That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 1 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Dispatching Air Pirates

DUDLEY HAD BEGUN TO PANIC as he floated in the skies above the capital in the cockpit of his Armor.

“If the boss finds out I ran from a buncha brats, he’ll have my head. I gotta bring back some kinda prize, or I’m as good as dead.” He reached for the rifle on his back and took aim at the building below, from which he’d escaped. His finger tightened on the trigger. “Gotta at least get rid of that freak.”

Although Dudley had claimed only moments ago that he would be back for his revenge, he’d lose his position in the Sharks if he failed to fulfill Stephanie’s simple request. It didn’t matter that he was one of the pirate lieutenants; either their boss would kill him or he’d be demoted all the way down to the bottom and have to start from scratch. The latter was the best he could hope for, but Dudley was desperate to avoid either fate.

Adrenaline still pumped through him, scrambling his thoughts. He was only a second away from pulling the trigger of his rifle, completely oblivious to the fact that if he fired, he would risk everything. Sadly, he lacked the composure for that level of forethought.

His finger pulled back the rest of the way. The rifle fired, the bullet slicing through the air—until it was deflected by a black Armor racing up toward him.

Sweat poured down Dudley’s forehead. “Oversized tin can!” he snarled.

Dudley turned and sped away, but Arroganz was hot on his tail. Said tin can should have been too big and unwieldy to pack a punch, but somehow, it far surpassed his Armor in every way.

“You seriously telling me that antique’s more powerful than my suit? It’s nothing like the boss’s!”

Dudley knew of only one suit of size and similar power, and even among exceptions to the rule, it was a rarity. It had never crossed his mind that there might be another.

A line formed in his brow as he watched Arroganz dart through the air. He cursed under his breath. “So it’s a speed demon, too?” 

If Arroganz caught him from behind as he fled, the attack would be fatal. Dudley had no other choice. He spun around and held his battleaxe at the ready. In contrast, Arroganz held no weapon whatsoever. Perhaps it didn’t have one. Regardless, this just further infuriated Dudley. It was as if his opponent were mocking him, saying he wasn’t worth drawing a weapon.

“Don’t you dare underestimate me!” He raised his battleaxe overhead and charged. With impeccable timing, he brought it crashing down on the enemy suit. Dudley wasn’t one of the pirate lieutenants for nothing; he’d earned his reputation in numerous battles. No ordinary pilot, or even your average knight, would have stood a chance against him.

Unfortunately, he’d picked the wrong fight this time around.

Arroganz lifted a single hand and caught his axe in its palm.

“Are you stupid?!” Dudley howled.

That was the only explanation. An Armor’s hand—its manipulator—was one of the most delicate parts of the suit. It was an extremely complex instrument constructed of a vast number of parts in order to accurately mimic the movements of a human hand. A fighter would never use their bare hand to catch a weapon, knowing the destruction it would surely cause. And yet Arroganz hadn’t hesitated to grab his axe. 

Then its fingers cinched around the bladed edge, shattering the entire thing into tiny shards.

Dudley stared in shock. “No way!”

An Armor’s hand was made to be able to manipulate any number of weapons. It wasn’t supposed to be so powerful it could crush metal. Dudley couldn’t digest what he was seeing.

The shaft of the battleaxe was all that remained. Dudley tossed it aside—it was useless now. He immediately resumed his escape, certain that this enemy was beyond him. There was no point in pride or shame when faced with a beast like that. And yet, of course, Arroganz followed close on his tail.

“Please, enough! Spare my life! I’ll tell you anythin’ you wanna know. Anythin’ at all!”

“No,” said a young voice from within the hulking enemy Armor. “I’m going to crush you.”

In the next instant, Arroganz caught up, and its fist slammed into Dudley from above. Dudley’s suit rapidly lost altitude, plummeting toward the earth. He stared up at the skies above—at the black suit that had overpowered him.

“You gotta be kidding me! Who the hell’re you?!” Again, Dudley reached for his rifle and pulled the trigger at his enemy, though he knew all the while that it was futile.

“You don’t need to know who I am. Just know you’re about to learn a little something about hell.”

Arroganz easily dodged the incoming bullet and continued to dive down on Dudley. Its enormous foot slammed into Dudley’s torso, sending him hurtling into a lake on the outskirts of the capital.

***

I’d successfully taken down the last remaining enemy Armor. The pilot had survived, of course. The kingdom’s military flew in (literally) and took Dudley into custody with assurances that he would be questioned. The vast majority of the pirates who’d been hiding in the warehouse district were subsequently apprehended. Marie and the other girls were safely recovered as well.

Well, that’s done and dusted. Or so I’d hoped. Instead, the military summoned me to one of their aircraft and guided me to an interrogation room.

The man sitting across the table from me was a knight in military uniform. His face scrunched as he summarized my version of events. “So you’re telling me you picked a fight with those air pirates because you wanted to save the girls they took?”

“Yes. On my pride as a man, I couldn’t overlook their actions.” I sat up straighter and smiled with boyish enthusiasm to emphasize my sincerity.

The knight’s nose wrinkled. “You could have reported this to the palace or the academy rather than take action yourself. You realize that, don’t you? I understand your thirst for glory, but we would prefer you didn’t act alone and endanger yourself.”

That seemed pretty hypocritical coming from the military, seeing as they’d left the air pirates untouched before I stepped in, but I didn’t fault him for it. He and his comrades had other stuff to attend to. My acting alone and without permission had only caused a fuss because we were in the capital. Some were grateful for my deeds, but others preferred to scold me for acting impulsively. I had to concede that point; the only thing on my mind had been resolving the situation. I hadn’t stopped to consider what would happen afterward. Unplanned actions and haphazard tactics were practically my way of life at this point.

“My apologies,” I said sincerely.

The knight let out a heavy sigh. “There’s more I’d like to say, but I also agree you should be lauded for capturing those pirates. In light of your accomplishments, I won’t admonish you any further.”

“I appreciate that.” I smiled at him.

He pressed a hand to his face. “That said, it’s troubling to think air pirates have infiltrated the capital. Things might get messy from here on out.” The knight stood from his chair and strolled out of the room.

Little did he know, I was anxious, too. It had never occurred to me that the air pirates involved in this fiasco would be the same ones that were central to the otome game’s story. The Winged Sharks showed up midway through the narrative to screw with the protagonist. As if their involvement wasn’t concerning enough, there was also the fact that Stephanie was pulling their strings. That left me even more confused. I hadn’t thought she’d do something like this, not when the game had only just begun.

“Now what?” I wondered out loud. “Turning her over would be easy enough, but…”

But she was an essential antagonist. I could easily reveal her involvement, but that would put the kibosh on a pivotal event in the middle of the game’s story. Part of me hated Stephanie for what she’d done to Marie. However, when I weighed the future of the country against my personal grudge, I hesitated to follow my heart.

Luxion suddenly materialized beside me. “Marie sustained some minor injuries, but she used her healing magic to make a full recovery,” he reported.

“So basically, she doesn’t even have a scratch.”

“She also healed the girls who were bullying her. I fail to comprehend these actions. I see no advantage in this for Marie.”

To be honest, I was kinda happy to hear about this.

“She’s a tough one. If it were me, I’d have made those jerks pay.”

“I do not doubt that for a moment, Master.”

***

Marie and her bullies were summoned by the school staff to tell their story. After the girls shared every detail they could remember, the professors left their seats. The girls were instructed to wait in the room; the staff wanted to confer before continuing the discussion.

Marie sat near a window while the other three had taken desks farther away. She stared out the glass, her mind on Leon. I heard he’s being interrogated. Did he do something wrong? She’d asked the school staff when he didn’t return. They had told her the military had summoned him for questioning.

All Leon had done was dispatch a bunch of pirates. Why would they take him into custody? Marie didn’t understand.

While she was lost in thought, the other girls approached her.

“Um,” said the leader, hesitating. All three stared nervously at their feet.

“What?” Marie snapped.

They lowered their heads. “W-we’re…sorry.” 

Any urge Marie had felt to lash out vanished. She remembered what they’d done to her, but she didn’t blame them. Not after they explained that Stephanie had been behind it all.

“It’s fine,” she said. “But are you guys really not gonna rat Stephanie out?”

At the very mention of her name, the girls were trembling again. That spoke volumes to Marie.

“Sorry,” said the leader, lips quivering, “but we can’t. If we anger her, our families will suffer the consequences.”

Marie shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter to me either way.” She knew about Stephanie and the Offreys, thanks to the game. Stephanie still had an important part to play later in the plot. It would only leave both Marie and Leon in a bind if she was driven out of the academy before her time. The air pirates arc had important character development for Olivia. If she missed out on that, it could really screw things up.

And anyway, if we got rid of Stephanie, Leon would throw a fit, she thought.

As much as it pissed Marie off, knowing who was behind all this, she would rather swallow her pride than see the kingdom go down in flames—or the game go off the rails. That was what she kept telling herself, at least.

The trio eyed her worriedly. “I think it would be best for you to stay away from the prince and his friends.”

“Why?”

“Because you already have an awful reputation. Plus, they’re all engaged. You know that, right? Stephanie is dangerous enough, but she’s not the scariest of the bunch.”

Their faces had hardened with fear.

“You mean Angelica?” Marie asked.

“If you already know who we’re talking about, then you’d best quit while you’re ahead. Even Stephanie doesn’t hold a candle to Lady Angelica.”

Their terror didn’t surprise Marie. Stephanie’s basically a baby. The real antagonist is way more fearsome. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve…kinda lost interest in trying to get with the love interests anyhow.

One of the girls held out the beat-up notebook they had swiped from Marie’s room. “Here.”

“My notebook…” Marie accepted it and hugged it to her chest, still delighted to have it back.

“Is that some kinda ancient tome?” The girls looked confused. “I mean, it definitely doesn’t look like a normal notebook.”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about. But it’s very precious to me.” Marie hesitated. “Or it was, I guess.”

The trio were puzzled, but the conversation was over; the professors were filtering back into the room.

***

By the following day, word of Leon’s triumph over a crew of air pirates in the capital had spread. A number of students were enthusiastically chattering about it. Olivia overhead them as she made her way down a hall.

“Did you hear? Bartfort captured some pirates who were hiding out right here in the capital!”

“He got in his Armor and gave them a real beat down, right?”

“I thought he was just a plain, run-of-the-mill guy, but that’s a serious accomplishment.”

None of the boys looked particularly pleased to hear the girls gushing about Leon, but even they had to recognize his strength.

“Damn that Bartfort, making a name for himself like this.”

“Ugh, the girls are gonna be crawling all over him in May.”

“Give me a break. We already have enough competition. Now he’s gotta show off?”

Naturally, the boys’ concern was the upcoming tea parties. They feared that the girls would be so fixated on Leon that they’d refuse everyone else’s invitations.

All this left Olivia naturally curious about this Leon fellow. He’s only a student, but he managed to subdue air pirates all by himself. Aristocrats sure are something else. She continued walking along, lost in thought. Come to think of it, I passed by him yesterday evening. Was that when he was chasing down those pirates?

“Get a load of this: Bartfort apparently beat up those pirates because he was trying to save some girls.”

“For real? How many brownie points is he trying to score?”

“Great. Now the rest of us are going to get compared to that. Ugh, this sucks.”

Hearing that he’d swooped into the rescue only piqued Olivia’s interest even further. He’s like a knight from the minstrels’ songs.

Minstrels frequented pubs, where they performed for coin. They often sang heroic epics in which knights saved damsels in distress. Olivia had admired these tales from a young age, and ever since, she’d dreamed of a man like that coming to whisk her away.

A knight, huh? If only someone like that could show up to save me. 

***

Meanwhile, these rumors of Leon had reached Angelica’s ears as well.

After the reports, she pressed a hand to her face and laughed. “I suppose I’m a bad judge of character after all. I said I sensed no ambition, and now I hear he dispatched a gang of pirates to save some school girls?” She grinned. “Now that’s what I would call a noble knight.” 

Sensing the sea change, her followers were quick to trip over themselves and agree.

“Yes, he truly is magnificent.”

“I would love to invite him to our May tea party.”

Their fickleness got under Angelica’s skin. I wish they’d simply admit that their initial assessments were mistaken. No matter. If he’s this capable, I’d love to make him a retainer of His Highness. All the more so, since he hails from a rural barony. That means he doesn’t come burdened with many undesirable ties.

Leon had proven himself a worthy knight. Angelica hoped to invite him to stay in the capital and work on Julius’s behalf.

I need to invite him to the May party and find time to speak with both him and His Highness. The prince’s future utterly depends on the strength of the allies he can recruit now. As far as she was concerned, Leon’s prowess would be a vital cornerstone of Julius’s rule. His strength is more than adequate. All that remains to assess is his character. I wonder what kind of person he is.

Angelica nodded to herself a few times. “Make absolutely certain that he meets with His Highness during the May tea party. Ensure you warn the other girls not to interfere with his schedule.”

After everything Leon had accomplished, she couldn’t imagine her peers standing idly by. None of the other academy girls had quite the level of influence that Angelica did, granted, but Angelica couldn’t chance anyone stealing this opportunity out from under her.

One of her followers stared back, puzzled. “Do we really need to go to such lengths? He’s from an unremarkable barony. Will he even accept the prince’s invitation?”

“Of course he will. And of course he’s worth the effort—he’s a valuable asset.”

The prince needs as many capable people in his inner circle as possible. Julius’s rule would depend on the quality of his subordinates. That was why Angelica was working so doggedly to identify and recruit such people while she was at the academy. However, a particular concern continued to weigh on her mind. I can only hope he doesn’t remain so fixated on the scholarship student, especially when he needs to keep an eye on the people around him.

***

While whispers of Leon’s accomplishments made the rounds at the academy, Stephanie threw a fit in her dorm room.

“Useless vermin!” she howled, knocking over furniture and hurling a flower vase at the wall.

Her servants tried to placate her with little success; she ignored them.

“That pustule Bartfort really screwed things up.”

Stephanie’s gambit to exact revenge on Marie had utterly backfired, leaving her on the back foot. She couldn’t have foreseen his meddling, nor had it ever crossed her mind that her pirates would lose to some random student. Dudley was one of their most powerful fighters. No ordinary knight could have hoped to best him. And yet, in spite of his impressive record, he’d fallen so easily.

Carla trembled where she stood. “Wh-what are we going to do now, my lady?! If those pirates talk, we’ll be…” 

She trailed off, but Stephanie knew what she was getting at. If the pirates revealed their connections to the Offreys—worse, to Stephanie specifically—it would be the end of her and her house.

Stephanie let out a deep breath. “I’ve already taken countermeasures to prevent such an outcome. They won’t say anything. You needn’t worry about that.”

There were plenty of ways to dispose of them before they did.

“Huh? B-but I heard they were captured and imprisoned.”

Stephanie nodded. “They were, but I have plenty of tools at my disposal to ensure their silence.”

Carla stared, wide-eyed, not catching the implication.

Stephanie had already abandoned the men who had been captured. To her, they were only tools.

“Anyway,” Stephanie said, “I want you to thoroughly investigate Bartfort. That rat is going to pay for daring to defy me.”

But first, I need to ensure the idiots who got themselves captured don’t talk. A few bribes, a little poison, and that will be that.