Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are So Hot! [BL]-Chapter 303: The Sky Tree Mansion

Upon hearing this, Isaac and Miria joined the others in repeatedly looking back and forth between Elyon and the mansion, their expressions a mix of disbelief and awe.

"...I see," Sebas said softly, gazing up at the sky with a gentle expression.

Uh... what?

Damien could sense that Elyon—or rather, the elves in general—had done something unfathomable, but without the common knowledge of this world, he had no idea what was going on.

In fact, even among those present, some of the children who didn’t seem to grasp the significance of Sebas’s words were now looking curiously at the ones reacting so strongly.

Clearly, even in this world, understanding the situation required a certain level of specialized knowledge.

Although Damien wanted to leave the matter alone, curiosity got the better of him.

Noticing Theo gazing at the mansion with a resigned expression, Damien tugged at his sleeve, silently demanding an explanation.

"Um, Theo, what’s going on?" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Ah, well... It seems the building materials for this mansion include Sky Trees," Theo began hesitantly. "They’re a subspecies of the World Tree that only grows around the Elven Forest. They’re exceedingly rare..."

Even Damien had heard of the World Tree.

It was a staple of many fantasy stories, universally described as one of the rarest and most valuable types of wood.

"Because of their rarity, they’re obviously incredibly expensive. They’re typically only used for carving or, at most, decorative pillars. To give you an idea, even a single decorative pillar made from Sky Tree wood would cost no less than 100 gold coins."

"What?!" Damien’s jaw dropped.

A single pillar at that price?

How many pillars were in the mansion?

He couldn’t help but glance nervously around at the sprawling building, which was easily the size of a small school.

"Of course, that price is for sculptures or decorative pillars, where artistic value is factored in. The raw material cost of using it as standard building wood would be lower... but even then, the total material cost for this mansion must be astronomical," Theo explained.

What on earth were the elves thinking?

"Well, sure," Elyon chimed in casually, "but when it comes to the trees around the village, that’s just how it is. If you’ve got perfectly good wood for construction right there in the forest, it’d be strange to ignore it and buy materials from somewhere else, wouldn’t it?"

Seeing how overwhelmed everyone had become, Elyon spoke with a slightly troubled expression. "Just so you know, we only used the materials that were nearby, so there’s no need to think about giving us some grand return gift or anything."

He even went so far as to make that point clear.

Well, if they’re viewing it as just using some trees that happened to be growing nearby, that makes sense...

Still, Damien resolved to never forget his gratitude.

Once everyone had finally regained their composure, they decided to walk around to the front entrance, since it turned out they were currently at the back of the mansion.

...Honestly, it felt like they’d spent more time standing in stunned silence than it had taken for the mansion—and the underground room—to be "built."

After circling halfway around, Damien observed that the mansion itself looked like a fairly standard two-story structure.

The only noteworthy feature, if any, was its U-shaped design, with the edges of the building jutting forward slightly, almost like they were reaching into the forest.

As they walked toward the front entrance, a few people tapped their fists lightly against the wooden walls of the mansion and murmured, "It’s real."

Curious, Damien mimicked them and gave the wall a knock.

However, it felt unusually solid, and instead of the hollow "knock-knock" sound he expected from wood, it produced a metallic "clang-clang."

Startled by the sound, he pressed his hand against the surface, wondering if it would feel cold like metal.

Instead, it was faintly warm to the touch.

Whatever this material was, Damien couldn’t figure it out.

He decided it was better not to overthink it.

When they arrived at the front entrance, everyone once again stood frozen for a moment.

No, at this point, it wasn’t shock—they were mesmerized.

Seen from the front, the mansion’s pristine white walls seemed to reflect the surrounding greenery, creating a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

"Hmm, it’s looking good," Elyon remarked with a satisfied nod.

So this was what he had in mind when he insisted on the forest setting.

The mansion’s front facade featured a large main entrance, above which extended an expansive balcony.

The entrance doors, the pillars flanking them that supported the balcony, and the balcony railings—all of them were adorned with intricate carvings.

From this distance, it was hard to see clearly, but even the window frames seemed to have similar carvings.

At the ends of the U-shaped building’s second floor, Damien noticed rooftop balconies, each enclosed by similarly ornate railings.

It was obvious that no part of this mansion had been constructed carelessly.

From every angle, it looked like an extraordinary amount of effort had gone into its creation.

"Um... Elyon, these carvings...?" Damien asked hesitantly.

"Hm? One of the elders enjoys carving, so they probably took care of it," Elyon replied casually.

He said it so lightly, but... by "elder," did he mean one of the village’s senior leaders?

Whoever it was, their skill was extraordinary.

The vines etched into the pillars, despite being painted entirely white, looked so real it was hard to believe they weren’t alive.

Oh, there’s a cute little animal! Damien thought, only to realize it was another carving.

Even though it was painted white, it was so lifelike that he didn’t notice it wasn’t moving until he stared at it for a while.

The others were also staring at the sculptures, occasionally looking startled, likely having similar experiences.

"Well, there’s no point in standing outside gawking forever. Let’s head in," Elyon said as he opened the door and walked into the mansion.

Before following him, Damien tugged on Theo’s sleeve to get her attention.