3-16: The Worries and Pranks Under the Mask (4/5)
Tl Note: Aristel is the first name, Padyuel is the last.
“B-But that was that man’s fault…”
“Regardless, I still abandoned the class.
For that, I have to give him a confession.
That has nothing to do with criticizing what he’s done.”
Of course, she wasn’t completely unaffected by his behavior during class.
Even she would like to receive an apology for the way he treated her, but that had nothing to do with this.
“So, Rizet. Was that all Zaford had to say?”
“…What do you mean?”
“In the first place, why did he insult the special class?What kind of exchange led to him having to use being weak as a shield?
Did he not give you any of these details?”
Aristel seemed to be criticizing them for their lack of info.
Rizet didn’t know what to say and could only lower her head as her eyes swam.
“My apologies. No such information was given.
But there were testimonies. There’s no doubting that man made insulting remarks.
The special class must hand out punishment, if not, people will look d—”
“Pathetic.”
“I beg your pardon? Did you say something?”
Rizet asked, doubting her ears.
At the same time, Aristel felt sad upon realizing that it had taken her this long to realize this.
“…No, it’s nothing.
Rizet, I understand what you want to say.
But can you still say that after seeing this?”
Aristel shook her head as she showed Rizet her Foster’s display.
On the display was a student having lunch while surrounded by special class students.
“This is?”
How long are you planning to eat!? Look at me!!
One of the special class students kicked the table and wasted the student’s lunch, but none of the special class students even raised a brow as they approached the student.
“…I’m sure anyone would end up saying something rude after something like this.”
Aristel stopped the video there and calmly pointed out a couple of things.
The gaze she looked at the students who sympathized with hers and Rizet’s opinion was cold.
“This is a video recording from some student who happened to be there.
Watching it from the start shows that Zaford and his people picked a fight with him because he humiliated me.”
“I-I never heard anything like—”
But Aristel wasn’t asking that. Moreover, it didn’t matter, so she cut her off.
“It doesn’t matter.
With this, I now have more to apologize for.
I may not have ordered those students to do these things, but a servant’s blunder is a master’s responsibility.”
Right? Aristel muttered with a sigh as she stood up.
There was a dignity emanating from her that one wouldn’t expect from someone dressed in nothing but a bathrobe.
That dignified aura overpowered everyone in the room, keeping anyone from voicing a word of complaint.
“…A lot of things happened today and I’m tired. I will be retiring early.”
Leaving only those few words behind, Aristel left Rizet and walked toward her bedchamber.
“I don’t care if Zaford left out some details or if you intentionally left something out, neither is praiseworthy. You have been warned, Rizet.”
“Y-Yes…”
If it were the former, then that would mean that she had given her information without confirming the facts.
If it were the latter, then that would mean she manipulated the information.
Just as Aristel said, neither was praiseworthy conduct for a servant.
“Remind the others too. We are in Kutoria, a floating city on Earth.
We may have certain privileges given to us as members of the special class, but that is all.
We are here as representatives of Garesto; therefore, we must act as examples for others to follow.”
After quietly saying that, Aristel’s figure vanished into her bedchamber, and the female servants that were left behind were finally able to sigh in relief.
“The ojousama has gotten much stricter.”
“I think she’s even better now, though.”
“It just means that she’s grown up. As her servants, it’s something we should be happy about.”
As they each returned to their posts, talk of Aristel’s change spread.
She had found fault in things she hadn’t before and praised things she hadn’t before.
If she were off the mark, the servants wouldn’t have seen her change in a positive light, but her words were right on point.
“Tch, what growth!? Padyuel-sama wasn’t like this before!
She used to be strict and powerful, the perfect woman to rule this academy.
Why is she saying such weak things now!?”
Of course, there were also people who weren’t happy with her change.
For this girl, Aristel’s change was a weakness.
“You know, Rizet. It’s because you’re like that that you’ve been scolded lately.”
“I’m not going to tell you what to like, but you should at least learn to keep your personal feelings away from your work.
Aren’t you the head servant?”
“What did you say?”
Rizet was enraged by her coworkers’ responses, but she wasn’t completely wrong, Aristel had indeed changed. It was almost like she was a different person.
About one week ago, she left the floating city. When she came back, she was no longer the same.
For some reason, she started approaching the low rankers and the earthlings she never mingled with before.
She stopped completely relying on the servants’ intel alone. She started praising and thanking people even for the smallest things, causing her to become more approachable.
But because her change was so sudden, there were people who didn’t know how to react or come to terms with it.
Most of the female servants who have been serving her until now took her change positively, but Rizet, who has been with her for too long, did not.
“Stop it!
If you’re going to argue, do it outside the dorm. You’re only bothering the ojousama.”
When things were about to blow up, one of the servants said that, and the servants, who have been glaring at each other, promptly walked away from each other and left the floor.
Tl Note: Sorry for all the delays. There’s one more part for this chapter. Next chapter will probably be on Monday or Tuesday. We’ll eventually return to the usual SAT + SUN schedule once the schedule is back to normal.