Chapter: 4
After asking the maid to tie my hair and putting on some comfortable clothes, I warmed up at the Allen family’s training grounds.
The knights and soldiers who were originally training here cast wary glances my way, but I didn’t care.
There were more than just one or two people giving me that kind of look.
No matter what they thought of me, I just had to focus on my own tasks.
The plan had already been laid out.
The research on how to level up character specs most efficiently had been completed long ago.
The first thing I needed to do was boost my stamina.
Stamina is useful when leveling up any character.
Because the higher your stamina, the more actions you can take in a day.
For exploring specific locations. For meeting various NPCs. For training that I needed right now—stamina was essential.
Unless you were capturing the concept of a sickly wizard, stamina was a must-have stat at Soul Academy.
So, how could I raise this stamina?
Depending on the time frame in the game, it varied, but typically the early way was through running.
Not some fancy skill or special method, but just plain old running—the kind everyone uses to get around.
There are other methods, but they don’t really become effective until the middle of the game.
In the beginning, the best strategy was to run while wielding weapons in both hands, simultaneously building stamina and weapon proficiency.
Thus, from now on, I planned to run my heart out with a mace and shield in hand, eating and sleeping excluded, for about two weeks straight.
That’s how you build a character efficiently in Soul Academy.
Completing my warm-up, I started running around the boundaries of the training grounds without a second thought.
I already knew about posture and breathing while running.
If you’ve been in the military, you’ve surely done your share of jogs.
Although it had been a while since my discharge, what I learned back then was still embedded in my body.
I had no issues as I ran the first lap.
I was slightly out of breath, but that was it. After a lap around the vast training field, I felt perfectly fine.
The two stamina elixirs I had taken were really kicking in.
After running for about an hour, it wasn’t long before I felt something was amiss.
I still had a long way to go before reaching my goal, yet I was already feeling winded.
Could I really sprint all day like this? Even if I tried my hardest, I felt I’d collapse after just a couple of hours.
As time passed and I even forgot how many laps I had run, I kept on running.
My leg muscles screamed in protest.
My lungs ached as if they were about to burst.
My arms, dragging along with the mace and shield, were less running and more flopping around, but I didn’t stop.
If I hadn’t possessed Lucy, I would have surrendered long ago.
I wasn’t someone with this much endurance.
If I joined a gym for three months, I’d go hard for a week and then waste the remaining two and a half months.
So, how was I enduring the pain and pushing through? There was one thing I could guess.
Skills.
Just like when I took the elixir before and overcame my fear, the skill I had included when creating my character was likely coming into play right now.
In this case, it was probably the effect of the “Unbreakable Will” skill.
The description of said skill mentioned, “Even death cannot break your will.”
In the game, it was merely a death-prevention skill, but who knew it would be useful like this?
Thanks to that, I gained confidence.
I had the audacity to run like my character did in the game those last few days.
With a will that even death couldn’t break, how could I not run?
Fueled with excitement, I completely forgot about pacing and mindlessly cranked up my speed.
That was where I messed up.
One thing I had overlooked was that having a will didn’t mean my stamina would regenerate automatically.
Will is will, but the body is still… well, flesh and bone.
No matter how strong my will, once my body hit its limits, I had to collapse.
I keenly felt this as I lay sprawled on the cold stone floor of the training ground.
This is why pacing matters!
You can only truly know by pushing yourself until you collapse.
Next time, I should run with a bit more caution.
“Miss Lucy?!” I heard my maids scream, but I couldn’t even move a finger.
“Are you okay?”
‘Yeah… I’m fine…’
“It’s ok. My ears are ringing, could you keep it down? You’re being annoying…”
I was just tired; I’d feel better in time.
So, could you stop fussing around next to me? You flapping about is making me feel like I’m going to lose it!
Afraid that saying this out loud would translate into harsh words, I stayed quiet, only to hear footsteps that weren’t my maid’s.
“Miss Lucy, if you don’t mind, could I move you to a more suitable place to rest?”
I struggled to turn my stiff neck and saw it was one of the knights from the Allen family.
I didn’t know their name. I only remembered he was running and commanding the soldiers.
“If you rest like this, the recovery will be slower. You should rest properly when you can.”
To think someone would come up to Lucy first—how odd.
Lucy was treated like radioactive material in the Allen household.
If anyone got too close, they’d risk falling victim to Lucy’s antics, so everyone, except Benedict, would sneak away at the sight of her.
The maid at my side couldn’t help it, but I never imagined anyone else would approach me first.
Hmm. Given how cold the stone floor was, this turned out to be fortuitous.
Since he offered to help, I’d graciously accept.
‘Yes, please do.’
“Alright then, you clumsy knight, I shall allow you to touch my body.”
“It’s an honor, my lady.”
The knight approached hesitantly and carefully lifted me up.
Only then did I notice the other people in the training ground were all watching me.
Most gazes were filled with concern.
Not concerning me—after all, with all the nonsense I’ve put everyone through, how could they concern themselves with me?
No, their looks were aimed at the knight who dared to embrace me.
This knight, bestowing a favor upon me, must be wondering how Lucy will repay him.
That’s a bit much, isn’t it? Even if Lucy is such a little demon, would she really put someone who helped her through the wringer?
Had she previously thrown a fit over a maid being too respectful and kicked her out?
Did she wreak havoc in the kitchen because the chef served food she didn’t like?
Had she ever badmouthed a teacher for urging her to study?
Check, check, and check.
Hmm. It’s understandable for them to worry.
Remembering Lucy’s past antics, the knight’s willingness to assist felt even stranger.
With such a colorful background, he chose to help me first? Did his commanding officer order him to do this?
“Miss, may I ask you one thing?”
‘Yes.’
“What is it?”
“Why are you running with a mace and shield?”
I was taken aback by the sudden question.
“I understand you’re trying to train your stamina, but it seems you’re overdoing it from the get-go.”
Listening to the knight, I realized I probably looked odd running with a mace and shield out in the training grounds.
Objectively speaking, I must’ve looked ridiculous.
A girl who had never exercised was now running with weapons for over an hour!
Yet, there was no way I could explain the situation.
How could I tell people in this world that running with a weapon was the best way to boost stamina and skill proficiency?
I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire of whatever ridiculous rumors about Lucy were circulating among the maids.
That’s why I couldn’t respond at all.
When I fell silent, the knight let out a small, awkward laugh.
“If you’re trying to train, please ask us for guidance. Isn’t this what we do every day? We know how to train better than anyone else.”
His argument was quite persuasive, yet I had no intention of listening to him.
I sincerely believed that what I was doing was right.
After all, in this world, my skills were functioning just fine, weren’t they?
This was how the game’s system worked, after all.
If I continued building my character as I had in the game, I could gain strength faster than anyone else. So how could I give that up?
“Miss?”
‘Thanks for your concern, but I’m good.’
“Shut up, you clumsy knight. Don’t tell me what to do.”
You darn brat!
Where did that sentence about “Thanks for your concern” go?
Huh? Do you have a condition that makes you drop dead the moment you express gratitude?
After receiving an answer that could hardly be called polite, the knight muttered an apology and closed his mouth.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Being translated into brat-speak made a polite rejection impossible.
Sigh. Damn it.
How can I fix this? It’s alright for now since we’re in the mansion, but if this continues at the academy, I’m going to be in big trouble.
Am I really about to be ostracized?
*
Erin, Lucy’s exclusive maid, watched her master, hard at work running laps in one corner of the training ground.
Today, Lucy had already spent three hours circling the outskirts, entirely drenched in sweat.
She stumbled, her body appearing utterly drained—it wouldn’t have seemed out of place if she collapsed at any moment.
However, Lucy did not falter.
She moved her feet forward as if stopping would spell disaster.
Why was she working so hard?
Three days had already passed since Lucy started running, but Erin still couldn’t grasp her actions.
The Lucy she knew wasn’t the type of person to engage in that sort of behavior.
The Lucy Erin remembered was a spoiled little girl who believed she ruled the mansion.
She’d fly off the handle if the smallest thing didn’t go her way, nitpicking everyone around her, insulting others to boost her self-esteem.
Her personality was so difficult that her exclusive maid position had remained vacant multiple times.
Typically, becoming the exclusive maid of a noble young lady was a privilege, a recognition of one’s ability to serve a precious member of the family.
Once assigned, a maid wouldn’t relinquish her position voluntarily, even if demoted by a superior.
But in the Allen mansion, it was different.
Being Lucy’s exclusive maid wasn’t a mark of honor.
The term “recommendation for resignation” regarding the exclusive maid revealed just how poorly regarded it was to serve Lucy.
So, when Erin was assigned as Lucy’s exclusive maid, it felt like the sky was crashing down around her.
Was her hard work for naught, resulting in unintentional backlash? Had she offended the head maid somehow?
Was this a warning to leave quietly?
That night, after receiving her assignment as Lucy’s exclusive maid, Erin lay awake, unable to sleep, replaying her perceived missteps in her mind.
Staying constantly by Lucy’s side felt akin to falling into hell.
Erin had no choice but to endure Lucy’s tyranny.
Consequently, her days turned into a cycle of keeping her head bowed during the day and shedding tears at the head of her bed each night.
Then, one day.
On that fateful morning, Erin anxiously awaited the arrival of a new day.
Lucy changed.
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