Volume 2 Chapter 8 part1

Dukedom

There was a shrine a little bit away from the summer festival venue.

Sitting down on the stairway leading there, I hung my head and shed tears in frustration.

Was it strange to have summer festivals and other elements from Japan here? Don’t complain to me. I thought of it as strange, but this was the mad world of an otome game. Those who thought it would be logical would be wrong.

“I wanted the charms.”

Even now, I still had the desire to chase after the guy and buy everything from him. However, Anjie and Olivia didn’t allow it.

They watched over me.

Seeing me feeling quite down, the two seemed rethink their stance.

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“D, did you want them that badly?”

Anjie thoroughly examined my facial expression.

It seemed that she had escaped from her followers.

They were frantically trying to regain Anjie’s trust. They were acting quite selfishly though, since they had abandoned her before at a critical moment.

However, leaving that aside, there was the matter of the charms.

“I was really looking forward to this day. I couldn’t sleep last night.”

I wiped my tears.

Was I acting? No, I was genuinely crying in frustration!

Oliva started talking to me, but spoke very awkwardly.

“B, but, I don’t think you should do what you had tried. Buying it all with money, I mean.”

I understood what she was trying to say, but I thought of it as odd that she was denying the ability to buy goods with money.

“I’m paying with money, so isn’t it fine? I could have even bought them at a hundredfold the amount.”

If the charms had the same effect as in the game, then I wanted to buy them at even a hundred times the price.

The item I wanted to collect on this floating island was a charm from that masked man.

However, I wouldn’t know the contents of what I would buy.

In the game, it was completely randomized, and even if one got the short end of the stick, they would still get a “Charm of Good Luck”.

Better than that though was the “Charm of War’s Fortune”, improving battle-related abilities, and increasing the growth rate for physical stats.

The jackpot was the magic-related “Divine Protection Element”. That thing had the game-like effect of increasing magical power.

The growth rate of magic stats would increase, and one’s aptitude to the attribute would increase as well.

For that reason I had been pulling some strings a year prior so that I could go to this floating island during the field trip. What did I do? I just bribed some teachers.

Since the items obtained on this floating island boosted level-ups, I had been challenging the dungeon as little as possible at the academy. Yet──

My plans to become the strongest character had been ruined.

Anjie and Olivia both had expressions of worry.

It seemed that they didn’t think I would cry.

As I was sniffling and crying, the summer festival was approaching its final stage, and the masked man returned.

It seemed that almost all of his items had been sold.

“Ah, there you are. Sir Noble, there are two left, so here you go.”

I got up and bought the two charms.

“Please be a good one!”

“Um, actually, there’s no gain-or-loss factor involved. It’s just that there are different kinds.”

What an idiot! The results varied precisely because there was a variety!

I took the two bags and slowly removed the white paper from one.

My face turned red with tension.

When I opened it, there was a white orb about as large as a marble. It was a charm with metal fittings and a red string attached.

Not good. I had no talent for white──healing magic.

There was no point in carrying it.

When I opened the next one a little roughly, this time a red orb appeared. Both of them had very beautiful colors, but I didn’t really know if they would have an effect.

I didn’t feel anything in particular.

Did they really have a divine blessing inside them?

“Red? I have no talent for red.”

Anjie tilted her head.

“What are you talking about? Isn’t it fine?”

The masked man went up the stars and left.

“Well then, I’ll be heading back. Take care. Though, it seems the charms match better with the ladies over there than with you, Sir Noble.”

The masked man vanished, as if disappearing into the darkness.

Leaving that aside, did these match better with Anjie and Olivia than with me? I certainly thought so.

What I wanted was something yellow or blue.

I wasn’t aiming for red or white.

I got the short end of the stick, in a bad way.

I dropped my shoulders and gave a charm to each of them. The red orb for Anjie, the white one for Olivia.

“Y, you’re giving them to us?”

Anjie was slightly hesitant. Perhaps it was from me simply handing over the items I had wanted to the point of tears.

“These aren’t what I was aiming for.”

“I, I see.”

Olivia also reluctantly refused.

“I, I can’t accept this.”

“It’s fine, just take it. There’s no point in me having it. It’s not like they’re expensive items either.”

When I tossed it at her, Olivia grabbed it with a troubled expression.

At my wits’ end, I sat down on the stairway and made a deep sigh.

“Leon, u, um──”

Olivia wanted to say something, but at that moment, Anjie’s followers had arrived.

“M, Milady!”

Hearing that voice, Anjie ran off in a panic.

“S, sorry. I’ll be heading off.”

Girls who were Anjie’s followers chased after her as she escaped.

Once they left and the noise they made faded out, this time boys who were her followers us spotted and surrounded me.

There were three of them.

“Baltfault, you again?”

“Don’t get so conceited just because you got a slight promotion.”

“You’re just a lowly noble trying to butter up Milady.”

I raised my head and looked at the faces of these incompetent boys. I could tell they were worthless just from my own perception. I sensed a certain irresponsibility in them. Now that they had betrayed someone in a critical moment, no matter what they would do, it would not be an easy task to regain her trust back to positive levels.

Since they’re trustworthiness is in the negatives right now, perhaps it would go to zero if they did their absolute hardest.

I wasn’t in the mood to humor them at this late of a time.

“Oh? Are you guys frustrated? Envious that your lady has taken a liking to me? How unfortunate. If you guys hadn’t deserted her during the uproar of the duel, you would have been Anjie’s favorites. You guys may be good at reading the mood in the academy, but you should take more notice to reading the mood in the world of nobles, or rather society as a whole. Are you not ashamed of trying so hard to make up to her now?”

As I agitated them, I motioned my hand for them to come at me.

When I tried to annoy them into accepting my challenge, Olivia stood in front of me and stretched out her arms, as if to protect me.

“D, don’t fight!”

One of the boys yelled.

“He’s the one trying to pick a fight!”

“I, I’m sorry. B, but, you still can’t fight.”

“──Tsk, let’s go. He’s just a pathetic guy who hides behind a girl.”

I really wanted to retaliate against what he just said. These were the people who wanted Anjie as their shield, after all.

Once the boys left, I spoke to Olivia.

“It would have been fine if you left things alone. Those guys wouldn’t want to start a fuss, so I think they would’ve backed off at some point.”

I agitated my opponents because I knew they wouldn’t lay a hand on me.

Though, since youths were full of passion, it was possible that they would resort to violence. If that happened, there would be punishment from society. Fights between adults didn’t stop at just exchanging fists

When Olivia turned around towards me, she let out a sob.

“──I’m sorry. Leon, I’m really sorry. I wanted to apologize all this time. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused when we were suppressing the sky pirates. I’m sorry for──the mean things I said.”

I scratched my head in front of a crying and apologizing Olivia.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for, though. In the first place, it shouldn’t be you apologizing to me, but──”

When I was about to say something, but my sight turned towards an old woman who came nearby.

Just how long had she been here? It was a little frightening.

“Um, who are you?”

Pulling attention towards the old woman, Olivia also looked surprised.

The old woman smiled while carrying a cane.

“Well, I just want to talk to you because you took care of my son.”

I averted my gaze from the old woman. Her son was likely the masked man who sold the charms.

“Perhaps you think that what I did was quite inexcusable──”

While I was starting to explain myself, the old woman took out a white bag from her pocket.

“That was the first time someone wanted to pay a large amount of money for the charms I made. However, they were for the many people who were looking forward to them at the festival. I feel bad for what little there were in the end, so here you go.”

Was the item inside the white bag a Charm of War’s Fortune? Indeed it was.

“A Charm of War’s Fortune, is it? Though, the shape looks different, doesn’t it?”

“You’re quite the keen gentleman. I made it specially, is it to your liking?”

A new prototype model?

It was a bit different from what I wanted, but I was glad that I got it.

“Thank you so much. Oh, the cost──”

“No need. If you want to repay me, then please visit the shrine. This is a shrine for marriage, so you may receive a blessing.”

After saying that, the old woman went up the stairs.

Was she the priest for the shrine?

While Olivia looked at the stairway in surprise, I examined the charm. Instead of it being a charm decorated with a sword and shield, it featured three swords crossing together. I raised the charm up to my face, and then grasped it tightly in my hand.

“Not bad.”

I wasn’t sure what its effects were, but I took a fancy to the design.

I liked those sword-shaped keychain accessories as souvenirs, after all.

A lot had happened, but I managed to enjoy myself.

At any rate, she said it was a shrine for marriage…and the night was a bit frightening, so I suppose I could visit tomorrow morning.

If I recall correctly, there was an event in the game where the protagonist headed towards the shrine with the capture target they were the closest with──hmm? Could it be?!

As I pondered about various things, I heard a voice.

Olivia seemed embarrassed.

“Leon, she said marriage──”

“That’s how it is. A blessing for marriage. I’m thinking about coming here tomorrow morning. I’ll be wishing for a suitable partner.”

I probably should prepare a large amount of money for it.

When I left the area, Olivia seemed lonely, but I left her alone.

I couldn’t get involved with her anymore.

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