IHTSCPIDAJ CH 02

“Wow…….”

The first time Viola set foot in the capital, Ellensia, she found herself holding her breath for a moment. The capital was an entirely different world from the small village where she had lived all her life. Magnificent buildings towered high into the sky, sparkling under the sunlight and displaying their grandeur, while countless merchants filled the market streets with lively voices, calling out to passersby and trying to attract their attention.

Nobles dressed in splendid clothes walked through the streets with servants quietly following behind them, while off to one side, groups of rough-looking men exchanged suspicious glances. Surrounded by unfamiliar temptations and dangers, Viola felt nervous, yet she couldn’t help feeling a little excited as well.

‘First of all, I need to find a job.’

Near the shabby inn she had chosen as her lodging, Viola carefully examined the job board. There were various positions posted, but most of them offered unsatisfactory wages or conditions. Then, one particular job advertisement caught her eye.

『Cardia Academy Hiring a Cleaner – No Experience Required, Permanent Employment Contract, Monthly Salary, Room and Board Provided.』

“…This is perfect.”

Viola murmured softly to herself. The conditions were incomparably better than those of the other jobs. More importantly, it was the most famous and prestigious national academy in the empire.

There was no reason to hesitate any longer. She hurriedly tore the advertisement from the board, gripped her worn-out bag tightly, took a deep breath, and headed straight for the academy’s administrative office.

The academy’s towering spires and magnificent decorations overwhelmed her. Viola stood there for a moment, staring at the building with her mouth slightly open, but she quickly came to her senses and walked inside.

“Hello! I’m here about the cleaner position!”

At Viola’s confident voice, the administrative employee who had been sorting through documents at the desk looked up. The employee examined her with curious eyes. She looked far too young to be a job seeker, but there was quite a bit of confidence in her gaze.

“We did say beginners are welcome…… but let me ask you first. Do you have any experience?”

Viola immediately answered.

“No. But I learn quickly, no matter what it is. I can do anything you ask me to!”

The employee smiled slightly at her bold attitude. After rummaging through the documents for a moment, the employee nodded at her with a small smile.

“Good. You’re hired. Come in starting tomorrow.”

Viola was momentarily speechless at the unexpected acceptance. Her heart pounded wildly. But she soon lowered her head with a bright expression and thanked the employee.

“Thank you so much! I’ll work hard!”

Viola bowed deeply with a radiant smile. The thought of finally having a proper job filled her heart with joy and hope.

Completely unaware of all the headaches she would encounter—and of the completely insane man she would eventually get involved with.

Several months had passed since Viola began working at the academy.

Viola opened her eyes to the faint sunlight filtering in at dawn. She opened the window of the modest room in the academy dormitory, which had now become familiar to her, and fresh morning air rushed inside.

By the time she left her room with a clean apron tied around her waist and her long hair pulled tightly back, the dawn was slowly coloring the sky.

As she walked along the academy grounds after leaving the dormitory, she held the letter in her hands tightly. She always tried to write only cheerful things to Scarlett, but honestly, enduring her daily life here was not easy.

Viola arrived at the academy mailbox, which was not far from the dormitory, and slipped the letter through the opening. The soft sound of the paper sliding down echoed quietly.

“Let’s do our best today, too.”

She whispered it like a little spell to herself.

For her younger sister, and for a better life.

After sending the letter, Viola took a deep breath and began her day in earnest.

Her first stop was the Department of Magic. It was usually a complete mess, but thanks to an experiment conducted the previous day, it was in an especially disastrous state.

“Are the people in the Department of Magic testing my mental strength every morning or something?”

Strange green slime was stuck to the walls, suspicious purple powder was scattered across the floor, and traces of fire magic had scorched the ceiling. To make matters worse, a strange slime that looked almost alive was wriggling in the corner of the classroom.

“Hey, Slippery. How about cooperating while I’m still asking nicely?”

Viola approached the slime with a mop in hand, as though this were nothing unusual. However, when it quickly escaped, Viola plopped down onto the floor.

“Haa…… It’s a good thing I’m getting paid for this. If they paid me for each day separately, I would’ve quit on the spot.”

Viola got back up and began a serious chase with the slime. After crawling under desks several times, she finally caught it and stuffed it into a magical waste-disposal container.

By the time she finished cleaning and left the room, she was already drenched in sweat. But there was no time to rest. She had to head to her next destination, the Department of Knights. She had no idea what kind of mess would be waiting for her there.

“Please, let the doors and windows be intact today……”

Apparently, the people in the Department of Knights had yet to learn that swinging swords around with bodies that huge tended to result in things getting broken. Every day, they seemed determined to destroy something.

‘Do these people not sleep in?’

The moment she arrived at the training ground, broken swords and pieces of shattered shields were scattered everywhere. The sandy floor was covered with deep sword marks and hoofprints.

And right before her eyes lay a wooden training dummy that looked as though it had already received a death sentence, collapsed helplessly with a spear buried deep in the center of its chest.

“What kind of grudge do you have against a wooden dummy to stab it this much……”

Viola pulled out the spear and paid her respects to the dummy that had crossed the point of no return.

Just then, someone shouted from behind her.

“A little harder! Put more strength into your arms when you swing the sword!”

When Viola turned her head, she saw a knight department professor training a group of students. But what caught her attention even more was the collapsed training structure behind the students.

“AAAAAAAH! My shield!”

Viola twisted her body to avoid the shield flying toward her in response to the student’s scream. The shield embedded itself right in the middle of the training ground.

“Oh? Hello!”

“…Ah, yes.”

Watching the student pull out the shield, flash her an innocent smile, and cheerfully return to where he had been, Viola felt like clutching her head in frustration.

But she couldn’t give up now.

‘Haa…….’

With a deep sigh, Viola picked up a shovel and began clearing away the debris from the collapsed wall. She couldn’t understand how everyone here could take the destruction of the facilities every single day as something completely normal.

Everyone who attended this place was definitely a noble young lady or young master who had never done a single household chore at home.

‘The magic department idiots should blow this place up properly at least once.’

While she was clearing away the debris, a student who had finished training noticed her and approached her with an awkward smile.

“Viola, you’re working hard. You haven’t gotten hurt today, have you?”

It was Dean, one of the students she had recently become friendly with. Among all the other knight department students who seemed to have nothing but exercise and destruction in their heads, he was one of the few who possessed some common sense.

“I’m fine where you can see me. But once I finish cleaning this up, I’m probably going to suffer from muscle pain.”

Dean gave an embarrassed smile and scratched the back of his head.

“Can I help you with anything?”

“The best way you can help me is by not touching anything and not breaking anything.”

“I didn’t break anything……! The others were the ones who broke the wall and the wooden dummy……”

“Do you know what collective responsibility is?”

“I do.”

“Good. Then bear your friends’ sins with them and endure my resentment.”

Dean let out a small sigh and glanced at the broken wooden dummy.

“Still…… the windows are intact, right?”

At those words, Viola slowly looked around.

“You’re right. It’s a miracle. But……”