Each Their Own Thoughts (1)
A single journey, planned at the suggestion of Gehmajoshigi-gwat and Seraphin.
Naturally, just because the companionship had been decided didn't mean they would immediately form a party and set off for the next episode.
The major events of Luminor Academy all unfolded on a more or less fixed schedule, and arriving earlier than that window left them with nothing to do but camp out nearby.
The timing was also terrible. The incident at the aristocratic exchange had only just ended, and the hour was creeping toward dawn.
It was far too late to set out for anywhere. The whole point of the aristocratic exchange, after all, was dubious to begin with — by the time the party wound down, everyone was expected to have claimed a room and gone to bed.
Tonight, however, thanks to the McHart affair, most of the noble sons and daughters had already hurried home from the Imperial Villa. Some would be riding carriages back to their family estates even at this late hour, while others would spend a single night at an inn near the capital and depart early the next morning.
As a result, the guest rooms of the villa — rooms that, under normal circumstances, would have served as McHart's personal daily hotel for the sons and daughters of the aristocracy — stood emptier than empty, wide open for the picking. Of course, from tomorrow most of them would be put back to their intended use, but still.
"Until the schedule for the 'temporary companionship' is set, I will instruct the servants to let you all remain here at the villa, so please don't refuse — make yourselves at home. If there is anything at all you need while you stay, simply tell the staff."
"Oh, Seraphin. Are you staying at the villa tonight too?"
"…No. I must return to the main palace to report on my half-brother McHart's funeral arrangements. It is a matter that must be handled as quietly as possible, so I believe it would be best for me to go back myself and explain everything to Her Majesty the Empress."
"Really? I was planning to stop by your room later tonight."
"…Yes, yes, yes?"
…Did that lunatic go into heat all of a sudden?
Thanks to the conversation between the Hero and Seraphin earlier, I had briefly convinced myself that his proposal of a temporary companionship hadn't been entirely thoughtless — but that one comment had just shattered my trust in him completely.
Don't tell me… did that bastard seriously go on about temporary partners and all that just so he could pounce on me…?
"H-Hero, please. Save such words for when the two of us are alone. And with my half-brother's funeral ahead of me, I must conduct myself with proper decorum for the time being…"
"Hm? Oh — no, no, that's not it. I just wanted to use the communication mana orb in your room. There are a few people I need to call before we set out together."
"…If that is all, then I shall give you the key to my private villa suite. Come and use it whenever you like."
"Ah, thanks, Seraphin."
…Was he deliberately teasing her, or had he genuinely just meant to use the communication orb while Seraphin completely misread it?
Seraphin bowed her head deep, her face burning scarlet. In the game she'd been an endlessly infuriating character, but with the freedom dial turned up like this, even this Seraphin could be tossed about at every turn.
In any case, judging from the exchange just now, he didn't seem to be the type to lose control of his urges and poke at every girl in sight (in the sexual sense). …Come to think of it, the few times we'd talked before, he hadn't seemed like a bad person either.
Most telling of all was Seraphin's reaction — by her count, his conquest seemed more than halfway done, yet no scene had been… ahem, no physical relationship between man and woman had apparently been consummated.
Serista was probably in a similar situation to Seraphin. Though in Serista's case, the moment a scene was collected, her conquest difficulty would skyrocket, so for the sake of clearing the game he'd have no choice but to force himself to hold back.
As for Agnes, they'd gotten reasonably friendly, but he clearly had no serious intention of pursuing her. And Nathalie, too — the fact that he'd deliberately left Thomas for her said he wasn't interested in conquering her either.
He'd built a harem party, but it seemed that was purely the most efficient configuration for clearing the game — touching the girls had never been the goal.
'Transmigrating into the hero of an eroge and still not getting to enjoy it — he's duller than I expected.'
Not that it mattered. If he ever tried to lay a hand on me, I'd swing a sword and resist however I had to. Yes.
While I was mulling that over, Gehmajoshigi-gwat and Serista each took rooms on the third floor near Seraphin's private suite, while Edan, Agnes, and I each claimed a spare room on the second.
"Lady Agnes, might I trouble you to at least tell me which room you'll be staying in during your time at the villa? I assure you I mean no disrespect. I only wished to pay my respects tomorrow morning—"
"Antonio, you know full well you're not supposed to be lingering at the villa either. Stop tormenting Lady Agnes and come along already."
"Aaack! S-Sera, big sister! Not the ear! Please don't pull my ear!"
"…Sigh."
…And so Antonio, still fawning over Agnes to the very end, was dragged off with Seraphin. An exit that was pathetic in every possible way.
'He was nothing like this in the original story.'
Where on earth had the timid, defeated prince gone — the Antonio who'd been trampled in the contest for the throne and left with neither crown nor pride?
Still, compared to his gloomy, withdrawn self in the game, this version was arguably an improvement. Whether his actual performance had changed along with his personality, I couldn't say.
"It seems we'll be staying longer than planned — but shall I not send word to my lord father, Young Master Edan?"
"It's fine. Father's probably too busy to be checking correspondence one letter at a time anyway. Let's wait until the Hero's so-called 'temporary companionship' gets a proper schedule — we can contact him then."
"Understood."
"It's been a long day and you must be worn out. Go get some rest."
"…Yes. I wish you a good night as well, Young Master Edan."
With that final exchange, Edan and I stepped into rooms separated by a single wall, and on wobbling legs I drifted, half in a trance, toward the wide bed waiting inside.
-Thump.
"Haaaah…"
How long had it been since I'd pushed my body this hard?
In terms of sheer felt exhaustion, it was practically on par with the kraken subjugation at the Academy.
Not that McHart was actually stronger than that kraken — it was just that the mental pressure, the tension, all of it had piled up layer upon layer.
"Nnngh… nnghh…"
Once I'd collapsed onto the bed, I found I had no desire whatsoever to get up again. My body knew perfectly well that I'd sweated buckets and ought to wash up and change before sleeping — and yet.
'Maybe I'll just do it tomorrow…'
If I woke up early tomorrow morning and washed then, wouldn't it be basically the same as washing tonight? I could change clothes then too. Problem solved.
Besides, no matter how clearly my brain understood what needed doing, my body was in no state whatsoever to do anything.
And so I had no choice but to surrender myself to the sleep that was steadily closing in.
'But seriously, what is Gehmajoshigi-gwat actually thinking…?'
He couldn't seriously be planning to take me along as a companion on the Demon King subjugation. I was pretty sure I'd told him, in no uncertain terms, not to do that.
If he had, then I'd have to resist by any means necessary and put a stop to it. My blissful otherworld life did not include a life-or-death Demon King raid on the itinerary.
For all I knew it was already too late to prepare a countermeasure. I should have laid plans now, while my brain could still limply function, to make absolutely sure I couldn't be folded into the Demon King subjugation party — and yet…
-Snore. Phwoo…
The relief of a month-long worry finally resolved, together with the fatigue soaked deep into my bones, was more than enough to drag me under — even with a brand-new worry cradled in my arms.
The Imperial Villa — Seraphin's private suite.
Using the key Seraphin had handed him before departing, the Hero Gehmajoshigi-gwat let himself in and, through the mana orb sitting at the center of the sitting-room table, opened a connection to somewhere far away.
"Where, exactly, did you say?"
"The Imperial Villa. Second-largest castle in the Argentia Empire's capital — that's the one."
"The capital…? Do I really have to go…?"
On the other side of the communication orb, the green-haired elf pulled a face of pure disgust, and at her half-expected reaction Gehmajoshigi-gwat wore an expression of equal trouble.
"I need your strength, Silena."
"The capital is where humans crowd together and live on top of each other. I hate places like that…"
"Silena…"
Her help would be absolutely essential at the next Luminor Academy event, due to arrive in a matter of days.
The plan had been to summon her to the imperial capital as quickly as possible and set out together for the next destination — but with Silena so averse to crowded places, the plan had begun to come apart at the seams.
'Maybe I should have raised Silena's affection even higher back then…'
But he'd already wrung out nearly all the affection obtainable through standard events, and from here there was only one way to make her feel more attached to him.
Sharing her bed — building affection through deep, physical intimacy.
It was a method simple enough to be spelled out even in LilGirlChang's walkthrough, and since this was fundamentally an eroge, it was the most conventional play route there was. And yet…
'I don't really want to go that far.'
His body was one that would, someday, have to return to his original world after slaying the Demon King.
Until then, forming careless bonds with the characters of this world weighed on Gehmajoshigi-gwat's conscience in more ways than one.
Had he chosen to stay in this world, he could have freely accepted the goodwill of the women who flocked to him — but Gehmajoshigi-gwat's choice was already firmly made.
He had left too much behind in his original world. He had to find his way back, no matter what — and so he had resolved not to create anyone who would be left behind in this one.
'Though it seems there are already some who fell behind, even though I never laid a hand on them…'
The image of a pink-haired priestess flickered through his mind, but still, he repeated to himself that things were, so far, all right.
Never crossing the final line — the line between man and woman. That much, at least, was the last shred of conscience Gehmajoshigi-gwat had always kept.
As long as things never progressed to a direct physical relationship, the women who had once held feelings for him could each, in time, forget him, meet someone new, and begin a new love of their own.
"Volt, what's up?"
"Wha—?!"
"…Do I really have to come to the imperial capital? Really?"
"…No, you don't have to come all the way here. How about coming to ...... in a week instead?"
"…Fine. Fewer people there. It's tolerable."
"Great. Thank you, Silena. See you in a week."
"Mm. Volt."
After wrapping up his conversation with the expressionless elf on the other side of the orb, Gehmajoshigi-gwat withdrew the mana he had been pouring into the crystal and sank quietly into thought, alone in the empty room.
Wearing a bitter expression — one laced with complicated feelings he could never bring himself to show anyone else.