That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 4 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Before Third Term

“THE ROSEBLADES’ CHEF is incredible,” Marie said. “I’m so stuffed, I couldn’t eat another bite.”

As soon as we’d returned to the guest room my brother prepared for us, Marie threw herself onto the bed. She lay on her back, arms and legs spread wide. Her stomach protruded slightly, and her shirt rode up to expose her skin. She didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed about that, though; she obviously didn’t see me as a potential romantic partner, or she wouldn’t be so slovenly. It made me sad. Not her lack of interest in me, but the fact that she’d abandoned all pretense of shame.

“I can’t believe you brought Miss Dorothea to tears,” I told her. “Where my brother’s concerned, she’s pretty emotional, but otherwise she doesn’t seem to care about anyone.”

Dorothea was a passionate woman; there was no mistaking that. But she only engaged emotionally with another party if she had an interest in them. She came across as cold and unfeeling with everyone else. Marie had not only reduced Dorothea to tears but earned her sympathies to boot. That was impressive.

Marie flopped onto her side to face me. “She might seem cold to you, but I think she’s a lot more sensitive than she lets on.”

“If you say so. I still say she is cold.”

“It’s more like she’s just bad at showing emotion,” Marie explained. “Well, in any case, she’s true to her fetishes.” Her whole face puckered with disgust as she remembered the way being chained to Nicks had seemingly turned Dorothea on.

In terms of life experience, Marie had a leg up on me. She was a better judge of people.

“She’s not an ice princess after all, huh? I guess that means she’s actually adorable beneath the whole frosty facade.” I paused, then shook my head. “Actually, I take that back.” 

For a split second, I regretted letting Nicks take my place and marry such a beauty. The second I remembered Dorothea’s sexual proclivities, however, I changed my mind back. Regardless of how well-endowed she was, I didn’t want to be literally chained to another person for the rest of my life.

Marie’s eyes narrowed. She seemed to read me like a book, but she didn’t admonish me for my preoccupation with Dorothea’s physical beauty. Instead, she changed the subject. “We’re done eating, so I think it’s about time we discuss the future. We’ll move on to our third term here soon. Does anything big happen in the game plot during the third term?” Marie’s question was rhetorical, and she racked her own brain to see whether she could remember, but nothing was forthcoming.

I wasn’t surprised that Marie came up empty. Nothing big had happened; any incidents had been minor, intended as foreshadowing of the danger that lay ahead. If anything, a tense atmosphere hung in the air as the end of our first year approached.

“There’s nothing,” I reassured Marie. “Besides, we don’t really have to worry about this anymore, do we?”

Her cheeks puffed in frustration. “Of course we do! This entire nation’s future rests on the protagonist’s shoulders. If Olivia doesn’t—doesn’t…? Hunh.” Realizing what I meant, she fell silent.

Marie and I had already infiltrated Fanoss and stolen their two Magic Flutes before going on our school trip, thus nipping any future dangers in the bud. It was better to deal with the risks ahead of time before they snowballed beyond our control, especially when Holfort’s fate was at stake. That was the kind of cunning, underhanded strategy any gamer would’ve come up with. 

Well, maybe that was an unfair generalization. The point was that we’d done it to ensure no tragedy would transpire in the future. Sneaking into Fanoss’s royal castle to pull off the heist had been a major international crime, but we figured that was a small price to pay to save our country from possible doom.

“In the game, we’d go into all-out war with Fanoss during our third year,” I said. “But you’ve got to admit, now that they’ve lost their trump cards, there’s no real chance they’d go through with that.”

Marie sat up straight, paying due consideration to my words. What she said next took me by surprise. “No, I don’t have to admit that, because I think they will still go to war. Having the last boss in their hands wasn’t why they did what they did. As long as they have a good enough justification, I figure they’ll still go through with it. They hate us.”

Holfort and Fanoss shared such a complex history that no one would be surprised if they warred. According to the game’s story, Fanoss had long resented Holfort, and it was their animosity that brought them to war. Still, I didn’t think they’d risk the consequences of that without a guaranteed path to victory.

“Do you realize how vast the power difference is between us and them?” I asked. “Without those flutes, they don’t stand a chance of winning. If they still want to try, they’re a bunch of idiots.”

Fanoss had avoided open conflict up until this point because the odds were stacked against them. Holfort possessed more battleships, so if the two nations did clash, Holfort could easily overwhelm Fanoss with sheer numbers. And, if they lost, Fanoss might be destroyed entirely. They’d only maintained their independence because they had the ridiculously overpowered Black Knight on their side. Yet even with him at their disposal, they hadn’t been able to bring Holfort to ruin. Thus, the power imbalance between the two nations held fast. Fanoss knew that they would lose if they launched an invasion.

The question that got me was why, if they could’ve used the magic flutes, they hadn’t attacked before. Still, if they feared failure, then I figured they should be even more reluctant to challenge Holfort now that we’d deprived them of their most powerful weapon.

My reasoning seemed to convince Marie, who looked visibly relieved. “I guess if they don’t, we have nothing big to worry about. At most, I’m curious to see who Olivia ends up with. It seems like she’s headed down the reverse-harem route at the moment, but I don’t see all the love interests being satisfied sharing her. They might duke it out.” Her eyes sparkled with fascination.

“I don’t really give a crap how her love life ends up. Do women even like reverse harems? Is that a thing?” I asked, skeptical. Men loved the idea of harems—I knew that—but I wasn’t so sure about women.

“It depends,” Marie said vaguely. “I knew girls who dated multiple men at the same time. But there were others who preferred monogamy.”

“Different strokes for different folks, huh? Either way, I have a hard time believing that Miss Olivia could be the type to date multiple guys at once.” My mind conjured her image. She looked innocent and naive; she didn’t resemble the type of girl who could juggle so many romantic relationships. “Not someone as simple and sweet as her. No, I figure she’ll settle for one of them eventually.”

Marie shook her head, annoyed with me. “You’re an idiot, letting her looks deceive you like that. The girls who seem the purest are usually the ones cheating on you with a bunch of other guys behind your back.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I didn’t want to know that. I’d prefer not to have my fantasies about women ruined, thank you very much.”

“Ugh. You’re such a moron.” Marie rolled her eyes. Then she paused, as if remembering something. “Hold on.” She put her hand to her chin. “You’ve kind of got a point. Most women like Olivia don’t openly date multiple men at once. Most keep their adulterous ways secret, lying to each partner and telling them, ‘You’re the only one for me!’”

“So Olivia’s the rare shameless type. I don’t think I wanted to know that.” I sighed deeply.

Marie grimaced in dismay. “What could a guy see in a girl who doesn’t bat an eye about dating multiple dudes at the same time?” She seemed to be pouting because I kept acting disappointed in Olivia. 

I wasn’t that invested, though. “That’s ironic, coming from you. You seem more interested in her love life than I am,” I groused.

“How could I not be? It’s serious drama between those six.”

Maybe it was inevitable that she would amuse herself with the protagonist’s relationship dynamics; there weren’t many other forms of entertainment in this world. We’d been lucky in our previous lives—Japan was blessed with numerous types of entertainment. And even then, women had still loved to gossip about other people’s love lives. Maybe it was human instinct to enjoy drama.

“You can be invested, if you want, but don’t get involved,” I warned Marie.

“Duh. If I were involved, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun,” she shot back. “Still, I wish you’d have Luxion monitor what’s going on with them. Especially if he could edit the footage for my amusement.” She wanted to waste all our advanced AI’s resources on entertainment.

“Hate to break it to you, but Luxion will be stuck on his main ship for the foreseeable future. He’s seeing what he can find out from the Saint’s vengeful spirit.” Luxion, my partner, was ordinarily cased in a metal sphere, but that was his mobile unit. His true body was a spaceship over seven hundred meters long.

Luxion had been developed as an advanced migratory ship capable of transporting a number of people into space. He was equipped with numerous convenient functions for that purpose. But lately, he’d been preoccupied investigating the lingering grudge of the Saint; he’d taken to calling it her “vengeful spirit.”

Marie looked bored. “So that’s why I haven’t seen him around. I’d been wondering. Will he be done before the next term starts?”

“How the hell would I know?” I shrugged. “Now that we don’t have to worry about the game’s storyline anymore, we’ve got more important things to think about.”

There was no imminent threat to Holfort’s future on the horizon, but there was a serious problem—at least for us.

Marie cocked her head. She didn’t yet see what I was talking about. “Do we? I thought the game story was the only thing on our plate. With that out of the way, we should be carefree.”

“That’s the thing. This issue wouldn’t be world-ending for Holfort, but it’s major for us.”

Marie’s face hardened, her whole body tensing. “What could it be?”

I let the silence hang for a moment for emphasis, then said, “The requirement we need to meet to move on to our second year.”

Compared to complete annihilation, that probably sounded minor, but it was no laughing matter for us.

Marie’s eyes went round. She’d finally caught on. “Y-you mean dungeon exploration, right?”

“Yep. We’ve been so preoccupied with other stuff, we still haven’t completed that requirement. If we don’t get our butts in gear, we could be in hot water.” I was being a little hyperbolic. Still, we hadn’t made any progress yet. I covered my face with my hand and sighed dramatically.

Marie cradled her head in her hands. “No!” she moaned. “I don’t want to be held back!”

Yeah, me neither.

***

The door to the school infirmary was thrown open and slammed into the wall. Two young lords stumbled in, both short of breath.

Olivia peeked at them. Satisfied that they were the pair she’d awaited, she sat up in bed. “I’m so happy to see you. It was kind of you both to come all this way,” she said. 

The girl’s arms and legs were bound in thick bandages, making her look utterly pitiful as she sat in bed smiling at them. Julius Rapha Holfort—the young man with short, disheveled navy-blue hair—threw himself toward her bed, crashing onto his knees. He grasped Olivia’s hand in his, then pressed a chaste kiss against it.

“Of course we came! I was worried sick about you.” Tears welled in Julius’s eyes.

Olivia gave him a troubled smile, unsure how to respond.

Unable to watch the moving scene between Olivia and the prince, Jilk Fia Marmoria stepped forward to insert himself. He had long green hair and always wore a warm smile. Jilk’s father, Viscount Marmoria, was a member of the court nobility, and Jilk had served the prince for as long as he could remember. When Julius took the throne in the future, Jilk would serve in the central administration as his right-hand man. Among the idiot brigade, Jilk’s house ranked lowest. Still, he managed to stand toe to toe with everyone; his mother had served as Julius’s nursemaid, making the two as close as brothers.

“Your Highness, don’t squeeze her hand too hard, or you’ll hurt her,” Jilk said smoothly. He kept his composure, unlike the prince. “I’m relieved to see that you’re all right, Miss Olivia. When I heard that you’d met with an unfortunate accident in the dungeon, it felt as though the world crashed down around me.” He sat at the edge of her bed, regarding her with deep sadness in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” said Olivia. “You both went to so much trouble planning that trip for us. I feel terrible you had to cancel it.”

By now, they were supposed to have set sail on their private cruise ship for that trip. Julius and Jilk had suggested the voyage, since they’d had to skip the school trip. Ultimately, though, they’d only wanted to go to spend quality time with Olivia. Greg Fou Seberg, Chris Fia Arclight, and Brad Fou Field—all prominent scions of their respective families—had also insisted on joining them. Unfortunately, they’d had to cancel the trip due to Olivia’s injuries.

Julius rested a gentle hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. The other guys are just glad that you’re alive. No one can blame you for an accident that happened while you were trying to finish your dungeon requirement. I wish you’d invited us along, but it’s a little late for that. As for the trip, while it’s a shame that we can’t go, there’ll always be other opportunities.”

“I’m sorry,” Olivia murmured again, dejected.

Julius frowned at her. “Don’t be too down on yourself. Greg and the other guys will be here soon. Not a single one of us is upset with you.” 

He was trying desperately to reassure her, so Olivia flashed him a weak smile to give the impression that he’d successfully eased her conscience. “That’s a relief to hear,” she said.

“Everyone’s just glad you’re safe,” Julius added, heartened.

During the pair’s entire exchange, Jilk had sat on the edge of Olivia’s bed, not interrupting them. Now that their conversation had dwindled, though, he leaned forward, his sharp eyes inspecting Olivia’s injuries. “Moving on,” he said, “how badly injured are your limbs?” The way he regarded her seemed almost cynical.

“Jilk,” Julius snapped. “Are you suspicious of her?!”

Jilk raised both hands in surrender. “I don’t suspect her, no.”

“Speak plainly,” Julius demanded.

“Miss Olivia is a skilled healer. She could have seen to any normal injuries with her own magic. The fact that she was carried to the school infirmary suggests heavy injuries beyond her ability to heal.” Jilk paused briefly before adding, “Additionally, assuming that she did sustain these injuries in the dungeon, you wouldn’t expect her to go far enough in there to encounter anything that would leave her in this condition.”

The two had apparently already heard the details of what had happened to Olivia, which was why Jilk—with his keen eye—noticed something strange about her injuries.

Olivia wrapped her arms around her knees, drawing them to her chest, as if hesitant to explain.

Jilk watched her and sensed immediately that he was on the right track. “Miss Olivia, won’t you tell us the truth of what happened to you?” he asked her gently.

Olivia pressed her face into her knees so they couldn’t see her expression. This was where she was supposed to shed tears, touched by Jilk’s kindness. However, she grinned maniacally to herself, her face so deranged that the two men would never have recognized her if they’d seen it. Her shoulders jumped with silent laughter.

I did it. I caught them in my web. I’m glad to see that one of them is intelligent enough to realize how suspicious these wounds are. If they were both mindless idiots, I wouldn’t have much fun crushing them.

Resting on top of her bandages, Olivia’s left arm wore the Saint’s bracelet, which harbored Saint Anne’s vengeful spirit. Olivia’s own consciousness was deeply suppressed. The person at the wheel, in control of her body—Anne—possessed a deep resentment of Holfort Kingdom.

Being able to take over this girl’s body when I did was such good fortune. I could never have predicted she was trapped in a romantic entanglement with those reprobates’ descendants. Olivia’s smile disappeared, and her face went blank. This is fate. Fate is telling me to avenge Lier. That must be what all this means, right, Lier?

Hatred and hostility toward Holfort and the idiot brigade smoldering in her chest, Olivia—or rather, Anne—lifted her face. Her lips quivered, and tears streaked her cheeks. “I’m…so sorry,” she choked out. “They told me not to say anything. I was just…so scared, I didn’t dare…” A sob caught in her throat.

It finally sank in for Julius that Jilk had been right to feel suspicious. There was more to this than either of them knew. The prince threw his arms around Olivia. “Whatever happened, you can tell us. We—no, I,” he corrected himself, “am on your side. I promise I’ll protect you. You have nothing to worry about.”

Jilk had already shot to his feet, and he was lost deep in thought. “Can you elaborate for us?”

Olivia wiped away her tears with her palms. “I can’t. They threatened me. If I talk…it’ll cause everyone trouble. I’m sure it’ll burden you, too, Mr. Jilk.”

The implication that she wasn’t keeping her silence for her benefit triggered Jilk’s protective instincts. He was normally very composed, but his voice rose several octaves as he said, “You don’t have to worry about me! His Highness and I are much tougher than we look. Now, please, tell us what happened.”

Olivia hesitated for a moment, then said tentatively, “I was pushed off a sheer cliff inside the dungeon. M-my attacker said that when I crawled my way back, I’d better not say anything to you, or they’d show me no mercy. That’s why…I could only say that it’d been an accident.”

Olivia had gone to the dungeon to collect magic stones to sell to earn enough money to cover her daily expenses. Unfortunately, she’d stumbled upon some female students who then threw her down a chasm.

“I was so scared…” she went on with tear-filled eyes. “And I knew, if I talked, they’d never leave me alone. There was nothing I could do…”

Her sobs took both men by surprise. Julius’s clenched fists trembled. “You’re saying they tried to kill you in the dungeon?” He was infuriated that anyone would try to commit murder within the royal family’s dungeon, but most unconscionable was that the culprits had targeted Olivia. Never before had he been full of such burning rage.

Jilk, however, maintained his composed demeanor as he commented, “A sloppy plan if I’ve ever heard one. Even assuming that your assailants wanted to frame it as an accident, they ran the risk of witnesses who might expose them, especially given how many of our fellow students visit that dungeon. Someone was bound to see something and tell about it.”

Julius whirled around and grabbed Jilk’s collar. He pressed his face close to the other boy’s. “How can you be so calm in a situation like this? Aren’t you worried about Olivia at all?”

“Of course I am,” Jilk said. “But the important thing is that she returned safe and sound. What’s most crucial now is ensuring that this never happens to her again. Don’t you agree?” 

Jilk had a point; Julius couldn’t deny that or even find any retort. He shoved Jilk back and turned away from both him and Olivia. He didn’t want either of them to see him right now.

Olivia continued to sniffle, tears coasting down her cheeks as she calmly studied the pair’s reactions. Julius is the more emotional of the two, but he seems to have enough self-control to keep his cool. The problem is Jilk. He was calmer than she’d expected and, on top of that, had sharp intuition. He’ll obstruct my pursuit of vengeance. The real question is, how shall I get rid of him? She covered her face with her hands and began analyzing her options.

Oblivious to what was going through her mind, Jilk said, “Your Highness, I share your enmity toward those who perpetrated this crime. However, if we let our anger consume us in our pursuit of justice, we risk giving them an opening they can exploit to escape consequences. We must be calm and rational.”

Julius took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It had taken a few minutes, but he’d regained his composure. “You’re right,” he admitted. “I know you’re right. It’s just hard to suppress my feelings on the matter. Well? What do you propose we do?” He gave Jilk a pointed look as if to say, You must have an idea, surely.

Jilk nodded, pressing a hand to his chest. “We nobility descend from the great adventurers who founded this kingdom. Turning on an ally in a dungeon is the sort of nefarious act only the most savage beast would commit. First, we should gather evidence of the crime. We must ensure that the culprits have no room to escape culpability. Then we will make them face the consequences.”

Jilk’s comments about the founding of Holfort were entirely accurate; they were why Holfort’s citizens so valued all the traits and characteristics associated with proper adventurers. Anything an adventurer considered beyond the pale was likewise frowned upon in high society. If one was convicted of something as heinous as the attempted murder of a fellow student inside a dungeon, there would be little mercy found among the other nobles. Jilk’s aim was to have Olivia’s attackers stricken from society—to, in turn, murder their reputations.

Julius’s face tensed with bitterness. “You’re as merciless as ever.”

“What? Did you intend to let them off with a warning because Miss Olivia happened to survive?” Jilk shook his head. The prince was too naive. “We must make examples of them, Your Highness. We must let the entire student body know that, should they attempt the same thing, they will face the harshest repercussions. If we don’t, we cannot hope to protect Miss Olivia.” Jilk understood that the other nobles were displeased with Olivia. Mercilessness toward these culprits would be the best way to deter further such incidents.

After a long pause, Julius finally blew out a breath. “All right,” he said. “How far do you intend to go in punishing them?”

“If we’re going to punish them, it must be to the utmost extent. They must be expelled,” Jilk decided.

“They attempted murder, and expulsion will be their only punishment?” Julius frowned, then glanced at Olivia. “Please be patient, Olivia. I promise we’ll drive the people who did this to you from the school.”

She smiled at them, heartened by their determination to protect her. “Thank you, both of you.” 

Yet beneath Olivia’s smile, malice surged within Anne’s heart. They have some nerve spouting platitudes at me. Still, I never imagined the day would come when Marmoria’s descendant would call someone a “savage beast,” she thought.

The two men were visibly relieved by her reaction. They promptly left the room, intent on gathering evidence for their case. 

When she was alone again, Olivia gripped her blanket tightly. “You think of yourselves as adventurers’ noble descendants? And that betraying someone is the nefarious act of a savage beast? You’ve some impudence, throwing such words around.” 

She trembled with fury, her whole face contorted with hatred. Jilk’s words had somehow struck a nerve. It was that holier-than-thou mindset he’d exhibited, as if he were somehow on a pedestal, and the act of betraying someone in the middle of an adventure were far below him. It was so disingenuous. So hollow.

“They’re hailed as the descendants of heroic adventurers, are they? Ha!” Olivia snorted with laughter. After she’d drawn a long breath, an eerie smile settled over her lips. Her face was the same as ever, but with Anne in control, she no longer looked like herself. “Marmoria’s descendant will be the first to suffer. But make no mistake, boys, I have no grudge against you specifically—it’s your ancestors who wronged me.”