94. This Is Our Reward Money.
94. This Is Our Reward Money.
NTR Academy was NTR by genre, but
in classification, it was a beautiful girl dating simulation game.
It felt like about 10% of an academy hunter theme was mixed in,
but since its fundamental element was a dating sim, it had everything a dating sim should have.
The Affinity System. The Confession System. In addition to Pure Love Endings, even Harem H CGs.
The only flaw was the extreme number of NTR Events and NTR CGs...
"How's the lake here? Nice view, right?"
"...I never dreamed there was a place like this."
The point was that the game's genre itself was a dating sim.
As a dating sim, it naturally had set Date Courses and Date Spots.
I planned to pick out the date spots that easily raised Minerva's affinity and present them to her.
"Want some waffle ice cream?"
"I've never tried it before..."
"Then try it now."
"Uub?! Ugh... mmm...??!"
When I shoved the waffle into her mouth, her eyes widened in surprise.
The 'Waffle Ice Cream' was the gift that raised Minerva's affinity the most during the lake park date course.
As I expected, the moment Minerva bit into the waffle, she started chewing it nonstop.
"Is it good?"
"It's... delicious. Really, truly...."
She had a dazed expression even while eating.
I also took a cotton candy and held it in my hand.
"That is...."
"I'll eat this one."
".........."
"Why do you naturally think about receiving first? Without thinking about giving me any."
I bought the waffle in the first place anyway.
I tore off a small piece of cotton candy and popped it into my mouth.
The sugar threads melted gently. Not that the fatigue melted away with the sugar hitting my mouth, but I was eating it because of the added effect attached to cotton candy.
'It temporarily raises Intelligence by 1.'
You know the saying that sugar makes your head spin better? It's roughly a setting like that.
Well, you might wonder what you can do with just 1 Intelligence, but since I had experienced losing my mind over just that, every single point of Intelligence was precious to me.
'Anyway... hmm....'
I slowly turned my head to the side.
"...What are you looking at?"
"What do you mean."
"Want a bite?"
"Eating food someone else has touched with their mouth is not proper."
"For someone who says that, you ate just fine during Survival. And when we ran for a week too."
"That... was only because there was no other choice."
Okay.
Then there's no choice.
"Nom."
"..........."
"Mm tasty."
"..............."
I shoved it in my mouth and swallowed in one bite.
Minerva looked at me as if wondering what the hell I was doing.
'She said she didn't want to eat.'
I tossed the finished cotton candy stick into the trash can across from us and said.
"Don't beat around the bush. It's hard to understand. And you weren't like this before, so why are you acting this way lately?"
"That's! That's... th-that..."
Minerva gradually stopped talking.
She even lowered her head deeply while still holding the waffle and asked.
"...Why is that, I wonder?"
"The ice cream is melting."
"Ah...!"
Minerva hurriedly licked the ice cream.
However, drops of ice cream that she couldn't swallow dripped down from the corners of her mouth; indeed, it was exactly like the Event CG.
'Come to think of it, that's really how it is.'
Should I call it causality?
Or the outcome of an inevitable event.
With Mars, with Yuno, with Minerva,
whenever I was with them, they would show scenes exactly like the in-game CGs.
Probably they weren't doing it consciously, but I was the one watching it consciously.
'It often makes me realize it.'
That this place is a game-based world.
...Well, thanks to that, I achieved my dream of getting my own house and a pet(?) so it shouldn't be a problem!
"If you're done eating, shall we look around more?"
"..........."
"...Tch."
I shouldn't be like this.
Actually, there's nothing particularly good about this.
'Still, she worked hard.'
I bought one more cotton candy and handed it to Minerva.
"...Are you giving this to me?"
"If you don't want it, then don't."
"I never once said I didn't want it."
Minerva almost snatched the cotton candy.
She soon took a big bite of the cotton candy, and made an expression that looked happy even to others.
"It's... delicious. Maybe even more delicious than the waffle."
"Ironically, I bought the waffle you were eating too."
"Eh....."
"...You, you didn't realize?"
Anyway, that ended the free meal service.
From the next date course on, it's definitely Dutch pay, so know that.
...
..
.
A light stroll.
Followed by watching a movie at the theater.
"The title is... [19-Gold Teddy Bear]... correct?"
"Correct."
I had prepared a typical B-movie.
"...If you look across, you can see more normal ones."
"If you're jealous, don't watch."
When I held up and waved the already purchased tickets, Minerva sighed as if she had no choice.
"I guess it's my fault for expecting a somewhat proper movie."
"Maybe."
A slight complaint.
However, I already knew.
[I get it, Dick.]
[So I said my name isn't Dick, it's John!]
"...Pfft!"
'Right.'
Minerva had the image of a well-bred young lady.
But despite that, she was a slightly crazy beauty who fell into death metal.
[Aren't John and Dick both equally hopeless?]
[What's hopeless is that stuffing poking out of your side!]
"Poking out of the side... pfft, pffhehe...!!"
Her taste also didn't lean toward A-rank or S-rank masterpieces, but rather crazy B-movies.
She was so engrossed that she didn't even notice popcorn crumbs stuck to her lips.
'Ah, this is in a CG too.'
Here, the Protagonist would remove the popcorn crumb from Minerva's lips──by pressing his lips against hers.
The CG was incredibly well-drawn, as if to prove it's a pure love date scene, but the problem was, there's no way I would kiss her.
"Then what should I do now...."
What do you mean what to do?
I put aside my thoughts as much as possible and plucked the crumb off Minerva's lips.
"!... Chrono...?"
I didn't give any answer.
Minerva stared at me for a moment, then quietly placed her hand over mine...
'She's wondering whether to put it on or not.'
Before I knew it, Minerva had forgotten about the movie.
I subtly turned my head toward Minerva.
"Gasp...!!"
She hastily turned her head away.
She was tense, yet she acted as if she had been only watching the movie the entire time.
She really isn't good at lying. I whispered softly into Minerva's ear.
"I'm taken."
"...I know."
"If we cross the line, both of us become trash."
"............"
Minerva pressed her lips firmly.
If I said this much, she'd probably draw the line on her own. Maybe.
***************
As the final date course,
"This is... [Demeter's Paradise]...?"
"You know it, as expected?"
[Demeter's Paradise]
To be precise, it was a restaurant created by the followers of Demeter, with the concept of
a place where those who return what comes from the earth to the earth perform a ritual to send off the bounty of the earth in a more proper form.
Simply put,
"It's a temple (restaurant) that offers (cooks) the things that come from the earth (ingredients)."
"However, I know it requires a lot of money to make a reservation...."
"Yep."
It cost quite a bit more than I thought.
In the game, the basic unit was gold so I didn't realize, but at the prices here, it was an amount that could be a bit burdensome.
However, perhaps thanks to having completed dozens of missions, I could afford the reservation with just 1/10 of the mission earnings.
'If one reservation costs about 6-7 missions...'
The missions ranged from simple gathering to boss monster subjugation, so all things considered, it was a reasonable price.
"...Chrono, I'm sorry, but could I send the money later?"
"No. You don't need to give me money."
"Eh...?"
Minerva was taken aback by my words.
The person who had said from start to finish 'I refuse to be a meal ticket' and 'It's absolutely Dutch pay' was refusing money, so of course it seemed strange.
"Don't tell me... p-perhaps, then....."
Her face gradually reddened.
I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but
"I look forward to working with you on future missions, too."
".......What?"
"You wouldn't take this and then act like you don't know, right."
".............."
This was, so to speak, like a tribute payment.
Put another way, a bribe.
It meant I was counting on her for the next mission.
'Actually I debated a little.'
But a proper superior should know when to loosen the purse strings.
And,
in case she might have forgotten, I'd say it:
"The money I'm spending now is from the rewards we earned from completing missions."
"Huh... well, of course it is?"
"You still don't understand?"
I spoke to Minerva again.
"We're spending our mission success rewards."
"........Ah?"
Minerva's eyebrows suddenly shot up.
She finally seemed to catch on. I said to Minerva:
"We haven't divided the success rewards yet."
"....Aaaaaah!!"
Her eyes widened.
Honestly, I had completely forgotten too.
Because in the game, you don't split the rewards or anything like that.
'But does that make any sense in real life?'
If you go out together, you split it together. Who just scarfs it all down alone just because they're the leader?
Game is game, reality is reality.
You have to understand the gap between the two.
"No wonder... you kept buying things for me....."
"It came out of our reward money. Technically, both your money and my money went out."
"...So that's why you kept saying Dutch pay."
"Exactly."
Then do you think I'd be a meal ticket and spend my own money?
No matter how easy it is to take advantage of a sweet guy, sweetness without a price deserved caution.
I spoke to Minerva, who was staring at me blankly.
"So, aren't you going to go in? I already made the reservation and everything."
"....Chrono, you really.... Yes. You really are."
?
What did that mean?
"Come on, let's go in, Chrono. Dishes made by Demeter's followers never disappoint."
"Uh, yeah."
The tension naturally left Minerva's face and a smile began to bloom.
...I still didn't understand women's hearts.