Chapter: 212
Hearing the barrage of criticism from all around, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
They’d asked for my thoughts, but all they were rattling on about was how meaningless it all was.
Even the First Prince appeared to be taken aback…
What’s with that expression? Did he think I was just some gloomy hermit? Did he actually come up with a scheme and it all backfired on him?
Was he just waiting for me to spout out more chaos by asking for my thoughts, like some nutcase?
But I couldn’t believe he was shocked from the very start!
It was infuriating. If he had planned this out, I could just call him a son of a gun and move on. But to realize it was a flimsy move… that just made it worse for me!
[…Hey, girl.]
‘What? Grandfather?’
[Didn’t you just refer to him as the First Prince?]
What nonsense is this? The translation of my mesugaki skill is accurate to a fault. There’s no way I just called him the First Prince.
What if Grandpa just misheard me?
Look! The log says “the gloomy hermit prince.”
…Huh?
Wait?!
Did I?
I did say “First Prince” just now!
What’s going on?! How did the “First Prince” slip out of my mouth like that?!
I simply couldn’t comprehend it.
I had been suffering from this mesugaki skill for nearly a year.
The skill sometimes changes names, but it has NEVER called someone by a normal title.
What variable could possibly have allowed my mesugaki skill to grant a straightforward title?
While I puzzled over this amidst the storm of criticism, my focus remained on this pressing matter. If I figured out why I called the First Prince normally, I might find a way to break free from this mesugaki skill curse!
I should call my friends by their names too! Huh?!
“Pwahaha!”
Though I was ignoring almost everything, the laughter from right in front of me caught my attention.
The First Prince was laughing. Just a moment ago, he looked horrified.
“Is this the arrogance of the talented? Very well. A winner is entitled to such words. I don’t know how long you’ll remain that winner, though.”
The reason everyone just threw me under the bus was due to my rudeness toward the First Prince.
Now that he acknowledged that rudeness as rightful arrogance, any further criticism would only irritate him.
Those quick to grasp this fact began to praise the First Prince’s magnanimity instead of condemning me.
[You are indebted, Lucy Alrn.]
At that moment, I heard a voice in my head.
It wasn’t Grandpa’s voice, but someone else’s.
Startled, I looked up to see the First Prince glaring at me with an emotionless gaze.
[Take note; I’ll settle this debt later.]
…Huh? A debt? To me?
Could we just join in on the criticism together instead?!
I don’t want to owe anything!
I really don’t want you asking me for something in return!
Can’t you just shout “you damn brat!” instead?!
I screamed in my mind, but those words never made it to the First Prince’s ears.
*
A considerable amount of time has passed since the day of the Partran family party.
If I’m still breathing, it means that the mess from that party ended up wrapped up neatly with the First Prince handling the fallout from my actions.
The word “debt” does seem ominous, but since he didn’t come around to hunt me down after the party, it appears he’s not planning anything right now.
Honestly, it would be better to get it over with right away. Then, once I’ve finished what he asks, I could wipe my hands clean of everything.
Leaving it unresolved just nags at me!
Please, just let me prepare like that pathetic god!
Wow, who would have thought the day would come when a pathetic god gets re-evaluated?
Can I just not pay the debt back?
Is that even an option?
Who knows how the First Prince would retaliate against me if I don’t pay up!
Sure, if I were strong enough to ignore the First Prince, that’d be a different story. But if he had his mind set on getting back at me, I’d have to deal with that!
Not even Benedict could bail me out of this!
Sure, he’s a monster, but he can’t just take down an entire kingdom!
…Um. Yeah. I doubt he could.
Honestly, it’s not something I can just brush off right now, so let’s shift gears and talk about something else.
I should probably start with the mesugaki skill situation.
To cut to the chase, the moment I was able to address him normally was an isolated incident.
After the party, I tried countless experiments, but the titles never changed back.
No matter how often I attempted to call the First Prince by name, I kept ending up with “the gloomy hermit prince.”
The same went for all other titles. There was no name I could use correctly.
I did various research with Grandpa, but our conclusion was that we were utterly stumped.
If anything, I suppose the pathetic god had gotten involved to ensure I didn’t lose the compensation he offered.
But still, I don’t see that pathetic god lending any help like that.
If he truly cared about that stuff, wouldn’t he have reduced the penalties from the mesugaki skill long ago?
Think about it. This trash enjoys my misfortunes and pays good attention to my struggles.
Do you really think he’d help me out just because I’m having a tough time…?
No. No way! Pathetic god! I was just a tad too excited and rambled!
I’d better stop before talking smack causes something dreadful in the next quest.
Right, talking about the reward from the Duke sounds appropriate.
After the party, when I ran into the Duke again, he told me to ask for whatever I desired.
He said he could make anything happen if it was within his power, no matter how absurd it might be.
And he wasn’t entirely wrong.
With the influence of the Partran family, anything a noble young lady could imagine was surely a piece of cake!
But what the Duke hadn’t anticipated was that I wasn’t just some ordinary lady.
Truth be told, what I currently desired wasn’t something the Duke could easily provide.
I was after endgame armor or shields, unique skills. These items can’t just be bought; they need to be earned with effort!
If I had been building a magic-oriented character, I would have spammed requests for help without a second thought. But sadly, I’m a holy type tank!
Sure, I could ask for other items, but when the Duke, a big shot, personally asked me to name my wish, asking for mere trivialities seems a bit disappointing.
As different items popped into my head, one particular request crossed my mind.
Something that was impossible in the game.
Something that was only possible in reality.
Direct NPC involvement.
“Duke…”
“Would it be okay to ask the Duke for a favor?”
I’d defer my current rewards for later. Instead, when the time comes, I want any task to be fulfilled!
It seemed rather presumptuous, maybe even rude, but the Duke nodded without revealing a hint of dissatisfaction.
Afterward, we moved on to simpler topics.
Like the events at the Academy, or whether Joy was doing well in school—topics a grown-up might usually cover.
“Oh! Speaking of which, you mentioned giving Joy some advice, right? May I hear about it?”
It wasn’t a secretive matter, so I shared right away.
About how to lay the groundwork while developing a magic class character.
Once the Duke heard what I had taught Joy, he frowned and began muttering to himself.
With his demeanor resembling that of a mafia boss plotting against a rival organization, I fell into a proper posture, but he wasn’t scheming anything evil.
He was just deconstructing the ideas I had presented.
“How remarkable.”
Through the end of it, an exclamation of admiration escaped him.
“Repetition, mastery, and then minions, huh? Training magic just like one would train muscles? If the old coot at the magic tower heard this, he’d scream like a banshee. But it’s worth investigating. Lady Alrn, who taught you this?”
‘Um, no one really taught me.’
“Duke, there’s no way other pathetic fools could come up with such ideas!”
That’s the truth! This build is entirely my creation! Until it becomes a trash game from a god-tier game, no build out there can compare!
“Is this truly your singular invention?! Truly? For a non-mage, perhaps that’s why”
The Duke started praising me, saying the word genius hardly did justice, then chuckled.
“I intended to repay you today, but instead I’ve ended up receiving something. You truly have no trivial requests? I’d prefer anything, even small, just to avoid increasing my debts.”
‘If that’s the case, can I ask one thing…’
“Then, I’d like to ask about something.”
I inquired why he had been away from his territory before the Partran festival. I was curious about what kind of major problem could have prompted such an urgent visit.
He readily shared his answer, not thinking it through.
“I was asked for help by Duke Burrow. If he seemed that desperate, I figured it must be something serious, so I went to see him, but by the time I arrived, everything had already been resolved.”
He grumbled about how he wasted time before the festival.
This time, did something really happen with the Burrow family? There shouldn’t be anything going on over there.
I had my doubts, but since the Duke confirmed everything was fine, I let it slide.
There were no further issues.
Arthur had asked me to get things sorted out, and I had sparred with Frey while she clung to me.
After that, I returned home to the Alrn family and informed Possell that my condition had improved and resumed training with the other knights.
“Lady, you’ve become remarkably strong, so I won’t be going easy on you anymore.”
‘That’s exactly what I hoped for!’
“Pfeh. As if I’d coddle you. You think I’m worse than other pathetic knights?!”
“Good mindset, Lady!”
When it came to their feedback, I seriously wondered if dying would be the easier path.
When I trained alone at the Academy, I felt like I was on the verge of death, but that was as far as it went.
However, training at the Alrn family was on an entirely different level. When someone was pushed to the brink, you’d find yourself in a daze, unable to think clearly.
But honestly, it felt like growth was becoming slower compared to before.
At first, I thought my stats were rising, so maybe that was the reason for the slower progress.
But as I mulled over that, a certain realization struck me.
That pathetic god’s punishment—how I could gain stats automatically from Menestel but couldn’t grow despite training.
In other words, all that rolling around with the knights of the Alrn household had netted me nothing.
When that hit me, the emptiness was overwhelming.
Denial of reality, then cursing that pathetic god, followed by slamming my own foolishness.
I couldn’t ignore that some things don’t show up in expertise or stats, but it was still frustrating!
As I passed the time in this way, the start of the Academy’s second semester was just around the corner.
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