Chapter 21
Millie is the daughter of an ordinary farmer in a rural village.
Of course, her life was far from ordinary, as it was marked by poverty.
Her parents were effectively serfs, farming on the land of a noble without owning any property of their own.
In that house, she helped with the farming, and as she grew older, she worked as a maid in the lord’s castle.
She had nothing to her name.
The daughter of serfs living in a fiefdom located in the Empire’s remote corner.
Her attribute affinity was Telekinesis (E).
It was nowhere near enough to live a glamorous life.
Telekinesis itself is a fairly well-regarded attribute affinity.
It’s too low-tier to become a mage, but depending on its application, it can be used in various ways.
In fact, it’s said that the Thief Reset, who was once a member of the Hero Party, also had Telekinesis (S).
However, Millie’s rank was E.
With a nearly bottom-tier E-rank telekinesis, even lifting a heavy book was a struggle.
Moreover, she couldn’t hold it for long, and controlling anything invisible was obviously difficult.
It had some use in daily life, but that was it.
An E-rank was absurdly insufficient for proper utilization.
“Ugh…”
Then one day.
At that time, she was wiping the hallway of the lord’s castle.
-…With this, you can live a completely new life. Aren’t you excited?
The head of the Blue Head Merchant Guild was visiting the lord’s castle.
She overheard that he had been recommending some strange artifact made by the Illusion Magic Tower to all the nobles lately.
Of course, it had nothing to do with Millie.
The artifact was far too expensive for a commoner like her to even dream of buying.
It cost as much as one of the Baroness’s cherished rings.
“…A new life.”
Even knowing that, it was hard to ignore.
Unlike the nobles who owned this castle, she had nothing.
Her reality was not affluent like theirs.
And her reality was not the life she had wanted.
The story of the merchant guild leader, where one could walk down the path they desired with enough effort, sounded to Millie like a hopeful tale of Cinderella.
Millie stopped wiping the hallway and pressed her ear to the door of the reception room.
Stories of the world that the merchant guild leader was sharing with the lord.
A vast and magical world. Ships that flew through the skies and crossed continents.
Stories of countless monsters and how anyone could become a hero to fight them.
Listening to the merchant guild leader’s words, Millie imagined that fantastical world called ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
Just the thought of it made her heart race.
-Forget it! Isn’t it all just illusions anyway? You’ve really lost it. How could you deal with artifacts made by something as trivial as the Illusion Magic Tower?
However, it seemed the lord did not feel the same way.
He already had more than enough to be satisfied in life.
She heard the merchant guild leader standing up in response to the lord’s harsh rebuke, and Millie hurriedly resumed wiping the hallway.
“…I will be staying in the village of this estate until tomorrow, so if you change your mind, let me know, my lord. You won’t regret it.”
With those words, the head of the Blue Head Merchant Guild left the lord’s castle.
The lord didn’t seem to care at all.
But Millie, who had eavesdropped on the conversation, couldn’t forget the world of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
A fantastical world, completely different from this grim reality.
Even if it was just an illusion, she desperately wanted to live in such a world.
She dreamt of living in that kind of world.
And, only those who dream can make their dreams come true.
“Millie! Once you finish cleaning the hallway, change the bedding in the lady’s room and then go to the laundry area!”
“Yes!”
A little while later, the head maid came to give Millie her next instructions.
It was the same work as usual.
Around this time, she always had to change the bedding.
But unlike usual, Millie was dreaming.
Millie finished cleaning the hallway and headed to the Baroness’s room.
The Baroness was out for a party in the neighbouring fief in the afternoon.
Seeing the jewellery box and dressing table in a mess, it seemed she had been in a hurry, getting ready until the last moment.
The cosmetics were scattered around, and the jewellery box was half-open.
‘Now that I think about it, the Baroness rushed into the carriage earlier, saying she was late.’
The neighbouring fief takes quite some time to reach, even by carriage.
She must have left on time to avoid being late.
That’s probably why she didn’t tidy up properly.
She likely didn’t worry about it because the maids would clean up anyway.
Swish— Swish—
Millie removed the old bedding and replaced it with new ones.
Even while doing so, her eyes kept wandering to the Baroness’s jewellery box on the dressing table.
‘If I had just one of those, I could buy it.’
The Baroness’s jewellery was, of course, worth a lot.
Even though the artifact from the Illusion Magic Tower was expensive, if she sold one of those and added a little more money, she felt she could afford it.
‘Ah, no…! If I get caught, I’ll definitely be severely punished.’
Millie shook her head.
No matter how much she wanted to have the artifact that the merchant guild leader mentioned, stealing something like that would not end well.
If she were to get caught, she’d be as good as dead.
‘But still…’
Millie’s past memories flashed before her eyes.
Meals made of dry bread and nearly spoiled milk every day.
The cold, leaky house.
The hopeful heart she had when she took the attribute test at the age of ten, and the despair she felt at the result.
Her days as a maid, having to endure the scorn of a young lady even younger than herself.
She wanted a free and happy life, but God had given her nothing.
And now, the opportunity to gain her own freedom was right in front of her.
It was a bad choice she should never make.
But at the same time, it was a free choice, breaking away from the things that bound her in reality, one that she could make on her own will.
‘If I don’t touch the dressing table and just take one ring… I won’t get caught for a while, right? If I take out one from a rarely used hidden spot… And if I quit being a maid and move to another fief…’
Even so, it wasn’t an easy decision to make without being reckless.
Millie had to hypnotize herself.
Convince herself that she could get away with stealing the ring.
While repeatedly telling herself that, Millie looked into the jewellery box and used her telekinesis.
Normally, her telekinesis was so weak that she couldn’t even twist a rag to wring out water.
But it was enough strength to lift a small ring.
‘I-I got it…!’
In the end, Millie used her telekinesis to take out a ring hidden in the corner of the jewellery box and put it in her pocket.
Her heart felt like it was going to burst.
However, once she had already committed the act, courage started to well up inside her.
No matter who looked, the state of the dressing table was just as it had been.
In the end, Millie kept the ring in her pocket and finished her day.
Then she returned home, tried to sleep, and got up even before dawn to head toward the nearby city.
It was quite a long distance to walk, so she ran all the way there. Her feet and legs ached terribly from wearing worn-out shoes on such a long journey.
Upon arriving in the city, she sold the ring at a jewellery store and received the money.
Then, before the pain in her feet could even subside, she headed back to the village.
“W-Wait!”
She panted heavily as she ran towards the Blue Head Merchant Guild’s carriage.
Her feet were covered in blisters, oozing pus and blood, and her thin legs were trembling.
The merchant guild was just about to leave after loading all their goods.
“…Do you want to buy something? We’ve already packed everything into the carriage.”
One of the merchant’s men spoke, clearly annoyed.
If she bought something, they would have to unpack the well-organized carriage.
“The artifact… from the Illusion Magic Tower… I want to buy it.”
“Huh? I don’t know where you heard about it, but even though it’s just an artifact from the Illusion Magic Tower, it’s absurdly expensive.”
“Y-Yes, here. I brought the money.”
Millie pulled out her pouch of money and showed it.
The merchant’s man stroked his beard with a puzzled expression.
At that moment, Rippert, the head of the Blue Head Merchant Guild, appeared.
“What are you doing? Aren’t we leaving yet?”
“Oh, Guild Master. This person said she wants to buy the artifact from the Illusion Magic Tower. But this isn’t the kind of money that a commoner can easily have…”
The merchant’s man looked back and forth between the money pouch and Millie.
It was clearly a large amount of money for a commoner in such a rural village to possess.
Rippert was silent for a moment before he spoke.
“Well, since when did we start choosing our customers? That would make us spoiled, wouldn’t it?”
“Ah… Understood, Guild Master!”
Rippert twisted his subordinate’s ear.
He then opened the carriage himself and took out ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
“You’ll enjoy it.”
“T-Thank you…!”
“Hey, let’s get moving already.”
Leaving the overjoyed Millie behind, Rippert boarded the carriage.
Millie clutched ‘Maple Leaf Story’ tightly in her arms, repeatedly bowing toward Rippert’s back.
“…Well. I guess it’s fine.”
As the carriage left the village, Rippert looked out the window at the girl holding ‘Maple Leaf Story’ with eyes full of hope.
He recalled his conversation with Rai, the illusion mage.
‘…Right now, there are only 500 units, but in the future, we will mass-produce them so that everyone can play. Whether commoner or noble, it won’t be a world where everything is unfairly decided the moment you’re born, but a world where you can enjoy everything fairly, based on your efforts and strengths. I want to show this to everyone.’
These were the words Rai had spoken when he first made the contract with the Illusion Magic Tower.
Back then, Rai had absurdly mentioned a concept like ‘equality.’
Rippert thought at the time that Rai could say such things only because he was a mage, but that wasn’t it.
In the first place, even a mage’s position was more or less determined by birth.
It just seemed like Rai was looking at a different world.
Normally, he wouldn’t have sold to a commoner, but remembering Rai’s words, Rippert sold ‘Maple Leaf Story’ to the commoner girl.
The money was clearly acquired through some desperate means, but he didn’t bother asking.
Seeing her hopping around excitedly as if she were going to see a play made him feel good.
This was the origin story of how the only commoner member of the ‘Zatum Expedition,’ <Phantom Thief Reset>, came to be.
Millie played ‘Maple Leaf Story’ every night.
She immediately quit her job as a maid at the lord’s castle, moved alone to a nearby city, and began working odd jobs at a tavern.
Luckily, there was no pursuit from the lord’s castle.
Perhaps the Baroness hadn’t noticed… Millie thought. After all, the Baroness had a lot of jewelry.
So, Millie continued to steadily level up.
The reason she chose the nickname <Phantom Thief Reset> was simple.
It was named after the Thief ‘Reset,’ who was once a member of the Hero Party and an assassin.
Like the other Hero Parties, Reset’s story was famous.
Before joining the Hero Party as a commoner, Reset lived as a thief and assassin.
Of course, it wasn’t a righteous past to join the Hero Party.
People back then opposed his joining the Hero Party.
But Galliard insisted on his inclusion.
Galliard had been stubborn ever since his days as a hero.
Reset was only recognized after his death.
Reset sacrificed himself to bind the Demon King’s feet during their final battle.
He died in the end, but thanks to his sacrifice, they were able to defeat the Demon King.
After the war was over, it was revealed that Reset had used the money he stole and earned from his assassination jobs to establish orphanages and make donations.
He had lived for the neglected, even though his methods were extreme.
He was later called ‘Great Thief Reset’ and was acknowledged as a hero only after his death.
His heroic tale was especially popular among the commoners.
Millie wasn’t a ‘Great Thief’ like Reset.
In a way, she was just a petty thief.
So, she settled for the name <Phantom Thief Reset>.
She chose the class of dagger thief for similar reasons.
Although she was insignificant now, someday, Millie also wanted to become someone like Reset.
After some time passed, the ‘Zatum Expedition’ incident occurred.
Millie was also invited to join the expedition.
For a commoner like her, attending an offline strategy meeting was naturally burdensome.
Especially since the meeting wasn’t just anywhere, but at a banquet hosted by the Imperial Family.
However, Galliard’s side had already obtained permission.
After all, he too was originally a commoner, and he asked her to attend and shine at the event.
So, with the invitation in hand, Millie headed to the Imperial City.
Just as Galliard had said, she entered the banquet, but everyone murmured as they looked at her.
She shrank back, unable to say a word during the strategy meeting.
Her class was also the most undervalued one—Shadower.
With each passing moment, her confidence dwindled.
Even though she had reached the highest level as a Shadower, an impressive feat, and even though things like one’s real-life status shouldn’t have mattered in ‘Maple Leaf Story,’ she still felt inadequate.
With that lack of confidence, the ‘Zatum Raid’ began.
Despite her own doubts, her skills were truly remarkable.
With a class like Shadower, which is difficult to maintain HP with, she showed off splendid movements while consistently dealing damage.
As the raid neared its end, most of the members were caught off guard by an unexpected attack pattern from the main body, and they all died.
There seemed to be no hope of success, and most had already given up.
The last health bar of Zatum finally appeared, but too many members had already fallen.
‘Based on how fast the health bar is decreasing, Zatum’s remaining health should be roughly…’
Millie, <Phantom Thief Reset>, tried estimating Zatum’s total health while watching the agonizingly slow decline of its health bar.
It was a meaningless action, but even a rough estimate might help for the next attempt.
Having completed her calculations, she concluded that clearing it this time would be impossible.
That was until she noticed the ground littered with mesos dropped by the trash mobs.
‘…Huh?’
In that moment, a certain skill flashed through her mind.
Mesos Explosion, a skill she learned during the 3rd Job Advancement.
It’s a skill that causes the mesos dropped on the map to explode and deal damage.
The more mesos there are, the greater the damage inflicted.
When she first learned the skill, she thought it was a ridiculous skill.
One of the reasons Shadower was undervalued was also because of this skill.
Making dropped money explode to deal damage—
Considering other classes’ attack skills, it seemed like an absurd way of dealing damage.
So even <Phantom Thief Reset> had never bothered using that skill.
But now—
She seemed to have realized the true value of ‘Mesos Explosion.’
As long as you throw a lot of money around, you can deal tremendous damage.
And based on her calculations, if she scattered all the money she had, she could almost wipe out Zatum’s remaining health.
Normally, there would be no reason to attempt such a thing.
The money lost in the explosion would far exceed the money gained by hunting monsters.
But this situation was different.
This was the raid on Zatum that the whole world was watching.
For that purpose, spending this amount of mesos was well worth it.
Just like the true hero Reset of the past—
Even when he was criticized and pointed at, he used his money behind the scenes to help those in need.
It was a skill truly befitting a ‘Great Thief.’
Thus, <Phantom Thief Reset> began scattering mesos onto the ground.
When only the last 1 meso was left in her hand—
“Mesos Explosion—”
Ting—
The single coin flicked out from <Phantom Thief Reset>’s fingers.
As it spun, the maple leaf pattern on the coin alternated in and out of view.
Only then did a few of her comrades, realizing her intention, gape with their mouths wide open.
Moments later, a massive explosion erupted, and a significant chunk of Zatum’s health disappeared in an instant.
“What… all of a sudden…?”
“W-What kind of damage is this?!”
“Finish it off!”
The members, who hadn’t grasped the situation, were stunned by the sudden explosion.
But they quickly regained their composure and focused their attacks.
Finally, as the last sliver of Zatum’s health vanished—
Crack— Crackle—
—GROOOOOOAAARRR—!!
With a bizarre scream, Zatum’s main body began to split apart.
“We… we did it…”
“D-Did we really beat it this time?!”
“Haaaaa…”
“Really… we actually did it.”
“To think… we actually pulled it off. Haha… hahahahaha!”
Paang—
And as Zatum was completely shattered, an enormous amount of items and mesos poured out all at once.
It was a sight like jewels raining down from the sky.
“Ah… Ah…”
<Phantom Thief Reset> looked at the scene and felt a feeling she had never experienced before in her life.
A life that had been born with nothing, filled only with poverty.
Days spent scrubbing floors at the bottom.
Thinking back, no one would have imagined that she could achieve such a miracle.
This miracle was only possible because it was the world of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
A world where everyone starts equally, and everything is determined by one’s own efforts.
And <Phantom Thief Reset> had silently worked hard in that world, allowing her to achieve this.
<Phantom Thief Reset>. Before the miracle she had created with her own hands—
For the first time in her life, she could gift herself a happy smile.
Not long after the successful Zatum raid—
The recorded footage of the raid, captured by Hina, was released to the world, causing an immense sensation.
[‘Zatum’ Raid Interview. An interview with the 24 heroes who made history in ‘Maple Leaf Story.’]
[The 4-hour-long ‘Zatum Raid’ recording. Growing voices calling for copies and sales of the footage. Illusion Magic Tower says ‘It’s in production.’]
[Shocking! The true identity of the key contributor in the Zatum raid, <Phantom Thief Reset>. The only commoner member of the expedition?]
[The ‘Mesos Explosion’ craze sparked by <Kaito Reset>’s performance. Some question how she was able to purchase ‘Maple Leaf Story.’]
[Soaring popularity of the Dagger Thief class thanks to <Phantom Thief Reset>’s success. ‘Mom, I want to become a Shadower when I grow up!’]
[‘Zatum’s’ best drop item, ‘Zatum’s Helmet.’ Detailed specs and the first member to obtain ‘Zatum’s Helmet.’]
[The relentless popularity of <Light of the Empire>. Nobles are requesting a ‘Light of the Empire Cam’ from the Illusion Magic Tower for the Zatum raid.]
.
.
.
.
.
“Here I go, Mesos Explosion!”
“Hey! The more money you throw, the cooler it explodes!”
With the overwhelming popularity of the ‘Zatum Expedition’—
Everyone who witnessed the epic moment at the end of the Zatum raid began flicking coins with their fingers.
—
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