Bad Friend (1)
“It seems we have arrived.”
Had it been about ten minutes since we started following Lady Drin down the pristine streets of the 1st District? We entered a residential area lined with luxurious estates, each boasting its own spacious yard. Shortly after, Lady Drin pointed toward one of the mansions.
So, is that the temporary residence the Libringer family prepared for our Lady Drin’s academy life?
“Hmm...”
Is that really it? For our Lady Drin, is that really appropriate? It was an ambiguous sort of mansion that immediately prompted such doubts. Taken on its own, it was indeed a splendid and luxurious estate, standing out even among the surrounding mansions. It was exactly the kind of extravagant residence where the high and mighty of this world, with their deep pockets, would reside.
But when I looked at it through the lens of it being Lady Drin’s home—all that splendor and luxury felt like nothing more than meaningless extravagance. Lady Drin possessed such natural grace that she would look perfectly at home even in a palace of ultimate decadence, but she was the type of person who would find such ostentatious buildings uncomfortable and choose to live in a modest, ordinary house instead.
“What is with that reaction? Is there some sort of problem with my residence?” Lady Drin asked, noticing my lukewarm expression.
“No, it’s not that there’s a problem, it’s just... how should I put it? Somehow, with Sir Drin—”
“Ahem.”
The moment I addressed her as “Sir,” Lady Drin cleared her throat, looking even more uncomfortable than when I had shown my ambiguous reaction to the mansion.
“Ah, my apologies. Rather than a problem, it just feels a bit ill-suited to you, Lady Drin.”
“Ill-suited to me? What on earth is that supposed to mean?”
“Well... it’s just a bit too... extravagant, in a way that doesn't really fit you.”
“...What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I do not look good in splendid surroundings?” Lady Drin shot back, her pride seemingly wounded.
If I tried to gloss over it here, wouldn't she go out of her way to drape herself in all kinds of flashy clothes and accessories just to force me to say, ‘Lady Drin, you look absolutely stunning in extravagant things’?
Oh...
Lady Drin decked out in lavish attire and jewelry. The thought of teasing her here was incredibly tempting, but I barely managed to hold myself back and said what I originally intended.
“Of course not. There is nothing in this world that wouldn't suit you, Lady Drin. It’s just that, in my mind, you are someone who is more... how should I put it? Diligent? Upright? You just don't seem like the type of person who would prefer such excessive ostentation.”
“No matter how I look at it, you sound incredibly sarcastic...” Lady Drin muttered, squinting at me with deep suspicion. To prove my innocence, I offered her the most pure, guileless smile I could muster.
“...Yes, you are definitely being sarcastic.”
“Oh my.”
“Well, regardless, you are not entirely wrong. To be honest, I am not particularly fond of this mansion either. But what can be done? It was already in this state when my family received the transfer.”
“A transfer?”
“This mansion was transferred to our family by the Arien City Council.”
“...Why? Why would the Arien City Council transfer something like this to the Libringer family?”
“Presumably, it was to accommodate my convenience as I enter the Academy.”
“...”
At this very moment, I was reminded once again that Lady Drin lived in an entirely different world from mine.
Arien was one of the wealthiest cities on the continent. If I recalled correctly, it had the vibe of New York, Hong Kong, or Singapore. The 1st District was the richest area in Arien, and this residential zone was the most prestigious neighborhood within that district. With only a slight exaggeration, this was the most expensive real estate on the entire continent. And yet, she had been ‘transferred’ a massive mansion with a private yard right in the heart of it?
How many years would it take for me to buy a house like that? My imagination, which was still firmly rooted in the mindset of an ordinary commoner, came up with an answer: Maybe if I gain immortality and work for about five thousand years?
Man, my head hurts...
As far as I knew, all Academy cadets were provided with dormitories by the institution, but the nobles set up separate residences in Arien regardless. To put it nicely, it was a noble tradition, culture, and a matter of saving face. To put it bluntly, it was sheer vanity and empty formality. Even though they were already provided with lodging, they insisted on securing private spaces, using the scale and extravagance of those spaces to flaunt their family's prestige. I heard that some lower-ranking nobles even went bankrupt trying to keep up with this culture. But was it different for high-ranking nobles? Did the city itself provide them with housing?
“Having the city council provide a residence... is that a common occurrence for high-ranking nobles like you?” I quietly asked Adela, Aidrin, and Miz, who were standing behind me.
“What? Of course not,” Lady Aidrin replied instantly.
“A common occurrence? Do you think that even makes sense? Most families couldn't even dream of being gifted a mansion here on Agenna Street. In fact, even if they wanted to buy a place on this street with their own money, they wouldn't be able to,” Adela added.
“My Baurer family almost went bankrupt just trying to secure a small townhouse on the outskirts of the 1st District,” Lady Miz chimed in with her usual gloomy deadpan.
It seemed Lady Drin's situation was a tale from another world, not just to me, but even to these three high-noble ladies. According to them, Agenna Street was a place where even high-ranking nobles struggled to move in. The exorbitant property values and the lack of listings were secondary reasons. The primary reason was that the local nobility of Arien treated Agenna Street as a sacred symbol. ‘Only those who can walk Agenna Street with their heads held high are true citizens of Arien,’ or some nonsense like that. Due to this sentiment, Arien almost never yielded a property on Agenna Street to an outsider noble.
And yet, Lady Drin had been ‘transferred’ a mansion sitting on the prime real estate of that very street.
No wonder when newbies asked, ‘What exactly are the Eight Great Families?’ the veterans would simply reply, ‘Just think of them as royalty or celestial dragons, it's easier that way.’
Wearing dumbfounded expressions, we followed Lady Drin into the estate. As we crossed the luxurious courtyard, we listened to her speak from the front.
“The exterior of this mansion... is quite contrary to the values our family pursues. Therefore, when we first received the transfer, there was talk of tearing the entire building down and rebuilding it from scratch.”
If they don't have bread, let them eat cake. If they don't like the building, just tear it down and build a new one. Their fundamental way of thinking was on a completely different level.
“However, tearing down and rebuilding a perfectly fine structure simply because the exterior is not to our liking seemed like an egregious waste. Several members of the family, including myself, strongly opposed the idea, and as a result, we agreed to use the mansion as it is.”
Of course, our Lady Drin's upright nature shone through even in her rejection of their absurd logic.
“Hearing that story makes this mansion feel truly complete. It is as if the moderation and dignity it previously lacked have been filled by Sir Drin's thoughtful consideration. Hahaha.”
Lady Drin looked at me with a face full of disgust. “How do you utter such shameless flattery with a straight face? Just hearing it makes my skin crawl.”
“Would you like to know my secret?”
“By all means, do tell.”
“When choosing your words, do not approach it with the mindset of flattery. Instead, simply speak with the mindset of expressing the raw, genuine emotions you feel in that very moment.”
“Good heavens. I should have expected as much.”
As I placed a hand over my heart and spoke with solemn reverence, Lady Drin shuddered as if she had just witnessed something deeply offensive. In truth, the real secret was eliciting exactly that kind of reaction from her. If I could see her react like that, there was nothing I wouldn't say.
Lady Drin quickened her pace as if fleeing from me, approaching the front door and knocking. Moments later, the door swung open.
“Welcome back, Milady.”
Neatly braided hair pinned up. Sharp, angular glasses framing an even sharper, business-like expression. And a pristine maid uniform without a single speck of dust or a crease out of place. The person who greeted Lady Drin perfectly matched the stereotype of a maid in my mind.
“Oh.”
I couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation of admiration at the sight of this textbook maid.
“...”
Several sharp glares pierced me, though I had no idea how they had interpreted my reaction.
“...”
And among those sharp glares, the sharpest of all belonged to none other than the maid herself. Though it lasted only a fraction of a second, her gaze left a stinging impression on me before shifting back to Drin.
“Are these your guests, Milady?”
“Yes, Yena. These are the guests I invited to the estate today.”
Yena?
Ah, now that I hear her name, I remember.
Yena. She was the maid who served as Drin's guardian during her stay in Arien for the Academy. A certain comment I had once read on a forum post or video about this character named Yena flashed through my mind.
The thought suddenly occurred to me. Even if I hadn't caught that assassin earlier today, wouldn't he have been easily taken down by Yena anyway? As the guardian entrusted by the Libringer family to protect our Lady Drin in the foreign city of Arien, the maid Yena was, of course, an absolute monster. To put it bluntly, if anything unfair happened to Drin at the Academy, Yena would immediately storm the campus alone, grab a professor by the collar, and demand answers. Actually, that wasn't even an exaggeration. It was an event that literally happened in the game.
That very Yena was now staring at me with a highly loaded gaze.
“...”
If I had to guess with my needlessly sharp intuition, the meaning behind that loaded gaze was probably something like this:
Why is a shady-looking guy like him hanging around our young lady?
It was the exact look a mother would give a bad influence her daughter had just brought home.