Chapter 217: Combined Class (1)

Transcendence Academy’s policy fundamentally adhered to the Tower of Wishes’ philosophy:

Admit those who yearn.

However, unable to accept all comers, the academy admitted new students primarily based on talent, without regard for social status. Yet each year, over 90% of the academy’s enrollment consisted of noble scions or those from families of comparable wealth.

The reason was simple: children from affluent backgrounds received advanced education from childhood. Their high admission rates were perhaps inevitable. In other words, the academy didn’t deliberately favor nobles—it simply ended up with many noble students.

Given the circumstances, the academy had a policy of not discriminating against students based on their social status. However, it was impossible to ignore the majority of students who came from noble families.

Moreover, how could nobles who had lived well from the beginning be satisfied with such ordinary conditions?

As a result, the Tower of Wishes had no choice but to pay attention to the facilities of Transcendence Academy.

True to its reputation as the world’s wealthiest tower, the Tower of Wishes filled everything with the latest and most advanced facilities.

This wasn’t limited to facilities alone.

There were three daily meals of the highest quality, along with snacks and late-night snacks.

While students went to class, their rooms were always kept in the best condition.

On top of that, there were various entertainment options created for students to enjoy their leisure time.

The academy went to extraordinary lengths to ensure students experienced no discomfort, providing amenities that rivaled those of modern luxury hotels. With the exception of curfews and a few minor restrictions, even noble-born students found the accommodations satisfactory. For commoners admitted to Transcendence Academy, it represented a life of opulence they’d never before imagined.

Hidden behind this student paradise were the unsung heroes who made it all possible - the maids of Transcendence Academy. These tireless workers toiled around the clock, their numbers exceeding even the student population. Yet despite this, the academy perpetually struggled with staffing shortages, maintaining a constant recruitment drive.

Our story begins in the midst of training a newly recruited probationary maid.

The head maid, who oversaw the laundry, sighed as she observed the young woman before her with her head bowed low.

“Sigh… Miss Lavina, do you know how many this makes?”

Lavina, clad in a maid’s uniform, answered in a small voice, ”…Two?”

“Today… Today alone it’s two! In the past four days, you’ve already ruined over twenty bed sheets, Miss Lavina!”

As she spoke, the head maid waved a tattered cloth riddled with holes. The object had been a pristine white bedsheet just minutes earlier.

Lavina muttered, staring at the result of her work, “I-I’ve never done something like this before…”

As the young mistress of a noble family, when had Lavina ever washed clothes? Moreover, being an only daughter, she had grown up constantly pampered.

Having never touched a drop of water before, every menial task felt equally awkward to her. Yet even among people, there exists a certain standard of decency. Lavina was a being who existed beyond such human standards.

A frosty chill settled over the Maid’s refined features.

”…Even a first-time washer wouldn’t turn every garment into a rag.”

”…I’m sorry.”

Lavina’s spine chilled as she bowed her head even lower, cold sweat beading on her skin. The Maid couldn’t bring herself to remain angry at the shrunken figure before her. From appearance alone, Lavina appeared no older than a teenage girl - exactly like her own younger sister.

With a soft sigh, the Maid concluded, “It seems… you lack talent for laundry, Miss Lavina.”

Lavina’s shoulders slumped. No talent.

It was a sound Lavina had never heard since her birth. When she was within her family, she was always described as a prodigy and a genius. In fact, she proved this with her remarkable talent. However, this talent was limited to the druid profession.

This was proven by the fact that this was already her fourth job transfer.

First, she entered as a dishwasher and broke more dishes in one day than the academy had in a year. After being kicked out of the dishwashing, she moved to the dining hall where she completely destroyed all the carefully prepared dishes by the chef within two hours.

After that, she was transferred to garden maintenance but instead of pulling weeds, she pulled out all the precious flowers from the flower beds, leading to her dismissal once again.

Eventually, she ended up in the clothing department and spent four days turning countless bedspreads into rags. Had she been entrusted with the students’ uniforms, they would have met the same fate.

Haah… Seriously.

The Maid ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

She’s such a nice person, but…

The problem was that Lavina wasn’t doing it on purpose. This was confirmed by those who had taught her before. They testified that she never deliberately ruined work. In fact, she worked harder than anyone else.

The issue was simply…

Lavina is strangely talentless.

She possessed an uncanny inability when it came to household tasks. Every item she touched seemed to end up ruined. Her fellow trainees began referring to her as “Clumsy” or “The Destroyer.”

“Hoo…” The maid sighed softly. “Lavina-ssi, you’re being removed from laundry duties.”

“Th-then… where will I go now?”

“You’ll join the Laundry Collection Team.”

“Ah!”

The Laundry Collection Team’s job was exactly as it sounded—collecting laundry from various locations. All they had to do was retrieve laundry baskets placed outside rooms.

Even someone like Lavina-ssi should be able to handle this, the maid thought, having reached this conclusion. She then issued a stern warning:

“You must do your best. If you can’t even manage this… the Washing Team won’t be able to keep you.”

”…Wh-where will I go next?”

“The next place… will probably be the cleaning team.”

“Ah…!”

Lavina’s face turned pale at those words. She already knew where the cleaning trainees were first assigned.

Th-the bathroom? No!

Though the bathrooms in Transcendence Academy—the school boasting state-of-the-art facilities—were clean, Lavina was born a noble. The thought of a noble lady cleaning bathrooms was unthinkable to her.

With steely resolve, she declared, “I’ll do it!”

”…As you wish.”

The Maid gave a curt nod before leaving. Alone in the hall, Lavina’s shoulders trembled. From her tear-filled eyes came a bitter curse:

“You bastard…”

There was only one person she could be cursing.

The one who sent me here.

The mastermind behind everything.

None other than the white-haired monster.

“This isn’t what we agreed to?!”

The day of the entrance exam.

The paper Louis presented was a single-page contract.

Transcendence Academy Employment Contract

Meals and lodging provided.

Preferential treatment for experienced candidates.

1.5 times the average monthly salary for similar positions.

Transcendence Academy, which recruited permanent maids to provide students with top-tier service.

The document Louis held was precisely that academy’s employment contract.

The terms were favorable.

But what good were favorable terms?

I’d still be a maid.

It was only natural for Lavina, a noble lady, to fly into a rage at this absurd proposition.

In response, Louis made a single proposal.

I found out that once the probation period ends, students can hire you as their dedicated maid. If you just endure those two months, I’ll hire you. Then you won’t have to work much at all.

Lavina was slightly swayed by this.

And then…

The probation period is exactly two months. Just endure two months.

Ha, but…

Or you could just stay alone outside.

…

And all the money you earn there will be yours. Once hired as a dedicated maid, you’ll get both the monthly salary I provide and the payment from the academy.

…?!

After the probation ends, you’ll just pretend to be a maid while resting. You’ll still get paid. How good is that?

Lavina, who hadn’t realized how tight her financial situation was, ended up falling for Louis’s words and stamped her seal on the contract without hesitation. She had taken Louis’s promise to employ her as his dedicated maid at face value.

But she didn’t know the true meaning hidden within the phrase “always recruiting.”

She pulled her hair in frustration as she recalled the past week.

“Why… why is this job so hard?!”

The conditions were good, and the pay was generous—so why would they need to be “always recruiting”?

Because many couldn’t endure and left.

The Transcendence Academy’s remarkable service came at the cost of exhausting the maids’ labor.

How could the work possibly be easy?

At first, Lavina had thought she only needed to survive the probationary period.

But more devastating news awaited her.

If I fail the work evaluation, I’ll keep being a trainee? Until I pass? T-Then I can’t become a dedicated maid?

If we put out a maid who can’t even pass the academy’s trainee evaluation as dedicated staff, we’d get blamed.

Th-That’s true?!

Lavina felt utterly defeated.

If she couldn’t shed the trainee label, whether it was dedicated employment or anything else, it would all be meaningless.

“I have to… I have to escape this trainee status somehow!”

That was Lavina’s sacred mission.

Behind her, as she pulled her hair in frustration:

Tap-tap-tap!

Nabi scratched his chin with his hind legs a few times before sprawling out in the autumn sunlight.

Who would ever believe that this scene showed the future dragon-defying duo - Lavina and that white creature?

Now they were just a lazy cat and an incompetent maid.

Meanwhile, the one who had made them this way…

Scratch, scratch.

Louis had been lightly scratching his itchy ears for a while now.

“Who’s talking about me?”

He didn’t know who it was, but Louis had vowed to crush anyone who dared insult him. He turned his head.

“Keep going.”

“Ah, yes. As you mentioned before, the Masters include Agus, Enes, and Laura, in addition to Harold and William. Among them, Agus and Enes handle the control team. Overall, the Masters teach one class per week, and the schedule is…”

Shiba began droning on to Louis about all the information he’d gathered.

As Louis watched Shiba unravel miscellaneous details about the Masters’ preferences, their usual activities, and nicknames, he wore a satisfied smile.

He truly made the right choice.

While Louis had anticipated Shiba would perform well, the young man was exceeding expectations. Where exactly was Shiba sourcing all this information? The data included numerous facts a first-year student couldn’t possibly know after just one week at the academy.

During Shiba’s report, Louis furrowed his brow at an unfamiliar term. “Research Society? What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s a club outside of regular academy classes. To be precise, it’s…”

After hearing Shiba’s explanation, Louis gave a simple definition of the research societies.

They’re basically clubs.

The research societies created by students for various hobbies were indeed just clubs. However, some societies were established by professors. These societies tended to be academic groups, often influencing members’ career paths after graduation.

“Hmm… Are there any research societies founded by Masters?”

“Seven societies are managed by first-grade Trainee professors who are direct disciples of Masters. This year, Professor Laura’s society is the most popular. Since Master Laura herself became a faculty member at the academy, many students want to join to make a good impression.”

“Are there no research meetings for Professor Harold or William?”

“No, they haven’t established separate research groups.”

“So that’s how it is…”

Though disappointed by the absence of Harold and William’s research meetings, joining Master’s group wouldn’t be so bad if the ultimate goal was to befriend the Master.

“Good. You should investigate more about that Laura’s research group.”

“Yes…”

Shiba responded to Louis’s order in a small voice.

This made Louis’s eyes narrow suspiciously.

“Why? Don’t you want to?”

“T-That’s impossible.”

“Right? Ah, I thought you were that kind of trash who treats grace like dog shit rolling on the ground…”

”…”

Shiba’s face twisted into a pout.

Their current relationship had begun a week prior, sparked by Louis’s casual remark:

You should do what I tell you.

At first, Shiba hadn’t understood what he meant.

Huh?

I’ve got some business here. You’ll need to help me.

Wh-why should I?

Didn’t you promise?

I did? When?

You said you’d repay my kindness.

Oh! Right…

And here I am, providing the money to settle your debts, bringing you seasickness pills, even rescuing you from bandits… And you dare pretend you don’t owe me anything? No way you’d be that shameless, would you?

N-no! Of course I’ll repay you!

Then it’s settled.

…But what exactly is Louis trying to accomplish?

That’s none of your concern. Just focus on carrying out my orders properly.

How long will this last…?

Until I believe you’ve done work commensurate with my life’s value.

Thus, Shiba became Louis’s right-hand man, diligently spreading and gathering information as directed. Yet amidst this, Shiba felt an inexplicable sense of incongruity.

Why… does this feel so natural?

Though nominally repaying a debt of grace, the entire situation unfolded with unsettling ease. From Louis issuing commands to Shiba’s unwavering obedience, every interaction seemed disturbingly seamless.

Shiba felt no particular resistance to the current situation, as if it were perfectly natural. At that moment, he didn’t yet realize it. When he finally sensed something amiss, he should have fled immediately.

“Anyway, find out about the Laura Research Society. How can I join? Are there any conditions?”

“Yes.”

“And let’s avoid any mishaps from now on. Just focus on doing what I ask properly.”

“Right… Understood.”

Little did he know, this innocent nod would later make him curse his past self.

Just as Louis was proudly gazing at his excellent slave—

Ding! Ding!

The bell chimed twice.

The notification signaled the end of break time.

As Louis was about to rise from his seat and head to the lecture hall, Shiba stopped him.

“Louis-nim! That way is incorrect.”

“Hm?”

When Louis tilted his head in confusion, Shiba pointed toward the opposite side of the existing lecture room.

“You must go that way for today’s class.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t they say we’d be holding joint classes with the pilot unit this afternoon…?”

“Ah, did they? So where’s the classroom for that combined session?”

“Just follow me.”

“Very well. Lead the way.”

“Yes, Louis-nim.”

Shiba took the lead, while Louis followed behind with hands clasped behind his back. Their procession resembled a servant guiding a high-ranking young master through unfamiliar terrain.