Walking into one of the more obscure training areas, I found only one girl who occupied the corner. Fortunately, she was going over her sword forms rather than practicing with a gun. I was sick and tired of accidentally becoming target practice because the girls here didn't practice proper gun safety.

Nonetheless, I was still displeased since I had to get up to prepare to help the prince and his friends. The faculty had approached me to perform a monster culling before the designated spelunking class. The pay was quite significant for such a small task, but I would never find the idea of helping the pretty boys pleasant.

They were supposed to be the cream of the crop. They should have been able to handle basic enemies. Instead, I and whoever was discrete enough would be propping them up.

Did even have any real accomplishment under their belt? For all I knew, everything was fabricated. Actually... it was more than likely that was the case.

I grumbled as I tried to wave off my thoughts and went to my own corner to go through my sword forms in one of the less used practice areas. It didn't take long before the strain started to make its presence known. I had gotten lazy ever since I had gotten my hands on Luxion. Why bother when I had an advanced AI to optimize my mecha?

Well that and because turning a shotgun into a one-hit railgun made the idea of CQC with monsters seem pretty stupid.

Unfortunately, boys were not allowed to wield firearms in the dungeons. Stupid rules of an equally stupid game. It was not fair that the guys, with the exception of Jilk, were not allowed to use firearms in the dungeon.

What's worse was that the rule wasn't enforced on the girls as well. I could understand if it was a safety issue, but the literal stated reason for the ruling was that men could not be trusted with their aim. Fucking misandry.

I saw how inaccurate the girls here could be. I was nearly blasted in the more popular practice areas. Those pampered harpies even had the audacity to laugh it off since I was a frontier baron and because the bullets were of the rubber variety. It was the reason I isolated myself in the desolate field.

At least I wouldn't have to attend the shitshow that was going to be the intro class to spelunking. I could already hear the screams of friendly fire. All I had to do was thin out the beginner floors and clear the next couple of levels of the Rookie Killers, and I could skip the lesson.

Unfortunately, I would not be alone and could not use my favored weapon. In an odd show of concern, the faculty had refused my request to venture alone for my safety.

As such, I focused my efforts on my sword skills. I was a tad rusty. It would have been a cocern normally, but fortunately, I knew what I would have to face and needed to only focus my efforts on perfecting a few moves to efficiently take down the monsters.

"Your form is a mess," a feminine voice sounded behind me.

Looking behind me, I saw the only other person staring at me. She was a cold beauty. She had short blue hair that framed her face. A bookish pair of glasses reflected the light harshly giving an impression that she was looking down on me even if her tone indicated more curiosity. Looking down from her face, I noticed she was the lithe sort. Her body was well proportioned from what must have been years of dedication. In addition to her body's athleticism, she also seemed confidently poised with a blade hanging off her side.

Seriously, what was with this world and archetypes? While I wasn't particularly into kuuderes, she was assembled in such a way that I could feel the appeal.

"Would you quit staring? It's rather uncouth," she said with a slight tilt of her lips.

"My apologies, I was just wondering if you were one of Julia's friends," I quickly lied to avoid looking like a creep.

She raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'm surprised you can't confidently come to that conclusion."

"How come?"

"I would have figured you would have discovered our identities by now."

"I haven't been looking particularly hard."

"Why not? Are you not curious or even worried about what you might be getting yourself into?"

She raised a good point. I really should figure out who Julia is. Brianna's fiancé's ability to dissuade the Principality was indication enough that I was treading water by interacting with these girls. If she was as important as she and everyone thought she was, it would behoove me not to accidentally cross someone with the power to make my life hell.

But that felt wrong.

"... I suppose it's because Julia hasn't told me who she is yet."

"Please explain."

"Well... Julia obviously doesn't want me to know from what I gathered from her and Brianna. It's important to her, and somehow, the idea of snooping feels like... well I guess stabbing in the back is a little too dramatic, but I would be a shitty friend if I went looking," I said while rambling.

I myself was trying to understand why I didn't do the smart thing. Having said that out loud, I realized how easily a girl could wrap me around their finger. Maybe I should be more selective in whom I invite to my tea parties from now on. I feared for myself should I be ensnared by a harpy with a modicum of intelligence.

"I wouldn't even call it snooping. It's like you are burying your head in the sand," the girl said with a vaguely amused tone.

"Okay, how important is she? You and your friends' reactions are really starting to scare me."

To this she chuckled.

Seriously what was I missing? I initially didn't think it was anything too important since Luxion should and would have informed me by now. He was a spiteful asshole who would have gloated about any errors in my judgment.

"Come now, Sir Bartfort. You should be a man of your word and remain blissfully unaware until Julia decides to come clean."

"... You are making it particularly hard not to want to investigate."

"Apologies," she lied with a small smile.

Goddamn the moe gap was real. And curse me for being weak to girls.

"May I at least know your name?"

"It's Christine, or Chris if you will."

I inwardly blanched at the nickname. There was no way I was going to call her by that. I refused to allow the image of Chris and Christine to overlap. The sword by her side did not help.

"Would Christie be acceptable instead?" I sheepishly asked.

She raised an eyebrow at that. Christine didn't seemed displeased, but she clearly didn't find my request acceptable.

"Seems awfully familiar to grant me a nickname of your own."

"I have a bad history with a guy named Chris," I said as I recalled the many deaths of that idiot.

"Must be a real piece of work if even mentioning the name is unpleasant to you," she queried rather than stated.

"Stupid enough to get his whole party killed," I scoffed.

"... Ah, I apologize if I dredged up any bad memories," she said softly.

Why was she... oh, she thought I was part of the party. Convenient enough for me.

"We weren't close. It was a partnership of convenience. Butted heads with the group constantly. Assholes didn't seem to know anything about adventuring. Part of me thinks they may not have been licensed adventurers so much as pirates trying to trick new adventurers."

There, that should cover an inconvenience should Christine try to verify my story.

She frowned at the story.

"Pirates have been becoming more brazen as of late. To think you would be subject to the scam. I suppose I can't fault you for not wanting me to call me by Chris."

"It is what it is, Christine."

"Not Christie?"

"Did you not find the idea of me calling you so familiarly bother you?"

"... I wouldn't say it bothered me so much as I wasn't sure how to feel about a stranger calling me by something new."

"Understandable, hence why I am calling you by name."

"..."

"If that will be all, I should probably get back to practicing. This was a pleasant chat," I said before turning to give my practice blade a few good swings.

"... Spar with me?"

"Pass."

"Huh?"

"You are clearly a proper swordswoman. I'm a novice at best since my primary weapon is in firearms. Why would you want to waste your time on someone as unskilled as me?"

"I want to get to know the man Julia has befriended, and I have found that the best way to get to know someone is through their blade."

I turned around to look at her. She said it so earnestly that I found the idea of not even looking at her to be disturbingly disrespectful. My eyes were greeted by an adorable pleading expression.

Dammit all. How could I refuse that?

With a sigh, I said, "Be warned, I fight dirty."

"So long as you don't hold back," she said with a smirk as she drew her sword from its sheath.

She did not see the flash bang spell I emitted in 0.01 seconds coming.

Predictably, I was on the ground. Even with my tricks, I could not keep up. While my dirty tricks had bridged the gap a bit, I still had difficulty getting any clean hits in. She kept instinctively parrying or dodging my strikes.

She slowly whittled down my endurance. The only solace I could take was that she was on her last legs as well.

Actually, I felt I could have endured had my one lucky strike not revealed a key detail. The only thought I had when my practice blade pulled off her chest bindings was that she had the largest bust I had ever seen, and then I proceeded to black out as her practice sword smashed into my face.

"Your form is sloppy," she said with a pant between each word.

"Not my specialty," I groaned.

"Excuses. With your skill level, you are more a threat to yourself than to others."

"I didn't think I was that bad. I've never hurt myself."

"I'm not saying you would stab yourself, but your posture is all wrong. You'll throw out something with how wildly you flail your arms."

"Oof..."

"Get up. I'm going to teach you how to swing properly," she said while extending a hand to help me up.

"A little too exhausted, Christine."

"Christie."

"Huh?"

"Your nickname for me. It's grown on me."

Despite earning her approval, she did not hold back. Part of me wondered if she was getting back at me for catching a glimpse of her femininity. Any doubt was washed away from the look of satisfaction she had whenever she got past my defenses.

AN

1) Honestly, I always feel as though Chris and Greg are the hardest to write because we are never made aware of who their fiancées are. As a result, it's awkward trying to follow the same formula as the previous chapters. I decided to skip the complaints about Christie's fiancé this time around.

2) I feel this chapter is a little bit weaker than the other two since Christie's grievances are not aired out yet.

3) I'm debating when I should introduce Angelo into the story. Part of me wants to do it after all five of the heiresses are introduced, but it would feel formulaic and kind of weird to have Angelo take so long to get involved. I could weave him into the plot of one of the remaining heiresses introduction at the cost of not focusing on that particular heiress.

Review Response

AinzNamikazeD: I'll probably do the reveal when Angelo, Stephan, or Marie decides to make an appearance. I feel like realistically they would not hesitate in berating him for seducing the princess/heiress. Unless I decide to go full-blown comedy, which could make Leon unaware until he has to meet the King/Queen.

chronodekar: It both was and wasn't intentional. I will admit my writings for Trapped on the Drawing Board have definitely made my writing style more one-shotty. However, the only frame of reference I really have for Gal games is Persona, which basically has each rank of a social link being a one-shot. So I get the feeling a lot of my chapters will come off as one-shotty until I start writing the actual Gal game plot.

Scott the wanderer: I feel like you might be misinterpreting what this fic is. The premise is that Leon is trapped in a Gal game instead of an Otome game, which typically has a male protagonist... though I'm certain there are yuri games that could follow the same premise.

Dyltra: I always forget that Creare did that.

Newfan: that's a question I'm still trying to think about. For the most part, I doubt Leon would realize the difference if everyone was genderbent with a few exceptions since most people would probably be extras that don't make an appearance. The only ones plot relevant who could make him aware are the main cast, most of whom don't want him to know. Truthfully, I feel the moment Angelo takes the scene, there is no way for Leon to be ignorant of the state of the world. Marie could make an appearance though and rant at him.