Empire Academy Entrance Exam (1)
Just what was that necklace, that it restored my memories?
How had I known to approach her and give her the necklace in the first place?
Come to think of it, when I played that game, I never once saw any mention of Louise’s necklace. Watching the way she handled it, she clearly cherished the thing…
…
There were still far too many unanswered questions.
Especially concerning her father. In the game he only ever appeared as a man murdered and staged to look like an accident.
The structure of the world he researched, its design, its secrets—there had never been a single line suggesting he conducted any research at all.
Just a guess, but perhaps even if he never realized this world was a game, he had vaguely sensed that their fates were unfolding along predetermined routes inside someone else’s palm…
He might have somehow noticed that the future of his most beloved daughter Louise led only to a route of ruin.
If so, that would explain everything.
How on earth was something like that even possible? If it were true, he was a man worthy of respect both as a mage-scholar and as a human being.
Well, as for him, I could take my time examining the basement of the mansion—even if it was only his research notes.
The design of the world interested me too, so I would need to look around carefully later.
More important right now was…
“I’m talking to you—why aren’t you paying attention?”
Louise snapped, as if she had noticed I wasn’t focusing.
I answered her with a sly tone.
“Don’t worry! I’m listening to every word, Princess.”
She flushed for some reason—whether from fluster or embarrassment—and replied.
“Th-that… so why do you keep calling me Princess…?”
“I call a princess a princess. I can’t very well call you Louise Bern von Lohengram every time, can I?”
She sighed.
“Just Louise is fine…”
I was not the sort of shameless character who would call a girl I had just met “Princess.”
Yet the reason I stuck this cringeworthy nickname on her was because, in the name-selection options, calling her “Princess” was what maintained her affection.
Why on earth? She didn’t look the type at all… Had she wanted to be a princess or something?
Anyway, for me the only option was “Princess.”
What a picky lady—the other options didn’t raise affection at all; they only dropped it…
It wasn’t as if I was thinking of conquering her or anything…
But at the very least, while we were together, I wanted to maintain affection at the level of “Trust.”
Oh, for reference, the other options were:
Sea Anemone. Idiot. One-Trick Whip Girl.
“You’re thinking about something else again, aren’t you? In the middle of talking to me…”
“Yes, Princess. I’ll serve you well.”
“Haa… When I first saw you, you didn’t seem like that at all…”
“Whatever do you mean, Princess?”
She narrowed her eyes as if genuinely puzzled.
“How can a person’s personality change this fast? Was he always like this…?”
“I’m a man who knows time and place when I need to be serious, you know?”
Even I had to wonder if my speech and personality had changed a bit.
When I touched the necklace, at the time I thought nothing had changed just from knowing my past life, but as time passed I could feel it.
Perhaps learning the values, ways of thinking, and the me of my past life had influenced my personality a little.
She cleared her throat lightly.
“Fine, since you won’t fix it no matter what I say… But only use that title when we’re alone…”
I asked her with a shameless attitude.
“What title?”
Louise’s confident demeanor crumbled a little, as if embarrassed.
“Th-that… you know, P-Princess.”
“Why? I like this title.”
She sighed.
“If you go around doing that at the Academy or outside, I’ll get arrested for lèse-majesté too? Let’s keep it to when we’re alone.”
She held up her pinky finger.
“Promise?”
?
That gesture was way too familiar. I felt like I had seen it somewhere…
Ah. I remembered.
This scene only appeared after raising Louise’s affection to LV2—and it was already showing up?
Something I wanted to check came to mind.
I didn’t want to say it, but if I didn’t, it wouldn’t appear. I called it out.
“Status.”
She looked at me with a tilted head.
“What are you on about all of a sudden?”
◆ Ongoing Heroine Routes
▶ Luna (X)
▶ Louise (X)
▶ Stella (X)
▶ Lisa (X)
Something felt off.
Had the heroine Louise Bern von Lohengram originally been this kind a character?
No way.
Until you built at least stage three—“Trust”—out of the five affection stages, she had been a heroine who showed insane “tsun-tsun” behavior…
Somehow she seemed far too kind toward me.
The early meeting being completely different from the game was because this wasn’t a game.
I had thought the protagonist—that is, the player’s starting point—and my starting point were simply different…
Looking closer, the heroine-route section of the status window looked a little different from that game.
Had that game even had these (X) marks?
Could it be…?
When I pressed the heroine routes on the status window, a closed description window opened.
◆ Ongoing Heroine Routes
▶ Luna (X)
ㄴ [Detailed information cannot be viewed because you are not the ‘Player.’]
▶ Louise (X)
ㄴ [Detailed information cannot be viewed because you are not the ‘Player.’]
▶ Stella (X)
ㄴ [Detailed information cannot be viewed because you are not the ‘Player.’]
▶ Lisa (X)
ㄴ [Detailed information cannot be viewed because you are not the ‘Player.’]
What the hell?
I had never seen this message before. At the very least, I had never seen it while playing that game.
I already knew, but this confirmed it: I was not the player.
So even if I acted according to the routes, I might not get the same results as the player?
No—things that were supposed to happen would still happen. If I acted like the player, progressing the routes shouldn’t be a problem.
Even if there were problems, right now I had no other method anyway…
Separate from that, the fact that Louise had said that line meant she held affection for me close to the “Interest” stage at minimum…
The situations that unfolded from actions were the same, but those situations applied different standards to the protagonist of that game and to me… That was the right way to think about it.
Even saying the same words to Stella, I had gained greater affection. I didn’t know why…
I had never seen Stella’s or Lisa’s kingdom routes, so I couldn’t be certain, but the Empire routes I had run countless times because of Louise, so I was sure.
While I was thinking all this, Louise frowned a little carefully and spoke.
“Um, Aaron…? What are you doing pointing at empty air? Muttering weird things to yourself… Honestly, you’re starting to scare me a little.”
Could she not see my status window? I turned it toward her.
“Can you not see this?”
“If you’re teasing me, you’d better stop.”
She looked at me with an incredulous expression. So the status window really was visible only to me.
Probably only people who understood the concept could see it. Given that I had recalled my past life and then thought of the status-window concept, that possibility was high.
I spoke toward her.
“Info.”
Nothing appeared.
As expected, it didn’t work. I couldn’t view the other party’s information either.
The heroine information not displaying clearly was probably because I lacked the ability to read the information given to the player…
“It would be nice if I could obtain that ability, though…”
“Um…? What have you actually been doing this whole time? I’m about to get angry.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Huu… You said you’d help me get into the Empire Academy, remember? Listen to the explanation…”
“Sorry. But I wasn’t completely zoning out.”
Feeling her lightly glaring gaze, I hurriedly made an excuse.
“Really. In short, the new-year entrance exam is coming soon, so take the test as a commoner—as a civilian, right?”
“That’s right. And the excellent me will tutor you. Of course, if it’s physical combat, you’d be fine on your own, but…”
She looked at me and seemed to think for a moment.
“The written exam will be hard for you to keep up with. You’re not familiar with Imperial history or Imperial magic engineering at all, are you? So for the remaining two months at my mansion…”
Originally the written exam would have been difficult, but now that I had recovered my past-life memories, it was different.
I had memorized the setting books for the walkthroughs, so I even knew secret history that wasn’t public… Still, passing the Academy through the official route wasn’t good.
Riding that route was more certain.
With a firm expression I spread my hand and said,
“However, I refuse.”
“Yes, I’ll teach you well… Wait, what…?”
With a firm expression I spread my hand and said,
“However, I refuse.”
She looked at me with an expression that said she couldn’t understand the unexpected words.
“Why…?”
“First reason: how about focusing on your own studies? You haven’t been accepted yet either, have you?”
“What…? I… I’m confident I’ll enter as the top student…”
No you won’t…
You’ll get thoroughly crushed by the Empire’s main heroine, the commoner ‘Aria’ who looks like a heroine no matter who sees her, and end up second place.
You’ll miss the special scholarship, struggle with money problems that are already hard enough, and head straight into the ruin route. I can see it clearly.
Of course I couldn’t say that…
“No. Never let your guard down. Your problem is a bit of overconfidence.”
Had that come out a little rude?
She bristled slightly at the words, then after thinking it over, seemed to concede a little.
“What…? What do you even know… No, it’s true I should check whether I have any shortcomings… Maybe there’s someone better than me…”
Even if she got angry I had nothing to say, but she really was a good woman. Hmm.
“Second: there’s something I have to do in order to pass.”
She bristled a little.
“What…? What are you talking about when the Academy exam is right around the corner?”
“I know you’re worried… but trust me once.”
“What…?”
“I have a method in mind.”
“Aaron, even so, without any explanation…”
She trailed off and fidgeted with her necklace.
Then she continued.
“Fine. But I have conditions. Two of them.”
“Alright, let’s hear them.”
“First. You must pass the Academy.”
Yeah, I will. Otherwise I’m in trouble too.
“Second. If possible, sleep here.”
?
Well, I was going to do that anyway…
She muttered a little under her breath.
“It’s not like… there’s any other meaning. From my perspective, you might suddenly disappear, right? You still haven’t paid back the debt either.”
“Got it! My Lady.”
She glared.
“Since when did I become your lady?”
“Alright, I’ve confirmed those two conditions.”
Was it my imagination, or did her expression brighten a little?
“But… you really do have a way to pass, right…? If you’re underestimating the Empire National Academy’s exam, I’d like to tell you not to.”
To her still-suspicious advice I answered confidently.
“It’s hard to explain in words, but I promise.”
She seemed lost in thought.
“A promise… is it?”
“Don’t worry and just focus on your own exam.”
“If you’re going to say that much, I’ll believe you. Don’t disappoint me.”
Her attitude still didn’t quite have the form of a villainess young lady.
Realistically, me entering the Empire Academy was essentially impossible…
Then let’s prepare—the bug-like play that would let me enroll. Water.