"Xian, this is Serika," Moris said, motioning to the woman who seemed to be impatiently kicking whatever dust is on the training ground. "A valued and loyal vassal of the young lady herself."
Then he turned to Serika. "I'm sure you've seen Xian around. He will be the young lady's butler during her time at the academy."
Moris then turned to face Xian, "From now on, you will train with her. Your goal is to land a strike once by the end of the week."
"Sir Moris, pardon me, but… wouldn't this interfere with her duties too much?" Xian asked. But in truth, he was thrilled.
This wasn't just some event, this felt like a hidden scenario. One that hadn't been listed by anyone and now, it belonged to him alone. Apart from the seven main heroine which can be chosen as a set route, was the sub-heroine within.
This 'Serika' based on just her appearance might be one of the sub-heroine's under Carmillia's hidden route.
Moris turned to Carmillia, who sat nearby. Her chin rested in her pale hands, eyes half-lidded in what might have been sleep. At a nudge from Lucinelle, she stirred.
She sat straighter, brushing a stray strand of hair from her cheek.
Her tone was smooth and emotionless. "You don't have to worry about it. I'll be here watching you train everyday from now on. For now, show me what you're capable of."
"I thank the young miss for this opportunity." Moris bowed and thanked her as Xian followed suit.
Moris stood aside. There were more eyes on Xian now. And all of them would be witnesses to his weakness, if he wasn't careful.
"So?" Serika stepped forward, pointing her weapon at Xian. "What's your weapon?" Her tone were as if this is all an inconvenience.
Xian studied her. Her posture was casual and confident.
That air of arrogance, paired with her toned physique and cocky expression, this woman would've had players online barking like lunatics. He knew exactly the fanbase she'd summon.
"Pick something already. You're gonna get your ass beat regardless." Serika urged for him to hurry up.
'Her personality seems to be… the headstrong type.'
Xian recalled that her helmet or visor was always down in the game. Seeing her face gave him a clearer idea of what her type is—a reckless girl who dove in first and worried about consequences later.
Of course, her strength backed her up. Xian mentally placed her somewhere between B and A-tier, easily in terms of potential. Maybe higher, depending on synergy.
The coachman from before would probably lose if they fought at the same level. She will fall short from experience, but her monstrous specs will make her come out in top.
'If only I had the Glimpse Lens right now… I could've read her sheet. I'll have to wait until we reach the academy.'
He recalled a favorite item among players. The name was self-explanatory, and it was always one of the prioritized item to acquire after finishing the tutorial.
Xian looked around at the weapon racks. Daggers, short swords, spears. His hand hovered over the pair of daggers Moris had trained him with but instead, he reached for a longsword.
Moris let out a curious grunt. "Hm?"
Xian didn't explain. The choice wasn't about tactics or hiding his strength.
It was spite.
Well, partly.
The swordmaiden who killed him had used a longsword.
His first death at the hands of another… the fear, the disconnection, the helplessness he felt that day, he would never forget it.
He wanted to get some form of revenge even if regression had erased the event itself. Luring her out this way might help him achieve that.
And it would be easier if he understood how she fought through firsthand experience rather than from what he remembered in the game.
'Petty? Sure. But I'm a sore loser.' He thought back on his habit when gaming. Visiting bosses with an out of their level build and crushing them.
"Hoh? Are you like sis?" Serika smirked.
'Sis? Are they actually sisters?' Or it could just be how they refer to each other.
"I thought I saw you throw a dagger before… Not taking me seriously are you?" Her eyes shimmered in hostility as Xian's hair stood on end.
The intense killing intent made him recall the coldness he felt when he got beheaded. But this time it was more apparent and aggressive.
"Well, here I go." Serika dashed forward, holding a wooden sword shaped like a katana.
She opened with a downward strike, which he avoided with relative ease.
[+21 to agility +21 to strength]
His body moved just in time thanks to a desperate stat dump. He stumbled back, still clumsy with his new limbs and unfamiliar muscle memory.
She followed up with a horizontal slash. He blocked, and the longsword nearly flew from his grip. The shock ran through his arms.
Serika cocked her head, then relaxed. Her next swings were slower, sloppier and casual.
To the observers, she looked like she was toying with him. Swinging lazily. But Xian? He was barely holding on.
His eyes stayed locked on her blade, parrying out of fear rather than counterattacking. The wooden longsword in his hands began to splinter.
At some point Serika even yawned and began only using one hand as she stared at him like she's in a daze.
'Goddamn it… what is happening?'
Xian felt truly pathetic. He hadn't been this bad against Moris when using a dagger. Back then, he could feel the blood rushing to his head, and sometimes he even moved with a speed that surprised himself.
But now, he couldn't even make time or opportunities to counter.
His strength refused to obey him, the very owner of this body.
"…I'm sick of this farce."
Serika's sword, which had always seemed slow, vanished from Xian's sight. A sharp burst of pain exploded across his face.
A crisp sound louder than Moris's whips echoed in the training grounds. It would certainly leave a mark to remember.
"Puh—!"
Blood sprayed from his lips. Thankfully, none of his teeth broke. Athough, even the hand he used to wipe the blood trembled slightly. He knew he didn't need to fear Serika. If things went wrong, he could always regress when the villainess dies.
But there's something that made him act like an idiot facing her.
'Is it because I'm not used to a longsword?' Xian searched for excuses, but even to himself they sounded shallow.
"Are you an idiot? Have you never fought before? It's like I'm sparring with a spoiled noble."
Xian flinched at those words. This wasn't his first time as Moris had somewhat drilled him these past weeks. But, could those really be called a battle?
'No, yesterday Moris didn't emit the same pressure as her.'
"Show me something." She spat the words, her frown deepening.
Xian mustered his strength with a groan and struck. The first blow didn't even make Serika budge. She retaliated instantly, slamming her wooden sword into his side.
"Argh!"
She swept his legs out from under him in one swift motion, and as Xian fell, a knee drove straight into his face.
Blood dripped onto the ground before him as he knelt there, stunned.
But Serika wasn't finished. A kick to his abdomen sent him rolling across the ground like a discarded ragdoll.
Still, he forced himself back up, heat spreading across his battered face.
"Young miss, I think this is hopeless. A month—no, even a year won't help this guy." Serika turned to Carmillia, speaking far more than she ever had in the game scenes Xian remembered.
"I don't know what he did to get that kind of physique, but his combat sense is rotten. His reflexes are trash." She looked at him with neither disdain or pity. Just complete seriousness and indifference.
"Hmm," Carmillia hummed her thoughts unreadable. Their duel had lasted for only a few minutes and Serika didn't even break a sweat. Heck, she sweated more from her warm up beforehand.
"What do you think Moris?"
"...His performance these past days doesn't compare. Today, he's far worse." Moris didn't bother mincing his words.
"Lucinelle?" The villainess called the other swordmaindens name, but Xian was too stunned to notice, still in disbelief over his miserable display.
"… I think it's his first time using a longsword."
Carmillia judged Xian with a faint and provoking smile. "Little butler… Oh our little butler. Your performance leaves much to be desired."
"That night you answered me, that you knew your role, asked for trust and proclaimed to strive in order to be worthy." The disappointment in her eyes seem to bore a hole through him.
"But your skills doesn't even qualify you to stay by my side." Once again, she was trying to cast him away.
As if saying that she doubts him with every bit of her being.
"One week. If you fail to show any results… Go back from where you came."
It was another scheme to get rid of him. For a moment he wasn't able to control his contorting expression.
"Pfft! What's with that funny face…?" Serika laughed from the side.
"Let's go back." Carmillia stood and left with Lucinelle.
Serika glanced at her departing master, then back at Xian.
"Well… you'll be gone soon, I guess." Smirking, she gave him a casual wave before following after them.
Xian's fist slammed into the ground, the stone tiles cracking before his strength. Like they said, he was pathetic. He moved and performed extremely pathetic.
He was… a weakling.
Xian felt like he was going to snap.
'Fuck.' He hated his inability to fight back. He already left his previous life behind but even the weakness were chasing him down here. And Carmillia…
'Mark my words.'
"I'm going to conquer you."
Xian was motivated to the point of venomous zeal.
'And that damned katana girl. I'd go back and let the coachman kill her first if I could.' Unfortunately he is too weak to force a regression. Unless the villainess dies, he can't regress.
That realization struck him with a question. Did that mean it didn't matter what happened to him, as long as Carmillia remained alive? Was that it?
'Screw that. Why is my regression tied to her death?' He felt a sense of deja vu asking that question in his mind.
He kept clenching his fist until he finally calmed down. Being swept away by anger was easy. He could simply give up and die rampaging, just to vent it all, but Xian didn't want to live like that even if he can regress.
Acting that way would mean surrendering to weakness, and it disgusted him.
He had already been an idiot once, abandoning everything and obsessing over his pitiful lifestyle until the day he died. That wouldn't happen a second time.
He would plan his schemes, learn from his mistakes, and carefully grasp everything within his control.
Make the two swordmaidens submit.
And conquer Carmillia.
Humiliation like this was only the beginning. If he buckled under such simple shame, then going to the academy is out of the question.
'I'm going to remember this.' He planted the grudge in his heart like a sapling, using it as a foothold to surpass himself.
"Sir Xian! You're bleeding!" A flustered voice called out.
Xian looked from where the familiar voice is coming. She was the maid he tried talking to yesterday, running over with a basket of towels.
She was about to wipe the blood on his face, when Xian grabbed her hand and took the towel himself.
"Thanks. Have you been watching?"
Xian didn't notice her at all. Maid uniforms were basically filtered out from his sphere of attention. He took care to remember her face and features this time.
"Since the beginning… yes." The maid hesitantly answered.
She had a decent face, with the classic bob haircut common among maids, usually either that or a ponytail bun.
Seeing him stare intently at her, the maid shyly squeeze her body. "A-are you alright Sir Xian?…"
"I'm fine. I just need to rest first." Xian stood up and decided to retire for the day.
Moris had left him alone out of consideration, knowing he couldn't train or do much in his current state.
"Then, um… let me help you walk."
She slipped his arm over her shoulder without waiting. Xian blinked and activated his Conqueror's Eyes.
The gray heart had changed.
It was green now.
And the number read: 37.