“Liyakade, what have you done!”
In the dormitory late at night, Liyakade was kneeling on the washboard, trembling uncontrollably, with a large square brick pressing down on her knees.
Pain, pain, pain!!!
What a disastrous day it had been.
Not only had Field dragged her into a duel first thing in the morning, but she also had to go to the back mountain to comfort Field, who was emotionally shattered.
Fortunately, Liyakade didn’t take much effort to bring Field back, but she ended up making a promise to be Field’s sparring partner.
She thought that would be the end of it for the day.
After a whole day of classes, just as she was about to lie down and drift into a peaceful sleep, an unexpected change occurred—Irina Zi appeared once again.
So here she was, kneeling on the washboard, listening to Irina Zi vent her frustrations.
“Why? What’s so good about that woman?”
Irina Zi sat cross-legged on the bed, her expression twisted as she bit the thumbnail of her thumb. The corners of her eyes and her skin twitched slightly with anger as she glared down at Liyakade kneeling on the washboard.
“Field actually fought you in a duel for that vixen’s sake—unforgivable… absolutely unforgivable!”
That was exactly why Irina Zi was so furious.
Just yesterday, Alice’s hypocritical mask had been torn off, revealing her crude, low-class barbarity and violence.
Irina Zi had been smugly anticipating Field completely falling out with Alice.
But unexpectedly, Field’s response was to stand up for Alice, and their relationship did not deteriorate.
However, logically speaking, Liyakade had perfectly carried out Irina Zi’s orders.
Although the result hadn’t caused a rift between Alice and Field, it must have caused psychological harm to Alice and damaged her reputation.
There was no reason to punish Liyakade.
Yet Liyakade was still kneeling here. The reason for this…
“And you! How dare you agree to the duel? Are you an idiot? Just as I suspected, your brain is as worthless as those commoners’. Has your brain deteriorated since losing your noble status?”
Irina Zi looked down arrogantly at Liyakade and mocked her mercilessly in a loud voice, “Say something! I’m talking to you! Are you deaf?”
“Sss…” Liyakade’s calves ached painfully from the brick pressing on them, and she had to muster all her strength to speak, “F-Field-sama threatened me with reporting me to the school if I didn’t agree, so I had no choice.”
“Hmph? And what if they report you to the school?”
Irina Zi raised her head dismissively, clearly unsatisfied with that excuse.
“You’ll be punished…” Liyakade said weakly.
“So what.”
Irina Zi interrupted her impatiently, “So what if you get punished? You’re my slave. Don’t you have any awareness of that?”
“Huh?”
Liyakade recalled the original story.
Even after Field transferred classes, under Field’s watchful eye, Liyakade’s bullying of Alice hadn’t stopped.
Liyakade didn’t know if the original self bullied Alice voluntarily or was forced by Irina Zi.
Perhaps the original self envied Alice’s appearance and abilities, but maybe it was just envy and didn’t reach the point of needing to bully Alice to vent.
And under Irina Zi’s coercion, the original self had no choice but to comply.
Basically, to Irina Zi, Liyakade was just a tool—broken or not didn’t matter.
“Don’t make that pathetic face, okay? It’s disgusting!”
Irina Zi was like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment. Every little movement or subtle expression from Liyakade could set her off, “Who are you showing that expression to? You, a cursed person, exist only to fulfill my needs. Not just getting punished, even if you die for me, that would be your honor.”
“Y-yes…”
“And as for agreeing to the duel with Field—that’s fine. But you even dared to win? How could you embarrass Field? That’s one more sin added.”
With that, Irina Zi pressed another brick onto Liyakade’s thigh.
Because Field-sama had made a bet—if she lost, she could no longer approach Alice, making it impossible to bully her.
Liyakade wanted to explain this, but at that moment, her mood had hit rock bottom.
The stabbing pain in her calves and Irina Zi’s words were relentlessly gnawing at her nerves.
Numb, Liyakade only wished for Irina Zi to finish her tantrum quickly.
“Keep pressing harder, keep going! Completely crush Alice’s spirit so she can never recover, understood!?”
Before Alice breaks, I’m probably going to break first…
Maybe bullying Alice was a way for the original self to vent too.
But Alice, as the protagonist, had other friends to protect her and eventually punished the original self.
The original self, however, was alone, with her life controlled by Irina Zi and nowhere to escape.
“Yes, Mistress.”
By now, Liyakade had become a soulless nodding machine.
Her language module was probably down to just “oh, hmm, ah, yes, right, good,” or the like.
“By the way, the Comprehensive Midterm Test is coming up,” Irina Zi was already thinking about her next plan.
“No matter how you do it—poisoning or whatever—just make sure that vixen gets a failing score, understood?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Liyakade recalled the school’s midterm tests from the original story: three parts—written, Magic Power Test, and Field Combat.
Alice’s score had indeed been very poor this time, probably due to sabotage by the original self.
“That’s more like it. You’re just a tool. No need for any thoughts.”
Seeing Liyakade dazed like that, Irina Zi was very satisfied.
“Get up and perform well.” Irina Zi lifted the spell command, freeing Liyakade’s movements. After leaving that sentence, Irina Zi departed.
“…It hurts so much.”
Liyakade tossed the bricks aside, braced her hands on the ground, and limped to climb onto the bed.
Her legs tingled and ached, accompanied by sharp bursts of pain.
“Help…”
Liyakade lay on the bed, burying her face in the pillow, her eyes losing all will to live.
A few days ago, she might have had the energy to argue with Irina Zi, but now she was truly exhausted.
“Ugh.”
Liyakade rolled over, her crimson pupils dimmed.
Maybe… I should just fall apart like this.
No more pretending to bully Alice.
Instead, completely abandon my mind, obey Irina Zi’s orders, and truly bully Alice.
Maybe then I could vent my frustration and feel a bit better.
No more trying to survive in this cramped space because I’ve chosen a dead end.
In the end, just like the original self, I’ll walk toward ruin.