Chapter 60: Irene Windler Is a Villainess?! (3)

T-This isn’t how it’s supposed to go…

A certain girl was battling with her embarrassment inwardly. Meanwhile, the ghost who always accompanied her furiously scolded her.

[That’s why you should’ve touched it when you had the chance! You’re always so slow to act, you premature ejaculator!]

…I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to use those words…

[Then, how should I use them?]

H-How should I know?!

[Why are you getting all angry at me?! Just say that you don’t know! Seriously, your personality is—]

!!?

Irene Windler almost grabbed the back of her neck.

You’re the one who started the fight, why are you so shameless—?!

Though she really wanted to have a verbal fight against the ghost…

“Look over there, Sir Knight. Miss Levy is giving a speech!”

“Our Female Bear is pretty good at talking, isn’t she?”

“Is she going to win, then?”

“Technically, debate has no concept of winning and losing, but… Our Female Bear’s logic is sound, and the reaction of the people around is also quite good. I guess we can say that she’s winning.”

“Hehehe!”

Taking care of the person who interrupted her ‘date’ took precedence over that.

Said person was a maid who let out a dumb-sounding laugh. If someone else were to laugh like her, people would definitely think that their brain was lacking something, but it was different for her. She was someone who boasted 100% purity and positivity, everyone who saw her laughing would feel refreshed by her instead.

Leila Winter.

A pretty-looking maid who looked even prettier in braids. She was watching the debate right next to Lee Han, who responded to all her words without fail.

…By the way, the grumbling girl, Irene Windler, was eating the pretzel Lee Han had given her all by herself.

But, it isn’t like I can just get angry at the maid, dammit! Also, why are the pretzels so tasty?!

And that was how most of the pretzels that Lee Han bought from Bear Number 7 ended up in her stomach…

Which resulted in her screaming in agony when she saw her swollen face the next morning.

Irene’s original plan was for her to go on a date with the knight after faking their meeting as a coincidence—although she didn’t plan anything further than that. The fact that she completely forgot about the existence of the maid who was always sticking closely to the knight was purely her own mistake.

“…I thought you’re on a break, Maid…”

“No, hehehe! I’m Sir Knight’s personal maid, I need to always stay by his side!”

“B-But you weren’t by his side earlier…”

“Hehehe, because I was cleaning the house, so I couldn’t help it! By the way, Sir Knight, Sir Knight! The furniture didn’t break down when I was cleaning today! Isn’t that fortunate?”

“That’s how it should be. Furniture shouldn’t break when you’re cleaning in the first place. I don’t understand why you’re so happy about it…”

“But, the hammer in the house broke. It fell on my head and broke, I couldn’t dodge it in time. I’m sorry…”

“…We probably should see the priest now…”

“Why?”

“…”

The stone-headed—or rather, the iron-headed maid, casually revealed that a hammer had hit her head, and yet it was the one that broke instead of her head. Even after all that, she was still well enough to go around with them. This revelation made Irene shriek like a dog inwardly.

However…

“Miss Irene, is it fine for you to not study?”

“Um, I’ve always studied on my own even outside of the exam period, so I should be fine.”

“Wow! As expected of the top student! You are amazing!”

“N-Not really…”

“You are really an amazing person Miss Irene. You are pretty, smart, good at cooking, also, when you don’t know something, you’d always try to learn it…! Amazing!”

“…Maid, is there anything you want?”

“Nope!”

Even if someone tried to hate her, Leila Winter wasn’t someone who could be hated. As mentioned earlier, she was like an embodiment of pureness and positivity. If she had a tail, she’d wag it endlessly like a golden retriever.

Her praises weren’t flattery, but actual praises that were filled with 1,000% sincerity. Unless someone had an extremely twisted personality, those who were praised by her would naturally let their guard down. Although her intelligence was severely lacking to say the least, she possessed a natural talent that made even the prickly princess trust her.

It only took ten minutes for her to disarm Irene Windler’s hostility.

[You’re just too weak, Arin! Too weak, I tell you!]

Shut up! Would you be able to hate her then?!

[…]

For the first time, the ghost who always had comebacks to Irene’s words was struck speechless.

Leila Winter…

Even for the ghost, she was quite the formidable opponent.

“T-thank you for coming here in person, Instructor.”

Levy Fault bowed her head with an embarrassed expression.

As she was doing that, Lee Han offered some flowers to her while grumbling inwardly, ‘Why is everyone thanking me for something like this…?’.

“I came because I had nothing to do, so no need to thank me. More importantly, you’re quite good at speaking, huh?”

“N-Not really. I-I just blurted out what I knew. It’s really nothing special.”

“See? That’s exactly why I told you that you are good.”

“That’s right, Levy! You were great back there!”

“Yes, you were great, Miss Levy! Though, I don’t understand what kind of topic that was!”

“…Ahaha.”

Levy Fault finished her debate with a high score. Though she seemed naturally good at speaking, the result she achieved actually reflected on how much she studied.

There were a lot of people who failed to live up to their potential despite them having studied diligently, but there were also people who were just like Levy Fault; those who achieved better results the more they studied. In that sense, she could be said as an excellent hard-worker and a promising talent, as she did all the work that was assigned to her without complaining.

“If you have time, why don’t we have a meal together?”

“T-Then, can we go after watching the next debate? T-There’s someone I really want to watch…”

“Oho…? Is it a man?”

“N-No, it isn’t like that!”

Levy Fault raised her voice in embarrassment; something that rarely happened, if not ever. To this, the knight narrowed his gaze, as he felt that her embarrassed reply only made her all the more suspicious.

Is this what I think it is?

Does her youth finally catch up with her?

As the incompetent adult who had zero interest in his own love life, but was extremely nosy in others’ love life felt a tinge of excitement, the next debaters entered the debate hall.

“…Women?”

And when they did, a wave of disappointment crept across his face.

“I-I told you already, it isn’t like that…”

Levy Fault muttered as such awkwardly.

“The person I want to see is Miss Karin.”

“Ah, that one over there?”

“Yes. You knew her, Instructor?”

“Nope. I just felt like she had a different aura than the others.”

Lee Han successfully identified the person Levy Fault was interested in, but it wasn’t such a big deal as she was the only woman who stood out among the rest. If anything, it would have been strange if he had failed to identify her.

What a grand-looking color that she has…

She was a cadet with impressive-looking purple hair and eyes. Just from a glance, her beauty already left a strong impression, and the more one were to look at her, the more they’d drown into her refreshing charm. However, even her beauty was pale in comparison to her presence.

The cadet named Karin possessed a peerless aura that reminded him of a modern-day superstar.

“Her name is Karin Alencia de Guinevere, a young miss of a marquis family. She is also the daughter of the current prime minister.”

“I see, so she’s up there in the hierarchy, huh?”

“Not only is she a person with a great status, she is also a brilliant person who’s competent enough to debate with famed scholars despite her age!”

“…You know more about her than I expected.”

“Of course! There is no woman my age who doesn’t admire her! Ah, of course, Miss Irene is also an object of admiration for all of us!”

“…Are you sure? That girl?”

“Yes! She’s the top student of the Magic Department, after all! Not to mention that she’s the young miss of the Galahad Family.”

“…”

…That sick chick is an object of admiration?

Lee Han was left dumbstruck, wondering how a mage could be respected by anyone.

You shouldn’t treat mages well, why don’t they know that?

…Whatever, forget it, I don’t understand how the young’uns think anyway…

For a moment there, Lee Han’s face was crunched, but his expression went back to normal not long after as the debate started and a quiet atmosphere filled the air.

After a while…

“…Isn’t this just a solo performance of that Purple Doll?”

He scrunched his face again, but for a different reason this time.

“P-Purple Doll…”

Ignoring Levy Fault’s protest, Lee Han observed the reactions of the people who were focused solely on the Purple Doll—or rather, Karin.

-[Karin Alencia de Guinevere greets you. Our discussion topic today is none other than ‘What should we do to truly merge Britain and Pendragon?’. I am the representative of the ‘opposition’, and from now on, I will state my point, ‘Why Britain and Pendragon should not merge.’]

…What a controversial topic to talk about.

With the remnants of Britain causing commotions all over the kingdom, it felt like it wouldn’t be strange if the former citizens of Britain were to rise up to take arms at any moment.

This particular topic of what Pendragon should do with Britain had been going on for the past three years. It was a matter that was still fiercely discussed even among the upper class, a difficult matter that could shake the whole kingdom no matter what the end result of the discussion was.

And yet that same sensitive issue was being discussed here, during a school exam. Moreover, the daughter of the current prime minister was presenting her opinion as the ‘opposition’.

Seriously, though…

“She has guts, don’t you think so?”

“…”

“Don’t play dumb, you know that I’m talking to you.”

“…A-Are you talking about me?”

“Yes, you.”

“…”

“I told you already, stop playing dumb. I know that you’re trying to pretend that you have nothing to do with that Purple Doll, but I can tell that you’re quite worried about her.”

“…”

“Also, what’s with that ‘Oh crap, I’ve been caught.’ expression on your face? You suspicious guy.”

“…”

Lee Han sat down next to the boy he was talking to and stared at him as he stared back blankly.

He looks like a wimp.

Although that was his first impression on the boy, his eyes still sparkled as he let out a smirk.

But still, this punk…

Just said [Status] the moment I sat next to him…

Lee Han’s ears didn’t miss even the lowest of whispers, and the moment he heard what the boy said, he instinctively realized that…

Finally, I got to meet him…

The punk with the status window.

Derrick was sweating profusely.

He was an extremely timid boy to begin with—even now, he still found it difficult to talk with an acquaintance—and now he had to face a complete stranger? Of course he’d be as scared as a rabbit. Although, he was sweating even more than usual when facing this man in particular…

The reason?

It was none other than…

I-Is this really the stats of a human…?

The other person’s status that he saw with his [Status Skill]. They were so amazing that it sent shivers down to his spine.

H-How…?

Derrick stared at the window again, but that didn’t fix his jaw that had been dropping for a while now.

T-This person has seven traits!

Normally, a human would only have at most three traits at once, so seven was actually an absurd number for someone to have. After all, traits were determined by ‘times’, ‘efforts’, ‘ordeal’, and ‘pain’ that a person had lived through. Most people only had a small number of traits because of that.

And yet he has seven of them…

H-Has he been tortured by someone ever since he was born…?

N-Not only that, the traits’ levels are all so high…

The average [Trait Level] of an elite knight was around 3, and at most 4. Which meant, the man’s level was absolutely ridiculous. Trait level 4 in the game meant that the character had completed their fourth job advancement.

Which meant, this person was a warrior who had completed his seventh job advancement considering that his trait level was 7.

As a comparison…

Lv.5 trait was enough for someone to become the knight commander of a territory.

Lv.6 trait level was a level which made them a champion that could represent a territory.

As for lv.7…

Hero-class…

A hidden class that was rare even in this ‘game’.

However, as someone who had remembered all the hero classes, Derrick had never heard of a hero character named Lee Han.

Actually, before he could even think about that…

Why are there question marks on his race? What is Vajrayana? T-This isn’t a martial arts world! Also, Spell Slayer?! D-Don’t you need to kill more than thirty mages to get that trait? A-And he had raised it to lv.5?!

J-Just how many mages did he kill to raise it up to that level?!

Then, he checked the unique trait ‘Mark of the Torchbearer’ again; the trait that could grant talent to someone who lacked one. This was the first time that he had ever seen this trait, let alone a hero-class having this trait, and he was supposed to be the [developer].

S-Scary…

The man in front of him was someone who could easily slaughter hundreds of mages if he wanted to.

…Realizing this, Derrick instinctively closed his eyes.