I Became A System

The gate opened as a man with a well-groomed grey mustache and grey hair greeted Ellena. He was supposed to be the butler of the house. He smiled at Ellena and bowed slightly, gesturing to welcome her.

"Welcome to the Wester Manor, Miss Noelle. We heard from the shop that you are selling plenty of materials. Because of it, our master wanted to greet you and have a talk with you." the butler said in a respectful tone.

Ellena nodded and didn't respond. Despite it, it made the butler a little concerned. He didn't bother it and led Ellena inside the mansion.

The mansion was not as impressive as Lumbert's. As expected, they were just wealthy and influential because of their business.

We entered the mansion and were greeted by its magnificent interior. And after that, she has led again to a room where they would do the negotiation.

"This looks like we're making some connection," I mumbled out of whim, looking at how the butler was accommodating Ellena.

After sitting in a chair in a waiting room, Ellena was presented with a cup of tea to sip while she waited. But, speaking of a doubtful girl, she just looked at it and didn't take a sip of it.

"Why are you so doubtful?" I snickered while I said it to her.

'Well, better safe than sorry. Look at that butler. He was too suspicious for me.' Ellena retorted.

"Hm? Why though? I can't feel any malicious aura from him."

'Well, just intuition. I don't feel good about this place.'

I can't help but think why Ellena felt that way. I don't know if it's about the place or just her. I also can't see anything malicious about the butler. But, if she thinks that way, I can't bother her as it might be another phase of her development.

"So, why don't we leave?" I said.

'I can't. I want to know at least the center of the city where the wealthiest people reside. If I get to know them, I might be able to know how to manipulate their thoughts.'

What kind of mindset is that? It's so dark.

Anyways, I didn't bother her anymore. It's not like it's bad. Practically, she's learning important things. And how can I say it's important? It's because Ellena said 'manipulate'.

Knowing what other people think will help you make better decisions in the future. And since Ellena's system, or me, focuses on the fear of people towards her, it could be great if she knows how to manipulate one.

Although she already knows how to manipulate on a whim, she still has much to learn.

Minutes later, the door to the waiting room opened, and in walked a middle-aged man. 

I was expecting him to be a fatty, arrogant master. However, he wasn't. But it won't be that easy. Characters aren't generic, and having a fat body doesn't mean that they are arrogant.

This one is seemingly a righteous one, I suppose. His aura around him was so clean that I couldn't find any flaws. And as soon he saw Ellena, his aura still didn't change.

"Good morning, Miss Noelle. I am the Master of the Wester Family, Uranos," he greeted, then sat across from Ellena.

"Good morning too. I'm Noelle." Ellena responded.

"So, I'm going directly to the business. Can I hire you for a job?"

"What job?"

This guy is direct and to the point. I don't see any problem with that since Ellena can keep up with him.

Ellena also seems impatient. However, this is just her personality in some instances. I know Ellena feels some prejudice with power, but I don't know how it triggers it.

"I... Please wait a minute. I would like to say that I'm going to buy the materials and would be willing to give an extra 50% of the actual price."

"What job?"

Ellena appears to be really impatient. It's not that good but... ugh! What can I do?

Was she that interested that the first time she heard it was attractive to her? She's impatient, and I'm being repetitive on that matter.

"I see... Then, the job I want to offer to you is to find a particular ingredient. It's called the Morning Flower and is only located in high-altitude places."

Before Uranos could continue, Ellena cut her immediately.

What's wrong with her?!

"Why do you need it?"

"It's an important ingredient for my daughter's medicine."

"Oh." 

After hearing it, Ellena's face showed an obvious downed expression. I think that being arrogant or rude made her realize that something wasn't all about prejudice.

Hearing Uranos's reason might have slapped her on the face. Feeling doubtful every time doesn't actually result in any good things. However, being cautious is not bad. Maybe she just became like that since we can't judge people by their outer appearance.

So, that's something that fueled her after meeting Yskaen. I finally realized why he talked too casually with him. It was because she was careful not to ignore the fact that she couldn't trust anyone.

Sighs... Ellena's becoming too hard to understand. I hope she gets her personality stable.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

'Sorry...'

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked as we finally left the mansion and headed to the guild.

'It's because I get heated up looking at people's cores. I became rude to them, which is not supposed to happen when you become cautious.'

I can't understand her. 

"What's really wrong?" I asked again.

'It's...' she sighed.

'I just wanted to be cautious and that resulted in me being rude to him and the butler. And now, I'm regretting it after knowing the reason why they wanted to talk to me.'

So, it was it?

Because of it, Ellena was troubled?

The reason why Uranos wanted to hire Ellena was that she had plenty of materials from Evergreen monsters, which also appear in high-altitude places. In the high-altitude places, there is a particular area where Morning Flowers appear, and they are the forest's heart. The peak of high-altitude grounds is considered one of the most dangerous, where higher-ranking Evergreen monsters appear.

Thus, Uranos wanted someone who had experience dealing with that kind of monster.

As for why it was only her who they asked, it's because, in Phlabian, there are no interested adventurers who want to risk their lives in such places because monsters that appear there are B to S ranks. And higher-ranking adventurers tend to not be available since there is competition for their assistance.

"I'll surely send it to them within half a year."