Chapter 4 - I Became the Daughter of the Academy’s Villain

Episode 4 4 - Frail (Not) <4 - Frail (Not)> The commotion of the previous day brought a realization to the butler. He understood that he couldn't treat the lady he was in charge of as an ordinary child at this time of year. "A request for manpower support, coming from you of all people?" "The child requires a lot of attention." "The boss will not look upon this favorably." "I am prepared to take that risk." "Is it worth it?" "Her talent with a sword is prodigious." "Indeed?" "Her skills with the bow are equally impressive." "Then why request the dispatch of an assassination instructor?" Jonah chose his words carefully. Unlike the boss, competitors who serve the other 'ladies' would surely not let slip Oknodie's weaknesses so easily. Appointed as a butler with a noble title by the Wyheims, he was the only one, and surely they would be jealous and spiteful, trying to tear at the lady's weaknesses at any chance. "Her movements for stealth and balance have become like instincts. She's been raised as if to be born an assassin." "I see." The butler thought. Dealing with interpersonal relationships would undoubtedly be difficult for the lady laden with mental ailments such as insomnia and avoidant personality disorder. In that case, if her social interactions faltered, she could just acquire a class that was suited for solitude. "Assassins use both swords and bows." "Good, versatility is valuable." The supervisor made a decision. "We will send one." "Thank you." "However, if the instructor we dispatch determines the child lacks aptitude, we will extract a price." "I am willing to accept that condition." "You must be quite sure of yourself. Let's hope her talents are as substantial as your confidence." The dispatch of an assassination instructor and aide for Lady Oknodie was confirmed. * * "Absolutely no going out at night. And without my accompaniment, you are not permitted to go out at all." Lady Oknodie found the butler's treatment dissatisfying. Not a recent thought, but the frequency of surveillance had notably increased since being treated as a 'child that eats rocks'. A pitiable child whose actions are unforeseeable. In the mind of Butler Jonah, my image had solidified to such an extent that he never tried to leave me alone for even a moment. Thanks to this, even the experience points for my hiding ability had utterly stalled. "Lady, you must learn to value yourself more. Those who don't cherish themselves cannot expect to be cherished by others." "Does it even matter? Being treated as precious. In the end, everyone lives and leaves this world alone." If I even slightly reveal the thought processes from my past life as a man, the butler's eyes grow uneasy and they transform into eyes that resolve with 'Sigh... I have to take really good care of her.' What can I say under these circumstances? Thanks to this, I am diligently practicing, but for some reason, I've been getting out of breath quickly and tiring easily of late. 'Is it because I'm in a woman's body now?' Ever since I saw an internet meme that even when reincarnated into another world, a strong, muscular male character would suffer less thanks to the size and strength, I've lived life only burrowing down the path of such characters. This is my first time dealing with such a small female character, so the hypothesis that it's due to being a female character is quite convincing. No doubt I'm receiving less of a boost in stats because I'm a female character. The solution is simple. I just need to increase my stats. This won't do. I'll have to make a trip to the neighboring village for those stat stones. "I want to go out. Alone." "That's absolutely out of the question." The problem is the butler. "Lady Oknodie, you are frail. You are too young and not sufficiently trained to fully face the threats of the outside world." "Nonetheless, I can confidently say I am much stronger than others of my age." "In my view as a butler, you are still but a child. The opponents you'll encounter in the outside world are not merely your peers but also many adults." A debate based on mere facts, how unfair. However, in this game of luck, you never know where or how you might get screwed over by chance. A few strokes of misfortune can suddenly escalate a manageable level of danger into an insane storm of adversity. "Just quietly have your meal. Eat well and train hard, and when you are sufficiently strong, I will allow you to go out, accompanied." It can't be helped. The food is delicious. Gathering stat stones will have to wait until I can go out from the academy on my own. But am I not already strong enough? My swordsmanship and archery skills have been steadily increasing. As I was wallowing in such complaints, a glass of water slipped from my hand. "Ah?" "See? How fragile must one's arms be to not even hold a cup properly." "No, no. It's just... Maybe I've lost strength in my arms from training too hard." "I will not accept excuses." "But it's true..." It came as a bit of a shock, as I had never imagined that I might drop a cup of water. Right, with such a body, what kind of outing could I possibly have? For the time being, I'll have to add two hours of strength training to my regimen and do it strenuously. * * If Jonah wanted to ensure that the lady did not go out without his knowledge before the assassination instructor arrived, he would end up sleepless even at night. Not desiring to be burdened with such excessive labor, Jonah concocted a plan. 'If she is sufficiently worn out by daily activities, she will have no energy left for night-time mischief.' Unknown to Lady Oknodie, the weight of every utensil and object she used in her daily life was being subtly increased day by day. Even the weight of the water glass that just fell was now 5 kg. Cups made of wood were being incrementally replaced with cups containing heavier metals, from manganese to iron and copper. The increases would stop once it seemed like she couldn't handle the extra weight, but to his astonishment, the lady, with her tremendous tenacity, managed to endure every increment. 'She truly has the makings of an assassin.' Long periods of lying in ambush or lifting heavy objects are essential training for an assassin. Although Jonah did not know the exact training regimes of real-life assassins, he believed that an assassin would need to perform such tasks. 'The instructor will be pleased, no doubt.' A teacher, by nature, favors a student who demonstrates a rewarding potential to learn. He supposed even an assassination instructor would be no different. 'This is a necessary measure, not just for the instructor's approval, but for the lady herself.' The lady, who was duped by a street magician into drinking a random potion and ended up swallowing stones to satiate her hunger, needed strength. Rights arise from power. She must be especially careful never to endanger herself with risky part-time jobs or harm her health with improper eating habits again. With strength, she wouldn't need to take dangerous jobs to make money, and she could eat hearty meals with the money she made. 'Grow stronger, Lady Oknodie. I do not wish to see the lady I serve discarded due to weakness ever again.' The butler sincerely hoped that this lady would be in his care for a long time. * * I eat well, sleep well, and train hard. By now, I should have grown enough to go out on my own, but today, I ended up dropping my spoon while having soup. "You are frail." "Me?!" "Yes, frail." "How can there be such a frail person who wields a sword so well? I even run incredibly fast!" "But you dropped your spoon." "I dropped it..." "You are frail." "Ugh..." As the butler said, I keep dropping things during meals, and sometimes I trip over my own clothes. Lately, I've been feeling so heavy that I sometimes wonder if I've always been this frail. 'Could there be a negative feature attached to me?' There are characters born with negative modifiers that unfavourably affect their bodies—physically clumsy [Clumsy] or prone to sickness [Frailty]. I never engaged with such penalty-driven benefits because aggressive investing isn't my style, but it seems this body is different. 'I guess this is what a negative feature is like.' Since I've never tried it before, it's just an assumption. But wait, the experience points are quite substantial. [You have managed to endure extreme fatigue for more than 5 minutes during continuous sword swinging.] [Swordsmanship experience +1] If I had been in a man's body, my strong muscles would have made it so experience wouldn't have risen so easily, but now, even a little training causes my arms to tremble and the experience points to increase. 'Female characters get experience points more easily than males because they have weaker attribute modifiers! Or perhaps the training efficiency increased as compensation for the minus feature?' The rate of experience gain is pleasing even by veteran standards. If I had known this, I would have played as a female character long ago. However, mealtimes are inconvenient. Having trained hard all day, my arm is so tense even when lifting a fork. Attempting to twirl pasta with a trembling hand, I accidentally pressed too hard and chipped the plate. Clink The plate cracked. "You are frail." "...I applied too much force and cracked the plate?" "If putting in enough force to break a plate is the only way to handle a fork, then you can't say you have full control over your own body." "...I'm frustrated, but I can't deny it..." "A shard might mix with the pasta and injure you internally, so I'll serve you on a fresh plate." Am I really frail...? Despite my confirmed physical abilities from training being quite high, to be a frail pretty girl is an irony. It makes sense if there's the existence of a negative feature to reconcile with it. Perhaps it is my good strength and stamina that allows me to bear even this much. Lady Oknodie's body may even contain a severe minus feature that could lead to death from mere idleness and groaning in bed. "Sigh it." 'But after all, it's the frail pretty girl.' Setting aside all the negative features. Receiving this protection kindles a strange sense of security. It feels like a baby bird under the guardian wings of a mother bird! Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to be fed spaghetti by the butler. I've become a little spoiled. Author's Note (Afterword) Weighting the frail pretty girl.