Chapter 27
======
Your proficiencies have been changed.
【Basic Stamina Lv.9】>【Origami Lv.9】
【Mining Lv.4】>【Pheromone Lv.4】
【Cleaning Lv.3】>【Voice Mimicry Lv.3】
【Dishwashing Lv.2】>【Mana Sensitivity Lv.2】
【Chopping Firewood Lv.2】>【Speed Reading Lv.2】
【Weeding Lv.2】>【Begging Lv.2】
【Laundry Lv.2】>【Status Resistance Lv.2】
======
What the fuck, my Basic Stamina!!!!!
Origami level 9?
What the hell am I supposed to use this for now?
It would've been nice if you gave me magic proficiency or something!
Give me combat-related proficiencies!
“Ah, I feel like I'm going to die.”
My mind is reeling.
A jolt of electricity zips down the back of my neck.
This is why you shouldn't gamble.
My blood pressure shot up and I nearly fainted, but I barely held it in. I slowly took deep breaths to calm myself down.
“Still, it's not entirely bad.”
I trashed everything that was useless except for Basic Stamina. As long as one good thing came out of it, it was still a profitable trade.
In that sense, [Status Resistance], which came up instead of Laundry, was no ordinary profit. It was a jackpot among jackpots.
When do you think a person dies?
When they drink venom soup, of course.
But now that I had Status Resistance, I should be able to endure it a little.
I don't think I need anything else, really….
“More importantly, what exactly is this feeling?”
Ever since I changed my proficiencies, a strange sensation had been wrapping around my entire body.
The room was as silent as a grave. A sealed space with not even a breeze coming in.
And yet my skin kept sensing some kind of current.
It was like the sticky air on a summer day with insane humidity clinging to my skin—an unpleasant feeling.
No, it felt heavier than that.
'A cold? Or maybe a fever?'
I wasn't sure.
Maybe it was because my body was exhausted. I'd been training nonstop, after all, since proficiencies supposedly rise so quickly here.
I'd put out the fire for now, so maybe I'd be fine if I just rested well.
***
A few days had passed since I beat Gerard in our sparring match. During that time, a few changes had taken place in the forest mansion.
One was that the apprentice knights who had been boycotting us came back.
Gerard must have felt threatened after losing to me. Like Helena said, if they didn't make it as knights, only they would lose out.
The second was that Gerard was not among that group of apprentice knights. He disappeared from the mansion the day after sparring with me.
Maybe the monk left because he hated the temple, or maybe he left because losing to me was too humiliating.
'One future changed.'
The future where Gerard became Renoa's escort knight disappeared. I didn't know what consequences that would bring, but it wasn't bad for me.
It just made it more likely that I'd take that spot.
As the apprentice knights returned, the knights in charge of training them also came back.
The instructor who had been teaching me no longer came to the practice hall, so now I had to learn from them.
'Wow, what petty bastards.'
They didn't even glance at me once. Even if I stood next to the candidates, they acted like I wasn't there and refused to teach me.
Since they had no reason to kick me out, they'd decided to ignore me outright.
'Why are the gladiators and the knights all like this?'
They all act like brats.
I was starting to think I'd have no choice but to swing my sword alone.
“Leon, let's spar.”
Helena walked over to me.
“With me? Without getting instruction from the knights?”
“Right now sparring is more useful to me than instruction. Besides, you're stronger than the other candidates, aren't you?”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. That's why I want to spar with you. I need to train with someone good if I want my skill to improve faster.”
Being praised so openly to my face left me at a loss.
Anyway, thanks to Helena, I could spend time usefully without being left out too, but the problem lay elsewhere.
“Huff, huff... time-out for a second.”
“Huh? Why? Are you hurt somewhere?”
“I'm tired.”
“Already? It's only been 30 minutes since we started sparring.”
I had to pay dearly for gambling away the family fortune.
Honestly, I thought losing a bit of stamina wouldn't have that big an effect.
I figured my Basic Stamina had increased anyway, separate from the proficiency. I thought I could easily endure it.
But nope.
Once [Basic Stamina] proficiency disappeared, I got winded even after a little sparring.
'I gave up stamina for something as useless as origami.'
Could I get a refund, maybe?
I agreed to reroll my proficiencies, but I never said I'd agree to agreeing to that agreement.
“If you're tired, it can't be helped. You were way too sturdy before, anyway.”
Thanks to Helena's consideration, we took a short break.
'I need to raise my stamina again as soon as possible.'
For someone like me, whose proficiency rises in proportion to the time I pour into it, stamina is strength itself.
If I keep working out hard, it'll come back.
Just as I was relaxing like that, Helena beside me started sniffing around as if she'd picked up a scent.
“Hmm, what is it?”
“What is?”
“Leon, did you spray perfume or something?”
“How would a slave like me spray perfume? Why, do I smell weird?”
“No, not weird—if anything, it's on the good side. You just smell different from usual.”
I tried sniffing myself, but I didn't notice any strange smell.
It couldn't have been sweat, since I hadn't trained long enough to work up a sweat.
Thanks to the excellent treatment here, I washed clean every day with warm water and soap.
There was no reason for me to smell strange at all….
'Could it be because of my proficiencies?'
[Pheromone], which I got from the proficiency reroll. Maybe that's why I smelled different from usual.
'But what the hell do you even have to do to get Pheromone proficiency?'
The minimum condition for a proficiency to appear was that it had to fit the role. Then what kind of slave role would produce Pheromone….
I decided not to think about it.
“Leon.”
“Davi-noona?”
While I was taking a break, Davi-noona walked over to me.
“The young lady is calling for you. Go to the study quickly.”
“Leon, did you mess something up?”
“Just what the hell do people think of me?”
I've never caused any trouble.
At most, I was bought by Renoa as a slave, became an apprentice knight while still a slave, and beat Gerard, the strongest of the candidates.
I hadn't done anything that would tarnish my image.
In other words, Renoa wasn't calling me to punish me.
“It wasn't because I caused trouble. It was probably for a reward.”
“A reward?”
“She said I'd done well for beating Gerard, so she was going to give me a reward.”
“Wow, the young lady is giving you a reward? I haven't even spoken to her yet.”
Helena sent me a jealous look. I looked back at her with the same look.
Did she realize she was flexing right now?
“You live a blessed life….”
“Huh?”
“It's nothing. Anyway, I'm off. It might take a while, so don't wait up.”
“Got it. Then I'll call it a day here too.”
I stood up and followed Davi-noona to Renoa's study.
“What can I do for you?”
“As your reward, I'll let you go out.”
As expected.
Right, I hadn't even asked for freedom—just a day outing. It'd be disappointing if she refused that.
“Thank you. When can I go out? Can I leave right away?”
Instead of answering, Renoa flicked a sheet of paper toward me. The ocher-colored paper floated over softly like a carpet.
It wasn't hard to realize that was part of the magic Renoa used.
The paper was packed with unreadable characters.
“Sign it.”
“I can't read, so what is this?”
“A contract saying you won't run away. If you leave the city without my permission, your body will explode and you'll die.”
“…….”
“If you don't want to, you don't have to. Just know you won't be allowed to leave.”
Wasn't this a little too much?
A slave choker had been around my neck for a long time now. It wasn't a normal accessory; it was a magical tool.
Like Sun Wukong's golden headband, I couldn't turn hostile against my master. I couldn't run away even without signing some contract.
Just how badly did she not want to lose me….
At this point, isn't that love?
-Scratch, scratch.
I signed the contract.
I carefully wrote my name in Hangul.
I never intended to run away in the first place.
After finishing the signature, I handed the contract back to Renoa.
“Done.”
“…What did you write?”
“My name.”
“As long as the contract is valid, it should be fine.”
Renoa rolled up the contract.
“Good. I grant you permission to go out. Go with Bibi.”
“Thank you... Huh? I'm not going alone?”
“Why would I send you out alone when I can't trust you?”
“We just signed a contract.”
“That's a contract promising you won't run away. How would I know you wouldn't do something strange outside?”
Needlessly thorough, aren't you.
She didn't allow even a shred of carelessness.
“Sigh, understood.”
“Be back before sunset.”
“Neh.”
There were plenty of conditions attached, but this was still something. Getting an outing from Renoa while still a slave was an incredible feat by itself.
“I'll be back.”
“Ah, right.”
“Something else?”
“What is this, a TV program?”
It doesn't end here?
Renoa opened a desk drawer, took out a leather pouch, and tossed it to me.
A clinking sound came from inside the pouch.
I glanced at Renoa, and she motioned for me to open it.
I carefully untied the string and checked the contents. Inside, countless gold coins gleamed.
“This is...?”
“Pocket money. Spend as much as you want.”
“Oh, geez, you really didn't have to. I'll use it gratefully.”
Is this what life is like for a husband getting allowance from his wife? If she gave me ten million won in allowance, I'd have the confidence to live off her for life.
This time, I really left the study.
In case she might stop me, I hurried out past the front gate.
I spread my arms and inhaled deeply.
“Ssshh, haah~”
“Is it really that good?”
“Of course.”
Bibi, who had come along to keep watch over me, asked.
My mood was exactly like when I used to leave school early because I was sick. The moment I stepped out the front gate, my body—so heavy it felt like a ton—became light as a feather.
Even though it was only a one-day outing, I felt so good I could fly. This is why freedom is great.
“Let's move right away.”
It was lunchtime now. Since she told me to return before sunset, even at the most generous estimate I had only six hours.
I ran along the forest path lightly, partly to build up my stamina.
Maybe I had run for about 30 minutes.
A notification appeared.
-Ding.
======
Notification: You have acquired the proficiency [Basic Stamina].
======
'Ahh~ that's the stuff.'
Stamina comes from putting your body to use.
What's more, the lower the level, the faster the proficiency rises. It doesn't require some high-difficulty technique like swordsmanship, and I even have the [Grace of Chains] skill, so I can recover it in no time.
If I'd gotten a useful proficiency other than [Origami], it'd have been much better, but….
'It's a little disappointing, that's all.'
I still got a hit of dopamine.
Have a drink.
Before long, I left the forest and arrived at the deserted outskirts of the city.
“By any chance, do you know the city layout well?”
Getting out was nice and all, but I still didn't know the city's geography.
I'd lived here for months, but half of that time had been spent underground, and the rest at Renoa's mansion.
“Of course. If you have a destination in mind, I can guide you anywhere. Is there somewhere you'd like to go?”
“I'm going to a tavern first.”
“You went to the trouble of getting an outing, and the first place you're going in broad daylight is a tavern? You're something special from the start. Is this the level needed to sweep the young lady off her feet?”
“What nonsense... I'm just going to buy a gift.”
“A present for your lover?”
“As if.”
To pay back a debt.
That's all.
I bought a bottle of liquor from a tavern in the city.
It cost a whole gold coin. I had no idea what that would be in won, but with gold in the name, it couldn't exactly be cheap.
Of course, for someone who had never earned even a single bronze coin, it was a wildly extravagant purchase—but so what? It wasn't my money.
Renoa said I could spend as much as I wanted, didn't she?
This was the time to flex.
And the place I arrived at with the liquor neatly wrapped up was none other than the underground arena.
“Come here.”
It had been long, far too long.
A long time of humiliation and oppression.
It was time for Diamond's homecoming.