That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 1 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Meet-Cute Event

THE ACADEMY WAS LOCATED in the royal capital of Holfort Kingdom. When you left campus, you’d find yourself in the center of a sprawling metropolis.

A towering gate stood at the front of the school, which saw significant foot traffic—mostly from female students. Many of them wandered out at night to seek entertainment and pleasure in the city, only to return much, much later.

To them, the curfew might as well not have existed. In stark contrast, if any boys were found breaking said curfew, they were severely punished—which started with several hundred push-ups and squats, in addition to having to write a letter of self-reflection. Multiple infractions would result in confinement. That was why few boys dared to mill around by the front gate as it grew dark. Those who did dare were those with little regard for the rules.

Found him! 

Like many other girls, Marie had slipped out of the gate. The moment she spotted a familiar boy heading out with the rest of the crowd, she tailed him. His short, fiery-red hair was swept back, and his toned muscles bulged beneath the fabric of his uniform. The fact that he openly wore his uniform past curfew spoke to his lack of concern about the professors patrolling the area. The boy’s name was Greg Fou Seberg, Earl Seberg’s heir, and he was on the hunt for a hearty meal.

Greg took pride in his husky build. He had a bit of a short temper, but he was heroic, manly, and dependable on the battlefield. Naturally, he was yet another of the game’s love interests.

Having picked his restaurant for the night, he started toward the door. Marie took that as her cue and rushed up behind him. This is my chance!

“Oh? Is that you, Lord Greg? I never dreamed I’d run into you out here.” She smiled at him.

Greg paused at the eatery’s entrance and turned to look at her. He tilted his head. “Oh, uh, who are you?” He didn’t even pretend to recognize her. That was just the kind of person he was—direct and honest.

Marie inwardly panicked, but she reminded herself that she had room to recover. That’s right. In the game, the protagonist is already a little acquainted with him before they eat together. I have met him already, but we didn’t actually get to have a proper conversation. B-but I can still do this. All we have to do is eat together. That’s the biggest hurdle. Everything after will be a piece of cake.

Marie had a wealth of experience thanks to her work in the adult industry. As long as she had an opening, she was confident she could seduce Greg. After all, she had the advantage; she knew everything about him, including his preference in women. If she leveraged her skills and knowledge, she could cozy up to him even faster than the protagonist had.

“Oh, don’t you remember me? We’re in the same class,” Marie reminded him.

“Are we? Gotta say, I don’t remember you at all.”

“Ah ha ha…” Marie laughed awkwardly. “Really? I’m Marie. Marie Fou Lafan.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.”

Despite the fact that they had even done group projects together, Greg didn’t remember her at all. But that wasn’t surprising. Even then, they hadn’t really talked much.

Dammit! This is all because those other girls got in my way. They’re gonna pay for thwarting me like that! I’ll get my revenge on anyone who messes with me, no matter who they are. For a moment, Leon’s face popped into Marie’s head. Not that contemptible jerk again. Every time she tried to approach one of the love interests, she found herself thinking of Leon. It made it impossible to concentrate. Who cares about him anyway? Marie banished him from her mind.

Though Marie resented those girls for screwing up her opening, she forged ahead and summoned up the protagonist’s lines from her meet-cute with Greg.

“Are you about to eat?” Marie asked with a smile.

Come on, invite me! she chanted in her head. Invite me! Invite meeeee! I’m starving over here! Treat me to something! The second he asked her to join him, the event would be right on course.

Greg took another look at Marie, then glanced inside the restaurant he was standing in front of. Marie was a petite little waif of a girl. He probably didn’t think this place was suited for someone like her.

“I’m after somethin’ really filling today, so I’m set on meat. Real guy food. Probably not the thing for a girl like you. See ya.” Greg turned his back on her and reached for the door handle.

Marie froze, her lips still turned up in a smile.

Before Greg entirely disappeared inside the restaurant, another female student passed nearby, cradling a book in her arms. “Oh, Mr. Greg,” she called out the moment she noticed him, “is that you?” 

The girl’s voice was neither overeager nor ingratiating; she spoke in the casual way one did when bumping into an acquaintance.

Greg’s hand dropped from the door handle. He spun around, a grin on his face. “Olivia? I didn’t expect you to be messin’ around off campus after dark.”

Olivia’s cheeks heated. “Th-that’s not what I’m doing. I went to pick up a book I requested. I fully intended to return to the academy before curfew, but there were just so many interesting tomes at the bookstore that I lost track of time.”

As she explained herself, the delicious aroma of meat wafted out of the restaurant, a steak place that grilled meat on hot plates. Even from here, Marie could hear the sizzling.

Olivia’s stomach let out an adorable growl. Mortified, she hid her face behind her book.

Greg burst out laughing. “Hungry, are ya? All right, then. Consider today my treat.”

“B-but I would feel terrible having you pay for me,” Olivia protested.

“I’m the one invitin’ ya to join me. Don’t worry about it. Let’s fill our bellies.”

Still, she hesitated. “B-but I eat quite a bit.”

Greg’s eyes glimmered, his interest further piqued by this revelation. “Yeah? Good to hear. Let’s see how much you can pack in. Eat as much as ya like. I wanna see if you’re pullin’ my leg.”

“I don’t know…”

“C’mon! I’m starvin’ here. Just join me.” Greg retreated from the entrance to make his way over to Olivia, giving her a gentle push to the back to guide her inside with him.

Marie watched them go, feeling intensely alone and heartbroken. What’s up with this? No matter how hard I try, I can’t beat the protagonist’s natural charisma. Is that it? This is just too much. I poured all my time and effort into getting here, and now…

Marie turned her back to the restaurant and the two who had entered it. Greg’s delight at the sight of Olivia had crushed her. Why aren’t I having any luck? Why?!

Her eyes shimmered, tears carving hot trails down her cheeks. Marie shoved her way through the crowded streets, trying to put distance between herself and yet another failed attempt, when someone grabbed her arm. Shocked, she looked up to find Leon standing there.

“I was looking for you,” he said.

***

I dragged Marie to a deserted alleyway so we could talk in private. A few people were wandering the area, but they had no interest in us. Both Marie and I were wearing hooded robes to avoid being recognized by any patrolling professors.

Marie stared down at her feet, utterly dejected.

I breathed a small sigh. “Let’s talk.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Wow, no hesitation in that rejection. I had approached her tons of times at the academy, and she’d evaded me on every single occasion. Pursuing her too doggedly would only fuel unsavory rumors, so I’d entrust Luxion with the task of keeping an eye on her. Frankly, I’d have preferred to have nothing more to do with this girl, but we needed a serious heart-to-heart before she caused even more serious trouble. I had no plans of getting chummy. I just didn’t want to be enemies, if possible.

“Well, whether you like it or not, I do wanna.”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying.”

I sneered. “What?”

“I said: You’re. Annoying. This is all because of you. It’s your fault that I’ve blown three whole chances. If not for you, I’d be perfectly happy right now.” The entire time she spoke, Marie kept her eyes on her feet.

Look, I agreed that individual happiness was important, but it wasn’t going to do anyone any good if it meant ending the entire country in the process.

“Why’re you going after the love interests specifically? There’s a whole metric ton of other guys you could pursue,” I said. I wasn’t going to get in the way of her finding happiness as an idea or anything—I just didn’t think she should involve characters critical to the game scenario.

Marie huffed and turned away. “Use your head. Those guys have status, influence, and money—on top of being drop-dead gorgeous. If you had the chance to woo someone like that, would you really be content to just sit by and watch without even trying?”

“I’m a realist. I wouldn’t try something that ambitious.”

“Fine. What if the genders were flipped and they were all girls? Picture that—gorgeous women with sweet, gentle personalities. You’ve got the opportunity to land one. You’re not gonna take it?”

The academy boys had it rough. If they couldn’t land a bride by age twenty, they were doomed to be social pariahs. They had no choice but to settle for anyone they could get. Sadly, in this marriage market, the girls were the ones who got to choose, not us. The lucky ones, like the love interests, could land good matches easily. The rest of us were screwed. A few of us even got married off to old widows. So with that in mind, I supposed that in Marie’s hypothetical where I had a chance at a decent girl…

“Yep, I’d go after her,” I said without missing a beat, nodding to myself.

Marie snorted. “See? That’s how it is. So stop getting in my—”

A low, terrifying rumble split through the air. It sounded like a predator snarling at its prey—but there was no mistaking. It had come from Marie’s petite body.

“Uh, was that noise…?” I stared at her, mouth agape.

Marie sank to her bottom, where she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on them, then broke down in sobs. “Ugh, this is an absolute nightmare. My body’s so tiny and inefficient! As if it couldn’t get any worse, I can’t even hold a candle to that stupid protagonist. How am I supposed to win at this rate?”

I had no idea what had triggered this, but she seemed really down in the dumps.

Luxion popped out of the shadows. “Master, it is still of utmost importance that the two of you confer further. You must exchange what information you each possess regarding this ‘game.’”

“Uh, yeah, I guess you’re right.” I glanced down at Marie, whose shoulders were shaking as she wept. “If you’re starving, I’ll treat you. C’mon.”

***

We left the alleyway for a nearby restaurant. A brief glance at the customers inside suggested the place wasn’t too fancy or high-end. Waiters were serving alcohol, but it wasn’t a pub or anything. There were parents and children sitting in booths, enjoying meals as a family.

A waiter guided us to a table, where we plopped down and cracked open our menus. My eyes went straight to the list of prices. I stroked my chin. “Guess this place is a little pricey.”

Marie’s cheeks twisted. She stared at me in open disbelief, tilting her head. “You think it’s a little pricey? Really?” Apparently she disagreed with my assessment.

I decided on my order and promptly shut the menu, turning my cheek to Marie. “Excuse me for coming from a poor, backwater barony.” 

Everything I knew about this world and its society had told me that women lived far more luxurious, pampered lives than men. But you remember that thing about an exception for every rule.

“You think you’re poor? Someone who’s actually broke can’t even enter the cheapest, bottom-of-the-barrel restaurant.”

“Huh? I mean, uh…right. Yeah, I guess so.”

Marie continued frowning as she studied the menu, carefully selecting her order. Knowing what I did about her, I doubted she was trying to be considerate and select the cheapest food she could. “All right! For now, I think I’ll have three orders of the most expensive steak.” She grinned as she shut her menu.

Gobsmacked, I snatched up my own menu to assess the damage. The description beneath the aforementioned steak assured it was a hearty meal. It was so large, in fact, that your average guy would have trouble polishing it off. Did she really want three?

I studied her body. Not in an obscene way, of course. Compared to other girls our age, Marie was downright scrawny. I had a hard time imagining someone that skinny and petite packing away so much.

“Are you sure you can fit all that? It’d be in pretty poor taste if you’re only ordering big to get back at me and you’re just gonna waste it all,” I said pointedly.

As if to answer, Marie’s stomach let out another rumbling growl. It was so loud you might have been forgiven for thinking we’d come with a wild beast.

“Just forget me and order,” Marie snapped. “Oh, and you don’t mind if I add more later, right? I’m asking to be nice—I just want to make sure your wallet can handle it.”

I slipped my wallet out of my pocket to double-check. I carried a fair number of bills and coins, so I didn’t think there’d be any problems. “I’ve got it covered. Don’t worry. Might surprise you to hear, but I’ve raked in a nice share of cash.”

My adventures prior to entering the academy had netted me a substantial sum. Plus, I had Luxion, so I didn’t really have to worry about my finances.

Marie furrowed her brows and averted her eyes. “I knew it. You have no idea what it means to be poor.”

***

After the food arrived, Marie astounded me once again by quickly and easily stuffing it all down her gob.

“Man, this is delicious,” she said. “Totally different from wild game. It’s cooked to perfection, too, so it goes down super easy. I could eat dozens of these.” She sawed through her steak with a knife and fork, stabbed a juicy, bite-sized piece, and popped it into her mouth. The slab of meat on her plate shrank as she devoured it, pausing only briefly to wash it down with a gulp of water.

Marie had already polished off the first three steaks and had asked the waiter for more. Our table was covered in cast iron plates, but the waiter swung by and dropped off yet another. I stared at the steak sizzling away on the metal, doused in the restaurant’s trademark sauce. It was probably more than two inches thick.

It wasn’t all meat, either. These steaks came with a side of veg, and Marie had no trouble scarfing those down as well. Once the plate in front of her was empty, she stacked it atop the others and reached for the next, ready to dig in. She grinned the whole time, too. It was as if she were in heaven.

“H-hey, you don’t have to inhale the stuff,” I told her. “No one’s gonna steal your dinner.” Just watching her ravage her plates had made my stomach feel full. Her hands never stopped moving.

“I gotta eat while I’ve got the chance. There’s no telling when I’ll get my next meal,” Marie reasoned. Her table manners were respectable enough, but her pace was beyond human. Other patrons were staring. That didn’t bother Marie at all; she continued her meal, undeterred.

I slapped a hand over my face. “Oh, please. You can go to the cafeteria whenever you want.”

The academy was generally free in regard to daily expenses and tuition. If all Marie wanted was to live within her means, the cafeteria was available to her at no cost. She had no need for her to dip into her own funds. Not unless she yearned for more luxurious fare, at least—the academy did have a fee for a more high-quality menu.

A wrinkle formed on Marie’s brow. “The cafeteria portions aren’t nearly enough. Even with three full meals a day, my stomach’s still growling after every one.”

“You don’t say.”

For being pint-sized, she sure had a voracious appetite.

Thus far, Luxion had quietly observed her. He had used his cloaking mechanism to keep himself hidden, but to signify his presence, he reduced its opacity so a barely visible outline of his body appeared—just enough to show us and no one else.

“This is most intriguing,” Luxion remarked. “I have confirmed that Marie shares traits unique to the old humans as well. I am forced to wonder if all who have reincarnated here share this peculiarity.”

Luxion seemed fonder of Marie now that he’d discerned this little detail. He was ordinarily dismissive of what he considered “the rabble”—which was how he referred to the other students, as well as the rest of new humanity—and he was being more attentive and considerate to Marie.

“There’s plenty of food for you to eat,” he assured her. “Please, can we continue our conversation, Marie?”

He wanted us to fill each in on our individual circumstances—an exchange of information. Thus far, Marie had revealed that, like me, she had reincarnated into this world after dying as a Japanese woman in her previous life. She hadn’t revealed how old she’d been when she passed, but based on the details we did know, I had a feeling it had been anywhere from her mid-thirties to mid-forties.

Marie’s parents had disowned her, and she’d made her way through life dating one terrible man after another. It was one of these lowlifes, in fact, who’d become physically violent and killed her. The next thing she knew, she’d woken up here. There was one more point we had in common: Marie couldn’t recall her name from her previous life, either. What memories she did have were vague, so much so that she couldn’t remember the faces of her nearest and dearest with any more than vague detail.

Honestly, the circumstances preceding her death were so tragic that I felt for her. It made things awkward, though. It was more in my nature to tease someone after they got vulnerable just to lighten the mood, but how could I do that now?

Marie’s hands froze. She kept her gaze lowered, careful not to look at me. “Oh, right. Where were we again?”

“You were talking about how you’d reincarnated as Viscount Lafan’s youngest daughter,” I reminded her.

Next thing Marie knew—after her boyfriend’s brutal battering and everything going dark—she was here. I’d have felt way better about all this if she’d gone on to gleefully confide in me about how lucky she was to have been reincarnated as a viscount’s daughter and how thoroughly pampered she’d been all these years before she entered the academy. But I could already sense that wasn’t what was coming.

“Oh, yeah,” she said nonchalantly. Any delight she’d derived from the food drained from her face, as if to suggest that the life she’d thus far led in this world had been anything but joyful. My suspicions were indeed confirmed in the tale that followed. “My new family is the worst. Yeah, my old man rules over a chunk of territory on Holfort’s mainland, but it’s small and extremely impoverished. Doesn’t stop my parents from racking up their debts, of course. Pride is the only thing they’ve got going for them. All my siblings are garbage humans, too.”

By mainland, Marie was referring to the large landmass that made up the majority of the kingdom. Her parents governed a small portion of it. By contrast, my parents were in charge of a separate floating island. It was hard to say which was preferable, but in general, the midland nobility were considered more prominent.

After sharing all that intel, Marie finished with a final comment: “They’re nothing like my old big bro.”

“Big bro? So you had an older brother, huh? I had a baby sister myself, but she was an infuriating little twerp. Did you two get along? Hopefully better than me and my sister, at least.”

After a short pause, Marie snapped, “None of your business.” She shut her mouth, no longer interested in discussing the subject.

For a second—just a split second, really—a thought crossed my mind. Maybe Marie is my old little sister. 

But I then admonished myself. That was stupid. There was no way that could be true. What were the chances of us both reincarnating into some game? And what kinda cruel purgatory would that be, anyway? Besides, she’d still been alive and well when I’d kicked the bucket. It wouldn’t have made sense for her to show up at the same time. Even assuming she did somehow reincarnate into this world, it would be well after I did. I mean, it’s just not possible we’d both be the same age, right?

I didn’t know the first thing about reincarnation as a phenomenon, but regardless, it simply wasn’t realistic to think our fates would cross again like that.

“Back on topic. Why’d you start pursuing the prince and company? This whole country’s doomed if Miss Olivia—the protagonist, I mean—doesn’t end up with one of them.”

If Marie knew the game as well as she seemed to, then surely she knew all of this, but for whatever reason, Marie hadn’t hesitated for a second before trying to screw over the main cast’s relationships. If she messed that all up, it could spell catastrophe for both of us.

Marie grinned triumphantly, sticking out her chin. “Hate to break it to you, but I’ve got that little problem covered. The main character’s not the only one who can use healing magic. I’ve got what it takes to become the Saintess, too.”

“You, the Saintess? What the devil are you—”

Marie’s grip tightened on her knife and fork. “For ten years, I’ve poured my blood, sweat, and tears into training. I had a natural talent for healing magic, and I busted my butt to learn it. The Saintess’s items only respond to those with sufficiently powerful healing magic, right?”

The Saintess’s items were key items for the plot progression. So long as the protagonist had them, they greatly amplified her abilities. But she couldn’t equip them until her magic reached a certain level. It seemed Marie had remembered this little detail.

“So long as I become the Saintess, there’s no issue. I’ll take her place and become the protagonist in her stead.”

Marie spoke with such gravity and confidence that she gave me pause. Our situations were similar, having both reincarnated from Japan, but our way of thinking couldn’t have been more diametrically opposed. I was content to remain a background character; Marie, on the other hand, was doing her utmost to replace the protagonist. If she had indeed reached the level of healing magic required for the Saintess items before she even enrolled in the academy, then she really had put her nose to the grindstone. I was almost tempted to cheer her on. But, sadly, it was on me to deliver a reality check. As devastating as it might be, Marie needed the truth.

“You can’t,” I said firmly.

Marie scrunched her face. “Huh? What do you mean ‘can’t’?”

“Did you really play through the entire game? You can’t save Holfort with the Saintess’s power alone. You need Miss Olivia’s unique ability.”

Marie stared back at me, dumbfounded. “What’re you on about?”

“After Miss Olivia is recognized as the Saintess, she awakens to her own secret powers. These far surpass those of the Saintess and make her even more OP.”

The gameplay was a nightmare from start to finish, but at least Olivia’s abilities were so god-tier in the end that they were basically a cheat code. They allowed her to singlehandedly drive off the final boss, in the process restoring peace to Holfort Kingdom. An explanation for all this was right there in the game’s narrative. Marie should have known about it.

“She couldn’t defeat the final boss with her Saintess abilities alone,” I continued as I stared at her. “There’re a couple of events right before her awakening. Relying on her new ability, she goes into the final battle and comes out victorious. That’s how the story goes, remember?” 

Marie’s gaze began to wander nervously. Blood drained from her face as panic set in. “That can’t be. There was nothing about that in the CGs or event playbacks.”

I shrugged. “So? It’s explained in the text, through dialogue and stuff.” Anyone who played the game would know that.

“I-I don’t know anything about this. I never actually completed the game myself.” Marie hung her head, hands trembling. She’d finally realized that she’d been totally off base.

“You didn’t complete it?” I echoed in disbelief.

“It was so difficult, I gave up midway through. But I wanted to know what happened, so I just got the rest of the story from the scene selection page of a completed save file.” Her eyes shimmered. She was about to burst into tears.

Oh, come on. Now I wanna cry, too. I couldn’t believe Marie had nearly driven the whole story careening off a cliff because she was working off of incomplete knowledge.

“It was definitely crazy hard to beat,” I admitted. “I only managed because I used the cash shop.”

“See, you agree with me! How was I supposed to beat that? It’s not my fault that I didn’t know better.”

I frowned. “Yeah, I’m feeling a little conflicted here, since you’re the one causing all the trouble.” 

It had never even occurred to me that Marie hadn’t actually beaten the game. Good thing we’d had this little talk—otherwise who knew what might’ve happened? Something terrible, I feared. Or maybe not… But I feel like it would’ve been disastrous. 

One thing still didn’t sit quite right with me, though. 

“Marie,” Luxion interrupted, “your additional order is here.”

A waiter approached the table not a second later with Marie’s final plate of steak. She was still teary-eyed as she dug in. Luxion and I stared at her. She seemed a bit more self-conscious than before, having gone all vulnerable on us, but she rushed to say, “Wh-what? It’s been a long time since I was able to eat so good. I told you the cafeteria food isn’t enough, and I never got to eat properly back home. I’ll have you know there were days I subsisted on totally bland soup.”

Had she committed some great, unforgivable sin in her past life? That was the only rational explanation for the pure tragedy that was her current one. Hearing about it almost made my eyes mist over.

“That’s awful,” I said.

“You oughta realize how blessed you are,” she said, her tone more affable now. “Maybe it’s true you’re from a poor, backwater barony, but you landed a good family. And I bet you’ve never worried about having enough to eat, right? I envy you.”

“I can’t really argue, knowing how bad your folks are.”

My father’s legal wife, Zola, had nearly sold me off to marry a fifty-year-old hag. I still considered that a close call and profoundly miserable luck on my end, but there was always someone even less fortunate out there. Zola hated me because I was the son of my father’s mistress. Thankfully, Zola lived the high life in the capital and only rarely returned to our countryside home. My time with my parents and siblings was relatively peaceful. Sure, we were by no means rich, but I hadn’t faced nearly the same level of hardship.

“I’ve had an awful time,” Marie conceded. “It was tough putting food on the table. I’ve had to take my chances out in the wild pretty often.”

“W-wow. That’s actually impressive.”

“And thanks to my circumstances, I’m such a scrawny shrimp. It especially sucks because I was a real looker last time around.” She was clearly self-conscious about her lack of height and curves.

Luxion studied her. “This is pure speculation derived from the details you have shared,” he said—which already sounded like bad news to me. “But I suspect the root cause of your stature is the lengths to which you have pushed yourself to acquire and enhance your healing magic. Ordinarily, your body would be larger and more developed. Even accounting for a nutritional imbalance, you should have grown into a more feminine shape.”

Marie’s hands froze. “What? You’re kidding me.”

“I am speaking in probabilities, of course, but there is a significant chance that you simply pushed past your limits while your body was still growing. Therefore, your development halted. In exchange, you acquired your gifts in healing magic. You could only have done so with admirable fortitude. Master, perhaps you should take a page out of Marie’s book.” Though Luxion spoke with utmost respect for Marie, he couldn’t resist admonishing me in the process.

I sneered at him. “I’m the king of efficiency. On principle, I don’t work any harder than I need to.”

“I anticipated you would say as much. You really ought to consider her a role model.”

“Hard pass. I mean, come on, Marie, you agree you’ve worked yourself way too hard, right?”

After all, Marie had acquired the kind of expertise no one but the protagonist was supposed to have—and before the game proper even started. I wasn’t above praising her for truly impressive acts, but I wasn’t about to try to do the same myself.

Marie dropped her utensils, mouth agape. Her whole body trembled. “What? No way! Y-you don’t mean to say I’m stuck looking like a little kid forever, do you?!”

“Your appearance is the outcome of your honorable efforts. You should take pride in it,” said Luxion. “There are no issues with your reproductive capabilities. You simply will not develop any further.”

In other words, Marie was doomed to be carded for the rest of her life. There was no hope she’d grow any taller, let alone get herself some proper curves.

Marie sobbed and began gorging herself on the steak, all decorum forgotten.