Anoseka Volume 1 Chapter 3

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

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Chapter 3 Stephanie Fou Offley

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Part 1

The academy —— this is where the Horfalt Kingdom gathers and educates the children of nobles.

It is also the setting of that otome game.

The story begins when a girl from a commoner background is enrolled as a special student in an academy that originally allowed only nobles to attend.

I don't know about the royal road development of the otome game, but it still seems like a safe bet.

However, I think the world of that otome game is strange.

As I was walking down the hallway of the school building, one of the girls was walking through the middle of the hallway with her followers.

A girl who cuts the wind with her shoulders braids her blonde hair on both sides to form a circle.

The girl with a unique hairstyle had a good facial appearance, but her expression and attitude ruined everything.

Standing diagonally behind the girl are girls from knight families, knight barons and quasi-barons.

Unlike the school in my previous life, in this school, the power of the parents' family is a matter of course.

It is not uncommon for a group to form upon entering the school because of the relationships between the parents' families.

Behind the cronies were also subhuman slaves, known as exclusive servants.

There are three of them.

One elf and two beastmen.

Even though they might be called slaves, they are workers who have signed a contract and are paid a wage.

Haughty —— That's exactly what the daughters of barons and viscounts do, hire sub-race slaves to take care of their lives at the academy.

Sub-human —— Mainly elves and beastmen are common, and they are good-looking.

There were many good-looking people throughout the tribe, and they were very popular among the women of the nobility.

And by the way, the contract includes a physical relationship.

The fact that a girl has a beautiful slave is the same as having a lover walking around with her.

——It's a really disgusting world.

The thing is, the boys are not allowed to have their exclusive servants.

Only girls can walk around with lovers, and if boys do the same, they will be looked at with cold eyes by those around them and their humanity will be questioned.

What's the word for this? Matriarchy? Was it?

——If I could choose a world where I could reincarnate, I would never have chosen this world.

The person herself is probably aware that she is walking in the middle of the corridor and interrupting the surroundings.

She smiled wickedly at us boys who were giving way and at the girls who were in a weaker position.

Not wanting to get into trouble, so I obediently gave way and stood against the wall, and people passing by looked at me and laughed like they were making a fool of me.

It seems that they have underestimated the boys in the academy quite a bit.

As the annoying people leave, Luxion, who is invisible, speaks to me.

[It is interesting to see Master being looked down upon by the slaves. I have a hard time understanding how a slave could disrespect Master who is a noble.]

I tell him the reason why, without being heard by the students around me.

"The boys in the academy are in the position of being married to the girls. That means we are at the bottom of the list at this academy, so to speak."

[It's a very special environment. But it's rare for a group to behave so blatantly like that.]

The position of boys in the school is weak, but it is rare to find a partner who so blatantly disrespects them.

"Hmm, I think I've seen her somewhere, but who was it?"

It's like I saw her in that otome game, but I didn't see her.

My memory has become quite hazy.

As I was scratching my head, a group of three girls were whispering to each other.

"She's the daughter of the Offley family."

"The Offley family, which is rumored to have been created by forceful means?"

"Even they are former merchants. I don't want to get involved."

Once the Offley family's daughter was far away, the three began to speak.

"If they're adventurers, then fine, but they're a merchant who robbed a house, right?"

"It's not like they have any noble blood running through their veins."

"What is the reason for calling themselves nobles? Have they no shame in coming to the academy?"

The girls giggle and laugh, and the conversation gets more and more lively.

"Even though they are a family of Count, they don't seem to get invited to the royal palace very often."

"It's proof that they are hated by the royal palace."

"Because they're not nobles."

I turned around with an indescribable look on my face and tried to look at the Offley family's daughter who was walking away.

"!"

But the Offley family's daughter stopped in the distance and looked sharply at us —— at the girls who were chatting.

After staring at them for a few dozen seconds, the Offley family's daughter and others leave.

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Part 2

After school.

The girl who was walking in the middle of the hallway and bothering others had called three girls to the back of the school building.

Her name is [Stephanie Fou Offley].

She is the daughter of Count Offley.

"You guys seemed to have a lot of fun bad-mouthing me during the day."

Stephanie is acting cheerful with her face close to the three frightened girls.

Stephanie is also accompanied by three of her exclusive servants.

The other girls who were circling the area were watching the perimeter to make sure no one approached them.

The girl whose face is brought close to hers makes a desperate excuse.

"I-I didn't! I'm just bringing it up, no one is saying anything bad about you!"

Hearing that, Stephanie turns and looks at one of her exclusive servants.

"So they say. What did you think?"

The exclusive servant beastman touched his proud ears with his fingertips.

"They said nothing bad about you, Ojou-sama. What they were talking about was bad-mouthing your parents' family."

Stephanie raises the corners of her mouth and laughs as she looks at the girl who made an excuse.

Then, her expression changed completely.

"My boy has a good ear. He can hear everything you guys are saying. And —— Tell me what my family is, you daughter of a poor baron's family!"

She grabs the girl by the bosom, talks roughly to her, shakes her violently, and slams her against the wall repeatedly.

Stephanie's furious forehead showed veins and her eyes were bloodshot.

The shaken girl sits in tears, frightened in front of the changed Stephanie.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Stephanie removed her hand, clicked her tongue, and glared at the other two.

"Don't you dare to act all high and mighty, you poor nobles with no money! It's sickening to see people like you, who are only proud of your old accomplishments."

One of the exclusive servants calms Stephanie down as she continues to curse at her angrily.

"Ojou-sama, you are getting excited that your speech is so bad."

Stephanie reluctantly stopped cursing.

But she had no intention of forgiving the three girls.

"I will make you pay for underestimating the Offley family. I will never allow a poor noble like you to look down on me."

At the cold tone, the three girls were shaking their legs.

The Offley family is one of the most famous in the kingdom.

They must have angered such a house, and now they are afraid of it.

Stephanie's family, the Offley's, were originally Viscount.

However, they were deeply in debt and sold their titles and other assets to merchants.

The formality is that of adopting the merchant's child.

But it was obvious to everyone that they had sold it.

The merchant family then controlled the Offley family and rose to become Count.

The reason they were able to rise to the rank of Count in such a short period of time is because they have taken forceful measures.

Bribes, threats, and so on.

There are even rumors that they are connected to sky pirates.

The Offrey family was a house of shady rumors.

Being the daughter of such a family, Stephanie had a great sense of inferiority.

Born as a noble, but not treated as a noble.

It was unbearable to spend time being ridiculed for not having noble blood.

(All these people look down on me! I'm engaged to Brad-sama of the Field family, and they still don't recognize me as a noble?)

Stephanie has had a fiancée since before she entered the academy.

He is Brad, the legitimate son of the Margrave Field family.

Field family is one of the most prestigious families, which has existed since the founding of the country.

The engagement to the heir had been officially decided.

For the Offley family, this is a great opportunity to welcome noble blood into the family.

As Stephanie ponders how to retaliate against the three, one of her cronies rushes over to her.

The crony's name is [Kara Fou Wayne].

She was the daughter of a baronet family and had distinctive straight long dark blue hair.

She was a little more clever than the other girls in her crony group, so Stephanie used her a lot.

"Ojou-sama!"

"——What?"

When she is interrupted and becomes grumpy, Kara becomes shrinking.

However, she can't afford not to say anything, and reports while being frightened.

"There's a girl approaching Brad-sama."

"Ha?"

When she makes a threatening sound, Kara is even more frightened and shuts her mouth.

Stephanie was irritated and grabbed Kara's shoulder and squeezed it hard.

"Who? Who approached?"

"It's Marie! Marie, daughter of Viscount Lafan, approached Brad-sama! Several students have seen it, no doubt!"

Hearing that, Stephanie gnashes her back teeth, even more furious than before.

A deep wrinkle forms between her brows as she commands her cronies.

"Investigate thoroughly. ——approaching Brad-sama, it means she wants to fight the Offley family."

Brad has a fiancée, and approaching him with such brazenness is the same as picking a fight.

If she backs down at this point, the school will start to make a fuss again.

The strong desire not to be underestimated and the frustration of being deprived of the chance to finally be recognized as a nobleman drive Stephanie.

"——Anyone who fights with me will be crushed by any means."

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Part 3

Night.

I was in my room in the boys' dorm, opening an old notebook, and I was curious about what happened during the day.

What is written in the notebook is the information about that otome game that I wrote down when I regained the memory of my previous life in this world.

Back then, I was at a loss to know that this was the world of that otome game.

However, I thought that my knowledge of the game might help, so I wrote down as much information as I could while my memory was still fresh.

It's like a strategy book for me now.

Good job, at that time, me.

Then, I discover a description that relates to the Offley family.

"I thought I'd heard the name of the family somewhere, but it's Stephanie, who gets involved in the middle of the story."

When I think back on it, it brings back memories of those days, saying, "Oh, yes, there was such a character".

Luxion, who was floating in the center of the room, pointed his camera eye at me.

[Sounds like you remembered.]

"Aa, I feel relieved, but a bit sad when I remember this guy's existence."

I closed my notebook and pulled out a leather travel bag under the bed.

After hiding the notebook there, I put it back in its original position and then sat down on the bed.

[From the looks of you, it's a troublesome existence.]

"She's the one who, in the middle of the game, gets jealous of the protagonist who gets all the attention, so she starts luring sky pirates to her side. She had a terrible personality in the game, but she's the same in real life."

The fact that it's according to the game is good news for me, in a way.

Like Marie, I appreciate this in the sense that there is no cause for concern.

However, it is more than a little troublesome to have someone like Stephanie in the same academy.

[Does she have connections with the sky pirates? I thought the nobles of the kingdom had a tough attitude toward sky pirates?]

The nobles of the Horfalt kingdom, especially the feudal nobles, hate the existence of sky pirates —— or rather, all bandits.

It's unavoidable because they are the ones who take away the profits.

However, there are exceptions to everything.

"If there is a profit to be made by connecting with sky pirates, there will be people who will join hands with them. As I recall, in the game, after losing to Olivia and her group, the whole house was evading blame by pinning it on the subordinates and abandoning them."

Stephanie, who is involved in the middle of the game and is involved in the peak events of the game, would be an enemy character in game perspective.

Unlike a mob like me, she's a supporting character with a flashy way of showing off.

"Come to think of it, she was Brad's fiancée."

Luxion, who was wondering, asks me.

[Brad was the legitimate son of a prestigious noble family. She was engaged to such a person, she acted very rashly.]

If she had just been quiet, she would have been able to marry Brad safely as long as Olivia-san did not choose him.

In the game, she had lost everything because of her thoughtless actions.

I'm not saying I feel sorry for her, but she must be the poor person who made the wrong choice.

"In the first place, she's simply a thoughtless supporting character, so don't even think about it."

[Master seem to prioritize game-like knowledge and disregard reality.]

"Even if it's wrong, then it doesn't matter."

[——I hope it won't hurt you someday. But none of these issues are trivial to me.]

For Luxion, this is probably not even a problem.

After all, this is a dangerous guy who could destroy the world with just one ship.

I released him with a single thought of not wanting to die, but I regret it just a little bit.

"By the way, how is Marie?"

When I switch the subject, Luxion reports on Marie's situation.

[After that, she has continued her approach, but the results have not been good. and today she is still trying to get close to one of the capture targets.]

"Today? That would be——"

I flipped through my notebook to find the person with whom today's encounter event would occur.