A/N: So, I guess you guys didn't mind the nsfw scene, or were too polite to tell me if I did a bad job. Also, this was one of the chapters I was most looking forward to writing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Trapped in a Dating Sim: This World is Tough for Mobs, nor do I own The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.
Oh, and since some people were asking here's the link to each of the different things, let me know if it doesn't work. BTW I suggest searching by story title (well thread title I suppose) rather than by my username. Especially since I have different ones on Fanfic and the other two:
Questionable Questing- threads/lifes-a-pay-to-win-game.27248/
Fanfiction- s/14356521/1/Life-s-a-Pay-to-Win-Game
Spacebattles- threads/lifes-a-pay-to-win-game.1163616/
-Cid-
Shortly after I had finished my conversation with Leon and left him to whatever harem shenanigans he was likely to get up to, I had been on my way to my swordsman ship class. However-
"Cid!" cried out a certain Silver haired menace.
I slowly turn, all but hearing my bones creaking in pain as I did, and see Princess Alexia come towards me with a grin and a blush on her face. Ugh. And this was in a public hall where a lot of people could see us. Double ugh. Oh, and Nu's here too, so triple ugh! She's so going to tell on me to Alpha! Wait. She pushed up her glasses, that's a signal. Know idea what for, so I just mouth 'Beta.' Nu nods and departs.
"Heeey… Princess Alexia… how can I help you" I do my best to say in a kind voice, a mob wouldn't be as mad as I am right now after all.
"Fufufu, Oh Cid" laughs Alexia, "You can just call me Alexia! We're dating after all."
"Of curse Alexia, hahaha. Not to be rude but I was on my way to class and wouldn't want to be late so perhaps we could talk later." I said.
Alexia smiles, "Oh, that's why I came here."
"Y-yeah?" I don't like the way she's smiling. 1/10, would not recommend, needs more sincerity.
"Yeah, I wanted to go to class together!" said Alexia.
Huh? "But I'm in division 7, you're in division 1. They're on the opposite sides of the school, I wouldn't want to make you late."
Alexia flicks her hair behind her and smiles with her hands on her hips. "Oh, don't worry about that. Since we're together now I pulled some strings to get you in division one with me. Aren't I the best?"
Ah… my mob-ness it's fading…
-Beta-
When Nu had come to retrieve me from Mitsugoshi I was all too happy to leave with her. I was mostly done with my preparations for our coming debut, and of course I would rush to Lord Shadow's side whenever he needed. But also… I really didn't want to be around Alpha right now. We've all been angry about that silver haired hussy being near Lord Shadow, but Alpha… She had to delay her return to Lord Shadow's side due to her cracking all the nearby windows with her presence. In fact, she had tried to join me and Nu today, but Gamma managed to stop her by reasoning she'd likely give away Lord Shadow if they were to meet now.
Currently, Nu and I are watching Lord Shadow perform his "stretches." A marvelous idea straight from Shadow wisdom. Normally, people will use magic to loosen themselves up and prepare themselves for combat. However, these "stretches" serve to not only loosen up but also train the body, reinforcing it for later. Sasuga Shadow-Sama… and now that damn floozy has asked him to begin stretching with him. Grr… If I wanted I should have a clean-
*vrr* *vrr*
Gah! These damn 'roh-bahts'! I know Lord Shadow said to not do anything to mess with Sir Leon but it's so annoying to constantly dodge these things! I barely fit in most hiding places now! I don't even have time to write about how Lord Shadow would enjoy having a cute bookish silver haired elf with a mole on her cheek performing the stretches with him rather than-
*vrr* *vrr*
Grrrrr….
"Beta-sama?" whispered Nu.
Ah, I must have done that out loud. Teehee.
I school my features and put on my 'game face,' as Lord Shadow had described it, before I speak, "I'm fine. Where is Lord Shadow now?"
"He is currently talking to Princess Alexia's fiancé candidate." Nu pointed to Lord Shadow and a tall blonde man with a fake smile. Zenon, I believe.
I suppose I shouldn't blame Princess Alexia to jump at the chance to have Lord Shadow's company when that other man is what she has to look forward to in her future. Truly, even though he is doing his best to put on the façade of a normal human boy Lord Shadow's greatness no doubt has peaked through. *Sigh* I should write-
*Vrr* *Vrr*
Ugh. At least Lord Shadow is following Princess Alexia to a more public place. We should be able to blend in with the nearby students. We're also able to hear their conversation now. Lord Shadow adopts a more bored stance, more befitting of his magnificence as Lord Shadow than his Cid persona.
"So basically, Instructor Zenon is your fiancé and I'm just here to take the fall for you." Said Lord Shadow as he elegantly played with a leaf that had flown in this hand.
Princess Alexia, no doubt knowing that she did not deserve to stare at him, answered with her back towards Lord Shadow, "He's not my fiancé, just a candidate. But lately he's been trying to force the issue, which I don't like."
Lord Shadow lets the leaf go as he speak again, "Which means that you only accepted my invitation to a tea ceremony and then forced me to be your boyfriend because you wanted someone harmless to take the fall for your actions. Hmph, well I'm not going to get involved, you can forget about me."
Yes. Yes!
"Oh?" Said Princess Alexia as she turns to Lord Shadow with a sneer that matches her face to her personality, "Should I also forget how you were using me to skip out on your lessons? What was it again? You needed someone to reject you?"
Lord Shadow does his best to act shocked, but I know that this is all part of his plan. I do admit it's rather convincing though.
"R-reject?" said Lord Shadow with a staccato, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I heard it from your friends. Daniel and Raymond? They were all too happy to admit it after I met with them this morning. I just said hi and they spilled all kinds of things that I hadn't even thought to ask."
Lord Shadow makes a stand as he cries against his persona's supposed friends betrayal, "No way! Daniel and Raymond aren't the kind of guys who would—I SWEAR I'LL TURN THOSE GUYS INTO CLAIRE'S NEXT TRAINING DUMMIES!"
Nu and I can only nod and think about how we could possibly help with Lord Shadow's intended punishment.
"You're mixing your lines with your thoughts." The Silver haired witch then begins to fake cry, "How cruel… How could you toy with a maiden's frail heart? If the people were to learn that you made a princess cry, they would demand your execution…"
This [Elven Slur] she was putting up an act the whole time!
Lord Shadow puts on an excellent fake frustrated voice, "Yeah, I'm not too big on being executed. I'll play along for now, but in the end I'm just a baron's son. That's not enough to keep him away, and what is it that you don't like about him anyway?"
The witch flicks her hair as she stares into the distance, "Haven't you seen for yourself? That suspicious smile. He's handsome, has titles, fame, and popularity. An excellent specimen of a man. However, there are no perfect people. Only liars and fools who put on a façade of excellency. You, on the other hand… You're predictable scum, just the way I like it."
"Wow… you're just the worst." Deadpanned Lord Shadow.
Yeah! You tell her Lord Shadow! Then say about how you much prefer the company of a silver haired elf with a mole on her cheek!
"Wah, wah, wah, you're so whiny. Here." That wench pulls out a bag of gold coins and dumps it on the ground.
"Do I really strike you as the type of person who can be swayed by money?" said Lord Shadow.
That's right! Lord Shadow is easily the richest man in the world! There's no way that he'd give in!
"You do." Said the Wench.
Heh, you clearly no nothing about- Lord Shadow!?
"Well, you're absolutely right." Said Lord Shadow as he picked up the coins as though they were going to be stolen from him.
"Heh. Good boy" said that [Elven Slur] as she threw a coin in the air and Lord Shadow… did his best impression of Delta and caught it with his mouth.
Nu and I left shortly after, unable to bear the sight we had seen any longer. We decided to stop by the bar within Mitsugoshi, desperately needing a drink. I know Lord Shadow called for me… but I no longer had the strength or will power.
As I slam down my glass mug, another product of Shadow Wisdom, as I begin my complaints. "Why would Lord Shadow do that!?"
"I-I don't know Lady Beta."
"He already has a silver haired beauty! I'm way prettier than that, that, [elven slur]!"
"You're correct Lady Beta! But please don't use those words, Lady Shade will get upset!"
I nod and take another swig.
"He's the richest man in the world!" I yell, "He doesn't need that wench's money!"
"You're right Lady Beta!"
"He knows how much work Gamma, Epsilon, Eta, and I have put into the Mitsugoshi business!"
"Of course he does Lady Beta! I'm sure when you asked for permission to use his Shadow Wisdom he knew how well you'd all do! This must all be a part of his disguise!"
…
…
Wait.
"Nu."
"Y-yes!?"
"Repeat yourself."
"Pardon?"
"Repeat what you just said."
"Y-yes! This must be a part of Lord Shadow's disguise-"
"Before that."
"My apologies! Um, um, when you all asked for permission to use the shadow wisdom… Lady Beta? Are you okay?"
Oh no! OH NO!
"*Sniff*"
"L-lady…Beta?"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! LORD SHADOW I'M SORRYYYYYYY! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M SORRRYYYYY! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL I PROMISE! WAAAAHHH!"
"Lady Beta!?"
"*HIC* YOU ALWAYS SAID YOU HATED BORROWED STRENGTH! *HIC* I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER! *SOB* WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
"Can someone go get Lady Shade!? And a glass of water!"
-Leon-
It's been a few weeks since the first tea party, Miss Angelica and Miss Clarice have since allowed me to call them without the honorifics. For Olivia however…
"Say ah~"
"Ah~"
"Clarice! She can eat on her own!"
"But look at her, she's so cute I can't help it!"
"*gulp* It's okay Angie! I like it when people dote on me."
Devs… I see now. This is the Yuri route! No, it's the Yuri harem route! You rewarded me for my efforts!
"Leon" said Olivia in a monotone voice.
"Yes?" I say as I refill their teacups.
"You're thinking something dumb again aren't you." She asked.
I shrug, "Eh, yeah. Probably."
Olivia pouts at me and I stick out my tongue.
"How mature." Remarks Angelica.
"You love it." I rebut.
Angelica shakes her head, but I see the grin on her face. Clarice snickers to herself and Olivia returns my gesture from earlier. Cute.
"*Ahem*," Dan clears his throat, making us all turn to him, "As much as I like seeing Lady Clarice get along with her new friends, I believe that Leon had called us here for a specific reason, yes?"
Everyone begins to get a more serious expression on their face. I take a seat at the table next to Olivia and she reaches for my hand. As I've gotten more used to her affection these past few weeks I let her. Although I do think Angelica and Clarice could need the support more now.
"So, I wanted to update you all on everything I've been trying to do the past few weeks in regards to the five…" Angelica and Clarice level a glare at me, still not enjoying my unsubtle opinion on their respective fiancés, "in the prince's entourage. Just to make sure that we're all on the same page, what does everyone here know about what they've been up to?"
Angelica starts, "Julius has been seen with that Lafan girl. Last I heard they've gone into town and were scene eating all kinds of town food."
I nod, "Julius' favorite food."
Angelica pauses, "W-what?"
Oh right. I'm not supposed to know that… Uh, quick excuse go, "I don't know this for fact, but I would be correct in assuming that Julius snuck out of the castle tons as a kid right?"
Angelica nods.
"Well, not to insult your fiancé, but Julius is pretty predictable. He's a prince that resents he's a prince and therefore loves everything that doesn't have to do with that." I shrug. "Honestly, given your love for adventurers and everything about their lifestyle, you'd probably get along wonderfully. But since he refuses to see that, well, if you ever brought it up to him, he'd just think you were lying to him."
Angelica opens her mouth for a rebuttal. Then closes it. Then stands up and looks like she's about to shout. Then sits back down and hugs Olivia like the emotional support person she is. We take a few minutes for her to calm down before Clarice goes next.
"Jilk was seen with a girl on the back of the air bike that I bought for him." Growled Clarice.
Olivia pats her on the shoulder and gives her some cookies. After the fiery haired woman calms down, I decide to subtly diss Jilk more.
"And he still hasn't contacted you, right?" I asked.
Clarice gives me a scathing look, one I know is more leveled at herself than me, "You going to say Jilk is predictable too?"
"If you'll allow me." I say. Wouldn't want to make the girls upset more than they're okay with.
Clarice slumps in her chair, "Go ahead. Tell me what flaws I was overlooking because I'm so damn stupid."
I lean over the four-person tea table and hold Clarice's hand. As she cutely blushes, I look into her eyes and speak, "that's not what I'm doing. If that's what you and Angelica feel, then I'm sorry, that was not my intention. I know that love is blind and given that you guys grew up with the expectation you need to be there for Julius and Jilk it'd probably be hard to admit to any faults they may have. It's because I don't care for them that I can notice this stuff. Plus, I'm a guy so looking for faults is just a natural response. Heck, if we brought Cid over, I bet he could roast me for five straight minutes."
Clarice smiles and nods. "…sorry, and thanks. By the way, how come I've never met Mister Kagenou? He seems fun… or did Mister Leon want all the ladies to himself?"
I turn to Dan with my jaw dropped, "You were a girl this entire time!?"
Dan does his best to laugh but he's losing that battle very quickly. Clarice immediately snorted again, which cute, and Angelica and Olivia descend into a fit of giggles, again cute. Adorable even. Kawaii perhaps.
"Okay, okay. Back on topic Jilk has lived his entire life expecting that he had to sacrifice himself no questions asked for Julius. Hell, he's proud of it too. So, it's logical to assume that the way he's been treating you, is presumed to be a sacrifice on his part, that he's somehow protecting you in some way. Unlike with Angelica, I don't think he resents you in any way… at least not that I know of, he just likes someone else."
Dan and Clarice find themselves at a loss for words. Eventually Olvia hugs Clarice who shudders but doesn't break down crying.
"Why does that hurt more?" cries Clarice in a weak voice.
Angelica moves in and hugs Clarice as well. I think they're both coming around to the idea of their fiancés being dumb boys. I certainly have. It was hard to accept them as that, not just because of the disconnect I've felt ever since meeting Olivia. No, I've started to accept this world as a real world, with living people that have lives. But somehow, for reasons that I can't place, something deep within me utterly loathes the five idiots. Not like they annoy me, but like I wish for bad things on them. Which is weird to me, as I've always lived by the idea that the best revenge is to live well.
Clarice and the girls separate again. This time it's Olivia and I's turn.
"Well…" started Olivia, "This was on accident really,"
-Olivia-
Leon and I were studying in the library when we decided to take a break. Since there wasn't much to talk about and Leon didn't want to cuddle and end up getting distracted again. Leon was doing those 'stretches' and when he looked around while cracking his back, he saw something that caught his attention. When I looked over, I saw two girls with blonde hair in the shape of drills with the reddest of blushes. One of them was even in tears. Leon ended up looking back at me and I got up to go check on them with Leon closely behind.
"Is everything okay?" I whispered to the girls.
They both jumped a little but had their hands over their mouths so they wouldn't make any noise. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I just kinda introduced myself.
"Uh, hello. My name is Olivia Barfort-" I said. However, Leon immediately chopped me on the back of my head while blushing really cutely.
"Her name is Olivia. I'm Leon Fou Barfort. What seems to be the problem ladies?" He asked.
The drill-haired girls began to giggle at our little exchange. One of them, the one with a purer looking expression seemed to be filled with adoration at the two of us. The other, who had a harsh glare and ribbons in her hair seemed somewhat amused.
"I am Deirdre Fou Roseblade. A pleasure." Said the one with ribbons.
"I am Rose Oriana, it's nice to meet you." Said the pure looking one as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes.
They calmed down a little bit. However, right as we were going to ask about what they were so bothered by a voice cut through the silence.
"Mm~ 3"
The girls and I blushed at the woman's voice. Leon, however, immediately looked over.
"Oh, wow they're really going at it." Said Leon.
"Mister Barfort that's indecent!" whisper yelled Rose.
"Nah it's cool. They haven't gotten their clothes off yet. Want me to scare them off before they do though? They're pretty close." Said Leon who wasn't bothered in the slightest.
The girls and I nodded, and Leon got up from our hiding spot.
"*Ahem*" Leon cleared his throat.
Rose, Deirdre, and I peeked through the bookshelf as Leon confronted the two.
"Do you mind?" asked the purple haired man. Leon told me it was Brad later.
"Do you!" asked Leon with a certain swagger that. *ahem* anyway. "Look I get the appeal of doing stuff secretly in a library-
Bet you filed that away for later huh Livia~
Clarice!
Clarice! Clearly, she already knows by this point.
Angie! *Ahem* anyway Leon was saying…
"-but a princess ran past here in tears about how much of perverts the Holfort citizens are." He lied.
Both Brad and the girl he was with, Lafan-
Of course it was.
Yeah, I know, right? Anway they both sucked in air through their teeth and separated.
"W-which princess was it?" asked Brad.
"Oriana's. Might want to get her a gift an anonymously apologize before she sends a letter home." Said Leon.
"J-Julius' declaration-"started Lafan.
However, Leon shut her down really quick, "is ignored by most people. Hell, I don't think the princesses of other kingdoms are required to follow it anyway. Just hurry and go, you're lucky it wasn't Midgar's princess."
The two nodded and then walked away. Miss Rose and Miss Deirdre thanked us and then joined us in studying for the rest of the day.
-Leon-
"Oh, and Miss Deirdre asked if she could join us for tea sometime." Finished Olivia with a smile.
"Adding more blondes Sir Barfort" said Angelica as she stared at me with an amused glance.
I sigh. "It's not my fault that all the nice women in the kingdom have that hair color."
Olivia tilts her head, "Didn't you say Zola and her kids were blonde?"
"No, I said that Zola wears a blonde wig. If anything, it's closer to the green tint that the Offreys have. Rutart's a boy, so he doesn't count towards that rule. Merce… actually she's okay. Like not great, but she'll meet up with me and ask how's the family every now and again." I said. "Oh that reminds me, Angelica, I heard the other day through my network that Brad isn't engaged to Offrey anymore, is that true?"
Angelica nods, "Roughly two years ago the Offreys began to lose power, they've been unable to keep up with the expenses as expected of their house. Well, long story short the Fields felt as thought the marriage would no longer benefit them."
Two years ago, huh. That's roughly when we met Shadow for the first time and he gave us the Saintess' necklace. I'm guessing that he and Shadow Garden have something to do with the Offrey's hard times. Or maybe once they lost the pirates they lost their main source of revenue and lost power as a result. Good riddance if you ask me, some of the bad endings Stephanie caused were downright traumatic. Like, seeing NTR of your favorite characters for the first time traumatic. If anything like that were to happen to any of these girls now… Well maybe I should thank Shadow next time I see him. Maybe after I ask him what the hell he's so worried about, because damn does it make me nervous.
"Okay, so far Field's the only one who isn't cheating on his fiancé. What of Seberg and Arclight?" asked Dan.
"Actually, thanks to Deirdre and Merce I was able to meet with those two. They know and don't care in the slightest." I said.
Angelica and Clarice both just blink.
"Pardon?" said Angelica incredulously.
[As master said. Both were not informed by their respective fiancés of their planned gallivanting but expected it beforehand. Many men in the upper echelon of your society take lovers. Usually when their wife becomes pregnant, but not always. However, their families did plan for other marriages for the girls should the boys act like boys and ruin the marriages. They simply chose to enjoy the academy life under the royal order before diving back into all of that.]
"But… but they had this lined up like us, since childhood." Said Clarice.
"They always spoke so highly of their fiancés whenever we all met!" said Angelica.
I shrug, "Politics. They just wanted people to assume the relationship was good, but Light blue and Red both spent more time training than anything else. So, they never really built a connection and never really cared."
Angelica and Clarice begin to use Olivia as a human stress ball again.
"So Lafan is going after all five boys." Stated Dan with venom in his voice.
"Six now, they bought her an elf servant named Kyle the other day." I said.
Clarice begins screaming into Olivia's chest as Olivia pats her head.
Angelica takes a deep breath before asking, "So, what can you tell us about…" I can see Angelica bite down on her tongue so as to not become too rude, "Lafan."
I lean back in my chair knowing what kind of response I'm going to get as I speak, "Honestly, more than those five probably could."
"WHAT!" screamed all three girls.
"Hold on, don't take that the wrong way." I say while raising my hands, "There's no way I'm going to be enticed by a girl that doesn't have any curves."
"Classy." Mutters Dan.
I continue, "but well… Lafan's a bit of a sketchy character. Livia, why don't you start by what you know?"
Olivia reins the two noble ladies back as she talks, "Well, I don't really know her well either. For some time Lafan had been acting cold to the girls. I've heard that she's calmed down but other than that… one time while I was walking to the library, I saw her, and she yelled at me to 'get lost' and that I was a nuisance. I thought it was maybe because of that one time when we were playing hide-and-seek, so I was going to apologize but then she just said, 'I hate women like you.' That's all I know about her."
Clarice gapes, "What!? What does she mean by 'women like you,'!? You're a total sweetheart Livia!"
Olivia giggles at the praise. Cute.
"Well, that just goes to show Lafan's character." I say as I motion for Luxion to take out some documents. I continue speaking as the girls look at them, "But I can't blame her too much, after all we're in somewhat similar circumstances."
"…these are all debt invoices… and they're all for you?" noted Angelica.
I shake my head, "They're all owed to me. It's in Lafan's name."
"What? How does she owe you money?" asked Olivia. "And what did you mean by similar circumstances?"
I sigh and look out the window, "Just like how the old hag Zola had tried to take advantage of me, Lafan's parents were taking advantage of her. She had to scrap together the money to pay her way here, from what I saw in the adventurer's guild records she fought bears and conquered some minor dungeons to get however much else she needed. But the thing is, while her family can't take anything she earned as an adventurer, they can take out loans in her name. Which they've done for her entire life. Add up all of the totals there."
Dan takes out an abacus and crunches the numbers before sucking in his breath, "…I don't even want to read that out loud."
The girls all nod.
"Leon," started Angelica, "Why is this owed to you?"
"I bought the debts from the loan sharks and then got Lafan's parents arrested for owing me money for the past few weeks. It was the only way to legally stop them from doing it since even if Lafan were to, I don't know, become the Saintess or something she would still owe the money according to the law." I confirmed.
"But why would you buy it out in the first place? I mean I feel bad but I don't think I could just give away this money, even if I begged Daddy." Said Clarice.
I shrug and smile, "Aside from the treasure I found while on my adventure, I also got money from other sources."
"Such as?" asked Dan.
"Mitsugoshi." I admitted, "See, since their author sent me a letter about the book, I had an in to talk with them. I mentioned a few ideas for products for them to sell and they agreed to give me a cut of the profits. I've basically been printing money. As for why? Because now I have power over Marie that her five boytoys don't."
I can see the lightbulbs (or chandeliers I guess) flicker on for everyone.
"You're essentially her guardian now. We can't do anything due to prospective backlash from the five, buy you have every right to!" declared Angelica.
"Leon you bright bastard!" cried Clarice.
Olivia runs to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
"What now," said Angelica as she slams her hands on the table with fire in her really pretty eyes, "what do we do about Lafan? Whatever it is just let me know."
"Love the energy" I say as I (regrettably) push Angelica back a bit from my face. "But calm down. For now, we need to remain friendly. As much as I want to threaten them or something, they probably wouldn't follow through on any deal I make with them if it means time away from their 'precious' Marie."
Angelica nods and cools down a bit.
"So, what we're moving onto now is Plan E. Envy." I say. Everyone motions for me to continue. "My philosophy has always been that the best revenge you can get on someone is to live well. So, what we're going to do is make sure you two live your best possible lives without them. I'm not saying move on, try contacting them every now and again if you want. But I want you both to do your best to look like you're living a life surrounded by friends and bringing your dreams to fruition. I want you two to be so cool that those two will be begging for you to look at them."
Angelica and Clarice look at each other and smile in a way that makes my brain go fuzzy. Man, Dark blue and Green are dumbasses.
"How do we start?" asked Angelica.
I smile back.
-Cid-
Two weeks have passed since I've become Alexia's (fake) lover. Beta never showed up, Nu saying that she was busy with her job. Beta did end up sending me some letters, mostly stuff about how she still thinks I'm the coolest person ever and stuff. I guess she was having her nightmares about her family leaving her again and wanted to talk to me. Too bad we don't live near each other anymore; I'd offer to read her to sleep again. She did mention maybe looking pathetic in front of Alexia to make her disgusted with me, but when I let myself be beat up by some thugs on a 'date' it only backfired.
Anyway, training with Alexia has become a daily routine. Although she usually pus on a fake act that makes me wanna gag, she shows me her true self when we're alone. As the days went by, I realized that my feelings for her…
Haven't changed at all.
I growl as I look at the crappy drawing of a dog and some grass decorate my white and hard to clean training gear. Alexia merely laughs, not feeling sorry at all.
"Pooch," starts the witch, "I'm feeling awfully thirsty. Be a good boy and fetch me some water?"
"I'm not a servant," I declare and try to leave, "get it yourself!"
Alexia drops some coins on the ground, and I race forward with some Mineral water.
As she takes the glass from me, she remarks, "You're so handy! I love our relationship!"
I tremble in anger as I reflect on how my body reacts on instinct to the sound of money. I try to work through my frustrations and toss Alexia her training sword. I'll allow myself to land a blow or two this time, I feel like enough time has passed for it to be believable for me to be able to. She of course catches the sword with one hand and tosses the glass into a nearby bin.
"Sheesh, you know for as much as you harp on about him, at least instructor Zenon acts like a real adult. He doesn't do anything like sabotage me even though I'm supposedly his rival. He acts like just because he's good with a sword there's no issue." I begin the fight, getting a few blows on Alexia's sword before she takes charge again.
"That's exactly what annoys me about him!" Grunts Alexia as I get a hit on her stomach, "He thinks that because he's good with a sword he can act like it's no issue."
I take three blows before I get back into exchanging sword strikes, "Sure, he knows how to handle a sword. But aren't you about as strong as him?"
Alexia shakes her head and begins to give me her 'dramatic' backstory, "I suppose a beginner can't really tell. While I have worked hard and I do believe that I'm relatively strong… I… don't have any talent for it. When I compare myself to my genius of a sister the difference is painfully obvious. Do you know what everyone calls me?"
I let Alexia land a blow, it's a bit weaker than usual, then answer "The fencer ordinaire?"
"Right." Nodded Alexia, "Among the people my swordsmanship is called mediocre. Y'know once Iris had told me 'I like your swordsmanship' after I lost a tournament. Can you fathom how pitiful I felt…? Ever since… I hated my swordsmanship. So when I say I hate your swordplay, it's because it's just as mediocre as mine."
Really, just a few teenage insecurities? Man, that's boring. I won't even bother with some grand speech this time and just be honest.
"Hmph. You know," I start, "I might be an awful person. If even in a million people in the world died, it would hardly bother me. Even if someone kidnapped you, I would simply think 'heh, serves her right.'"
Alexia stops and stares at me with wide open eyes.
I think to my dream. To my desire to master magic. To the Shades. To Alpha. "But even I have things I care about. Others might think them trivial. But in my life they have great importance. If you really claim that my swordsmanship and yours is the same then my next words are the absolute truth. I like your swordsmanship Alexia."
Alexia immediately shoots a sword wave my way. She misses terribly, probably because her eyes are facing the ground.
"…And what is the hidden meaning behind those words?" she demanded.
I wave it off, "Nothing, really. Just that anyone would be pissed off when the things they like get discredited."
Alexia drops her sword and walks out. Guess we're done for the day. As I pick up everything that she left behind the doors open again, but this time it's Leon.
"Hey man, want to earn some money tomorrow?"
What could I say but yes?
-Angelica-
If one were to trace back the origins of the Holfort Kingdom Nobility, they were originally adventurers. Therefore, in order to know the struggles of their ancestors, the academy registers students as adventurers and holds a class, in which they must brave a dungeon. As the descendant of the adventurers that earned the name 'Redgrave' I can't help but feel my blood stir in excitement as I hear the word 'dungeon.' I was genuinely excited for today, and I was only more so once Leon had proposed that for his Plan E, we would team up and conquer the entire dungeon.
Originally, Leon was asked to guard the five heirs, however he proposed that Julius and his friends go after his own group. As if Julius was assigned a guard, he'd likely feel more insulted than anything else and cause trouble. So instead, Leon's group would go first and thin the number of monsters within the dungeon. The teachers agreed as much, and with my recommendation we were given permission to go as deep as we'd like. This class does occur on Friday, so we should have the entire weekend if needed.
"Alright, everyone ready?" asked Leon.
"Oh!" shouted Olivia and Cid. I don't shout but I also raise my arm in agreeance.
As we approach the entrance of the dungeon we run into the five, Lafan, and her elf servant. Julius quickly turns his head away from my direction, which no longer hurts as it would have in the beginning of the year. As we had planned earlier, Leon goes to the five. They allow him, curious about why.
"Barfort, correct?" asked Brad.
Leon does an over exaggerated salute, "Yessir Mister Field. Sorry to bother you in the middle of flirting with your girl again, but do you mind if I talk to Julius?"
Jilk bristles, "That's his highness to you-"
Julius puts his hand on Jilk's shoulder and shakes his head with a smile, "Jilk, you know I wanted to be treated like a normal student during our time here, calling me by name is following said order if anything. How can I help you Barfort?"
"I just wanted to ask if you'd be alright with Angie joining us today instead of you." Said Leon.
Julius blinks, seemingly surprised. "Angie?" he asks.
"Oh yeah, she lets all her close friends call her that. I mean, I don't need to tell you that of course." Laughed Leon.
Julius's grin looks a bit shaky. Heh. I agreed to the plan due to feeling like I was close enough with Leon to begin with, but seeing the dividends is immensely satisfying.
"Angie you're starting to smile like Leon." Said Olivia.
Oh no. I take out a fan and cover my face.
"I… I don't mind no, have fun. Although I can't imagine it'd be a lot." Said Julius.
…
"What do you mean?" asked Leon.
"Angelica's a noble woman through and through. I can't imagine guarding her his going to be an easy job." Remarked Julius.
Leon laugh again, "Hahaha! That's a funny joke your highness!"
Greg steps to the front with a frown on his face, "Mind explaining the joke buddy? I ain't laughing."
"Everyone that's close to Angie knows she's always wanted to go adventuring. She was just stuck being prepared to become queen and never could leave her tutor's sight. Luckily your royal order at the beginning of the semester makes it so she doesn't have to constantly report to your mother so she's free to take the entire weekend off to dive with Olivia, Cid, and I." said Leon as he wiped some tears from his eyes.
Julius looks over at me, and I drop the fan so he can see me smile in confirmation. He looks so confused, I'd find it endearing normally, but somehow I can't find it in myself to feel affection towards him right now.
"Oh, speaking of," states Leon with a clap of his hands, "sorry to bother you but can I ask something about the decree?"
"I don't see why not." Confirmed Julius.
"Could you let me send letters home? Like I know a lot of people were just ignoring your decree and doing it anyway but most of my friends, Like Angie and Clarice, haven't been since we didn't want to get on your bad side." Questioned Leon.
The five look at each other confused.
"Sir Barfort," said Chris, "what do you mean most people have been ignoring the royal decree?"
Leon shrugged with a big smile on his face, "I mean haven't you guys seen the newspaper? It's common knowledge about how you guys have a new beau. I can't check up on my ship without hearing some merchants in the port talk about what the prospective mistress of the five is going to order."
This alarms Julius, and I smile in a way that makes me cover my mouth with a fan again.
Before any of them can get a word in Leon begins to look around, "By the way is she around, I wanted to tell her about something too."
A hand raises, and I do my best not to laugh.
"I-I'm down here, Sir Barfort." Said Lafan.
Leon jumps in surprise, forcing me to disguise my laughter with coughs, "Woah! Where'd you come from!?"
I see a frown more befitting of her personality briefly cross the gremlin's face before she goes back to the fake doe-eyed look, "I-I was here the entire time."
Leon scratches the back of his head in an endearing way—in a perfectly normal way and says "Sorry about that. You're shorter than I remember. I guess you were wearing heels when I caught you and Lord Field in the library."
Brad's face colors as he rushes to speak, "Barfort! Please get on with what you needed so we can disperse!"
I briefly overhear several of our classmates murmur about the statement Brad had just confirmed.
"Wow…" whispers Cid, "All according Leon's plan. He has my respect."
I can only agree. As frustrated as I was at the time when Leon proposed to probe the five by humiliating them in front of the class, I can see the results now. Julius and the other four really are blind.
Leon chuckles, "Sorry, sorry. Well it has to do with her family so if you wouldn't mind giving us a bit of privacy?"
Greg steps forward in an attempt to intimidate Leon, "How would you know anything about her family? And anything you need to tell her can be said in front of us."
Leon shrugs, "It's just business. And I don't mind but shouldn't you ask Miss Lafan for permission first?"
"I'll reiterate what Greg said," states Julius as he also steps forward, "Whatever you have to say to our Marie you can say in front of us."
Julius and Greg likely meant to intimidate Leon, however Leon does nothing but sigh. He then wraps his arms around their shoulders and brings them in close to speak in whispers. Although I can no longer hear them, Leon had told us earlier what he planned to say to them.
"Look, Dark Blue, Red. I get it, this is your first real relationship, so you want to show off. But dudes, take it from a guy whose love story was made into a very popular book, pushing your feelings onto someone like this isn't a good look. Especially given your statuses in comparison to hers. I know you probably don't mean to but if she ever feels insecure enough, she probably won't be able to refuse you guys anything. Look, I'll bring this up again later, but you should think about what I said."
Leon then lets them go and begins walking in our direction. However, he briefly goes off script.
"This is just me talking out loud, but if you happen to over hear it, that's fine," remarks Leon, "It's nice to see you guys get along so well considering how short of a time you've all known each other. However, you should know when to take things slow. I mean, imagine if I ran at full speed in the dungeon. I'd find myself surrounded by bugs and feel like I'm not at the level I need to be. You don't want your relationship to be like a firework. Beautiful and loud, but ending quickly."
Leon's words ring true, I suppose. But what was with the random emphasis on those words? Julius and co. nod at his advice. However, I can't make out the expression on Lafan's face. I suppose scared? Why would that be?
"Hey, let's get going guys." Said Leon as he made his way back over to us.
"Leon," I say quietly enough only for him to hear, "What that last part?"
"Just me trying to find something out. It worked by the way, now I'm in the mood to slay some monsters." Said Leon with a dark voice that sounded really ni- I mean sounded worrying.
Nonetheless, I follow after him. I think I could do with fighting monsters as well.
-Cid-
"Look at this Leon!" happily exclaimed Olivia as she held up a precious gem, "I've found it!"
Leon inspects the gem before giving a thumbs up, "Congratulations. With this, we're guaranteed 100 Dia."
Dia is apparently the name of the currency in Holfort. It's just another system of coins with the same color scheme but different engravings. Basically 1 Dia = 1 Yen. 1 Dia= 1 copper colored coin. From there it's silver for 10 Dia, gold for 100, and platinum for 1000. Not the most efficient system, but whatever.
In any case Olivia begins to look around at all the treasure we found over the past few hours.
"What's wrong Livia," asked Angelica.
"Umm… don't you think dungeons are strange? I know it's a little late to point out, but isn't it weird that there's treasure in them. Like it was left for someone." Remarked Olivia.
Yeah us. We've so far split up the treasure as follows: Money is split evenly, jewelry is given first to the girls, if there's a ring then I get to have it (Leon and Olivia said it'd be a nice present for Alpha. I've so far gotten seven, so I can give one to each of the shades), and if there's a lost item then Leon gets first dibs. Anything else, like artwork or the like I can have. I need stuff to help set up my eminence in shadow lair after all. I admit it was a bit weird to find Edvard Munch's The Scream in another world, but it's going to look sick in my lair.
"Yep! That's strange alright, oh well. No sense in questioning it." Said Leon. He gets it.
"Eh!?" cries the moe blob, "Don't you want to find out more!?"
Leon just shrugs and Angelica sighs. Olivia ends up pouting some more. Ah, classic. I feel like I'm reading a manga again. Never realized how much I'd miss those. Gotta say there's times where I feel like pointing out how both of these girls have a crush on him (the heart rate I detect spike when they just look at him gives it away) but I suppose that's in poor form. They have decent enough development anyway…
Hm… You know, we're getting pretty close to the end. Maybe I can spice things up a bit? Leon definitely needs more 1 on 1 time with Angelica. No shame to Olivia but she needs to let the other heroines shine a bit more. What to do… Oh, I'll just use the classic excuse.
I start fidgeting in place, "Uh guys… sorry but, I need to…go. You mind waiting a little? Oh, and don't have Luxion follow me, even if it's for safety I don't like the idea of being watched like that."
[I wouldn't waste the storage space, scum.]
They waved me off. After I depart, I dispense a little of my slime. I've seen Eta do this a little bit before, but basically I'm going to have my slime dig through a couple of floors, collapse a few walls, build some new traps, basic new part splitting architecture.
Oh, neat, there's a restricted section that's completely walled off, I can just use that. I make my slime quickly clean up the area and get ready for how things are going to play out.
Honestly this is partly because I'm getting tired of watching them all flirt. I'm happy for my fellow reincarnate of course, especially since we're buddies, but I just miss the shades.
…
Oh man, that's new. I miss my friends. Huh… I hope they like the rings.
I return to the others, take the medicine for stomach pain that Leon gives me, and we move on. After we beat another floor boss, a giant preying mantis, I begin my plan.
"W-woah!" shouted Leon as the ground began shaking.
The floor begins to collapse beneath us. We all booked it, Leon doing his best to make sure we all get ahead of him, and it looks like we're all going to make it. Unfortunately for him I can't have that. Right before she makes it towards the stairs of the next floor, I make one of the slimes collapse a rock right in front of Angelica, cutting her off and making her fall. Leon dives after her and he manages to grab onto a nearby ledge.
"LEON! ANGIE!" Screamed Olivia.
"Hang on!" I yelled.
"Good idea!" Yelled back Leon, "I was thinking about letting go!"
"Now is not the time to be funny Leon!" yelled Angelica.
Olivia and I both try to reach for them but they have a good two feet away from us, even if I hold Olivia as she reaches.
"Luxion" said Leon, "Can you help bridge the gap!?"
[I don't recommend that. Neither Cid nor I cannot support everyone's weight. You all are too low on magic.]
"So what are supposed to do!?" cried Olivia.
Leon thinks quickly and comes up with a plan, "Luxion, help slow Angie and my fall here but go get help with one of your other bodies. Olivia, give me your necklace. You can track it right? When the help arrives, you can help them reach us. Cid you protect her until then, got it?"
Olivia nods and hands it over to Luxion. Luxion then extends a few metallic tentacles to Leon and Angelica. They slowly descend and Olivia watches while praying for their safety. Once they get deep enough, I have use a slime to extend my mana and snipe Luxion. The two fall, but they'll be fine. They'll wake up in the dungeon I set up for them.
-P2W/?-
*Groan*
Ugh, my head…
Where… where am I?
What's this heavy feeling on my chest?
I sit up, and see a woman with blonde hair on top of me.
I look around a bit more. Is this a dungeon? What was I…
*Groan*
The woman gets up and starts to rub her eyes. She opens them and looks at me. I know this woman.
I would never forget these ruby red eyes.
"Ann?"
"Lea?"
[Oh dear.]
A/N: Okay, that's where I'll end things for now. If you read EiS you can kinda guess what's going to happen once they get out of the dungeon. As for now, well, I'll have some fun with original stuff. Fun fact, I originally wanted to do this after Alexia's arc so I could have more people fall with Leon and have him confuse them for past figures Like Olivia did in her dreams. However, given the new auxiliary chapter coming to the EiS game I didn't want to use my own headcannons and then get things horrifically wrong about the three heroes.
Anyway, let's answer some comments:
From Fanfic-
CazyPhuc: I don't know if I was madella'd, I looked it up during maintenance, or if I got it confused with Fanfic, but I could have sworn you couldn't delete your account once you made it. I'm stuck with fanfic I think. Thanks for letting me know. However, as I'm already posting to three sites I think I'm good for now.
Rebiele: I posted the link at the beginning of this chapter. Again, I find stuff by searching for thread names. My username is UnholyExcaliber456 on there just to be clear. Not Excalibur, Excaliber. I misspell it on purpose because usually I don't have to add numbers when I do.
RedRat8: Thanks I think? Eyebrows raised can mean different things so I'm a bit unsure. Claire has a crush on Leon, but it's her first one ever and she's as dense as Cid. So, yeah it's going to take a bit. I think the alabama memes are funny, but not a fan considering I have siblings. Lol.
Phlebiac: Wow, thanks for the long thorough comment! I recommend EiS if you like Mobuseka and fun in general.
I did remember they call him strong but didn't know any specific chapter so just made some head cannons, especially when I needed to powerscale him to the EiS cast.
Yeah, it's a good fic, but if you're not going to use the boy, but still have him there I'll lose interest.
I like assertive Livia too, I think it really just emerges from Livia mainly being uncertain on how to deal with everyone because their nobility, but once she gets close to Leon and does the "no-no" stuff it's just a done deal.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have a weakness for MILF's and Drill Haired Ojou-sama's too.
I never realized that's what I was doing, but man that's funny. "You dense mother fucker" "you have no right to say that" is an exchange I plan on having, but not for a while.
I may need to go back and change things, but his worry stems from thinking Shadow is a reincarnate and because of the major power difference. Not to mention, he has no idea what Shadow's end goal is. You point out Shadow saved him twice, but the first time Shadow had done that after leading him to the place. So I would say Leon thinks it as Shadow endangered him once, and saved his life another.
Fangs of Death: Thank you!
Haseo55: At some point, yeah. But I feel like doing it too soon wouldn't work for what I have planned.
Findarato: Yes, Questionable Questing. I have the hotspring scene in the same place I have its replacement here. "Life's a Pay to Win Game" should have you find it. It's in the NSFW creative writing section with the tags nsfw, harem, isekai, mobuseka, nsfw possible, the eminence in shadow.
Guest: Depends on how you want to define strength really. Remember, Arroganz hasn't come out yet. But in a fight, probably Shadow. In everything else, I'd wager Leon and Luxion. After all Shadow Garden relies on the shadow wisdom for most of their business. As for which side is going to be more focused on? I want to say it's about even, but I'm likely going to go through a lot of Mobuseka stuff first given how much of it is spent in school. For what it's worth, I have both mangas pulled up for reference and am roughly at chapter 6 in Mobuseka and 4 in EiS.
From QQ-
Zackman2k12: Sorry for not responding in the last chapter, since it was after my comment I didn't notice it. That explode into a million katakanas made me think you meant the swords and I though "UNLIMITED LOST WORKS." Thanks for reading!
Someone ani: Yeah, EiS doesn't miss with Shadow Garden. Destiny waits for no one, accept the love Cid.
Elden_Lord: It's not so much denseness as it is imposter syndrome. Anyway, I did change him a little bit from canon so don't worry about it drawing out as long as it did there.
Alternativefuturefan27: I love that fanfic. And yeah, just in case. As for Olivia being full Y-ann-dere? It's cooled off a little. Leon's presence calms her down. But yeah, both series deal with wars happening, one's just public and the other's in the shadows.
As for the other reincarnates, I think you're referring to the one from Alzer and the one from the most recent one with the scribble monster looking thing right? Well I have a plan for the former but know little to none about the latter. Not sure I'll even get that far if I'm being honest. If you mean Marie, well Leon started it this chapter. (Hint: Hanabi=Fireworks=花火)
No comments from SB as I write this.