Ch.309309 – The Chairman’s Mansion

<309 – The Chairman’s Mansion>

The cruise ship that had plowed through the sandy beach, dozens of trees, piles of concrete presumed to be roads, and various other facilities finally came to a stop.

Upon discovering a banner that read “Con☆gratulations Welcome to the Wiheomhae Foundation Chairman’s Mansion,” the students trembled with guilt and fear.

“Aren’t we just terrible?”

“We basically destroyed Papa’s private property, which he prepared to welcome his daughter, with the ship that Papa himself sent.”

“You don’t have to summarize it so harshly, Zhang?!”

In Titosoga’s hand, as she cried out with a tearful face, was a stand that was much heavier, sturdier, and more radiant than before.

“Wow. Titosoga, did you change your lighting stand?”

“I upgraded it to +5!”

“Wow. Lucky you~ Getting a treasure-grade artifact.”

“Treasure-grade?”

“Didn’t you know? Items change grade every 5 enhancement levels. At +5, it’s a treasure!”

“I see!”

As Titosoga and I chatted while disembarking, Isabelle jumped into the conversation in surprise.

“Is that true? So the treasure-grade artifacts often excavated from ruins were actually just +5 enhanced items?”

“That’s right!”

“Then what about relics?”

“Relic-grade is +10 enhancement!”

“I never knew enhancement was such an incredible thing…”

“But why are you curious about that, Isabelle?”

“…Well, I’m the second candidate for the leader of the Esonia Exploration Team. Explorers make their living by excavating treasures and relics from ruins.”

“Oh right. Isabelle isn’t a chef!”

As we disembarked onto land while chatting cheerfully, men in tailcoats covered in dust greeted us with smiling faces that nonetheless betrayed their irritation.

“Welcome to the main mansion, Miss Oknodie.”

“We are the butlers assigned to guide you to the mansion.”

“Butlers? Like Jona?”

Huh. Hmm. Umm?

“Are you really butlers?”

“Are you doubting us?”

“But… you’re weak. All of you.”

The butlers’ faces trembled roughly like bulldogs threatening to bite and kill.

It’s not like I said anything wrong, right?

Their aura of strength is clearly much weaker than Jona’s.

In the suddenly awkward atmosphere, the response came not from the front but from behind.

“That’s only natural. I am the young lady’s butler. And the young lady is no ordinary scholarship student, is she?”

“I’m the top scholarship student!”

“Which makes me a human who can be called the top butler.”

“I see!”

Leaders are naturally strong.

Even among monsters, the alpha is always stronger.

I guess butlers have that kind of system too!

“Mr. Jona. What happened with the ship’s landing?”

“The brakes malfunctioned.”

“You could have stopped by dropping anchor, couldn’t you?”

Jona answered the butlers’ questions with a completely straight face.

“I didn’t know.”

It was definitely the face of someone who had done it deliberately.

Behind me, Leaf caught my eye and winked discreetly, avoiding the butlers’ gaze.

I can wink too!

“Oknodie. Did something get in your eye?”

“Want me to blow on it?”

“No… I’m fine……”

I just felt embarrassed at Zhang and Titosoga’s kindness. I guess winking should be done secretly.

“Gyahahat! The path to the mansion is super long. Is this how rich girls show off?”

“The Foundation is one of the continent’s largest organizations. It’s not strange for them to own a private island the size of an imperial palace.”

“Hey, scholar, don’t you secretly own a private island or something too?”

“Of course not. I have warehouses for hiding stolen goods, ships for smuggling, and a full staff of managers and employees, but I’m not at the level of purchasing an island. Perhaps when my business grows tenfold, I’ll consider it.”

“So you’ve actually thought about it…”

Though Giselle, true to her black market merchant nature, subtly revealed her wealth, the other students’ reactions were merely indifferent.

After all, with students including noble heirs, royalty, and even an imperial princess, they couldn’t be impressed by that level of assets.

On the contrary, the poor students who had nothing but talent looked at Giselle with admiring eyes.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, even among Academy students!

And the wealthy noble heirs and even the imperial princess looked at me with the same eyes they would use to look at the ultimate example of this principle.

“Oknodie. Do you think we’ll get in trouble?”

Zigoku, who had helped demolish this magnificent private island of a wealthy family, glanced around nervously as he asked.

I felt mischievous and wanted to scare my minions who were desperately hoping for a negative answer, but it seemed cruel to torment Zigoku too, so I let it slide this time.

“No way. Papa was the one who sent a ship carrying the Apostle of Anrage first, playing a little prank, so why would he scold us for this? He’ll see it as his daughter’s cute tantrum!”

“Little prank…? Cute tantrum…?”

[What kind of prank involves killing a thousand crew members and tearing up the island entrance? What kind of tantrum is that?]

[Fear Inducement Experience +1]

Hmph.

Why do you criticize everything I say?

“Compared to what Papa did, what we did is nothing. Just look at those spike traps sticking out from the ground that got plowed up.”

The students looked puzzled at the spike traps protruding from the ground that had been plowed up by the ship, and turned to the butler guides.

The butlers answered with shameless faces.

“Those are spike traps for repelling intruders. There were various other traps installed as well, but the ship’s entry destroyed about 90% of the trap facilities near the landing area.”

Titosoga, who had been collecting seashells as souvenirs on the beach, hiccupped.

“For your information, that shell will explode when opened as it contains a bomb. I recommend putting it down carefully.”

See?

What we did really wasn’t a big deal!

[The daughter of a frightening Papa is an object of fear.]

[Fear Inducement Experience +1]

…But why do they keep being afraid of me!

* *

From the entrance, the residential facility that I called Papa’s mansion and recognized as a tower emanated an incredible magical field.

[You possess the title <Witness of the Apocalypse>.]

[Title Effect: Partial resistance to world-scale domains]

As soon as the resistance notification appeared, I realized.

The inside and outside of the mansion exist in different dimensional planes.

The tower shape visible to the naked eye merely hinted at the appearance beyond the dimension, but couldn’t be said to reveal its true form.

I’ll have to enter to see the mansion’s true nature.

The butlers said:

“Miss Oknodie and her friends have been invited to the main mansion, but if you feel burdened, you may decline and wait here. This is merely an ‘invitation,’ not an ‘arrest’ or ‘confinement’.”

Make your own decision.

But if you enter, you’ll face harsh trials.

In response to the butlers’ subtle implications, I hopped right through the entrance.

Who else would come in?

As I waited inside, the upper-class students poured in.

The lower-class students like the pirate crew members and scholarship students didn’t enter.

They declined the mansion exploration out of fear of experiencing something similar to what happened on the cruise ship.

I understand their feelings.

Weak newbies tend to avoid participating in events out of fear of getting bullied somewhere.

They’ll probably regret such timidity later, but they’re not characters I’m raising, so I don’t care how they live their lives or how badly they develop their characters!

Beep. Clunk.

The butlers swiped employee cards to call the elevator and boarded it.

As I confidently tried to step in with them, the butlers shook their heads.

“This route can only be used by those with access rights to each floor. Students, except for butlers and maids, please use the stairs over there.”

“Ah, I see. It’s like a shortcut concept. Well, can’t be helped!”

It would be unreasonable to make people navigate a maze every time they revisit a dungeon after already proving they can overcome it.

In games, shortcuts are implemented for people who have demonstrated their ability to overcome a dungeon, allowing them to bypass complicated sections quickly.

If this elevator serves as such a shortcut, it’s only natural to comply.

If I were alone, I’d force my way in, but…

“Ugh. I don’t want to walk.”

“Can’t we sneak on?”

“Let’s knock out the butlers and take it ourselves.”

Looking at Titosoga who was unreliable in terms of strength, Zhang who was tempting us to sneak in through stealth and infiltration, and the warrior who wanted to use force mindlessly, I couldn’t predict what kind of trouble they might cause.

Since it seemed selfish to bring friends along only to go up alone, I decided we should all climb up together amicably.

“There is a <Dining Hall> on the 20th floor of the mansion. We will be waiting for you there, young lady.”

With that, Jona and Leaf took the elevator up to a floor far above.

The floor number that appeared on the panel where Jona was heading was a whopping 50.

“Isn’t April coming?”

“I’m just a lowly cleaning maid, so I have no history of visiting such important facilities. I must climb the stairs with you all.”

“What about that weakling butler over there?”

“…I remained to guide you in the right direction so you don’t get lost and take the wrong stairs.”

Giselle, seeing the floor numbers, showed curiosity.

“How many floors does this mansion have?”

“As far as I know, it goes up to the 50th floor.”

“Why is the dining hall all the way up on the 20th floor?”

“The Chairman’s mansion evaluates visitors’ capabilities and opens reception facilities to those who qualify. There is a special facility that opens every 10 floors.”

“So to meet Oknodie’s father, one needs to have the skill to climb at least to the 20th floor.”

A strange tension spread among the upper-class students.

“Is floor progression done individually?”

“Since you are group guests, you may proceed together. As invited guests, the difficulty isn’t that high. At worst, one in ten might die from the heat.”

“…”

Several lower-class students who had planned to sneak up by blending with the crowd backed away.