Chapter 55

“……”

Elined barely managed to endure the moment she almost staggered.

‘W-what… what did he just say to me?’

It was absurd.

Not even a snort came out.

‘He just asked me… why I came here…?’

It was the first time she had been treated like leftovers.

The noble Finjer Family had personally graced this place with their presence.

‘Why did I come hereee?’

Her words froze as she looked at Villed, who was staring at her as if she were a bother.

“……”

She had gotten a bit worked up. She needed to calm down.

She let her anger subside and recalled her plan once more.

She had intended to start by being a companion to Villed, who would be lonely in the livestock shed, and then offer him this and that.

‘But people like Keirin or Rupina already visited him.’

It didn’t seem like he was living as lonely as she had thought.

Still, the fact remained that this was a shabby place.

‘This is what I should aim for.’

Elined opened her mouth calmly.

“……To think you’re really living in a place like this.”

A smelly, undignified space.

Even the storage room he used as his quarters was more cramped than the cheapest dorm room.

Surely, Villed would want to escape from this place as soon as possible.

‘Maybe he didn’t want me to see him in such a shabby state.’

She realized that belatedly.

That might have been why he was angry.

Yes, she had overlooked his feelings.

She should have empathized with him, but instead, she had made a mistake.

Still, it didn’t matter.

“There’s a place prepared for you.”

She cast her bait.

To Villed, it would look like a very delicious bait indeed.

“There’s a private villa of mine inside Yggdrasil. You should stay there for the time being.”

Was he moved?

When Elined made her offer, Villed simply looked at her in silence.

That alone made Elined feel triumphant.

“Ah, don’t worry about the livestock shed work. I’ll hire someone for that.”

If the academy found out that she had helped Villed, she might be punished.

But she judged that the risk was worth taking.

Elined hadn’t made this offer out of pure goodwill.

She only wanted one thing.

……To put him in her debt first.

‘A noble never forgets a debt.’

All nobles had pride that soared to the heavens.

That was why they were, in fact, easier to handle.

‘Lending him my villa will become the starting point to making Villed my subordinate.’

Since she allowed him to escape from a vermin-like livestock shed, she was convinced he would be moved by her.

“……”

Yet still.

Villed just kept looking at her without changing his expression.

‘What is this girl even talking about.’

Coming here out of the blue to offer a villa? Telling me to stop livestock shed work?

I was at a loss as to how I should respond to such a sudden proposal.

‘At least… I understand why she’s doing this.’

First, she wanted to put me in her debt.

Even if someone thought they were on equal footing, a debt would unconsciously create a hierarchy.

That was how even high-ranking nobles ended up becoming her lackeys.

Now that I was experiencing it myself, the feeling was ambiguous.

‘Does she think I’m worth using…?’

She was the type who wouldn’t even remember someone’s name if she judged them to be beneath her or useless.

‘So why is she trying to recruit me?’

The most likely reason… was the Rekorox incident.

I had assumed that because I ruined her strategy, she would be hostile to me.

But that had been my misunderstanding.

‘Did I leave that much of an impression on her back then.’

To avoid her hanging around me in the future, I spoke bluntly.

“I don’t need it.”

Elined gave a faint smile.

She clearly didn’t believe my answer.

“Do you think of this as a debt? That’s a misunderstanding. It’s nothing more than a simple act of goodwill.”

Lies.

Knowing her personality, I would never accept help from Elined.

‘Besides, I don’t want to leave the livestock shed in the first place.’

Even if the school lifted the punishment of livestock shed labor, I wouldn’t give up the work.

The day I first fell into this world, escaping from the livestock shed as soon as possible had been my goal.

‘But not anymore.’

I briefly looked around.

—Baa~.

The familiar cries of the animals.

The earthy scent carried by the wind.

The field of green grass spread before me.

For me, who had been born as the vermin-like Villed, this was the only ‘land of hope’ that allowed me to survive in this world.

“Do I really look like someone who wants to get out of the livestock shed?”

“…Then you don’t?”

Elined raised an eyebrow, answering as if it were obvious.

She was completely mistaken.

Having lived her whole life as the noble lady of the Finjer Family, Elined seemed to judge everything only through her own perspective.

“How strange. I’ve never once complained.”

“…Haah.”

Elined crossed her arms, as if frustrated.

She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and spoke.

“Then, you’re saying you intend to keep living in the livestock shed?”

“Yeah.”

When she heard my immediate reply, Elined let out a sigh mixed with laughter.

“You’re not being honest. Do you really think I’d believe such an answer…?”

“That cake you ate.”

Elined fell silent and blinked.

“It was made from ingredients that came from here.”

“…?”

Was she a little surprised?

Elined glanced around the area of the livestock shed.

It was nothing remarkable, just an ordinary shed.

But she wore an expression as if to say, ‘How could such a cake come from here…?’

“To your eyes, it might look smelly and shabby.”

I walked over to the sheep pen nearby.

When I beckoned through the fence, a lamb bleated and came toward me.

“Even this is a place where people live.”

The lamb rubbed its face against my hand and licked it.

I gently stroked its head, then stood back up.

Looking straight at Elined, I spoke clearly.

“Even if you don’t like it, I actually find this place quite nice.”

“……”

For a long moment, Elined couldn’t say anything.

***

Step, step.

Elined walked alone beneath the golden sunset.

Her feet ached as she walked across the uneven ground, her mind filled with thoughts.

“I actually find this place quite nice.”

She kept turning over Villed’s words again and again.

Did he really say it because he liked living in the livestock shed?

‘……Absolutely not.’

Yes, I wouldn’t be fooled.

What Villed really meant was, ‘I won’t owe you anything.’

Unlike your other subordinates, I had no intention of becoming yours.

That was what he had clearly expressed.

‘He’s not an easy man.’

Whenever I threw out sweet bait, everyone else had begged to become my lackey.

For a dog, it was enough to feed it and give it a comfortable place to sleep.

Then, even the fiercest dog would learn to recognize its master.

……But Villed wasn’t a dog.

‘His patience… it’s terrifyingly strong.’

I thought offering him the villa would surely sway him, but I had failed.

‘Making him think we’re equals, then using him as a subordinate won’t work.’

He noticed my intent to use him and kept me at a distance.

That he could realize that so clearly was unexpected.

‘The harder the challenge, the more fun it is.’

I became certain that I must recruit Villed.

Not as a subordinate, but as a ‘companion.’

‘A companion, huh.’

I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.

To me, the word companion felt unfamiliar.

A horizontal relationship instead of a vertical one.

Having lived my whole life in vertical relationships, this might have been the first time I ever thought of someone as an equal ‘companion.’

‘Since coming to the academy, I’ve experienced so much.’

Under the golden sunset, I left quietly by myself.

After Elined left, I returned to the storage room.

Keirin, who had been chattering away, blinked when he saw me.

“Huh? Young master. Where did the Finjer lady go?”

“She said it was too late, so she went back to her dorm.”

“Aw, come on! I wanted to play Magic Board Game with her!”

It was a board game where three people split into two teams.

With one person gone, the game couldn’t go on.

Keirin folded up the board with a regretful look.

“Well, nothing we can do. Too bad, but let’s play next time!”

While helping him put away the board, Karin spoke up.

“S-so… why did someone from Finjer come all the way here?”

Her voice was cautious.

Was she afraid of Elined?

Come to think of it, her eyes were trembling like when she had been scared of me after seeing Elined.

“Who knows. Maybe she was curious how poor this place is.”

“Poor, you say.”

Karin raised her voice slightly at my reply.

“I like it here. It has a rustic kind of charm… like something out of the countryside. I think I understand why Lapin visits so often.”

“Right? Karin, you get it! Same here~ This place even reminds me of home.”

“Ah, o-oh? Y-yeah…”

When Keirin grabbed her hand, Karin turned her face away, blushing nervously.

She looked like she was both happy and overwhelmed to have a famous academy student agree with her.

After finishing tidying up the board, Keirin fiddled with his ear, then hurriedly got to his feet.

“Ah, professor’s calling. I gotta go. Thanks for having me today! Bye~!”

Keirin left first.

“I’ll see you next time too…!”

Rupina bowed politely, then followed after Keirin.

The sky was turning violet as the sunset faded.

Karin took Lapin’s hand.

“Lapin, let’s go too.”

“Yeah.”

“See you, Villed.”

Just as they were leaving the storage room and greeting me.

“Wait, you two.”

I called them back.

I needed two more people to manage the festival booth.

“I’m looking for people to help run the booth. Interested? The pay will be good.”

At my words, Karin blinked.

“It won’t be difficult. Rupina will handle the food. Karin, all you’d need to do is greet the customers.”

“What about me?”

When Lapin asked, I answered immediately.

“You’ll just play outside the shop with the Sea Otter and a little special toy.”

“I’ll do it.”

Hearing Lapin’s quick reply, Karin was tempted.

“Mm… I guess I’ll try it too?”

Just like that, I hired them on the spot.

The booth’s operation seemed it would go smoothly.

After seeing them off and once everyone else had gone, the night grew quiet.

I lay in my hammock, gazing up at the night sky’s stars, and opened the ✿Animal✿Farm✿ achievement system.

Cooking Count 5/5

As expected, the cooking achievement counter was filled.

‘So it even counts if I hire workers and pay them to do it.’

It had been the same in the game.

By hiring workers and expanding the business, you could clear achievement quests that way too.

Ddan-ddan-ddararan!

A gift has arrived at ✿Animal✿Farm✿!

Turning my head toward the sound, I saw the familiar capsule sitting in the center of the screen.

Goddess’s Lucky Capsule

Open it to see what’s inside~

It was the second capsule.

‘Let’s open it.’

Just before pressing it, I steadied my breath.

‘……Please, give me Cost this time.’

With a desperate heart, I clicked the capsule and closed my eyes, unable to look at the result.

Pang!

With the sound of the capsule bursting, a pure white light spread out all around.

You feel a lucky omen!

A voice I hadn’t heard before reached my ears.

Before long, the light faded.

Slowly opening my eyes, I looked at the screen.

Cost + 1

Seeing the result, a small smile spread across my face.

***

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

And finally, the long-awaited day arrived.

Bang! Bang!

“Now, let us begin the Astrid Empire’s Victory Festival, celebrating our triumph!”

“Waaaah-!”

The Yggdrasil Academy’s Victory Festival, eagerly awaited by all students, had begun.

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