Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Suddenly Too Realistic
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Eh... this suddenly feels way too real?
"Actually, the reason I'm bringing you along this time, Jinwoo, is because I need that brilliant mind of yours."
"Something to do with calculations... or 'design'?"
"Yes. We're constructing something based on production blueprints, but everyone's hitting a wall. Remember that time we cleared the land for the academy gymnasium? Even if you don't pick up a shovel yourself, I need someone who can organize everything from the back and set the direction."
At Grand Duchess Luise's words, memories of my academy days suddenly surfaced.
The Imperial Academy was a place where only the children of nobles from across the world gathered.
From the moment you passed through the gates, every word spoken or paper written carried the weight of your family name.
In other words, even for building new facilities, we couldn't carelessly bring in outside laborers.
Appearances, status, and secrecy were all tangled up in a complicated mess.
If some lowly carpenter happened to see something inside and blabbed about it outside, it would escalate into a matter of the family's dignity.
In the end, there was only one option.
The slaves brought by the students.
People whose status was already bound, managed under their owners.
Even if they spoke out, the responsibility fell on their owners, and they had nowhere to run even if they tried to escape.
So, whenever there was work like facility repairs or land clearing, it naturally fell to us.
But even so, I was Lady Elysia's slave.
Even slaves called for menial labor had ranks in this status-driven society.
They might summon slaves from barons or counts, but no one dared to casually call upon a duke's daughter's direct slave.
That was why Miya and I weren't pulled for just any task.
There was one time we were summoned, though.
It was when the academy's gymnasium had deteriorated so badly that it was decided it needed to be completely rebuilt.
The technical supervisor in charge of oversight had an accident on the way, halting construction.
All the slaves on site were rounded up, but no one knew who should take command, so chaos reigned.
Blueprints were unrolled, materials piled up, but no one could seize the initiative.
That was when I stepped forward.
"I'll give it a try."
All eyes turned to me in an instant.
"Huh? You're... surely..."
"I'm Kim Jinwoo, butler serving Lady Elysia von Valenhardt."
The direct slave of the princess of the Valenhardt Duchy.
If I hadn't had that status, I would've been smacked on the back of the head right there for overstepping.
The professors' gazes shifted openly.
At first, it was 'What business does a slave have stepping up?' but after my introduction, calculation entered their eyes.
Moreover, at that time, Lady Elysia had a poor reputation in high society.
Her grades were at the bottom, and rumors swirled about her arrogant attitude.
In times like that, if a subordinate played the problem-solver, their lady's reputation rose with them.
I figured it was the same in any era, so I stepped up.
"Can you... read?"
"Yes, of course."
"Hm. Even so, entrusting construction to a mere butler..."
"Just give me the foundational work. I'll sort the drainage directions and foundation spacing. If it looks off, you can stop me immediately."
I was that confident for good reason.
I'd once earned a PhD in Korea and even lectured at universities.
Sure, I groveled like a dog, but I lived with 'scholar' on my business card.
A doctorate in history.
In 21st-century Korea, that was a path to survival.
But... what did it mean here?
This was a world with magic, where gods actually intervened.
Status was rigidly defined. Studying history meant peering into power.
Even back on Earth, that wasn't safe.
For example, Galileo Galilei.
He championed heliocentrism and was directly targeted by religious authority.
In Joseon-era historians, touching the king's mood could get entire records burned.
Worse, heads rolled. Even in modern times, it was the same.
In totalitarian regimes, scholars contradicting 'official history' were ousted or vanished without a trace.
Once power intervenes, history becomes politics, not scholarship.
And here, it was worse.
Gods actually existed.
Legends of their past interventions circulated casually.
In this world, peddling history risked offending a god or noble's 'face.'
It wasn't scholarship; it was closer to suicide.
So, the first thought when I possessed this body was simple.
'I'm screwed if I keep this up!'
A historian title was poison here.
So I pivoted.
To survive as a slave, I needed to prove utility without touching power.
Bookkeeping, tax calculation assistance, territory income and expenditure management, contract copying.
Areas politics didn't deeply meddle in.
Fields even gods didn't bother with.
In this life, I chose that over history.
Once in the Valenhardt family, thanks to the lady, I had frequent access to the castle library.
I wrung out the brain I'd slaved over for a PhD in my past life, delving into practical knowledge useful in this world.
Restoring the academy gymnasium was an extension of that.
I merely applied modern calculation methods, adjusted to this world's level.
That was one of the skills I'd learned to make myself useful.
"But... back then, I only stepped up after seeing the blueprints first. If even the continent's master craftsmen can't solve it, I can't guarantee success either."
"It's fine. I'm bringing you as insurance anyway. If it really doesn't suit you... you can just keep me company until this job's done."
Luise von Libelshtein, current head of the Libelshtein Grand Ducal Family.
If she was calling on someone specifically, they had to be renowned artisans.
Ones who could be called the continent's best without dispute.
Even they had backed off, which is why she sought me out. Honestly, I lacked confidence.
Even so, I nodded.
To the current Luise, I was the 'one suited to wield mythic weapons.'
A being worth keeping close and observing.
I couldn't betray that expectation.
That was when it happened.
Slightly.
The grand duchess sitting across from me rose casually from her seat and, without hesitation, came to sit beside me.
Choosing the empty spot next to me.
The hem of her silk dress brushed my knee.
Before I could adjust, her thigh pressed against mine.
Shoulders touched, arms overlapped.
In the cramped carriage. No room to evade.
A subtle fragrance wafted close.
Family-specific perfume, or her natural scent? Indistinguishable.
Just inhaling sharpened my nerves.
Discomfort rose alongside a strange heat a man couldn't deny.
Intentional?
Or mere whim?
Her face was impassive as she gazed out the window, but our touching arms showed no sign of pulling away.
The air in the carriage grew strangely humid.
Clunk!
The carriage lurched sharply.
"...What's the commotion?"
Grand Duchess Luise's voice was low, but chilling.
Urgent shouts came from outside.
"Grand Duchess! Bandits are ambushing at the pass!"
"Bandits?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Those vermin dared to target a Libelshtein carriage?"
I could hardly believe it at first either.
This wasn't some passing merchant cart. This was Libelshtein, right under the imperial family in prestige—practically royal in real power.
The lion crest fluttering openly on the flag, and they target it?
They'd need ten lives for that.
Even surviving wouldn't end in simple execution.
Libelshtein's retribution hits families, not individuals.
The flash of anger on Grand Duchess Luise's face quickly subsided.
Calculation came before fury.
A short sigh escaped.
"No doubt some other high noble, or imperial faction's doing."
"You're... used to this?"
"Yes. Being the empire's second family means plenty of eyesores."
Her tone was flat.
Like discussing the weather.
"Above all, I'm the only direct Libelshtein bloodline left. If I vanish, the family weakens naturally. So they disguise assassins as bandits and raid like this from time to time."
Real target: the family.
Surface: random attack. Beneath: shaking the foundation.
The grand duchess returned to her opposite seat.
She lightly tapped under the chair.
Thud.
A hidden latch clicked, and the floor panel slid up slightly.
A long case emerged from within.
About half an adult man's height.
Too straight to be a typical scabbard.
"That's...?"
"My weapon."
"You're not thinking of going out yourself?!"
"Of course."
Grand Duchess Luise said matter-of-factly.
"One who bears the family must always lead from the front. Skulking in the back to save your skin is for those who sent these fools."
No bravado in her words.
The tone of someone who knew her position and duty precisely.
Which implied a combat-zero slave like me should stay in the carriage.
But.
I had no intention of sitting idly while the grand duchess went out.
A body that had never properly held a sword in its life, yet a thought crossed my mind.
'Wait... isn't this an opportunity?'
Grand Duchess Luise seemed accustomed to such situations.
And she was reaching for her cherished 'personal weapon,' stored separately in that case.
Right now, I had just one intuition.
This woman was suited to wield my mythic weapon someday.
I didn't know what kind yet.
But seeing that weapon now might give me a clue.
With that thought, I quietly heightened my mythic blacksmith senses, eyes fixed on Grand Duchess Luise's fingertips.
Click.
The case fully opened.
And what emerged from within was—
"...A gun?"
Fitting for a medieval era, a thoroughly modern, hefty matchlock musket.