农家媳妇 四十岁的蜜田

Razé was in a bad mood. It was true that her school days were like a vacation to her. But if it was going to be like this, then why didn’t the military ask her to work on the weekends during her school period? Now she couldn’t even enjoy her day off. What if she died due to overwork and reincarnate again? That would not be funny.

But she knew there must be a reason for Sesemann to personally came and gave her the order. There was nothing unusual for him to wander around, but collecting so many S level magic stones in such a short time was indeed suspicious.

By right, he should be able to acquire S level magic stones from the military if he applied for it. Looking at how he personally came to the store, it seemed that it was his personal action. And what made Razé felt even more sure of her suspicion was when he said that he would treat her a cup of tea later. It was their keywords when they had something to talk in private. Perhaps he had come all the way to Beham just to get in touch with her.

Huh? Wait a minute!

Razé realized something was off.

With her capability, she could clear this mission within the next few days before the holiday was over. But she knew that Sesemann was not a sarcastic person either. People often misunderstood him because of his overbearing attitude, but actually he was a man with a strong sense of justice.

Razé bit her lips in frustration for not noticing his intention earlier. She felt that she had lost her touch. She looked at the note given by Sesemann. She wondered if it was a hidden message.

『 S level magic stones : ƚen p. 』

To harvest magic stones, I’d need to go to Baruda. 10 pieces of S level stones… Why did he write ‘ƚen’? Is this a plus symbol? If so, then what does it mean? This… Is it symbol of church? Magic stone and church… If ‘p.’ is not pieces, could it mean person? Oh god… Then, this ratio symbol ‘:’ is…division? Break? Busted?! ^[1]

When Razé realized what the message meant, her face turned pale.

Level S military confidential information was leaked to people on the church’s side.

This was a serious matter. A top level emergency situation that could lead to an unprecedented major incident. If Razé was on duty, the General would definitely come to talk to her personally about this. Meeting him here was not a coincidence. Sesemann came all the way from capital city to Beham just to pass the message to her.

“Are you aware of how many of your comrades had to go through danger risking their lives while you were away at school?”

Razé recalled the words he said earlier. It seemed that he was not talking about her subordinates, but rather it was about her fellow Shadow’s Eye comrades.

There were only a few people in the military, including members of Shadow’s Eye, who knew about that matter. And Sesemann was one of the people who knew about it. Since this matter could not be discussed in the military, it is understandable that he would come here to meet her. And his lecture that almost revealed her identity might have been a precaution measure in case one day she disappeared from the academy. Although, his acting might be a little too much…

On top of this, Razé felt that Sesemann had purposely called her a courier for some reason. She had a hunch that he was going to give her a thrilling mission.

His smile was….

He might have thought that she had lost her touch after looking at her reaction. When he said that she was playing around, it might have been his actual impression of what she had been doing. Razé felt horrified.

I’m busy enough taking care of the horror game at the academy. And now… How can you call that an otome game? The world can barely maintain its peace. If things don’t go well, there might be a religious war coming.

Razé held her head in her hands.

This otome game has an overelaborated story setting… No one would ever think that this world is based on a romantic game! Why can’t it be like a normal otome game?! Why can’t they take it easy?!

Razé inwardly screamed in frustration.

* * *

“It’s time to go back.”

“Yeah.”

They had finished buying souvenirs and got ready to return. Claude and Adis looked at the time and nodded to each other. Both of them were thinking about the same thing.

The person who was responsible to teleport them back was giving a negative aura and it made them worried. If something went wrong when she teleported them, they might not be able to get back to the mansion. Razé looked lifeless. They knew that she was disturbed by some headache inducing situation, but they couldn’t let her stay that way.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what did he ask you to do?” Claude asked reservedly.

Razé: “… I’m unable to disclose the details.”

She knew they were worried about her but there was no way she could tell them the truth.

Claude: “I understand… I’m sorry for not being able to help you.”

The guys were well aware that they could not dig deeper about things related to Sesemann, so they decided not to ask her any further. Razé became anxious when she saw Claude looking sad and didn’t notice the other person. “Not at all! I’m sorry to make you worried. Thank you, Claude-kun. I’ll do my best.”

Regardless of everything, Razé felt glad that she had become closer with Claude during this vacation. His encouragement words had lightened up her mood. She decided to do her best accomplishing her mission before the school started again.

Maybe Claude also has difficult time like me. He is an excellent personal attendant, supporting Prince Ruben every day.

Razé rebooted her mind and decided to move on. She planned to give Claude some spicy snacks to thank him for the gelato earlier. She assumed he wouldn’t want any more sweets, especially when he had to watch Ruben’s PDA all the time.

Adis: “Scholarship student.”

Razé: “Yes?”

Adis put out his hand without saying anything. Razé was puzzled as she took out her hand, and then saw the chocolate with pretty wrapping on her palm.

Razé: “Huh?”

Adis: “Someone gave it to me just now. I don’t need it. You can have it.”

Razé broke into a grin. “I really love chocolate!” Adis was stunned to see her looking so happy. Of course, he was amazed that her mood would get better so suddenly. More importantly, he was startled because she never gave him such a happy reaction before. He shifted his gaze in surprised.

It wasn’t on purpose, I did it purely out of a whim. I wasn’t curious that she looked close with Claude… not at all. I gave her the chocolate…not because I want to make her happy…

Adis didn’t notice that Claude was looking at him curiously. Razé gleefully opened the chocolate wrapping and put it inside her mouth.

“Huh?”

After tasting it for a while, she turned to Adis.

Razé: “Ady-kun. Who gave you this chocolate?”

Adis: “A girl from the group that told me the location of the shop.”

Razé: “This chocolate contained aphrodisiac. It must be hard for you to be so popular with girls.”

“Aphrodisiac?!” Adis and Claude exclaimed with shock. Adis grab Razé’s shoulder and told her to spit it out immediately.

Razé: “I’m fine. The drug was pretty strong but I promise I won’t attack other people.”

Adis: “Attack…?”

Her unconventional answer made him facepalmed.

Razé Orphan was a soldier. With a determined resolution, she wouldn’t, or couldn’t attack the VIP. If she did, then she would be dead.

Razé: “I already ate it. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Instead, I’m worried about Ady-kun. You almost got drugged. Let’s go back before anything happen.”

Right after she said that, she was reminded of an entry in the Book of Prophecies.

Ah, isn’t this the event where Adis got drugged and end up making out with the heroine?

She almost overlooked the situation because the game plot progressed too suddenly. She had said “before anything happen”, but it looked like something had already happened. Although unintentionally, she had become the flag crusher again.

There were many recurrent themes in an otome game, but aphrodisiac was too scary. Razé decided to conduct further investigation as the intended victim was one of the students that she was supposed to protect.

Razé: “Ady-kun. Do you remember what the girl looks like?”

Adis: “I remembered she was wearing a bright orange colored one-piece dress.”

Razé: “Alright. I’m sorry but can you two wait here for a while. I’ll be back in 10 minutes.”

Both Adis and Claude was surprised by her words but Razé had already disappeared from in front of them.

Orange colored one-piece dress… Orange… I want to eat orange flavored chocolate…

Razé looked for the girl as she moved through the streets at a tremendous speed. As Adis bodyguard, she always took note of the people who made contact with him, so she was confident that she would be able to recognize the girl in orange dress once she saw her. If she couldn’t find the girl after running for one round through the town, then she had no choice but to let it go. But she hoped she could catch the girl.

“Ah! It must be that girl!”

Razé saw a girl wearing orange dress holding a shopping bag. She slowed down her speed and walked towards the girl.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

The girl wearing a wide-brimmed hat turned and looked at her. Razé recognized the face as the one she had saw earlier. She showed the chocolate wrapping to the girl, saying, “Did you give this chocolate to a blue haired guy earlier today? I just want to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yes. It was delicious. I wanted to know where you bought it.” Razé gave her a gentle smile.

“Actually, I received it from someone. I’m glad you like it but I don’t know where you can buy it from either.”

Razé looked at her with rounded eyes. It seemed that the girl was unaware that she had gave a drugged chocolate to Adis.

“May I know who gave it to you?”

“I think they had gone out to the sea.”

“… I see. Sorry to disturbed you.”

“It’s fine.”

Razé said goodbye to the girl and ran back to where Adis and Claude were waiting.

Is it a coincidence? Or is it a trap? Although I don’t want to admit it, it seems the otome game really do have a plot enforcement…

She herself and Hugh München had become the victim although originally, they were not related to the game. Razé was bewildered. She couldn’t understand the pattern or rule other than the events occurred near the main characters of the otome game.

Carna-sama said she turn into kaiju after her engagement was called off…

Which meant, there was a high possibility that another person would substitute her and had their engagement broken off.

… Why don’t I make a move first and get engaged to someone?

Razé began to think about her engagement seriously. She was going to get busy after a few days so she wanted to do what she could as soon as possible.

She began to think who might accept this request. If she told Claude that she was doing this for Ruben’s future wife, he might play along with her. But thinking that he had his fair share of hardship too, her conscience hurt. Since she was not sure of her future in the military, she couldn’t ask for help from someone who didn’t know about the situation.

Oh, right! Julia-san might help me.

Razé recalled her sister who had always treated her good. She felt that Julia wouldn’t mind with getting their engagement called off. You’d never know until you tried. Razé planned to talk to Julia when she returned to office later.

* * *

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Razé stopped in front of Adis and Claude. The two guys looked bored while waiting for her.

Claude: “Where did you go?”

Razé: “I went to talk to the girl in orange dress. She said she received the chocolate from someone else. I told her that it was drugged and asked her to be careful.”

“In just these few minutes?” Claude was stunned. He wondered how she managed to find the girl with only the color of the dress as the clue.

Razé: “It was a bright orange colored one-piece dress. Surprisingly, I managed to find her quite easily.”

Claude: “…I see.”

Razé: “I’m hungry. Let’s go back.”

And then she teleported them back to where they came from. ^[2]

―　―　―

After that, Razé had a delicious lunch, reported the results of their outing, listened to someone’s love story, did various work related to the school festival, and went to bed with Folia and Carna.

They left the mansion at noon on the third day. Razé returned to the military with anxious feeling.

She was unaware that the ‘awakening event’ of the otome game was not over yet.

Author’s note: That matter will be explained later. And there won’t be any horror or religious war either…I think.

[1] The hidden messages are all based on Japanese characters. Original message 『Ｓ級の魔石:十個』 (lit. S level magic stones: ten pieces). ‘:’ stands for 割り算 (division symbol) and 割れた is slang for busted. ‘十’ is ten, and looks like the symbol for church. Character ‘個’ consist of 人(person) and 固(solid). ↩

[2] They were supposed to change their accommodation as mentioned in chapter 47. Please assume that they did. ↩