Chapter 10: My Life Was a RoFan (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 10: My Life Was a RoFan (3)
A week had passed since the academy opened.
In the Swordsmanship Department, an issue had arisen regarding the Minor Sword Emperor being unexpectedly weak, but otherwise, things weren't much different from what the Intelligence Bureau had predicted.
Except for one thing: the Flower Arrangement Club.
Or rather, the "Flower Arrangement Club."
"Prince Esid joined a club called the Flower Arrangement Club?"
"What kind of club is that? Flower arranging? Is it the one I’m thinking of?"
"No way. If the Prince had joined alone, you could write it off as a whim. But the other members aren't exactly ordinary, are they?"
"True. Including the Prince, you've got the princes of the major powers, Leon and Dale. And when you consider the other members..."
"It’s essentially a secret gathering of the first-year power players."
I sat quietly, chewing on a sandwich and suppressing my presence while gathering rumors from the students.
Please, keep thinking that.
Listening to the rumors circulating among the students, I prayed they would spread far and wide.
In truth, the fewer people who knew the reality—that the Imperial Prince and the princes of major kingdoms had all become rivals over the same woman within a single week—the better.
Of course, it didn't really matter if someone told the truth.
Any sane person would look at someone speaking such "truth" as if they were a lunatic.
"Is this really a RoFan?"
The more I watched the Flower Arrangement Club from a distance over the past week, the more I couldn't help but feel that this world was a RoFan.
Just like a RoFan intro, Daisy was pure, and the male leads were frustratingly dense. Yet, surprisingly, the club was functioning properly.
That was why I hoped this world really was a RoFan.
It was better to believe that the events unfolding before my eyes were moving according to a fixed scenario. If this insane situation had occurred naturally, then the genre of this world would be cosmic horror.
"I really hope I never have to join that club."
The Captain and the Intelligence Bureau had requested that I join the Flower Arrangement Club for "better strategic positioning," but I refused.
My excuse was that joining might unnecessarily interfere with their delicate web of relationships.
My true reason was that I didn't want to get stuck between RoFan male leads who were bound to be a mess.
It was unlikely, but imagine if Daisy fell for me, like in those "RoFan Extra" stories.
I would become the man who NTR’d the first loves of my liege and other international VIPs, and I’d likely be dragged into every single incident involving the RoFan heroine.
If I had fallen for Daisy at first sight like Prince Ellen, that would be one thing, but I felt more fear than romance the moment I saw her.
I was definitely not cut out to be a RoFan male lead.
"Can I keep this up?"
In the end, whether the Kingdom felt sorry for me or thought my reasoning was sound, they deferred my club application.
However, it was a predictable future that if any incident occurred, I, as the closest agent, would eventually be deployed.
"If I can just hold out until next year, reinforcements will arrive somehow."
Since a prince of a nation had come to study abroad, there were knights dispatched as guards.
However, they had no justification for getting involved in club activities like flower arranging, even if they could interfere in outside activities.
Therefore, at the earliest, the Intelligence Bureau would need to insert one or two undercover agents disguised as students next year for me to have any breathing room.
Could I hold out until then without anything happening?
"Should I write it in advance?"
Because of this Imperial assignment, I had left my resignation letter back home where no one could accept it.
Now it looked like I’d be carrying a club application form in that empty space instead.
"To think I'd be betrayed like this."
I thought I’d be able to take it a bit easy at the Academy.
My plan to dump Prince Ellen onto the Sword Emperor or the Minor Sword Emperor and enjoy my youth had been ruined because Prince Ellen decided to enjoy his youth instead.
Thanks to that, I was currently filming a spy thriller at the Academy using the techniques I learned at the Intelligence Bureau.
Before entering the Academy, I had grumbled about where I’d ever use such skills, but now they were coming in quite handy.
"It’s still a normal academy for now."
With the recruitment of the Sword Emperor and the former Tower Lord, people had gathered not just from within the Empire but from various nations across the continent.
The atmosphere of even the freshmen focusing on their studies was a bit unusual, but it was within expected levels.
If anything, the Flower Arrangement Club, which had created a damnably complex relationship web in just one week, was the anomaly. What fault did the students have for studying hard at an academy they joined specifically to study?
"In that sense, that Club President is way too suspicious."
First of all, he’s a squinty-eyed character.
That alone increases the probability of him being a major character by 50%.
A squinty-eyed character in a RoFan Academy setting?
If you think positively, he’s a retired former hero or an ally with a very complex backstory.
If you think negatively, he’s at least a mid-boss of some group planning a terrorist attack on the Academy, or at most, the final boss who betrays the protagonist's party at the very end.
I’m only suspicious because his hair is brown; if his hair had been pink, I would have launched a surprise attack immediately.
"I haven't been able to find anything that qualifies as hard evidence, though."
From what I’ve observed so far, Bellian Eric displayed the typical traits of a minor noble.
His appearance was so picture-perfect that I almost got fooled for a moment.
But because it was too perfect, I became even more suspicious.
And once I started investigating, suspicious points kept popping up.
He completed his graduation credits last year, so why is he taking a full course load again this year?
No one would do that unless they were insane.
Therefore, I was certain he was carrying out some special operation within the Academy.
Furthermore, in an Academy where most people barely finish their required credits by their fourth year—and some even fail to do so and get held back—he had taken enough classes to finish everything by his third year.
Yet, Bellian Eric had no close friends. In fact, almost no one remembered him clearly.
No matter how introverted a person is, it’s impossible to leave so little trace.
That’s why I was convinced this was information concealment on the level of the Intelligence Bureau.
And the clincher was...
—Is this how you do it?
—It’s not bad, but it’s a bit too flashy overall. In times like this, focusing on these quiet flowers to highlight the main piece will help with the balance, right?
—Wow!
I wasn't watching the Flower Arrangement Club directly, but I could tell just by eavesdropping.
This guy was dead serious about flower arranging.
It’s not good to have gender stereotypes, but a noble male who entered the Academy in a medieval fantasy world being serious about flower arranging?
It was more plausible to think he was acting the part of a club president who was serious about flower arranging.
—Well then, let’s wrap it up for today.
At the declaration of the end of club activities, I quickly cut the wiretap and headed to the training grounds.
I had used the excuse—or rather, the "non-excuse"—of personal training to Prince Ellen for why I hadn't joined the club.
If I wasn't training, Prince Ellen might try to drag me into the Flower Arrangement Club.
"Wait, come to think of it, it’s not even an excuse."
I really did want to do my personal training.
It was just that Prince Ellen’s first love was interfering with it.
What a petty bastard. It’s already hard enough to catch up to him, and he’s even hindering my efforts to do so.
"Adam!"
Just then, Prince Ellen, his face strangely flushed, came running toward me.
Even though I knew this wasn't a BL story, seeing a guy act like that made me scowl instinctively.
"Did you get a confession from Miss Daisy or something?"
"I-It’s not that!"
Flustered by my words, he carefully pulled something out.
"Ah, did someone else confess to you?"
I tilted my head as I looked at the letter Prince Ellen produced.
Is the story already at the point where the male lead gets a confession to trigger the heroine's jealousy?
Our Prince shouldn't have made that much progress with Daisy yet.
Of course, given Prince Ellen’s looks, it wasn't strange, but since I was suffering from the "everything looks like a RoFan" disease, it was my natural first thought.
"This isn't mine. It’s yours, Adam."
For a moment, I almost swung the sword I was training with at this sudden BL drift.
"Violet asked me to deliver it."
Violet.
That was definitely the name of the childhood friend of the RoFan heroine-to-be, Daisy.
The purple-haired girl who was with Daisy when I first visited the club.
"I see."
That confirmed it.
"This is... a challenge to a duel."
"No, no matter how you look at it, isn't it a love letter?"
Prince Ellen looked at me as if I were talking nonsense, but I was certain.
"It’s definitely a challenge."
It’s not that I’m ugly, but the person standing next to me was Prince Ellen.
Furthermore, the person who wrote this letter was surrounded by people on par with Prince Ellen.
Of course, those people only had eyes for her friend, not her.
Normally, a girl of this age would try to challenge the impossible even while knowing it’s futile.
And think about it.
What kind of men are by Daisy’s side?
Even if this fantasy world allows one to have multiple lovers if they are talented enough, regardless of gender...
The only person among the club members who could be relegated to a "sub" status was the Club President.
If Daisy chose one, wouldn't she think she might have a chance with one of the others?
Isn't it normal to target the others with that thought in mind?
"Hmm."
"Ah!"
As I pulled out the letter with those thoughts, Prince Ellen backed away in a panic, as if he thought he shouldn't see the contents.
"I-I did hear that she wanted you to read it right away!"
"I see."
The content was short and simple.
—Today, 7:00 PM.
—Rooftop of the Old School Building.
She must be in quite a hurry, wanting to meet this very day.
"It is a challenge."
"N-No, it can't be?"
Why not? Who puts only a time and place in a love letter?
This was the classic format for a challenge.
According to my intel, this Violet person seemed to be a fairly skilled mage.
"That Magic Spammer bitch doesn't know her place."
She was clearly throwing down the gauntlet to me, the second-in-command of the first-year Swordsmanship Department.
It was truly absurd.
Shouldn't she have beaten the third-in-command, the Minor Sword Emperor, before coming for me?
Just because I’m the Sword Emperor’s grandson, she must have thought I was an easier target.
"M-Magic Spammer!?"
He said it would be trouble if I used such words carelessly, but when I told him I learned the term from Princess Hestia, Prince Ellen’s face turned red and he lowered his head in silence.
"Are you ashamed of the Princess!?"
"Yes, a little."
"Uh..."
Well, come to think of it, if she were my sister, I’d probably be ashamed too.
But whatever.
"I’ll go and win."
If I lose, Prince Ellen is next.
I couldn't afford to lose in a battle of pride between the Swordsmanship and Magic Departments.
It bothered me that the mage had designated the location in advance, but a proud swordsman should be able to grant that much of a handicap.
"That... no, fine. Good luck."
With that lukewarm send-off from Prince Ellen, I headed toward the rooftop of the old school building.
Creeak.
I opened the iron door and arrived at the rooftop.
There, I saw the purple-haired girl who had arrived before me.
"You came."
A slightly trembling voice and an anxious gaze.
Her expression was quite... no, extremely determined, causing my certainty to waver for a moment.
What the hell?
Is it really a "confession attack" like Prince Ellen said?
Just as my thoughts momentarily stalled at the possibility of an unimagined variable...
A powerful blow that shook my very soul burst from her mouth.
"D-Do you know Like a Flower Blooming in Barren Land?"
What the hell?
Does this world use the phrase "Do you know" too?
And what the hell is Like a Flower Blooming in Barren Land?
It sounds exactly like a RoFan title.
"D-Do you know Kimchi?"
But I couldn't think straight as the "Do you know" series continued.
No, seriously, what is this? Dammit.
Was there even Kimchi in this world?
"Do you know Ko... Ah, screw it. You're from South Korea, aren't you?"
Seeing my dumbfounded expression, she looked half-certain, and I had no choice but to nod my head.