Chapter 13: A Collector's Paradise

The standard options for travel were carriage or ship—just two choices.

Naturally, I assumed we would be taking one of the two.

However, my butler’s competence proved far too extraordinary.

“What’s this?”

“An airship, My Lady.”

An entirely unexpected mode of transit had made its appearance.

“I have heard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the news,” Jona said, turning toward Giselle. “That you intend to accompany My Lady to the entrance examination.”

“Your maid is quite thorough,” Giselle replied smoothly. “That is indeed how things turned out.”

“Regrettably, tickets for the airship are strictly limited in quantity. The ones I secured happened to be the very last available.”

With an ostentatious flourish, Jona withdrew three tickets from his coat pocket. A mocking gleam flickered within his cold, sharp eyes.

“If you do not wish to be late, I suggest you secure a carriage or merchant vessel immediately.”

The butler wore the immensely satisfied expression of a man who had successfully shaken off an unwelcome pest. Yet before that triumphant smirk could fully bloom, an elderly gentleman walked up to Giselle right inside the aerodrome terminal.

“Here is your boarding pass, sir.”

“Much obliged. I shall settle the payment immediately, as promised.”

Giselle had simply purchased a single ticket by paying double its worth. Catching the sour, curdled look on Jona’s face, Giselle let a subtle smirk of his own curve his lips.

“Surely you wouldn’t begrudge fellow exam candidates enjoying the voyage aboard the same airship, would you?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you mean,” Jona replied stiffly. “As My Lady’s butler, I merely took her acquaintance’s comfort into consideration so you would not find yourself in an awkward predicament.”

“Your feigned ignorance is rather clumsy. Perhaps a few acting lessons are in order.”

Jona’s face darkened.

Leaf, who had been following close behind with a refreshment basket, chimed in to back him up. “Do not grow too complacent. Accidents aboard airships are far from uncommon. We are present to protect My Lady, but did you not send all of your own escorts away, Mister Giselle?”

“How very kind of you,” Giselle replied, unbothered. “Both butler and maid overflow with consideration for the young lady’s acquaintance.”

Don't get cocky when you lack the power to back it up. If you want our help, learn to grovel. Let's see you crawl if you have any survival instincts.

Even under Leaf’s icy, contemptuous glare that practically radiated those unspoken words, Giselle’s easygoing leisure never cracked.

“Ah, have I not introduced him yet?”

“…?”

“Since our destinations aligned anyway, I hired a new bodyguard to watch over me.”

Giselle made a brief gesture, and a familiar hulking figure strolled over.

“Oho! Ain’t that the little shrimp from back then?”

“Ugh. The hairy giant from back then.”

The monkey beastman. The very brawler who had cleared that Fourth-Floor ingredient gathering commission in no time flat.

As if driving a nail into the maid’s stunned silence, the ape beastman fished out a ticket from his chest fur and barked a laugh. “He said he’d cover the airship ticket just for playing bodyguard! This new employer of mine sure has deep pockets, bwahaha!”

A one-way ticket to the vicinity of the entrance exam grounds cost ten gold coins. That single slip of paper was equivalent to the price of a Silver Exam Ticket.

It was a luxury that impoverished players, scraping together every last copper to survive, could never dream of affording.

And NPCs faced the exact same harsh reality. Those climbing their way toward the testing grounds with ambitious dreams struggled just to cobble together basic travel fare. To have someone cover such an exorbitant ticket price outright? No wonder the ape beastman had gladly taken the bodyguard gig.

“……”

“……”

Thanks to that, Jona and Leaf—both of whom harbored an intense dislike for Giselle—looked thoroughly sour.

“You two shouldn’t be like that!”

I planted both hands firmly on my hips and began lecturing them. “First with Bard-ahjussi, and now with this! You two are always being so needlessly rude to people who try to get close to me.”

“It is a misunderstanding, My Lady. We were merely addressing potential hazards to ensure your safe voyage—”

Tug, tug.

When I yanked on his sleeve, Jona stopped mid-sentence and knelt down, wearing an expression that silently asked what was the matter now. The moment he lowered his posture, I firmly pressed a finger against his lips.

“Shh!”

Startled, Jona froze in place.

With a tiny pinch of mischief, I pressed my finger a little harder against his cold lips. “Giselle-ahjussi isn't a hazard! He’s a mature student who held onto his academic dreams despite his advanced age and wasn't afraid to pursue learning!”

“…Excuse me, little miss. Phrasing it like that makes me sound like an ancient relic.”

“Why get embarrassed when you go around talking about ‘adult methods’ and sound like you chew on red ginseng candy all day? You *are* old, Giselle-ahjussi! Don’t be ashamed of being a late bloomer!”

A person ought to live with dignity and confidence.

“Braving embarrassment to grow stronger isn't shameful at all. It’s an act of courage!”

The razor-sharp edge surrounding Jona softened considerably. Even Leaf’s frozen visage melted into a faint, amused smile. Hearing that Giselle was a tragic soul struggling for education in the twilight of his youth seemed to have moved their hearts to charity.

“I swear, I have never wanted to dish out a noogie this badly in my entire life,” Giselle muttered, rubbing his temple.

“Bwahaha! For a little runt, you sure got a sharp tongue!”

I hadn't intended to cause collateral damage, but until the moment we boarded the airship, Giselle became the monkey beastman's personal laughingstock.

The main event following the Random Papa Event and the Ticket Exam: the Boarding Transit Event.

Thanks to Jona securing airship tickets, I ended up coasting on easy street without even trying, but this was definitely not the standard player route.

“Jona-ssi, airships are ridiculously expensive, aren’t they?”

“Worry not. The master was exceedingly pleased upon receiving the report of your exploits, My Lady. You may consider this airship voyage a reward bestowed directly by his hand.”

“A reward?”

It was a reward on a scale that backwater provincial nobility could never even conceive of. The father of this Orknodi character wasn't just some run-of-the-mill noble; he was filthy, disgustingly rich.

“What was Father’s name again?”

“You shall learn in due time.”

I had played dumb, pretending I’d briefly slipped up to avoid being branded a rotten daughter who didn't even know her own father’s name. Yet far from receiving a scolding, his reaction treated my ignorance as completely natural.

What’s the deal here? Is Orknodi an illegitimate child of nobility?

If so, that made total sense. It neatly explained why she had been living far away from such a magnificent aristocrat, receiving only a letter and a whistle.

“Whoa! Look at this. The location written in the letter is the exact same as the one printed on the ticket!”

Checking the letter on a sudden whim, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gasped in shock. Did nobility get advance notice of the entrance exam location? More than a whole month before the Ticket Exam even began?

“Shh.”

A white-gloved hand clamped down firmly over my excited mouth.

“Please do not speak so loudly.”

“Mmph? Why? Is it bad airship etiquette?”

“You could be disqualified from the entrance examination on suspicion of illicit foreknowledge.”

“!!”

What?! Give me back my entrance exam!

In a game centered around graduating from an academy, who gets disqualified at the front gates like an absolute clown for cheating? No way in hell. Such a horrific future must never be allowed to pass!

Terrified, I clamped my lips shut. Yet for some reason, the hand covering my mouth showed no sign of letting go.

…Wait, is he still holding a grudge over the finger thing earlier?

“Mister Jona.”

“Oh. My apologies.”

Only after Leaf’s pointed remark did Jona realize his impropriety and pull his hand back. When I glared at him with my mouth pouted in dissatisfaction, he gave an earnest bow of apology—classic butler behavior. Despite his terrifying looks, he was surprisingly gentle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at heart.

“My Lady. Since this is a rare voyage aboard an airship, how about touring the facilities so you do not grow bored along the way?” the butler suggested, eager to pivot the mood.

Naturally, there was only one place on my mind.

“I wanna go to the restaurant!”

“In addition to dining halls, the airship features observation decks to take in the vistas, sky gardens capturing pristine natural landscapes, a grand theater with a resident orchestra, and sunbathing decks.”

“Restaurant!”

“At night, several venues undergo a change in function, converting into lounge bars or gambling halls.”

“Restaurant!”

“…Very well. To the restaurant first, then.”

Yahoo, compendium grinding! So hyped!

“My Lady truly does love to eat,” Leaf observed softly.

I pitied these fools who didn’t understand the true glory of the Food Compendium. The ultimate, unrivaled king of stat-efficiency grinding: the Food Compendium!

Over the past month and a half of dedicated effort, my compendium collection bonuses had skyrocketed. If displayed as an interface, it would look something like this:

It was far too much data to keep stored in my head alone. That was why I had pestered Jona into buying me a small notebook, where every single meal I consumed and its projected stat benefits were jotted down in meticulous, microscopic detail.

And every word of it was written in Hangul.

To these natives who utilized an alphabet-based script, Hangul was an incomprehensible cipher. Even if someone peeked over my shoulder, there was zero risk of them deciphering a single syllable. In a fantasy setting like this, if someone caught me scribbling 'Ate shaved ice, feels like my Ice Resistance will go up by 1%,' they’d probably assume I’d lost my mind and lock me away in a sanitarium or a convent.

“Oh my gosh! This place is paradise!”

“Do you truly like it that much?”

Unlike the wealthy merchant daughters stepping briskly toward the sky auction or the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠noble ladies gliding with poised grace toward the theater, my footsteps—driven by an unhinged obsession with completing the Food Compendium—carried me straight into the grand restaurant.

And my gamer instincts were proven indisputably correct.

Now this was peak gaming.