Date Invitation..?
"This is romance, huh? What's so romantic about it?" All I wanted was to watch those drugs burn. They're burning pretty well. Wearing a hazmat suit, I stared at the flames like some pyromaniac. From beside me, the Blood Demon asked,
"Is it really okay to just sit around like this after stealing such an enormous quantity every time?"
We had seized one of the drug transport routes used by Ankile's cartel, Unknown, and were busy burning the drugs we'd taken. "They won't find us anyway. Even most people in Unknown don't know the routes because they're kept strictly secret."
Since even the majority of Unknown's own members were kept in the dark about the transport paths, it would be difficult for them to respond immediately while we went around wrecking each one.
"Is this enough for you, Gaia Rebate?"
The brown-haired girl perked up her ears like an animal and replied, "Huuung, not bad for a total scrub. How'd you even find these?"
...Even if it was for the sake of the deal, hearing her talk like that made me want to smack her. "Good! This much is enough, so come on in! You're the lowest of the low, but at least you tried!"
She kept teasing me in that bratty mesugaki tone. I really wanted to hit her. "So, scrub, what was it you wanted again?"
What could I do? That was just her personality. She was a playable character too... but one with a slightly unique playstyle. While other characters were busy with fighting games, this one was running her own merchant stall. More like a wandering trader who moved money around? The kind of playstyle this character had was better described as a business simulation.
Anyway, she was a character who completely changed the game's genre, and combined with her unique speech pattern and distinctive playstyle, she had quite a large fanbase...
"Now that I've actually agreed, you've got nothing to say? You idiot♡ Moron♡"
Wow, look at this crazy woman. Why were none of the playable characters normal except the princess? Yeah, I'd added all those explanations earlier, but the truth was simple. I hated this girl. Not enough to want to kill her like Faye, but enough to want to punch her.
"The way you're hesitating like that, you're disqualified as a man♡ No backbone at all♡"
Talking to her felt like it was shaving years off my life. It was surprisingly only a few days ago that I'd even met her. And she'd been using that tone from the very first time we spoke.
"You have the Shape Replicator, right?" Gaia tilted her head and asked.
"I do, but... what are you going to use it for?"
The Shape Replicator was a device that could mimic and reproduce traces of attacks... Naturally, it had almost no practical use. That was why it wasn't well known either.
"I've got a use for it. It's just leftover stock anyway, right?"
And it was a market truth that if there was no demand, the price would drop. From Gaia's perspective, the Shape Replicator was probably just taking up space as dead inventory, so handing it over would actually be a good thing for her.
"Fine! This much is nothing! Well, not that I had high expectations from a scrub anyway!"
Gaia handed over the Shape Replicator like she was doing me a favor. Alright, after this job, I was never seeing this girl again. She wasn't even a combatant, just some arrogant peddler running around selling stuff.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for your hard work."
What was I going to use the Shape Replicator for? It was obvious. I was going to copy and paste the scenes of Dane's rampages to draw aggro. Of course, the princess would be able to tell with her keen senses that it wasn't actually Dane's doing... but that didn't matter. The plan was simply to let Chloe know that someone had used something similar to Dane.
If Chloe found out, she would naturally try to find the person who did it.
"This is... definitely a shadow. Do you know anything about it?"
As expected, not long after I'd scattered those traces, Chloe came looking for me.
"It's related to the drug cartel. Aside from that, I don't know anything else. It was such a coincidence. I was planning to go alone anyway."
Chloe looked at me with a question mark on her face. "Why were you planning to go alone? Didn't I say I'd help you with anything?"
...I did have a conscience. "How could I ask someone who's busy looking for her brother to help with my personal matters?"
Chloe's face lit up with a moved expression as she smiled happily. No, please don't do that. It made me feel like I was actually a terrible person.
"I told you not to worry about that. Helping you is what makes me happiest, you know?"
Then the Blood Demon butted in unnecessarily. "You did look happy. The way you smiled while tormenting the young lady seemed quite enjoyable."
It was true, but still, saying that in front of the person herself... Wait, was she agreeing?
"That's right. Back then I was so happy I thought I might die. Who knew there could be such an entertaining situation?"
...Correction. The princess didn't seem normal either.
"In that case, why don't we go raid the drug cartel while we're at it, to look for evidence as well?"
The princess said it coolly while sitting on the sofa. This was... the Light Princess?
"Tsk tsk..." The Blood Demon, who knew the full story of everything, clicked his tongue, but there was nothing to be done. You know it too, right? It wasn't that I was bad—the world and the developers who forced me to scam this Light Princess were the problem!
"By the way, coming and going like this every time is quite troublesome. So, about that..."
-Bang!
Before the princess could even finish speaking, the door flew open as if it had been smashed. "Where do you think you're going again?!"
And there, standing in the center of the doorway with a commanding presence, was the young lady.
What? Had she been listening the whole time? Chloe looked at the young lady as if she'd been waiting for her, wearing the relaxed smile of a victor. "I was going on a date with him, do you have a problem with that?"
Then she added one more line while glaring at the young lady. "Also, eavesdropping on other people's conversations like a rat outside and then kicking the door open doesn't seem very polite."
I wasn't sure how raiding a drug cartel could be considered a date, but the princess calmly sipping her tea looked like she could fool anyone.
"No way! I'm going too!"
It wasn't a real date, but was it really okay to butt in when someone else had asked for a date...? While I was still confused by the chaotic conversation, the young lady mouthed something to me. 'Isn't it dangerous?'
"...It is, yeah."
She was right. The young lady, now cured of her illness, was quite strong, but this was something that could be handled at the imperial palace level. There was no need to deliberately put her in danger at the heart of a drug cartel. Besides, it hadn't been long since she'd recovered. Of course, in the game there hadn't been any major issues after her recovery either, but since there were already changes like Dane being alive, it wouldn't be strange if something else existed in the game...
"My lady, I'm sorry, but it seems like Chloe and I will have to go alone this time."
For now, it would be better to monitor her condition and keep her somewhere safe. I'd have to leave her care to Hibriel again...
'Wait a second.'
Now that I thought about it, before going to the principal's office to steal the Blood Ghoul, I'd asked Hibriel to take care of the young lady. So how had the young lady left the academy and ended up at the battle site with Laplace... No, how had she even known to come to the battle site with Laplace in the first place?
'She appeared at such an uncannily perfect timing that I didn't even think about it...!'
Probably because the impact of the kiss with the young lady back then had been so overwhelming that I hadn't thought about it until now.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me? Do you like the princess that much?"
Startled by the loud voice ringing in my ears, I snapped back to reality and turned to see the young lady blocking the space between me and Chloe, huffing angrily. From the way she was talking, it seemed like she'd said something before this...
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."
She snorted. "Why? Are you so happy thinking about going on a date with her that you're about to die? Am I not even worth looking at?"
That wasn't it... The previous statement had been a bit misleading, but even taking that into account, she really was a jealous young lady.
"When you rejected my confession, was that just to test the waters between the princess and me? You're a complete trash..."
Chloe cut in before the young lady could finish. "Even if Sebastian is testing the waters, I can wait. It seems like you don't have the confidence to beat me?"
On the surface it looked like a typical catfight, but if you looked a little deeper, it was clear she was deliberately trying to provoke and tease the young lady. Did she seriously want to make an enemy of her? Why did she always go this hard? And was she planning to keep pushing the "princess's butler romance" concept even in front of the young lady? That was going to be really burdensome. It meant I'd have to keep pretending to be her rival whenever the young lady was around.
"W-who said I don't have the confidence to win? You haven't even kissed Sebastian once!"
The young lady spoke while huffing, but Chloe easily brushed it off. "I was planning to do much more than that on our date. Being satisfied with just a kiss means your vessel is smaller than I thought?"
...Huh? While saying that, she winked at me and smiled. That was the face of someone who genuinely enjoyed teasing the young lady...!
"Y-you... you perverted princess! You're indecent!"
The young lady removed the ring from her finger, tossed it into the air, caught it, and said, "It seems like you only see what you want to see. That's the only way you can interpret it."
Then, with a ting! sound, she flicked the ring onto my hand.
"That's all for today. Check the gift I gave you when this woman isn't around."
With that one line, she coolly walked away.
Wait, if she left like that... "You... you're really planning to go on a date alone with that girl?"
As soon as Chloe left, the young lady grabbed me by the collar and shook me while demanding an answer. She always caused trouble and then slipped away alone... Ah, how was I supposed to explain this one?