Anoseka Volume 1 Chapter 2

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

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Chapter 1 "Route Split"

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Part 1

I knew it should have been a fish dish.

Life is a series of choices, but the choices we make have consequences.

You can call it responsibility.

I had a choice between meat and fish dishes for lunch, so I chose the meat dish without thinking.

But the fish dishes the other students were eating looked so good that I couldn't help but think I had made a mistake.

——The meat was delicious, but I regret thinking I missed out on the fish dish of the day.

Well, my life is a series of choices like this —— but now I was wondering if I should make a slightly unusual choice.

Luxion —— not the spaceship that was his main body, but a metallic-colored sphere about the size of a softball was floating near me.

Behind the red lens is a built-in camera eye, watching me.

[What have you been doing since a while ago?]

"You mean this?"

Under a plant that resembled a cherry blossom in the courtyard of the school, there was a wooden bench.

Sitting there alone, resting my body on the backrest, I lean back and look up at the sky.

While gazing at the cherry blossoms in full bloom, I held a single gold coin in my right hand and let it play at my fingertips.

"No, I'm just having some trouble."

[Trouble? Is it a financial problem, in that you have gold coins? Now, let me get you some coins ready on my end.]

"That's not what I mean"

The artificial intelligence on board the spaceship provided a sphere-shaped sub-unit to protect me up close.

That's what Luxion looks like now.

He is a paid item from that Otome game, but his performance is just amazing.

If I wanted to, I could get a gold bar out of a rock.

Since the purpose of construction was to be an immigrant ship, it is said that it was given a variety of functions.

However, despite his great performance, he does not seem to understand the delicate nature of the human heart.

"As I explained before, this is the world of that otome game, right? And by the way, I'm in the same class as the protagonists."

At this point, Luxion turns his camera eye away from me.

His attitude seems as if he has lost interest.

[Are you talking delusions again?]

"It's not a delusion. Your very existence is proof that this is a world of that otome game."

[I am not convinced. The purpose for which I was built in the first place was to help the old humans escape to a universe where the magical elements do not exist and find a new place to live. I do not exist because I am a paid item.]

"That's the setting, right?"

[If we continue this conversation, we're not going to reach an agreement.]

For Luxion, it seems hard to believe that this is the world of that otome game.

I don't want to believe it either, and I hope it's a mistake if possible.

However, a few days after the entrance ceremony, the reality of the situation is shown even if I don't want it to be.

"But what I said was right, wasn't it? There were prince and noble boys of prestigious families."

[That much is to be expected. ——Indeed, Master's knowledge is astonishing, but that does not mean that I believe everything Master says. In the case of Master, it is possible that you may have predicted the future in the form of otome game.]

Me, predicting the future? How can I predict the future if I can't even read tomorrow's weather?

"You think my whole previous life was an illusion? That also means you don't want to believe that."

[It's also possible that you had a dream or illusion of a previous life.]

"You want to deny my previous life that badly?"

I was five years old when I got the memory of my previous life back.

I was confused at the time when the vivid memories came back to me, and I wondered if I had lost my mind.

Many times I have doubted that.

Wasn't it just a dream I had about my previous life?

Could it be that I have created a memory that doesn't exist?

There were times when I was troubled.

In fact, I can't remember my name from my previous life.

Even the faces of my family members were hazy and I couldn't remember exactly what they looked like.

When I fall silent, Luxion asks me to answer his earlier question.

[So why do you have the gold coins?]

"It's not a big reason. As a matter of fact, there's a meeting event in the backyard today between the protagonist and the Crown Prince."

[Encounter event? Was it a forced event where the protagonist and the capture target meet?]

"Yes, that's it."

The name of the protagonist was Olivia, as per default.

The name of the prince —— the next king, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, is [Julius Raffa Holfert].

She has short dark blue hair and is slender, tall, and beautifully shaped.

Because of his status in addition to his appearance, the girls at the school were kyaa kyaa and making a fuss.

I check the front and back of the gold coin.

The one with the woman's face is on the front, and the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Holfalt is depicted on the reverse.

"That encounter event, and I was wondering about whether or not I should observe it."

When I say this much, Luxion makes a somewhat stunned electronic sound in expectation of what I'm going to do.

[——Don't tell me you would use a coin to decide whether or not to take a peek? You're confused by that level of judgment?]

I thought he said something like 'A guy who worries about small things!', but I didn't care and kept talking.

"I honestly don't want to be part of the story. I'm a mob guy, to begin with, right? I'd rather watch from afar, but I'd rather see a real-life encounter event——or more likely, a scene where a good-looking guy gets a slap in the face."

I don't want to get involved in the story, so I don't want to get close to the main characters.

That's what I think, but it's an event where the protagonist and the prince meet, which I've been shown many times.

There is also a desire to see it in real life.

But not quite like 'I definitely want to go see it!'.

In order to solve this delicate emotional swing, I took out a gold coin.

I flicked it with my thumb and flew it upwards, and grabbed the falling gold coin as it spun.

When I opened my hand to check it —— I saw the front with a saint on it.

Get up from the bench.

"It's the front side. All right, let's go see."

[Peeping is a bad hobby.]

"I just happen to stop by the backyard."

[It's intentional, so you can't say it's a coincidence.]

Luxion follows me and disappears, assimilating into the surrounding scenery.

We went straight to the backyard.

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Part 2

The garden behind the school building is called the backyard.

A pond was prepared in the managed garden, and standing looking into it was His Highness Julius.

He has a wistful expression, but at the same time he has an unapproachable atmosphere.

I hide in the bushes in the shadows and watch the situation, talking to Luxion in a whisper.

"I envy the good-looking guys because no matter what they do, they always turn out beautiful."

[Are you jealous?]

"That too. But, His Highness Julius, who is so picturesque, is going to be slapped by the protagonist. I'm looking forward to it."

[You have a very great personality.]

"You're still very sarcastic."

[Isn't it Master who makes me say that? ——Oya?]

Luxion's camera eye moved and spotted a girl sneaking up over here.

Unaware of us in hiding.

At first I thought it might be the protagonist, but the girl who approached him did not look anything like the cover of the package.

She is petite and her hair is long with a loosely styled curl.

I think the eye color is similar, but everything else is too different.

"I've seen this girl a few times."

[Since you two are classmates, I'm sure you'll see her around the academy a lot.]

"Well, that's true, too, but."

I've seen this girl a few times, and every time I see her, I get strangely curious about her.

The only reason I was curious was that I was annoyed, not because I liked her.

I don't hate her, but seeing her face irritates me.

[Master, she is trying to contact Julius. Is she the protagonist?]

I start moving, trying not to be noticed by the girl who has appeared.

"No, she's not."

In the illustrations in the game, she was taller and fleshy.

She is definitely not the protagonist.

As I approach unnoticed, I hear the girl talking to herself.

She looked quite nervous and didn't seem to have time to pay attention to her surroundings.

She doesn't even know I'm approaching.

"Calm down, Marie. If I can make good use of the encounter event with the prince and continue to make acquaintances, things will go my way."

At that moment I understood everything.

——Ah, she's just like me, I thought.

She said that she would use the encounter event with the prince, so I had to hurry to secure her.

"Luxion, follow me."

I snuck up on Marie —— the girl trying to find the right time to come out, and just as she was about to walk up to His Highness Julius, I jumped in behind her.

Grabbing her arm and holding her mouth, I immediately force her to leave the place.

"Hmm!"

Marie, who didn't know what was going on, was terribly surprised.

When I catch her in a hug, she goes wild —— but I hurry to leave the place and go to a place where it is not so crowded.

"The place that nobody would ever find out."

As I say this, Luxion appears and leads the way.

[Follow me please]

Led by Luxion, I ran with Marie in my arms.

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Part 3

The unpopular place was between the school building and the hedge in the school.

It's not far from where I was before.

It is surrounded by plants and trees, and there are few people passing by, so it is possible to have a conversation.

When I released Marie, the person in question stared at me in fright.

"W-What have you done! I'm in a hurry. Do you think you can just do this and get away with it? I will never forgive you."

Marie tried to be strong, but her legs were shaking.

Apparently, I had scared her.

However, I can't help but see her strong attempts to be strong overlapping with my little sister in a previous life.

They don't even look alike —— No, a little bit similar? Like their atmosphere?

Is that why I am so irritated?

I honestly ask what Marie's purpose is.

"Because you don't want me to ruin the encounter event with the prince?"

Marie, who understood the meaning of my words accurately, opened her eyes wide and then slowly narrowed them.

The fright is gone from her face and now she is looking at me with cold eyes.

Marie seems to have realized I'm just like her.

"You seem to be just like me."

Judging by Marie's reaction, apparently there was no mistake.

She doesn't seem to have any intention of hiding it.

"What are you trying to do? Why are you doing that?"

"What's this all about?"

"You tried to disrupt an encounter event, didn't you?"

I had a guess as to what Marie was thinking when she showed up at that place.

I'm just asking questions to confirm.

"——What does that have to do with you?"

Marie, who turns her face away from me, was still planning to use the encounter event to gain the upper hand on the protagonist.

"Of course it does. Do you even know what you're trying to do?"

I warned her not to do anything unnecessary, but Marie did not listen.

"You're too fussy! You'd better let me go. If I don't hurry, the protagonist will be coming!"

I cornered Marie against the wall as she tried to escape, and put my hands on the wall to block her escape route.

Marie, who is petite, was strong even though she was cornered by a boy.

I strongly remind her.

"Don't get in the way. Listen, if the protagonist doesn't meet the princes, the world will be destroyed."

If the main characters do not succeed in their romance, the world will be game over.

Well, to put it simply, it will perish.

It is too early in my life to game over and I would like to refrain from reaching that point.

"Haa? Why is that? If you're going to threaten me, you're going to have to come up with a better one. If you don't let me go, I'll scream and call someone. If I scream here, your life at the academy —— No, your life is going to be a mess."

When I saw the smile on her face, as if she had come up with a devious plan, I was convinced that this person had a bad character.

She has the same level of character as my little sister in my previous life.

Indeed, if Marie screams here, I'll be the bad guy.

But there is something wrong.

Why is this girl targeting the prince?

"You played that otome game, didn't you? Then why are you trying to ruin the encounter event?"

"It's obvious, to——"

As we talk, we hear the voices of people arguing in the distance.

Marie and I looked at each other and ran to the scene.

On the way there, a pleasant sound of "SLAP!" can be heard.

We knew what that sound meant.

I scratch my head.

"Did I miss the great encounter event?"

For my part, I was only disappointed that I did not get to see the scene where His Highness Julius was slapped.

But Marie is different.

Marie collapses to her knees with her back against the wall.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"T-That can't be —— Even though I've come all the way to the academy. Even though I had waited ten years!"

She bursts into tears and begins to weep.

I felt sympathy for that excessive state of affairs.

"O-Oi."

"I thought I was going to be happy this time! It's your fault. Because of you, I'll always be poor!"

Marie is crying and complaining to me.

——I hate it when women cry, it irritates me.

[Master, wouldn't it be better to share the information once?]

When Luxion suggested it, I felt the need to do it, too.

If you have completed that otome game, you would never think of crushing an encounter event.

"I guess so. Oi, enough with the crying. Let's just talk to each other for now——"

When I offer my right hand with a suggestion, Marie brushes it away.

Marie wiped away her tears and glared at me.

She clenches her hands and is clearly angry.

"I'll never forgive you."

After saying that, Marie turned her back on me and ran off.

"O-Oi!"

I rush to call out to her, but Marie moves away without looking back.

As I retracted my outstretched hand, Luxion said a few words.

[I guess she hates you.]

"Right."

I turned around and looked towards the pond in the backyard.

Over there, His Highness Julius, who was slapped, is laughing.

"What, you really didn't know me?"

The bob-cut girl looked puzzled in front of His Highness Julius, who was smiling happily.

Light blue eyes, flaxen hair. When I saw her ample bosom, I immediately recognized her.

——She is the protagonist.

"I-I don't know. In the first place, it's the first time we've met."

"You're a gutsy commoner for slapping a nobleman."

"U-Uwh."

When His Highness Julius smiled teasingly at the protagonist —— Olivia-san, she shrank down when she remembered that all the people in the school were nobles.

Olivia-san is from a commoner's background.

She is allowed to enter the academy under a scholarship for special students because of her talent in magic.

If such a girl slapped a nobleman, no matter how rude her actions were, she would not get off scot-free.

To Olivia, who is in trouble, His Highness Julius says her name in a gentle tone.

"I'm not mad at you. I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Julius. My name is Julius Rafa Horfalt."

When he told her his full name, Olivia-san seemed to notice.

"——Prince?"

"Yes. To slap me like that——you're not like other girls."

His Highness Julius smiled, and Olivia-san looked pale.

I felt a little uncomfortable about the situation as I watched from the shadows.

"This may have increased the likability of His Highness Julius, but it has only increased Olivia-san's anxiety, right?"

The one who got a slap was, unexpectedly a prince —— what a big problem from Olivia-san's point of view.

His Highness Julius doesn't seem to mind, but Olivia, who slapped him, looks grave.

——Considering it's a problematic act in real life, is it only natural that this would happen?

Apparently, Luxion agrees with me.

[In fact, she seems to be very agitated.]

"I thought it would be a more fun event, but I guess that's what real life is like."

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Part 4

"Damn! Damn! What's with that mob bastard! I will never allow you to interfere with my happiness just because we are the same reincarnated people."

In the empty back of the school building, Marie was kicking the wall to vent her frustration.

She was angry that she had been prevented from having a chance to have an encounter with His Highness Julius.

After breathing heavily, she tries to calm down.

Marie quickly switched her thoughts and decided to think of the faces of the other captured targets.

"There are still others. If there are four of them, there must be at least one——"

There might be at least one man who would be willing to be attracted to her.

Not an ordinary man.

Status, wealth, power —— the noble who has all of these things.

Unlike the men Marie has dated in her previous life, these are the ones who make her happy.

"Four chances. Right, I still have a chance."

To improve the odds as much as possible, Marie was going to contact all of them.

She decided to use an encounter event because she thought it would be more efficient.

After all, she knows what choices she can make that will make them happy.

Once the opportunity is seized, the rest is in her favor, as she knows the personality and preferences of the other party.

"That was a shame with His Highness Julius. Speaking of the crown prince, he's the next king, isn't he. If someone like that had become my lover, I would have been absolutely happy."

Unlike her previous life, he has no difficulty with money and is not violent.

Dreaming of such a life, Marie slaps both cheeks with her hands to regain her spirits.

However —— there was one thing that concerned her.

"But still, that damn mob makes me pissed off. I feel like he kind of looked like a-aniki."

Pressing her forehead against the wall, Marie is discouraged.

Soon after being reincarnated, she could not remember the face and name of her big brother from a previous life.

She had saved a picture of him on her smartphone so she could look at it as often as she felt like it —— but now she can't look at her big brother's face.

However, the boy who had interfered with her had a similar atmosphere.

That is what makes her strangely irritated.

"I hate that he looks like aniki, but it sucks when he interferes with me! ——Really worst."

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Part 5

"Ano~, may I have a moment? Do you like that book? Actually, I like it too~"

The video projected on the wall is projected by Luxion's camera eye instead of a projector.

What was shown there was Marie calling out to the nobleman [Brad Fou Field], who was reading a book in the library.

Brad, he is the eldest son of the Field family, a Margrave, with purple hair and eyes.

He is slight and has problems with melee combat, but he is good at magic and has excellent grades in classroom studies.

In video games, he's a wizard-like character.

He is also one of the capture targets of that otome game.

When he is approached, Brad lets out a small sigh and turns his attention to Marie.

"I'm happy, but I can't respond to your feelings."

"Eh? A-Ano."

Marie was perplexed by the gentle but piercing words.

These words from Marie, I'm pretty sure they are from the event where Olivia-san encounters Brad.

She became interested in a book Brad was reading, and their relationship began from there —— but Marie had failed.

Brad is comforting Marie with a troubled look on his face.

"You're forcing yourself to get my attention, aren't you?"

"Eh?"

"You said you were interested in what I was reading, but your gaze and demeanor didn't convey your feelings."

Does he mean that she claimed to be interested in the book, but never looked at it?

It seems that the capture target boys are surprisingly good at seeing things.

When Marie falls silent and turns her head down, Brad scratches his cheek with his finger as if he is troubled.

"Well, it's natural to fall in love with a beautiful man like me. I don't blame you for what you do. Yes, I'm having a tea party in May, and I'll invite you too, so be sure to come. I welcome you with open arms."

After saying that, Brad gets up from his seat and walks away from Marie with the book.

Marie stood there.

When the video ends, Luxion, who has stopped projecting, points his camera eye at me.

[I have probed Marie under the direction of Master, but as you can see, contact with the capture target has not been successful.]

"It's sad to watch, isn't it? I knew it, a fake can't imitate the real one."

No matter how hard Marie tries, she is no match for Olivia-san.

In contrast to my relief, Luxion is wary of Marie.

[At this point, she hasn't succeeded, but Marie is the same existence like Master. You should be more vigilant.]

"You're saying we should be wary of Marie because she's had a string of failures? It doesn't look like she's going to succeed, so it's okay to leave her alone now."

"So, do you want to stop the surveillance?"

"——No, let's wait and see for a while longer."

I don't think there is anything I can do, but I can't abandon her.

Let's keep monitoring just in case.

Thanks to Marie stirring things up, I have to worry about that otome game scenario.

For my part, I wanted to just watch Olivia-san and the others from afar.