It's Not a Lewd Party (2)
It's Not a Lewd Party (2)
"Wow... the facilities are really nice... It's a shame a place like this was left neglected."
Lee Ji-yeon had also taken a tour around the mansion.
She was duly impressed by the mansion itself, but her attention was particularly caught by the material cultivation plots that occupied a significant portion of the estate.
There were ornamental gardens, but a closer look revealed many flowers and trees rarely seen outside, as well as full-blown mass-cultivation facilities.
"Was this all handled with magic? I didn't know ordinary magic could enable cultivation on this scale..."
That was Lee Ji-yeon's observation after inspecting the growing facilities.
She'd shown interest not in the mansion's size, its other amenities, but in the magic that made cultivating such demanding materials possible.
'Makes sense, since the Taesan family specializes in mass-producing materials.'
The Taesan family was the world's largest producer of materials.
Taesan's Earth Manipulation and Life Force Manipulation.
When those two abilities were properly wielded, they made it possible to mass-produce even the rarest and most difficult-to-cultivate materials.
With Earth Manipulation, one could probably pull in or shape almost any mineral vein.
By combining that with Life Force Manipulation to regulate the earth veins and directly intervene in the herbs themselves, even species that wilted at the slightest shock like an ocean sunfish could be grown without issue.
It also enabled the continuous production of staggering amounts of food from a patch of land that, by global standards, was laughably small.
In a world where vast swaths of land had been devoured and contaminated by dungeons, there was no producer of food as abundant as Taesan.
Moreover, they were actively recruiting expert alchemists and other crafting-type specialists.
The materials produced were diverse and of the highest quality. And the people handling them were among the most skilled.
The value of the spirit medicines and other items produced by the Taesan family was so enormous that 'astronomical' didn't even begin to cover it.
'The spirit medicine Yeon-hwa gave me came from the Taesan family too, right?'
Active trade between the Three Great Families like that was especially common.
The Taesan family overflowed with materials from the earth, food, and the techniques to process them.
The Changhae family overflowed with monster byproducts from the gray zones adjoining their vast territory, as well as versatile personnel covering healing, combat, and support through the Azure Sea and other manifested unique abilities.
The Calamity Flame family overflowed with peerless combat forces and unparalleled arms-manufacturing techniques.
With those powers deliberately gathered in this narrow region and tightly allied, onlookers from the outside often saw them and lumped them together as a single faction.
And since Lee Ji-yeon was slated to succeed the Taesan family, her showing interest in this field wasn't strange at all.
'...Barring any unforeseen incidents, she'll become the family head, but...'
Barring any incidents, she'd smoothly inherit the position of family head.
But this was a world that, while seemingly peaceful on the surface, suffered frequent, damnable catastrophes.
Even excluding the Tower Master's invasions, all sorts of wretched things kept happening.
The Reverse Side Incident that would occur around second year was exactly that.
At the time, it was dismissed as just a major event and ended there, but if left unchecked, it was a dogshit catastrophe that would force you to swallow a bitter draught later.
'Haa.'
What gloomy thoughts to be having before a meal.
Seeing Lee Ji-yeon's carefree figure as she crouched to inspect the herbs, I found myself feeling strangely troubled.
I forcibly buried that emotion and continued the tour.
.
.
.
By the time Lee Ji-yeon, the last of the guests, was starting to wrap up her tour of the mansion, the garden was beginning to be tinged with the orange glow of sunset.
Everyone was getting hungry.
Checking the time, it was the perfect moment for dinner.
After the brief tour of the mansion with Lee Ji-yeon, I immediately gathered the whole party and led them to the dining area.
"We're eating here?"
"Yes..."
That was the reaction upon arriving at the dinner spot.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been practically glued to my side, tilted her head.
This grand mansion had several dining rooms.
There was a huge dining hall on the first floor of the central wing, and the first floors of the east and west wings each had a dining room as well.
The facilities were excellent. Nicely set up, and cleanliness wasn't an issue. They were ready to be used immediately without any preparation.
Space was generous, giving a real sense of openness, and the kitchen was right next door, making it easy to prepare food on the spot.
The prevailing logic was that bigger couldn't hurt.
But dinner wasn't being held in one of the first-floor dining rooms; I'd chosen to commandeer a single room instead.
To be precise, a room on the top floor of the mansion.
One wall was fully open, providing a good view of the outside... probably.
It was incredibly wide open, but magic kept strange bugs from coming in, and maintained a perfectly comfortable temperature, neither cold nor hot.
The interior, bathed in orange light pouring from the ceiling fixtures, created an atmosphere that felt quite cozy.
"It's not like there are too many of us, and this is plenty spacious. Wouldn't you say... it's fine?"
"No, I'm not complaining. I just thought we'd be in the first-floor dining hall."
"Um... that place is, so big it felt a bit..."
I answered her question while discreetly turning my head away.
This wasn't for any particular reason; it was a choice heavily informed by my own preferences.
You know, when a dining hall is too vast, you get this sudden sense of alienation—an overwhelming vastness. Too much empty space, and it starts to feel lonely.
It's not that a spacious meal setting is bad, but it somehow feels... lacking in warmth, I guess?
Anyway, I liked it better when there was a bit of crowding, with warmth and pleasant bustle.
[Now]
[Everyone, please have a seat first.]
[I'll bring the food out right away.]
Saying that—well, operating the Confession Necklace—I gestured toward the interior.
Honestly, in fairness, this room wasn't even small.
The large rectangular table in the center was big enough to hold food for everyone and then some.
The long sofas were comfortable even with multiple people sitting, and the single-seaters were roomy too.
There was a fair bit of extra space besides, so no one would be uncomfortable.
"......"
"......"
"......?"
But instead of moving, everyone just fixed me with an odd look.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who was right up front because she'd been tailing me, did it. Even Lee Ji-yeon, who'd been about to head in without a second thought, paused after sensing the atmosphere and subtly stopped.
'What's up.'
Wondering if there was a problem, I observed the room in detail.
Nothing out of the ordinary. The spell formulas were normal... and there shouldn't be any issues with what their naked eyes could see...?
"Yeon-hwa, Yeon-hwa, stop blocking the way and hurry on in."
"What are you doing blocking the passage? Move it, quickly."
At the urging from behind her, Hong Yeon-hwa's lips twitched.
"Yeon-hwa, what's wrong?"
Reacting to what seemed like some kind of discontent, I carefully tugged at the sleeve of Hong Yeon-hwa beside me.
Hong Yeon-hwa glanced down subtly at her sleeve being tugged.
"Oh, Ha-yul, you go in first."
Then, as if a lightbulb had just clicked on, she gave my back a gentle push.
"Huh? I'm supposed to be guiding everyone else..."
"Nah, nah, in these things, the homeowner goes in first. There, hurry in..."
Flustered, I ended up entering the room.
"Dad?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah..."
Blinking dazedly, I sat down with Seo-yul on the long sofa at her urging, as she was tightly holding my hand.
Seo-yul may have grown up enough to eat well all on her own, but I still needed to look after her at my side.
Only then did Hong Yeon-hwa, as if wondering why she'd even hesitated, zip over and plant herself right next to me. Ellia, following softly behind her, naturally sat down on Seo-yul's other side.
"Tch."
"Ahaha, look how blatant that is."
My master clicked her tongue in clear disapproval, and Professor Liana, smirking as she glanced at my master, took the long sofa across from us.
Baek A-rin and Lee Ji-yeon each settled into the single sofas placed beside it.
[?]
I tilted my head a bit at the sudden, seemingly configured seating arrangement... but well, fine.
Truth was, I was a bit too tense to dwell on that.
Shaking my head, I opened a wide subspace.
Extending several strands of the Sky Wing Feather, I rummaged through the subspace and pulled out dish after dish.
"Whoa! What is all this?"
"Oh my, aren't these dragon moth shellfish? They're hard to come by, and prepping them would've been even harder..."
[The prep wasn't hard; just following the instructions was enough. The ingredients were quick to get, too.]
Even the people who'd been eyeing each other strangely redirected their gazes to the hole that had opened up in the center of the table.
And soon, their eyes went wide at the lavish parade of various foods filling the table.
[I worked hard to prepare everything.]
[There's a lot more beyond this, so please, everyone, eat up.]
Watching everyone gulp, I smiled in satisfaction and clapped my hands.
It was true: knowing already who would be coming to the housewarming, I'd made a lot of food tailored to each person's tastes.
Hong Yeon-hwa liked hearty cuts of meat. My master and Ellia, familiar from their homeland, liked bread and soups.
For Professor Liana, the kind of stuffed, hearty sandwiches she'd first given me as a present.
As for Lee Ji-yeon... since I wasn't close to her yet, I hadn't prepared that much.
But based on what I'd guessed from the original story's setting, I'd tried making something like a gratin, using ingredients like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn to their fullest.
[Hehe.]
[Happy.]
[Proud.]
At the cheerful reactions popping off one after another, my shoulders squared involuntarily.
Since the purpose was also a housewarming, I'd put in a lot more effort than usual.
Well, I always put effort into food meant for others, of course.
When eating alone, I'd just make do with a calorie bar, or roughly shove whole vegetables and meat in.
[Ah, ah, ah, wait a moment.]
[Please have this as well.]
My enjoyment of that chef-like satisfaction was short-lived. Seeing them all about to grab their utensils at any second, I hastily plunged a hand back into the subspace.
After a moment of rummaging, my hand caught on an object. Forcing my body, which was starting to stiffen up, to move, I pulled it out smoothly.
"...Huh? That's..."
"Oh?"
"Hm?"
Hong Yeon-hwa, seated beside me, tilted her head.
Everyone else did the same. They blinked for a second, then, upon confirming what was in my hand, their eyes flew wide open.
"Ha-yul!! That's alcohol! Al-co-hol! No, no!"
"How is that in your subspace...! Put it down this instant!"
"Ha-yul? Here, give that to me~ There's a good boy?"
[No, what the...]
That intense reaction was rather... no, deeply baffling.
These were people who wouldn't bat an eye if I hefted a lethal weapon, but they had that response over one bottle of alcohol...
Of course, I understood.
Most of the people here knew my circumstances.
"Junior? For now, how about you put the alcohol down and we talk..."
...But why was Lee Ji-yeon, who didn't know the circumstances, reacting the same way?
I didn't recall ever confiding that to her...
[Anyway, I did bring it out for everyone to drink.]
[This is from the secret vault; I heard it's extremely precious.]
"No, Ha-yul, even so, still..."
I defused the commotion that had suddenly flared up.
Hong Yeon-hwa still stared at me with an antsy expression. Her hands were still twitching.
Sensing she was about to snatch the bottle away, I set the alcohol down carefully on the table and shook my head.
"I'm fine."
Honestly, the fact that I got drunk at the Tower Entry after-party had been a strange thing in itself.
No matter how you sliced it, I hadn't even touched a drop of alcohol. Getting drunk from just the smell—was that even possible?
Not that such cases don't exist, of course. The world has people of all constitutions, and I could well belong to that category.
[No, really, I'm fine.]
But at the very least, I wasn't.
When I worked part-time at a convenience store in that previous world, there were plenty who bought alcohol, some who'd crack it open right at the outdoor tables, and others who'd walk in reeking of it. There were even insufferable phone-sales pests who'd ramble nonsense while demanding my number.
And I never got drunk. I might have felt repulsed, but my reason never clouded.
Of course, it was frightening.
Alcohol itself was loathsome, and people drunk on it were terrifying.
Especially those who, once their reason clouded over, would slouch and sway, slur their speech, and start acting careless—those scared me so much that I wanted to run away.
[I really am fine.]
That was because I was afraid, not knowing what such drunk people might do.
[I can't stay away and avoid it forever, after all. And besides...]
Now... I wasn't particularly afraid.
When I held the bottle and used Observation, an unconscious revulsion did rise up and my body would stiffen, but I wasn't truly, maddeningly afraid like before.
[Everyone here is a good person, so it's okay.]
[I trust you all.]
Clink-clink—
The Confession Necklace chimed.
For some reason, the voice coming from the necklace carried distinct emotion.
Even to my own ears, it was a voice that felt full of trust, as if I truly believed in them.
"......"
I paused for a moment.
[Uh, ahem...]
...Now that I thought about it, getting swept up in the mood, I'd said something a bit embarrassing.
Just saying I was fine now would've ended it, but it felt like I'd tacked on pointless extra words...
Belatedly mortified, I quietly hung my head, and over the top of it, a flurry of strangely warm gazes rained down.
...
Artifact «Confession Necklace» expresses the sincerity of the heart.
...