Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Winning with a Twist is Always More Thrilling
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In truth, the message from the Dean was simple.
It stated that Sien Mirmod would undergo a "test" to determine if she was fit to become a child of the Mirmod family.
I'd expected it, but the timing was faster than anticipated. I was inwardly flustered but quickly steadied myself.
‘I've been preparing for this. Don't freak out.’
I blinked my tiny beady eyes and answered energetically.
"Got it!"
"Pardon?"
"I'm saying I'll take the test!"
The assassins stared at me with dumbfounded expressions.
I lifted my chin proudly, acting all high and mighty.
They'd already decided to test me. No matter what excuse they used, they'd make me go through it, so I planned to crush their spirits while Dad was away.
‘To catch a tiger, you have to enter its den. Don't you even know that?’
The maids now clapped enthusiastically at anything I said.
"Ooh, how brilliantly wise!"
"Truly our muscle pillar."
The assassins sent by the Dean, still sprawled on the floor, rolled their eyes in clumsy bewilderment.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Yes?"
"Deal with these guys!"
Proceed!
At my tough command, the maid sisters beat the masked men a few more times and chased them off. Of course, they also muttered something about digging a pit with shovels afterward, so they might get buried alive for a day or two.
‘Maid sisters, is it really okay to live so recklessly like that?’
...I had to wonder if they had some backing.
We were just isolated nobodies in the North Spire with no power base. This was the Mirmod world, where the strong survived, so acting tough without support seemed dangerous.
‘That's not the point right now. First, I need to face off against the Dean.’
I packed a few essentials into the rabbit-shaped bag Dad bought me.
Shouldering the bag crisply, I—Sien Mirmod!
I also slyly convinced the maid sisters to give me the mirror artifact I'd secured in advance. This low-grade artifact might not help much, but...
Anyway, I was fully prepared.
Finally, I strode energetically into the academy.
Entering the large room, I saw the instructor Rilmi, who hated me, and a white-haired old man sitting there. I glared at Rilmi with goggle eyes.
I hadn't expected someone like me, a tiny child, to be regarded with such wariness.
A boiling resolve to give them a taste of their own medicine surged from my dantian.
"You're here."
"Hello!"
I bowed politely and stood before them.
As soon as the door fully closed, he flashed his eyes villainously and asked,
"Did you properly bid farewell to your arrogant exiled father?"
At the phrase "arrogant exiled father," I clenched my plump, well-shaped fist like a peeled new potato.
How dare he call my dad that?!
Our kind dad would have fainted from such harsh words if he'd heard.
Good thing I was here. I could steel my heart and exact revenge.
I froze my heart cold and hard like a corn ice cream and opened my mouth.
"My dad's not an exile. Lady Mother said so."
Mentioning the Duchess made the Dean's face twist.
"...Insolent brat. So, you ordered all my subordinates killed?"
That was a bit unfair.
‘No, the maid sisters beat the spies, not me...’
"To think you'd brazenly kill every spy I sent."
He grumbled.
No matter how I looked at it, the misunderstanding was deepening like sinabro.
But I had no intention of clearing it up.
‘I'm too lazy to bother explaining anymore.’
As I kept my lips tightly pressed without answering, he casually placed the mana stone he held onto the desk and spoke arrogantly.
"I'm going to give you the [Illusion Maze] test."
"What's that?"
As expected, it was the [Illusion Maze].
I pretended not to know, but thanks to Leonhardt, I already did.
The Dean sneered at me.
"You're a fool."
"The daughter of an exile. Just a country bumpkin."
Instructor Rilmi chimed in from the side. To advance his career, he flattered endlessly, his eyes sparkling.
‘It's going just as Leonhardt and I predicted. They plan to kill me. Everyone here kills or gets killed.’
I gazed at him with an innocent, clueless expression.
"Simply put, it's a test to escape the maze."
"A maze? How do I escape?"
"Stand on this glass plate. Figure out the method yourself. So much useless chatter, little one."
His cold gaze hoped to see me scared.
Facing the utterly unfriendly Dean, I spoke up.
"Sienny has to do it even if she doesn't want to, right?"
"Yes."
"...Okay then."
As if waiting, Rilmi handed me the mana stone.
A warm mana stone settled onto my palm.
"Walking into the jaws of death without a clue. Kids really are all idiots."
I ignored his words.
He smirked, one corner of his mouth twitching.
Seeing his expression already certain of victory, Sien lowered her head and smiled contentedly.
Don't let it show—keep that smirk from rising too much!
You can only tell the long from the short by comparing, so don't get ahead of yourself.
He must not have heard that getting cocky leads to failure.
I puffed out my cheeks roundly. Gently squishing the soft flesh, a long "Puuuuh" breath escaped my lips.
The game began.
I might suffer like all those other kids they'd tormented...
‘But I have to succeed.’
And I can.
Stepping onto the glass plate and gripping the mana stone tightly.
The Dean glared at me and said,
"In our family, the weak get devoured, foolish child."
But you never know who the truly weak one is, right?
***
How many seconds passed?
A chill wind blew briefly.
Instinctively, I sensed my surroundings had changed.
‘I’ve arrived inside the maze.’
Opening my eyes slightly, I gulped at the sight of enormous walls three or four times my height. The illusion maze was bigger than I'd imagined.
A gloomy atmosphere, a cold place where your white breath fogged the air with a single exhale.
Tensing up, I took a test step, then two.
With each step, the maze's width narrowed. Widening my stride a bit more would squash me flat. Mobility was clearly restricted—no running, no quick walking.
I took slow, deep breaths.
An exit was visible far ahead, but escape wouldn't be easy.
‘As expected, the illusions should start any moment now.’
The [Illusion Maze] was an especially vicious form of illusion magic.
This maze scraped at the darkest fears of the human psyche, dragging out painful memories.
The moment I grasped the situation, a chilling voice—familiar and filled with malice—echoed before my eyes.
"Stupid bitch."
"You'll never be loved. Stop being so pathetic."
"You're half-assed at everything."
A torrent of abuse poured into my ears.
Each word made my heart pound. Forgotten traumas revived.
These were words from my past life.
Soon, memories from that life replayed before me like old film from a projector.
I saw myself at eight, drinking water in the kitchen.
Voices of my parents arguing in the living room reached me. They were talking about divorce. Huddled in fear, head bowed, I clutched my cup silently.
Hateful voices drilled into my ears.
‘Let's do a mutual divorce, and you take the kid.’
‘I hate her creepy eyes. She's mute, stupid. Doesn't even feel like my child.’
‘Then what? Send her to an orphanage?’
‘She's like you, so you deal with her.’
I was a gloomy little kid with unkempt bangs half-covering my eyes—no one trimmed them. But I was quick on the uptake.
Mom and Dad meant it.
They found me, born from loveless union, annoying and hateful.
‘If you won't take her, then send her away!’
In the end, I was being abandoned.
Useless and stupid...
My grip suddenly loosened.
And crash!
The cup slipped from my slack hand and shattered on the floor.
Staring at the fragments mirroring my shattered heart—or perhaps my parents' hatred for me—I froze. I couldn't move.
Mom burst from the living room toward my frozen form.
I staggered toward her on unsteady legs. Crunch—glass pierced my foot, blood flowing, but apologizing to Mom mattered more.
‘S-sowwy.’
Even though the glass broke. M-my foot's bleeding.
It'll be fine. She'll understand. Maybe, just maybe, she'll worry.
Tears welling in my eyes, I pleaded toward Mom. Sorry for breaking the glass cup, I thought, eyes downcast.
But Mom, Dad... can't you just forgive me this once...
It hurts.
My foot's bleeding and throbbing so much.
Tears keep coming...
Can't you hug me?
But Mom betrayed my hopes as if it were natural.
‘How do you always pick the worst things to do? Are you throwing a tantrum right now?’
‘...N-no.’
I trembled violently, looking up at Mom.
‘Do you know how expensive this is?’
I realized my mistake.
The cup I'd grabbed to drink from was Mom's cherished favorite.
A nobody like me shouldn't have dared touch it.
I panicked and...
‘S-sorry...’
Before I could apologize, Mom rushed right up to me.
Of course, wearing indoor slippers, she avoided the glass. Unable to contain her rising anger, she jabbed my forehead with her index finger—poke, poke—and shrieked hysterically.
‘If you keep being a nuisance, Mom wants to die. Want to die together? Huh?’
The poking made glass dig into my foot again, hurting.
But her threat to die hurt and scared me more.
Mom can't die. She's far more precious than me.
In a shrinking voice, I forced out words.
‘Sorry, M-Mom...’
‘Who’s your mom? Who!’
Dad, arms crossed behind her, intervened.
With cold eyes and a blank face, he said,
‘You, act useful for once.’
‘...Y-yes, sorry...’
‘Clean up the cup and come out. That's the least you can do for room and board.’
Toward Dad, I mumbled with a cowed expression.
‘D-Dad, my foot's bleeding...’
‘Don't call me Dad. Crybaby idiot, what right do you have to whine?’
Glared at coldly, I watched them vanish into the kitchen. I shed tears silently, not even sobbing.
I'm not crying from a broken heart.
Mom and Dad are good people; they can treat me this way. They feed and house me.
Just... just because I'm weak-hearted.
My tiny foot hurts from the glass and blood. That's all...
Brainwashing myself, I cleared the shattered cup shards with bare hands.
I didn't know to use rubber gloves. No one told me.
Naturally, fumbling with glass cut my hands. I gazed quietly at them, thinking.
The gashes didn't hurt at all.
Only my heart ached.
Limping back to my room after cleaning, I thought quietly.
‘I wish I'd never been born.’
Had I really never been born?
At the same time, noisy voices buzzed in my ears again.
‘So you should've never been born, huh?’
‘Let's die together here.’
‘Death brings peace.’
‘It means vanishing forever.’
I bit my lip hard. My chapped lips tasted of blood. I hastily wiped the corner with my hand.
Was I truly a worthless child?
I hunched my already small shoulders even smaller.
***
The illusion maze could be viewed from outside via the mana stone. Seeing Sien bow her head, the Dean and Rilmi grinned.
"She finally bowed."
"Every single one ends up dead like that."
"Easier than expected. I was worried since she's that demon's daughter."
They chuckled at each other for a while, even sharing a shot of rum.
Watching Sien, head bowed and eventually kneeling, the Dean thought smugly.
Sien would meet the same fate as the other children.
Either dying like that or living as a hollow shell tormented by past remnants.
Either way, it amounted to a death sentence for a Mirmod family child.
"Matthias the Young Master will be pissed."
"What can he do? A severed kite string."
Unlike what Rilmi thought, Matthias was actually quite formidable.
But what could be done? Killing promising kids after securing justification was his specialty.
The Dean chuckled mockingly, propping his chin.
What was it... Seeing Sien's bowed head and dirty-kneed posture felt like Matthias Mirmod kneeling before him. It felt good.
After mocking Sien thoroughly, the Dean turned to the rum.
In about thirty minutes, the child's mind would fully shatter.
But right then—
"W-wait a second."
"What?"
At Rilmi's flustered expression, the Dean paused the rum at his lips.
"Th-there, she's lifting her head again?"
Peering into the illusion maze, the Dean's face crumpled.
Most kids who knelt and bowed ended up with vacant eyes, weeping powerlessly and trapped forever.
But this was odd.
Sien had lifted her head.
Even if her eyes seemed a bit teary, they still sparkled.