Chapter: 222
“How dare you inconvenience the Young Lady of the Alrn Count Family!”
Looking at Luca, who had his forehead pressed against the ground begging for mercy, my mind was in a whirl.
The Luca I know isn’t like this.
This guy, one of the few behind-the-scenes characters in the Soul Academy, never shows weakness unless it’s the final showdown.
That composed demeanor is the reason he gained popularity despite being a troll character.
“I-I didn’t know my place as a mere commoner!”
So, this was a variable. A variable that doesn’t exist in the game. Is that good or bad? Well, probably good… right?
It’s probably leaning towards the good side. I don’t know what’s on Luca’s mind, but at least I don’t have to worry about dying!
“Please! Just grant me my life!”
But seriously, what’s up with him? I just can’t understand.
Benedict is not that menacing…
The influence of the people around me is quite something…
When I went missing, it’s likely Luca was involved… right?
What is this? Why did he kidnap me? No matter how I think about it, it seems like nothing but a lousy option.
No, I shouldn’t underestimate him. He’s the one who created so much chaos in the Soul Academy that players would rage!
Bringing me here indicates he has some sort of plan. Given Luca’s personality, he definitely had this scenario in mind.
Just as I was struggling to comprehend Luca’s intentions, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
…Could it be that he was provoked by my Mesugaki skills and lost his reason, just going wild?!
Once I entertained that idea, the current situation started to make sense. If he acted without thinking about the consequences, Luca is really in trouble.
Regardless, the forces lurking behind me are quite considerable.
Just the alliance of the Alrn and Partran families is enough to threaten Luca.
No matter how well-connected he is, he’s just a professor from commoner origins.
If my assumption is correct, doesn’t that make me the prime candidate to utterly ruin Luca’s life with just a few words?
Feeling a rush of excitement, I decided to hold my tongue for a moment and call for Grandpa. I needed to check if my thoughts were right.
[Your intuition might be correct.]
‘Right?!’
Confirming that I was in a perfect position to take control, I was on cloud nine, while Luca kept spouting his cowardly lines.
“I’ll do anything!”
Saying he would do anything—this is like begging for a chance to be oppressed, right?
Luca! Turns out you’re just a perv who wants to be bossed around by a girl!
Honestly, it’s like the gods in this world are just full of perverts.
While I grinned thinking about the overflowing potential of a mindless slave, Grandpa let out a chuckle.
[I don’t know what you plan to do, but return to the academy and call for your guard to proceed. You’ll be safer that way.]
‘Yes! Got it!’
True. If I start abusing my power here and Luca goes off the rails, his life may end—but so could mine.
“Luca, for now…”
“Professor Pedro, is it right to make someone being punished stand out here on the street? Pfft. Even I know that much. You’re totally not fit to be an adult~”
“…Right! I’ll head back to the academy!”
Luca used a scroll containing teleportation magic.
The spell quickly whisked us to his office, bringing the usual intense motion sickness along for the ride.
“Uh, Young Lady Alrn? Is it okay to bring someone else?”
When I mentioned bringing Karl along, Luca’s expression turned anxious.
‘You don’t want that? Then what…?’
“Don’t want to? So, I guess I’ll just go tell my foolish father that a pervy professor tried to hypnotize me and do weird stuff.”
“Wh-What?! No, that’s not—”
‘Why? I’m not wrong, am I?’
“That’s merely stating what you did, isn’t it? What’s wrong, feeling guilty? Must be cheesy thoughts, huh? Hahaha, an irredeemable perv!”
“…No! It’s nothing!”
Yet, in a subordinate position, Luca was utterly powerless before my whims.
Seeing this guy, who always acted so cool in the game, trembling brought a grin to my face.
Ah, to live out a dream I couldn’t achieve while gaming—this made me feel my faith rising.
At first, I dared to speak badly about the quest-giving god, but not now.
Surely, the lord saw the future, unlike that foolish apostle who can only see what’s right in front of him.
Luca, you don’t know it yet, but I harbor a great deal of animosity towards you.
Do you even realize how many characters I had to start over because you only gave me trash quests?
Of course, you have no clue.
Don’t worry; I don’t remember the details either. I’ve gone through so many iterations it would take forever to count!
But I do remember how many characters I scrapped when making my first top-level character.
One hundred fifty-nine.
The last number on my organized Excel sheet for strategies.
I repeated this dozens of times, so the number of characters lost on account of you would be in the thousands.
Got it? The grudge against you, Luca, isn’t just mine.
It’s the resentment of thousands of characters who had to vanish because of you!
Brace yourself! I’ll be thoroughly bossing you around!
Karl was, of course, summoned at dawn, saying he should absolutely move if it’s the Young Lady’s call!
Karl didn’t go into detail about what Luca did.
Kidnapping a noble Young Lady under the pretense of an exam and dropping her off in a potentially deadly spot. Both offenses deserve to be labeled as great sins.
If Karl hears about this, he’d draw his sword without hesitation.
So, I introduced Luca to Karl in a certain way.
“Say hi, Karl…”
“Bum. Say hello to your bum junior, bum perv.”
“Junior…?”
When I hinted that this guy was about to realize my greatness and swear loyalty, Karl’s expression grew complicated.
“While it’s a delight to see more who appreciate the Young Lady’s greatness, calling him a bum junior…”
I could tell that was definitely jealousy and rivalry on his face. Karl took pride in being the only bum around!
Where did it go wrong? He seemed perfectly fine when we first met.
“Uh, Young Lady Alrn? How can you call him a bum perv? We haven’t even discussed anything yet…”
“He must be bursting with pride over being a perv♡ I get it, I’m nice, so I’ll switch it up. Let’s see~ Pervy Bum♡ Disgusting Lolicon♡ Masochistic Trash♡ Do any of these suit your tastes?♡ If you want, I can combine them all!♡ How about it? Am I not super nice?♡”
“I’ll go with bum perv.”
It may not be right for me to change what I want, but if being a bum perv is what he prefers, no need to worry.
Upon returning to Luca’s office, I forced him into an oath first.
This should serve as his leash.
For someone planning on living in the shadows, promises hold little meaning. He wouldn’t care about dishonor.
However, Luca is different. Selling trust is critical for someone whose job is to groom talents.
But what happens if he breaks that oath and leaves evidence behind?
Not only would he be expelled from the academy, but he’d also likely gain the disdain of fellow talents, making it tough for him to talk to anyone.
So Luca can’t break his oath. That would mean denying his entire life.
With Grandpa’s help, I set the conditions of the oath quite stringently.
While the specifics were lengthy, they boiled down to a few things.
1. He won’t harm me.
2. He will follow my commands.
3. He will do his utmost to protect me.
It wouldn’t be strange to call this a slave contract. Once it was finalized, I gave Luca my first order.
To report the trials he can currently offer me.
Luca then asked for time.
Though he could just say it right away, he explained there might be gaps if he did. If given time to organize the paperwork, he would provide me with the best report.
“Is a week fine?”
If I were a real master, I’d have been shouting, “A week? Please, finish it in three days!” But I couldn’t bring myself to do that.
Memories of the torment from former clients crept back, making it impossible to fully embrace being a strict master!
Is this the mark of a subordinate etched into my soul? Having lived as a subordinate all my life leaves me unable to become a true master!
Regardless, until that report is ready, I couldn’t ask for anything. I wanted to see the list and pick the most efficient option.
With nothing pressing on my agenda, just as I was about to rise and head back to the dorm, Luca grabbed me.
“There’s something I must tell you beforehand, according to the contract. Would you please give me a bit more time?”
‘What is it?’
“What’s the matter?”
“Two things. First, among the common folk in the academy, your reputation isn’t great.”
I know what the common folk situation is.
A place where commoners band together to survive in an academy full of nobles.
It sounds like a good organization, but in reality, it isn’t.
It’s like a military. Commoners use the excuse of survival to have upperclassmen command the lower class like slaves.
Living in the academy provides some help, but the overflowing bad practices are unbearable, so I can’t say a good word about it.
But what’s this about my bad reputation there? Lucy already has a bad reputation, right?
As I was tilting my head, Luca explained how they dislike that I seem to be favored by Fairy.
Hmm. So it’s kind of like jealousy.
Not something to stress over too much. If they pick a fight, I’ll just smash them!
“The other thing is that the Second Prince is trying to draw you in one way or another.”
That guy hasn’t given up?! I thought he just dropped it since he hadn’t said a word!
Uh-oh. I really hope the Second Prince will leave me alone.
I don’t want to see what happens when I call that guy the dumb prince!
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