Near Mount Vesuvius, there are four cities.
The coastal city of Hercoleneum.
The steel city of Oplontis.
The tourist city of Stabiai.
The temple city of Pompeii.
All four cities have a resident magician from the Red Magic Tower, but surprisingly, the overseas branch of the Red Magic Tower was established not in a city but halfway up the mountain.
“So, I was planning to drop off my luggage at the hotel and then head up the mountainside…”
“But?”
“I don’t think I can come back because the hotel is too strange.”
The hotel introduced by Dark Merchant Jezel was indeed a bizarre hotel that didn’t disappoint expectations.
“There’s magic on the accommodation voucher. Without it, you’ll end up in a vast empty space, but with the voucher, you can enter the hotel. Quite clever ♡ I’ll give you a compliment ♡”
“Thank you, guest.”
“Why are you evaluating us like you’re the superior when you’re just a guest with us?”
Even with Rosgini’s common sense trying to bring her down to earth, Masugaki Princess’s high nose showed no sign of lowering.
“As a token of gratitude for visiting our ghost hotel, we will give you a gift.”
Receiving a candy each made Masugaki Princess’s shoulders lift as if she had no idea it was coming.
“Hmph. The service is pretty good. I thought the concept of free things vanished from the world after being tormented at that damn academy.”
“Haha.”
“So what kind of candy is this?”
“It’s a candy that grants invisibility.”
“Huh? Invisibility?”
“It’s a gift given to customers who visit our headquarters, so you can fondly remember the concept of our ghost hotel.”
“And the taste?”
“Since ‘invisibility’ is close to colorless and odorless, it has no taste whatsoever.”
Masugaki Princess pouted her lips.
“Act like an adult.”
“I already thanked you. Even a princess can have a taste preference…”
Now that the princess had finished her business, I turned to ask the hotel staff at the desk.
“Does the ghost hotel have a system where guests fight over rooms to take each other’s beds?”
“What an interesting system. I will suggest it to the higher-ups.”
“Not yet, huh? How about a breakfast battle where limited free breakfast vouchers are contested during breakfast time?”
“I’ll suggest that to the higher-ups as well. Do you have any other suggestions?”
“It would be nice to have a master in-house to challenge guests over whether the accommodation fee will be free for that day or double!”
The staff pulled out a notepad and started diligently taking notes as if they needed more than just memo paper!
“Stop it; it’s making me feel guilty towards Jezel. What are you trying to turn the ghost hotel into, a magical territory? We have to hurry to the Magic Tower, so get to your room already.”
We dropped off our luggage in the adjoining single room and came downstairs.
Rosgini had stripped down to the essentials without her followers, while Masugaki Princess, who had come out modestly, and I stuffed everything into my backpack.
There was no reason for the three of us to take long, so we quickly came out of our private room.
“Oh dear. This is quite unusual. Young girls are staying in a ghost hotel.”
A portly man who came out of the opposite room rummaged through his pocket with a kind face.
“Ladies, would you care for a piece of candy?”
“If it’s invisibility candy, we already received it.”
At Rosgini’s response, the man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You got that ridiculously expensive candy that you can’t even buy with money? Who gave it to you?”
“All three of us.”
“Oh ho. You’re not ordinary ladies then. It’d be embarrassing to offer you candy that pales in comparison.”
Masugaki Princess recited this disdainfully with a deadpan expression on her face.
“Resistance reduction. Sensory reduction. Sleep provision. I won’t eat such dirty candy even if you give it to me ♡”
“Really? I’ll take all three then!”
Both the man and the princess seemed startled simultaneously.
“Why did you accept that knowing the risks?”
“What if even a glutton eats candy that’s obviously dangerous? Are you stupid?”
“The fool is the princess who’s being a fool! How can you let a good opportunity for resistance training slip away? Just a plain airhead!”
Rosgini turned away as if she had already given up.
Crunch crunch.
Rolling the candy in my mouth, a prickly sensation returned with the loss of taste.
A drowsiness started creeping in, but I could easily classify this level of sleep-inducing effect as something to be purged from my system.
“Yap!”
[Mana Flow Technique]
[Toxin Eject]
As I intricately released the poison, Rosgini, looking panicked, flailed and lost grip of the railing, stumbling.
“This king fool… useless Oknodie…♡”
Masugaki Princess also stumbled to one knee.
The portly man’s golden necklace began to shine brightly.
This was a reaction from resisting the abnormal state.
“Releasing sleep components with Mana Control Technique, your skills are impressively refined! But you chose the wrong location, cute lady. Heh heh heh. Three out of three, but one? Cough!”
“Jezel said any candy given by a man who isn’t even known should be treated like it tastes bad! Originally, he said not to eat it at all, but since we’re going to eat it secretly, I compromised to this extent. I’m a good child deserving of a good kid sticker!”
But can a good child loot the spoils of the kidnapper who has collapsed?
I pondered that for a moment before concluding.
Forgetting to loot the spoils is the same as going shopping and returning empty-handed!
“Hehe. Free items.”
Not deceived by the bag seen at his waist, I stripped the man of his clothes, discovering a secret bag tied behind him.
“Ugh.”
But to my surprise, the secret bag I expected to hold treasures contained only women’s underwear.
Is this real…
Can this really be considered a treasure kept so precious as to be hidden behind the waist?
Conversely, the snack items that came out of the bag in front were delicious things like candy or chocolate.
They looked doubly tasty since they were evenly smeared with status ailments intended for resistance training.
“Sigh. If you don’t raise your sleep resistance usually, you’ll be this pathetically defeated. Want to indulge in a few more?”
“Eating it doesn’t grant you resistance; you’re the weird one!”
As Rosgini rose with a frown, she tied the man’s arms with the stripped clothes, then pressed the bell in the room to call the hotel staff.
“This man tried to knock us out and collect panties.”
“Oh dear. I sincerely apologize for the disturbance among guests. As an act of contrition, you will each receive an invisibility candy.”
Now there were two invisibility candies!
“Oknodie, let’s go to the Magic Tower now.”
“Wait a moment. Before that, Jezel was good at gathering information, right? Maybe we can use the ghost hotel’s intelligence too?”
“This ghost hotel offers an [Information Table] service to assist our guests’ smooth travel. It’s a table where you can exchange information of equal value to the information you want.”
Oh. That sounds fun!
But it does feel a bit redundant for new content?
We had done that kind of exchange at Father’s mansion too.
Giving and receiving info for food.
Well, this time it’s trading information for information, so it’s not entirely the same, right?
“Welcome. This is the information exchange center. I am the information exchange staff who certifies the exchange values of our Information Table. Please place the information you desire on the table first.”
In front of the customer area, there were sheets of paper and a pen.
But for a veteran player like me, there wasn’t much information I didn’t know.
What to do?
What do I ask about?
As I hesitated, Rosgini spoke from beside me.
“Let’s ask about the demons planning to raid the volcano.”
“Oh, I know about that.”
“You know?!”
Alright, decision made.
Climbing onto the chair, I showcased my fast writing skills honed from making notes and filled the paper quickly.
“Is the desired information [Current Locations of Blood Band Executives]?”
“Yes!”
“Then please enter the information you will exchange.”
Let’s quickly exchange some information that can be resolved easily while we’re at it.
━━━
1. Information about the demon [Orde Taco] raiding the Red Magic Tower’s facility.
2. The weak defensive status of the Red Magic Tower’s Vesuvius branch.
3. Why the Yellow Magic Tower became chaotic due to the Elders’ Council.
4. The chief scholarship student Oknodie of the foundation will happily eat any candy with status ailments.
━━━
“Please understand that the value of the information fluctuates according to trust and timeliness.”
“Yes!”
“Firstly, as you, Oknodie, are registered as a VIP guest, you will receive a high level of trust.”
“Me? Why?”
“As a thank you for providing the frontman with useful tips for operating this ghost hotel.”
Hmm. That’s right; one should live nicely!
“Based on VIP standard trust levels, the values of each piece of information are as follows.”
━━━
1. Location of Blood Band senior executive [Rosario].
2. Value none.
3. Location of Blood Band junior executive [Arde].
4. Location of Blood Band second-in-command [Vampir].
━━━
Surprisingly, the security status of the Red Magic Tower, which I thought would hold the highest value, was worthless, while the information I casually entered was the most valuable.
“Wait~! Isn’t the assessment strange~? Why is the information about how Oknodie likes candy so expensive?”
“The reason is that you, Oknodie, are an unofficial successor of the director of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation, and this information is useful for competitors within the foundation and political rivals.”
