That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 2 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Friends

A NEARBY FLOATING ISLAND served as the capital’s harbor. It was a bustling hub, some vessels docking and others taking flight. That was where Marie found herself as she prepared to depart for the Offreys’ territory.

It was easy to spot their ship among the others. Its golden fittings and decorations were exactly the flashy embellishments you’d expect from new money. It was an ostentatious sight—no, even “ostentatious” almost sounded flattering, but the ship stuck out like a sore thumb, garnering negative attention from passersby.

A number of students had gathered at the port to see Marie off.

“Rie, um… Uh, so, um…” Ellie stammered nervously. “This was really interesting, so you should read it.” She handed Marie a book she was particularly fond of, a ­fitting present from a bookworm.

“Thanks, Ellie,” Marie said. “It’s great that you like books, but be careful you don’t overdo it. Reading all night and then sleeping in is a bad habit.”

“R-right.”

Notoriously lazy Cynthia frowned and raked a hand through her mop of disheveled hair. She wrinkled her nose like she was about to rattle off a list of complaints, but instead simply said, “Take care.”

“You too. Just because I’m not around doesn’t mean you can go back to being sloppy. If you do, you’ll infuriate the dorm staff all over again. Keep that in mind.”

“I’ll give it some thought,” Cynthia muttered vaguely. She was less ashamed of Marie openly discussing her ­slovenly behavior than depressed that her friend was leaving the academy for a political marriage.

She wasn’t the only one in a foul mood. Betty was covered in smears of dried paint, as usual, and her sharp gaze pierced right through Marie. “You’d make it just fine on your own. I don’t understand why you can’t flee this marriage.”

Maybe because she was an artist—a creative—Betty didn’t care what others thought. She saw no reason Marie should accept all this.

“I’m not as strong as you think I am,” Marie explained, her smile growing forced. “Anyway, Betty, I know you have a habit of focusing so much on projects that you work to the point of collapse. I worry more about you than anyone.”

Tears streamed down the faces of the poor barony sons who’d come to see Marie off as well.

“I never dreamed our goddess would need to part with such abruptness, and in such a cruel fashion.”

“Now who will we turn to for help?”

“This is so unfair!”

The sight of the group of men sobbing uncontrollably was pretty darn pitiful. Three girls who had previously bullied Marie pushed past them. The leader of the group was named Brita, if memory served.

“Marie!” Brita exclaimed.

Marie furrowed her brow, glancing warily at the Offrey ship behind her. “What’re you girls doing here?”

Stephanie’s followers had already ascended the ramp and were watching from afar. When they spotted Brita and her friends, their expressions soured noticeably. Not long ago, Brita had carried out Stephanie’s bidding, relentlessly bullying Marie. That connection to Stephanie meant she and her friends also knew of the Offreys’ secret ties to air pirates. 

Showing up here in front of Stephanie’s minions was reckless of them.

Brita’s gaze wandered as she stood before Marie. “Sorry,” she said stiffly, then quickly repeated, “I’m really sorry.”

No one else had any idea what she was apologizing for, but Marie and I knew instantly. Brita and her two friends were eyewitnesses to Stephanie’s misdeeds, but they’d kept their lips sealed, fearing repercussions. I could guess what was running through their heads. If they’d been braver and communicated what happened to the proper authorities, Marie would never have been forced to marry unwillingly. They must’ve come here out of guilt to apologize.

Marie smiled and shook her head. “Don’t let it bother you. I don’t bear a grudge against you.”

“How long are you going to keep messing around?!” Stephanie howled from the ship. “Hurry up and board!” She huffed, turned, and stomped back into the vessel with Carla close behind.

Marie gathered her bag, which contained the few belongings she’d collected in her dorm room, and stood straight. Everyone around her was crying save for me.

“She’s in a mood,” I said nonchalantly. “You two will be sisters-in-law soon. Think you can get along?”

At my joke, Marie shot me an exasperated look. “You really can’t read the room, can you?”

“It’s not like we’ll never see each other again.”

“Well, I guess not. Although who knows how many years it’ll be.” With that, Marie turned away from us. “See you again someday, okay?”

I pasted a smile on my face. “Yep. See ya!” I shouted after her.

***

Stephanie moved through the ship corridors with long strides. Her face was all hard edges; she was barely suppressing the anger that simmered below her skin.

“What’s the matter, my lady?” Carla asked in a desperate attempt to placate her mistress. “You were in such a good mood a moment ago.”

Stephanie was too lost in her own thoughts to give Carla a proper answer. At first, Marie’s misery gave her such pleasure, but that was short-lived. The sight of the Lafan girl surrounded by friends had turned the taste of victory to ash in her mouth. She bit her thumbnail, muttering, “She’s an impoverished viscount’s daughter. What does she have that I don’t?” 

I wish she’d stop this emotional whiplash. Carla suppressed the urge to sigh. Anyway, what’s wrong this time? Is it that Brita and her friends showed up? Stephanie said that it wouldn’t matter if they went to the authorities—that she could have their statements thrown out.

Carla simply couldn’t puzzle out the reason for Stephanie’s mood swing. Not knowing made her restless. She was with Stephanie most of the time—more than anyone else. It was her duty to know what would sour Stephanie’s mood, if only to avoid those triggers.

While Carla mulled this over, Stephanie froze and glanced back at her. All traces of irritation had vanished from her face, replaced with a smile.

“I digress,” Stephanie declared. “Did you see those people she had with her? A bunch of dirt-poor lowlifes.”

“Huh?” Carla blurted, startled, before regaining her senses. “Oh. Yes, they were!” She nodded quickly, ­emphasizing her complete agreement.

“Isn’t it pitiful only to have pathetic friends like that? In her shoes, I’d be horrified.”

“Y-yes, indeed.” Carla smiled stiffly. Your moods turn as fast as the weather. Anyway, you won’t have any reason to be horrified; you don’t have a single friend.

Stephanie’s family was new money, so she wasn’t close to any other students. The noble daughters rejected the Offreys entirely, giving Stephanie a wide berth—or, otherwise, only saw opportunities to use her. Not even Stephanie’s own entourage had any interest in actually befriending her.

“Um, my lady?” Carla said, anxious to ask about something that had been weighing on her mind.

“What?”

“Are you sure Bartfort won’t be a problem? He might try to interfere, like last time. Shouldn’t we prepare some sort of countermeasure?”

Stephanie was essentially stealing his girlfriend. It seemed reasonable to take steps against retaliation.

Stephanie burst into hysterical laughter, hugging herself. “You idiot! You really thought I hadn’t prepared any precautions? House Offrey’s private military is out in full force to defend our territory—as are the air pirates.”

“Oh, are they?” Carla’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s a relief.”

“While they’re at it, they’re going to eliminate Bartfort entirely. And once this is over, we’ll send all the air pirates at our disposal to deal with his entire family.” Even as she described mass murder, there was an undercurrent of glee in Stephanie’s voice.

A chill shot down Carla’s spine. That’s a serious escalation!

***

When I returned to the academy, the other barony guys surrounded me. On their faces was a mix of emotions from hostility to unrestrained rage. I found a chair and plopped down, folding one leg over the other.

“Kind of scary, getting called out to this little storage area,” I said.

Daniel stepped forward to act as the group’s mouthpiece. He grabbed my shirt collar. “Leon, I thought better of you! How can you smile and act so carefree when Miss Marie’s being forced to marry someone she doesn’t love?!”

Ah—so that’s it. They don’t like my attitude.

“Would you rather see me cry about it? Their houses already agreed to this match. You think me complaining would do anything?”

“That’s not the point. Your behavior at the harbor wasn’t acceptable! Don’t you feel even a little sorry for her?”

The others jeered, voicing their agreement.

Hidden by his cloaking device, Luxion spoke so that only I could hear him. “Master, please begin the operation. This is the best time to launch an attack.”

“Guess it is time,” I muttered.

My incomprehensible words only irritated Daniel further. He arched a brow. “What do you mean? Time for wha—whoa!”

Grabbing his arm, I shoved hard enough to send him reeling to the ground. “Sorry,” I said, rising from my chair, “but I’ve got business to see to. I’ll be taking off now.” 

Raymond quickly launched himself in front of me, blocking my path to the door. “Where do you think you’re running off to at a time like this?!”

“The ‘time like this’ is the whole point,” I said, as if that explained anything. “If I don’t prep soon, I won’t be able to pick Marie up.”

“Come again?”

The boys were dumbstruck, and I had no choice but to elaborate. It was fine if my plan leaked, though; the enemy would have little time to react anyway.

“I’m going to storm the Offreys’ territory. They’ve got ties to air pirates, so I figure I can punish the pirates while I’m at it.” I smirked. “See? I’m doing exactly what you guys want, so stay out of my way.” I started toward the door again, only for an unexpected weight to bear down on my leg. Daniel had crawled across the floor and latched on to my ankle. “What’re you doing?”

“I’ll help,” he said.

I tilted my head. “Why?” None of these guys had reason to stick their noses in.

“Me too!” Raymond anxiously added. “If I contact my family, I can get them to send three—no, four Armors!”

I gawked, flabbergasted. The other guys soon joined in.

“My house can send an airship! It only has a few cannons, though, since we normally just use it for transport.”

“My folks can provide ammo! It’ll be a bit outdated, but we could still use it, right?”

“I’ll talk to my family, too, and have them lend us knights! They’re old and retired, but they’ll be at least some help, don’t you think?”

I shook my head. At this point, I’d started to worry that the group would be less help than hindrance. “You guys would really go that far just so Marie can help you meet girls?”

Daniel climbed to his feet to join Raymond in blocking my way out. “I won’t lie and say that’s not part of it, but how can we stand by and do nothing after you told us the Offreys are in cahoots with air pirates? Pirates are the mortal enemies of borderland nobles! And don’t forget Miss Marie was one of the only girls to treat us like human beings. Of course we want to save her.”

His words hinted at the darkness lurking within the academy. Female students rarely acknowledged us boys from impoverished, low-ranking houses as the aristocrats we were. Amid their condescension, Marie’s kindness was a small ray of hope. The barony boys’ offers of support weren’t entirely selfless, but their desire to help was earnest.

I scratched my head, avoiding their probing gazes. As heartening as I found their eager offers of assistance, they flustered me in equal measure. After an awkward pause, I blurted, “If you’re late, I’ll leave without you.”

The boys turned to one another and let out hearty battle cries. “Let’s go!”

***

“Those boys will not have a positive impact on the outcome of this operation. If anything, their participation may lead to needless casualties,” Luxion warned, following at my shoulder as I strode down a corridor.

All he does is grumble and complain. “After hearing that other aristocrats are in cahoots with the enemy, I can’t blame them for wanting to take action,” I retorted. “Air pirates are a huge headache for border nobles.”

The pirates were a real pain in the ass. Whenever they attacked, it turned into an all-out battle. They usually targeted merchant ships transporting goods between far-flung territories, so quite a few deliveries didn’t reach their destination. I could go on and on about the issues they caused, but I think that gets the point across. Every border noble wanted them gone, so it was infuriating to think that the Offreys had betrayed the rest of us by cozying up to them.

“You’re throwing more resources into this than necessary. I cannot comprehend such irrational inefficiency.”

I snorted. “Think we’d be in this mess to begin with if people were capable of being rational?”

“That is a surprisingly intelligent response on your part, Master. Nonetheless, I cannot concede your point, as I do not view new humanity as ‘people’ at all. It troubles me that you would lump them in the same category as old humanity. Might you amend your statement and state that new humanity specifically is incapable of rationality? Then I could share the sentiment.”

“No.”

“You are being inflexible.”

“So are you.”

As we bickered, I finally tracked down the people I was searching for—Brita and her two friends.

“Hey, do you three have a moment?” I asked, smiling.

The girls didn’t even try to hide the disgust on their faces. I suspected that they, like Daniel and the other guys, disapproved of my attitude at the harbor.

“What do you want?”

“I have a favor to ask.”