Hooray! Become a Noble Young Lady! Hooray! 2

-30 minutes before Alice and Perdain Arbentaine of the Arbentaine Family met.

Alice had to be summoned to the faculty office even before attending her first class at Ruincrest Academy.

The faculty office, of all places.

‘What did I do wrong?’

Alice could only find it perplexing.

No, what’s wrong with having a Duel Trial on the first day after transferring?

What? Why did I kill him?

Is it too much to actually kill someone for sexual harassment?

Oh, come on! You can kill a student or two in a Duel Trial!

And it’s not like I killed him!

Gaia, having obtained a body, killed him while shouting, “Oh yeah, fuck yeah!”

【Who would believe that even if Human said so?】

‘Well, yeah, I wouldn’t believe it either if I were me.’

I may not be a genuine summoner or familiar, but thanks to showing the Academy students and professors that I could summon Gaia in front of others, they probably recognized me as something similar to a summoner.

But a summoner summoned something they couldn’t control and killed a student?

That’s absurd.

‘Even so, you can kill a student or two! Especially a good-for-nothing, trashy, golden-haired rebel brat!’

【I think you deserve to be called in for killing a rebel brat in the center of the rebel district. Now that I think about it, I really don’t understand. Do you even have a brain, Human? You receive a covert mission, then impulsively request a duel and actually kill him instead of just subduing him. What kind of plan is that?】

‘No, Gaia killed him, not me…’

【Human, you were the one who gave Gaia a body.】

Alice listened to Theresa’s sincere advice, which was gradually turning into nagging, with one ear and let it out the other, muttering inwardly.

It was truly incomprehensible.

Duel Trials were commonplace not only in the Ruincrest layer but also in the Academy, and as a result, it was quite common for students to die or lose limbs.

The reason Alice caused such a blatant commotion from the first day of her infiltration, even though the layer was full of elegant and refined nobles, was because Duel Trials were a daily occurrence here.

In short, assuming a Duel Trial took place, even if I ripped off the head of someone who bothered me or Marlang, no one could punish me. There were also people who testified for the Duel Trial and many witnesses.

The simple dichotomous structure of the loser being wrong and only the winner being right was barbaric, but for Alice, nothing could be simpler.

“Hey? If you’re going to lock me up in the faculty office without any explanation, at least tell me why?”

Alice could have ‘requested a duel!’ with a professor or faculty member, but even so, it didn’t seem right for a student to request a 1:1 duel with a teacher.

Well, it’s not like I couldn’t… but I’m not a psychopath, nor am I a crazy bitch who challenges anyone I make eye contact with, so I felt the need to exercise a little patience as an intellectual and mature civilized person in this situation.

【Oh, dear. The corpse of someone named Dehite Arbentaine is still hanging on the roadside tree, Human.】

‘Huh, still?’

【You dismembered him and hung him on the roadside tree like a Christmas tree, Human.】

‘Gaia did it, not me…’

For the record, that sly Gaia punctured Dehite’s limbs like a sponge and then disappeared with a whoosh.

People probably saw me as a summoner or familiar, so it looked like I had reverse-summoned Gaia, but Gaia, having smelled the outside air for the first time in a while, said she wanted to take a walk in the layer by herself and left somewhere.

That damn bitch.

‘Well, I was going to kill that Dehite guy anyway.’

Following Marlang, he was trying to mess with me too, so I had to make it clear so that no one would dare to come at me again.

“Hey? Faculty members? Class must have started a while ago, how long do I have to stay here?”

“…”

“Ahem…”

But despite sitting quietly, all the faculty members couldn’t make eye contact with me and either avoided my gaze as if they were afraid or desperately ignored me.

Judging by this, they don’t know why they called me either.

They just did what they were told from above, but since I turned a student into a Christmas tree on the first day of transferring, the innocent faculty members must be simply terrified.

“Alice, you’re a transfer student to Ruincrest Academy, I see.”

At that moment, an elderly male professor with a benevolent impression appeared.

Judging by how faint his presence was even though he was right in front of me, he must have honed his abilities in that area from birth or was a master of stealth and invisibility.

Of course, that was based on human senses, and it was useless to Alice, who had the sensory sensors of a machine.

“I’m Nottingray. I teach Magical Engineering Basics and Modern Magical Combat Social Basic Psychology.”

“Oh, hello. Can I call you Professor Nottingray?”

Including my previous life, I’m actually older, but it’s not right to speak informally to an old man, so I decided to be polite for now.

“So, what am I doing here? If you’re going to give me demerits or punishment, just give it to me quickly and be done with it? I have to go to my mandatory classes.”

“Ah, the mandatory classes held in the morning are certainly important. However, there is something more important today.”

“For me?”

“Yes, for you.”

Professor Nottingray took out something that looked like a portable liquor bottle from inside his coat and took a sip.

Judging by the smell of opium, it wasn’t ordinary alcohol.

“Am I going to suffer any significant disadvantages because I killed Dehite or whatever in a Duel Trial?”

“Of course not. Duel Trials are a long-standing tradition of the Ruincrest layer. Even if someone among the Academy students dies as a result, it can’t be helped. It’s treated as a natural course. There is only inevitable elimination for the defeated.”

It was quite a terrifying attitude for a teacher who teaches students.

The Academy professor himself affirmed that defeat meant weakness, and weakness meant elimination and that one could not claim various rights, including human rights.

The reason Alice caused such a blatant commotion from the first day of her infiltration, even though the layer was full of elegant and refined nobles, was because Duel Trials were a daily occurrence here.

“However, it is true that your Duel Trial on the first day of transferring has attracted the attention of a big shot.”

“A big shot? Who?”

“Arbentaine Grand Duke.”

“…”

As soon as she heard those words, Alice thought to herself.

Oh, shit.

I thought Duel Trials in this layer were a long-standing tradition and there would be no repercussions, but killing Dehite Arbentaine meant that his family and parents would never leave me alone.

Alice had to struggle to hide the rotting expression on her face.

Originally, Alice’s plan was to naturally transfer to Ruincrest Academy, make friends, enjoy Academy life, and complete mandatory classes and various liberal arts courses to ferret out the subversive and rebellious ideologies that the administration had mentioned.

In short, it was a ‘covert mission’ where naturalness was important.

【Congratulations, Human. The covert mission has failed. I can’t help but admire your foresight.】

‘Shut up!’

Theresa’s sincere advice is always helpful!

Oh, shit!

“…Just asking, why is the Arbentaine Grand Duke interested in me…?”

“Hmm? Of course, isn’t it because you overwhelmingly crushed and killed his son? It would be strange if he wasn’t interested.”

Oh, I see.

That means I’m screwed.

Well, it would be strange if the parents and family of an Academy student from the upper class didn’t do anything after he was killed.

The covert mission has failed!

In that case, I’ll just declare this layer to be full of rebels and confront them head-on…!

No, even for me, a direct armed conflict with a layer where hundreds of thousands of people live would be quite difficult….

“Are you Alice?”

While Alice was thinking about various plans in her mind, someone’s presence was detected nearby.

It felt like a moment of stillness before the morning sun rose.

A middle-aged man in a black suit.

The man, dressed neither excessively nor plainly, had an atmosphere that subtly overwhelmed those around him.

“He’s here, Your Grace. This is the transfer student Alice.”

Professor Nottingray bowed to Perdain as if he were attending to his master.

“I see. Please leave us for a moment.”

“Yes.”

Perdain also ordered the Academy professor around as if it were natural, treating him like a subordinate, and didn’t even glance at him.

Seeing this, Alice sensed that Ruincrest Academy was virtually privatized by the wealthy, including the Arbentaine Family.

As Professor Nottingray and the other faculty members closed the door and disappeared, Perdain sat down in a graceful motion and looked straight at Alice.

“I am Perdain Arbentaine.”

“Nice to meet you, Your Grace.”

“Don’t bother being polite, just be comfortable. Your personality is far from dignified, isn’t it?”

How did he know that?

“Heh, I never refuse something like that.”

Arbentaine Grand Duke.

He showed no signs of grief at all, even though his son had died at my hands.

Strange.

His son died, so he should be angry at me, or at least look sad and full of grief, but Perdain was looking at me with a look of great interest.

Only then did Alice realize a little about what kind of person Perdain was and why he wanted to see her.

‘Ah, I see. This guy doesn’t recognize his family as family.’

I’ve seen this type quite often before.

They value their achievements, family, or company much more than their family, treating their family not as objects of affection but only as their successors.

You could see them as cold-blooded people who see their children as tools, but these types of people often see themselves as tools and parts to maintain the family.

“My time is precious, so I’ll only say it once, so listen carefully.”

“It’s the same time, but whose time is precious, and my time is what, cheap?”

“Unfortunately, that’s the reality. However, that may change in the future.”

“In the future?”

“It depends on how you react to what I say.”

“You’re making me curious. Go ahead and say it. You’re giving me your precious time, so it can’t be a boring story.”

“Hmph, arrogant. Well, I suppose you have a right to be.”

Perdain tilted his chin with an arrogant face and said.

“I don’t know if you know, but Dehite Arbentaine was my son and the next successor of the Arbentaine Family. But you killed him, so now that position is vacant.”

“So? Should I grapple with Your Grace, whose time is gold, while saying, ‘Die, you must avenge your son!’?”

“If your life was my goal, I wouldn’t have bothered to come here.”

Well, if he’s called Your Grace even in the Ruincrest wealthy layer, it means that ordinary rich people can’t even compare.

If he wanted to kill me, he could have just hired a contractor or hunter to assassinate me.

Of course, I wouldn’t have let it happen, but my covert mission would have been exposed, which could have caused various problems.

“To put it simply, I want you to take over the vacant successor position.”

“What?”

What nonsense is this?

Asking the person who killed his son to fill his son’s vacant position?

“Your Grace.”

“Speak.”

“Excuse me, are you out of your mind?”

“I am perfectly sane.”

“…Let’s put aside the fact that I killed your good-for-nothing son in a Duel Trial for now. Why me? I’m not your blood, nor am I from your family.”

“There is a convenient system called adoption. And Dehite had the minimum requirements to become a successor, but the rest was extremely unstable.”

“Unstable?”

“As you said, even I, his father, thought he was a good-for-nothing who didn’t know the ways of the world.”

I can’t believe it.

Alice looked at Perdain with eyes as if she were looking at something incomprehensible.

“Your son would be weeping in the afterlife if he heard that.”

“There is no afterlife, and my son Dehite was lacking and defeated. And as a result of his defeat, he died. I have no intention of objecting to this or resentfully blaming you.”

It was an incomprehensible statement for a father who had experienced the death of his son.

If it were me, my head would be burning if Theresa or Marlang were harmed, but it seems that high-ranking people lack a lot of humanity.

“Returning to the main point, there are three conditions to become the successor of the Arbentaine Family. Age, talent, and suitability for the family.”

“The first two are fine, but what do you mean by suitability for the family?”

“I’m talking about suitability for our family’s vision.”

【It is presumed to be the ability to give mass to space that Dehite Arbentaine showed.】

Ah, that ability to throw transparent spears?

Honestly, I felt like I could learn it quickly if I wanted to.

I’ve also had direct physical contact with the ability, so if I’m given time to analyze it, I should be able to implement the ability.

It doesn’t seem very practical for me, though.

“There are many disqualifications in terms of personality, but my son Dehite was a fairly good next successor. And if you killed such a Dehite, you are also qualified to be a successor.”

“…Don’t you have other relatives or blood relatives? There must be someone stronger than me, right?”

“There are, but most of them are far behind the good-for-nothing Dehite. Their suitability for the family’s vision is also low, and you, who are young and have great potential, are much more valuable than employees who have eaten their fill.”

“I have Overseer Oriana as my guardian.”

“I am not trying to be your guardian now, but to formally adopt you. Leave that First-Class Overseer to me, you just need to formally become my daughter.”

Alice was suspicious that Perdain, who was speaking mechanically, might be setting a trap.

But the trap was too crude and hard to believe.

“You, an orphan and returnee with no connections, will become the administrator of Ruincrest. The formal successor of the Arbentaine Family. I don’t think there’s anything to lose for you.”

“Wait a minute… give me some time to think.”

“Hurry up. Time is gold. I hope you give me an answer that makes my time invested in you worthwhile.”

Perdain Arbentaine.

The owner and head of the Arbentaine Family.

The Grand Duke of the Ruincrest layer.

And a formidable family that seems to be the master itself at the Academy.

In short, Alice has now been offered to become the adopted daughter of a place that may be the center of rebellious ideology.

‘If I do this well, things might work out quite easily?’

I thought killing Dehite out of the blue would be a hindrance, but I’ve actually received a pretty interesting offer, haven’t I?

Of course, Perdain is out of his mind.

His son died, and he’s asking the person who killed his son to fill his vacant position. He’s even saying that I should become his adopted daughter.

“Okay, well. I’ll give it a try.”

“It wasn’t a waste of time.”