Not a Villainess but a Maid

#026 Ruby’s Decision

About 20 minutes had passed since Amber and the others entered the fake labyrinth, and Clara and the others were barely able to leave the underground.

Unlike Clara, who just crossed her arms and looked at her watch, her followers spoke anxiously.

“Clara, is it really okay…? “If you do something like this and something really big happens…”

Clara took a deep breath and spoke to them.

“Please stop worrying about unnecessary things. “If that cheap space transfer scroll works, how far can you send it?”

A day before the incident, Clara and her group stopped by the black market and searched for useful items.

What caught her eye was an old space transfer scroll.

Clara and her group manipulated the number tags in advance and deliberately went in ahead of Amber’s group, and used a scroll to place a spell on the artifact they needed to find.

‘hehehehe, even I think it’s a genius idea.’

If either Amber or Ruby touched the artifact, she would be sent flying somewhere, and no matter how far that distance was, it would be enough to keep them apart for a while.

Furthermore, even if the victims were not those two people, it was clear that they could have failed the practice test.

As Clara was spinning her happiness circuit and waiting for the disastrous results, she heard the door of her labyrinth open.

“Clara, Amber and the others are back!”

‘Let’s see who is missing?’

Clara, filled with anticipation, looked at them and saw that the five people who had entered first came out again.

‘No one disappeared…?’

I looked closely at the object in her hand to see if she had come out looking for a relic, but it was definitely the golden bird statue relic that Clara had used the scroll for.

‘It doesn’t make sense… How on earth!?’

She could only watch with her mouth agape as Amber and her group returned safely.

‘···Isn’t that the black market guy selling defective scrolls?’

Somehow, she should have known from the moment she asked for a strangely low price.

“Unfortunately, this operation was a failure. “Go back quickly and start another operation.”

This is when Clara turned her back and spoke to her followers.

“Clara, behind you…”

“···Yes?”

When one of her followers pointed behind her, Clara turned her head towards him.

“Hello, Clara.”

Standing there was a blond nobleman with his usual gentle smile.

“···Dia Osteon. “What are you doing here?”

Dia, the adoptive daughter of the Osteon family. He was a nobleman who had been captured by Clara and her group once.

A woman who was born as a commoner, was adopted into a good family, rose in status, and enjoyed the benefits of nobility.

Dia told her with her smiling face.

“I thought you were saying something interesting.”

“···.”

Unlike the last time she bullied her, she seemed strangely calm.

‘Is this what this woman felt like…?’

Clara did not like the way they talked to her as if she was close to them.

Clara spoke to Diamond, revealing her hostility.

“No matter how much we are members of the same club… “We weren’t meant to talk openly like this, were we?”

“Conversation? This is not a conversation.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“It’s a warning.”

As soon as Dia finished speaking, the surrounding air froze.

“···!”

None of them could move.

‘Why, why is my body shaking…?’

Just looking into Diamond’s eyes made her heart feel cold, so she couldn’t even make eye contact and could only stand with her head down.

“It’s okay to joke around in moderation. But···.”

Diamond, who could no longer see a smile on her face, quietly muttered.

“Don’t cross the line. “Okay?”

Until Diamond leisurely left the scene, they could only look at her back with her confused eyes.

Once she was completely out of sight, Clara finally opened her mouth.

“W-what was that just now…?”

“We don’t know either. What can I say, it feels like the air is freezing…”

It took a long time for them to recover from the shock that day.

***

After the eventful practice test, I returned to the room with the young lady.

The Academy has launched a large-scale investigation into this incident, but I heard that it is better not to hold out hope that the culprit will be caught.

This is because magic using scrolling makes it very difficult to track users.

But more than anything else, the question that filled my head was about Diamond Osteon.

‘Although he was a person whose identity was unknown from the beginning, the appearance he showed today was especially suspicious.’

I had never heard of a woman who could control all five elemental magic.

Even though it was Diamond, the original protagonist, it was far outside the game system.

Just as her suspicions about her were increasing, Ruby came out after finishing her shower and changing her clothes.

“How are you feeling, Amber?”

“It’s okay. “She’s a lot better than she was in the labyrinth.”

Ruby seemed to be worried about me, who complained of a bit of dizziness due to the spatial transfer.

Ruby said with a scared expression as she dried her hair with her towel.

“I don’t know who did it, but I will catch it somehow.”

“···What will you do if you catch him?”

“···Do you want to hear it?”

Looking at Ruby’s expression, she guessed what she was doing, so she quietly shook her head.

She came over to the bed where I was sitting and quietly sat down next to her.

Ruby, feeling slightly wet and moist with her hair, placed her hand on the back of my hand and said.

“Amber.”

“Yes?”

Why are you so close to me?

“There’s something I’ve wanted to say for a while, but I couldn’t.”

He held my hand tightly with both hands and made eye contact.

The Sarka family’s unique red eyes seemed to twinkle and shine beautifully.

“···What is it?”

“Actually, Amber…”

I had no idea what he was trying to say.

Only the sound of the second hand echoed in the quiet room, and eventually Ruby opened her mouth.

“It’s too weak.”

“···Yes?”

“We are weaker than ordinary people who cannot use magic.”

Heavy, factual violence.

“···More than ordinary people?”

At that time, Milk stepped on my head and jumped with perfect timing.

“Meow~”

“Hey.”

Ruby, who was looking at her pitiful appearance, sighed deeply and continued her words.

“···Perhaps even more than this cat.”

“···”

Ruby looked at me with a pitiful expression and said.

“This is why I worry about whether Amber will be able to protect herself when a situation like today arises.”

“No matter what, my body is…”

As I was trying to speak, I suddenly remembered the wolf bats I saw today.

If I get bitten by that big snout, will I be able to survive?

After trying hard to run the simulation in my head, I ended up falling prey in every case.

“···I can’t keep it.”

“You think so too, right?”

I had no choice but to nod my head in response to Ruby’s question.

“I hope Amber can always be by my side in the future. But then, Amber needs some strength to protect herself.”

It made sense. There is no guarantee that something like this will not happen in the future, and there are people everywhere who want to harm Ruby, the infamous Sarkar family.

“To become stronger than now, what should I do first?”

It would be nice if I could become stronger by investing stats like the main character in the game, but of course that was impossible.

“Amber, I’m not saying you should become strong alone. “I’m not a very heartless owner either.”

“What do you mean…?”

“You might need someone to help you.”

Ruby looked at the clock and frowned.

“It’s strange. “It’s past time to come by now.”

“Yes? “Who is coming?”

-Knock knock.

The sound of someone knocking on the door was heard outside the room.

“I’ll go out and check it out.”

When I carefully opened the door, a silver-haired princess with a familiar face was standing there.

“Hello-?”

Amethyst Lupine waved her hand at me with an excited expression.

“Ame? “What’s going on here…”

Ruby appeared behind her as if she had been waiting for her and spoke to me.

“Greetings, Amber. “She is your swordsmanship tutor from today.”

“Amethyst, do you want to tutor me in swordsmanship?”

“Yes. “I’ve already finished the story.”

I asked Amethyst with a puzzled expression.

“Ame-nim, did you know too…?”

“Yes. “I made a promise earlier today on the road.”

Amethyst said that and grabbed my waist.

“You promised to practice with me for a week from today. Since it’s a waste of time, shall we go right away?”

She struggled futilely to keep her body lifted almost to her, but it was no use.

“Wait a minute, we still have a lot of preparations…!”

“It’s okay. “Amber just needs to come physically.”

“···.”

Ruby, who was watching us, slightly distorted her expression and said.

“···As I said before, taking action outside of class with Amber is absolutely prohibited. “Princess Amethyst.”

“Don’t worry too much. “You don’t trust me?”

“···You should be someone trustworthy.”

Ruby let out a deep sigh, and then she pushed us out the door.

“Anyway, take her quickly before she changes her mind.”

“Yes. “Just leave it to me.”

As if there was no need to ask about my will, I was taken somewhere as if I was being taken by Amethyst.

No, is this correct…?