WeTried Translations x Flame Comics
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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Chapter 128: 18. A Date in an Academy Story (4)
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* * *
“We need to decide the order.”
Isabelle swept her determined gaze across the room. Her eyes shone blue like morning stars, bright with unshakable resolve. It was the persuasiveness one expected from the Hero’s bloodline.
“Should we settle it with strength?”
Elphihara, daughter of the great mage said to have brought down three fortresses in a day and a half, rose from her seat as purple mana crackled from her eyes.
“Strength! Then how about arm wrestling?”
Aesidis, who resembled Einar, the man said to have piled mountains of corpses and dyed seas with blood, at least in physical might, raised her hand high. The iron rod caught in her slender white fingers snapped with a crunch.
“Quit fooling around and use dice. I’ll roll last.”
As the disciple of the vampire queen who had killed an Elder Vampire through dexterity alone and claimed the throne of Pritchenkaya’s back alleys answered with a snicker...
“No, I really want to go home now. Don’t you all think this is a little strange? Am I the only one?”
“What is?”
“Common sense says that if several people are interested in one person, this isn’t the kind of situation where they’d sit around talking.”
Oscar, who had somehow become responsible for the Hero Party’s common sense, let out a deep sigh.
Why was he even hanging around with them? Seriously. It would be more productive to spend this time with his friends from the Knight Department, most of whom were women, or just swing his sword one more time.
“That only applies in normal circumstances.”
“Emergencies call for exceptional measures.”
“It’s not like we have any hope with Uncle’s personality anyway.”
Isabelle looked around the room. A deep sense of defeat hung over the Hero Party like dark clouds. She could not leave things as they were.
She had to admit what she needed to admit. These girls were almost all rivals, predators who had suddenly barged in and were constantly eyeing Ivan.
Still, competition only meant something if they could at least reach the starting line.
“We need to join hands until we at least have a chance.”
This was the only solution the Hero Party shared.
‘Even if we have to allow concubines...!’
‘It only matters if we can get him to the wedding hall first, whether we’re concubines or wives!’
‘Still, the legal wife should be an elf, right?’
Even in a premodern fantasy world, taking concubines was not something to be proud of. A few great nobles might cautiously bring home another concubine, then get smacked on the back by their legal wives.
Marriage between great noble houses naturally meant a union of nobles. In this era, noble marriages were often more equal than those of the twenty-first century. Taking a concubine meant accepting that relations with one’s in-laws would grow cold.
In a society where monogamy was openly accepted as the norm, several women courting one man at the same time was strange. Most people would click their tongues and condemn it.
Yet even the United States, leader of capitalism, had not hesitated to form a united front with the communist ringleader Soviet Union if it meant defeating the Demon King, an art school applicant.
Sometimes, sharing a boat with one’s enemy was a rational choice for a greater cause and broader strategic goals. Even Kitalzer hunters had adopted three-against-one asymmetric tactics as standard doctrine.
According to Lanchester’s Law, sufficient numbers could overwhelm qualitative superiority.
“This isn’t the time for us to fight each other.”
“Let’s admit what needs admitting, girls. I’m first.”
“Honestly, shouldn’t I be first in terms of priority? I’ve heard humans have trouble measuring time in years, but let’s settle this properly.”
After a fierce argument between Elphihara, who had met him twelve years ago, and Aesidis, who had met him eight years ago, the Hero, who had known him for six months, decided to resolve the party’s internal conflict through outside advice.
“This is insane...”
Eugene, the strategist dragged into this, let out a quiet sigh. Was this how Paris had felt when forced to choose which of three goddesses was Miss Universe Greece?
At least the three goddesses had brought gifts and asked him to choose. The Hero Party differed in that it refused to compromise with fate.
“Let’s go in the order of Droan, Kallion, Tilles, then Krasilov.”
“Yes!”
“Yay!!”
“Why?! What’s the basis for that?!”
Eugene quietly answered as he checked the levels displayed above the women’s heads.
“Reverse order of their levels.”
“Ah.”
* * *
“Now that I think about it, aren’t there any Droan students at our university?”
The heart of the plan was to group students by country of origin and check each group for spies, but there were no Droan freshmen.
The only Droan freshmen were Mord and Aesidis, and Mord was a Huscarl. A Huscarl who had even been beaten half to death by Droan rebels.
They had hit an obstacle at the very first step. Oswald frowned, and Eugene answered with a chuckle.
“When did we ever say we were trying to catch spies? We’re just planning date routes. We only need to tell Brother to take Miss Aesidis out first!”
“That’s true, isn’t it?”
“Exactly! You worry about the strangest things.”
* * *
Ivan looked at Aesidis with mild bewilderment. He had called her out separately as part of the plan to divert attention, but her reaction was far too natural.
“So, I just happened to, by coincidence, amazingly enough, reserve a restaurant, but I accidentally made it for two! Isn’t that perfect?!”
Aesidis chattered as she strode ahead. She was headed toward one of Pritchenkaya’s finest restaurants.
This was an era without the concept of fine dining. Still, as the economically active population rapidly grew and a wealthy commoner class emerged, restaurants serving noble cuisine were not especially rare.
“...”
Ivan silently ate the dishes set before him one after another. They were greasy and sweet. As was typical of Krasilov cuisine, the meal mainly consisted of high-calorie dishes suited to a cold region.
Every course was familiar. Ivan had already experienced Krasilov noble cuisine plenty of times, encountering it at victory banquets among the grease-lipped great nobles.
It was food that reminded him of those days. Ivan continued eating in silence, moving the expensive utensils with a faint clatter.
‘This is a disaster...!’
Aesidis could not hide her misery.
The only time Uncle had shown strong emotions was during meals, so her plan to take him to the best restaurant in the city had collapsed spectacularly.
Unlike Droan, this country had a highly developed food culture. After only half a year studying abroad, Aesidis had already memorized the city’s list of famous restaurants.
She had carefully selected this place from among them all, and it had been a failure. Aesidis sadly put down her spoon.
It was the sort of mistake a Droan would make, believing everyone else would like what they liked.
* * *
[Affection toward Individual: Aesidis Einarsdottir]
[25 (Neutral)]
“What on earth did she do for her score to drop in half a day?”
“They went to a restaurant.”
“If Brother liked food, he wouldn’t normally eat that kind of thing.”
Eugene pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed deeply.
“Let’s not expect too much from a Viking...”
“Miss Aesidis is second-ranked in the orchestra conducting department.”
“Let’s not go out of our way to mention that conducting is worse than being a Viking.”
A conductor needed to master every instrument in an orchestra while also being able to coordinate every part as a whole.
Naturally, that was impossible for freshmen who had only just turned twenty. To outsiders, conducting students at that age were little more than magicians who waved batons.
Specialists who stubbornly pursued a single field generally had an advantage over generalists who knew a little about everything. To Eugene, who had steadfastly pursued theology, the orchestra conducting department was not much better than Droan.
Fortunately, there were no music department students present, so they could quickly move on to the next topic.
“Let’s leave it to Miss Elphihara. They said they went boating on the lake, right? How far have we checked?”
“Kallion just finished, and Tilles has only just started. But do we really need to take this so seriously? There can’t actually be a demonfolk spy.”
“If we do this halfheartedly and Brother finds out later, our relationship might become ‘Hostile.’”
“Oh.”
Yuri and Oswald, who did not want to die within three seconds, silently agreed and headed for the next students.
“Argh?! Who are you people?! Let me go!!”
“Shh, Petric. From now on, you and that man are friends from the same hometown.”
“Who is he?! Let me go! Do you know who I...!”
“Shh, quiet. Focus on this coin.”
The abducted student drooled and nodded.
“Now, what is that man’s name?”
“My... friend... Yevgeny... who’s liked me since we were young.... We’ll have a ceremony... in a country where same-sex marriage is legal....”
“...Why do you keep coming up with settings like that?”
“Isn’t it more fun?”
Oswald, who had already become more than half an elf, snickered as he shook the string with the coin dangling from it.
* * *
Peaceful days followed. The Hero Party took turns going on dates, one per day, while getting “friendly” with the students who attended Ivan’s classes.
Two weeks passed.
Eugene was investigating the thirteenth student to come under suspicion when he froze and raised his gaze toward the air. As soon as he raised the Affinity, the Status Window began blazing blue.
[Quest Registered!]
[“???-Rank Quest” Shadow Over Tilles.]
[You have detected a conspiracy circulating among Tilles’s noble houses. The seed of a long war, continuing since the Eastern Front, is now beginning to ignite.]
[Objective: Prevent civil war among Tilles’s Three Great Count Houses.]
[Optional Objective: Ensure the survival of Gilles Ver de Etakrikh.]
[Optional Objective: Meet Maximilian de Itouale.]
[Additional Objective: Keep the total number of destroyed estates at fifteen or fewer.]
[Additional Objective: Ensure the survival of the Tilles Royal Family.]
[Reward: Extend the continued existence of the Allied Kingdoms by ten years.]
“Fuck...”
Eugene bit his lip and fell silent.
A demonfolk spy? Ridiculous, but fine, suppose there could be one.
But what? The continued existence of the Allied Kingdoms? Gilles Ver and Maximilian, weren’t they members of the Hero Party?
A ???-Rank Quest? That was the same difficulty designation as the quest telling them to kill Brother...?
“I don’t think this is something we can solve on our own.”
“Is it that serious?”
“More serious than I thought. Bring Brother back. This isn’t the time to be fooling around on dates.”
Eugene sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead.
They had started this so lightly, so why had things become this complicated again?
Episode 18. A Date in an Academy Story.
Footnotes:
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