The Nobles Are the Most Barbaric When You Look Closely

[Ruincrest Academy welcomes all students from the central Ruincrest layer, aged 15 to 25, who have reached adulthood!]

[Our goal is to cultivate powerful warriors to safeguard peace and order in the future, as well as individuals who will lead the Ark!]

[The Academy awaits you!]

[For honor, loyalty, and a new world!]

[The above has been written in accordance with the Digital Informational Ethics Regulations, and refrains from defamation, personal attacks, curses, libel, and other such acts against others…]

“Ugh, boring.”

I threw the Ruincrest Academy brochure out the window of the transport elevator.

Even considering that I’m a fresh-faced new student entering the Academy, the contents of the brochure are not only boring but also devoid of substance.

It’s just a common collection of letters that you might see in any public institution.

Frankly, there wasn’t anything particularly important in it.

The only noteworthy rules were that you must always wear the uniform to show your status as an Academy student once you arrive at the Ruincrest layer, and that students must be educated on the Academy’s ideology and beliefs.

Besides that, it was suspicious that they subtly mentioned safeguarding peace and order without clearly stating the subject, and that they told us to follow the Academy’s ideology and beliefs.

‘It’s not enough to call it treason just from this.’

I’m currently riding a transport elevator that runs straight through the layers.

It was similar to the Outer Wall Exploration Agency’s elevator that sends hunters outside, but this one was more like an elevator for the upper class or high-ranking officials, such as the Overseer or the Executor Unit.

“Welcome to the Nibulus agricultural layer. To the office workers of the Food Mega Corp and the spirits and elves who will be doing blessed labor at the Artificial Farm. Please fill your 16-hour workdays diligently today as well!”

Ugh. Damn it.

16 hours of labor…

As the woman who appeared to be the elevator guide bowed her head, several people got off in droves.

Perhaps because it was an agricultural layer, there were many elves with long ears.

Oh, that person is a half-spirit, half-human hybrid?

But how can a child be born between a human, a physical being, and a spirit, an ethereal being?

“Moving to the next layer.”

The scene of moving between layers was quite spectacular.

The size of one layer ranged from a small town to a metropolis as large as ten Seouls combined.

The transport elevator was like an Ark’s airplane, so the sense of speed visible through the window was extraordinary.

However, I couldn’t see the scenery outside.

The elevator was moving too fast, but also because there were many unsightly abandoned machines, institutions, and sewers protruding from each layer, which wasn’t aesthetically pleasing.

Anyway, as time passed and I passed about 21 layers, I arrived at my destination.

“This layer is the Ruincrest layer! Wow- Welcome to the fucking racist layer that only welcomes humans, not humanity! If you’re an Academy student, congratulations. It’s a terrifying Academy where you have to receive ideological education 24 hours a day!”

At the guide’s cheerful words, I got up.

I was the only one who got up.

Usually, once you enter the Academy in the upper and central areas, you don’t leave the layer until you graduate, so that’s probably why.

Besides, it’s not even the admission season right now.

“Oh my, a guest?”

Then, the guide tilted her head as she looked at me trying to get off the elevator.

“Your body seems a bit bigger than before you boarded?”

“…”

She noticed.

My body was the same as usual when I boarded the transport elevator, but now my body has grown a bit more.

By uniting Luichella and Jamel Kassim Sandria, my body density has increased unbelievably, and I’m growing little by little every moment.

My legs, waist, and even my chest and face are aging ever so slightly.

According to Theresa, it will naturally grow to the level that my body can handle, so it will stop at around 17-19 years old.

“It’s because I’m growing.”

“Ah! If you’re growing, that’s understandable! Anyway, you’re Alice, right?”

Instead of answering, I briefly materialized the blue choker around my neck.

From the 2nd grade Overseer, it is possible to make the choker transparent.

The elevator guide, after checking my choker, looked surprised for a moment before smiling brightly like a flower and nodding her head.

“Welcome to the Ruincrest layer! I hope you are human, and that your arms and legs remain intact, so your purity stays untainted.”

With those words, I got off the elevator, and the transport elevator disappeared in an instant as soon as I got off.

I didn’t know inside, but it feels different when you see it from the outside.

In fact, from this point on, I could be seen as an agent deployed on a mission.

This mission, which came down through Oriana, was not a mission to execute an ordinary traitor, but a mission closer to an audit and review.

Ruincrest Academy is dreaming of treason and spreading ideologies and education related to it within the Academy, so I will directly enter the Academy to identify the unhealthiness of the ideology. The content of this mission was that I could also carry out summary executions according to my judgment.

I grabbed the transparent blue choker and said quietly.

“Oriana, I’ve arrived at the Ruincrest layer.”

[Yes, I know. From this moment on, all humans are prohibited from entering Ruincrest. This is valid until 2nd grade Overseer Alice declares the end of the mission, and only material drones that have passed the sensor inspection can enter the layer.]

With those words, I heard something cut off from the transport elevator’s route.

‘Now, all humans in this layer are either potentially my enemies or innocent people.’

[Alice, I’ve withdrawn all Executors and Overseers in the layer.]

“What about Hunters?”

[I’ve issued an official document, but if individual Hunters are in charge of guarding nobles, you’ll have to either persuade them or kill them.]

“Okay. No problem.”

The Ruincrest layer was a layer that boasted a Victorian-style aristocratic and romantic landscape.

Carriages led by mechanical horses roamed around, and the air was almost as fresh as outside compared to the Kowloon residential area and the lower layer.

The light of the Artificial Sun was not just bright, but gently and warmly illuminated the entire layer like the setting sun.

The people also looked quite sophisticated and dignified.

A gentleman wearing pince-nez walked confidently down the block, and women who looked like noble ladies were holding tea parties on the terrace, laughing and giggling.

In between, I could also see Academy students wearing similar clothes to me.

On the surface, it looked peaceful, sophisticated, and like a city where some of the wealthiest people in the Ark resided, but it was ironic that whether they became traitors or not depended on my judgment, even though it looked very peaceful on the surface.

‘Ah, is this the taste of power?’

Of course, they wouldn’t know.

They wouldn’t even think that the central government suspects them of treason, or that all the wealth and power they’ve built up could be cut off by my judgment alone.

Frankly, Oriana said it was okay for me to declare treason from this spot and annihilate the entire layer.

“Hmm, so let’s see… enter Ruincrest layer 37-1 road?”

Well, Theresa in my head has already downloaded the map of this place and knows where the destination is, but still, I should ride a carriage since I came all the way here!

The carriages in the Ruincrest area serve as both taxis and drones at the same time.

Besides, it’s free for Academy students.

I waved my hand at a passing carriage.

-Clatter clatter

“Huh?”

However, the coachman sitting in the driver’s seat glanced at me, frowned, and disappeared.

It’s not like he just ignored me.

Even though it was clear that there was no one in the carriage, the coachman clearly smiled at me and ignored me.

What?

Smile?

“…Oh, is that so?”

Annoyed, I jumped towards the carriage.

-Thud!

“Wh, what!?”

The coachman was greatly surprised when I landed right next to the driver’s seat.

“Hey mister. Why are you ignoring m…”

“You! How dare you, not even human, get on board!”

“What?”

But funnily enough, it was the coachman who was angry.

In an act of chutzpah, the coachman glared at me with his face red, but I was able to realize something from his words and what the guide in the transport elevator said earlier.

Ah, these bastards.

This Ruincrest layer is a fucking racist.

The Ark accepts demons, elves, dwarves, and androids as the same humanity as long as their humanity is proven.

However, here in the Ruincrest area, due to the closed-minded nature unique to the upper class, they don’t recognize anyone who isn’t a pure human as humanity.

Even though the strict laws and order of the central Ark exist, they discriminate against each other and divide classes in this layer.

This is the first time for me too.

Whether it was the middle or lower layer, it was never a problem that my body was an android can, and I had never received such discriminatory gazes, so the coachman’s fucking racist remarks were quite new to me.

The upper class are even worse, really.

“Ah, mister. Are you ignoring me because I’m an android?”

“Y, you impudent thing! I and this carriage only carry humans!”

“But the horse is a mechanical horse?”

“Then will you pull the carriage like this mechanical horse?! Those who have abandoned the purity of humans and fled into mechanical bodies, whose origins and origins are unclear, are not human!”

After hearing the coachman’s words, I think I now know what the atmosphere of the Ruincrest layer is like.

Even the nobles and citizens of Ruincrest who were passing by were gradually giving their attention to the coachman’s commotion.

Perhaps because it was a Victorian-style noble layer, they were interested as soon as a commotion broke out.

“Executor! Where is the Executor! A can-woman who is not even human dared to get on my carriage! Drag her out right now!”

I sighed.

A coachman is already this fucking racist, what will it be like when I enter the Academy?

Well, there’s no problem.

I took out the glove I was wearing on my hand and threw it at the coachman’s face.

-Thwack!

“Ugh!?”

The coachman, who was suddenly slapped in the face, looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“I challenge you to a duel! Come down right now and draw your sword!”

“Wh, what!?”

Victorian-style Ruincrest layer.

The strict laws of the Ark exist here, but there is a tradition unique to this layer.

That tradition is the duel trial.

The plaintiff and defendant, or their representatives, fight with weapons, and the winner is innocent and the loser is guilty. It could be used in both civil and criminal cases, and it was a religious and barbaric tradition that represented the nobles well, with the logic that the winner takes all, but above all, that God gives victory to the righteous.

For reference, Ruincrest Academy has an average of over 100 deaths each year through duel trials.

The reason Oriana sent me here is probably because of the ridiculous tradition of duel trials.

It’s a funny and barbaric tradition from the outside, but from my perspective as an infiltrator into the layer, it’s quite useful and convenient.

Well, the coachman’s face turned pale.

“B, but…!”

“What? Are you scared? If you’re scared, admit defeat and smash your head on the ground for me.”

“Y, y, you…!”

“Why are you scared?”

Duel trial.

Very good.

I heard that people in this layer can’t refuse it?

Refusing it itself is a fatal insult and shame, and they have a strange culture where they think it’s better to die than to refuse.

It’s a culture I don’t understand…

Anyway, just before the coachman could say anything, the people gathered around began to whisper.

Oh my, oh my, that coachman. Surely he won’t abandon the duel with a lowly person who isn’t even human, will he?

How pathetic. We are great humans, and we would rather die honorably than wag our tails and run away in disgrace.

How interesting.

It’s hard to run away because of the attention.

But the coachman had his own thoughts.

Are there only one or two of these troublesome customers?

And the coachman of Ruincrest is not an ordinary coachman.

The coachman graduated from Ruincrest Academy and was also one of the forces that maintained security here.

Due to the nature of being a coachman, they traveled all over the layer and the city, so they also acted as police or Executors. Of course, this coachman also had some force.

In fact, coachmen deal with nobles in addition to coordinating security, and they also deal with monsters that occur in the layer during operations instead of guests, so they are equipped with basic force.

‘Yes, judging by her clothes, she’s a fledgling who’s making a fuss about entering Ruincrest Academy! A clueless junior!’

The coachman, having made a decision, took out a sword from his waist and pointed it at me.

It wasn’t just a sword, it was a bayonet with bullets loaded.

“I’ll show you, who has abandoned purity, the horror of a senior.”

He might have been a coachman, but that didn’t mean he was some lowborn commoner. In Ruincrest, every citizen was either an academy graduate or employed by one. Naturally, even a coachman had his own means of defense.

“Good. I accept the duel!”

[Duel trial is established.]

As the coachman shouted, a drone that appeared from somewhere declared a duel trial.

The gentlemen and ladies who were passing by had interesting faces as if they had something to watch.

“If I win, I’ll tear off the limbs of you who have abandoned purity and hang them on that billboard! In addition, I’ll take ownership of all the items you have!”

“That’s hilarious, the one who refused the carriage ride was wrong. Then I’ll do the same.”

[The price of the duel trial has been established.]

[The duel trial will begin from this moment.]

“This is the Ruincrest layer for pure humans only! I’ll personally give some tough love to an outsider who doesn’t even know the subject…!”

-Thwack!

And the duel trial ended in less than 0.1 seconds.

It’s easy for me, who has united with Luichella, to reach speeds exceeding the speed of sound.

The coachman also seemed stronger than an ordinary person, but he couldn’t even react to the blade of the mechanical tendril touching his neck at my speed.

The bayonet that the coachman was holding was lying powerlessly on the floor, torn in two by the mechanical tendril I wielded.

“Uh, uh…?”

[Duel trial ended]

[Winner Alice]

Originally, in a duel trial, it is perfectly fine to kill the opponent, not just suppress or win.

Well, even if the coachman was a fucking racist, it’s not a crime punishable by death…

Still, I felt it very deeply as soon as I came here.

Duel trial.

This is fucking.

Very, very convenient.