Chapter 19
Wondering what this was, I looked at the word from the side, from behind, and from a distance, but not a single letter changed.
The paper, which should clearly have had the name of a different club written on it, instead bore the name of Libera—the club I had to join.
It was good that Libera was written there, but why had Rael's order led to this?
Since trash like him wouldn't have ordered me to write down the name of this club without some purpose, I stared at the paper and thought it over for a long time. I came to this conclusion:
Rael was currently in second place.
He must have been very unhappy with the gap between himself and the protagonist, who was in first place.
But unlike in the original story, that piece of trash never bullied the protagonist himself or put them in a difficult situation.
He was a pervert who always made his lackeys or someone else cause trouble, then laughed about it from behind the scenes.
Unlike in the original story, he now had me—a very convenient slave to use—so he was obviously planning to use me to cause trouble for the protagonist while keeping his own hands clean.
Considering his nature and character, it wasn't just something he might do. He was definitely going to do it.
Even knowing that, there was almost nothing I could do. If he gave me an order, I couldn't resist and had to obey.
I hadn't been able to resist anything so far. It was enough to make me wonder what the point of this compulsion system even was.
"Professor, an hour has passed."
"Huh? Ah, an hour's already passed? Then everyone, hurry up and turn in your papers. I'm sleepy."
The hour passed faster than I expected. At Roben's call, the professor got up, wiped the drool from their mouth, and collected the papers.
I was starting to wonder whether that person was really a professor.
I'd always thought beastkin were aggressive and loved to fight, but that professor looked about as far removed from fighting as possible.
"Eighteen... twenty. Everyone's turned them in. See you tomorrow~."
The professor left with a huge yawn, and the bell rang, prompting all the cadets to leave the classroom.
Only after the entire class had emptied out did I leave and head back to the dormitory.
While I was hastily changing clothes, the maid uniform I'd brought from the ducal estate kept catching my eye.
If only I could wear that maid uniform, it would be so much easier to get through the events and training that lay ahead.
Wearing a maid uniform around the Academy would violate the rules. And I already had a bad reputation, so adding a crazy-woman tag on top of that would be a bit much.
But no matter how I thought about it, having the subspace ability from my talent would make things ten times easier.
I could put my weapons, everything else I needed, and even these heavy books in there and carry them around.
"Status Window."
[Status Window]
[Name: Serena] [Age: 16]
[Weight: ??]
Strength: B+
Agility: A
Durability: C+
Luck: D-
Talent: Basic Maid Qualifications
1. Maid's Talent (All stats increase significantly while you are a maid)
2. Maid's Devotion (Your stats increase the more injuries you receive)
3. Combat Maid (Anything in your hands can be turned into a weapon, and your durability increases significantly)
4. Maid's Secret (When you wear a maid uniform, a subspace forms beneath your skirt)
Status: Soul Contract
[Soul Contract]
[1. Unconditionally obey your master's orders.]
[2. Unconditionally protect your master.]
[3. Devote everything to your master.]
Compulsion (00.90%)
(As Compulsion increases, your body's freedom to act is taken away)
(Compulsion increases whenever you disobey an order and decreases each time you carry one out)
## The terms of the contract have been eased by the system
"What? Why did only my Luck drop by three levels?"
I hadn't paid any attention to my Luck stat at all, but seeing it drop three levels all by itself bothered me.
There hadn't been a status window like this in the original story, so I had no idea what the Luck stat was responsible for.
D- was incredibly low... Wait a second.
Becoming that piece of trash's slave, being forced to enroll in the Academy, and seeing Agnes's secret—I'd certainly had terrible luck.
No, it wasn't just bad luck. At this point, it felt like the world had cursed me, the exact opposite of the protagonist.
I don't know anymore. It'd be better for my mental health to just go to sleep.
.
.
.
It was a day off, with no classes at the Academy.
The club activities I'd been looking forward to were finally just around the corner.
Following the instructions I'd received in advance, I found the classroom where the club was meeting and went inside. Despite the early hour, a lot of people had already gathered.
There were more than forty people in the classroom. It was so packed that it was cramped enough for people to bump into each other.
I gave up on making my way to the front right away, stood at the back, and looked around for the protagonist and Agnes.
'Why aren't they here?'
Just as I was looking around without finding either of them, the door opened and Roben and Agnes walked into the classroom side by side.
I could feel Agnes's subtle gaze on me, but that had to be my imagination.
Right. Nothing happened yesterday, so it was obviously just my imagination.
"All right, everyone seems to be here, so I'll begin explaining our club, Libera. As its name suggests, we're a free-spirited club. Our goal is to travel to various ruins, temples, and cities, gaining knowledge and forging connections."
The club president, Ruan, went on and on with various explanations, but only one thing mattered to me right now.
I could leave the city where the Academy was.
There were plenty of things I could do here, but my real goal was to find a way to break the Soul Contract.
That made visiting ruins and temples absolutely essential.
Besides, I could directly interfere with the story, so in a way, these club activities were more important than life inside the Academy.
"That's all for the explanation! Shall we head out now?"
"Where are we going?"
"Oops, I forgot to explain. Sorry. We're going to the Filieta Ruins now. They're in a safe zone, so we'll use a warp to get there and back. There's no need to worry."
The Filieta Ruins were just what their name suggested: ruins containing the entire history of the last war.
The Kingdom of Ornus, the second most powerful kingdom on the Idrian Continent, managed the site directly, so no one caused a disturbance there unless they were looking for trouble.
But that only applied to people. Those who weren't human would run wild.
By those who weren't human, I meant the minions who had made contracts with demons.
The more powerful the demon they contracted with, the stronger they became—and the more humans they had to offer as sacrifices.
At first glance, they didn't seem any different from demons, but demons in this world weren't the kind of beings people in my original world imagined.
In some ways, they were more normal than angels.
"We're setting off now. Everyone, gather around."
On the way out of the classroom and toward the warp room, I looked at a mirror mounted awkwardly on the wall.
Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I seemed somehow very awkward.
I hadn't looked in a mirror at the ducal estate except when washing up, so it was only natural that it felt strange.
I'd picked out some clothes that looked easy to move around in from the ones I'd brought, and I was glad they suited me better than I expected.
But why was there a mirror here? Had they left it there to throw away?
"You there! Hurry up and catch up."
"Understood!"
By the time the club members reached the warp room, they were all transported to the ruins at once.
Light enveloped me. When I closed my eyes and opened them again, the scenery had completely changed. Green trees and grass stretched all around us.
And the blazing sunlight lit up the entire ground.
"Now that we've arrived at the ruins, feel free to look around on your own. We'll have time for a discussion later, so take a good look!"
As soon as the club president finished speaking, all the cadets scattered throughout the ruins.
Agnes, who had been glued to the protagonist's side without any intention of leaving, seemed to have taken an interest in something and was now rooted to the spot.
Then I should take a look around, too.
The ruins were bigger than I'd expected, and the inside was clean.
They were so clean and well organized that they were almost like a museum from my original world. It was hard to tell whether this was a ruin or a museum.
The bones of gigantic monsters and high-grade weapons found only in these ruins.
There was certainly plenty to see.
If only no minion showed up here, this would make for a wonderful memory.
Since the minion was supposed to appear near the protagonist, I first made sure I knew where the protagonist was, then slowly approached and spoke.
"You seem to like swords?"
"Yes. The sword is practically a part of my body."
"I could tell how skilled you were with a sword at the freshman sparring matches."
"You're too kind."
That guy should be showing up any time now. Why hasn't he appeared?
If I had to wait much longer, I'd be in trouble. I was running out of things to talk about.
-BANG!
"What happened!"
"The gate to the ruins has been smashed!"
"Everyone, run outside! It's a minion attack!"
It's finally started.
The original story's first event where the protagonist fights an enemy.
Right here, right in front of my eyes.