I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

Chapter 361

Three Days in Bridget Village with the Hero’s Party

As expected, until the third night before the final battle with the bandits, we had to diligently complete the tasks assigned for the Humanities Exploration Class.

If I started telling the villagers things like, "The bandits will attack again on the night of the third day, so we need to prepare," and neglected the basic class assignments, it would inevitably reflect poorly on my grades.

Even though finding the spy and subjugating the bandits made up half of our total grade, we couldn’t just abandon the other tasks while waiting for the last day.

“Hey, Bart! Could you move this wood over here?”

“Yes! Please wait a moment!”

“Mas! I think we need more bricks over here!”

“Ah, yes! I’m bringing them right away!”

“Seri? It’s almost dinnertime, and we’re short on hands. Could you help prepare the meal at the orphanage?”

“Ah, yes...! I-I’ve prepared meals at the church before, so leave it to me...!”

“Huh? The church?”

“Ah, w-well, that’s...”

“Seri, like me, grew up in the same orphanage. She’s always had a good heart, so she listened well to the adults there.”

“Ah, so that’s why Seri and Sera’s names are so similar... because you’re both from the same orphanage.”

In reality, Serista and Seraphine were from completely different backgrounds, but the village residents didn’t seem to find that odd.

Since we were all pretending to be commoner students, everyone participating in this class was using aliases, just like that.

Aside from the ones just mentioned, Silena went by Lena, Luke became Kru, Agnes used Nes, and Natalie went by Ria—everyone shortened or slightly altered their original names.

It was hard to guess anyone’s real name just from their alias, but the names were simple enough for everyone to recognize themselves.

As for me, my alias wasn’t Lily, but 'Ris.' Originally, I intended to keep using the alias 'Lily,' but Ethan didn’t seem too fond of that idea.

Lily had become a sort of pet name between us, something we only called each other when we were on equal terms. He probably didn’t like the idea of someone else calling me that.

‘Honestly, if he gets jealous over something so trivial, I wonder how he’ll manage later.’

So, I made Ethan’s alias 'Dan' instead of 'Ed.' Give and take, right?

Anyway, from the moment we arrived at the village, we didn’t have time to rest as we all worked on restoring the village.

My task in the village restoration effort was to help strengthen the townspeople’s defense capabilities in case of an emergency.

“Alright, let’s practice the moves we’ve learned so far. One, draw the dagger hidden in your skirt with your right hand. Two, bring the dagger behind your back and stab your opponent from behind.”

“...Why not?”

“I’m teaching self-defense to help you avoid the worst-case scenario. If you manage to save your life once with self-defense, you should consider that your last chance and focus solely on escaping. That’s why I can’t teach you anything other than defensive techniques. If I taught you how to fight, you might try something dangerous against a strong man and end up getting hurt.”

“...I understand.”

...Now that I think about it, that woman I just talked to—she was definitely one of the ‘cooperation candidates’ from the original game. I’ll have to remember that.

This was only the first day in Bridget Village. To figure out which of the three candidates was the spy, I’d need to gather more evidence.

The rest of the day passed, and that night, we all gathered in the village hall for an exchange of information we had gathered on the first day.

“Ah, I’m exhausted. All day it was moving wood, bricks, and heavy loads.”

“My body is sore too. Tomorrow, we’re supposed to start repairing the buildings, but I wonder if my shoulders can handle it...”

“...I’m sorry. I couldn’t help as much as you did.”

Among the men who had been sent to do heavy lifting, Ethan seemed to have done the least work.

Ethan, looking a bit apologetic, was quietly reassured by Geffma and Thomas, who shook their heads in understanding.

“Don’t worry about it, Ethan—I mean, Dan. You’re still recovering from your injury from last night.”

“Honestly, if it hadn’t been for what you and Ris did last night, we would’ve been in danger, so there’s no need to feel bad.”

Ethan was still healing from his injury, so his right arm was out of commission.

He could handle a fork and knife, but wielding a log or sword was impossible for now.

According to Serista, his arm would probably be fully healed by the final day, just in time for the bandit subjugation. Until then, Ethan needed to save his strength.

...Of course, for him to heal faster, I’d have to use the Aura of Healing.

“Dan, come over here.”

“Ris?”

Squish.

“...”

“...”

I pulled Ethan’s right arm close to my body, cradling it between my breasts on purpose.

Though there weren’t enough rooms to sleep fully naked, I could at least help heal his injury like this.

Serista and Thomas, startled by the sight, quickly looked away, while Agnes grimaced as if disgusted, but I didn’t care to stop.