Chapter 7 - I Became the Daughter of the Academy’s Villain

7 - Between Herculean Strength and Fragility <7 - Between Herculean Strength and Fragility> With one hand she held the butler, and with the other, the maid. As the three stood side by side, linked by hands, warm gazes followed from every direction. Perhaps because of her small stature, she appeared to be a child traveling with a young couple. "What a lovely age they’re at." "A honeymoon to the holy Mount Newjeong. Confident in your abilities, then?" "A butler and maid, huh? They must be a pair of former adventurers employed by some nobility." The murmurs from passersby were rather intriguing. "And what do you two think?" "To be seen as a couple with a maid as beautiful as Miss Leaf, I’d say it's an honor." "…It is an honor indeed." Every word spoken seemed ladened with emotion, making their firmly held hands grow tighter still. While it’s nice, moderation would be appreciated – my hand is starting to hurt. "The queue is quite long. Will you wait?" "Just go and enjoy a week off. I will hold your spot." Our maid had a knack for making people feel guilty. To leave the maid amidst a throng of rough adventurers heading for testing and go off to play for a week – it sure made us look scummy. "Please prepare a table." "What do you plan to do?" "I’m going to wagers with a gold coin for a place in line." If she wins every time, that’s a week saved for free. Am I a genius or what? "...And what will the competition be?" "Arm wrestling." She might struggle to hold a water glass or a spoon during meals, looking every bit the frail beauty, but that’s only after rigorous training. Having spent two days in a carriage, her body felt as light as if she could soar – arm wrestling would be nothing. She seemed delicate, a fragile beauty on the outside. Yet within her lay a gargantuan strength born of early investment in her abilities. Challenge her based on appearances alone, and you'll bruise more than just your pride. "Please handle the table with care. It's borrowed in lieu of attracting customers, and you’ll need to compensate if it's damaged." "Yes~." The innkeeper, finding our suggestion beneficial for business, agreed to promote the arm wrestling event in place of his usual barking. "Come one, come all! It's not every day you get this chance! Defeat this wealthy adventuress in arm wrestling and win a gold coin! Entry is the turn before the lady's in the inn's queue!" At the cry of the inn's barker, people in line flooded in like clouds. "Hey, brother, is that for real?" "Look at her. She's tiny." "Me first! I want to go first!" "Move it, man. I was here before you." The promotional effect was undeniable. A slight headache arose, accompanied by a familiar notification. <Arm Wrestling Flash Event> People with their eyes flipped for gold coins have flocked in droves. You, of course, have no intention of parting with a single penny. If you never lose, there’s no need to hand over even one gold coin. Compared to the grueling ticket exams, this is like lying down and eating rice cakes! Right? Events triggered by player actions. The more events there are, the better, as each one offers certain rewards upon completion. 'Winning in such events will surely build reputation.' Reputation. Fame. Or perhaps a title. These are all things that inevitably bring benefits. They boost your stats by at least one point each, and these points add up to improve your abilities. Although there is no status window to check exact numbers visually. But with a seasoned player’s intuition, I can estimate to some extent the expected value and the actual increase. ‘The Girl of Herculean Strength, effect increases Strength by 2 points. Something like that.’ The young man, honored to be her first opponent, is already ecstatic, his arm raised in anticipation. The sighs emanating from the crowd seem to suggest they already think he has won. “Ready... 3, 2, 1. Start.” No sooner had the butler raised his hands to begin than the young man pulled hard, his arm tensed with effort. “Arrrrgh!” “Hahaha, what's he doing? Look at that guy.” “Don't hold the pretty girl's hand too long.” "Just look at the butler's face. He's going to get hit if he keeps that up.” “Is that guy a pedophile or what?” The young man’s face reddened to the root, while on my end, I feel absolutely nothing. Having completed even the training grounds title quest, it's ludicrous to think I’d lose to a run-of-the-mill adventurer. The mechanism of ability score increases goes as follows: From 1 to 9, every point adds a 1 increase. From 11 to 19, every 2 points add a 1 increase. From 21 to 29, every 3 points add a 1 increase. And so on, up to 91 to 99, where every 10 points add a 1 increase. At every tenth interval (10, 20, 30), the full number must be collected to gain a 1 increase. After barely reaching a strength of 20 at the starting point and completing the title quest, my current estimated strength is at 29. By converting strength 29 into points, that’s a whopping 75 points or more. An increase of more than 27 points from the initial 20 (47 points), parking at a strength of 29. A thousand sword practices, increase strength by +1 point. A thousand bow practices, increase strength by +1 point. A thousand fist practices, increase strength by +1 point. The same increase for tens of thousands for each. And once again for every hundred thousand. Each practice's count considers the number of movements, like a single sword strike, swing, or arrow shot. Daily, one movement is repeated ten thousand times, and for each martial art, at least three types of movements are mastered, which already amounts to ninety thousand. Advanced movements easily take the daily practice to over a hundred thousand. With consistent training over thirty days, the total count is three million. Earning additional points four times, that's 12 points. Including the martial practice score, which counts across all forms of martial arts practice, adds another 3 points. Achievements like ‘destroying a training dummy’, ‘gripping a bow till the hands bleed’, and ‘bursting a sandbag’ brought in miscellaneous points totaling 12. Totalling these accumulated title points yields an overall strength score increase of 27 points. And that fledgling youth expects to handle it? Not a chance. Crash! "The lady wins!" "Argh!" "Oh, what a fool." "How weak must his training have been." "Come on, you try it then! That’s not just a girl's arm strength!" "Oooh..." "Get lost and die!" Amidst the rising jeers, the young man blushed and disappeared. An employee called out the number taken by the young man. "Number 925!" Really, 925 in the inn's waiting line. Any ordinary inn accommodating long-term guests would take a week, no, even a month. Only because of the higher turnover rate due to people leaving to take their exams at the superior examination hall, did the wait time reduce to a week. Had it not been for the examiners, such a line would have never formed. For the innkeeper, this was a fleeting windfall. "Next challenger, only those with a number before 925, please! Yes, big-headed sir. Number 920, you say? Stick that on your nose! Now, bald sir! Number 850, come quickly!" The second challenger was a man with a shiny bald head. There was a bit of tension at the appearance of the bald man. 'Bald means danger. He could have trained so hard his hair fell out.' Even with casual training in just one martial art for 30,000 movements a day, after ten years, that's 109.5 million. At ten million, a hundred million, and so on, five times the points increase. On top of that, whether it's sword fighting, boxing, or archery, practice volumes all count together, so an additional five points add on. Include sporadic extra points earned, and at least another 20 points are sure to be added. 'A total of 30 points. Even a person with a natural strength of 10, the average, could easily reach a strength stat of 19.' If the training period is longer, if the person has trained in more than one martial art, and if they're naturally a bit stronger, then it's not entirely impossible for someone to emerge with strength equal to 29. Crash! "The lady wins!" Well, it seems this bald man just suffered from premature congenital baldness. And so, with that momentum, she relished a victory in nine straight wins, bringing her number up to 97, and those standing in line began to realize her strength was way above average. "Where does such strength come from in that delicate body?" "Did she master the rumored art of mana cultivation?" "She looks like a wealthy lady; might be true." "Tsch, played again by the hobbies of the rich." "Still, shouldn't she be getting tired by now?" A petite girl of barely 140 centimeters consistently flipping over the muscular arms of grown men? Caught up in this unexpected event, the people who ran over excitedly started making side bets, while the innkeeper's mouth hung open, seemingly unable to stop the grinning. The inn was even taking a 10 percent fee for handling the money, ensuring no one was shortchanged. "Hey, innkeeper." "Ha ha, our lucky charm Miss. Shall I bring a basket of water? No, I'll even treat you to lunch, that's how generous I am!" "Never mind that, let's split 50-50." "Eh? Wh-what do you mean?" "I saw you taking the fees." Her narrowed eyes and forceful tone got the innkeeper looking like he was about to burst. "30-70." "If you don't split it evenly, I'll report you to the lord. For exploiting a fragile girl for gambling profits." The innkeeper, about to rebuke her for calling herself fragile when she clearly wasn't, jerked in surprise when he noticed Jonah towering behind her, menacingly narrowing his eyes and subtly cautioning the innkeeper to choose his words wisely. 'A butler with far superior abilities than mine. Not your average butler, then.' There had been times when the food he ate wasn't up to par, he tried to complain but ended up overpowered and just ate without making a fuss. Spinach grills and cucumber stirs that couldn’t be collected through Cooking Collection – he had to endure that demeaning and oppressive time ten times, an experience he'd rather not recall. "I'll make it happen..." "Hehe, I've made some pocket money." More money is always better. "Miss. You've used a lot of strength. Let's take a break for today." "Hmm... So it's going to be an overnight stay?" Shoot, what a pity. She had wanted to get inside by today at the very least. Still, she didn't want to overexert Oknodie's body, which could easily become the frail beauty (exhausted) once tired, unlike at the training grounds. Unlike there, this was a public place. A place where you couldn't carelessly expose your weakness and expect to rest comfortably. "People as delicate as the Miss must take ample rest when it's time." People in the queue murmured in disbelief, "What madness is this?" "Where is the weakness in that Herculean strength?" "She's totally a monstrous miss." As the grumbling adventurers spoke, something sharply stuck into the tree trunk beside them. "I apologize. Unaccustomed to the duty of a maid, I mistakenly threw a self-defense dagger." The adventurers shuddered and gulped nervously. As Leaf went to pick up the dagger and whispered something to the adventurers, one collapsed, their legs failing, while the other fled in panic. "What did you say just now, Miss Leaf?" "That the butler is ten times stronger than I am." "Wow." If Leaf is tenfold Jonah, then Jonah is a tenth of Leaf? "Miss Leaf isn't that strong after all." "..." "Shall I teach you some exercises sometimes?" That evening, the candy he ate was peculiarly strong in flavor. The next day, he had a stomachache.