Dagger Maid (1)

The Imperial Palace Assault Incident.

It was a historical event that made a significant contribution to shaping the background of the game 『Luminor Academy』.

After all, this Imperial Palace Assault Incident brought about three major changes to the overall story of 『Luminor Academy』.

One of them, as mentioned earlier, was that it became the catalyst for the imperial family to sense the threat of the Demon Tribe’s movements.

As a result, the academy increased its enrollment and began admitting students based on merit rather than just nobility, preparing not only for wars between nations but also for conflicts with the Demon Tribe.

Due to these changes in the academy’s admission policies, the ratio of nobles to commoners, which was previously 8:2, shifted to nearly 6:4 among new students, gradually altering the academy’s overall atmosphere in the years to come.

The second event was when ‘Agnes the Inferno,’ whose life was in danger during the Monster Wave, was rescued by ‘Princess Seraphine of the Moonlight Shadow.’

Just as Orion had appeared in the Evening Rose Hall earlier, in the original history, he too would have sought capable individuals among the nobility and responded to the Monster Wave.

And Agnes, much like in this world, would have answered Orion’s call to participate in the operation to repel the Monster Wave.

However, even Orion would have found it difficult to predict exactly how many monsters would swarm which areas.

While Orion managed to hold off the monsters at the Imperial Palace’s North Gate, where he expected the largest horde, I recall that an unexpectedly larger number of monsters surged through the West Gate instead.

Of course, since this is part of the storyline, my memory might not be entirely accurate. After all, it wasn’t an event the protagonist experienced firsthand.

Anyway, the second event was Seraphine rescuing Agnes from a dire situation at the Imperial Palace’s West Gate.

This became the moment Agnes swore loyalty to Seraphine, leading to the Elizabeth Family becoming vassals of the imperial family in the official ending.

“……”

“Ah, ah, ah…”

And the third event is the death of Lizzie Lynn August, who is right in front of me now.

Her death in this Monster Wave caused the August Family to feel betrayed by the imperial family, becoming the decisive catalyst for Karaham’s ‘Seraphine Abduction Incident’ during his third year.

Of course, since the Imperial Palace Assault itself was orchestrated by the Demon Tribe rather than the imperial family, one might wonder why the August Family would ally with the very beings who killed Lizzie.

But the August Family had ample reason to feel betrayed by the Argentia Empire.

Because, depending on Seraphine’s choice, Lizzie also had a future where she wouldn’t have died that day.

‘Princess Seraphine of the Moonlight Shadow,’ true to her title, was a character who could wield various moon-related powers.

One of her abilities was future sight-limited to nights with a full moon-allowing her to glimpse the near future.

In other words, Seraphine had known Lizzie would die yet chose not to save her.

‘Well, to be precise, it’s more accurate to say she couldn’t save her rather than didn’t.’

Seraphine only had one body, and at that moment, saving Agnes meant abandoning Lizzie.

Some might question why she didn’t just avoid inviting either of them to the party if she foresaw their peril through future sight.

But Seraphine’s future sight wasn’t an all-powerful, cheat-like ability.

First, she couldn’t choose which future to see-it simply appeared before her. That was the first limitation.

Second, the future sight always forced her to make a ‘choice.’

Initially, the visions were blurry, but over time, they gradually crystallized in her mind.

By the time the scenes became clear enough to discern, she was already at a point where she had to choose between two futures.

One of the two futures Seraphine saw during the ‘Imperial Palace Assault Incident’ was saving ‘Lizzie Lynn August.’

The other was saving ‘Agnes Elizabeth Blaze,’ as mentioned earlier.

‘And at that crossroads, Seraphine chose the future where she saved Agnes instead of Lizzie.’

I don’t know exactly why she made that choice. That part wasn’t covered in the game.

Regardless, the crucial point is that at that moment, Seraphine chose the daughter of the Blaze Viscount Family over the daughter of the August Margrave Family.

As a result, Lizzie died amidst the monster horde without Seraphine’s help.

‘Later, when the August Family learned about the crossroads Seraphine saw, it became the decisive trigger for their betrayal.’

The August Family had been the margraves guarding the empire’s western borders for nearly 300 years.

In contrast, Agnes’s family, the Blaze Family, was merely a branch of the Elizabeth Family-a mere viscount household.

To the August Family, it must have felt like the imperial family had prioritized the life of a viscount’s daughter over the heir of a family that had served the empire for three centuries.

It was only natural that this would lead to feelings of betrayal toward the Argentia Empire itself.

Of course, looking far into the future, Agnes surviving would be more beneficial to humanity than Lizzie surviving.

Her survival allowed her to prevent many dangerous incidents at the academy, and she played a significant role in the eventual victory against the Demon King.

But that was a separate issue from the August Family’s rage and betrayal of the empire.

Especially since the August Family had been loyal to the Argentia Empire for generations, their sense of betrayal struck even harder. You know what they say-former fans turned haters are the scariest.

The reason Seraphine was so easily subdued by Karaham in the ‘Seraphine Abduction Incident’ was because of this underlying resentment.

…Anyway.

I ended up rambling, but what I’m trying to say is this:

In the original ‘Imperial Palace Assault Incident,’ Lizzie would have lost her life in the monster attack.

But right now, Lizzie is in this shelter.

Which means this shelter is highly likely to be attacked by monsters soon.

As soon as I saw Lizzie’s face, a brief thought flashed through my mind.

‘…Well, fuck.’

Come to think of it, in the original story, several nobles besides Lizzie died or were injured.

It’s not like mindless monsters specifically targeted Lizzie to kill her.

It’s more plausible that she was just one of many casualties caught in the attack.

In other words, this ‘shelter’ will soon fail to hold back the Monster Wave, and monsters will break in.

And in the process, Lizzie will most likely die.

More importantly, my life is also in danger. If monsters breach this place, the noble heirs will panic, turning everything into chaos.

On top of that, I’m currently a weak maid with no combat ability-not even a small dagger. Protecting myself would be hard enough.

‘And of course, all the capable fighters were taken away by Orion…’

The handful of imperial guards here won’t be enough to fend off the impending attack.

Sure, most of them are nobles, so they should at least know basic magic, but expecting panicking noble heirs to cooperate is wishful thinking.

Even Karaham isn’t here, likely because he was also drafted to help repel the Monster Wave.

Just as I was feeling suffocated imagining what would happen next after seeing Lizzie’s face-

A cautious voice called out to me from her direction.

“U-um, Prince Ethan’s fiancée…? That’s you, right…?”

“…Yes. It’s been a while, Miss Lizzie.”

“Ah, I’m so sorry about earlier…! I didn’t realize you were the prince’s fiancée…”

“…It’s fine. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“I-I’ll never be so rude again!”

…Why is she being so annoying?

I ignored Lizzie as she bowed her head to apologize for something that had already passed.

Instead, I seriously pondered how to ensure both our survival in this situation.

Even so, since she’s a somewhat important character in 『Luminor Academy』, it’d feel a bit awkward to let her die right in front of me.

More importantly, saving Lizzie would likely be a big help in shaping the future world.

‘If I can pull this off, I can at least prevent the August Family from suddenly betraying the empire.’

The August Family’s betrayal dealt a significant blow to the empire in the world of 『Luminor Academy』.

Just to be clear, my goal isn’t to see the ending of 『Luminor Academy』.

That’s the job of the protagonist, the ‘Hero,’ and the other main characters-I have no intention of getting involved in the main story.

All I want is a peaceful, stable life in the Argentia Empire.

I just don’t want to wake up one day to find my village destroyed by monsters or have to flee because a city fell to the Demon Tribe.

Only then can I safely step away from the main plot and live my life as an adventurer.

If saving her can make the August Family’s betrayal disappear, that alone would be worth it.

‘If only Ethan or Karaham were here right now, this would be so much easier.’

With their skills, protecting two girls while fighting wouldn’t be an issue. But both were already deployed to repel the Monster Wave and aren’t here.

Meaning, aside from the imperial guards, the only person in this room capable of meaningful combat is me.

…Well, calling myself a ‘combat-capable personnel’ is a bit of a stretch.

Right now, I’m only Level 6-just slightly stronger than a rookie territory guard.

Against monsters, I could put up a decent fight against a Level 7 Black Rabbit at best.

I don’t know the exact level and scale of the monsters that attacked the imperial palace in the ‘Imperial Palace Assault Incident,’ but the fact that the 10-20 imperial guards here couldn’t stop them says enough.

Meaning, they weren’t weak monsters that could be killed with a single Mana Arrow or Shockwave.

The only skill I can reliably use to deal damage is ‘Mana Blast,’ but…

‘This… isn’t something I can just spam recklessly.’

Relying solely on a one-shot ability with no follow-up is problematic in many ways.

For one, using a large-scale spell like Mana Blast in front of so many people would undoubtedly draw attention.

More importantly, if the monster attacks continue even after using Mana Blast, I’d be left completely defenseless.

The best way to stay unnoticed while ensuring both our survival would be to rely on a dagger.

But in this main hall, there’s no way to get my hands on a weapon like that… unless…

‘……Ah.’

Wait, maybe there is a way.

In this situation, I might still be able to get my hands on a weapon Lilith can wield-something equivalent to a dagger.

In 『Luminor Academy』, the range of ‘daggers’ Lilith could equip was surprisingly broad.

Not just variations like kukris or machetes, but even frying pans or ladles counted as ‘daggers’ for Lilith.

As long as it had a handle and a blade of some length, it could function as a ‘dagger’ for Lilith.

Maybe Lizzie has something like that on her.

A weapon Lilith could use in battle-something that qualifies as a ‘dagger.’

“Miss Lizzie.”

“Y-yes!”

“Do you, by any chance, have a knife?”

“……Huh?”

Even in a fantasy world where swordsmanship and magic run rampant…

A noble lady like her must carry at least one self-defense dagger, right?