New Skill
The blade of the knife was aimed at the ruby bracelet. As the knife touched the thread holding the rubies together, the thread was cut.
Clink-
Clatter-
The rubies, once held by the thread, fell one by one. Of course, I held my hand under the bracelet to catch the rubies before they all fell. The maid’s mouth was agape, speechless, as she watched a lady cut a perfectly good bracelet. I smiled faintly and threw one of the rubies out the window.
“First, one.”
“Lady, wh-what are you…?”
“Two.”
Whoosh-
I didn’t add any further explanation. I just kept throwing the rubies out the window, one by one. A servant who works for a noble family must be sharp. I wasn’t interested in a servant who couldn’t understand a message like this. The servant I wanted was not a third party who knew nothing and got caught up in the affairs of nobles, but a servant who had connections with Liselotte.
The maid bit her nails as she watched the rubies fall one by one. Finally, when there were about six rubies left, the maid finally opened her mouth.
“P-please stop.”
Plop-
I finally stopped dropping the rubies. However, I didn’t say anything to the maid.
In novels, protagonists who are transmigrated into noble ladies often establish their authority by yelling at or punishing servants. However, for those in power, violence is the last resort. The most powerful people usually don’t do things that would tarnish their image. Instead, they make their subordinates ‘voluntarily’ punish impudent servants or slowly take away what the servants had without breaking the law. They make them understand without using force.
The servant who is being tormented doesn’t resent the superior. They just self-censor or resent the subordinate who directly harmed them. Violence is not authority. The power to use silence as a tool is authority. So I used ‘silence’ as a means. In the now-quiet room, the maid bowed her head.
“The cake you ate might have made you feel bloated. Should I prepare a drink for you?”
“Water is fine. Thank you for your consideration. By the way, what’s your name?”
“Rose.”
“Okay, Rose. I look forward to working with you.”
I bent down to the maid who had bowed her head. With my gaze slightly raised, I placed the bracelet with the remaining rubies in the maid’s hand. The maid tightly held the ruby bracelet.
“I will serve you with all my heart from now on, Lady Amila.”
“And if you continue to be a good girl like this, Rose, I’ll give you something nice.”
“Something… nice.”
Rose swallowed. A moment later, Rose, who was holding the bracelet carefully, left to clean up and get the drink.
Left alone in the room, I finally relaxed my expression. I didn’t feel great, but I needed an alibi-provider since I’d be leaving the house from time to time.
‘Awakening window.’
After the maid left, I thought to myself. As I thought, the system window showing my ability information appeared.
[Awakened Ability: The Path to Overcoming Trials (Lv.1) (Check)]
Come to think of it, the system window had additional information when I first awakened my ability. The ability grows as I experience various forms of pain. The more I develop the ability, the more information I can acquire about the person, ‘Amila.’ So, I had to use this ability at some point. As for how to use it, well.
Plop-
I dipped my finger into the cream of the cake and ate it. As I was feeling a bit bloated, another system window flickered.
[Warning!]
[Target ‘Amila Elias’ has consumed a small amount of poison.]
[You may experience some indigestion!]
Liselotte, you really put poison in the cake you sent me. The rivalry among noble ladies is fierce. It was a relief that it was a small amount that was safe to consume, as I had expected.
This ability, called ‘Sadist’s Enhancement’ in the novel community, was an ability that grew with the pain received, as the description said. In other words, the ability is activated when you feel pain. So, I deliberately ate something I suspected was poison, and the next step proceeded just as I had imagined.
[Judging the pain inflicted on the target.]
[Converting the pain caused by ‘poison’ into ‘training progress.’]
[Training Progress: 1/50 (Lv.1) (new!)]
I gently rubbed my stomach and carefully looked at the system windows that appeared afterward.
[<Tip!> Training progress can be increased through ‘Personal Training’ and ‘System Quests.’]
[‘Personal Training’ system has been unlocked.]
[Would you like to start training? (Y/N)]
I looked at the cake on the floor that had a relatively normal shape. To improve my ability, I had to eat it. I closed my eyes tightly. This was all necessary for my survival and to pave a path of happiness for my favorite character. It would be okay to stop being a human for a moment.
…It had to be okay.
For two days, I vomited as a result of eating the poisoned cake that had fallen on the floor. Rose, the maid who didn’t know I had eaten the cake, seemed to think that my chronic illness had worsened a little. Still, eating the poisoned cake wasn’t a complete waste. As a result of eating the parts of the poisoned cake that hadn’t touched the floor, I was able to check the system window that had popped up again last night. The message read:
[Your ability level has increased due to the personal training ‘Poisoned Cake Consumption.’]
[Awakened Ability: The Path to Overcoming Trials (Lv.1 ▶ Lv.2)]
[A new skill has been unlocked due to the level increase.]
[Would you like to check? (Y/N)]
With a new skill, I called for Rose. The reason I called Rose was nothing else.
“I-is this okay?”
“Huh? It’s fine. I gave you permission.”
I adjusted the maid’s belt with an innocent face. Rose, who was wearing my clothes, looked awkward and nervous. It seemed she was scared by the fact that she had swapped clothes with me at my command.
“W-what if the Count, or the young lord, or the lady…”
“I heard that a new sapphire bracelet just came out in the capital. I might have to order one. It would look great on you, Rose, right?”
“…I’ll try my best not to get caught.”
Still, money solved the problem to some extent.
Anyway, I, disguised as a maid, easily slipped out of the mansion. I had put on makeup to draw freckles and used powder to make my skin a little darker. Just in case, I mimicked Rose’s walk, tone, and voice, and I passed by several servants without any trouble.
After leaving the main mansion, I walked around for a few minutes under the pretext of picking some wildflowers nearby at ‘Amila’s’ command. As my legs started to get tired, I finally arrived at a place that smelled of water. The place I arrived at was the only lake in the Elias family estate. It was, in other words, the place where the ‘abandoned dungeon’ was hidden.
Once upon a time, when the current Licht Empire was the ‘New Kingdom of Licht,’ the first ancestor of the Elias family, Aryan Elias, and his wife were knights. During the era of the New Kingdom, which was busy pioneering lands abandoned by other countries, nobles went on expeditions every year at the king’s command, as more land was needed. Here, the lands abandoned by other countries referred to lands where an unidentified rift—a Gate—had appeared. There were no magical tools like there are now, so only people with unique abilities could defeat the monsters that came out of the Gates and close them.
Aryan Elias, a knight who went on such an expedition, was naturally exhausted in mind and body. On top of that, he was injured while fighting a magical creature. Aryan’s wife prayed to God day and night to save her husband.
Then, a bird made of fire appeared and led Aryan’s wife. When she went to where the bird led her, there was an abandoned temple. The firebird said to Aryan’s confused wife, ‘If you clean this temple, you will get what you want.’
Aryan’s wife, who considered the firebird to be a divine messenger, diligently swept the fallen leaves that had accumulated on the temple floor. When the temple became quite clean, she found a box containing herbs and bandages on the central altar of the temple. It was more than enough for not only Aryan but the entire expedition party.
Thanks to Aryan’s wife finding supplies for the expedition, their journey became easier, and for her contributions, Aryan and his wife were granted the title of ‘Count’ by the king. So, where is the dungeon that gave its blessing to the Count’s family?
“Found it.”
It’s under the lake. It was originally on land, but after the empire’s most powerful flood, a lake was formed, and it sank to the bottom—that was the ‘setting’ of the novel. However, there were also conditions for opening the dungeon.
First, the person who opens the dungeon must be a ‘mage.’
Second, the person who opens the dungeon must be ‘pious.’
And the easiest way to prove piety was ‘this.’
I held my hands together and faced the lake.
“Two poor lambs are knocking at your door, so please just answer.”
As soon as I said those words, ripples spread across the lake. A whirlpool formed from the center of the ripples. And I threw myself into the whirlpool.
Whoosh-
Thud-!
Right after I entered the lake, I fell on my bottom. I rubbed the spot where I fell and looked around. The area looked like a cave, but the ceiling was high enough for a man to pass through easily. The floor only had a few stones, so it was easy to walk on. It was like a small underground city. I had safely arrived at my destination.
Since everything was just as I had read in the novel, I yawned despite being inside a dungeon. The reason I came here was to find the potion that would cure my chronic illness. I already knew where the potion was located from reading the novel.
As I was leisurely thinking about doing a little sightseeing, I felt a presence behind my neck. I subconsciously extended my arm in that direction. As soon as I grabbed someone’s hand, I twisted it behind their back. This was possible not because I used my strength, but because I used the other person’s strength in reverse.
“Ahhh!”
A scream followed. There were magical stones embedded everywhere in the cave under the lake, so I could see the face of the person who had ambushed me. But when I saw the person’s face, I couldn’t help but blink countless times. The person who ambushed me was the male sub-lead from the novel, Ernst.
“L-let me go, you shameless assassin!”
This was the character who would kill my favorite character, Adin, in the future.
