Mika’s fists clenched upon hearing Aurelia's arrogant statement, and she wished more than anything to just punch her in the face until she was black and blue, but she held herself back.

‘System! Why did you tell me to follow this annoying little brat?!’ Mika yelled inwardly, ‘I thought you didn’t want me to be subservient to another person! But what the hell is this shit?!’

[Host, the System merely gave you a suggestion saying it would be in your best interest to get close to her. The System never said to follow her or become her maid.]

Mika's eyes flashed with anger, 'I'm not her damn maid,' she growled at the System.

‘Anyways, we’re in this situation because of your crappy suggestion! Now, get us out of it! I refuse to become a maid!’

[...]

[Stop focusing on the girl so much and look at the butler, Host.]

‘Why? What can he do?’ Mika glanced at the butler, who was standing there watching everything with a neutral expression, ‘I know he’s strong, but does he really have the authority to boss this little child around?’

[The strong always have a say, Host.]

Mika’s eyes brightened for a moment, and quickly a plan formed in her mind.

She took the System’s words seriously. If it said that he should become friends with the girl, then it means she has some importance. Mika naturally didn’t want to let an opportunity pass her up, but becoming Aurelia’s servant wasn’t the way to go about things.

She turned toward the blonde-haired girl and said, “Err… Aurelia, I don’t know what’s going through that tiny brain of yours, but I have no intention of becoming a maid. No, let me rephrase that. I will not become your servant. You can torture me all you want or even lock me up as Butcher did, but I refuse to be under you.”

Aurelia stared at Mika in disbelief, but Mika ignored her and turned to the Butler.“Although I don’t know how much you paid Butcher for me, I know it couldn’t be cheap. I refuse to believe you bought someone with my talent and sword skills to become a mere maid.”

Bernard’s neutral expression broke for a moment as even he was a bit stunned, but he quickly adjusted his emotions, pushing them aside, and nodded, “I also think it’s a waste of your abilities for you to become a maid.”

“Bernard!!” Aurelia’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she shot a look of betrayal at her butler.

The butler didn’t lose his composure and looked into Aurelia’s eyes, “Young Miss, your father would be disappointed in you if he knew what you wanted Mika to do. What’s the number one thing he’s taught you?”

“Ugh!” Aurelia staggered backward and lowered her head. Then, in a voice no louder than a mosquito’s, she muttered, “...He taught me to squeeze every cent out of any given situation.”

“That’s right!” Bernard nodded with a hint of pride in his eyes but still stared down at Aurelia, "Now, can you honestly tell me you're making the most of this situation?"

Aurelia shook her head, not daring to look her butler in the eye. She knew her butler was right, but part of her believed that making Mika her maid wasn’t wrong.

Every servant in the Emporvas household can fight. Maids, butlers, chefs, etc., it doesn’t matter. They all have some sort of combat ability. Wanting Mika as her servant wasn’t necessarily wrong if she only considered her situation.

However, she never considered Mika’s, the slave girl’s, thoughts. Why would she? Isn’t being a maid better than fighting with her life on the line?

‘Shouldn’t she be grateful that I saved her from the black market?’ That’s the thought process Aurelia had. The idea that Mika didn’t want to be her servant to pay her back never even crossed her mind.

Bernard’s eyes softened at the sight of her saddened appearance, and he then gave Mika a wink and asked, “Then, let’s hear out Mika’s proposition, alright?”

Hearing his question, Aurelia raised her head and looked at Mika. The latter also turned her head and gazed into her eyes. Sparks seemed to go off as their eyes connected, and Aurelia was the first to turn away as Mika’s gaze seemed to burn a hole through her.

“...I won’t be your servant, but I can train you in the way of the sword. For a price, of course.” Mika cringed, saying that, but it was true that Aurelia did save her the trouble of getting out of the Black Market. Combined with the System’s suggestion, this was the only way she could get close to Aurelia without becoming her servant or completely ruining the relationship between the two.

Even after staying there for several weeks, she hadn’t found a way out of that prison. The chains they put her in suppressed her strength and ability to use mana, and to add to that, they kept her chained to the ground, making it impossible for her to [Blink] out.

Lastly, whenever she was out of her cell, someone monitored her.

Simply put, she never had a chance to break out in the first place. She could wait for a day until they forgot to do something, but even then, it’s not like she can spam [Blink], and if she were to get caught, they’d know she could use mana. Once they know that, not only will they crack down on security, but they might even confiscate her necklace!

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Aurelia buying her from Butcher saved her multiple years of hard work that would’ve otherwise been wasted. Thus, Mika owed her for that, as she could now spend that time doing more productive things, but she still wouldn’t offer her training for free despite that. That’s simply worth too much.

Aurelia and Bernard stared at Mika with wide eyes as they never expected Mika to offer something like that!

“In terms of foundational skills, talent, and understanding, I doubt there is anyone superior to me,” Mika added, and this wasn’t just unbridled, ignorant arrogance. She knew for a fact that her fundamentals were perfect. There might be people out there that have comprehended Sword Intent like her, but she was still confident that her foundation was better than theirs.

After listening to Mika’s boasting, Aurelia couldn’t take it anymore. She put on a disdainful expression and sneered, “What makes you think I want to learn the sword in the first place? Why would I need to know how to fight when I can just pay someone to do it for me?”

Mika didn’t get upset at her response and instead glanced at Bernard. The two exchanged words with their eyes and then smirked as if they had reached a tacit understanding that now would be the perfect opportunity for a little ‘lesson’.

Mika turned back to Aurelia, and without so much as a warning, she charged at her!

“Wha-?!” Aurelia screamed and backed away, her head swiveling to her butler, only to see him staring at her with a grin.

“YOU! HELP!”

Those were the only words she was able to get out before Mika appeared before her. She didn’t even have time to react before she swiped her legs out from under her, causing her to fall to the ground. Now that she was on the ground, Mika pounced on her and wrapped her chains around her neck.

“Ack-!! H-H-He~lp!” Aurelia clawed at the chains, but they didn’t budge.

Seeing Aurelia struggling to breathe, Mika removed the chains and got off of her. She didn’t want to kill the girl, after all.

Standing next to the arrogant child, she loomed over her like an overbearing parent and spat, “Pathetic. Absolute trash. I know of apes with better survival instincts than you!”

Mika jingled the chains around her legs and hands as if to mock Aurelia even more. “I’m shackled, suppressed, and weakened to a level of strength no different from you, but you can’t even protect yourself. Yet you dare spout nonsense about not being interested in learning swordsmanship!?”

Aurelia began tearing up, but Mika wasn’t through berating her, “Fine! You don’t have to be interested in learning the sword, but you should at least know how to protect yourself! I can train you to such a level! Maybe then you won’t end up in this miserable state again!”

Aurelia glared at Mika hatefully while rubbing her sore neck, but the latter ignored her and turned to the butler.

“As a thank you for taking me out of the black market, I can train her to a sufficient level with pay, but I hope that if you don’t want me to do that, you set me free. As I said before, I will not work under anyone, but even if I were willing to, you wouldn’t want me as a maid. The only type of cleaning I'm familiar with is wiping blood off my blade, not handling household chores.”

Bernard’s lips twitched at Mika’s crude words, but he understood the underlying meaning. She was a warrior, not a servant. Trying to make her be something she’s not will only do more harm than good.

Although her attitude was highly disrespectful, especially to the people who had just ‘saved’ her, he appreciated her bluntness. Having to deal with old foxes and shrewd businessmen is tiring, so Mika was like a breath of fresh air.

If he were Aurelia’s father, he would’ve accepted Mika as her trainer in a heartbeat, but unfortunately, he wasn’t.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have the authority to make such a decision. If you want to be the Young Miss’ trainer, you’ll have to wait until the Master arrives.” Bernard bowed his head slightly.

Mika nodded in understanding, “When is he going to be back?”

Bernard raised his head and replied, “The Master and Mistress should be back in a few days. While you wait for their arrival, you’re free to stay here in the estate to wait for them if you have nowhere else to go.”

Mika’s eyes moved over to the giant mansion and lit up!

‘I’ve never stayed in such a luxurious place before! I wonder what it’s like? Do they live like kings and queens every day?’ She tried to picture a scene of her laying down, relaxing, drinking wine, as someone stood beside her, feeding her grapes.

However, she immediately shook her head, removing that scene from her mind, ‘No, I doubt rich people really live like that.’

After ridding those ridiculous thoughts, Mika nodded, agreeing to the butler’s proposition, “That’s fine with me. After all, I don’t want to get captured and sent back to the Black Market.”

Bernard smiled wryly but didn’t deny that possibility, “Very well. I’ll ask the maids to arrange a place for you to stay.”

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by an unruly blonde child, “Bernard! Why did you let that crazy girl attack me?! Aren’t you supposed to protect me?! Also, what’s this about letting her stay at the house?! How can you let my attacker sleep under the same roof as me?!”

Bernard’s smile never left his face as he turned to Aurelia, “I deemed you were never in any danger, to begin with, Young Miss.”

“Ugh!” Aurelia staggered a bit but regained her balance and glared at her butler, “Still! I don’t want this brutish woman to train me! I’m a merchant, anyways! If I need strength, I can just hire someone!”

Instead of arguing with her, Bernard just lowered his head and apologized, “Forgive me, Young Miss, but because this is a decision concerning your future, I believe we should wait until the Master returns.”

Aurelia opened her mouth to say something but realized that Bernard wasn’t wrong and shut her mouth. Although she didn’t want Mika to be her teacher, she was more afraid of her father. If Bernard told him all about today’s escapades, and then she let go of a talent like Mika all because of her emotions… Her punishment would not be light.

In the end, she glared at Mika and Bernard, huffed, then headed toward the mansion, not wanting to associate with those two anymore.

The Butler let out a sigh of relief and turned to Mika, “Follow me, Miss Mika. I’ll give you a tour of the estate.” He said, then began walking toward the mansion.

Mika nodded and followed soon after, excited to see what the inside looked like.

‘I wonder if they’ll have a training room.’ Mika thought, interested to see what a rich person's training room looked like.