PERSONAL

Chapter 4: Clarice Arc Part 2 of 3

Leon's POV

"Master, the Lafan girl is currently sharing an intimate moment with the purple one."

"About time," I grumbled. I had wasted a week of my life in this library waiting for her to trigger another flag with Brad. I could have done something more productive such as mastering my hobby. At least I got some studying done. I won't have to worry about failing my next exam.

"I detect frustration in your voice. It is not too late to back out now. You owe nothing to the Atlee girl."

"I did promise Angie that I would look into it."

What a ridiculous promise it was. I was going out of my way to help a girl I had never met. She barely made an appearance in the game after the first year. The closest connection I had with her was through Angie. I don't think Clarice knew I was helping her. I was going to involve myself for no tangible benefit.

It was fortunate for Clarice that I had business with Marie that I had been pushing off. I wouldn't have bothered otherwise.

"She did not expect or ask for your assistance. If anything, she doesn't expect you to achieve anything. Knowing you, I would have thought you would have done the bare minimum as always," Luxion snarked tonelessly.

"Bare minimum is still passing. If anything, I'm doing my duties to the letter like a good boy."

"Your lack of initiative is fascinating. It does make your sudden actions more questionable. Why do you insist on helping the Atlee girl?"

"I'm certain that Marie is a reincarnate."

"What makes you say that? She could be the 'true protagonist' of this world. You previously noted discrepancies between this world and the game. Angelica was significantly more amiable than what you had gathered from the game. Doesn't the change in the villainess behavior imply that Marie could just be another difference rather than a reincarnate?"

"It was something Olivia mentioned when we had tea. She mentioned that she tried to talk with Marie on the first day of the semester when she was lost. Marie harshly pushed her away from the area."

"I do not see how that would indicate that Marie is a reincarnate."

"Marie pushed Olivia away from the pathway Julius was supposed to use to exit the entrance ceremony. Olivia was supposed to meet Julius, but Marie interfered and has taken the protagonist's place as a result."

"It could be a coincidence. Olivia is treated poorly due to her commoner status, and the other girl could have been stalking the prince."

"I never told you how Olivia attracted the prince?"

"You failed to provide that information."

"She slapped Julius without realizing he was the crown prince. Something tells me that Marie is following the plot."

"I suppose the probability of two girls with vastly different personalities responding exactly the same for the same event is exceedingly low."

"Glad that you understand."

"The two have briefly separated. Now would be opportune for you to make your entrance."

....

Marie's POV

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," a bland boy said as he stumbled across Brad and me.

"Not at all. Marie and I were just about done with our business here..."

"Leon Fou Bartfort. You wouldn't happen to be Brad Fou Field?"

"So you have heard of me? I suppose it's only natural given my beauty though I must say normally it's the girls that seek me out," Brad pompously said. It was a tad grating, but the effort in capturing him would be worth it in the end.

"Ah... I didn't hear about you regarding your looks. You're more well-known to the guys for having the girls swoon for you."

"Of course. It's only natural that my looks would win the hearts of the women at this academy."

Was Brad seriously bragging about attracting other women in front of me? He was an immature brat at times. I wanted to hit him for that, but I needed to play the demure protagonist. Just think about the money and I'll be able to tolerate it for now.

"I wanted to ask for some advice since you seem to be an expert with women," Bartfort said with a strained voice.

"How wise of you to come to seek me for help with this."

"As you can probably guess, I've not had much luck with regard to getting my foot in the door. My_"

"Yes, your looks. I'm not sure what advice I could give you with that since you don't have much to work with," Brad hummed confidently.

"... My status as a rural Baron isn't something women find attractive. I was hoping to set up romantic situations so that they may not look at that particular aspect first," Bartfort said with a twitch in his eye.

I wanted to facepalm. Brad wasn't wrong per se in saying that Bartfort didn't hold up in the looks department, but the way he said it was awful. In the first place, he shouldn't have interrupted the boy just to insult him. If Brad didn't grow out of that particularly nasty habit, he was going to cause me trouble down the line. I was going to have to find time to grind the concept of humility and tact into his skull.

Brad blushed over his faux pas but evenly said, "I see. That is not a bad approach. Have you come up with something in particular?"

"I do have one. I was thinking of using this one during the end-of-semester party."

"Do go on."

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

I grew rigid. Did he just? Looking at him, I saw that he was watching me out of the corner of his eye as he was talking to Brad, and he winked. He was a reincarnate like me, and he knew what I was. That was why this mob had approached me.

What could he want with me though? I had been less than subtle in my attempts to capture the five love interests, and he was only approaching me now. He must have been fine with my actions, but something had changed for him.

Hopefully, I was just being paranoid. Maybe he was just relieved to find someone from the same world.

"It has been a pleasant chat, Bartfort. Just remember the tips I gave you and you should be able to find a woman at the party," Brad said with a smile.

"Your advice is most appreciated."

"Come, Marie. Let's not dally here."

"I was thinking of giving some more advice to Bartfort. You know, give him a woman's perspective," I said to Brad with a gentle smile.

"How magnanimous of you, my dear Marie," Brad said before walking off.

After he left, the smile fell off my face. Looking at the mob, I saw that the cordial disposition he showed Brad had fallen off as well. It seemed that we were both on the same page.

"I must say that attempting to capture the five love interests was a ballsy move. You do know how quickly and badly that can end, right?"

"It's not much of a risk when you have the script memorized," I scoffed while pointing at my temple. What did he take me for, a buffoon?

"Fair enough, though I should warn you. This isn't the same as the game."

"Seems to play out almost scene for scene."

"Exactly. The keyword is almost. There are still discrepancies. I don't know if our presence altered the script or if the world was never the same as the game, but they are there. You must have noticed them. "

I wanted to dismiss him outright, but I had an inkling that something was wrong. Sure the boys recited the words almost word for word, but I could tell something was off at times. I attributed the differences in response to my skill as a hostess. These were virgin boys who were supposed to be wooed by an innocent high school girl. I expected the nervousness on their part to be due to their age.

"Need more convincing? The villainess hates Julius. Already did since she met the brat. She won't initiate the honor duel over him," Bartfort said after he noticed my hesitation.

The villainess didn't love Julius? That was a huge problem for me. She was the key to initiating all of the end-game events. She wasn't just some random mob or small detail. Angelica was integral to the plot. Her not playing it meant that everything I knew about the game could be worthless.

A particularly concerning thought came to my mind. It had to do with the unease I felt about Julius's responses. In the game, he would often complain about his fiancee. When I read the text and listened to the voice clips, he sounded more acerbic. It was clear that he wanted nothing to do with her.

When he complained about her to me, he sounded bitter but had a wistful look. I had thought he was imagining being matched with another woman, but what if he wanted a better relationship with Angelica?

That was ridiculous. If he wanted a better relationship with his fiancee, he wouldn't be around me so much. He wouldn't use the same lines as the game. This whole thing must be a lie, but what was the mob's endgame?

"I see that you are taking my words seriously, Marie."

"You're just trying to convince me to stop seeing the boys. That's it, you must have been wooed by the villainess and been sent to convince me to stop. Well, it's not going to work," I denied and reasoned.

It must be a ploy from the villainess. The mob must have done something to catch the villainess's eyes, and she must have decided that he could be used to interfere with my plans. It had to be the case. For my sake, it just had to be.

"I don't care if you hook up with the five. Go for it. Do what you think is best for you. As a fellow reincarnate, I just thought I would give you a heads-up that things might not go as smoothly as you hoped."

"You don't? Why not?"

"Seeing as I don't foresee the plot going along as it should, I don't have a reason to interfere. There's no guarantee that we need the boys to reach a good ending. We don't even know if any of the wartime events will occur. Even if we plan for the known worst-case scenario with the Fanoss Principality invading, the only thing we need to do is make sure that Olivia is in a loving relationship to activate the Kingdom's Lost Item and utilize her final skill. There are plenty of boys for her to choose from. Quite frankly, you and the five boys are inconsequential with regard to 'known' game events. There are workarounds."

"Well if neither the boys nor I matter, then why approach me at all?" I hissed.

"I don't see this world as the game. This is for all intents and purposes, the real world with real-world consequences. Your actions, or rather Jilk's tendency to run away, have hurt his fiancee, Clarice. I don't expect you to break it off with Jilk, but at least give the girl some closure by having Jilk at least talk to her about his decision. She isn't a bunch of pixels. Supposedly she is also a kind woman."

"So you are doing all this for her?" I asked.

I should be pissed at him for trivializing my efforts. His concern for the woman had sparked something in me. Was he in love with Clarice? Was I witnessing a love story unfold before me? I felt a giddiness bloom in my chest.

"For a mutual friend. She's been distraught over Clarice's condition," the mob said flatly.

Despite his demeanor and the fact that he wasn't doing this for 'his' woman, the giddiness would not die down within me. My imagination ran wild as I imagined Leon helping a woman to impress the one he truly wanted. It was romantic.

"Fine, I'll talk to Jilk about it. It's probably best that I have the boys get their affairs in order. I can't make any promises though. Jilk's..."

"He's always been a slippery bastard," Leon said with a scowl.

"I was going to say that he tends to avoid troublesome things, but your description is also accurate."

AN:

1) God, it feels like I'm bashing the five. Sadly, they are that bad from what I read. I can't tell if the author was trying to show that the boys were a compilation of tropes or made that way for the comedy.

2) I'm surprised that none of the reincarnates considered the butterfly effect. I get the idea of following familiar territory, but when the apocalypse is hinged on whether or not the protagonist gets the D, I would figure most people would shit their pants and do everything in their power to ensure she gets laid.

3) The author should have made Weiss have a second condition to activate. Have one of the founder's descendants be a part of the couple to even activate the love meter. It would have been interesting to see Leon step on the panel not thinking it would register for him only to find out that his family had more history than anyone had thought previously. It would also make a nice connection with the Marie Route.

4) For a jaded woman, Marie is surprisingly romantic. It was a shock for me when she became so friendly during the Alzer Arc.