I'm the Friend of a Male Lead who went Crazy after the Female Lead Died

With Asherai polymorphed into her and hidden well inside the room, Elshnain headed towards a tower located at the heart of the Empire.

“Well, it’s definitely high,” she mused.

The tower, massive enough to overwhelm the most seasoned observers, stretched so high and wide that even after Elshnain had strained her gaze upwards, the end was nowhere in sight.

In the distance, white clouds surrounded the tall structure as if embracing it.

 

 It’s much bigger than I imagined; Elshnain admitted to herself.

 

In the original work, this tower played a significant role as the place where the Gold Master, the one who had control over the Empire’s entire economy, resided.

It was a place where all the money was gathered, essentially serving as the epicenter of the Empire’s financial system.

 

Unofficially, of course.

Upon entering the tower, Elshnain placed a white mask over half of her face.

But what is a gold master anyway? She asked herself.

It sounded like a lazy name the author had come up with, however, the one who bore that title had a tight grip on this world’s money.

A very tight one…….

In other words, he was stupidly rich; she said inwardly, condensing the information she had about this particularly character in a single word as she entered the tower

The vast circular hall that awaited her resembled a lobby, and was bustling like a marketplace.

“Why is this item being sent on the 30th floor?”

The hall, filled with numerous counters arranged in circles, was buzzing with activity. However, there was one spot that was particularly noisy, yet no one paid attention to it.

It’s common occurrence; Elshnain thought as she walked to the window with the shortest line and stood there.

Then, a polite voice interrupted the loud shouts of a burly customer.

It was a clerk sitting on the opposite side of the counter.

“Sir, as I mentioned before, the appraisers of our Golden Tower are talented individuals recognized throughout the Empire. When it comes to examining items, their visual acuity surpasses that of any other. And they have stated this gem is only suitable for the 30^th storage floor.”

The answer was delivered with poise and confidence, but the pot-bellied man didn’t look satisfied.

 

“What! Do you have any idea who I am, Huh?!” The man exclaimed, his anger palpable.

Ah, yes. Such individuals were found everywhere.

“Are you using your status within the Golden Tower?” The clerk asked straightforwardly, causing the man to hesitate.

That’s right. Social status held no significance inside of the Golden Tower.

The only thing that mattered were the goods being traded here, and the value level of one’s item determined the floor said item would be stored on.

The storage facility was divided into 100 floors, with each floor housing different type of items that would later be presented for auction, and all auctions, without exception, took place on the 50th floor.

From the sellers’ perspective, the higher the floor on which their items were stored, the better.

So that’s probably why that man was getting angry.

 

“Cough! Ah, I understand.”

The stout man, who was previously eager to press further, nervously withdrew when he noticed the clerk gesturing and nodding towards someone else across the hall.

He is probably afraid about the clerk calling the bodyguards; Elshnain speculated.

Given the astronomical sums of money involved in this place, it shouldn’t be surprising that security measures were rigorously enforced.

“Welcome. What item are you going to trade?”

 

Oh! When did the line shrink?

Elshnain, who had been standing there absentmindedly, looked in front of her in surprise.

The clerk, on the other hand, was looking at her with an expressionless face.

It was an appropriate attitude that was neither too polite nor overly arrogant, but the lack of expression on his face felt eerie.

Even if he was an android, it would still be reliable, right? A stupid thought crossed Elshnain’s mind as she answered,

“Ah, I’m planning to put this up for auction, “Elshnain said, rummaging through the inner pocket of her robe to retrieve the item she had prepared in advance.

“Please, place it here,” the clerk enthusiastically pointed to a table.

“Sure.”

After struggling for a while, Elshnain finally took the darn thing out and placed it on the table.

And the clerk’s face, which was as devoid of emotion as the mask Elshnain was wearing, suddenly came to life upon seeing the object.

“……Ahem. Have you put everything up?”

“Yes. That’s it.”

The clerk glanced at her mask, then at the item on the table, with a face full of disbelief.

And it was no wonder.

The item she had submitted for auction was…….

“Should I list it as a….stone?”

“Yes.”

A stone.

Not just any stone but one that had been rolling in front of the Golden Tower just before she entered the auction house.

“Well… I see.”

The clerk grasped the stone, rolled it around before carefully passing it to another window connected to the back.

There must be an appraiser back there.

Elshnain assumption was correct.

After a brief wait, a small note dropped from the small counter behind the clerk along with the rock.

Well, it was more like a luxurious piece of paper embellished with a golden frame.

“Um…. Ahem. Please, use the transportation device at the back, and go down to the basement.”

Hmm. Just as planned; Elshnain grinned as she accepted the stone and the fancy paper.

And the clerk, who noticed the little smile beneath the mask, raised an eyebrow in confusion.

It was weird.

The basement of the Golden Tower was purposely made to accommodate the most undesirable trash. So, no one would want their items to be allocated there.

In addition, since no one had ever been crazy enough to bring garbage goods within these walls, there were hardly any customers assigned to that floor, to the point where its existence was unknown to most.

However, in that very basement, where no one cared to look, Elshnain was about to meet someone of great significance.

* * *

“Ahhh. What the hell is this?” Asherai exclaimed before letting out a long sigh.

After transforming himself into Elshnain, he resemblance to her had become undeniably to anyone who laid eyes on him.

With subtly shining blue hair, warm emerald eyes, and a face as neat and lovely as a painting; there was no mistaking him for anyone else but Elshnain.

However, there were some things that were clearly different from the usual Elshnain.

Sitting with his legs spread wide, deeply furrowed brows, and tightly pursed lips that conveyed unhappiness; it was obvious that something was off.

So, it’s no wonder that Mikhail, who has been escorting Elshnain since morning, couldn’t help but cast puzzled glances in her direction.

“Umm… Lady Elshnain?”

“What?”

“Ahem. Is there something bothering you… any form of discomfort perhaps?”

“There isn’t.”

“Aha…I see. Very well then.”

Elshnain’s indifferent response left Mikhail, who had been chasing after her like a loyal guard, utterly bewildered.

Since morning, he had been observing her strange behavior, which was quite different from her usual self.

The frowning knight couldn’t help but feel at a loss.

 Why is she acting like this all of a sudden? Did something happen with Lord Killian? He asked himself.

He recalled his encounter with Killian earlier this morning.

Despite appearing the same as usual…. he did look a bit absent-minded.

Moreover, Killian, who typically handled paperwork flawlessly, dropped his fountain pen on the floor this morning—a mistake that Mikhail had never seen him make before.

In disbelief, the knight had pinched his cheek, wondering if he was dreaming.

Hmm. He was a bit off yesterday too.

He looked slightly regretful… and a bit disappointed?

The two of them were certainly together in this room yesterday. What happened here…? No, wait. What am I thinking?

While Mikhail’s imagination was going overboard, a voice suddenly….

“Hey.”

Surprised, he responded, “Huh… yes?”

For some reason, the weird Elshnain, or rather Asherai, called him with clenched fists.

And his shoulders involuntary tensed as he looked back at her.

But then, a completely unexpected proposal was thrown at him.

“Aren’t you bored of just standing still like this?”

“I..if you’re bored, maybe we could take a stroll in the garden or something…”

“Tsk. Not that kind of boring stuff.”

As those words fell, Mikhail’s innocent eyes trembled.

 But you asked to go for a walk every single day until yesterday!

Mikhail, who never dreamed that Elshnain had only done that in other to find a way to sneak out, felt heartbroken at her harsh refusal.

Meanwhile, Asherai nonchalantly crossed his leg, observing the knight’s wounded face before suggesting, “Let’s play a game.”

“What? A game? Should I fetch the chessboard?”

“No. I mean a real game,”

With that Asherai gathered some coins from one side of the table and placed them at the center.

There were exactly 10 coins.

“Are you familiar with Panchigi¹Panchigi : https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/판치기?” Asherai asked.

“……?”

And this was the beginning.

The very moment Mikhail embarked on a descent into the game of darkness.

“Alright, first, lightly flip the coin here. Yes, just like that……”

* * *

He is truly the richest man in the whole Empire; Elshnain thought, still holding the stone and piece of paper as she walked across the lobby towards the teleportation device.

It was the way to get to the basement.

That when she heard a chuckle.

“Did you just hear that? That person was sent to the basement,” someone joked.

“No way. The basement floor that we’ve only heard about? Who’s going to buy that piece of trash?”

“Exactly. Isn’t that embarrassing?”

“Well, there are people like that. People who seek attention with their stupid behavior. Maybe they wanted to catch the Gold Master’s eye in any way possible?”

“I suppose so. There must be a long line of people who’d do anything to speark with the Master at least once in their life.”

“It’s pathetic.”

 Wait. Are they talking about me?