Chapter 2

Perhaps because Gina had slept right beside me, or thanks to her pleasant scent, my head felt refreshingly clear when I woke up in the morning.

“Good morning, my lord.”

There was no way Gina would ever wake up later than I did, and she greeted me while wearing an immaculate maid outfit.

“Yeah, morning.”

“I shall bring you your breakfast.”

Gina gave a respectful bow, left the room, and returned shortly after while pushing a serving cart.

“Today, we have French toast and an omelet.”

It was the kind of breakfast menu that would make you want to throw out a sarcastic comment if you were in a typical fantasy world, but I figured this was the setting of an otherworldly game made by a Japanese developer.

“Thank you.”

When I offered my gratitude, she looked genuinely surprised.

Of course, the meal was likely handcrafted by Gina… aside from her, there was hardly anyone else in the castle willing to cook for Rasta.

It seemed my memories had organized themselves to a certain extent while I slept, and I now knew that the current Rasta was twelve years old and had already earned the reputation of a thoroughly disliked person, just like in the original story.

Well, the fact that Gina was already by my side was at least a small mercy.

She was the kind of presence who could be called Rasta’s single, absolute ally, and she was exceptionally capable in terms of combat power as well.

To avoid the bad end where I would eventually get executed, Gina’s existence was indispensable.

After all, unlike her, Rasta was weak.

Even in the original story, he could only take on low-tier mage classes with a very limited selection of usable magic, meaning he was constantly being protected by Gina.

There was a good reason why his status within the imperial family was low and why no one took him seriously.

…To avoid the bad end, I wanted to get stronger first.

And I wanted to avoid making an enemy out of the original story’s protagonist, ideally getting them to recognize me as an ally instead.

Since Gina swore her loyalty to me as an individual rather than to the imperial household, she would likely follow along without a single complaint even if I betrayed the empire.

Unlike everyone else, not having to worry about those kinds of complications made things much easier.

After finishing a delicious meal, I decided to consult her.

“Now that I’ve turned twelve, I can enter dungeons, right? Do you know of any suitable ones?”

In the empire, children were allowed to challenge dungeons starting at age twelve.

Honestly, I would love to visit some hidden dungeons, but if I went in my current state, I’d just end up dead.

First, I needed to grind my level up enough so that I could safely tackle places like hidden dungeons.

“A dungeon, you say?”

Gina’s eyes widened in surprise.

And the next instant, she stepped right in front of me and pressed a dagger she had pulled out from somewhere against my throat.

“Who are you? You cannot possibly be my lord.”

Her green eyes were chillingly cold, and she unleashed an intense wave of murderous intent.