Ch.234234 – Same Time, Different Experience

# 234 – Same Time, Different Experience

The first thought that came to mind after getting a spy was the existence of another maid, Leaf.

“Can I bring Leaf to the academy too? She’s a maid as well. What about Jona?”

“If I may ask, what is your relationship with these individuals?”

“They’re the butler and maid I trained with outside before entering the academy!”

“That would be impossible.”

“Tch. This spy is useless…”

“…While I cannot promise anything, I will try my best to meet your expectations.”

Well, I don’t really think it’s going to happen.

As an elementary schooler, I should throw this much of a tantrum.

My detailed acting as a lonely child—how brilliant I am!

“Then do you know where the scholarship students on the list are right now?”

“That’s something I can help you with.”

With April’s help, my hunt for jerks began to accelerate.

[You have completed the challenge goal Punishing Villains (2).]

[You acquire 900 points.]

[You have completed the challenge goal Punishing Villains (3).]

[You acquire 1800 points.]

[You have completed the challenge goal Punishing Villains (4).]

[You acquire 2700 points.]

Following the challenge to punish 3 jerks, I’ve now reached 9, 18, and 27!

All my hard work controlling mosquitoes while hiding in bushes, behind trash cans, and on rooftop fences has paid off.

I was planning to enjoy the sports festival efficiently by hunting for fewer points, but thanks to April, the search efficiency has improved so much that I’m actually earning more points.

‘At this pace, I might even reach 36?’

This is already my personal best record.

Having successfully tormented a scholarship student sitting on a windowsill from the rooftop, I jumped back from the fence I was hanging on and landed safely on the roof.

Maybe I’ll take my time finding the rest.

“Oknodie. What are you doing here?”

“Ah.”

Just as I let my guard down, a cynical voice came from atop the water tank.

Zigoku was looking down at me with a cigarette in hand.

“Did, did you see?”

“I saw everything.”

I’m doomed…

Of all things, she caught me tormenting jerks with mosquitoes.

If Zigoku reports me to the student council, I’ll definitely be imprisoned in the Great Prison as a criminal caught in the act.

If all my crimes are revealed, I won’t be next to Yumi in the second basement level prison, but probably down to the third floor.

“Could you please pretend you didn’t see anything? Just this once?”

“Why should I?”

“Please? Pretty please?”

Zigoku stared at me blankly.

She’s not showing her crazy side like at the beginning of the semester, firing guns into the air, but that calm silence feels even more ominous.

Her expression is unreadable.

“During summer vacation.”

“Huh?”

“Promise to come visit my ship. Then I’ll keep it a secret.”

I really can’t tell what she’s thinking.

She’s inviting me to a companion event at this timing?

I don’t dislike it.

From <Treasure Hunting> adventures to <Ghost Ship Capture> and <Port Raid>, it offers various maritime events that are quite cost-effective.

But it feels suspicious.

I’d love to ask why, but first I need to get out of this situation.

“I will!”

“Good. Then you may go.”

Only then did Zigoku let me leave.

* * *

The academy rooftop.

Normally, one wouldn’t dare pass through the areas where second and third-year students attend classes to reach the rooftop, but during this sports festival week, some common facilities were opened while the classrooms of upper-grade students were sealed with hammers, nails, and wooden boards for indoor activities.

It was a policy to naturally show students what facilities they could enjoy as they advanced in grades, and Zigoku used this opportunity to find a good place to smoke.

The top of the rooftop water tank offered an open view with no people coming and going, making it perfect for secret smoking, but since the facility would be closed during normal times, it seemed difficult to return here later.

‘Maybe I can come here from second year? No, probably not. It’s a bit much to pass through the third-year corridor to climb up here.’

Zigoku, leisurely enjoying a puff of her cigarette, suddenly frowned.

Someone had come up to the rooftop.

She tried to hide her presence and stay alert, but the person who came up was someone she knew.

Zigoku couldn’t believe her eyes.

‘That kid… where has she been and what has she been doing?’

Her uniform was a mess with dirt and grass stains, and her pantyhose had holes all over as if she’d been scratched by trees.

She was staring at some unknown point in the air with an odd focus, fearlessly approaching the rooftop fence, then hanging on it and even sticking her head out.

‘A suicide attempt!?’

Suddenly she was witnessing something terrible.

Should she intervene?

She wanted to, but…

What if the girl was startled by her voice and fell?

She would plummet straight down.

‘Please don’t do anything stupid and come back down.’

She had no choice but to trust.

Trust in Oknodie’s will to live.

As she watched anxiously for a while, she heard someone’s scream from below.

Oknodie’s hands gripped the fence tightly, then she came back down to the rooftop floor.

Perhaps someone’s painful scream had triggered a fear of suicide.

“Oknodie. What are you doing here?”

“Ah.”

Oknodie flinched with a very surprised expression.

“Did, did you see?”

“I saw everything.”

The usually confident, bold kid couldn’t look up and avoided eye contact.

“Could you please pretend you didn’t see anything? Just this once?”

“Why should I?”

“Please? Pretty please?”

What happened to you? Who did this to you?

No way… was there someone evil enough to hurt a child?

No, that can’t be.

Oknodie is strong.

She’s not the type to be mistreated by others, even in jest.

Thinking about it, why would this child stage a suicide scene?

Even if she really fell from that height, she could use dark mana to survive with just a few scrapes if she hit the ground.

Looking again, she could understand the meaning of the traces.

The dirt on her clothes indicated a crawling posture.

The grass stains meant she had hidden in the bushes.

Hanging on the rooftop fence was to look down over the railing.

All three actions had something in common.

Hiding.

Spying.

Actions done in secret to commit something.

‘During the sports festival? Avoiding others’ eyes? What was she trying to do?’

She herself was hiding to smoke cigarettes, but Oknodie wasn’t smoking.

Despite hanging on the dangerous rooftop fence, she looked down below where she risked being seen.

The purpose was spying itself.

‘So that’s it!’

The realization struck like lightning.

Oknodie had been peeping.

At other students.

In a crawling position.

Hiding in bushes.

Hanging from the rooftop fence.

Secretly, avoiding everyone’s gaze.

Somehow, she began to understand the child’s feelings.

-Don’t set foot in the festival, you dirty villager!

-Did she steal something?

-Look at that kid. She’s holding money.

-She must have stolen it from somewhere.

-Hand over all your money now if you don’t want to get hurt!

A poor coastal village.

The day she first went to a festival with money earned from selling shellfish and fish.

Zigoku encountered the world’s malice.

People judged her as a criminal.

They justified that crimes against criminals weren’t really crimes.

No one protected her when her money was stolen at the roadside where she went to buy festival food.

To the villagers, she was just a dirty, unpleasant child who could commit crimes at any time.

‘Tch. I recalled an unpleasant memory.’

She couldn’t help but see her past self overlapping with this child.

If she couldn’t enjoy the sports festival that everyone else was enjoying, it must be because she was conscious of people’s gazes.

Because she’s a child of the Foundation.

The whispers would never stop.

Those who are weak but love to slander others wouldn’t miss such a good opportunity.

So Oknodie started hiding.

Because she wanted to play but couldn’t.

Because she wanted to mingle with people but was rejected.

“During summer vacation.”

“Huh?”

“Promise to come visit my ship. Then I’ll keep it a secret.”

She made the offer for that reason.

She wanted to show this child.

She wanted to tell her past self that overlapped with Oknodie.

That the festival you long for isn’t all that great.

That she would take her there to experience it herself.

“I will!”

Carefully, hesitantly.

Watching her hurry down the rooftop stairs while checking her surroundings, Zigoku couldn’t hide her bitter feelings.

The cigarette in her hand had already burned to the filter and turned to ash.

* * *

“Oknodie. Where have you been playing today?”

“Here and there!”

“I’ve been looking for you all day. Couldn’t find you anywhere.”

When dinner time came, Oknodie met Isabelle, Son Ocheon, and Giselle in front of the cafeteria.

Watching her cheerfully chatting with her upper-class colleagues, April picked up her pen.

━━━

Support Request

During the sports festival, due to unexplained concentrated crackdowns, many scholarship students have failed their missions and sustained injuries.

Additional personnel reinforcement is requested to respond to strengthened surveillance of internal academy operations.

Request deployment of combat maids as additional personnel and dispatch of butler-level managers to the academy site.

In particular, urgent personnel supplementation is needed to protect Head Scholarship Student Oknodie, who is at risk of being checked by the Hero.

━━━

Oknodie, among her colleagues, smiles and chatters with a bright expression.

She doesn’t seem to dislike it, but she probably hasn’t formed the same bond as with the personal butler and maid who trained and grew up with her.

To April’s eyes, Oknodie—who had spent all day defeating the plots of dozens of scholarship students and was now pretending to be a “good child” while mingling with colleagues despite her battered body—somehow looked sad.

What she did today was completely different from what they did.

Though in the same space, they don’t share the same memories.

It might be the same for the remaining four days until the sports festival ends on Friday.

‘If I could bring her butler and maid to the academy, she might be a little happier?’

She did use the Hero’s name, but the Foundation wouldn’t move without something of this magnitude.

Sometimes a bit of bluster or exaggeration is necessary for reasonable business processing.

And so, April’s support request was transmitted to the Wiheomhae Foundation headquarters.