, and processing it must have been even tougher…”
I could see everyone’s eyes widen as they turned to the assortment of food blooming on the central table.
“I worked hard to prepare everything.”
“And there’s way more than this, so eat plenty, everyone.”
Seeing everyone swallowing nervously made me smile in satisfaction as I clapped my hands.
Indeed, knowing the guests coming to the housewarming, I had made sure to prepare a lot of food tailored to their tastes.
Hong Yeon-hwa loves hearty meat dishes, and my mentor and Elia seem to have grown fond of bread and soup typical from their hometown.
Professor Riana’s favorite was the rich sandwich type she had gifted me before.
As for Choi Ji-yeon… Well, we weren’t close enough yet for me to prepare much for her.
But I took a guess based on the world’s settings, so I tried to prepare something like a gratin using ingredients like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn.
“Yay!”
“I’m so happy!”
“I feel so proud!”
With lively reactions erupting around the table, my shoulders instinctively lifted.
Having housewarming slightly mixed in with the gathering, I put in a lot more effort than usual.
Of course, I always put in effort when cooking for others.
If I were cooking for myself, I might just shove random vegetables and meat into a pot to fill my calories.
“Ah, wait a minute!”
“Don’t forget to eat this too!”
Just as I was enjoying the satisfaction of being the chef, seeing everyone look like they were about to devour everything, I quickly shoved my hands back into the spatial pocket.
As my hand fished around for something else, it firmly grabbed hold of a hard object. I moved my body that was becoming stiff and pulled it out.
“…Huh? That’s…”
“Oh?”
“Huh?”
Hong Yeon-hwa, sitting next to me, turned her head quizzically.
Everyone around did the same, blinking in disbelief before widening their eyes in horror as they confirmed what I was holding.
“Hae-yul!! That’s alcohol! Geoffrey!”
“Why is that in your spatial pocket…! Hurry put it down!”
“Hae-yul? Come on, give it here~ You’re being good, right?”
“What the…?”
The intense reactions that erupted left me… well, not surprised, but quite amused.
People who wouldn’t bat an eye at a lethal weapon suddenly reacted this way when I held up a single bottle of alcohol…
Of course, I understood their concern.
Most people here were already aware of my situation.
“Hey, junior? Can we talk about the alcohol after you put it down…”
But then, why was Choi Ji-yeon reacting so dramatically if she didn’t know the backstory?
I don’t recall revealing any of this to her…
“Anyway, confirming that it’s okay to drink, so that’s a yes.”
“I heard this is something precious from Beigo.”
“Eh, Hae-yul, still…!”
I quickly calmed the sudden commotion.
Through all of this, Hong Yeon-hwa was still staring at me anxiously, her hands still fidgeting.
With everyone poised to take the alcohol away from me, I slowly set the bottle down on the table and shook my head.
“It’s fine.”
Frankly, it was odd that I got drunk during the after-party after the entrance exam.
Is it really possible to get drunk just from the smell without even having tasted the alcohol?
Of course, situations like that aren’t impossible. There are all kinds of body types in this world, and I could be one of those people.
I muttered nonsense while spouting phone numbers at the phone vendor who wouldn’t budge.
But I’ve never gotten drunk before. If I felt a rejection, I’d feel that instead; it’s not like I lost my reasoning.
It was obviously terrifying.
Alcohol is something that disgusts me, and drunk people make me fearful.
Especially those who lose their reasoning, stagger around, and slur their words deeply—their erratic behavior frightens me so much I want to run away.
“I’m really fine.”
It’s precisely because I was scared of how drunk people act that I kept avoiding alcohol.
“As long as I don’t have to, I need to deal with it eventually. And…”
Right now… I wasn’t particularly afraid.
Holding the bottle of alcohol, I felt an involuntary rejection surge up, and my body might be stiffening, but I wasn’t utterly terrified.
“Everyone’s nice people, so it’s okay.”
“I trust you.”
Clatter, clatter—
The Confession Necklace chimed.
I don’t know why, but there was an emotional weight to the necklace’s voice.
Even to me, it seemed like a voice filled with trust, one saying that I did trust them.
“…”
I paused for a moment.
“Uh, hmm…”
Thinking back, I suppose I’d said some embarrassing things swept away by the atmosphere.
Since I’m all right now, I should just conclude it, yet it seemed like I tacked on some unnecessary words…
Feeling a sudden embarrassment, I lowered my head, only to find multiple hot gazes pouring down on top of me.
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