In the Chairman’s Office of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation.
If you were to line up the residences of the most dangerous individuals in the world, without a doubt, a certain place would be counted on one hand, and at that moment, a tasting event was in full swing.
“[Monthly Gourmet Association] has graciously offered the weeping dew as a thank-you for the sponsorship funds. The taste, with the soul’s scream lingering in my mouth with every sip, isn’t half bad, you know.”
“…I’m glad to hear that.”
“Would you like to try some?”
“I’ll graciously decline, as I am abstaining this week.”
“Oh dear. That’s unfortunate. Opportunities to drink such a special dew and expand the wine collection are quite rare.”
Those who possess wealth and power inevitably open their eyes to ways of becoming stronger in this world.
Item collection.
A weapon merchant collects weapons, a monster hunter collects the loot from slain monsters, and an art dealer collects artworks.
The chairman of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation possesses wealth and power that transcends those common collectors.
His fields of collection are not limited to just one and have expanded to encompass a diverse array of various collections.
“It’s easy to acquire existing items in the world, but once you go beyond a certain level, you start searching for new collections that never existed before. In that sense, this dew holds quite a bit of value.”
As the liquid swirled in the wine glass, tiny skull-shaped souls emerged and vanished like stains on the glass window.
“A level 5 wine, only possible to create by mastering techniques of torture, kidnapping, soul extraction, and winemaking. It’s a vile drink that cannot be handled without power. Perhaps we could also call it the ‘wine of power.’”
The secretary office head was on the verge of losing it.
Just hearing the screams and wails echoing from the wine glass the chairman was sipping made his stomach churn. How did the chairman’s mind work, taking that down nonchalantly?
From the very beginning, he was a man who could hardly be called sane for willingly contributing funds to the Monthly Gourmet Association, which would dare to craft such a heinous dew.
“So, has our mischievous daughter been faring well through Papa’s trials?”
“I just received a report from the cruise ship. The destination of the ship has changed to the mansion on the Kuernania archipelago, and there was a bloody incident caused by the Apostle of Anrage.”
“Did Jonnas survive?”
The secretary office head didn’t grasp the true meaning behind the question immediately.
Why was he asking that?
The chairman enjoyed the hesitation, savoring it much like he did the weeping dew.
That made the secretary office head uneasy.
He recollected the reasons the chairman first sought information about Jonnas’s survival, despite half the crew being dead.
Why was Jonnas prioritized over Oknodie, whom he personally invited?
This was because there was a significant distinction between Jonnas’s life and death.
What could it be?
Jonnas had already experienced the deaths of the lady several times.
He even dared to defy the foundation to save the lady.
If Jonnas was alive, he wouldn’t let anything harm Oknodie’s safety.
Conversely, if he was dead, Oknodie’s safety could not be guaranteed.
“All of Jonnas, the two tails, the lady, and all her friends have been confirmed safe.”
Only after speaking did the secretary office head feel enlightenment dawning upon him.
The Apostle of Anrage serves the God of Corruption.
What one possesses as talents is of little importance to the Evil God that forcibly awakens it.
It’s about forcibly awakening a person’s latent capabilities to maximize their worth, compelling them to execute it.
To follow one’s talents and have one’s life turned upside down is the mission granted to the Apostle of Anrage.
“The apostle who obtained the holy artifact dares to twist the soul of the very flesh it possesses.”
He assigns superior bodies and talents to superior souls.
Such actions of switching the vessel of the flesh with the spirit of the soul are allowed simply because the gods are there to back it up.
Jonnas Wahyhiemhai is not the type of man to take lightly the act of letting the demonic contractor replace his lady.
“It was indeed a way to observe the most critical conflicts and their outcomes through just one piece of information.”
The chairman had been aware of all these causal relationships and the conflicts of desires from the beginning.
Because he was the mastermind who engineered this game.
That’s why he became even more fearful.
Does this man, who calls himself Papa, feel any sense of loyalty at all?
He brought Oknodie onto the cruise ship that could collide with such a dangerous being.
“Oh dear. I must seem too harsh to you.”
“My apologies.”
“Haha. It’s fine. An apology between us isn’t necessary. After all, we’ve tried to take each other’s lives once or twice, haven’t we?”
Knowing there’s no trust, they neither blame nor hold grievances.
Such a straightforward relationship only deepened the secretary office head’s fear.
A relationship where you don’t rely on or expect anything from each other can end and be severed at any moment.
There are no strings attached in this relationship.
There’s no salary to receive.
No loyalty demanded.
What the secretary office head wanted from the chairman was one thing.
To earn a chance to take revenge on him.
What the chairman wanted from him was also one thing.
To watch the humiliating sight of the brat trying to kill him.
The mere existence of the secretary office head was merely an extension of the chairman’s amusement.
Even the Chief Scholarship Student Oknodie wasn’t exempt from the chairman’s lunacy that toyed with those who threatened his life.
“The wine of pain typically takes a long time to mature in flavor. You can rest assured that my taste doesn’t lean towards bitter and stoic spirits.”
…Is he really calling that reassuring?
Considering his usual demeanor, one would have to see it that way.
Of course, it didn’t provide any comfort at all.
How could one say “Thank you for slowly putting me in distress” to someone who enjoyed the slow torture that made screams ripen?
The secretary office head felt uneasy with the chairman’s friendly smile directed at him and tried to change the subject.
“Did you think Miss Oknodie would be safe from the Apostle of Anrage?”
“How so?”
The chairman’s grinning face was unmistakably that of a gambler throwing chips into conversation without expecting a result.
‘Is this for real…?’
As always, with his breath taken away, the secretary office head witnessed the chairman’s slightly shy, somewhat proud, enigmatic smile as he closed his eyes to savor the outcome.
“If the child who fearlessly calls me Papa fell to the Apostle of Anrage, it might just fulfill some kind of twisted satisfaction for me. If the Apostle of Anrage, who surpassed their limits, is now a new plaything, then they might as well be acknowledged as our new daughter.”
“Did you expect that?”
“Of course not. I had a stronger desire for a new plaything to last longer than one that had already lost its value through recycling. Oknodie has provided a splendid outcome beyond my expectations.”
“With Jonnas’s constitution, the chance of defeating the Apostle of Anrage seemed slim, so Oknodie must have performed something extraordinary.”
“Extraordinary? Hehe. You still don’t understand who I am, do you? That ignorance is somewhat charming, but it’s not something a secretary office head should be, I think.”
Wrong answer.
It seemed he hadn’t asked for what he desired.
The secretary office head thought of a possibility he truly didn’t want to.
“Could it be… that you’ve been keeping an eye on that child’s mind?”
The chairman’s laughter grew deeper.
“If they’re not friends but mere crew members, I wouldn’t mind if a thousand died during an operation. A child who can distinguish between human resources and friends isn’t something I dislike. After all, due to that, they successfully defeated the Apostle of Anrage.”
“However, they ended up defeating the Apostle of God, incurring a grudge from the deity. The God of Corruption won’t take this lightly.”
“Haha. How amusing that a toy blessed with talents by all 24 divine classes would be hated. What a stretch of a joke.”
“…Do you think Oknodie’s talents are that high?”
“That child can become anything if they set their mind to it. They’ve outshone warriors in renown, surpassed the Northern Grand Duchess in severity, and exceed even Seoguyeon’s Grand Duke in charisma. A joker that can fit anywhere in the deck.”
“…What exactly do you wish to make of that child?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
There’s nothing more tedious than an answer that’s already decided upon.
The chairman’s face momentarily turned to boredom.
A mistake.
A being that lives solely for amusement.
The tragedies that happen to appease his boredom are as horrifying as the Dragon Principal’s [Fun].
Seeing the secretary office head tense from his mistakes, the chairman chuckled.
“Parents naturally wish for their children to resemble them.”
Injecting mana into the report on Oknodie’s actions, the chairman flicked his finger, and a paper boat shaped like a cruise ship splashed into the wine glass.
“If one possesses power, compiling a costly scream isn’t rare but by no means unique. That’s the difference between rare and unique.”
“The only ones close to unique are those who know how to twist the world and enjoy their whims.”
A new item.
A new compendium.
The chairman’s eyes sparkled with hunger for new amusements as they tracked the course of the cruise ship heading towards world domination.
“A reward must be given to my unique daughter for successfully executing Papa’s orders. I wouldn’t want to welcome my friends into an empty mansion with nobody around.”
“I’ll prepare the gate leading to mansion number 3 on the Kuernania archipelago within three minutes.”
The chairman of the foundation.
The meeting between the world’s most dangerous man and the world’s most dangerous child was drawing near.
