A Wicked Servant Lives in the House of the Poor Widowed Lady
A Wicked Servant Lives in the House of the Poor Widowed Lady
"...Hey, Ian."
"Hm?"
"Do you still like Rina Rosewell? A lot?"
Ian had intended to keep anything to do with Rina Rosewell hidden as much as possible.
The reasoning was simple.
In Pongpongi's body, no matter how much he badmouthed Rina, he would only hurt himself.
But did he need to hide it from Danya, too?
Ian thought it over briefly.
Then he shook his head lightly.
"No. I don't like her."
"Then you and Rina aren't on good terms right now?"
A serious voice.
Ian faced her directly.
Danya's brows had drawn together, as if she were worried.
Seeing that expression, Ian decided there was no need to hide anything.
"You can't call it good."
"Enough to fight?"
"Yeah."
A brief silence settled between them.
What was Danya thinking?
Danya fidgeted, fingers interlacing and twitching.
She opened her mouth with visible effort.
"I kept debating whether I should tell you or not, but I think you need to know. I think Rina may have been trying to attack you at the start. I mean, it's not exactly confirmed. But when that magic came flying at us, it didn't seem like Jacob had gone dark yet, from what I could see."
From Danya's perspective, that couldn't have been easy to say.
Telling Pongpongi—who had been crazy about Rina—that Rina might have attacked him couldn't have been easy. And the person Danya was talking about was Rina Rosewell, known to everyone as the nicest girl around. Ian could only feel genuine gratitude.
"Is that so. Thanks."
At the same time, curiosity stirred.
Why was she going this far for him?
When he asked, her answer came like this.
"D-Don't take this the wrong way, alright?"
"Go ahead."
"I-I..."
Gulp.
Danya swallowed hard, bit her lip a couple of times, fidgeted with her fingertips. She looked down, then lifted her head to meet his eyes again.
And then she declared in a loud voice.
"I trust you more than Rina!"
Did his expression look odd?
Danya started blurting out in defense.
"I-I mean, it's not like I'm saying anything drastic! It's more like, I'm not saying I trust you completely as a person, but I trust you more than Rina. Okay? Just so you know. Okay!"
What was it about saying she trusted him that made her struggle so much?
Ian tilted his head, but he was honestly grateful.
The heroines, popular no matter what they did. The evil Blood Rock Sect with its overwhelming power. And above all, the fact that the story was gradually changing because of him. It felt like a massive wall stood before him.
It wasn't that he lacked the confidence to break through. It was just that the scale of what lay ahead was vast enough to feel overwhelming.
But.
Seeing Danya tell him she trusted him, that vague sense of helplessness vanished. Was it the reassurance of having someone on his side?
'I guess I've come to accept it.'
That the story changing was unavoidable. He had no desire to act as a main player in the storyline, nor any intention of actively intervening. Still.
'I can slip in beside them and nudge the flow a little.'
Intervene as minimally as possible to keep the broad strokes on track. And quietly pocket the gains along the way.
Like saving Danya, who should have vanished from the story when the dungeon exploded during the 'Combat Training Practicum'. Honestly, Ian had done nothing more than pique Yulan's curiosity.
"Wh-What are you mulling over so hard! Say something!"
Just like he'd saved Danya by putting in a little extra work.
"It's not bad."
Ian murmured the words without realizing it.
Danya took it somewhat the wrong way.
"N-Not bad? Th-That's your reaction?"
"Yeah. Not bad."
"Do you know how hard it was for me to say all that! And all I get is 'not bad'! Take it with a little more honor! Say 'thank you, Lady Danya,' you brat!"
Ian placed a hand on top of the flustered Danya's head and gave it a few ruffles.
Her ears twitched against the back of his hand, and they were soft.
"Acting all shy about it now. I trust you too, Danya. Obviously."
"Ob-Obviously?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're comrades."
Pshhh—.
Danya ducked her face, now flushed bright red.
Had she heard that last part? Probably not that important.
Judging by the way her tail was swaying gently, she wasn't in a bad mood—that much Ian could guess.
He simply failed to consider that, for a beastkin, the act of 'trusting' held deeper meaning than he assumed.
"Thank you. For trusting me."
A comrade he could trust and rely on.
It was partly to oppose the heroines, but even just to survive, you needed at least one person like that.
Thoughts like 'with Danya's potential, I can turn her into a major figure with just a little polish' or 'building ties with the Ketsunesia clan will help in countless ways'—none of those calculations crossed his mind. Truly.
At some point, the recharged Lounas had regained its full silver gleam.
The moon shone distinctly, just before reaching its peak.
The first act of the scenario was drawing near.
◆
Like most story-driven gacha games, Fanta X Aca had a substantial scenario volume.
On top of that, thanks to the development team's massive updates every quarter, the story's depth and variety rivaled that of a full-length novel.
It only turned into a filtering trap for newbies because of the sharply climbing difficulty in the later half. For veteran players, it was rich content to chew over.
The first chapter of that scenario was [Chapter 1: Traces of Darkness].
The first act sees the player fully recognizing the existence of the Blood Rock Sect, one of the major villainous factions, and working to thwart their schemes inside the academy.
The Combat Training Practicum was the prologue to that first chapter.
The clear condition: 'Survive.'
'I managed to clear it somehow.'
Right after that, Act 1, 'The Night of the Full Moon', begins.
A defining feature of this storyline was that the main villain changed with each arc. Normally, identifying that villain was a tricky task, but Ian had a good idea who it was.
"Thank you for your time."
With a polite bow.
[ Clinical Magic Pharmacology - Suzy Dismal ]
Leaving the nameplate on the door behind, Ian exited the professor research building.
The campus of Lichten Academy felt somewhat quiet for a weekday.
The academy had officially announced it would investigate the Combat Training Practicum incident quietly behind the scenes. The stated reason was to avoid inciting excessive fear about the Blood Rock Sect.
But Ian knew the truth: deeply rooted villains already existed inside Lichten Academy.
The whole affair would be swept under the rug as an unavoidable accident that occurred during training.
One peculiar detail was that the reward (?) for Rina Rosewell, who had coincidentally slain a student-turned-dark, was now looking like nothing more than a few compliments from the professors.
In any case.
What Lichten Academy gave the students as compensation for the incident was a temporary class suspension.
Students thrilled by the rare weekday break would be rushing into the city to play and forget the unpleasantness.
"No, if you're not going to hold classes, at least refund our tuition. From a student's perspective, not having classes is just a loss."
A rare weekday break.
After briefly stopping by the professor research building, Ian headed toward the library.
A small sigh escaped him.
"Hah. I need classes for my skills to improve."
If any other student had heard him say something so punchable, he'd have gotten hit. As he walked, the library came into view quickly.
As always, the ice-cold librarian greeted him. Or was it really a greeting? Whatever.
"Do you know anything about the Blood Rock Sect?"
"......"
Blink. Blink.
The librarian blinked slowly, twice, then opened her mouth.
"Don't believe in religion."
Thud.
Ian instinctively brought his hand down gently on the desk, then hurriedly leaned closer to her under the glares of people who were probably thinking, 'Was that kid never taught to be quiet in a library?'
"...What exactly do you think of me?"
The distance between them closed until they could feel each other's breath.
Eyelashes that looked dusted with pure white snow
blinked slowly a couple of times, then her mouth opened slightly.
"Confession. Rejected."
Sharp as ever today, I see.
If Sylvia's style was to mercilessly throw heavy fastballs you just had to endure, this librarian struck a different nerve—she gave the impression of judging people with real objectivity.
Like being evaluated by an artificial intelligence, maybe?
An excuse slipped from Ian's lips on its own.
"No, the 'What exactly do you think of me' I said wasn't me confessing—"
Mid-excuse, the book she was reading caught his eye.
[ A Wicked Servant Lives in the House of the Lovely Young Widow ]
The cover, featuring a servant in a butler's uniform holding a whip and wearing an enigmatic smile, stood out.
It had been partially hidden under another book but got shifted when she was helping him.
'I'll let it slide just this once, for real.'
No matter how annoyed you get, you have to respect people's tastes.
Letting out a sigh, Ian swallowed his excuse.
"Forget it. Just tell me about books related to the Blood Rock Sect."
"Here."
She handed him a memo written in neat handwriting, apparently prepared ahead of time. Just as he was about to turn away, a small voice reached him.
"The Blood Rock Sect is dangerous."
"Is that concern?"
Shake shake.
She shook her head, just barely.
The sight looked so utterly sincere it was a little painful.
"Then what."
"The information is contaminated."
Contaminated information, she said.
He wanted to ask what she meant, but she was already focused on her book again.
'So she was reading it out in the open...'
The whip-wielding servant on the cover didn't seem inclined to permit any further questions.
Holding the memo, Ian walked toward the bookshelves.
Confirming information on the Blood Rock Sect.
Laying out a plan to sell the intel he held.
Plus, gathering items in preparation for Act 1, and keeping his promise to Danya.
No classes, but somehow this was shaping up to be an unusually busy day.