I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 146 [I Hope We Become Friends (1)]

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by Lemon (2/5). For more bonus chapters, see my Ko-fi. Long T/N at the end!

The first meeting of the Communication with Spirits lecture class ended in less than an hour.

As with most classes in the academy, the first day usually was dedicated to an orientation of the course syllabus.

Of course, there were occasionally people like Harold, who started practical training from the very first day, but that was really because Harold was an exceptional case.

All the professor of the class did on the first day was assign seats and give a brief explanation of the upcoming topics.

…Also, the professor paired up students who would work together for the semester.

 

“Don’t worry if you don’t know anyone~. I’ve already decided on partners who I think will be a good match for the semester~.”

‘Wait, don’t tell me this means…’

 

As is often the case with clichés in these kinds of events, my uneasy premonition turned out to be correct. [Axiomatic on GalaxyTL]

When I came to my senses, my partner had naturally become Agnes.

The half-halfling professor said something like this:

 

“Agnes and Lilith have similar mana capacities~. Also, you two have similar grades, so you’ll make good partners~. Ahahahaha~.”

 

When he suddenly matched me with Agnes with an innocent expression, I almost objected to the professor.

…But if I had argued against the partner the professor had already decided on by his own criteria and asked for a change, the atmosphere would obviously have become awkward.

To be honest, I didn’t know anyone else taking the class, so I didn’t have another partner to switch to anyway.

In terms of psychological distance *1, Agnes, whom I was familiar with from the game, was actually one of the better options.

 

‘If only we hadn’t irritated each other before class started, it might not have been so bad…’

 

Looking back, I wondered if I had needlessly provoked her.

…But Agnes was the one who started the provocation first, wasn’t she? I just responded in kind.

To be honest, my fault was at most 10%. About 90% was all Agnes’s fault.

Although I found out later through speculation, it seems my pairing with Agnes had been decided from the moment of course registration.

There were a total of 30 students taking the Communication with Spirits class.

Excluding me, who had a somewhat special connection with Sally, there were 14 students who had already contracted with low-ranking spirits and 15 who hadn’t, making up the 30 students in the lecture.

I only realized near the end of the first day that it was a class where students who had already been in a contract would guide those who hadn’t.

 

‘I didn’t know about this class in my previous life because I never had to take it…’

 

The protagonist had a decent enough Charm stat, so there was no need to raise Spirit Affinity separately. In fact, I only found out today that Agnes was taking this class.

Agnes and her “fans” probably all experienced this class that seemed to be useful for raising affection with her, but I had never liked Agnes romantically, even once.

Her being 145 cm and being an A-cup were far from my taste, no matter how I thought about it. In my previous life, my preference was firmly for healthy beauties like Natalie.

…Well, whether she was my type or not wasn’t important now.

Now that we’ve become class partners, I was destined to face Agnes once a week, whether I liked it or not. [Axiomatic on GalaxyTL]

Of course, properly progressing through the class would be impossible in this situation, where we had just irritated each other with our most recent conversation, so I needed to repair our relationship first.

 

‘It’s clear that I need to become friends with her somehow when thinking about the future. …This is going to be troublesome.’

 

…Well, I guess I’ll have to try approaching Agnes based on her hobbies and interests as I did in my previous life.

I never thought I’d be in a position similar to the protagonist, trying to conquer a heroine, but it wasn’t in my nature to despair and do nothing.

 

“Since it’s come to this, let’s try to get along for the semester, Miss Blaze. We can’t be at odds with each other all semester, can we?”

“…Hmph, do as you like.”

 

At this point, I had no idea how to become friends with that sourpuss over the course of a semester.

A week passed right after the start of the second semester.

Normally, the beginning of the semester would be the most relaxing period for regular students, but I had quite a packed schedule.

I had to be busy from now on to make various preparations for the end-of-semester Hunting Festival, which was the main event of the second semester.

It was time to start actively interacting with students from other departments to gather members for the Hunting Festival and to secure items needed for it.

For reference, there are generally preferred departments for party members in the academy’s Hunting Festival. Among them, the students of the Magic Department had the worst popularity.

This was because out of the five combat departments, only the Magic Department was unable to “solo hunt” in the final evaluation.

The Swordsmanship Department, the Spearmanship Department, the Martial Arts Department, and the Archery Department. [Axiomatic on GalaxyTL]

Unlike the Magic Department, these four departments could solo hunt in the final evaluation. As such, many students with a certain level of skill often participated in the Hunting Festival solo instead of forming parties.

Of course, students who were ambitious about their grades formed parties to hunt stronger prey, but usually, these parties were often just groups of acquaintances rather than gatherings of strong individuals.

This meant that even though I had achieved good grades in the first semester, there was still a possibility that I wouldn’t be invited to a party.

Of course, even if I wasn’t invited by anyone, I had Ethan to rely on, so I was somewhat at ease.

 

‘If I can pair up with Ethan, our duo would be enough, but it’s better to form a more impressive party if possible.’

 

I had to consider the possibility that Ethan might not think to gather additional members beyond our duo party.

I couldn’t afford to carelessly pass through the Hunting Festival, which had the most significant impact on the final grades for the semester. The more insurance, the better.

Of course, as Ethan’s exclusive maid, it was difficult for me to be brazen enough to socialize with students from other departments in front of Ethan, so there wasn’t much room for me to intervene in securing members.

Sometimes, when I talked with male students from other departments, I felt a strangely sharp gaze from Ethan’s direction. He probably didn’t like that I wasn’t focusing on my duties as his exclusive maid.

Being perceptive, I had no intention of preparing for the Hunting Festival by doing things that the young master I serve disliked.

…But it wasn’t in my nature to make no preparations at all either.

Having given up on securing party members, I instead focused my time on two areas: ‘self-improvement’ and ‘potion procurement.’

The second part, potion procurement, was particularly important.

 

‘Potions are literally a matter of life and death.’

 

Unlike the first semester’s evaluation battle, where we could fight with Death Prevention Magic, living wasn’t guaranteed in the second semester’s Hunting Festival.

It was impossible to secure the enormous amount of mana needed to cast and maintain Death Prevention Magic over the entire Black Forest, and besides, the said magic wasn’t limited to just humans.

If they didn’t want to see live monsters being delivered to the academy’s Theology Department building, they wouldn’t do something crazy like casting Death Prevention Magic in a forest where monsters appeared.

Potions were what could preserve life in case of emergency in such a dangerous forest.

I needed to start talking with potion suppliers now, if only to treat potentially fatal injuries and preserve my life.

At this point, there was only one acquaintance in the Pharmacy Department I had who could act as a potion supplier for me.

 

‘Lizzy Lynn August.’

 

The young lady of the August Margrave family. Second-ranked in the Pharmacy Department.

I honestly don’t know how she rose to second rank in the Pharmacy Department.

I’m not sure whether she was naturally talented in that area or if she used somewhat underhanded methods befitting the young lady managing the August Trading Company.

Given that she maintained her second-rank position even after a semester, it was more likely that she herself was talented in pharmacy. …But even if the young lady of the August family had secured her rank through underhanded means, it didn’t really matter to me.

After all, what I needed were recovery potions for the end-of-semester Hunting Festival, not a friend overflowing with loyalty and morality. [Axiomatic on GalaxyTL]

The problem was how to befriend Lizzy again, whom I had parted with somewhat awkwardly during the first semester.

After I rejected her offer to be her secretary, our tea times, which used to happen once or twice a week, naturally disappeared. Also, since the August and Blackwood Estates were far apart, it was difficult to even accidentally run into each other during the summer vacation.

Because of this, I thought that even if I went to the Pharmacy Department building to look for Lizzy, she might have lost interest in me and could turn me away at the door.

If I went to the top student, ‘Witch Lara’, instead, I would undoubtedly receive a quest that would be difficult to complete as Lilith, so restoring my relationship with Lizzy had become one of my essential tasks now.

 

‘I know how to approach Agnes, but how should I approach Lizzy…’

 

She’s not even a heroine in Luminor Academy, nor does she appear in the main story since she died before it happened.

Moreover, judging by her personality that I confirmed at the masquerade ball, she was a woman with quite a strong personality and wasn’t the kind of woman that I, who was a virgin in my previous life, could easily become friends with.

…Especially considering that I had already rejected her goodwill once.

However, if I went to the end-of-semester Hunting Festival without potions, I might be in danger due to the ‘First Hunting Festival Event.’ Recruiting a student from the Theology Department was even more difficult.

While I was pondering this difficult situation, a thought suddenly seemed to flicker in my mind.

 

‘…Come to think of it, I feel like I’m forgetting something important.’

 

As I was walking towards the Pharmacy Department Building to meet Lizzy, I felt troubled by a question that had arisen in my mind.

I realized that the question in my mind wasn’t just a feeling right after that.

 

“Oh my, it’s been a while, Miss Lilith.”

“…Princess Seraphine?”

“I have something I’d like to discuss with you, Miss Lilith… If it’s alright, could you spare some time?”

 

As soon as I saw Princess Seraphine’s face and the face of her exclusive maid, Luke, behind her, I was finally able to remember what I had forgotten.

 

‘Ah.’

 

Right, Luke’s dagger.