Ch.217217 – The One Who Sends, The One Who Takes, The One Who Plays Innocent

<217 – The One Who Sends, The One Who Takes, The One Who Plays Innocent>

The Foundation representative felt like he was going to lose his mind.

Just when it seemed like they would take Oknodie away smoothly without any issues, this terrifying-looking professor suddenly started emitting murderous intent.

The world around him distorted as sharp killing intent flashed from all directions, threatening to burn his eyes, pierce his heart, and sever his neck.

In fear that made him feel worse than a mouse before a cat, all he could do was open his mouth with a face contorted in pain.

“The Foundation has no intention of antagonizing Gift Academy. Didn’t we say you could take the child if you obtained her voluntary consent?”

“Voluntary consent, you say? Do you think you can push everything off and turn a blind eye, making the child responsible for this entire situation?”

Say something.

You stayed because you wanted to.

The supervisor turned to Oknodie, hoping for some explanation, but his eyes widened in shock.

-So annoying!!! Want to taste some dark mana?

-Why so gloomy this morning?

-The clown mask gang pissed me off by bringing the same menu they served last week.

Like the Black Dragon known as the Dragon of Tyranny, the most notorious creature of the current era, this demon in child’s form who demanded rare dishes for every meal and drained the branch budget was now blinking innocently with the face of an 11-year-old baby and avoiding eye contact.

‘T-t-that damn brat. Is she trying to shift the blame to us because she’s scared of the professor!?’

She refused to leave even when we told her to go!

He felt so wronged he wanted to jump three meters into the air, but with the sense that one wrong move would get his throat slit, he couldn’t even speak freely.

Carefully straightening his posture to show he had no harmful intentions, he respectfully placed his hands together in front of his stomach.

Eyes cast downward.

Breathing carefully to avoid making noise.

Watching for any reaction, the supervisor spoke.

“We also hope to end this unnecessary misunderstanding and return Oknodie to the academy as soon as possible. I fully support the professor’s wishes.”

“Hmph. How amusing. You still have the energy to mock me after feeling my killing intent.”

‘That fucking academy professor.’

I’m showing the utmost respect, and who’s mocking whom?

You’re the one mocking us.

Suppressing his desire to curse to the professor’s face, he heard the professor make his demand.

“I need to see how the Foundation has been treating Oknodie. Show me her living quarters.”

Despite the commanding tone of Professor Destroyer, the supervisor led the way without showing any displeasure.

“This is our branch’s night duty room.”

“Where has Oknodie been sleeping?”

“We assigned her a room here.”

It was the VIP room, equipped with the most luxurious items and a soft, comfortable bed enchanted with magic.

It was true that they had given Oknodie the room reserved for high-ranking Foundation officials.

How scary must this little thug be?

Sleep well and maybe tone down that nasty temper a bit.

That was the mindset with which they had given her the room, but now the supervisor was relieved that this was one less thing for the professor to find fault with.

Well done, past me.

Great crisis management skills.

While the self-absorbed supervisor was having these deranged thoughts at the crossroads of life and death, Oknodie unexpectedly raised her hand.

“I didn’t sleep here though?”

“What are you saying!? We definitely assigned you a room!”

“Silence. Don’t interrupt Oknodie.”

As Professor Destroyer’s gaze intensified, a murderous pressure bore down on the supervisor’s shoulders.

Pop! Clang!

Crack.

In the display area where soft lighting illuminated a flower vase, the light suddenly burst and the vase shattered.

With pressure strong enough to crack the side table pressing down on his shoulders, the supervisor’s legs trembled as he struggled to maintain his awkward posture, gritting his teeth and placing both hands on his knees for support.

While the supervisor was too crushed by the professor’s domain to speak despite his indignation, the professor turned to Oknodie with angry eyes and asked.

“You didn’t sleep here. Is that true?”

“Yes. Not yet anyway.”

Oknodie, who had been watching cautiously, added softly as if offering something to appease his anger.

“If the professor had come later, I might have slept here soon!”

“…So you were planning to make the child sleep in that bed decorated like a brothel room? Were you planning to force the child into prostitution if she didn’t follow your orders?”

“!!”

Oh no.

Strong regret showed on the supervisor’s face.

It had seemed so natural that he hadn’t even thought about it.

The high-ranking officials who came down from the Foundation were obviously men.

It was natural that they would demand sexual entertainment.

It was normal to bring in prostitutes from nearby to supply them, so the VIP room was decorated accordingly, but since Oknodie had never complained, it hadn’t even occurred to him that there might be a problem.

Was she pretending to sleep well all this time just to set him up like this?

“This is unfair!”

The supervisor truly felt wronged.

If he had actually harbored ill intentions, that would be one thing.

It was true that the child showed great potential.

But she was just a child.

There wasn’t a single pervert in his branch who would lay hands on such a baby.

He wasn’t the type of spineless person who would meekly accept such a false accusation.

“Since our VIP room is usually used by men, I acknowledge that the bed may not be appropriate for a child’s sensibilities. However, this was merely an administrative oversight. We had absolutely no intention of threatening the child!”

“Oknodie. Tell me yourself. Is what the Foundation representative saying true?”

“Yes! They never threatened me sexually!”

Oknodie answered vigorously, showing some conscience.

She glanced around cautiously and added.

“…Not yet anyway!”

“You conscienceless brat! How can you call yourself human!”

As soon as the supervisor lost his temper, he felt his muscles tear and bones crush as one of his knees slammed into the marble floor.

Despite the tears flowing from the pain that felt like his knee would shatter, Destroyer showed no mercy and looked down at him with fierce eyes.

“Do not raise your voice. Do you wish to hasten your death?”

“Do you know how many rare dishes we prepared for that child! We truly did our best. We put so much effort into serving her that it nearly bankrupted our branch!”

“Check it.”

At Destroyer’s command, members of the Thief Guild who had already surrounded the Foundation branch and were hiding nearby rushed in to raid the dining hall, kitchen, and food storage.

“We found it.”

“Multiple rare dishes confirmed.”

“Price tags and packaging from local specialty rare dishes detected. These are indeed specialty products.”

So they did feed her rare dishes.

But they offered her a VIP room meant for prostitutes and tried to threaten her.

Who knows what tricks they might have played with the food too.

“Bring them.”

Destroyer examined the packaging, price tags, and other evidence.

The first few items were decent.

10 gold coins each.

It was confirmed that they had served dishes that cost a considerable amount.

But whether Oknodie ate them or they ate them themselves was another question.

“Oknodie. Have you eaten KiraKira Sprinkle Grilled Eel?”

“Yes!”

“How about Hundred-Year-Old Lizard Tail Roast?”

“I ate it!”

“Ogogok Rye Porridge?”

“It was delicious!”

The verification started well.

From fun ingredients that made “ogogok” sounds when chewed, to hundred-year-old lizard tails that were softly reconstructed as the lizard evolved, to thunder eels that sparkled with electrical mana.

These were all foods that helped in terms of enjoyment, taste, and growth.

‘These are gourmet-level dishes.’

Even at the academy, such dishes required separate point payments and advance reservations as special meals.

And that was with Gift Island’s uniquely inflated prices that were 100 times higher.

Not a bad choice for outside dining.

But any trust that might have been building for the Foundation representative completely collapsed when a Thief Guild member rushed over with a ledger.

“Oknodie. Have you drunk Screaming Soul Liquor?”

“Yes!”

“It’s unacceptable for a child to drink alcohol in the first place, but Soul Liquor is especially problematic. Do you know what kind of alcohol that is?”

“It has souls that increase movement speed, so it was tasty!”

“So they even made you aware of its effects when they gave it to you.”

Even the cruel disposition to handle souls was naturally cultivated by the Foundation.

This situation was unacceptable.

It was a cruel act to make a child think it was normal to exploit souls as if enjoying fine cuisine.

Crack!

The marble floor began to crack.

The Foundation representative screamed.

His knee was being crushed, and blood pooled on the cracked marble floor.

“Bomb Mushroom Soup is a forbidden food that can burst the esophagus and stomach, leading to death if the consumer’s body isn’t sufficiently developed. Did you eat this too?”

“It was delicious!”

As Oknodie licked her lips, Destroyer gave the supervisor a look that said “how could you feed such things to a child,” and the supervisor’s patience finally reached its limit.

“ARGH!! You demonic brat!! We had no intention of giving you such things, but you were the one who demanded new dishes, refusing to eat the same rare dish twice!!”

“Oh, I was fine with it. I’m not picky and eat well.”

“This brat…! Are you trying to commit murder by proxy!? You’re planning to kill me using the professor’s hands! Since it’s come to this, I’ll be honest. I almost wished you’d half-died from eating that! I was going to kindly send you back to the academy if you wanted treatment!”

The supervisor lost his composure and shouted at the top of his lungs, veins bulging in his neck.

“Do you know how much money it costs to buy rare dishes from distant places? The extra money spent to locate arcane chefs and purchase ingredients when dishes couldn’t be bought? Branch funds weren’t enough, so I had to embezzle my personal assets! For ingredients that couldn’t be bought with money, those stupid clown-masked buffoons risked their lives to obtain them!!”

Huff. Huff.

Exhausted from his outburst, he glared at Oknodie as if to say “what are you going to do now?”

Oknodie was clever.

“Eh, huh~? I don’t understand what you’re saying, but it’s so scary! Help me, Professor!”

Oknodie’s perfect act of playing innocent and shifting all blame!

The effect was tremendous.

The supervisor’s hands transformed underwater, donning claws that flashed sharp talons.

“That’s enough. Just die!”

Swoosh!

The supervisor leaped from the ground, extending his claws.

“What annoying resistance.”

It was an insolent move targeting Oknodie since he couldn’t harm the professor.

Just as he was about to crush and burst her body to thwart this final act of defiance, Oknodie’s body left afterimages as she instantly approached the Foundation representative.

“!”

She’s fast.

Too close.

At this speed, she might get caught up in it.

In the split second that he restrained his power to prevent Oknodie from being crushed by his domain, the supervisor and Oknodie didn’t miss the opportunity and crossed paths even faster.

The claw extending with increased speed and Oknodie diving inside to avoid it.

The outcome of the deadlock was clear.

Rip!

Oknodie’s sleeve was torn by the claw.

The supervisor’s attack merely grazed her.

Thwack!

Oknodie was different.

With a terrible sound, the Foundation representative’s neck split open.

It was the result of slicing his neck with a hand coated in dark mana.

Gurgle.

The supervisor clutched his neck and looked at her resentfully as if wronged.

He collapsed with a thud.

“What dangerous thing are you doing!”

Destroyer was angry that Oknodie would have been caught up if he had been even slightly slower in withdrawing his domain.

“Haven’t you learned that recklessly interfering with an expanded domain can result in serious injury!”

“I never learned that?”

Destroyer thought carefully.

Oknodie was right.

“I see. That’s taught from the third year.”

Destroyer had confused the curriculum because Oknodie was so strong.

While he awkwardly closed his mouth, Oknodie wiped her blood-dripping hand on the corpse’s clothes and smiled awkwardly.

‘This is quite suspicious.’

Destroyer stared at Oknodie with doubt flickering in his gaze.

Is this child really someone who was abused by the Foundation and then rescued?

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed more like the Foundation representative had been abused by Oknodie and was executed as the price for his insubordination…

“Are we taking a carriage back?”

“There’s an academy-exclusive teleportation magic circle. We didn’t use it when coming here to avoid the Foundation’s eyes, but we can use it directly on our way back.”

“Wow!”

Oknodie maintained her innocent face with natural ease.

Harboring a lingering sense of suspicion, Destroyer headed to the teleportation station with Oknodie.