Chapter 216: All Sorts of Branches (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 216: All Sorts of Branches (8)
In the past, whenever something like this happened, there were so many possible reasons that I couldn't even begin to guess which one it was.
Because of that, I could actually afford to be quite bold.
"What did I do this time?"
I had reached a point where the people around me barely reacted to anything I did anymore.
If Daisy was glaring at me with such fire in her eyes, there was no way I wouldn't remember what I'd done. In other words, if I didn't know why she was acting like this, it was because I truly had no reason to know.
"Sigh..."
Daisy let out a long sigh at my defiant attitude.
After her mouth hung open and closed a few times, she finally spoke.
"Arwen confessed to me."
"Pardon?"
She dropped a bombshell on me.
"Who did what?"
"Arwen. He confessed his feelings."
If my memory served me right, the only person I knew named Arwen was that Magic Spammer.
A RoFan male lead. I’d heard he was supposed to be the type who was cold to everyone but warm to the heroine... but that setting had long since gone out the window.
And that guy had confessed to Daisy.
"...Why?"
It was a question that naturally came to mind.
According to Boradori, even in a future where they graduated from the Academy and parts of the world were destroyed, the RoFan male leads were never supposed to confess.
And yet, the Magic Spammer suddenly went and did it.
"And? What happened?"
"...I rejected him, obviously."
Daisy said she’d turned him down without a second thought, though she slightly averted her gaze.
"Then isn't that the end of it?"
"I-I mean, I'm just a bit flustered. I was prepared to reject him eventually, but it happened so suddenly. I feel... a little bad? Something like that... and I'm worried the others might suddenly confess too... so..."
She went on an absurd rant about how I should have warned her if I knew this was going to happen. I couldn't help but respond with a voice full of indignation.
"Wait, how is that—"
How is that my fault?
"It is your fault."
"......"
So it was. I didn't know.
After learning about the major incident that was a RoFan male lead's confession, the first thing I did was look for the guy.
Of course, finding him wasn't difficult at all.
"I heard Arwen's just been drinking?"
"Why?"
"Who knows. Probably got dumped."
"Arwen did?"
The rumors were loud enough to hear just by walking around the Academy; apparently, he was drinking quite openly.
That's how I found the Magic Spammer in a corner of a pub—the kind of place commoners or broke nobles would frequent, with an atmosphere similar to a pocha from my previous life—downing drinks one after another.
"......"
To be honest, I was taken aback by the sight.
I expected him to be drinking in a high-end wine bar or something.
I could understand the beer, but I had no idea why soju even existed in a fantasy world, let alone why he was chugging it.
Since it was a very cheap place by Academy standards, other students were sipping their drinks while stealing glances at the Magic Spammer.
Talk about being a public nuisance.
I felt like I should call someone to take him home, but who?
The Fire Spammer was out of the question. I was wondering if I should call one of the other RoFan male leads when—
"......"
My eyes met the Magic Spammer's, who was glaring at me with a vacant expression.
He didn't even try to hide his flushed face as he crooked a finger, gesturing for me to come over. It was ridiculous, but since he was the monumental first dropout among the RoFan male leads, I decided to take a seat next to him.
"Drink."
As soon as I sat down, the Magic Spammer poured soju into a beer mug and pushed it toward me.
Looking at the bottles rolling around on the floor, I wondered if even in a fantasy world, dozens of bottles was a bit much. Just then—
"On the house."
The owner, wearing a beaming smile, set down a side dish.
Faced with a capitalistic smile that suggested he’d just earned a week's worth of profit, I silently pushed the dish toward the Magic Spammer.
It was a steaming bowl of mussel soup.
I didn't know if people in medieval fantasy ate this as a side dish, but it would probably be good for his hangover.
"Drink..."
Regardless, the Magic Spammer filled the beer mug to the brim with soju and tried to force me to drink.
Since he couldn't beat me with magic, was he attempting an assassination?
"You're really advertising to the whole neighborhood that you got dumped, aren't you...?"
"......"
I didn't mean it maliciously, nor did I have any ulterior motive.
It was just that a guy who usually lived for his own ego was now wasted and offering a drink to someone he wasn't even close with. The words just slipped out.
"......Hic."
"......?"
I didn't expect a prince to start blubbering because of that.
"Ugh... hic..."
He was really sobbing.
"......"
Look, if you're going to cry, at least rent a private room.
The rumors about him getting dumped were already spreading, and now he was just adding fuel to the fire.
"Just drink your drink..."
"Daisy... hic!"
"......"
Now the girl's name was going to be in the tabloids too.
"Owner..."
If the rumors got any bigger, I wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath.
"I'll rent out the whole place for the rest of the day."
As a service for the airship he'd provided, I decided to book the entire pub.
I kicked out all the students, and the owner went home after putting out a few more side dishes.
Well, he said he was going home, but he'd probably be lurking nearby to close up later.
Until then, I had to do something about this drunkard.
"It's your fault..."
This drunkard seemed to have no intention of going home.
"No, it's not."
"......"
"It is your fault."
He chuckled to himself while sipping his drink, then cried, then blamed others, then felt grateful again.
"I was stupid. I didn't know Marie's heart. No, it's more accurate to say I didn't even try to know. I took it for granted. It was natural for her to be by my side. It was natural for me to ask her for favors."
He was rambling on quite passionately.
"Then you should have just accepted her."
"I couldn't do that. A heart full of sincerity. A heart she must have held onto for a very long time. If I accepted it just to make myself feel better, just to unburden my guilt... as a man, what could be trashier than that?"
...What was this? Was the RoFan curse actually real?
Just as I was losing my mind over the Magic Spammer's suddenly elevated level of intelligence—
"So I rejected her. And that's why I confessed. After rejecting Marie's confession, I looked so pathetic for not even being able to confess myself. At the same time, I realized that my very existence... was becoming a burden to Daisy. So I just did it, but..."
His confident expression crumpled.
At the same time, tears began to well up in his eyes again.
Here we go again.
I quietly poured a drink and handed it to him. The Magic Spammer took it silently and downed it.
"Still... I hoped, just a little..."
"I see..."
So he... had hope...
"If there seemed to be even a sliver of a chance, I was going to try again..."
"I see..."
Our Daisy really ended it cleanly without leaving any room for doubt...
"Daisy...... I loved you...!"
"......"
At least he didn't swear, probably because he was royalty.
"No, I still...!"
"You really are a piece of work..."
The Magic Spammer's pathetic display continued until the moment the owner actually came back to close up.
And naturally.
"...I can't even show my face."
"That's too bad..."
"Don't say it like it's someone else's problem!"
"But it is someone else's problem..."
The next day, the story of the Magic Spammer getting dumped by Daisy blanketed the entire Academy.
??? - Oh? Why are there tears...?
It was the time when the second-semester final exams were just around the corner.
Professors were racking their brains over exam questions.
Some were losing sleep, worrying if a Dark Mage or a similar force would show up again as per the usual pattern, and were busy coming up with countermeasures.
However, the majority of the Academy students didn't care about the upcoming exams or the danger of Dark Mages.
"Did you hear?"
"A guy from the Swordsmanship Department said that yesterday at the pub, he was wailing his eyes out..."
To them, it was only natural.
Arwen, the top student of the second-year Magic Department and a Prince of Dale, had been dumped.
Moreover, he had confessed to Saintess Daisy, who already had a partner. Compared to that, who cared about exams or Dark Mages!
For young men and women in their prime, romance was an inseparable part of life.
Even more so if it was someone else's story.
And if that person was a celebrity representing the Academy, they couldn't help but be ecstatic.
"......"
"......"
"......"
But not everyone felt that way.
As the rumors grew louder and the details more specific, there were people who could only remain silent.
—What on earth is going to happen...
—We promised not to confess first...
—No, before that. What are we going to do about this atmosphere...
Among the RoFan male lead candidates, the most prominent(?) ones—Esid, Ellen, and Asran—were stealing glances at each other in the Flower Arrangement Club room, assessing the situation.
Then, Gerard entered as quietly as usual and leaned his back against a wall.
"......"
Unlike his usual self, he began to look around awkwardly.
"O-Oh, hello."
"Y-Yeah."
The first-years arrived one by one and sat in their usual spots... but unlike usual, they were all walking on eggshells.
"It's been a while."
"...Who are you?"
Even Hedrick, who was participating in club activities for the first time in two weeks and had now perfectly established himself as the Vice-Merchant of Ilias, was being cautious.
"Hello!"
"Hi."
Finally, Daisy and Violet arrived. They looked bright as usual... but anyone could see they were more shaken than they let on. And so, the Flower Arrangement Club's activities were about to begin—
Or so it seemed.
"Am I the last one?"
"Gasp!"
"Whoa!"
"A-Arwen?"
The protagonist of the rumors made his entrance last.
The club members were all horrified by his appearance, but—
"Who's Arwen?"
Arwen sat in his usual spot with a nonchalant expression, laughing heartily.
"......"
"......"
Everyone fell silent at the sight.
Seeing the club room suddenly turn quiet, Arwen tilted his head and asked.
"What's with the atmosphere? Anyone would think someone died."
Fortunately, no club member was cruel enough to say, "Well, you died socially."
However, even if they didn't say it, their expressions and gazes said it all. Arwen let out a deep sigh and spoke.
"Fine, I confessed."
Everyone held their breath.
"And I got dumped."
At that bold declaration, Daisy—the one who had rejected him and shattered his heart so thoroughly he shouldn't have been able to stand—unconsciously averted her eyes.
"But that's it. I honestly conveyed my feelings, and I got an answer. That's all. I'm planning to just stay friends now, but it's troublesome if the atmosphere is like this, isn't it?"
He looked at the club members with a bright smile, acting as if nothing was wrong.
"So, I'd appreciate your cooperation..."
Just as Arwen was about to finish his sentence with a cool smile—
"Arwen..."
He met Esid's serious gaze and gave an awkward smile.
"Don't be like that..."
He felt sorry for confessing first, but he had his reasons. He would explain everything later.
He tried to convey his resolve, but—
"No, it's not that..."
Asran interrupted him. Asran had his head turned away as if he couldn't bear to look.
And finally.
"You... the tears..."
At Ellen's final words, Arwen quietly brought his hand to the corner of his eye.
He was sure he was smiling. But the sensation at his fingertips was very wet.
"......"
Arwen quietly stood up.
Everyone's eyes followed him, but Arwen avoided their gaze and muttered.
"Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom."
"......"
No one answered.
Arwen fled the club room, and he didn't return for the rest of the day.
"...Then, for today."
None of the Flower Arrangement Club members asked why.