Episode 81
"What should I do... I was relying only on the contract..."
"Should I look for a part-time job even now..."
The commoner students who had left the Starlight mansion began muttering with dark expressions on their faces.
They had been kicked out without receiving a single penny, having trusted only the contract they signed ignorantly when they first entered the mansion.
Though they were outstanding enough to proudly enter Class A of Sunrise Academy with its long-standing traditions, there was nothing they could do about this problem.
At a time when the unwritten rule that one must graduate from the academy to enter money-making jobs or guilds was widespread throughout the empire, even being in Class A meant they could only do short-term part-time work or hunt monsters.
Of course, their abilities were quite excellent, so they could earn some money even with such work. However, it should not be forgotten that most of the Class A students were boy or girl heads of household.
After distributing the money they earned hard to their families and paying taxes according to the empire's absurd tax collection laws, the remaining money was always worse than nothing.
Still, they had managed to endure somehow by running around here and there over the past years, but having spent a considerable time at the Starlight household, they eventually faced a fatal financial problem.
"...Hey, guys. There's still hope!"
Among the children where such a dark atmosphere was circulating, a female student stepped forward and began to speak.
"According to this contract, if the employer unilaterally dismisses someone without fulfilling the contract period, compensation must be paid to the employee..."
"Hey, we all know that."
"...Huh?"
However, a male student who had been wearing a depressed expression from earlier interrupted her words and spoke with a sigh.
"That kind of contract is absolutely useless. In the first place, the people who judge such things are all on the nobles' side."
"B-but..."
"Then go back to Frey and argue with him? If you don't want to end up like Lulu earlier, getting caught and becoming a toy, consider yourself lucky."
"N-no..."
Only after hearing those words did the female student, who had grasped the situation, collapse to the ground and begin shedding tears.
"If I can't get the medicine this month... my little sibling will be in danger..."
It was a bleak and pitiful situation where nobles like Frey would spend fortunes in a single day, but she couldn't afford her sibling's medicine. However, the students watching such a situation quietly turned their gaze away.
No matter how kind-hearted they were, they too had sick family members or were in poor circumstances with no money to even buy a meal.
In other words, they were so short on money that they shared a single textbook by pooling money together to buy and pass it around, so they couldn't help the student crying before their eyes.
"...Guys, I've decided."
The female student, who had been shedding tears for a while receiving such unavoidable avoidance, soon spoke with a determined expression.
"I... I'm going back to the Starlight mansion."
"...What?"
At that, the male student who had earlier informed the female student of reality wore a flustered expression and spoke.
"I told you it's useless to go back? Frey will invalidate that contract anyway. Even if he gives you money, he'll make you his plaything..."
"If becoming a plaything can save my sibling, I'll gladly become one."
The female student speaking those words had eyes filled with a determination far too early for a soft girl of her age to possess.
"W-wait a moment! You shouldn't do that!!"
From among the commoners watching her, Ferloche popped out with an urgent expression.
"I'll help you! If it's me, I can cure that person with holy power! Let's go right now! If we go now..."
"But the Saintess's treatment is expensive."
"...What?"
At those words, Ferloche began to wear a dazed expression, and the female student spoke with a dark expression.
"To receive the Saintess's blessing or treatment, you have to pay fees to the Order. Everyone here knows that."
As she spoke and looked around, the students quietly nodded their heads.
"T-that can't be... I've always provided treatment for free without taking a single penny?"
Such a reaction was incomprehensible to Ferloche, who had always provided treatment free of charge and found fulfillment in it.
"Perhaps, is an impersonator claiming to be me going around?!"
So, she presented the most reasonable deduction she could come up with.
For Ferloche, who would usually just tilt her head with a question mark on her face in such situations, this was truly a significant development.
"............"
However, the commoner students just quietly stared at such Ferloche.
If Frey or other nobles had made such a statement, they would have felt contempt or secretly scoffed at them.
But they knew well how Ferloche had treated them usually, and they also knew her character well.
Therefore, even though the commoners knew the truth, no one dared to step forward.
If something went wrong and the Order retaliated, their lives that they had struggled to maintain would come to an end.
"That's right, an impersonator is going around."
"As expected! Then perhaps, do you know their identity too!"
At that, someone stepped forward before Ferloche and spoke.
"If you tell me the identity, I will immediately go with the Order and...!"
"It's the Order."
Among the students looking at her with eyes full of anxiety and worry, the commoner representative Aris began to tell Ferloche the truth in a calm voice.
"To be precise, it's not an impersonator, but should be called a robber."
Hearing those words, Ferloche became dazed, while several commoners quietly lowered their heads.
Because terrible memories that they too had experienced and never wanted to experience again had resurfaced.
"When Ferloche provides free treatment or grants protection, the Order's collectors visit that person within a few days."
"Collectors...?"
"Yes, they collect payment for Ferloche's treatment and protection."
Hearing those words, Ferloche began muttering as if she couldn't believe it.
"Good heavens... they've been doing such things all this time... indeed the Order is..."
"Ferloche-sama?"
"Ah, no. Anyway! I understand what you mean! I will settle things with the Order today!!"
As Ferloche began heading toward where the Order was located while fuming, Aris shook her head and spoke.
"Even if the Saintess steps forward, it will only quiet down for a moment, and rather, they will extract money even more secretly and severely. And I will probably be kidnapped for the sin of telling you the truth."
".....Ugh."
At those words, Ferloche began making groaning sounds without being able to say anything.
"Hehe, thank you for worrying, Saintess."
"Ah..."
The female student who hugged her tightly spoke in a trembling voice.
"Don't worry about me. No matter how much it's Frey... surely he wouldn't kill me, would he?"
Though she said that, the rumor that a carriage carrying corpses in black bags went in and out of the Starlight mansion every Sunday was stimulating her fear.
"Everyone... goodbye."
However, since she had no choice if she wanted to save her sibling, the female student, who had tried to hide such facts, smiled and was about to head back to Frey's mansion, but.
"Please wait a moment."
"Yes?"
Kania, who had briefly gone somewhere, blocked her.
"There seems to be no need for you to come work at our mansion again."
"What do you mean by that?"
When the female student tilted her head at Kania's leisurely expression, Kania answered with a smile.
"Compensation is scheduled to be provided to all of you."
Saying that, what Kania distributed to everyone present was a statement specifying the compensation.
"W-what is all this...?"
"This, are they talking about gold coins, not silver coins?"
The commoner students who received the statement without much expectation began to widen their eyes at the tremendous amount stamped on that paper.
"It is the sum of penalties for your unfair dismissal and severance pay."
As Kania calmly spoke once more to the commoner students, the students' expressions began to stiffen.
Normally they should be happy at such a time, but since an amount of money they had never touched in their lives was suddenly being paid, and by Frey, who was rumored to be a villain, doubt, anxiety, and fear preceded happiness.
"H-how did this happen? How exactly is this possible?"
Thanks to that, among the confused students, the male student who had earlier awakened the female student to reality asked with a trembling voice.
"I've never seen contracts between nobles and commoners being properly kept like this... is this perhaps a trap?"
"It is a trap, but it's not a trap against you."
When the male student, who had been burned by contract fraud many times, expressed doubt with suspicious eyes, Kania answered with a smirk.
"It's a trap I set for Frey."
At those words, when the commoners tilted their heads, Kania slowly began explaining.
"The contract you signed is based on the rules established by Lord Abraham, the official head of the Starlight family."
"Rules?"
"Yes, rules that cannot be violated legally... or magically."
Saying that, when Kania shook the contract paper, a faint magic circle rose up.
"Lord Abraham, who valued trust with his servants, had put various legal devices and magic in the contracts with his servants."
"T-then..."
"Yes, it means that even Frey has no choice but to compensate you with that amount of money."
Hearing those words, the commoners began to wear bewildered expressions.
Because at the point when Kania's words ended, the fact that this unimaginable amount of money had become theirs was starting to sink in.
"Wait, Kania, did you... plan all of this?"
And at that point, Irina, who had been watching, naturally interjected.
"Yes? What do you mean by that?"
"You're the one who handed us contracts while making us wear maid uniforms and attendant clothes on the first day. You were also the one who told us never to show the contract to Frey."
At those words, all the commoner students began looking at Kania.
"And... you're the one who got a definite answer from Frey today to 'dismiss' the commoner students and activated the magic placed on the contract. Considering all this, you are..."
"...Sigh."
When Irina, who had gathered her acting skills to the limit, trailed off, Kania, who had been sighing, spoke to the students who were looking at her with disbelief.
"I just wanted to see you all happy."
At those words, the commoner students began letting out exclamations.
"It's not like I did anything particularly great, so you don't need to make such expressions..."
"K-Kania! Thank youuuu...!"
Kania, who had been speaking calmly while looking at such students, began to wear a troubled expression when the female student, who could now buy her sick sibling's medicine, burst into tears and hugged her.
"T-thanks to you... my sibling... sniff..."
"Sigh..."
Still, when the female student muttered while crying, Kania patted her with a slightly dark expression.
"But... Kania, will you really be okay?"
"Yes?"
One student looking at such Kania asked her a question.
"If Frey finds out that such a huge sum was given to us, he won't leave you alone..."
"It doesn't matter."
Kania answered with a bitter smile to that student.
"I've already made up my mind."
The commoners, who had been looking at the red hand mark on Kania's cheek and her stomach that she kept rubbing, probably because it hurt quite a bit, soon lowered their heads with solemn expressions.
"Then, please go safely."
Kania smiled at them and bowed her head.
Somehow that appearance looked precarious, so the commoners wanted to help her somehow, but they soon realized that was an empty dream.
Because the Starlight mansion visible behind Kania was far too massive for them to deal with.
The commoners just kept bowing repeatedly to Kania as they left the mansion.
Kania, who was blankly staring at the commoners' sad movements, accustomed to bowing, or knowing nothing but bowing, turned her gaze when she sensed a presence beside her.
"Kania... are you really okay?"
"Yes, I'm okay."
There was Ferloche with a very worried expression.
"If you're okay, shall I stay at Frey's mansion for you? If it's me, a Saintess, I might be able to protect you so Frey can't harm you..."
"...No, it's fine."
Kania, who had been looking at her softly, answered with a serious expression upon hearing the words coming from Ferloche's mouth.
"Then goodbye, Ferloche."
"Yes? Ah... I understand. Goodbye."
Ferloche, who was overwhelmed by Kania's inexplicable aura, tilted her head for a moment and then stepped outside the mansion.
"...You should go now too, right?"
"M-me? Why?"
Kania, who had been quietly watching that sight, spoke with a cold expression to Irina who had been standing blankly beside her.
"Then, do you intend to stay here throughout the entire vacation?"
"Yeah, of course. To repay the debt I owe to Frey, even following him every moment isn't enough."
"Sigh..."
Kania frowned at Irina's answer that eventually came back and began speaking in an annoyed voice, but.
"I alone is sufficient. Since I've served the young master from childhood..."
"But why do you keep rubbing your stomach? You can stop acting now?"
Then, when Kania heard Irina's curious question, she blushed and quietly shut her mouth.
Because she didn't have the confidence to reveal the fact that her stomach, which had become sensitive from frequently transforming into a cat lately, had been stimulated from having Frey's foot press deeply into it earlier.
"Anyway, the conclusion is..."
"What, what? Her?"
Kania, who had been silent for a while and was about to open her mouth quietly, suddenly saw Irina making a pale expression and pointing at the Starlight mansion, so she momentarily stiffened her expression and looked back.
"......!"
And at that moment, Kania doubted her eyes.
Because at the window of Frey's room, Lulu was sitting with a dazed expression.
"S-someone stop her! We have to stop her!"
"Calm down, that's the second floor. She won't die even if she falls."
"Ah, right."
Kania, who answered quietly to Irina who was making a fuss, tried to approach where she was, leaving behind Irina who was scratching her head, but.
- Swoosh
"............!!"
Suddenly, when Lulu took out a small knife from her bosom and brought it to her arm, both she and Irina began to wear startled expressions.
"This time we really have to stop her!"
"I know too."
When the flustered Kania prepared to use black magic, and Irina was chanting wind magic as best she could.
"Goodness, that was almost a disaster."
Frey appeared from behind the window and struck the back of Lulu's neck, knocking her unconscious.
"...It's fortunate the young master was there."
"Right."
The two, who had been watching that scene with tension, began muttering in relieved voices as the limp Lulu was dragged into the room.
"So, what should we do with her?"
"Well, should we tie her up?"
"Can't you brainwash her with black magic?"
"That's a magic only evil black mages use."
Then, suddenly changing their expressions coldly, they began to worry about how to deal with the troublemaker that had been dragged back into the room.
Their conversation, which only clicked well at times like this, continued for quite a while after that.
.
"Goodness, that was almost a disaster."
I, who had secretly entered the room and was observing what Lulu was doing, immediately knocked her unconscious when I saw the knife she pulled out.
It seems like I'll need to have Kania, who is down there, perform a body examination when she returns.
[Please check the 2nd reward soon!!]
"...Sigh."
While I was thinking that, a system window appeared before my eyes. Perhaps because I had been ignoring it for a long time, was it in a bad mood? The message content was quite urgent.
- Shimmer...
Since I couldn't keep ignoring it forever, I checked the reward, and one strangely shaped jade token appeared before my hand.
[If you show this jade token to the legendary blacksmith 'Rocinante,' you can commission one request!]
"Good, it should be at least this much."
'Rocinante,' the one who created the decorative box obtained at the auction house long ago, is, according to the prophetic book, a master excellent enough to leave a significant mark in the empire's history.
And like most such masters, he is said to be extremely eccentric.
Therefore, commissioning him is said to be as difficult as plucking a star from the sky, but if I show him this jade token, he could probably even make a machine for plucking stars.
"...Hmm?"
Thinking such thoughts as I carefully placed the jade token in the desk drawer, I began to smile as I saw a white bird flying from beyond the window.
"Coo?"
"...Huh?"
However, what sat on the windowsill after a moment was not the white owl I had expected, but a carrier pigeon.
"Coo coo!"
"What's this letter..."
Looking at the pigeon with a puzzled expression for a moment, I discovered that the letter had the royal seal stamped on it and urgently snatched the letter.
- Clana Sol Sunrise.
"...Clana sent me a letter?"
Eventually discovering Clana's name written on the envelope, I, who was flustered, began to open the letter with a slightly trembling heart.
- This is an official document sent to the three ducal houses. A support request has come from the Cloud Kingdom of the Western Continent.
"Ah, is that it."
I had anticipated all sorts of situations, but after confirming the letter's contents, I soon spoke with a deflated expression.
- Since it is a highly confidential matter, a secret meeting of the three ducal houses is scheduled to be held at Frey's birthday party opening this time. Please understand this point.
"...I need to start paying attention to the slave market raid incident too."
The confidential matter Clana was referring to is the 'slave market raid incident.'
Well, since the princes and princesses of the Cloud Kingdom, to which the princess who will enter Sunrise Academy as a first-year next year belongs, are captured in this slave market... it's understandable that security is this thorough.
'Just need to liberate the slaves while earning the hatred of the princess. It's nothing special.'
Becoming hated by her, a sub-heroine, is certainly a sad thing, but it can't be helped. That's the only way to clear the main quest.
"...Huh?"
Thinking such thoughts as I was about to put the letter in the drawer, I discovered a sentence written very small at the very bottom of the letter and slowly began to freeze.
Ps. What did you do to me? Frey?
"What is this supposed to mean...?"
Indeed, the world doesn't flow according to plan.