Bringing the Young Master and Ladies Down a Peg (3)

I hadn't quite realized it while I was sitting, but face-to-face like this, the truth hit me square on.

Princess Eletra's outfit was plenty revealing too.

A pure white dress cut deep enough to bare a generous stretch of cleavage, paired with stockings that looked chosen to match. The kind of look a subculture game would slap out as a party-themed skin.

Princess Eletra was a five-star too, wasn't she.

Unlike a certain someone, though, she wasn't the generous type.

A beauty with a cold, cutting presence. Get too close without permission and you might lose a finger. And that might not even be a metaphor.

"This is exactly what I needed…!"

The Eletra standing in front of me, though, had her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I'd already heard that Your Highness has a great interest in spirits."

"…!"

Spirit observation.

That was Eletra's hobby. In my original world, it would have sat somewhere near birdwatching or butterfly collecting. Not a bad pastime — but not one the nobility particularly encouraged either.

"Even so, this can't have been easy to come by…."

Yeah. Not easy at all. Syndras petals don't grow around here.

The academy sat in the empire of the eastern continent. Syndras petals, on the other hand, could only be found in a remote corner of the southwest. Hauling them all the way to the eastern empire was a project in itself.

Well. I just clicked the shop button.

Hmm.

Come to think of it, wasn't the shop system a massive cheat all by itself?

If I played the market right…?

While I was lost in thought, interest flickered back into the princess's eyes.

"You've presented a gift to the princess. You should receive a reward. What do you want?"

That was exactly why Eletra was a living hidden piece.

Anything that could be obtained within this region, she could more or less put in my hands.

Every gaze in the ballroom had long since locked onto the two of us. And in front of all of them, I named what I wanted.

"I would ask that Your Highness bestow upon me an elixir crafted by the alchemist Vade."

At that, hollow laughter broke out all around the room.

"An elixir?"

"And not some low-grade scrap — one made by Sir Vade himself…!"

"Elixirs aren't exactly pocket change…."

"As if he'd get an elixir for handing over a single hobby trinket…."

Princess Eletra gave a clean, unhesitating nod.

"Fine. I'll secure an elixir made by Sir Vade and have it delivered within three days."

The ballroom erupted into fresh uproar.

"My thanks, Your Highness."

Well then. Business done. Time to get out of a party I had neither interest in nor patience for.

"Hold it. Stop right there."

The student who'd been needling me from the start growled after me.

"Earlier. You asked for my name."

"You don't have to answer."

I wasn't that interested. If this were a game, he'd have been an NPC — not even a named one. Just Student C walking past in the background.

"Magnum Rodrimuor."

"Is that so. I'm Gilliam Everchess."

A vein bulged on Magnum's forehead.

"I already know that much…!"

Wow. So the manga rage-vein actually exists in real life. Keep that up and he'd stroke out young.

This is exactly why romance fantasies are a problem.

But Magnum wasn't someone I needed to deal with myself.

"Rodrimuor."

Princess Eletra's voice cut through the air like ice.

A completely different cold from the sparkling eyes she'd turned on me a moment ago. This, in fact, was Eletra's usual self.

"I believe I made it clear from the beginning that I had no need of your help."

"But Your Highness, this man is slighting you! If that weren't so, how could he demand something as absurd as Vade's elixir for a mere hobby item—"

At the words mere hobby item, Eletra's fist tightened — but Magnum, lost in his own righteous fervor, never noticed.

"—in place of Your Highness, who must remain gracious, I shall teach this lout a sharp lesson myself!"

"…Magnum Rodrimuor."

Eletra's voice was low, yet it carried a clear, furious force that rang through the entire ballroom.

"Why is it that even when I phrase things gently, you still fail to understand? Do you mean to disappoint me this thoroughly? Or is it your intent to make me uncomfortable?"

"Y-Your Highness, I…."

Eletra didn't even glance at the excuse. She clapped her hands together once, sharp and bright.

"If so, then congratulations, Magnum Rodrimuor! You've achieved your goal splendidly! Since you've finally found your true talent, why not devote yourself to that path from now on?"

By romance-fantasy standards, what Eletra had just said was a more serious assault than running Magnum through with a sword.

He had been publicly humiliated in front of every noble freshman — by the princess herself, no less. In effect, she had personally tanked his reputation across the entire imperial aristocracy.

The spectators' gazes, which had been fixed on Gilliam a moment ago, now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swung onto Magnum. Colder than before, if anything.

"She's not wrong…."

"Her Highness ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said from the start that she was uncomfortable, and he just stuck to her like glue…."

"Maybe Rodrimuor just had… personal motives?"

Gilliam, for his part, could not have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cared less about being in that situation. Partly because he genuinely didn't care — and partly because he had nothing left to lose.

The shame of Everchess. The wastrel of Everchess.

No matter how high-flying the nobles of a romance fantasy might be, you couldn't scrape any more reputation off a man whose standing was already at zero.

Having thoroughly dismantled Magnum, Eletra turned to look for the man who had caught her interest.

"Everchess. Step outside with me a moment?"

When he'd first come in, someone had murmured that he had actually arrived alone — without a pair.

Without a pair.

Without a woman on his arm.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Especially since she, too, had come without a pair.

When a princess called, one was expected to appear at once.

There was no response.

"…Everchess?"

Only after calling a few more times did she realize.

Gilliam had already left the ballroom.

"…What?"

Eletra trembled with sheer disbelief.

"Hmm."

Crunch.

I popped a cracker topped with cured ham — leftover finger food from the ballroom — into my mouth and looked up at the night sky.

The moon was the same shape, but the constellations were supposed to be different. Not that I knew the ones from my original world well enough to compare.

Anyway.

After a full day of observation, the conclusion was the same.

Everyone here thinks like a romance-fantasy character.

If this world had been purpose-built as a pure romance-fantasy setting, that might not have been a fatal problem. A world that ignores physics and biology so thoroughly that a single county can spit out a hundred thousand knights will at least run on its own internal logic.

But that wasn't the case here.

This setting was a star-themed subculture game.

And a subculture game always has enemies.

The Void Beasts mentioned during sparring class were the prime example. Beyond them, this world held any number of other "enemies of humanity."

And in a world like that, every noble heir has a head full of romance-fantasy flower gardens.

Which meant the emperor and the rest of the high nobility were almost certainly the same.

Family rivalries. Honor. Love games.

The people sitting at the top of a world under attack by external enemies — enemies that weren't even human — were pouring their lives into that nonsense.

So what happens then?

Obvious.

Everyone goes to hell together.

The one silver lining was that the end of the world wouldn't show up the moment I failed to act. The grace period wasn't generous, though.

Maybe five, six years.

For reference, the academy was a four-year program.

So what I need to do is—

First, get stronger. That much was obvious.

But strength alone wouldn't be enough. Even a hero with the power to save the world still needs comrades, and people in the rear supplying the logistics.

Normalize this academy.

Show these romance-fantasy flower-brains what reality looks like.

Keep staking your lives on that trivial garbage and you'll all be dead in a few years.

…Alright. The direction's set.

Now to squeeze a few more Compliment Points out of Maron—

"Hah… hahh… w-wait…!!"

I turned my head. Princess Eletra was doubled over in front of me, gasping for air.

Her forehead and shoulders were damp with sweat. So was the boldly exposed upper stretch of her chest.

"Your Highness."

"Hah… hah… yes?"

"You're out of shape. You'll need to work on your stamina a bit more."

And, well.

It was about time I opened up a new farming spot for points.

"To speak to me like this is—"

"Your Highness."

"?"

"This is sudden, but may I offer you a compliment?"

"…."

Eletra's eyes narrowed.

The political instincts honed inside the imperial palace spun into motion.

As I thought. The elixir was only the first reward.

The infamous wastrel had suddenly turned over a new leaf. Not because some noble mission to fight for the world had awakened in him, of course.

Gilliam is clearly drawing some larger picture for his own ends.

Had he finally grown afraid he wouldn't inherit the duchy? Or had he genuinely found a woman he liked? A man reforming himself through the power of love was a common enough story.

Power, or love.

Either way, to get what he wanted, Gilliam was buttering her up and angling for something after the elixir.

In the end, you're just another filthy person, aren't you.

Eletra's lips curved into a cold smile.

"Very well. Go ahead and compliment me."

I'll hear whatever flattery you pour out. And once you've finished, the moment you ask for a reward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in return for the praise, I'll refuse you cleanly.

Eletra hated people whose insides didn't match their outsides more than anything in the world.

Three minutes later.

"Your face is beautiful, and your personality is so frank and refreshing that you're really quite—"

"W-w-w-wait! Just wait — stop!!"