Morning 3km run.
21 minutes 46 seconds.
***
“You’ve improved your stamina quite a bit.”
“Hah… huh… ugh… keuh… huh…”
I move my lips to answer. Even so, I can’t respond. I can barely breathe.
How many laps around the training ground had I run?
I don’t know. Every time I finished a lap, Professor Zieg stared at me and opened his mouth.
One more lap. So I ran another one.
Honestly, I might not have run that much. After the first lap, I gave up counting the moment I saw Professor Zieg’s face. Because there was no point in counting.
None of the cadets were envious of Professor Zieg’s focused training anymore. Everyone looked on with fed-up expressions. Some were even sympathizing with me.
Not the kind of pity given to a lowborn, but pity for someone truly exhausted and collapsed. Of all the sympathy I’d received since coming to this world, this was the highest quality.
Of course, Professor Zieg—the one who should actually be sympathizing with me—did no such thing.
As my answer was delayed, Professor Zieg brought over a water bottle. The uncapped bottle tilted downward. Water poured onto my face.
Instead of resisting or dodging, I opened my mouth. After gulping down a few mouthfuls, I exhaled through my nose, and the water that had tried to enter through my nose sprayed out with a sputter.
It probably wasn’t waterboarding. Probably.
“You’ve improved your stamina quite a bit.”
Probably not. He wasn’t tormenting me because I didn’t answer, right? Really.
“Yes.”
Professor Zieg nodded with a satisfied expression.
“I’ve seen it many times, but you tend to make up for your lacking body with willpower. Usually, a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, but you’re doing the exact opposite.”
From a distance, I heard some nobles gasping. Was pouring water on a collapsed cadet’s face after training them until they pass out really something to gasp about?
Uh, come to think of it, isn’t that exactly something to gasp at?
“But that doesn’t mean your mind is healthy. A healthy mind cannot exist in such a body.”
*Tok.*
Professor Zieg lightly kicked my assistive device. It didn’t particularly hurt or feel unpleasant.
I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even tell if it was unpleasant.
“P-Professor…”
Even in that difficult moment, it was amazing how my body couldn’t help but ask what it was curious about.
“D-do you… do this… to other cadets too?”
Professor Zieg made a thoughtful expression for a moment, then turned his head toward the other cadets.
“If there is a cadet who is as physically lacking, mentally drained, and muscle-less as you, who keeps piloting on nothing but stubbornness and guts, vomiting every time, I employ this method.”
Breaking my bones with his words just because I asked one question, damn it.
“Well, who knows. Any cadet here who wants to be treated like Cadet Deep?”
I turned my head, wondering if anyone would answer or raise their hand. Of course, no one did.
I didn’t see any familiar faces among them. Aaron, the Imperial Princess, Revan—any of the high-performing pilots, really.
When I turned my head to the opposite side, I saw them still running laps around the training ground. I let out a hollow breath, dumbfounded.
Professor Zieg nodded.
“There are those who can’t endure this method, and those who have grown stronger through this method are already pushing themselves to that extent.”
Professor Zieg reached his hand out to me.
I shouldn’t grab it.
If I grabbed that, I’d have to run another lap. I knew that. I’d been going through this for weeks now, so there was no way I wouldn’t know. It was the pattern where he pretended to help me up, then pushed my back to make me run again.
“You’re the type of human who yields one more drop when squeezed dry. A human who can’t stand falling behind others. Or, well, you can just keep falling behind and live that way.”
Damn it.
He’s pushing my buttons.
I grabbed Professor Zieg’s hand. I got up. I dusted off my back and hips. Catching my breath, I straightened my posture.
That hand immediately pushed my back. My legs moved by sheer force.
“Do your best.”
I’ll do my best.
Since I didn’t run away in front of Fafnir, I made that resolution.
Don’t run away.
***
I want to run away.
“This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Senior Ayla said with a mild smile.
For a noble lady’s mouth to produce not a euphemistic refusal but a firm expression of rejection, it must mean she really, absolutely would not do it.
“It’s efficient.”
“But this isn’t even a maid.”
“Titanium Delta alloy material. Capable of efficient work through sub-arms.”
“Does Cadet Deep also think this is a maid?”
Of course not.
I pressed firmly on the bridge of my nose. My whole body was already tired and exhausted, and what I saw before my eyes made my head spin even more.
“Maid robot. Doesn’t tire. Efficient.”
Slapping an apron on a blocky robot doesn’t make it a maid.
It wasn’t even humanoid. It was nothing more than a solid body on wheels with a screen instead of a face.
This thing isn’t a maid.
“This isn’t a maid.”
Exactly.
Two weeks had passed since Ian began working at the employment club. He hadn’t shown up at the cafe for about three days recently, saying he had something to do, and what he brought back was a maid robot.
“This club isn’t simply for generating profit, but for club members to gain experience as employees. We cannot have our positions replaced by something like this.”
Ian, who had thought for a moment, nodded.
“It’s capable of washing dishes as well, not just serving.”
“Washing dishes?”
Senior Ayla opened her eyes wide, then looked straight at me and Revan.
“Then, if we use that robot for washing dishes, perhaps Cadet Revan and Cadet Deep, who were in the kitchen, could come outside.”
I looked to the side, and Revan was slightly scrunching up his expression.
Most of the people who visited the cafe run by the employment club were still people looking for Revan. The top student received various benefits when purchasing Titan parts.
Thankfully, the number of people had decreased a bit now, thanks to Revan washing dishes inside the kitchen without showing himself.
Still, there were more than enough people.
Even now, a month later, when things had somewhat calmed down, there were many people. If Revan were to take charge of serving in this situation—
“More customers would visit our calmed-down cafe, and as employees, you would gain more learning opportunities.”
She probably just wanted to see the maids and butlers working harder.
The moment Revan was about to retort, notification sounds began ringing from all around.
“Ah, an academic notice has been posted.”
Right now, there was only one academic notice that would be posted this week.
The moment I raised my wrist, a hologram appeared. Before I could even ask, Aili had quickly displayed the message.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, it’s nothing! The content was obvious from the start, right?”
It was obvious.
Notice of the midterm exam. As expected.
There were less than two weeks left now. Rather, everyone had been waiting for when the notice would be posted.
“I suppose everyone received the same notice. Have you all checked?”
I looked to the side, and Revan was scrolling through the hologram with a scrunched expression. After checking the message two or three times, he raised his hand.
“I have some inquiries about the exam, so I’ll be back shortly.”
“Ah, is there a problem? Go ahead. Let’s discuss what to do with this maid robot with Cadet Deep.”
Revan nodded, then immediately approached me. Revan muttered quietly through gritted teeth.
“Stop this. Absolutely, unconditionally.”
“Well…”
“You think I’m the only one who’ll come out to the hall and work as a butler? You’re coming out too. It’s really a headache, I tell you.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Revan wasn’t the only one in charge of washing dishes. I hated standing out, so I’d also been hiding in the kitchen to avoid people.
Revan knew my personality to some extent. I avoided standing out as much as possible, and stayed far away from crowds. Even during lectures, I sat in the corner if I could.
He must’ve thought I would never be okay with something like this.
“I, I really have to go. The exam content is different for me.”
“Huh? Wh-what do you mean?”
“In the last joint exam, Fafnir targeted the Imperial Princess. So the Princess will take a separate exam through simulation. The runner-up’s sparring partner is the top student—me.”
Isn’t that a good thing?
“Wh-why is that?”
“Alex and I have bad sync. Operating through simulation makes it more critical. The Imperial Princess is a difficult opponent even for me, and if I’m not fully prepared, I could lose my top spot.”
Is the top student position related to the normal ending or something?
I didn’t really know. It might just be personal ambition.
Cadets seriously vying for the top spot were everywhere at this academy. Besides, unlike the entrance exam, the midterm had not only sparring but also a written exam.
Even without the sparring results, the top position could be decided for various reasons.
Well, the sparring was still the most important thing in the end.
Revan rushed outside. Senior Ayla, who had been watching until Revan left, immediately turned her head toward me.
“So. I’d like to hear Cadet Deep’s thoughts too.”
She had an expression that assumed I would refuse unconditionally.
“I th-think it’ll be fine.”
Would I return to reality if I saw the ending? No, I was already living in this world as reality.
I would continue living here, and I had no intention of going back. I might as well become something like a war hero and obtain a reasonably good status.
To do that, I needed refinement.
I still hadn’t properly learned refinement. I hadn’t even gone out into the hall yet. Since there was no reason to go out to the hall, it was only natural that I had no reason to learn refinement.
“I st-stutter a bit, but I can d-do serving.”
Senior Ayla, who had shown a briefly surprised expression, belatedly smiled.
“That’s a relief. I’ll be rooting for Cadet Deep.”
Ian looked at me and nodded slightly.
Refinement was the second reason.
If Senior Ayla bought that awkward-looking maid robot, I would finally have the money for the custom I wanted.
If I received Professor Sumeragi’s support on top of that, it would be possible at a much more comfortable level. I could really do anything. I intended to spare no expense and pour everything I had into it.
Because Revan wasn’t the only one aiming for the top spot.