Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Adventure Club #1
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The gulf between perpetrator and victim can never truly be bridged.
“It was just a joke.”
“I didn’t think you’d take it so seriously.”
“If you really hated it that much, you should’ve made your refusal crystal clear. I didn’t know.”
These were the most common excuses.
Elga was no different.
“…It was just a joke, you know. We were supposed to switch places. But what’s that? A collar?”
Elga stared at the collar I’d pulled out, her face flushing with panic. She might’ve been intimidated by my sudden shift to a firm demeanor.
And now, that very Elga was showing me a passive, submissive attitude.
Seizing this momentous opportunity, I racked my brain for ways to handle the situation—how to mold her into a better person and rehabilitate her.
My conclusion: a complete role reversal.
Switching victim and perpetrator.
She’d suffer exactly as I had.
“If you experience exactly what Theo went through with you, Lady Elga, maybe you’ll understand my feelings a little better. That is, if you truly regret what you did to me.”
I recalled Professor Stella’s lecture from not long ago.
We’d spent time acting out the pet’s perspective to understand its feelings.
At the time, I’d wondered if it was really necessary.
But now, it seemed role reversal could be effective for reflecting on one’s actions and realizing how the other felt.
People really do need to learn. Lectures are useful after all.
“Wear this around your neck. Obey everything I say. If you don’t, I’ll flick your forehead or tug your ear. Just for one year.”
“……”
Elga’s swollen, teary eyes glared at me faintly.
Was this kid serious? She was probably gauging my mood and intent.
“I’m dead serious.”
“D-Do we really have to go that far? A whole year?”
“I’ve been putting up with you for exactly a year now. But even I couldn’t torment a noble lady from a great house for a full year.”
Whoosh.
I held up three fingers. Elga’s body shivered.
“Th-Three hours…?”
Three hours? Who does she think she’s kidding?
“Three months. From after finals until the end of break. Just three months of switching roles with me. When we’re alone together, I’ll be your master. And you’ll be my maid.”
Maid.
At the word “maid,” Elga let out a guttural growl, like a beast rumbling deep in her throat.
It was so startling and chilling—how could a person make a sound like that?
“You dare treat the firstborn daughter of the Lioness family as a lowly servant? Theo, do you even know what beast is on our family crest?”
“A lion?”
“That’s right. Among all the families on the continent, only the Lioness family can emblazon a lion on our banner. Because we bow to no one.”
I see.
Her pride as a Lioness made it impossible for her to accept a collar.
“Lions can’t be caged. They can’t wear collars. That’s what makes them lions.”
“But aren’t there tons of lions in Barza Zoo?”
“It’s just a figure of speech!”
“……”
I was at a loss for words. Honestly, even I thought pushing the collar from the start was a bit much.
No matter how remorseful Elga seemed or how eager to atone, maybe the collar was too far right away.
It felt like a golden chance to bell the cat…
No helping it.
I’d just have to be satisfied with her apology-ish words.
As I clamped my mouth shut with that thought, Elga shrieked like she was screaming.
“You—you were just thinking about that Mirna wench!”
“……?”
“You think I won’t do what you say, so Mirna would’ve. That’s what you were thinking. You were about to run off to Mirna, weren’t you?”
Elga had wildly misinterpreted my silence. I didn’t respond, just stared at her wordlessly.
Rustle.
Under my gaze, Elga’s eyes darted anxiously before she scrunched her brow, squeezed her eyes shut, and blurted it out.
“…One month.”
“One month?”
“I’ll go along with your stupid plan for one month. That should be enough. Right?”
It was a great deal for me. I hadn’t expected Elga to volunteer a month first.
I nodded and handed her the collar.
“Then put it on yourself. One month, starting now until next month. But if you disobey me or complain, I’ll add one day for each offense.”
“What? Where’s that fair?”
“Any issue? Just follow my orders properly.”
Was she already scheming to defy me? The thought made Elga seem infuriatingly obstinate. She must’ve had her own defense, as she retorted.
“What guarantee do I have you won’t give me unreasonable orders?”
Fair point.
What we were doing was a kind of role-play. We needed clear boundaries on what was allowed.
“Don’t worry. I’m no devil. I won’t go beyond what you did to me—the level of commands you gave me.”
“I—”
I could see Elga’s pupils trembling.
Perhaps only now was she truly reflecting on what she’d done to me.
I magnanimously added,
“And if it gets truly unbearable, we’ll set a keyword. Say it, and I’ll stop everything, pretend it never happened.”
“Keyword?”
“Like a spell to end it all.”
Something like “stop the bullying.”
A safety valve: if Elga couldn’t take it, she’d say the word, and the role-play, master-servant reversal—everything ends.
“Let’s make the keyword ‘meow-meow.’”
“H-How could I say something so embarrassing? I’m not a kitten…!”
I imagined Elga meowing pitifully. It’d take something extreme for that to happen.
“That’s exactly why—think hard before you speak it. Now, if you agree to this contract, put on the collar.”
“……”
“And for the next month, wear it constantly, except when bathing.”
“……”
Elga said nothing. She just glared at the collar in my palm with her reddened, swollen eyes.
Pressuring her further felt wrong.
Giving her time to think wasn’t a bad idea.
“Then I’ll leave it on the desk. Take today to think it over. How you really feel about me, and what’s next for us. Things will change a lot….”
I trailed off ambiguously, leaving Elga—who’d calmed her tears—in the room and slipped out.
Afternoon lecture time.
* * *
Afternoon was Professor Stella’s familiar lecture with Aira. But assistants rushed in to announce it was canceled.
━Canceled!
Why is this place plagued with cancellations and incidents? Professor Stella was judging duels just earlier—didn’t seem short on time.
I sent Aira back to the dorm and decided to use the free time for maintenance. Practice magic, organize info gathered so far.
Plenty to do.
“Lady Aira, looks like you’ll need to head back to the dorm.”
“Fine by me. A perfect queen like myself doesn’t need lectures anyway. More importantly, Theo—could you grab some books from the library for me?”
“What kind of books?”
“I feel like reading about three. But I don’t know what exactly.”
…If you don’t know, who does?
Still, Aira sometimes got vague like this. She was usually assertive, but occasionally deferred choices.
“I’ll leave the selection to you, Theo. I want to see your taste in books.”
Pick whatever? Must be bored cooped up in the dorm.
But this was a golden opportunity for me.
If I lent her good educational books, maybe she’d build her mind, gain elegance and morals, become a fine queen?
I’d choose carefully.
I had to go to the central library anyway.
“So, Theo—any progress investigating Angmar?”
At her dorm door, she had me report on the situation so far.
The situation: Angmar survivor linked to “adventure club,” named Isaiah.
But was it okay for Aira to know these two facts?
If she learned too much about Angmar, she might figure out my existence.
“Sorry, nothing solid yet.”
“I see.”
Aira ended it there and entered her room.
I watched her swaying black hair, then focused my eyes, activating my power 《Ten Ri Eyes》 for the first time in ages.
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Name: Aira von Tarantara lv. 45
Job: Queen lv. 2 → 3
Ruler lv. 7
Peerless Beauty lv. 9
Saintess lv. 6
Archmage lv. 5 New!
Talents: [Locked] [Locked] 《Tarantara》
Disposition: [Locked]
It is best to kneel before the Queen of All Things and pay homage.
Bow your head and kiss the tips of her feet, begging for mercy and affection.
She hides a deadly truth from everyone.
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What? It’s different from before.
Her “Queen” job leveled up by 1. And a previously locked job slot was unlocked.
“Archmage.”
My own “Mage” is barely lv. 7.
What’s an Archmage?
I peered closer at the Archmage entry. More details floated up.
「Archmage: A job attainable only by mage ascetics who have opened the door to truth. Leveling up increases spell power, effects, and success rate.」
Got it.
I’d vaguely realized mage levels mean 1 circle per 2 levels.
So at mage lv. 10 (5 circles), you can job-change to Archmage?
Archmage probably 1 circle per 2 levels too.
That puts Aira at mage 10 + Archmage 5 = total 7.5 circles.
「Calm Situation Assessment!
Gain EXP from Talent 《Calm Thinking》.
All job EXP +5」
「Discovery of Higher Realm!
Gain ‘Mage’ job EXP. +50」
Just checking the status window boosts mage EXP. Another reminder of Aira’s fearsome prowess.
Could I, just starting magic, ever conquer someone like her?
I turned and headed to the library.
The answers were there.
Answers to surpass Aira, to leap to the 10-circle realm of Angmar’s Demon King Solomon.