"Miss, would you allow me a favor-"
"No, we can't kill that elf. At least, not until he finishes teaching me all that I need to know about potions and such. Once we have what we need, you will be free to do whatever you want to."
Layla promised her maid as she opened the door to her assigned room.
Seeing the room made Layla regret her words and instantly wanted to return them.
"This room looks like it has not been used in ages. There is so much dust and dirt. Miss, allow me to clean up this room and that elf. I will call you back once I am done here."
Mary spoke flatly as she looked at the dirty room before her.
Her eyes shined with the familiar light that signaled Layla to leave her alone. She was sure this room would be clean when she returned, so do what you must. I will head out toward the herb garden to take a look."
Layla left the cleanup to Mary as she returned to take a deep breath. The first thing she felt was the presence of the beasts surrounding the barrier.
They all wanted to get inside and take a bite out of her. But it did not make Layla feel nervous.
She could tell that the barrier would last against any attack from these beasts.
Layla had worked hard on her skills and finally developed a sense of how strong someone was just by looking at her. The system had even made it into a skill for her to use.
But it could only be used if the other party did not differ in too much power compared to her.
The skill worked on most people in the mansion, but the only people Layla could not tell their levels were Mary and the Duke. This meant that they were far beyond her reach in power.
'Well, not that it matters. The ones I need to worry about are the male and female leads. Especially the Male lead who made a contract with a demon to get me killed…now that I think about it, what was that demon's name?'
Layla was sure the demon was mentioned by name in the original work, but she could not remember anything about it.
Since she could not do anything about it, Layla stopped thinking about it and focused on what she could do.
Most of the herbs Professor Ragnarock was growing were poisonous, but if handled carefully, they did not harm the person picking them up.
Layla was about to reach out and pick an herb when she saw something red slithering better the herb bed. It made her body stiffen, and she held her scream back as she watched that red thing slither around.
Whatever it had been, it was fast enough for Layla to be unable to tell what it was at first sight. But her eyes soon adjusted, and she saw that lizard-like familiar creature.
[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance feels betrayed by your action]
[He wonders why you did not choose him as the magic instructor.]
[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance desires to burn this whole garden down.]
Layla's hand acted faster than her mind, and she grabbed that dragon-lizard hybrid's tale to pull it closer.
"Don't you dare burn these herbs! I need them to achieve my goal of earning money. If you harm these precious herbs, I will hand you to my maid to do whatever she wants."
Layla's words caused the dragon-hybrid to shiver.
Despite being a kid, Layla knew how to make her voice sound intimidating. Even if her bluff held no weight, the other side did not need to know about it. They just needed to fear her and what she could do.
[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance wonders how you knew about his intentions]
[He wonders if you know who he is. He feels elated by how renowned his fame is]
While Layla was busy dealing with a problem, the other problem she was dealing with decided to look outside the window and spot her kneeling between these poisonous herbs.
"Oi! What are you doing near those herbs? Don't you know how dangerous it is for you to be associated with these herbs? You can lose your life…"
The elf trailed off when he noticed what Layla held in her hands.
Her small hand was clothed around the Lizard dragon's tale, and she supported its body with her other hand (but barely).
"I caught this thing trying to destroy your herb garden. What do you want me to do with it?"
Layla asked as she held the creature toward the elf.
Professor Ragnarock immediately grabbed it from Layla's hands, giving her an excuse to no longer feel like she was in trouble and would die.
"You…just head back now. I am sure your maid is done cleaning up the room by now. I don't want to see you anywhere near these herbs until our first lesson, during which I will teach you how to pick them. Just go! GO!"
The elf raised his voice (as if that would do anything), and Layla was happy to leave him alone with the dragon.
As soon as Layla was gone, Professor Ragnarock placed the dragon down on the ground, and he rubbed his forehead in pain.
"What are you doing here, Lord Rodric Burnance? When I announced my retirement, I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with me."
The elf asked as he looked at the dragon, but the dragon looked even more pissed off than before.
"You stole my student! Give her back to me. I had my eyes on her first! God, I feel pissed off enough to burn this all down. Do you know how humiliating it is for a dragon like me to lose my chosen student?"
The dragon asked annoyedly, and the elf felt his head throb. The dragon had made all this commotion just for a student who did not even want him.