For a short while, I briefly considered quitting my job on the spot.

However, after wrestling with myself internally, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Quitting my job in the royal palace was simply too rash, and Hanamarie's common sense reeled at such a childish impulse. In particular, my father was disabled and my whole family depended on my income. Every month, I mailed a huge chunk of my earnings back home, and I couldn't suddenly abandon Hana's family to starve.

Thinking about it seriously, Hana really is an amazing person...

She was only sixteen years old when she traveled hundreds of miles to the royal capital to look for work. She didn't have any relatives or acquaintances in the city, yet somehow she managed to make a living without relying on anyone. Obviously, finding a job in the royal palace is extremely competitive, and most work applications are rejected during the screening process. Furthermore, it pays extremely well to be employed by the royal family.

If I quit my job, it was extremely unlikely that I could find peasant work that could match my current salary.

Basically, the mature side of me told me to 'stop whining' and shut up.

Even if I disliked my classmates, I was basically being paid the equivalent of $40/hour to change some bedsheets and wash dirty laundry.

Was it worth the cost to my trampled dignity and pride?

...I'm sorry, father, for dishonoring the Zhang family name.

I'm a cash sellout.

+ + +

Of course, my reluctant acceptance of the situation didn't mean that I was anything close to enthusiastic about becoming the personal servant of one of my high school classmates. The other attendants and I regrouped for a quick staff meeting, and I could tell that all of them were extremely excited about their assignment despite their unsuccessful attempts to appear nonchalant and calm. It was unbecoming of a personal butler to demonstrate excess emotion, and we were supposed to be stoic, dispassionate, and poised at all times.

That said, my deadpan expression wasn't an act.

A few of the newly promoted ladies-in-waiting were clearly less experienced than the veterans, which wasn't particularly surprising since half of us weren't even trained for this role. You could see the nervous trepidation on their faces, but they tried their best to appear elegant and refined, although the final product was rather awkward and robotic.

"I think you're better off acting the way you normally do," I gave my honest opinion to my friend Lisa.

The recently promoted maid laughed nervously.

"How are you so calm, Hana?" She stammered fitfully.

Uhh...

I tried to make up a sensible excuse.

"The heroes are Otherworlders, so our traditions and rules of etiquette are unknown and irrelevant to them. Basically, it doesn't matter if you slip up on the traditional greeting or adulation blessing. Their culture is entirely different from ours." 

"But that only makes me more nervous!" Lisa exclaimed. "What if I accidentally offend them? I don't want to say the wrong thing! We could break their taboos without even knowing it!"

On the contrary, the Kingdom of Galuterica's culture was much more conservative than modern society on Earth, so it was actually more likely that my classmates would offend the local inhabitants with their vulgar behavior. However, I had no way of explaining this to Lisa, so I ultimately fell silent.

I didn't realize that Guiyu and Hana's combined memories would be so useful. 

I was completely silent while we walked towards the Hall of Heroes as a group.

We could hear a noisy clamor from the Hero Summoning Chamber, and the entire hallway was crowded with various ministers, politicians, and advisors who were struggling to get a handle on this chaotic situation. Politely, we pushed our way to the front of the crowd, which was when I suddenly realized that I had neglected something important this entire time.

In the center of the room, twelve of my ridiculous classmates were attempting to play pictionary with the Grand Archbishop of Galuterica.

They were struggling to mine out actions while twisting their hands in sign language. 

"Onkol zo toxt wholo zaxat ug wisk te slaxansraxato," the Grand Archbishop said.

"不好意思, 我不明白?" My classmate Kang Jiesu answered quizzically.

"Zaxat nud molupp unbeltunaxato."

...

I instantly facepalmed at something so painfully obvious. I had forgotten about it since Hanamarie's knowledge had effortlessly fused together with Zhang Guiyu's memories. Evidently, I became bilingual as a side effect of becoming a NPC.

However, my other classmates didn't speak the local language.

∎