Chapter 7
The rumor spread like wildfire throughout Justitia.
The future Magic Association President lost to an unheard-of student ranked in the 1000s.
It was very unsightly. She was hit by a weak punch. She was hit by an uppercut.
She was transported with her eyes rolled back after being hit in the chin.
She was overwhelmed in a magical power struggle. And so on. Ishia's reputation was already thrown into the gutter on the first day of admission.
However, Ishia wasn't afraid of such things. Reputation can be recovered. She's a woman who thinks that no matter what others think, she should go her own way.
But there was something else she was afraid of.
— Maid, I'm thirsty?
That's what the trash who called her said after morning training.
— Maid~ I'm hungry. What's on the menu today?
That's what the scum of humanity said as soon as the lunch bell rang.
— Maid. Raphael says she wants a snack. Go buy some snacks.
That's what the small fry said during the break in theory class.
— Maid. Do you have some money? I need some cat food today?
That's what the vermin said at the end of classes during the way home.
Ishia closed her eyes tightly and did everything she was told. She had accepted this bet, and as the future Association President, she couldn't retract her words once spoken.
But people have something called patience. If you're constantly pestered all day, and for several days without regard for time, it's not strange for patience to hit rock bottom.
"What's with the cat food. What is it. No. You can't even keep pets in the dormitory, so why do you need that? Aren't you just making me buy anything because you want to bully me?"
On the way to the dormitory, Ishia muttered while kicking the ground. It was a statement like that of a female office worker who had been harassed at work, but there was no one around to see.
Ishia took out her wallet from her pocket and checked inside. Dust rolled out with a rustling sound.
"I'm sorry, wallet."
Her wallet used to boast of being plump. Nevertheless, it's already become so thin that the leather sides are sticking together. It's because it met the wrong owner.
Why did I make such a bet with that human, die past self. If only I could go back to the past, I would even beat up my past self to stop it!
Of course, the rumor also reached her father's ears and she received tremendous scolding. She didn't know if the maid thing had also reached him, but she only heard "Resolve it yourself." Even the girl she didn't want to call a childhood friend but was a friend heard the rumor and teased her all day. Really, nothing has gone right since admission.
She pouted her lips and kicked a nearby stone, but nothing came back. The poor stone just rolled on the ground several times.
"Tch."
She tried her best to resolve it on her own somehow. She even challenged that man to a duel again. But the answer that came back was one.
— Are you stupid? If I don't fight while I'm winning, I'm the eternal winner and you're the eternal maid, right? Why would I? You babo?
The way he rolled the last 'babo' (idiot) really made her want to hit him. Nevertheless, it was correct. To fight again with the maid position at stake, she needs to put up something equivalent.
'But what if I lose again?'
If she loses again, she'll have to put up something even bigger. And if she loses again—
She had already been burned by thoughts like 'I'll win anyway, so what.' She couldn't do that anymore. A more perfect strategy is needed.
"What should I really do."
Ishia entered her room with a gloomy face.
Today, she needs to stay up all night to devise a strategy against Lee Sunghoon. For some reason, she felt like she understood the psychology of gambling addicts.
＊＊＊
"Ah~ This is paradise. Paradise!"
I said, sitting on a bench with my legs crossed. My posture was arrogance itself. Legs crossed, arms spread out on the bench, the typical posture of a thug. That's how high my mood was.
"Sunghoon-ssi. Tomorrow, I want to try something called macarons? What do you think?"
"Sure, sure. Just tell Ishia to buy them!"
It's all thanks to Ishia. Thanks to the one who volunteered to be a maid, I'm feeling happiness for the first time since coming here. I'm feeling abundance, something I've never felt in the world I was in before.
I didn't know that having someone at your beck and call could be this comfortable. Were you bullies enjoying such a good thing all by yourselves!
Eating whatever food I want, passing off all annoying tasks, and having a good sucker who gets whatever I need on their own.
Ah! This is the top predator of the school caste!
— Meow~
At the cute sound, I naturally stroked the fur while looking at Raphael. She was eating snacks with her mouth puffed up like a hamster.
Not only that, she's multitasking by dividing the cat food in her hand into containers. I like how docile she's become after I bought her some snacks.
"When you're done with that, we'll move to the next place."
"How many days has it been already? Can't you at least explain why we're doing this?"
"Don't you want to eat snacks? Just do as you're told."
Raphael answered halfheartedly with a "Yes~" and diligently moved the cat food from the bag. I calmly stroked the cat on my lap while waiting for her to finish.
What I'm doing now is what's commonly called a cat mom. Cat moms were very irritating existences in my original world, but now it's an unavoidable situation.
I'm going around almost all the areas where people can reach on the huge artificial island of Justitia, feeding cats.
There's one reason. To steal an opportunity.
"It's not Kim Taehyun's opportunity, though."
"What did you say?"
"I said work hard. Hurry up. It's getting dark."
I can't even talk to myself. Anyway, the opportunity I'm going to steal from now on is not Kim Taehyun's. It's an opportunity of one of Kim Taehyun's heroines, but I decided to steal it because I need it. That guy will protect Kim Taehyun anyway.
I realized it from the fight with Ishia. I'm more exposed to danger because I don't have magic power. If it wasn't for 「Heaven's Blessing(EX)」, I wouldn't have been able to cut her magic and would have been crushed and suffocated.
I need to reduce such risks in the future, and be able to at least pretend to fight. That's why I'm looking for it.
"I've finished feeding them all."
Raphael, who had somehow finished stuffing her mouth, approached with the cat food bag. I handed Raphael new fuel (snacks) from my inventory and moved to the next location.
"Are we going again? I'm tired. You might not know because you retire from the morning run every day, but the training is quite intense."
"I see everything too. And even if I retire, I participate again when I recover, you know?"
"Eh, can you call that participating?"
"Then am I not doing it? I'm working hard too. Don't look down on my 25-year concentrated lack of exercise? I'm really working hard to the point of death? I'm working so hard that I'm coughing up blood?"
"Sunghoon-ssi needs to rethink the meaning of 'working hard'. Fighting with the instructor because it's hard isn't called working hard, you know?"
"..."
I closed my mouth, having nothing to say. Recently, I've been trying to keep up with the training regimen set by the academy.
There's a saying that if you can't avoid it, enjoy it. I can't enjoy it, but I needed to adapt. It's not for any other reason, but to survive.
If I die, none of this matters.
From the start, it was natural that I couldn't keep up because the training was based on the premise that one could use magic power.
It's inevitable that I fall behind and cause trouble in the process. It's not my fault. It's all the fault of the god who sent me here without magic power—
"What's there?"
Raphael, who was walking ahead, pointed at a spot. I hurriedly shifted my gaze while pressing Raphael's head to hide behind a tree.
"Ah, what are you doing! Let go!"
"Please stay still for a moment."
While suppressing the struggling one, I looked over there to see a woman with short brown hair. Neat hair braided to one side. Eyes shining like flower petals, eyes with strong self-assertion, clear features.
Although not as much as Raphael, there was a definite beauty there.
I knew as soon as I saw her. She's another one of Kim Taehyun's heroines.
Although in a different class, she's someone who keeps getting involved with Kim Taehyun.
The daughter of the guild master of 「Dawn」, the largest guild in Korea. Yang Minji, the woman who becomes the center of the story that unfolds later.
She's someone I shouldn't get involved with here. I hid my body in the bushes while pressing down on Raphael's head.
My hair is black so it's not easily visible in the dark, but this damn blonde hair is too bright and would obviously be seen, so I pressed it down as much as possible.
"Why are you really doing this? I worked hard today, you know? Aren't you treating me too harshly?"
"Please be quiet for a moment. I'll explain later."
"No. I'll stay still if you explain—!"
I covered her mouth as well while crouching down. I could see Yang Minji smiling brightly while holding a cat's paw. I wish she would just stop and go.
As if my prayer was answered, Yang Minji suddenly stood up. Yeah. Just go straight to the dormitory—
"Huh?"
"Mmph—"
Raphael seems to be saying "Huh" too. Her spit is flying, it's disgusting. Before I could think about wiping my hand on her clothes later, Yang Minji slowly approached this way.
That can't be. Surely we weren't discovered.
I held my breath, frozen like a statue. Raphael kept making sounds like "Mmph, hmm, hmm!" but couldn't break through my hand.
"Did I hear wrong? I thought I heard a sound from this direction?"
I swallowed hard. Yang Minji's gaze moved here and there, but she couldn't find anything and tilted her head in confusion.
See, there's no way we could be discov—
"Puha! Why are you really doing this? Do you think you can overpower me, Sunghoon-ssi?"
"Ah."
I looked at Raphael in dismay. There's no way I could overpower her, but even though I desperately suppressed her, she shook off my hand without reading the atmosphere. And she even shouted with that proud face.
When I turned my gaze back to Yang Minji, she was looking at me.
When I met her flower petal-like eyes, she looked at me with a bright smile. Haha. A bitter smile escaped me too.
"Ah! The person who beat Ishia!!"
And the words I heard were impossible to ignore.
She knows me. It's hard enough being involved with Ishia, but Yang Minji too? I barely opened my trembling lips.
"That's not me?"
Please don't let it be me.