This is a story about the actions of other people. It’s a bit long.
Claydale Royal Magic Academy—an educational institution that gathers noble children aged thirteen to fifteen from within the kingdom, aiming to raise the average level of the nobility who will bear the future of the kingdom.
The academy, which should have been safe, was temporarily closed due to an attack by the Evil Race. In the academy, where the eyes of adults searching for the missing princess could not reach, a chaotic struggle beneath the surface had begun, led by Crown Prince Elvan, 正妃 candidate Clara, 第二妃 candidate Carla… and a single viscount’s daughter who was not even a high-ranking noble.
This resulted in something that even exceeded the Evil Race’s scheme to kidnap the princess and undermine the next generation’s national power, and it began to spread throughout the kingdom like a faint dark cloud.
Two young men were walking through the academy.
Young men—calling them that might be a bit of a misnomer. In this country, they became adults at fifteen, and although they were legally adults this year, they were still generally treated as young men.
However, their appearance, accelerated by their excessive Mana, made them look about seventeen years old. This was the reason why only the “Heroine” in the story called “Otome Game” had a “conspicuous, youthful appearance” that caught the Crown Prince’s eye.
Even within that Otome Game, the two of them initially criticized Elvan and the Heroine, but eventually took a bystander’s position. However, this was none other than because they had seen the growth and character of the Heroine, Alicia, and had come to acknowledge her.
But that was not the case now.
The two young men harbored a strong sense of警戒心 towards that girl—Alicia Melsys—who was impossible to understand what she was thinking and tried to easily enter people’s hearts.
Even in this world, which was reality and not a story, they tried to admonish Elvan. However, Elvan, who had already been captivated by Alicia by accepting all of his inferiority complex as a “woman,” rejected the advice of his two close aide candidates and friends, resulting in the two leaving Elvan, who had become even more deeply dependent on Alicia.
Originally, the two of them might not have been able to abandon Elvan and might have been absorbed by Alicia, who seemed to know everything.
However, thanks to a girl named Aria, whom they had met before Alicia, the two of them had become able to think more realistically than they had in the story.
The girl named Aria was a fierce person, for better or worse. Her existence was both medicine and poison, and if they had not met her, who had been an Adventurer before entering the academy, and harbored faint feelings of affection, they might have rejected her like Prince Amor and Nasanitaru, unable to withstand her as poison.
However, the two who accepted her way of life were able to gain a broad perspective from which they could judge the entire kingdom and international affairs, rather than being “dreaming boys” swayed by momentary emotions.
That was why Mikhail Melrose and Rookwell Dandole, the young men, concluded that in order to dispel the current chaos, Princess Elena and Aria were necessary, even putting aside their personal affections.
“Do you think she’ll tell us honestly?”
“I’ve heard that Carla-jou is fond of Aria. She might tell us something if we, rather than nobles from the castle, ask her.”
Mikhail frowned as he replied to Rookwell’s words as they walked side by side.
The noble family that brought the Evil Race into the kingdom had not yet been identified. To be precise, the lower nobles and Underworld organizations that acted directly had been identified and already dealt with, but those who gave the instructions to those people were unknown.
A list of suspects consisting of dozens of nobles had been created. Rookwell felt gloomy because his younger sister, Clara, was on that list.
From the time she entered the academy, Clara had been preaching about the danger of the viscount’s daughter, Alicia. It seemed like a low-probability gamble to bring in the Evil Race in order to eliminate Alicia, who was always near the royal family, but Clara, who had obtained the Divine Protection (Gift) of “future prediction,” could do it, and Rookwell knew that it was pointless to pursue her because of that Divine Protection (Gift), even though he wanted to believe in his sister.
And Carla Leicester’s name was among the suspect candidates.
Like Clara, she had been unofficially decided as a Crown Prince candidate, and both were thought to have a low possibility as suspects due to their age, but Carla was known to be the most dangerous noble at the age of thirteen, and she was currently ordered to be confined within the academy for destroying the Chapel of the Holy Church in the Royal Capital.
Originally, she should have been given a more severe punishment, but the Holy Church, which had suffered the damage, did not question it, and it was estimated that the Knight Order would suffer a thousand casualties in order to capture Carla, who could burn Rank 6 Monsters to ashes.
Before that, if she were to be removed from the Crown Princess candidates, the domestic situation would become even more turbulent. The current king, who had caused this situation, could not abandon the Count Leicester Estate faction, and as a result, the kingdom could only order her to be confined.
She was currently obediently confined, but no noble wanted to get involved with the dangerous Carla, who might do anything on a whim.
However, Mikhail and Rookwell thought that because she was a dangerous person, they might be able to get a clue about Aria’s whereabouts, who lived in the same world.
In fact, Carla had that information, and although nobles dispatched from the Royal Castle would not even be able to talk to her, they thought that they might have a chance because they sincerely cared about the missing girls.
“Mikhail, can you bow your head to Carla-jou?”
“…Yes. Even if my grandfather, who is the prime minister, and your father, who is the general commander of the Knight Order, can’t, it’s nothing for me as a man to kneel for Aria.”
The image of the Pink-Haired Girl flashed through Mikhail’s mind.
He understood that Aria’s impression of Mikhail was that he was not even worth considering, partly because of their bad first meeting, but his desire to support her as a man, as she continued to fight alone, had become stronger than before.
“Hey, Mikhail. I want to save Aria too, but do you understand that rescuing Princess Elena is the top priority?”
“I understand that. But—”
“No, you don’t understand. She is worthy of respect as a warrior, but Princess Elena’s existence is indispensable to returning this country to a normal state. I would dedicate this sword to her breadth of vision and nobility…”
“Princess Elena? Rookwell, you…”
Mikhail’s eyes widened at the words Rookwell uttered, interrupting his own words.
Rookwell was a knight who was too noble, and he would only call those he trusted by their first name. Rookwell, realizing the meaning of Mikhail’s gaze, who had inadvertently muttered after learning of his hidden feelings, covered his mouth with one hand, hiding his slightly crimson face.
“…Is that bad?”
“No.”
Mikhail grinned at Rookwell’s question.
There is no logic to people’s feelings for each other. There must be something that Rookwell, as a knight rather than as a noble, was attracted to.
Neither of them thought that there would be a reward, but the two who walked together silently bumped fists lightly.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah.”
Putting aside their personal feelings for the time being, the two showed the faces of nobles who were concerned about the country.
In the story, they were friends who trusted each other, but they were also nobles who kept a line between them somewhere, but now they knew each other’s feelings, and a friendship between men that transcended the connections of noble families had sprouted between them.
＊＊＊
About a month after leaving the Kingdom of Claydale. A beast was running along the deserted border of the Kingdom of Seres, passing through the dangerous Forest in the Monster Habitat where Rank 5 Monsters roamed, and on its back was a figure that appeared to be a woman.
“Nero. That’s all for today,”
Serejula, a seemingly young woman with lustrous obsidian-like skin, called out, and Nero, the jet-black Mystic Beast Kuaal, stopped reluctantly.
“—Go—”
“You’re saying we should go further? You’re not a very kind beast to an old woman, are you?”
Although her tone was old-fashioned, Serejula, a Dark Elf, was about thirty years old in human terms, as her appearance suggested. It would not have been a problem if she had lived among the Dark Elves or interacted with multiple humans, but Serejula’s spirit, who had only interacted with a very small number of humans and watched them grow old, had changed her speech and even her consciousness along with their aging.
There had also been changes in her life. A human woman who had become Serejula’s self-invited disciple decades ago was a headache for Serejula, along with her strange, delusional remarks, but she did not dislike the existence of her poor disciple.
After a few years, the disciple who had learned a certain amount of magic declared that he would become an adventurer and ran off. He came back a few times, but six years ago, he stole Serejula-san’s books and medicines and disappeared, never to be seen again.
However, two years after that idiot disciple disappeared, a girl named Aria, with an unusual aura, appeared.
When Serejula-san heard her story, she learned that Aria had been targeted by the idiot disciple and had killed him in self-defense. Serejula-san was both exasperated and saddened by the idiot disciple’s pathetic end, but Aria was not at fault. If Aria was carrying on her teachings, Serejula-san felt that she should take her as a new disciple and train her so that she wouldn’t die.
As Serejula-san lived with Aria, she felt new emotions stirring within her.
Aria possessed strength that belied her age, and she had great courage. However, inside, she was just a child whose sense of purity had been warped by the idiot disciple.
There was too much of a gap between what she knew and what she didn’t. At just seven years old, Aria understood the meaning of killing others, but she didn’t even know what it meant for a child to depend on an adult.
Therefore, while Serejula-san guided her strictly, she also treated Aria like a child, as an adult should. Aria, like an abused stray cat, gradually opened her heart, and Serejula-san felt, somewhere in her heart, as if she had a daughter, something she had given up on.
Neither of them put it into words, but a bond as a “family” was being born.
If that was the case, then what a parent should do for their daughter was clear.
—Conquer—
“You still want to go on? You can say that in that state? Just stop for today.”
To get through the dangerous Monster Habitat, Serejula-san and Nero had come this far with almost no rest. Nero, in particular, had been running continuously, and on top of that, he had fought Rank 5 Griffons and Goblin Lords, so he wasn’t unscathed.
Nero calls Aria “Moon.” For Nero, who had lived a solitary life, Aria’s existence was close to a beacon of light.
But, could beings as different as a Mystic Beast and a human truly connect? Currently, they were cooperating, but Serejula-san was wary of Nero for the sake of the girl she considered her daughter, and Nero would not open his heart to anyone other than Aria.
Even so, he didn’t seem to intend to ignore the opinions of Aria’s family, and Nero calmly assessed his physical condition and agreed to rest.
Everyone ate as they pleased. Serejula-san caught a wild bird and roasted it over the fire, while Nero hunted a young doe and devoured it.
They had no conversation other than what was necessary, but the first proper meal and rest in a while, even in the forest, slightly eased their mutual wariness.
“Why do you go so far for Aria?”
At the casual question, Nero, who had been closing his eyes after finishing his meal, opened them slightly.
—Incomprehensible—
“Huh? You don’t understand? Are you saying you don’t know what you’re doing?”
—Meaning—
—Incomprehensible—
“You don’t understand, but you don’t understand the meaning of the question?”
—Unnecessary—
—Moon—
—Natural—
“It’s natural for Aria, but I’m asking what that means.”
—You—
—Fool—
“Huh? Wait a minute.”
—Moon—
—Me—
—Same—
“Aria is the same as you? I didn’t raise that child to be a beast!”
—Daughter—
—No—
“You’re not even the same species. What do you know about Aria?”
—All—
—Know—
“Huh!? You know everything!? Don’t be ridiculous!”
—Fool—
One person and one beast, who had slowly stood up, glared at each other in the night forest illuminated by the bonfire.
“It seems like I need to settle things with you…”
—Agree—
And so, Serejula-san and Nero had a heated debate about how much they knew about Aria, and the two, who had accumulated fatigue from their journey, fell asleep intertwined by dawn, and their departure was postponed for about a day.
“New information and a formal request have arrived from Margrave Melrose. From now on, we, the ‘Rainbow Sword,’ will leave the country by ship to search for Princess Elena.”
At Dolton’s mansion in the Royal Capital, the members of the adventurer party “Rainbow Sword,” Miranda, Feld, and Viro, had gathered.
However, Aria, the youngest member, was missing along with Princess Elena, whom she was guarding. Even without a request from the kingdom, they intended to search for them, but Dolton, the leader, chose to accept the request as it would provide accurate information and support, rather than having his actions restricted.
“We will leave the Royal Capital tomorrow and head to Margrave Melrose’s territory, and from there, we will head to the Calfaan Empire on a ship owned by Margrave Melrose personally.”
The whereabouts of Elena and Aria, who disappeared due to teleportation, were still unknown. However, as a relatively high possibility, an acquaintance of Margrave Melrose brought the information to him, who is the prime minister.
The source of the information is kept secret, but the information was as follows:
“If you used a dungeon treasure to teleport, if the user dies, it will fall along the way. If she is with her, she will be able to return from anywhere, but if there is still no contact, didn’t they fall into the Evil Race Nation or the desert along the way? For the time being, I recommend searching from the Calfaan Empire, which is close to the Evil Race Nation, towards the Evil Race Nation.”
The girl who said that did not consider the most likely possibility, “death,” and declared that they were alive.
In fact, the girl who spoke knew the information about the secret treasure and the destination of the teleportation, and to that extent, she did not doubt for a moment that Aria would definitely return.
The girl, who had a mind far removed from ordinary people, gave the information for the personal reason of simply wanting to speed up the time to reunite with Aria.
Although the information was unconfirmed, the Magician’s Guild and the Royal Court Magician Corps agreed with the consideration of the “Magic Orb,” which is a dungeon treasure. The royal family could not send an exploration team abroad based on that information alone, but the adventurer party, which was external and also involved, was commissioned with the king’s private funds.
As Dolton gave the order, each of them began to move. Among them, Feld took out his Magic Steel Greatsword for combat from the room assigned to him in the mansion and put strength into his hand.
“Aria…”
For Feld, Aria was a reliable companion, a cute junior, and even a charming member of the opposite sex until he realized her real age, but now she was like a younger sister.
Feld had been told something by Viro.
Viro had apparently kept silent until the insensitive Feld noticed it himself, but Aria seemed to have the steel Knife that Feld used to use.
That reminded him of the street urchin he had met in the forest along the road, years ago, on his way to receive the Magic Steel Greatsword he had commissioned from Galbas.
He mistook her for a monster and chased her around, taught her how to survive for a short time, and gave her his own knife for dismantling instead of the broken knife.
That knife was also made by Galbas, and Galbas, who noticed this, said that this was also fate and gave him a self-made Magic Steel Knife.
For Feld, it was a memory he had almost forgotten, but Aria still used that knife without losing it.
Now that he thought about it, Aria’s easygoing distance and the fact that she thought of him as a trustworthy person—like family—from the beginning.
Viro said that it couldn’t be helped that he didn’t notice, since that frail street urchin, whom he had mistaken for a boy, had become a stunningly beautiful girl, but Feld felt pathetic that he couldn’t do anything about the danger to the girl who was like family to him.
“I’ll find you, no matter what… Aria.”
Around the time Feld was regaining his spirit, another mentor who had met her at the same time was—
“…What should I do?”
Viro was worried. Of course, as a respected mentor, he had no objection to going to save his beloved disciple, Aria. On the contrary, he was the one who had been with her the longest in the party, and he had been running around to collect information.
Viro headed to his newly purchased home in the Royal Capital with heavy steps.
It was smaller than Dolton’s mansion, but it was still the kind of thing generally called a “mansion,” and it was large enough for a lower-ranking noble to live in with his family and hire several live-in servants.
“I’m home…”
Viro had been living with a woman for several months. She was a receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild whom he had known for a long time. Viro had taken Aria, who was still young, there, and he had been suspected of being a kidnapper and received cold looks, so Viro fell in love with her and spent years winning her over.
The reason why Viro retired and accepted the invitation from the Shadow Unit, even though he was still young by adventurer standards, was because she wanted a stable job and salary.
He, weak to women and having offered up countless tributes to ladies of the night, was surprisingly ignorant about money for a first-class Adventurer. Even the purchase of this mansion was a loan from Dolton, and now he was completely henpecked by his live-in girlfriend.
“Oh, you’re back early,” she said.
“Yeah, I’m home, Mary.”
A beautiful woman with long hair, wearing a white apron, appeared from the back.
She was still working as a receptionist, but she was home now, using up her accumulated paid leave to show off her cooking skills for Viro, who had been busy lately.
What would happen if he told Mary that he would be gone for months, traveling to another country, starting tomorrow? He was sure she would get upset and give him a cold look.
Viro didn’t dislike being scorned by a beautiful woman of marriageable age, but he didn’t like being genuinely angry. Even if it was a beautiful girl like Aria, he wasn’t open-minded enough to accept someone genuinely trying to kill him.
However, there were times when he had to act like a man for the sake of his beloved disciple.
Now was that time, Viro braced himself.
“Mary, listen carefully.”
As Viro sweated and explained what he had kept silent about and what was to come, Mary’s gaze dropped to below freezing in an instant.
“Huh?”
“Wait, Mary, this is me as her master—”
“Of course!”
He was scolded as he had imagined. Viro thought Mary would be angry that she couldn’t spend her holiday with him, but the direction was different.
“Eh?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Aria-san!? That child is only thirteen years old!”
“Well, I think so too, but…”
“Seriously, you’re such a clumsy person. I’ll make dinner right away, so wait for me. Eat properly, and be sure to bring that child back safely.”
“Mary…”
As a result, he was forgiven, had a delicious meal, and felt happy, but he felt that Aria was higher than him in Mary’s priorities, and he stuffed the meal into his mouth with a feeling of dissatisfaction.
The next chapter will return to Aria’s perspective.
Regarding the content of the Otome Game, here is a brief summary of the differences between the Otome Game and the current situation of the characters.
□ Elena Claydale
Elena, who did not meet Aria, is acting as a more selfish Princess than she is now in order to pretend to admire her brother. The only person she can trust is her cousin Clara, so she has a slightly mean way of thinking due to her influence, and sometimes wears a mischievous smile.
□ Clara Dandall
Clara, who did not regain her memories of her previous life. She has more of the selfishness expected of a noble lady than she does now without question. She still falls in love with Elvan, and torments the Heroine out of jealousy, but unlike reality, she doesn’t try to kill her.
□ Carla Leicester
Basically unchanged. Her strength and abnormality are more subdued than in reality, but she is still the final boss.
■ Male Capture Targets
In the Otome Game, they were thought to be around high school age, but in reality, they are middle school students. Their personalities are still childish, their perspectives are narrow, and they prioritize their own feelings. The only adult, the Prince, was not allowed to work, so he still feels like a student.
The Heroine of the Otome Game is decent, so things are somehow working out, but if the Heroine were a villainess, they would all be ruined.