Anoseka Volume 2 Chapter 8

This is MTL. So, I cannot guarantee that the translation 100% contextually accurate or appropriate.

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Chapter 8 "Stephanie and Kara"

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Part 1

Marie was brought to a floating island ruled by the Offley family, and was placed under house arrest in a room in the castle.

There are always maids waiting in front of the room.

They're probably watching over Marie to make sure she doesn't run away.

"The environment isn't as bad as I expected! It's more luxurious than my room in the girls' dormitory, and they even serve food, so it's great."

The room prepared for Marie was more comfortable than she had imagined.

Perhaps to show off the wealth of the Offley family, the interior design has been carefully designed.

From Marie's point of view, the furniture is all luxury items.

It was an ideal room for Marie, except for the windows with iron bars to prevent her from escaping.

The round table in the room is lined with lunches brought by the maids.

Even under these circumstances, Marie ate every meal without leaving any leftovers.

Marie wipes her mouth after eating and smiles.

"They said they were going to lock me up and make me live a simple life, but from my point of view, this life is not simple, it's luxurious. Every day a proper meal is prepared and there are servants so I don't have to do housework —— Could it be that this was my utopia?"

Stephanie probably intended to treat Marie coldly.

However, the minimal living environment provided by the Offley family was close to the life that Marie had dreamed of.

"Well~, I'm amazed at the wealth of the Offley family."

Marie is enjoying the environment, which isn't as bad as she imagined, but after she finishes eating, she feels a strange loneliness.

Is it because she has not eaten enough? It crossed her mind for a moment, but the reason was obvious.

Because she realized it had been a long time since she had eaten a lonely meal alone.

After entering the academy, she met Leon and spent her days with some commotion.

They often had lunch together.

"——After all, it's lonely when you're alone."

Even though she got the life she wanted, loneliness was the only thing she couldn't deal with.

Marie looks down and sneers at herself.

"If it’s like this —— even a lot has happened, but the school is better."

If she can endure it for a year, the Offley family will be crushed according to that otome game scenario.

—— Marie did not tell Leon about one concern.

That is, whether Marie, who is married to the heir, will suffer any consequences.

Whatever the circumstances, Marie becomes the wife of Ricky, the heir to the Offley family.

If Olivia and her group were to crush the Offley family in the future, she would be on the side of those who would be held accountable.

Whether she would be able to successfully escape such a situation —— even Marie cannot predict.

She doesn't want to make amends by dying a noble death, so of course she is going to prepare to run away.

Marie stretches out.

"If I were a main character, I would be saved, but since I'm probably a mob like Leon, that's impossible. This world is really very tough on me."

Her previous life ended not so happily either.

After being reincarnated, she leads a life that is unlike that of a daughter of a viscount's family, and when she enters the academy, she is not looked upon by the young nobles who are the capture targets.

When she finally manages to find happiness in her own way, this is it.

"If I honestly ask for help —— no, not good. If I do anything unnecessary, it could really destroy this country."

She remembers playing that otome game and getting the game over many times.

This is all right, Marie tells herself.

"Ara? More importantly, after-dinner coffee is late."

After changing her mind, Marie is concerned that the coffee she had asked for after dinner has not arrived.

Another strong point of Marie is her ability to switch quickly.

Then, without knocking, a woman threw open the door and entered the room.

Stephanie was a little irritated. Kara can be seen behind her.

"You finish every meal and even ask for a second helping. Don't you ever get a little depressed?"

On Marie's table were a number of plates piled up.

Marie shrugged her shoulders in front of Stephanie.

"I grew up being told not to have meals left over."

"Rather than leftover, you're eating more than you should!"

"Don't you feel sorry if there are leftovers of the food cooked? It's only polite to the chef to eat the leftovers, isn't it?"

"Bullshit, you don't even concern about it!"

The meal prepared was not for the nobles, but for the servants.

Still, the food was fine enough for Marie, and she did not feel she was being treated coldly.

Stephanie looked frustrated at the brazen Marie.

She would have liked to see Marie more frightened and unable to eat.

"You really irritate me. ——Well, fine. Just the fact that you have to marry that Ricky is like a punishment."

Marie is fed up with Stephanie, who sees marriage as a punishment game.

(No, well, it's true that there is a strong element of luck in marriage. Is it too harsh for you to say that your own brother is a punishment? No, Ricky certainly sounds like a punishment. Is this a punishment for my previous life?)

Did the karma of my previous life come back to me now? When Marie was thinking about it, Stephanie said.

"It's your fault for messing with my fiancée. Brad-sama doesn't want a woman like you in his life. But you need to be punished for your behavior, right?"

Marie thought as she saw Stephanie laughing kihihi.

(Because of thaaat?! Sure it was my fault, but she resents me quite a bit.)

Rather than referring to her previous life, she was told that it was wrong for her to approach a man who had a fiancée in this life, and Marie was inwardly convinced.

Marie apologizes to Stephanie with a strange expression on her face.

The reason why she has a strange expression is because she feels sorry for her because she knows what the future holds.

"Etto——I'm sorry?"

"Do you think I'll forgive you with an apology like that now? Or rather, why are you making such a strange face? It's disgusting."

Stephanie is puzzled by Marie's pitiful eyes.

Kara calls out to Stephanie.

"Ojou-sama, it's about time."

"You don't have to tell me, I know!"

"E-Excuse me."

Seeing Kara take a step back and lower her head, Marie senses the relationship between the two.

(Even though they are called cronies, they are still human beings)

What Kara showed for a moment was a look of hatred towards Stephanie.

And Stephanie doesn't seem to notice.

Rather, Stephanie's gaze and attitude toward Kara are different.

Her words and attitude are rough and cold, but Marie could see right through her slight gestures.

(This girl, could it be——)

This is thanks to her experience working at night in her previous life.

Stephanie says to Marie before leaving the room.

"Be strong while you can. Soon your lover will be in big trouble, and I'll let you know when it happens."

Marie's eyes widened in surprise at the mention of Leon.

Seemingly amused by the situation, Stephanie leaves the room laughing.

When the door was closed, Marie let out a sigh.

"If you mess with him, there will be no point in me enduring this. What should I do now?"

She can't help but feel that the game scenario is heading toward collapse on its own.

And Marie muttered.

"——Poor girl."

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Part 2

The morning of the wedding day.

The pirate ships of the Wing Shark Sky Pirates were conducting fleet movements in the airspace of the Offley family.

That number is eight ships, the entire force.

The largest 200-meter class sky pirate ship had a figurehead who led the Wingshark sky pirate group.

He is a huge man with an eyepatch over his left eye, and has a well-trained body.

He has dark skin and looks like a sky pirate.

The cabin he had prepared for himself was filled with the expensive furniture he had robbed so far.

A treasure chest is placed open in the corner of the room, and gold, silver, and other treasures are casually thrown into it.

A beautiful woman, strangely out of place inside an empty pirate ship, approaches with a bottle of sake to the boss.

She poured an amber colored liquor into the glass placed near the boss.

"The Offley family is already unreliable. They've asked us to guard them just in case."

The boss picks up the glass and answers with a smile.

"They're the kind of people who care more about their finances than their pride. I received a generous advance payment. At best, I'll be a quiet bodyguard during the wedding."

The beautiful woman folds her arms under her chest.

"But are there really people who are going to crash the wedding?"

The boss gulps down his drink and answers the beautiful woman.

"Who knows. But there's a guy who took out Dudley, the executive who had been hiding out in the royal capital. The story goes that the lady of the Offley family forcibly took his girlfriend."

Marie's marriage to Ricky was also an act of revenge to Leon.

The beautiful woman furrows her eyebrows.

"If he beat Dudley, he must be pretty skilled, right?"

"Even if that's the case, there's no way I can lose, right? After all, I have that."

"Indeed, no one can beat you, boss."

As the boss tries to put his hand around the waist of the worried beauty, he hears the panicked voices of his subordinates through the sound pipe.

"We are in trouble, boss!"

The boss clicked his tongue and left the beautiful woman, leaving the cabin and heading towards the bridge.

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Part 3

"Which idiot attacked us?"

When the boss arrived at the bridge, the flying battleships were lined up blocking the direction of the sky pirates' path.

One is a fine flying battleship, but the rest look very old and old-fashioned.

There are five of them.

Because of the family crest painted on the body of the ship, it was immediately recognized that they were nobles.

However, they are not strong enough to take on the famous sky pirates of the Kingdom of Horfalt, themselves.

"——They want to fight with us in such numbers? A bunch of young noblemen with hot blood in their veins, eager to take the credit?"

As the boss is stunned, a tired-looking deputy approaches him.

"That's not the case, boss. The most splendid flying ship's crest, the Bartfalt family crest, which was previously told to me by the Offley."

The boss stares at the big flying battleship, 200 meters long, and looks at the fluttering flags and the crests on the ship's body.

Indeed, it was the family crest of the Bartfalt family.

"Is he the bastard who beat up Dudley?"

Remembering the bitterness of the capture of his cadre, the boss's tone becomes less calm.

The deputy, who had been with him for a long time, was trying to calm the boss.

"I haven't confirmed it, but since his lover was taken from him, he's here to get her back, right? I'm sure he's on board —— but can't he get a better force to fight for him?"

The deputy grumbles, "With this, there's not much fun in defeating him."

They recognize that the fleet in front of them is prey for them.

It is no different for the boss.

"At best, it's the Baltfalt family's flying battleship? I think that would sell for a high price."

Looking at the boss licking his tongue, the deputy shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you planning on boarding in your armor yourself?"

"Of course. I don't care that Dudley lost, but I'm not going to let him tarnish the flag of the Wing Shark Sky Pirates. ——I'm going to beat that Bartfalt kid to a pulp with my own hands."

At the words of the boss, the deputy is stunned and gives instructions to the surroundings.

"Boss will come out. You guys should keep your spirits up too."

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Part 4

The deck of the Bartfalt family's flying battleship was lined with eight armors.

One of them —— Nix, who was in his first battle, was riding in armor with an ornament on his head that identified him as the captain's ship.

"How many armors do those sky pirates have!?"

His bitter face was due to his anger towards the sky pirates —— and his anxiety about the battle.

Surrounding him are the knights Nix has known since he was a child.

That said, they are knights from the countryside.

They were far from the image of knights that anyone would imagine, and were rather friendly.

"Nix-bocchan, don't get out in front too much."

"Please don't just do something reckless like Leon-bocchan."

"Well, we'll follow you after that."

The bearded, middle-aged men were laughing, even though they were about to go into battle.

Nix is dumbfounded.

"How long are you going to keep calling me Bocchan?! Come on, everyone, get up to the sky!"

(Are these guys really okay?!)

All of them are from the same hometown and close to each other.

Knowing their sloppy, daily behavior, Nix could not picture them playing an active role on the battlefield at all.

When the armor's chest hatch closes, the familiar face disappears from view.

Nix takes one deep breath inside the cramped cockpit.

As he anxiously ascends into the sky, armor rises from his allied flying battleships as well.

However, all of them are old-fashioned.

Seeing all the tattered armor with obvious repair marks, Nix felt sorry for the financial situation of his allies.

On the contrary, the one that he was riding in was the armor that Leon —— Luxion had prepared that seemed to be new.

He doesn't know where it was gotten from, but its performance is quite good.

Still, it is worrisome that there are only eight units.

"Is Leon really okay with getting his friends involved in this? Can we do it against such a big sky pirate group?"

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Part 5

The boss, who gets into the armor, sees the armor of the Baltfalt family that has come out and is convinced of victory.

"The number is eight —— It looks good, but the others are a complete burden. If that's the case, I'll drop you guys first!"

The armor that the boss was riding in was one size larger than the others.

It is common sense in this world that the larger the size, the slower the movement.

However, although the armor that the boss is in is large, it moves easily.

He has the power to swing a large sword like a thick iron plate with one arm, and carries a rifle in his left hand.

It was even equipped with additional armor, and even had piercing decorations prepared according to the boss's taste.

Its appearance makes it obvious at a glance that it is the armor worn by a sky pirate.

As his subordinates attack the enemy's armor one after another, the boss catches sight of the armor with decorations on its head.

"Is that the captain's ship? If we're going to aim, we'd better aim for the head, right!"

Pulling the trigger of his rifle, he charged into the well-decorated armor.

When he gets close enough, he swings the large sword in his right hand.

"It's your misfortune that you appeared in front of me."

With a smile on his face, he imagined the armor in front of him being crushed by a great sword swung down.

However, a voice comes from directly above.

"If we're going to aim, we'd better aim for the head —— aim for the head, right? I agree with that."

"An?"

When he looked up in the cockpit, the head of his armor also looked up.

What he saw there was even bigger than the armor that the boss rides in —— black and gray colored armor.

Unlike the slender armor that is commonplace today, it has a thicker, more heavyweight appearance.

The backpack, which looked like three containers connected together, made it look even larger.

What surprised him most of all —— the armor, which looked slow and heavy, was coming at him at a ridiculously high speed.

"Kuh!"

As he hurriedly retreated, a large armor passed in front of him.

Looking downward, he saw that the black armor that had plunged down had suddenly changed direction and was now trying to go around the back of the boss.

"Could it be, the Black Knight!? No, it's not. There's no way that old man would appear on a battlefield like this."

What came to mind for a moment was a figure he would never want to meet.

The Black Knight —— is a presence that not only makes the sky pirates tremble, but even the knights.

But after regaining a bit of composure, he figures out the identity of the black armor.

Arroganz, it is the armor that defeated Dudley, the leader of the sky pirates.

The person riding it is Leon Fou Bartfalt.

"Some kid trying to imitate a Black Knight! You think you can beat me?!"

He was spitting all over the place as his voice grew louder from excitement.

A change occurs in the armor that the boss rides in.

The box he brought into the cockpit began to glow, and the armor of the boss made a growling sound.

The magic power reactor provides excessive energy and increases power.

The armor of the boss, which has increased in speed, chases after Arroganz.

"I'll crush you with my hands!"

The boss' armor pointed the muzzle of his rifle at the fleeing Arroganz.

Converging at the muzzle is the magic power overflowing from the box in the cockpit.

The magic forces converged, and the magic circle formed.

What was released from it was a sharply pointed stone.

Hundreds or even thousands of stones made of earth-based magic are released at the speed of bullets fired from rifles.

It is because of this power that the boss has been able to rise as a sky pirate.

"With this, you are going to be a beehiiiive!"

The stone bullets that are fired one after another hit Arroganz directly as they are too numerous to avoid.

One hit, two hits —— dozens of hits.

However, Arroganz remained unscathed.

In the cockpit, the excitement cools down and the fear gradually grows.

"Why doesn't it fall! Why!?"

Arroganz is approaching.

"Too bad —— this one was specially prepared by my partner."

As Arroganz approached and extended his left arm, the boss swung his great sword.

"What's so special! I'm special, tooOO!!"

He was nearly demoralized, but still he must have put all his strength into the blow that he swung down.

Even the head who was piloting the armor felt a reaction that he had never felt before.

However, when the great sword collided with Arroganz's shoulder, it shattered into pieces after only causing a small amount of damage.

The boss who was watching the scene, could not even speak.

However, for some reason, the sight of the shattered fragments of the greatsword scattering seemed slow.

"I'll be taking your special back. That —— belongs to Olivia-san."

As Arroganz grabbed the armor of the boss, his left hand shone.

The consciousness of the boss breaks off there.