Chapter 26

“Miss, I respect your courage, but this is too dangerous for a commoner to deal with…!”

“I’ll finish this bastard off no matter what; don’t you dare take one step closer to me…!”

“What….”

Holy shit. This is a golden opportunity!

I’m not even fighting a level 1 or 2 slime. I’m on the verge of beating a level 10 monster, and you want me to give up here?

Fuck no. Even if I fight and die here, I just can’t give up on this opportunity.

After all, I am Lilith, and that deprived me of the opportunities to level up with all sorts of restrictions.

Of course, if not now, maybe I’ll get another chance.

If I earn the trust of the head maid and get permission to go out for the holidays, I’ll probably only be able to kill a slime or two or maybe a bark beetle in the backcountry.

…but what the hell would that give me?

What’s the point of catching monsters that only give 10-20 XP at a time, at best, with the stats of this horrible Lilith?

Meanwhile, defeating that Level 10 monster right in front of me would give me over 200 XP, ten times that amount. That’s over 200 XP for just one kill.

Only one more attack to go!

Even if the guards are doing their job, I cannot, under any circumstances, give up the last hit.

No matter what, never.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”

The Hooked Tusk glares back at me, presumably from the commotion of arguing with the guards.

Yeah, I know, you’d rather fight me than deal with those guards.

If you’re in a 2v1 gank situation in a lane, where you’ll most likely die anyway, wouldn’t you still want to take at least one enemy down with you?

We exchanged glances as if we shared a common understanding.

It wasn’t long before the foul beast came toward me for one last attack.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”

“Miss, it’s dangerous!”

“Lilith…!!”

“Li-Lilith…!”

This is an intense situation, and the sounds around me seem to recede into the distance.

Nevertheless, I remained calm until the very last moment, clutching the one remaining metal skewer with both hands.

Just before the boar’s teeth sank in, I summoned the last of my strength and leaped into the air.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”

I squeezed myself between the boar’s two gaping tusks on either side of me and drove my last iron skewer right into the Hooked Tusk’s maw.

With the confident feeling that I had pierced something solid, the last skewer pierced the great boar’s head.

…and, right after that.

THUD.

“AHHHHH…!”

“Lilith!!”

At the same time, my body flew through the air, unable to dodge his final body slam.

I had no choice but to use my last attack to deliver a solid blow.

A Hooked Tusk’s attack would be quite painful for someone that’s level 2, but this was Luminor Academy, a game that had made me able to withstand it at least once.

My body bounced off the beast, despite me hoping my attack would work, and I fell rolling on the dirt floor.

“Lilith… wake up…!”

“M-Miss Lilith…!”

…Oh, come on. Please don’t call me ‘miss’ now.

Other than Isabel’s and Catherine’s voices, I could still hear the voices of other citizens and guards. Honestly, I couldn’t be bothered to listen to what they were saying.

In my fading consciousness, I took one last look at the Hooked Tusk before me.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”

“…….”

“Ughhhh.”

The creature lost its balance, fell to its side, and died.

A Level 10 Hooked Tusk was beaten by a Level 2 Lilith with no offensive skills.

If this world were true to the original, this interaction would’ve never existed.

“……!!”

“……, …!”

Isabel and Catherine’s voices blurred together, and my vision darkened.

Feeling a slight warmth, I drifted off into a deep sleep.

『Lilith has reached level 3!』

『Lilith has reached level 4!』

『Lilith has reached level 5!』

The next morning…

“…….”

I must have fallen asleep on the market floor, but somehow, I woke up in an unfamiliar bed.

Clearly, it wasn’t the bunk bed I shared with Isabel at the mansion.

Judging by the room’s atmosphere, which smelled strangely clean, I had a vague idea of where I was.

‘A church.’

…Well, I’m not dead.

I’m not sure how death was implemented in this world, but it certainly wasn’t the kind of thing where you could just bring someone back from the dead in a church, like in most games.

If that were the case, it wouldn’t make sense for Harold’s wife, Thanasia, to have died in the first place.

In fact, even in Luminor Academy, when a character falls, instead of saying “dead,” the game says “incapacitated.”

The game system prevents anyone from dealing additional damage while someone’s incapacitated, but there’s no guarantee that it wouldn’t happen in real life.

‘If that really happened, I’d be as good as dead.’

While it resembles the game world in many ways, assuming that the mechanics would be the same was still a dangerous idea.

Right away, I could tell that I’d almost died just by waking up in a church bed.

If this world were an exact replica of the game world, I would have been brought back to life with full health with a single prayer.

…instead of lying on a church bed and being nursed back to health until you wake up.

‘…But who paid the church offering?’

It couldn’t have come out of Lilith’s pocket as a debt maid, for one thing, and it couldn’t have come from Isabel or Catherine, could it?

With those thoughts in mind, I checked the items on top of the bedside cabinet and was fortunate to be proven right.

A leather pouch containing a few fairy tales and a letter that looked like it was left for me to read gave me a general idea of what was going on.

「To Miss Lilith Rosewood, the courageous maid.@@novelbin@@

As the Captain of the Blackwood Fiefdom Guards, I would like to thank you for your efforts in exterminating the Hooked Tusk that appeared in the middle of Blackwood’s commercial district the other day. I sincerely apologize for nearly costing the life of a citizen, Miss Lilith Rosewood.

This amount represents the value of the material from the Hooked Tusk you killed, and we apologize for disposing of it without your consent due to the circumstances.

In addition, the Blackwood Fiefdom Guards have paid to recover your injuries. We sincerely wish you a speedy recovery, and once again, on behalf of all of us, we would like to thank you for your service to the Blackwood Commercial District.

Sir Blacksong, Captain of the Blackwood Estate Guard」

“…….”

If it’s the captain of the guards, that has to be the same dark-haired knight who told me to back off.

I’d guessed it from how he persuaded me to stay away from the monster, but he was undoubtedly a man of some manners…

…and this letter, too, is evidently from someone who seems well-educated.

If he’s risen to Captain of the Blackwood Fiefdom Guards, he’s at least graduated from the Academy, so he should have some basic manners.

…Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I yelled something at this guy before I collapsed.

“Ah.”

The shame that washed over me instantly made me bury my head in the bed.

I may have been ecstatic, but I had no idea what I was talking about.

I was lucky that he was a gentleman, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he used this as an excuse to punish me with hard labor.

‘… I’ll have to apologize to him later when I can.’

Of course, he wasn’t a major character in the game, so I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to meet him.

I’m sure a gentleman like him would quickly forget the insults spewed by the immature maid.

Yeah. I’m sure he will. He should.

Still, it was selfish of me to defeat a beast in the middle of a commercial district while cursing at the nearest security guard.

‘Well, it’s too late to think about staying under the radar now.’

Well, the deed was done, so it was stupid to worry about it.

At this point, it was more important to see what I’d gained by killing the Hooked Tusk, rather than the blow to Lilith’s reputation by my actions.

I needed to see what I’d gained in XP, a resource far more valuable than a few coins in a leather pouch.

“….Hoo.”

With some hesitation, I silently clasped my hands together.

At the same time, Lilith’s information window appeared in front of me.

『Name: Lilith Rosewood

Title: Courageous Junior Maid

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Occupation: Maid

Affiliation: Blackwood Family Employee

Attack : 3 → 12

Defense: 5 → 17

Intelligence: 4 → 13

Charm: 12 → 40

Luck: 0 → 1

Current Level: 2 → 5

XP to Next Level: 83

Current Skills>>

Current Health: 15 / 15 → 47 / 47

Current Mana: 282 / 282 → 855 / 855』

SHEESH.

Now THAT’S a level up.