The tense atmosphere was naturally shifted by a student who opened their mouth.
“What’s the big deal about that analysis? People get evaluated, and it’s as natural as breathing. Haven’t you ever evaluated anyone in your life?”
The speaker was Eastern Swordsman Sing.
He casually polished off his sweet rice porridge, aquarium-style grilled meat, and a plate of gungbo chicken while nonchalantly accepting the stares of the director and everyone else.
“Are you stupid? It’s scary because the intentions are suspicious.”
“How ridiculous. If you see a potential enemy, you tremble in fear. Then you, a beastman from the border, should be living in fear all the time, right?”
“You little… Do you think you can just talk?”
Son Ohchun clenched the staff, and the atmosphere at the dinner table grew even more chaotic, but neither the director nor Oknodie seemed to want to intervene.
One was entertained by the conflict, while the other was busy shoving food onto their plate.
As Jezel looked at Oknodie with a dumbfounded expression, Sing continued with his blunt observations.
“The empire doesn’t view beastmen and humans fairly. They see you as slaves who can be exploited anytime. It’s just that societal morality has improved, so they can’t openly do it like before. Their intentions remain the same, both then and now. Are you afraid of that?”
“Not at all. If someone comes to me boasting about turning beastmen into slaves, I’ll smash their head with this staff.”
“Exactly. No matter your feelings, the moment you put those into action is when the restraining will come. The world of swordsmen doesn’t differ.”
You can glare at each other with preparing stances while measuring the distance for drawing swords.
If a suspicious person approaches, you can put your hand on your sheathe and widen your stance.
Vigilance is an instinctual realm for survival. However, if you cross the line and draw your sword, the likelihood of a bloodbath increases.
Excessive vigilance tends to escalate situations.
“If you swing your staff just because someone gave you a suspicious look like they might enslave you, the empire will gladly imprison you. They’ll find some way to frame you and make you a slave. They’ve now got a justification.”
Sing’s words, hard to call indirect, clearly carried a warning.
“Shut it. If you don’t want to rush those four.”
Startled, Son Ohchun glanced at the director.
He had seen Jezel’s friendly smile many times, but the director’s smile felt different.
It felt like essence.
The essence of emotion.
His body trembled as if facing an enormous malice he couldn’t even imagine at that moment.
“Haha. What an interesting conversation. But you can’t have food unless it’s your own story, correct?”
Would he even allow that?
Talking with someone as suspicious as you.
Both Sing and Son Ohchun clammed up.
It would be better if everyone just kept quiet and avoided this uncomfortable moment and seat.
However, breaking that unspoken silence was an unexpected person who accepted the director’s proposal.
“Well, I’ll do it, then♡”
“Masugaki Princess. Are you… serious?”
“Unlike those useless warriors, I don’t care about others’ opinions♡”
True to her untouchable character, Masugaki Princess casually received the director’s gaze.
“I hate the court meetings♡ The Crown Prince shows off while the ministers cheer him on, and Mama just approves. It’s like a children’s game♡”
“Oh dear. It must be boring to just watch situations unfold without your agency. Princess, you carry a sad past, don’t you?”
“Does this mean I can receive food with this much talk?”
“If it’s of the regular grade, sure.”
“…Honor Fried Chicken is part of the Three Great Meritorious Families, and while they pledge loyalty to the princess, they dare to aim for my husband’s position♡ It’s frustrating, so I make them do hard work every time we meet, but they just won’t leave, and it’s troublesome♡”
“Unfortunately, it seems to be at the regular grade.”
“That was a pretty important story~? Isn’t the love story of a peak girl rare~? And I’m a princess, too~?”
“Isn’t it boring to hear stories everyone already knows? A masterpiece is enjoyable even upon re-reading, but it seems your love life still has a long way to go, princess. If you were aiming for bonus points, I would have preferred stories about my daughter, but it seems you have no worthwhile information either.”
Even Masugaki Princess, who had been invincibly confident, flinched at those words.
The foundation had already obtained information about Honor Fried Chicken’s fawning actions while playing close to the Masugaki Princess.
And they had no intention of hiding that fact.
The notification delivered in front of them was mind-numbing.
A fear spread across the table that the director might be aware of students’ daily lives, down to the most intimate details.
“If no orders from the regular-grade dishes, I’ll bring you an arbitrary regular-grade dish.”
While Masugaki Princess hesitated, a butler brought over a regular-grade dish.
Masugaki Princess lost her initial arrogance, glancing at the director while poking at the food with her chopsticks.
“What were you believing in from the start? Everyone could expect that being tangled with such a creepy guy wouldn’t lead to good words.”
Grumbling, Roji turned to Sandkooker, who exhibited the intuition of a magician.
“Well, who knows. I mean, there must’ve been something you wanted, right? That’s why you could step forward despite the fear.”
“What did I want?”
“That you were hungry, maybe?”
“Does that look like the chopsticks of a hungry person?”
“…Maybe there was a dish you really wanted?”
“That’s convincing. You did look disappointed that the dish’s grade was low. You hesitated to share more valuable tales, which was clearly visible.”
Even amidst the uncomfortable silence, Oknodie, who was diligently moving her hands, put down her plate.
Having wiped the plate clean without leaving a single scrap, Oknodie looked around and then cautiously spoke up.
“Don’t you all share stories? Then can I?”
“Oknodie. Haven’t you had enough? If it’s still not enough, I can provide food stored in my Magic Backpack.”
“Jezel, come on. Are you stupid? It’s not every day you get such a good opportunity, and making do with preserved food doesn’t make any sense. You have to seize the opportunity when it arises!”
She was naturally greedy and had a craving for new foods.
Unable to stop her from wanting to chat with her papa, Jezel decided to watch over her.
Once the troublemakers were gone, the director locked eyes with Oknodie.
“What story will you share with us, dear daughter?”
“Hm~ I heard everything from Jonnas, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then let me tell you something Jonnas doesn’t know!”
Oknodie pulled out a point card worth a million points from her pocket.
“Can you believe I still have such an incredible amount?”
“Just donate it to the Bikini Armor Group where you can’t even spend it all!”
Even as Hestia and Ppyoi whined in amazement, Oknodie smiled awkwardly.
“That would be troublesome. This is actually a copy!”
“What?!”
“Technically, I used this sticker!”
As Oknodie peeled off the sticker on the point card, all the point cards that were bundled together vanished.
“That’s cheating!”
“Oknodie… You used a trick to trap Ishtar!”
Ishtar and Yufi shouted angrily, but Oknodie answered brazenly.
“Who cares.”
Even if the meaning was unclear, the intent to provoke was obvious.
Just as the others couldn’t hold back their frustration and were about to draw swords, all the butlers drew their weapons in unison or took aggressive stances towards Ishtar.
The atmosphere at the banquet table instantly turned serious, with instructor-level powers and the addition of the professor-level Jonnas mixed in.
The air was so thick with malice that it wouldn’t have been surprising if the banquet table turned to ash at any moment!
Everyone turned pale as they felt the intense magical vibrations almost sending chills to their skins.
“Ishtar. I know you’re angry, but don’t draw your sword.”
“It feels like we’re all going to get attacked together…”
“Let’s listen to what others are saying. This is not the time for revenge.”
Once Ishtar pulled her hand away from the sheath, only then did the butlers ease their aggressive stance.
However, the once-distrusting watch dogs began to glare at suspicious shadows, and the butlers’ gazes lingered around Ishtar repeatedly.
There were three of them.
Amidst it all, Jiang gauged the presence of the strongest and swept his arms, calming his goosebumps skin.
Jonnas Wahyhiemhai, standing near Oknodie, the middle-aged Secretary Office Head, who was near the director, and Maid Jang who led the maids.
Even amidst the chaotic atmosphere vibrating with malice, the director showed no sign of fear or hesitation.
At least three professor-level powers.
Perhaps the director might be stronger than them.
As everyone continued realizing the facts again and again, sweating profusely, Oknodie nonchalantly asked.
“So what grade did you say the point burger is?”
“I will offer you a unique-grade dish.”
“Yay! I did it!”
Until Oknodie cleared her plate, no one else accepted the director’s offer.
