The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

After locating her room and opening the door, Alice immediately saw Zauna fiddling with her phone on the bed.

Meanwhile, when Zauna heard the sound of the door opening and saw that it was Alice, she immediately revealed a look of joy and jumped out of bed.
Then, she pounced forward and hugged Alice:

“Alice, you're finally here! Long time no see!”

“Hasn't it only been a few days?”

Alice smiled helplessly.
It hadn't even been a month since she arrived in this world.
Yet, Zauna always behaved as if she hadn't seen her in a long time whenever they met.
Alice was having a little difficulty adapting to the other party's enthusiasm.
However, after thinking it over, Alice guessed that it might be because of the cute and lovable face the Loli Goddess had created for her.

Regardless, Alice found that the March Royal School of Magic's dormitory was surprisingly spacious.
Rather than a dormitory, it looked more like a standard apartment.
For commoner students, having the privilege to stay in such a spacious room was already a luxury.

Moreover, this wasn't even the most luxurious dormitory available on the academy campus.
The academy had prepared independent housing units such as condos and bungalows to cater to the delicate nobility.
Although it cost extra to stay in these accommodations, the expenditure was no trouble for noble students.

Alice had to admit that the academy was quite skilled at making money.
The academy offered plenty of luxury services that allowed the noble students to splurge their money.

In reality, Luna had also asked Alice whether she wanted to rent an independent housing unit.
After all, Alice's current identity was the princess, so all expenditures she incurred in the academy would naturally come out of Chris's pockets.

Although being king was tiring work, Chris had no lack of money or authority.
Renting a luxury condo or bungalow for Alice wouldn't even put a dent in his wallet.

However, Alice rejected the suggestion after taking her roommate Zauna into account.
Not to mention, Alice herself wasn't someone who liked to spend money.

“Huh? This is…?”

After hugging Alice for some time, Zauna finally noticed Luna, who had brought Alice's luggage into the room.
Then, when she saw the maid uniform Luna wore, she asked, “Is this the maid the king arranged for you?”

“Yes.
Her name is Luna.
Luna Cecilia,” Alice introduced.
Then she explained, “Luna also knows about my identity as the Hero, so you don't need to hide discussions on this topic from her.”

“Uu… So she knows you're the Hero too?”

Zauna's expression looked a little upset when she looked at Luna, her current thoughts something along the lines of “I was the first to learn of Alice's secret” and “Why are more and more people finding out about this secret?”

Although Zauna wasn't trying to monopolize Alice, she still couldn't help but feel wronged.
It was like having a large group of people suddenly visit the secluded shop that only she knew about previously.
The sense of mystery had suddenly disappeared.

“Hello, Miss Zauna.
I am Luna, Alice's maid,” Luna greeted Zauna with a bow, her calm behavior making it seem like she didn't notice the unhappy expression on Luna's face.
“I will be responsible for Alice's diet and other aspects of life in the future.
You can also talk to me if you need any help.”

In Zauna's ears, Luna's words were akin to a declaration of ownership over Alice.
Subconsciously, she tightened her arms around Alice and looked at Luna with a hint of dissatisfaction on her face, saying, “Are you really Alice's maid? Shouldn't a maid refer to their master using honorifics? Not to mention, Alice is even the princess.”

After this bit, even a person with dull senses could tell that Zauna was jealous.
Noticing this, Alice couldn't help but smile bitterly.

“It was Alice who told me not to use honorifics,” Luna said, her expression remaining indifferent.
Her behavior made it impossible for others to see what was on her mind.
“I have also heard about Miss Zauna before.
It seems you have helped Alice a lot in the past.
For this, I am very grateful to you.”

What do you mean “helped Alice a lot in the past?” Are you saying that I won't help her in the future?

Zauna felt that something was amiss when she heard Luna's words.
Although Luna remained expressionless on the surface, her words contained a hidden reprisal in reality.

“You keep giving me a strange feeling,” Zauna said as she pursed her lips.
Although she didn't hold any grudge toward Luna, Luna's attempt to claim ownership over Alice using speech made her feel the need to fight back.
“Don't tell me you're actually a demon trying to assassinate the Hero…”

“Yes, I am a human-demon half-breed,” Luna openly admitted to Zauna's accusations, catching Zauna off guard.

Although Zauna had never met a half-breed with human and demon blood before, she could roughly guess what kind of treatment such a half-breed would receive in a human kingdom.
So, she immediately felt guilty for her words after learning that Luna was a half-breed.
However, just when she was about to apologize to Luna, she heard Luna saying:

“Moreover, my other identity is that of the Demon King, so I have indeed tried to assassinate Alice previously.
However, Alice defeated me and forced the Demon King's Power out of my body.
I also recognized her identity as the Hero, so I decided to accompany Alice as her maid.”

“…Alice, is she a little delusional?”

Luna's words dumbfounded Zauna.
Originally, Zauna had considered apologizing to Luna for bringing up the other party's race.
However, she never expected the other party to spout a bunch of unrealistic-sounding stories.
Meanwhile, after hearing these delusional words, she couldn't help but wonder if Luna had been lying when she said that she was a demon half-breed.

Alice was also rendered speechless by Luna's words, her mouth twitching slightly.

“Just kidding.
I'm just an ordinary maid,” Luna indifferently added after noticing the strange expression on Alice's face.
“However, I am confident I won't lose to the Demon King when it comes to strength.”

“Alright, I understand.”

Zauna held her forehead, realization dawning upon her.
It turned out that this maid was plagued with eighth-grade syndrome.
Because of the Hero and Demon King culture in this world, many people with eighth-grade syndrome existed.
It was especially common among children.
Many young children would often pretend to be the Hero when playing around with their peers.

Of course, there were also some serious cases where the people with eighth-grade syndrome would take on a misanthropic behavior and pretend to be the Demon King.
Meanwhile, Zauna had labeled Luna as one of these people.

“Anyway, I guess it's fine so long as you're just a maid… However, even if you are a maid, your understanding of the academy must be limited,” Zauna said while massaging her temples.
After getting confused by Luna's words, Zauna's hostilities toward the maid quickly receded.
Then, she looked at Alice and asked, “Alice, since you came to this academy, you must be here to study the taboos in the library, right?”

Alice nodded.
She came to this academy precisely to learn about taboos.
After all, her main opponent was the Demon King's Power.
She would need to use taboos at the very minimum to even damage the Demon King's Power.
However, she couldn't possibly rely on panties as her only form of offense.
So, before finding the Demon King's Power's whereabouts, it was necessary to learn a few taboos.

“Leave this to me.
I'll guide you through the process of getting a library card,” Zauna said, taking the initiative to take on this responsibility.
Then, she added, “But the first semester is already over.
We'll be going on a school trip shortly after the start of the second semester.
If you are going to learn about taboos, you should borrow a few books in advance to read during the trip.”

“School trip?” Alice was a little stunned when she heard these words.

“A school trip, huh? How nostalgic,” Kristine's voice came from the tablet on Alice's back.
However, thanks to Kristine's psychokinesis, only Alice managed to hear her voice.
“I went to Mana City on my first school trip.
It was there that I drew the Hero's Sword and received the identity of the Hero from God.”