Chapter: 5
That day, Erin was waiting in front of Lucy’s room, having prepared since dawn as usual.
If Lucy woke up and Erin wasn’t there, she would nitpick for days.
After getting a severe scolding on the day she made Lucy wait for about a minute, Erin always arrived early to wait in front of Lucy’s room.
For an hour, or two hours, it didn’t matter.
If she waited like this, she would hear the ding-dong of the bell from inside, and that’s when she could enter the room, but that day was different.
While Erin was waiting outside, Lucy suddenly flung the door open.
The moment Erin saw Lucy’s face, she thought,
“I didn’t hear Lucy ring the bell… She must have come out angry because I missed it.”
Before Lucy could say anything, Erin bowed her head.
She apologized.
She hoped that even a little bit of her anger would dissipate.
But Lucy didn’t scold her.
She merely looked at Erin with a bewildered expression.
It was unusual behavior for Lucy.
Lucy’s eccentricities didn’t stop there.
That day, Lucy engaged in numerous activities she would never normally partake in.
She ate everything without finding a single flaw.
She lightly reproached the maids for their mistakes and moved on.
She listened quietly to the teacher’s lessons.
She holed herself up in the library, reading multiple books.
As these strange behaviors continued, the maids began to whisper, “Did Miss Lucy suffer a serious injury to the head?”
However, no one truly thought Lucy had changed.
After all, it was impossible for someone who had been acting like a brat for over ten years to change in just a day or two.
At first, Erin thought so too.
But as Lucy’s transformation persisted for a day, then two days, and finally three days, Erin started to tilt her head in confusion.
The other maids, who made an effort to avoid Lucy as much as possible, claimed she was still the same as before.
They noted that she was merely finding less fault in them, but her typical cocky demeanor and language remained unchanged.
Yet Erin, who was always by Lucy’s side, believed that Lucy had indeed changed.
Unlike before, when Lucy was anxious to tear down everything around her, she had learned to show some composure.
The frequency of reprimands had decreased. The moments of anger had dwindled. Lucy allowed Erin to carry out her tasks without interference.
Lucy had even begun to make remarks that were almost compliments.
“Not bad at all. For a sloppy maid, that is.”
Erin would never forget the moment Lucy, who always complained about this and that being wrong, smiled after combing her hair.
Given the mountain of work Lucy had built up, people found it hard to believe Erin’s claims of Lucy’s transformation.
Even if they halfway believed her, they asserted that the change wouldn’t last long.
However, Erin didn’t share that sentiment.
While it was difficult to find ground for her belief, Erin was convinced that Lucy’s changes wouldn’t conclude in just a day or two.
“Sloppy maid.”
Erin jumped at the voice of the young lady she had just been thinking about.
“I’m thirsty. Bring me water and a towel.”
“Yes, my lady!”
Erin handed Lucy the chilled water and towel she had prepared using her sole magical talent—ice magic.
Lucy frowned momentarily at the sudden coldness, but quickly flashed a soft smile and wiped her face with the cold towel.
Erin relished this moment.
Typically, Lucy carried a pouty or petulant expression, but during this moment, she appeared genuinely happy, giving a slow smile.
“If only you smiled more often, you’d be really cute.”
“Sloppy maid, why do you have such a gross smile? It makes me uncomfortable.”
“I’m sorry!”
But if you’re going to change, couldn’t you at least change your tone as well?
*
On the morning of the sixth day since I started running, Benedict unexpectedly came to see me.
It wasn’t strange for a father to visit his daughter.
Benedict, the doting father, had surprised me with visits a few times before.
“My daughter! Is it true that you devoured all three elixirs in the storage room?!”
However, the moment he set eyes on me, the words he blurted were a problem.
Did all the elixirs in the family really get consumed?
Even if the Allen family represented a noteworthy count family, the elixirs must be precious commodities.
But what was I to do?!
I had already gulped them all down.
There was no way to spit out what had seeped into my system now.
So I shamelessly nodded, and Benedict’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
When I nodded again, Benedict bent down and carefully inspected my body.
“Does anything hurt? It must have been excruciating when you took the elixirs. How did you endure it? And…”
I initially thought he would scold me, but no, Benedict only expressed his worries.
What?
“Aren’t you going to scold me?”
“Why would I scold you?”
“Because I consumed all of the elixirs…”
“Who cares about those elixirs? I’m proud of you for eating them all! Enduring the pain must have been quite impressive!”
“Then why are you here?”
“I came to check if my daughter was doing alright, just in case something was wrong with her body.”
Benedict was a fool who had completely lost his mind over his love for me.
Who would have guessed that he managed to monopolize all the elixirs and could only utter praise and concern?
Benedict must have assumed I took the elixirs due to the pressure from the Academy exams, as he pulled me in for another round of affectionate lecturing.
He insisted I shouldn’t over-exert myself, no matter how anxious I was about the exams.
He reassured me that it would be fine if I didn’t pass.
He continued interposing that my health was what mattered the most.
The non-stop lecturing stretched beyond ten minutes, nearing thirty minutes, and it seemed destined to crash the hour mark soon.
At that moment, I had to make a decision.
I really felt as though I’d be stuck with this troll for the entire day if I didn’t do something.
“Um, I appreciate your concern, but could you please stop?”
“Stupid father, it’s annoying. Stop.”
Uh.
That wasn’t exactly what I meant to say.
Flustered, I gauged Benedict’s expression.
His face was frozen like a statue.
Although he could usually laugh off comments about being a fool or sloppy, it seemed my saying “annoying” had wounded him.
Benedict staggered back, mumbling an apology before darting off somewhere like a wounded girl.
In the end, things turned out as I wished.
But I’ll have to remember to apologize later.
If Benedict sulks, it’ll create all sorts of trouble.
After that, I exited the mansion and made my way to the Allen family training grounds, just like I had been doing lately.
With my mace and shield in hand, I started jogging around the outskirts of the training grounds.
At first, my running was meant to recreate my in-game build, but recently, it had transformed into something different.
I was actually enjoying running.
In reality, it’s not easy to notice the change even after running for a day or two.
It takes at least a month or two before I can comprehend that my stamina has improved.
But here, it was different.
Every day.
No, it wasn’t even every day.
I’d feel my stamina skyrocketing merely after a couple of hours of running.
Like when hunting monsters in a game, I felt like my stamina was leveling up instantly.
The very reason people shy away from exercise lies in how it’s hard and also how challenging it is to perceive actual changes. But since I could feel changes happening in real-time, it made working out fun!
After completing my goal of ten laps, I took a brief rest when the knight who had helped me when I collapsed approached me.
“Miss Lucy, you seem to be working hard today as well.”
Even after receiving my harsh retorts, the knight continued to show concern for me.
I appreciated his thoughtfulness, but to be honest, it seemed very suspicious.
Why would someone approach the Allen countess, who had a dreadful reputation, a bad personality, and who never expressed gratitude, no matter the situation?
I felt it was impossible unless he had ulterior motives.
I figured there were two likely possibilities.
Either this knight was hoping to win over the heart of Lucy, the sole daughter of the count, and aiming for a rags-to-riches story.
Or he was simply a sadistic masochist who enjoyed being scolded by a Mesugaki!
Logically speaking, the latter seemed implausible, so I was inclined to consider this guy as an ambitious soul wanting to shine as the male Cinderella.
There was a minuscule chance he was merely a noble knight, but I thought that was unlikely too.
No way could an NPC who didn’t even appear as a side character be a noble knight.
“You’ve definitely gained a lot of stamina. After all, you are the daughter of the Allen family.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Is that calling it a compliment?”
The words meant for gratitude twisted into a spat, yet I felt no anger, probably due to my adaptation to the Mesugaki skill’s linguistic distortion!
“Of course, how could I belittle your determination?”
Nevertheless, the knight accepted my confrontation with a cheerful grin.
I was sure he was spitting harsh words inside.
His expression was tough to manage.
Is this the required mindset for dreaming of a rags-to-riches story through marriage?
No matter how much effort I put in, I wasn’t planning to marry him!
Damn it.
Even though I turned into a Mesugaki, I had zero intentions of dating a guy!
Just being a Mesugaki was already unfairly trying; dating a guy?
If that were the case, I’d just bite my tongue and die. Seriously.
Perhaps sensing the spite in my gaze, the knight awkwardly forced a smile and swiftly changed the subject.
“Miss Lucy, do you know that the Knights will be entering the dungeon next week?”
“A dungeon?”
Dungeons are one of the core settings of Soul Academy.
Dungeons aren’t much different from those in any other game.
They are places filled with monsters and treasures.
They appear and vanish recklessly without specific rules.
If left alone for too long, the monsters inside would pop out, requiring a swift extermination.
They’re divided into several levels, with both the size of the area and the enemies changing according to the levels.
If there’s one notable difference from other games, it’s that the raid subjects in dungeons
are nobles!
At Soul Academy, dungeon raiding is both a right and a duty belonging to the nobility.
Just as nobles must protect their subjects from external foes, if a dungeon appears in their territory, the responsible noble must subdue it.
Of course, they don’t deal with every dungeon personally.
If the dungeon is deemed low-risk, the loot yielded is pitiful, so they often delegate the dungeon clearing to mercenaries known as adventurers.
However, larger dungeons bring a different scenario.
If a dungeon exceeding a certain size appears, the nobles of the territory will lead their soldiers personally and embark on an expedition.
But now this knight just mentioned that Benedict’s group of knights would be entering a dungeon.
That means a dangerous dungeon has shown up!
“Is it particularly dangerous?”
“What kind of place is it? Is it colossal enough to make a sloppy knight shiver?”
“Ha ha ha, oh no, we don’t always target perilous spots. Such high-level dungeons don’t just pop up easily. This time, we’re heading to a medium-sized dungeon for training.”
Somehow, even while announcing their dungeon visit, there was no tension in his demeanor.
“Where is it?”
“Maybe you haven’t heard, but we’re going to a place called Evans, where there’s a non-disappearing dungeon.”
“Evans?!”
“Evans?! Sloppy knight, are you serious?!”
As I sprang to my feet and shouted, the knight nodded, bewildered.
There was only one non-disappearing dungeon near Evans!
But I knew about that dungeon close to Evans.
How could I not know it?
There, a legendary mace lay hidden!
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