Seeing Karia's face flush with embarrassment, I let out a sigh inwardly.
I thought she was speaking more harshly due to the curse of the evil god. But her calling me "old maid" was just her title for me.
Considering that Karia has regained all her memories and cannot argue back, it seems to be a fact regardless of the perspective...
And that’s the bigger problem.
The truly problematic person shouldn’t be teased about such things.
“...Um. You’re Benedikt’s daughter, Lucy, right?”
‘Yes. That’s correct.’
“Can’t you tell just by looking? Did you get old already? Oh my. Should I get you some glasses?”
Seeing the corners of Karia's mouth tremble, it seemed this situation was quite embarrassing for her.
I understand. According to Alsetin, she thinks of me as her hero who saved her, but being confronted with remarks about being an old maid or getting old right off the bat would make it hard to keep her composure.
The only saving grace was that Karia considered me a benefactor.
In the midst of a continuous stream of accusations where she could have easily gotten angry, she never once lost her temper.
Not only that.
As time passed, she became accustomed to my tone and dispelled her earlier embarrassment, maintaining a polite demeanor in the face of any insults.
As expected of Alsetin's mentor.
In this regard, she was more professional than him. He looked like his face was cracking!
“Anyway, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t just have lost my life but would have also been branded a sinner in history.”
Seeing Karia bow her head, I unconsciously tried to say it’s okay, but I bit my tongue.
I didn’t think any words would comfort her.
Let’s just go with shamelessness. That might be better.
“I’ve been thinking about how to repay you. It’s tough. I’ve lost all my power, and the connections and information network I built up previously have all scattered. No matter how I think about it, there’s nothing I can offer you right now.”
I wasn’t particularly disappointed by her words.
It’s only natural. What could she possibly have after being missing for over ten years?
Rather, it would be more surprising if she had something to give me.
“But my student told me something. You received a seal from that little brat Kurze, right?”
If she’s talking about Kurze Newman, that’s correct.
The head of the Newman family. A poor guy troubled by hair loss.
If she can casually call that man “little brat,” then she must really be at the level where we should be calling her a grandmother instead of an old maid.
“Can I borrow that for a moment?”
‘The ring?’
“Are you asking to borrow the ring? Why? You lecherous old hag?”
“I heard that the academy isn’t monitoring you? I’ll take care of everything.”
So Karia was saying she would act as a bridge between the Newman family and the academy.
That was definitely something I needed.
For now, I was satisfied being Alsetin’s assistant, but if the Newman family’s influence stretched to the academy, I would be able to do so much more.
Additionally, I trusted Karia’s abilities.
She was the one who successfully nurtured Alsetin, an orphan from the back alleys, into a capable informant.
If she worked together with Alsetin, they would surely bring about good results.
However, the problem was that I didn’t know Karia as a person.
It’s true that this world isn’t exactly like the game.
There are numerous variables that can’t just be wrapped up by saying it was like that in the game.
However, the general trends remain the same.
Faybi, although shaken in many ways, was still a saint.
Freya strangely liked me, but she was still a madman obsessed with swords.
Arthur had become a person full of zeal, and the fact that he was battling his inner complex remained unchanged.
While there are small variables, they are sufficient to judge a person's essence.
However, Karia is a character that doesn’t appear in the game.
I didn’t know anything about her. I only remembered her as a fragmentary character mentioned by Alsetin.
So I can’t hand over the ring.
I have no idea how she will act once I give her this ring.
To be honest, building a connection with the Newman family is useful, but it’s not urgent.
It’s not something I can’t do without.
Am I really going to extend the crow’s seal over something that isn’t absolutely necessary and that I can’t be sure about?
Even without asking my grandfather, I know.
This is insane.
“Are you hesitating after all?”
When I didn’t answer, Karia smiled.
It seemed she didn’t expect to get permission from the start.
“I understand. It would be difficult for someone you just met to ask for such a valuable item.”
But why did she bring it up when she knew it wouldn’t work?
Is it just a case of "it would be nice if it worked out, but if it doesn’t, so be it"?
I didn’t think so. Hmm. I can’t figure out her intention.
“So for now, I’ll stick by Alsetin’s side and help you with your requests. When the time comes that I judge my reputation and abilities to be trustworthy, I’ll ask to borrow the Newman family seal. Playing around with that little brat is incredibly easy.”
Karia’s words, saying she would repay the grace of saving her life and preserving her honor by working beside me for a lifetime, carried weight.
Hmm. I don’t think I need to refuse this, right?
She taught Alsetin various things, and considering she was once called the shadow of the kingdom, her being willing to work for me is something I should appreciate.
Just as I was about to say that was fine, Karia chuckled and burst into laughter.
“Lucy. You shouldn’t get involved in politics. Your thoughts are too easy to read.”
Huh? What’s that all of a sudden?
I was taken aback by Karia’s sudden comment, but as I listened to her explanation, I quickly understood.
Upon learning that I was the one who saved her, Karia decided to repay her debt.
And before that, it seemed she was throwing out various words to gauge what kind of person I am.
“When you work on this side, you can grasp a person's tendencies through their responses.”
She smiled, saying that at first, she wondered if she had come to the wrong person, but as they talked, her thoughts changed.
“You may have a rough way of speaking or expressions, but you’re quite a good person.”
‘Is it possible to assess just by seeing that?!’
“Do you think I’d believe that? There’s no way a pathetic old maid who is swayed by a useless evil god would have such abilities.”
“Really. Want me to tell you the grounds?”
The slight lift in her eyes when she’s pondering. The slight dip of her head when she’s positive. The slight curling of her toes when she’s angry.
In addition to these, Karia provided various grounds for judging my thoughts and feelings.
Her explanations were so detailed that they bordered on the absurd.
No matter how I thought about it, was this some sort of trick to tease me?
If I believe seriously, I can already envision her laughing at me, saying, "Do you really believe that?"
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<Oh? Interesting. There are some similarities.> ‘...Is grandfather teasing me too?’ <Why would he tease you?> ‘I’m not stupid enough to fall for such lies?!’
Grandfather, please don’t act foolishly just because you’re getting old.
Does it make sense to jump in because it looks like I’m getting teased?!
<Look now. Didn’t your toes curl up?>
...Ugh. It's true.
Oh.
Huh?!
Did everything Karia explained just now turn out to be true?!
As Karia watched my bewildered expression, she chuckled and stood up.
“Well, now that I’ve figured out what I wanted, I’ll take my leave. I look forward to working with you, employer. Oh, by the way, most of what I said today was thrown out just to observe your reactions, so don’t mind it.”
Even after Karia left, I took a long time to verify her words.
Surprisingly, everything Karia had explained was indeed true.
‘...I don’t think I can do politics or deals.’
Thinking of someone like that sitting on the opposite side is truly dreadful.
I feel like I might be leaking all sorts of information without realizing it.
<Don’t worry. That’s her exceptional ability. She can see things I can’t even perceive.>
Is this the legendary skill of the shadow of the kingdom, known as a thief?
...Thank goodness she’s on my side.
I had no choice.
No matter how much time passed, my physical condition just wouldn’t improve.
According to the silly fox's diagnosis, I wouldn’t fully recover until the end of the vacation.
Of course, I had to maintain absolute stability during this time.
Because of that, I hadn’t participated in a single training session with the Alrn Knights.
Although my stats were still rising, it didn’t really matter, yet for some reason, I couldn’t hide my feeling of disappointment.
At first, I had trained to survive, but now I had become someone who craved training on my own.
It’s terrifying.
I feel like I'm gradually becoming brain muscle.
Thus, even though I spent most of my time on the bed, I didn’t skip the training with my grandfather.
After all, in practice mode, I didn’t have to worry about my physical condition in reality.
I moved even more vigorously than what I couldn’t do in reality.
While doing so, I learned that the reward Arumadi gave for clearing the Menestale dungeon was bigger than I had thought.
First, the amount of divinity increased, and my proficiency in handling divinity rose, right?
This wasn’t just a simple increase in numbers.
First of all, saying that the divinity has increased doesn’t only mean my divinity amount has gone up.
The quality of the divinity that I hold within my body has improved.
Should I say it has become purer?
Thanks to this, even if I perform the same actions as before, I can achieve much better results.
The increase in proficiency is similar.
Before, I had to diligently recite prayers when using divine magic, but now I no longer need to do that.
Now, if I simply think about what divine magic I want to use, the results come out immediately.
“Hah. Just how much does Arumadi love you?”
This was such an unreasonable result that my grandfather, who was checking alongside me, said that.
Moreover, the divine technique was surprisingly amazing as well.
“Technique is a higher form of combat skill. It doesn’t just wrap around the body and weapon but allows for so much more.”
For example, when I wrapped divinity around my shield, I had overcome something that couldn’t be done with mere combat skills through my own abilities.
The effect was good, but I couldn’t say it was efficient.
But now, there’s no need to endure inefficiency.
With the acquisition of the technique, I can naturally unfold all of that.
My grandfather passionately explained that there are various potentials in this skill, but...
Hmm. To be honest, I barely understood.
It can’t be helped!
It was still too early for me!
My grandfather would gradually come to understand, so he said it was fine that I didn’t understand!
Anyway, the important thing is that the gifts given by the great Arumadi were all useful.
Ahh. Arumen.
I didn’t believe it!
Thank you!
“Miss. It’s done.”
Hearing Erin’s words, I snapped out of my thoughts.
Looking into the mirror of the dressing table, I could see my neatly arranged hair.
It’s quite miraculous. Clearly, I fix my hair in the same way, but why does it look so much cleaner when Erin does it?
Is this the difference in experience?
‘It looks great. As expected of Erin.’
“Huh. You did quite well, pathetic Erin? Not bad.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Miss.”
After checking my hair, I wore my outing clothes, which were not the school uniform of Alrn for the first time in a long while.
It was time to end the leisurely and comfortable seclusion that had lasted nearly a month.
I wasn’t completely recovered yet, and there was a place I had to go.
The auction house.
To pass the test given by Arumadi, I needed to procure a few items from there!
I really don’t want to wear Lucy’s old clothes!