Stretching out my arms, I looked off the side of the ship. The sight really was incredible. A sense of excitement welled up from inside me as we rode past several different spectacles that you needed to see in order to believe. From the floating windmills that I still couldn’t figure out the use for since actual lights hadn’t been invented yet, to the rainbow that was off in the distance that shined with quite a strange change to it having the colors placed in the reverse order they were in my world. Instead of having it go red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple, it instead goes purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Not exactly the biggest change to the world, but considering all they did with the names of the week was alter the way the days were pronounced by a few simple letters, this wasn’t that unbelievable to see.

Honestly, I’m kinda surprised at how similar the game is to my world. I know it sounds weird, but it’s actually kinda refreshing seeing such simple changes. The simplicity of it helped a lot in getting me adjusted to this world's schedule, and the fact that everyone speaks the same language as me makes communication a lot easier. At least I think it was the developers of this game who made such choices. Some of this stuff could just be the work of that God who sent me here who was just adding more to the world. Nonetheless, I’m still happy to see such nice spectacles that remind me of my old world.

Hm? What’s that off in the distance?

Taking a moment to see what my expanded thinking was telling me, I squinted my eyes as I looked out into the distance and noticed something far off that appeared to be another flying ship of some kind.

Concerned about whatever that was, I made my way up to some crewmembers who seemed to have a hatred towards me for some reason, and told them about the thing off in the distance.

They didn’t seem to like I was the one who noticed, but one of the crewmembers went off to inform the captain of the ship.

A few minutes later, the captain was staring off at the object in the distance with a telescope in his hand. With the pose he was in while looking, I thought he almost looked like a pirate captain. Were pirates even a thing in this world?

Anyways, after he was done looking, he turned to the ship's crew.

“A starship is approaching us. Prepare to be boarded.”

Hm? A starship? You mean one of those ships that only royalty ride on? I never saw one in the game since it was only ever mentioned and never shown, so I had no idea what one looked like.

Taking a look at the ship once more, I felt goosebumps grow on my skin. For some reason, that ship gave me an ominous feeling.

Concerned, I tried preparing a wind spell in case things got ugly when I suddenly remembered I couldn’t use magic on this ship. What a pain.

With nothing else I could do, I gripped my hand onto my belt in the spot where my grimoire normally stayed to act as a calming ritual in order to put off this strange sense of unease.

About twenty minutes later, the ship was right next to us. I got a good look at it and couldn’t help but marvel at its design. It didn’t look that different from the ship we were on, but it had a sleek blue shine painted all across the ship and gave off a feeling of intimidation that I couldn’t really describe with words.

Due to feeling concerned, several students had gathered to look at the ship.

The majority had looks of confusion on their faces, some stared in awe, and some watched in fear as the ship lowered down a ramp onto our own.

There was silence among the students. No one uttered a single word. Finally, a person stepped onto the ramp. We all gazed up to find an older-looking gentleman standing there and gazing at the crowd.

Finally, the gentlemen took a step forward. After that, he took another, then another.

About ten seconds later, he had successfully made it onto our ship. He once again gazed around at the crowd before taking a bow.

“Pardon my disturbance. Might I ask if there is a young Axel Savoncho on this ship with you all?”

“...Huh?”

He was looking for me? Why?

Before anyone could say anything, the captain made his way towards the gentlemen. After a moment, the two of them were staring face to face.

“Are you Sir Savoncho?”

“No. I’m not. However, this is my ship. So if you wish to meet with one of my ship's guests, then at least explain yourself before doing so.”

The gentleman was silent for a moment before nodding.

“Very well.”

Turning his head towards the ramp, he managed to direct all our attention to the person now standing there at the top.

At first, I couldn’t make out who it was. However, once my eyes adjusted to the sun, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of surprise when I saw who was standing there.

The one standing on the ramp was a woman. She had blonde hair tied into a ponytail, green eyes, and a face I couldn’t help but hate.

“Greetings! My name is Lily Acantha! A pleasure to meet…most of you.”

Yep. Lily. The woman that led me down the path I was in now. First trapping me down in a dungeon where I nearly died and then got expelled for doing so. What the hell was she doing here? Was she the one looking for me?

Lily made her way down the ramp and landed on the ship with a grin that irritated me to no end.

She turned to the captain.

“I overheard. You wish to know why we wish to speak with Savoncho, correct?”

The captain nodded.

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Lily chuckled.

“It’s simple. You see, as compensation for getting me removed from my place at the school I used to attend, I’d like for him to give me his personal island and everything on it. I imagine that isn’t asking for too much.”

This bitch!

I wanted to scream out at her, but I tried my best to hold myself back. Right now, I was completely powerless. If I tried anything, I’d just get beaten to a pulp.

Gritting my teeth, I listened to the two’s conversation.

“Is that so? Well if it’s just for negotiations, then I don’t see why the two of you can’t meet. Bring Axel Savoncho here!”

WHAT!?

I didn’t have any time to respond as the students immediately began pushing me towards Lily.

What the hell are you doing you jerks!? That’s what I wanted to scream, however, I bit my tongue. Finally, I reached Lily and she looked me up and down with a disgusting grin on her face. I responded with an angry glare.

“Mister Savoncho. So good of you to meet me today. I hope you heard what I had to say.”

Keeping my glare on her, I answered her with a stern voice.

“Like hell I’d agree to something like th-Ow!”

As I was about to finish speaking, the gentleman instantly appeared behind me and pinned my arm behind my back. What heck!? This guy was way too strong for someone his age!

“I kindly ask you not to say anything unnecessary towards my lady. If you wish to continue this struggle, I will not hesitate to break any of your bones.”

I couldn’t do anything but growl. This whole situation was starting to piss me off.

Seeing my frustration, the grin on Lily’s face only grew wider. You sadistic bitch!

I wanted to struggle, but the gentleman pinned me to the ground and kept me in place.

The captain, who was supposed to be one for protecting the guests on his ship, just watched as things played out. A look of indifference on his face.

Lily giggled, then turned her attention to the crowd.

“From the looks of it, he doesn’t seem to get the message. Would some of you step forward and kindly remind him of his place?”

Hearing that, several students began to smile and walk towards me.

Sensing their bloodlust, I tried desperately to move. Sadly, the gentleman made sure that didn’t happen.

As the students surrounded me, they began bringing their fists down on me and drilling punches into my face, stomach, and legs. Pain was shooting throughout my entire body and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

While the students continued to beat and batter me, they began shouting a bunch of shit.

“Know your place commoner!”

“You clearly don’t understand! There’s no such thing as negotiations with commoners!”

“If you really understood your position, you’d have agreed to her request without hesitation!”

“Don’t act like you’re on the same level as us you swine!”

Why was I being subjected to this? Why did I deserve it? Why? WHY!?

I tried to let out a scream, but someone punched me in the face and knocked out a few of my teeth before backing up and complaining about getting filthy commoner spit on their hand.

The pain continued for several minutes before I finally lost consciousness. All the while, the laughing of those royal assholes echoed in my ear.

I woke up a few hours later. My head was throbbing in pain as I sat up. The sound of water dripping entered my ears.

Looking around, I saw I was in a cell of some kind.

I tried to get up but found my legs quickly giving out. My body was so destroyed, that I couldn't even hold myself up for more than a few moments.

Lying up against the wall, I felt a vibration below me. That confused me a bit, but a few minutes later, the gentleman from before showed up.

“My apologies Sir Savoncho. My lady can be rather sadistic when she wishes to be. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive her.”

I tried to respond with “Like hell, I’d ever forgive her!” but it was impossible for me to respond as my voice had been just as destroyed as the rest of my body.

While I lied there, the gentleman explained what was going on.

Apparently, since negotiations had failed, Lily had taken me as compensation and the other students were more than happy to hand me over. I wanted to ask about why the crew didn’t stop her, but the gentleman responded as if reading my thoughts by saying the captain and crew didn’t care. As long as she’d leave the ship alone, they were fine with anything. What a bunch of jerkwads.

The gentleman walked into my cell and put some food next to me before leaving with the key at his side.

I sat there silently for several minutes before trying my best to eat the food. From the taste, it reminded me of the type of food I had back when I was an adventurer. For royalty, this would seem like cruel treatment, but as someone who lived off food like this for four years, I was right at home eating a rather bland meal. Though it was hard to eat with the broken teeth. I could only hope Sirin could make new ones for me once this was all over. But anyway, after I was done, I tried my best to stand up only to fall again.

I finally began finding my voice again and muttered curses under my breath.

I had wondered why I was even still alive but then remembered my defenses on the island. If they killed me, they’d probably never gain access to the island. But if they showed up on the island and used me as a shield, then they’d have nothing to worry about. I would love to prove to them how stupid that idea was, but I’d rather not play to their tune.

I tried to cast some magic to escape, but apparently, this cell was covered by a barrier that kept me from using my spells.

Quite the frustrating scenario.

Not to mention, apparently, all the students were gonna say I went missing when they got back so that after Lily was done using me, she could just kill me off somewhere no one would be able to find me.

I let out a frustrated sigh.

“How could I forget?” I muttered.

“How could I ever forget how cruel the world of royalty was to commoners?”

As I pondered this question, thoughts of the events leading up to now reminded me of how well things were going up until this point.

“Ah…I see.”

It was then that I finally realized it. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself when I came to the realization.

“I got too complacent. I stopped staying on edge and began to soften up. The one thing I should never have done.”

Thanks to my relationship with Xara, I forgot the rules of society. That being this world thrived off being superior to others. And since I started as a commoner, that was all I was seen as. That’s all I’ve ever been. A filthy commoner who tried to strive in the world of royalty.

Honest, I’m amazed at how long it took me to realize.

Originally, I came to this world and decided to create a harem. After that, I saw how cruel this world could be and decided to live it how I wanted. But even after doing so, I was still looked down upon for being a commoner. Even if some people saw me as more, that’s not what the majority see. They just think of me as nothing but a commoner who found a way to sneak into royal society and tried to blend in. I can’t believe how stupid I was up to this point. Live life how I want? What’s the point of that if I’m still being looked down on!?

If it wasn’t already hard enough to move, I would’ve smashed my fists into the wall.

I worked so hard to get the life I had now. But just because I wasn't a royal asshole, people looked down on me. And no matter how hard I try, they’ll never see me as anything else. As much as I hate to admit it, that’s reality. And there’s nothing I can do about it.

Thus, as I continued to grit my teeth, I sat there in silence. Drowning in my own thoughts of anger and frustration.