chapter_0017

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
17

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
17

‘Everyone…’

“Tell everyone to raise
their heads.”

“The Lady commands you to
rise!”

As soon as Panata shouted,
those kneeling on the ground quickly stood up in unison.

Even if a meteor had fallen on
the camp, there wouldn’t have been such perfect coordination.

Seeing the fear-stricken faces
of the villagers gave me a headache.

I came to the village to rest,
so why am I feeling even more exhausted?

If I had known this would
happen, I would have just kept my face hidden.

No, even if I had done that,
the moment Panata stuck by my side, my identity would have been
revealed.

I instructed Panata to
disperse the villagers of Evans.

They seemed more than happy to
leave, scattering the moment he spoke.

With the village entrance now
quiet, I ran my hand down my face and spoke.

“Karl.”

“Yes, Miss.”

‘About me…’

“What kind of rumours are
going around about me?”

“It’s better if you don’t
hear them.”

‘Tell me the truth.’

“Even if it’s something
bad, just say it.”

“Understood.”

According to the rumours Karl
told me, Lucy was a devil in human form.

I mean, sure, rumours about me
having a foul temper, being rude, enjoying bullying people, or being
an incorrigible piece of trash—I get those.

Because they’re true.

But still.

What’s this about making
someone who displeases me into a training dummy for the knights?!

And what about locking up
people I don’t like in the dungeon to torment them?

And come on! No matter how
reckless Lucy can be, the rumour about her stomping on another noble
lady is way too much!

Even if the rumours are
exaggerated, this is just too harsh!

“Miss. It’s too early to
be surprised. This is just a small part of it.”

‘Really?!’

“Are you serious?!”

“Yes, Miss. I swear on my
honour as a knight that there is not a single lie.”

This is just a small part of
the rumours!?

I was so shocked that I looked
over at Panata and my maid, and they both avoided my gaze.

Is this real?!

Are these not exaggerated
jokes but actual rumours going around?!

Oh. Fuck. Dear gods.

Just how much bad karma did
Lucy accumulate in her lifetime?

How terrible of a tyrant must
she have been for such rumours to spread?

…Seriously, what if there’s
a bit of truth mixed in these rumours?

I don’t know exactly how Lucy
lived before I took over her body.

I can only speculate.

No one knows if some of these
terrible rumours might actually be true.

Someday, if someone tries to
stab me again, I’ll have to ask them.

“What exactly did Lucy do
to you?”

I’m exhausted. I’m so tired.

Even though it’s still early
to sleep, I just want to lock myself in my room and bury my face in
the bed.

If it weren’t for the item I
need to find in Evans, I would totally have spent today as a recluse.

‘Village chief…’

“Panata, where is the
place that sells potions here?”

“Do you mean the potion
shop? It’s nearby.”

‘Lead the way.’

“Show me the way.”

I’ll handle this as quickly as
possible and then just hole up at home.

…But it’s not like this
chaos will follow me everywhere I go, right?

Right?

They say bad omens tend to
come true. On the way to the potion shop, similar incidents happened
twice.

After all that ruckus, I came
to truly understand what it means to be mentally exhausted.

I used to think I had
excellent stamina and resilience, but that was only in normal
situations.

When thrown into unpredictable
situations, I just couldn’t endure it.

So by the time I arrived in
front of the potion shop, I was halfway out of my mind.

I don’t know if I’ll be able
to enter the dungeon tomorrow at this rate.

Come to think of it, this is
all Possell’s fault.

It’s because he pushed me
into the village that all this happened.

If we had just camped together
as originally planned, I wouldn’t have had to go through this mess!

I really want revenge.

Possell, just wait and see.

My grudge is deep and strong.

One day, I will pay this back
tenfold.

As I opened the door and
stepped into the shop, a noisy sound greeted me.

“That’s too expensive!”

Ugh. What a loud voice. I feel
like my ears are going to burst.

When I frowned, Panata,
standing beside me, quickly raised his voice.

“Rel! Vermi!”

At the village chief’s shout,
the two people inside stopped arguing and turned their gaze toward
us.

Although they still seemed
upset, their eyes widened in surprise when they saw me, and they
hastily bowed their heads.

“We’re sorry, Milady!”

“We’re sorry! Please,
spare our lives!”

I mean, I wasn’t going to do
anything.

Would it make any sense for me
to get mad over not being noticed while they were quarrelling?

‘Both of you, get up.’

“Sloppy fools, stand up.”

“No, Milady!”

“Please, Milady.”

‘Please, just get up.’

“Can you not hear me? My
ears are open, but you can’t hear my words? Stand up.”

Mesugaki’s threatening tone
made the two quickly rise to their feet.

Both of them were obviously
terrified; the woman who had just been shouting looked like she was
on the verge of tears.

If I pushed just a little
more, I might see someone sobbing uncontrollably.

Ugh. Damn it.

“Hey, you two fools. What
were you arguing about?”

I don’t know what the issue
is, but I’ll solve it as best as I can to finish this quickly and
disappear. If you two keep this up, my mind and body are going to be
even more exhausted.

Despite my question, the two
kept glancing at each other cautiously, reluctant to speak.

Sigh.
Is this how a kindergarten teacher feels when trying to mediate a
children’s squabble?

“Speak up. The Lady is
waiting.”

“Well…”

Finally breaking the silence,
the village chief spoke up. Only then did the woman who had been
shouting slowly raise her voice.

“My apologies. I came to
buy a stamina-recovery potion from this shop. But knowing my urgent
situation, the shopkeeper tried to overcharge me, so I was arguing
with him.”

“That’s a lie!”

As soon as one person started
talking, the other immediately rebutted.

“I just charged the
regular price!”

“Wasn’t it cheaper just
yesterday?”

“That’s because the
quality of that potion was inferior!”

Watching these people
shouting, seemingly forgetting my presence, I could see that there
were significant grudges between them.

If left alone, they’d probably
argue until sunset.

So this whole thing started
because of a single potion?

“How much is the potion?”

“Well…”

From what the shopkeeper said,
the potion wasn’t all that expensive.

I practically know the in-game
prices by heart.

Based on that, it’s a bit
overpriced but still understandable.

Not exactly a rip-off.

But maybe that’s just from my
perspective.

For poor commoners, every
penny counts.

“I’ll pay for it.”

“What?”

‘I said I’ll buy it.’

“How about cleaning your
ears first? I said I’d buy it?”

Right now, I have enough money
to buy a potion without any trouble.

On my way out of the mansion,
Benedict had given me a pouch with several gold coins, telling me to
use it if necessary.

Even for a noble family, a few
gold coins are a significant amount, yet he insisted on giving them
to me.

Benedict’s love for his
daughter knows no bounds.

“Thank you so much, my
Lady!”

The woman, evidently mulling
over my words, bowed her head several times, expressing her
gratitude.

I only bought the potion
because I wanted to look around at my leisure, but hearing her thanks
didn’t feel bad at all.

As expected, being kind pays
off.

After the woman left, I
noticed Karl and the maid looking at me with curious expressions.

What’s with that look? Why are
you staring at me like that?

“Um… My Lady. If there’s
anything you’re looking for, I can bring it to you.”

‘No need, I’ll look around
on my own.’

“Sloppy*, just stay put.
I’ll take care of it myself.” (*Sloppy here is just an
insult/nickname for Karl.)

After the woman departed, the
shopkeeper, now alone, nervously offered his help, but I declined.

What I’m looking for is
something he probably doesn’t even know exists.

There’s an elixir hidden in
this shop.

I don’t know the story
behind it, but that doesn’t matter much. The important thing is
that I can purchase this precious elixir from this shop for a
fraction of its value.

I remember the exact location
of the elixir.

If I check the corner at the
end of the display on the right side of the store, I should find it
there.

There it is. An elixir bottle
covered in dust from not being sold for a long time.

Yes, this is it.

The elixir that boosts magical
power.

I can’t appraise it, but its
appearance is identical to the one from the game, so I’m sure of
it.

I can’t consume it, and since
I’ve chosen the tank path, I have no reason to use it now, but an
elixir is still an elixir.

I should take it if I can.

Remembering that the Count’s
Family’s warehouse only had three elixirs shows how rare they are.

Surely, if I show this elixir
to a wizard from the Mage Tower, their eyes would light up.

Feeling a bit guilty about
buying just this, maybe I should also get a few useful items for the
dungeon later.

Some health potions,
antidotes, and…

I placed several carefully
chosen items in front of the shopkeeper.

‘I’ll buy all of these.
How much are they?’

“What’s the total?”

“You can just take them
all.”

Really? I can have them for
free? For a moment, I was tempted by the offer of getting it for
free, but I quickly regained my composure.

If I took all this for free
from the shopkeeper, it would surely add another rumour about Lucy.

Her reputation is already in
shambles, and I don’t want to see it worsen.

“Just tell me the price.”

“Well… let’s see. It
should be about two silver coins.”

Isn’t that too cheap?

Even if he doesn’t know
about the elixir hidden among these items, it shouldn’t be just two
silver coins.

Is he afraid of taking more
money from me?

Or is he worried that I might
catch him inflating the price?

Hmm. To pay the proper amount,
I might have to offer a price myself.

I’d feel guilty if I just
took the elixir for such a low price, so I should pay a fair amount.

I took out two gold coins from
my pocket and placed them on the table.

“Take these.”

“This is… this is too
much. These items aren’t worth that much.”

Seeing the gold coins, the
shopkeeper hurriedly confessed, fear evident in his trembling voice,
not wanting to overcharge the villainess lady.

He should’ve just taken
advantage of a clueless girl.

Ah. With Panata behind me,
could he not have done that?

‘Just accept it. It’s money
I don’t need.’

“You dare contradict me?
Just take it quietly. A sloppy shopkeeper like you would never earn
this much money in a lifetime, right?”

I genuinely don’t need the
money right now. Even if I had it, there’s nothing to spend it on.

Besides, I can always earn
money later if I need to.

When I firmly insisted, the
shopkeeper reluctantly accepted the gold coins.

Hey. With this, you’ve made
more than enough, right?

Now start spreading the rumour
that Lady Lucy is generous, okay? If I hear whispers about a wasteful
spendthrift, I’ll come back angry.

No sooner had I collected the
potions and stepped out of the shop than Karl spoke up.

“Miss, you paid far too
much. Even if you counted everything in the shop.”

‘Karl, listen closely.’

“Sloppy. Close your
smelly mouth and just listen.”

I stopped Karl from continuing
his scolding and whispered into his ear about the true nature of the
old potion bottle being an elixir.

His eyebrows shot up as he
cautiously asked for confirmation.

“Is it really true?”

‘Yes, it’s true.’

“Are you doubting me? You’re
disqualified as a knight.”

“I apologise, Miss. But how
did you know?”

‘It’s a secret.’

“It’s too early for a
sloppy person like you to know.”

Hehe. I managed to get a
potion that boosts magical power for practically nothing.

Now, how should I use it?

The best option is to sell it
to a suitable wizard, but where can I find one?

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