PERSONAL

Chapter 9: Offing the Offreys Part 2

I roamed the empty halls of the Partner. There were several mechanical figures operating the ship. Leon mentioned the ship was capable of flying without a crew. It was a marvelous Lost Item.

Exiting the hall, I found myself on the deck. It was there where I saw all the students who would be participating in this endeavor.

On the port side, the scholarship student, Brad, Greg, a few third-years, and a few of Leon's friends stood.

The inclusion of the scholarship student was a given since she was the bait.

Brad's inclusion was also a given since we were hunting down the Winged Sharks, a pirate group funded by the Offreys, if Carla were to be believed.

Greg's addition was expected due to his proclivity for fighting. His inclusion was much appreciated, as he was the best-armored duelist among his friends.

I did find it odd that Chris, Jilk, and Julius weren't in attendance. The five were usually inseparable in, and what's more, their paramour was putting her life on the line. Their lack of attendance was a slight concern, but a minor one since several of the frontier nobles had volunteered to help after Leon asked around.

I was thankful that Leon had taken the initiative to inform them that it was a way for them to earn their own accolades, rather than my favor. Had I approached them, it would have become a debt my family would have to foot, and anything that went wrong would reflect poorly on the Redgrave name. At worst, Leon would have to manage any responsibility.

Speaking of Leon, I saw him on the starboard animatedly talking with Deirdre and Carla. It was rather curious, since Leon normal disposition to unknown women was hesitance or veiled disgust, which was reasonable.

Then again, he knew I had gotten in touch with both women. He had also been kind to Clarice after I introduced the two. I wonder if my seal of approval meant that much to him. The very thought made me happy.

As I approached them, I overheard their conversation.

"You propositioned Angie? You've got to tell me her reaction."

"I did nothing of the sort. I just mentioned how we would have so much fun if she were a man," Deirdre said with a confused expression.

"You weren't propositioning me?" I asked curiously.

"No. Is that why you erupted into such a brilliant shade of red? I had thought it was out of anger for likening you to a man."

"Lady Deirdre, I believe the lack of context behind your words is what makes your... feelings ambiguous," Carla said with a polite cough.

"To us, it sounded as though you wished she were a man so that you may have some fun under the sheets," Leon said a little more crassly.

Rather than be upset over the implications, Deirdre chuckled.

"Ah, I can see where the misunderstanding lies. Father is far too overprotective of my sister and me. He won't allow either of us on any grand adventure without a male escort. Well, an escort. Not an escort. As much of a prize Angelica is, I'm afraid she not quite the type of personality I would want to have between my legs. I hope that doesn't disappoint you too much, Angelica."

My face flared up in embarrassment over both the misunderstanding and over the image of being intimate with Deirdre.

"And that is what she looked like when she thought I was propositioning her," the senior said with a sly smile.

"Ooh, that's a nice expression. It's almost as nice as the one when she's trying to maintain her image," Leon said excitedly.

These two got along too well.

"Did you proposition her too?"

"Accidentally. I was not aware that tea parties were considered marriage interviews at the time. She had the most interesting expression."

"Oh my, Angelica. That is quite the ego to think everybody is trying to court you. Though I suppose it's not entirely inaccurate to believe such. Right, Carla?"

Rather than continue with the two's antics, she froze under my gaze.

My intimidation was for naught as Leon decided to go for one last push.

"Taking breathe taking view in a whole different direction there, Angie."

I pulled his ear for that.

....

Laying out a map, Leon and I detailed the plan.

Based on the information Carla provided, we knew the Winged Sharks would send in all of their ships. Stephanie heard how many first-years volunteered to help on this raid, and she wanted to eradicate Olivia and all the people supporting the girl. Olivia's popularity was everything Stephanie could not abide by.

It was something I could barely tolerate, but in this case, it was welcome. With the extra manpower, we could easily quash the pirate threat and not need to sink the ships carrying the evidence.

The first and second-year frontier nobles and Brad would form a defensive perimeter around the Partner. This would limit casualties on our side since none had experienced live combat.

The Partner would also target the pirates' engines to prevent any escaping. Greg, Leon, and a few third-years would then mount the assault with the Partner giving suppressive fire support. We decided on only having the most experienced fighters take to the field to avoid killing the pirates.

For some odd reason, Leon wanted us to spare as many of the pirates as possible. Deirdre found the idea interesting and decided to make it a competition between the first and third-years. Whoever captured the most armors would win with deaths counting against the score. The prize would be whatever treasure the pirates had hoarded.

I was initially concerned, but none of the third-years seemed against the idea. I suppose they all had enough experience against pirates for such a restriction to not be an issue. They assured me the pirates would surrender quickly once half their forces were taken, but they thanked me for being concerned for their wellbeing.

Speaking of well-being, the scholarship student would be housed in the med bay which was located in the center of the ship and away from any conflict. She was adept at healing, after all. Carla would also be stationed near her to help her escape if necessary.

Deirdre and I would be housed in the bridge to help coordinate the assault team. Neither of us were expected to do much else since the Partner had something called an AI to automatically fire only on the pirates.

In addition to helping me coordinate the forces, Deirdre would wait to send the message to her sister. Once one of the boys acquired the pirates' insurance, she would immediately let the Roseblades know to start the attack on the Offrey county.

A full attack and not an encirclement.

Surprisingly, Clarice got in touch with her father and was able to acquire approval beforehand. This was highly irregular since the crown more or less condemned a territory without any substantial proof.

While it was currently beneficial for our cause and would serve to strengthen the Kingdom, it was also proof that no noble had security. It was arguably evidence that Fanoss had been right to secede from the Kingdom.

I worried that my plans cause more problems in the long run. For the sake of the Kingdom's stability, I could only hope the evidence procured were more dire than affiliating with pirates.

....

Side Plot

"I just don't get it. What's so special about him?" Greg asked me.

Looking over, I saw my crush having his ear pulled by Angelica. It was obviously a punishment, but it was the playful kind. My heart longed to be next to him, but I refrained for the sake of his friendship with Angelica.

"Livia?" Brad asked.

"Yes?"

"We were wondering if Leon had any luck convincing Angelica to give you a chance."

"Leon... He doesn't know how to broach the topic. Angelica apparently gets into a bad mood the moment I get mentioned. She's become even more surly since you all and Marie started helping me gain Leon's attention."

"So, even that guy can't soften that girl up," Greg snorted.

"Is Angelica that difficult with others? She seems to be quite amiable from here."

"She's not that bad. She is actually quite nice compared to the girls we are used to," Daniel chimed in.

"Right. Nice. Downright dismissive is anything but. That's ignoring the hateful looks she directs at Livia."

"I don't get it. Angelica may not be the warmest person around, but she went out of her way to look after us. She didn't even look down on us. I just don't get what Olivia did to piss her off."

"I don't know either. I never interacted with her. It was like she disliked me on principle."

"You didn't interact with her?" another boy queried.

"You thought of something?" Greg asked.

"Perhaps. Did you properly introduce yourself at the start of the year?"

"Do you mean stating my name?" I asked.

"Well, I think I know the issue. You didn't pay your respects. I remember my fiancée telling me that she had been rather distraught last year when Stephanie did not accept her offering."

"I needed to give her a gift?"

"Yes. It's one of the unspoken rules that girls have to follow."

"One of?" I asked with a horrified expression.

...

AN:

1) I'm still on vacation. This chapter was written using the phone app. As a result, the grammar may be more off than usual. The chapter's quality may also be a bit lower.

2) This chapter is more about establishing the differences from the canon. In addition, it was supposed to highlight the potential repercussions of changing the timeline.

3) Leon and Deirdre get along, but there is no attraction. Leon didn't challenge her after all.

4) Details not mentioned are that the first and second-year nobles are helping since they don't have to worry as much about finding wives. The third-years are Deirdre's classmates. None are vassals.

5) The prime minister's involvement is not as much of an overreach as Angelica believes. But it does look as bad as she is thinking if not worse.

6) Olivia and friends come to the wrong but reasonable conclusion for Angelica's dislike for her.

7) I'm debating if I want to go into the fighting scenes at all. Currently, I'm thinking of going into the aftermath since I feel writing actions scenes are both hard and not particularly interesting unless shit hits the fan. I also feel as though action scenes don't particularly fit this story. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the reviews or messages.

8) I also saw someone try to start shit on the forums again based on my fics. It was about how the newest Marie-route chapter invalidated this and The Unlocked Secret Route even though neither use the Marie-route as the prologue. I guess I have a dedicated hater now, which I guess I should be proud of since it means I'm big enough to have one. In any case, I'm glad no one responded to it.