The World of Otome Games is Tough For Mobs - Volume 1 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue 

Summer vacation was slowly nearing its end. 

However, I was worried due to Vince not coming to get in touch with me. I suppose that the work of the royal court was something that took time? “I’m getting tired. I wish it would get done soon.” When I was going out to the field to work, my older brother Nicks  complained to me. “You’re being really carefree. If you get careless, you’re going to get  executed. If it ended at just that, it would be fine, though I can’t help but worry that I and everyone else would get wrapped up in it as well.” Colin, the fourth son, didn’t understand. “Brother, he defeated five opponents in a duel, right? Isn’t that amazing?” My older brother yelled. “He won against opponents he shouldn’t have fought! Colin, this matter isn’t  unrelated to you either!” I was tired from working since morning, so I stretched. In a location slightly away, Anjie was being taught field work by Livia. The maids were watching while uneasy. When they tried to assist her, Anjie stopped them, not letting them give even  a single hand. 

“So you do this here, and──eek! What is this meandering creature?!” “Anjie, that’s an earthworm.” “Earthworm? I’ve heard of them before, but…eek! Livia, is it okay if it  touches your hand?!” “This little thing doesn’t do much. Come now, continue on.” Colin pulled on my arm. “Brother, which one are you marrying?” “Huh?” I shook my head in response to Colin’s question. Making a move on Livia or Anjie? C’mon now. Livia was the honor student and a commoner right now, but would be a saint  in the future. Anjie was the daughter of a duke. I couldn’t do any tomfoolery like trying to make a move on people out of my  reach. “Look, Colin. They’re an honor student and the daughter of a duke  household. They’re too far away from my strike zone, marriage is impossible.” “What does strike zone mean?” My older brother said “Here we go again,” and resumed his work. “The honor student girl is a commoner and it would be difficult to marry her. 

The daughter of the duke household has too high of a social position, so I  wouldn’t suit well with her. Understand?” 

“Hmm, I don’t!” “Ha ha ha, how honest of you, Colin. Alright, get back to work.” “Oka~y.” I did like them, but in terms of my strike zone──both of them would be an  out for me. They weren’t even remotely close to that strike zone. I could already picture the ball. Livia would be like the ball bouncing before it reached the mitt, and Anjie  would be like a wild pitch that was too high. Even if I wanted to swing the bat, I couldn’t. Darn…I liked how they looked too. Leaving that aside, now was the time to act for the future. Well, there weren’t any changes regarding the situation at the duke  household, so all I could do was wait. 

I didn’t think that anything bad would happen, but…I did prepare a mountain  of white gold. It should definitely be fine. 

…If not, I would be in trouble. 

Also, there was one more person working on the fields. 

“My nails are dirty. My hands hurt.” 

The one complaining was Jenna, the second daughter. 

I told my parents about her placing the bomb onto my armor, and there were  other circumstances too, so she spent the summer vacation working like this. 

I was thinking that something more than field work ought to have been done for her lending a hand in the assassination attempt of her brother. Well, I suppose that I also should consider the fact that she was half-threatened by a gang that the prince’s foster brother ordered around, but──I thought that the standards of this world were strange for letting her punishment be something boys like us normally do. 

“You were able to be pardoned with this light of a punishment. You should be thankful.” 

“If you didn’t cause a problem, I wouldn’t have had to set a bomb.” 

Well, I suppose she was right. So I also forgave her. To tell the truth, it really didn’t do much damage. 

“I don’t want to work in the field~.” 

I had a thought when seeing my sister complain. 

This world of an otome game really is cruel. 

◇ 

It was the day after. An airship from the duke family arrived at the household. It seemed they came to pick up Anjie, but a government official from the  royal capital took the opportunity to ride as well. It seemed that the matter regarding me had been decided. I was surprised that a very high ranking individual amongst he government  officials came. 

Feudal lord nobles are grouped by a hierarchy, but royal court nobles, who held no territory and followed the king, were sorted into classes. Feudal lords could also be a part of it, but they only accepted barons or  greater, those that could meet with the king. 

The king was placed at the top-most position, so the crown prince was placed at second. Royalty were below the second rank, and the substantial government officials that took the next top-three ranks were the cabinet ministers. 

Going all the way down to below the sixth rank were those who had the privilege to meet the king. Many feudal lords were appointed to these ranks. 

Feudal lords who were barons and above were automatically granted this rank, and I suppose the classes within the royal court were things like chief clerk, section chief, or other things like that. 

Well, such classes existed. There were also royal court nobles who held a rank, but explaining such circumstances was a pain. Or rather, I didn’t know it very well since it didn’t concern me. 

However, the government official that came was of the fifth rank──someone that was a higher rank than even my father. 

Due to that, my father got nervous. 

It turned into a conversation between them on our residence, but the official was smiling. 

“Oh dear, this has been quite the clamor. The duel and the engagement being broken off caused an uproar. I did not overlook the topic of the crown prince being disinherited.” 

“R, right.” 

My father was listening to him while nervous, but the official kept talking as if he didn’t notice anything. What to do…these talks about disinheritance made me quite uneasy, but now wasn’t the time to cut into the conversation. 

Huh? Wait a minute…Julian was disinherited? That was a bit troubling. 

“There have been voices within the royal court calling for the Baltfault family to take responsibility, but those were put to an end thanks to the movements of the duke household.” 

It seemed that Vince had been working hard. Thank you, Anjie’s papa. “U, um, as for the treatment of the Baltfault family?” My father couldn’t stop himself from asking. The government official answered with a smile. “Rest assured. You will not be asked to hold liability. Rather, Leon has now  been officially recognized as an independent knight. He’s currently in school still, but the royal court will carry out the formalities for bestowing him the position. At any rate, a knight has been giving his Highness advice regarding his foolish conduct. They want him to follow the example of other students.” 

…My father was relieved, but the situation was becoming all the more  ominous. Going through the rites of becoming a knight before even graduating? I didn’t want to hear about such things. 

This time I asked a question. 

“W, wait one moment. Will I be held liable? Will I have to do something like being stripped of my rank as a baron?!” “I have not said such things. Although there was some heated discussion, you  were officially given the baron rank, Leon. Congratulations.” Being declared a knight, and then becoming a baron. …Wasn’t this going to make my plans go amiss? I didn’t want to show up at the academy now. I did what I pleased because I  didn’t think I would go back there! “All the same, this──” 

“Right. All the same, we’re not here to talk about this.” Was he shifting to another topic now? This person was shrewd. As my eyes were filled with anticipation of it being something good for once,  a sheet of paper was held out in front of me. 

When I was reading it while wondering what it contained, my father screamed “Aaaaack!”. I also wanted to shout like he did. The official told us the situation with a smile, leaving me in despair. “Leon has been allowed to ‘go above’ the sixth rank in the royal court. 

Congratulations. You’ve been promoted.” …I didn’t hear anything about being promoted! 

◇ 

They were on the airship of the duke household. 

Livia and Anjie were on the deck while chatting. 

“He’s being promoted in rank by the royal palace, right? Though, I feel like those kinds of things are irrelevant for feudal lords.” 

Livia, not knowing the circumstances, received a detailed explanation from Anjelica. 

“Although there certainly isn’t much meaning to it for feudal lords, it means that they were given more recognition than the many others below the sixth rank. In layman’s terms, its a matter of giving treatment to those who stand out among the rest.” 

“And that’s a reward? Leon, isn’t pleased with it.” 

“It all depends on one’s way of thinking. This may be off-topic, but the eighth and ninth ranks are for those who have been knights their whole life. One can enter the seventh rank from heritage, but ascending one rank above that would require many years of loyalty and some large achievements.” 

Livia couldn’t comprehend it very well. 

“By many years of loyalty, do you mean something like ten years?” 

“That would be fine for the eighth rank, but for the seventh rank and above, one would have to think about relations not just on the individual level, but also on a household level. It’s at the point where parents and their children would have to earnestly work under them for three generations. It would take a century to be promoted from below the sixth rank to above it without accomplishing any major feats.” 

Livia was surprised when hearing that. 

“If, if so, it means he gained that much recognition, right?!” 

Since he was promoted, Livia was delighted after realizing that Leon wouldn’t be given any further punishment. 

“That’s how it is. Well, from the perspective of the royal palace, there’s no harm in giving him a promotion. Leon’s not a noble of the royal court, so they don’t need to pay him any annuity. Still, I didn’t think that he would be promoted, though.” 

The favorable treatment he received was at the level where Anjie started getting suspicious. 

There was a bizarre situation in regards to the royal court. There were many cases that made people wonder why they chose the course of action they took. She had no choice but to believe that this was just another one of those cases. 

Anjie concluded that there must have been individuals and groups that had something to gain from Julian being disinherited and Leon being promoted. 

Livia was unfamiliar with these kinds of things, and didn’t understand that well. 

“…I really thought that he would be demoted from a baron, though.” Livia then remembered something. “Come to think of it, Leon said that he spent the money he gained from the  bet!” 

“What? In that case…could it have been the power of money? No, but doing such a thing would…hmm.” The two couldn’t answer, so they changed the topic. “This may be a change of topic, but it seems that Leon is going to go through  the rites of being declared a knight before the new school term. Would you able to come?” Livia was a little embarrassed from being invited. “B, but, I’ve never participated in such things…I don’t have an outfit either.” “Don’t worry about the uniform.” 

Not good. 

I was brought into the royal palace. Perhaps thinking of it as just a castle with a king would be better. Though it’s called a royal court, there’s a certain atmosphere in the area. Perhaps it would do good to think about this lightly. 

I put on a knight outfit with over the top decorations, my armor Arroganz was decorated the assembly hall, and to make matters worse, there were many participants. 

“What the? Why are there so many people attending?” 

As I was grieving in the waiting room, my parents, who came to the royal capital for this day, looked at me and wept. 

…My mother was cruel on me. 

“You’ve become so elegant. I used to think you were a foolish child back then, but you were actually quite wonderful. Your mother is really proud.” 

My father was also crying. “I never thought that you would become a knight this quickly. For goodness’ sake…I’m tearing up.” 

My older brother and older sister wore uniforms. “Huh? What happened to the other part of the family?” My older brother thought it odd that Zola and the others weren’t coming, but  my older sister knew from the beginning that they wouldn’t. “They’re not going to come. In the first place, Leon is now part of an  independent, separate Baltfault household. One above the sixth rank at that…” My older brother and sister continued their conversation. “Say what?” “At this rate, if Leon enters the royal court, he would probably be sought  after by girls.” “Leon being sought after? Wasn’t this the guy that made the students in the  whole school resent him? We don’t even know what’s going to happen once the new school term starts.” “How foolish. He was promoted. It means that Leon was recognized by the  royal palace. Only an idiot wouldn’t be able to realize what that entails.” “In that case, I suppose that it’s fine even if he returns to the academy.” “I don’t know about that. Wouldn’t it be rough? After all, there are some kids  who got their entire fortune taken away by him.” “I wonder what will happen. I suppose it’ll be made clear in the future.” 

“You’re being noisy. I don’t know what will happen either.” 

Damn it! I’ve gone and earned the hate of the students in the entire school, and returning to the academy was going to be frightening. In the first place, I never thought that I was going to return there. 

If I knew I was going back, I would’ve made adjustments, and wouldn’t have done something like robbing people through a bet. Curse me and my reckless behavior! 

In the worst case scenario, if it got to a dangerous point where my family would get rolled up into it, I would have had to think about getting everyone to board Luxon and escape. I got carried away. 

I suddenly became aware of the crowd. “The father of the former crown prince is the king, right?” My father calmed down and shifted his attention to me. “That’s only natural. Don’t act strange in front of his Majesty. If you do  anything, your head will go flying.” I ignored him and continued talking. “I wonder how he feels about…promoting the person who beat up his son.” My father pondered while folding his arms, and averted his gaze from me. “…To tell the truth, it wouldn’t be enjoyable. I would hate it if it were me.” Of course. No matter how bad his son was, I didn’t think that he would enjoy it. I  wanted to ask him what exactly he was thinking. No wait, I actually didn’t want to know. 

◇ 

It was the next day. A knight was born. It was unusual in the Holfault kingdom for someone to be officially  recognized as a knight at sixteen years old and be given a rank at the same time. His rank was above the sixth. 

A success for an adventurer. Furthermore, criticizing the crown prince for his foolish behavior also counted as one of his achievements. 

In fact, it was said that he showed his ability by defeating four people from  famous households, but the exact reason why he did that was unknown. However, there was no denying that a powerful, young knight was born in the Holfault Kingdom. 

Many swarmed into the royal palace to see such a knight. It was evident that Leon was gathering much attention. 

◇ 

It was night. 

My school life would continue starting the next day, so I came to the student dorms. I was scratching my head in front of the staff at the academy’s lobby. “My room changed?” The staff member at the reception desk made a stiff smile replying to me. “R, right! Leon Fou Baltfault, you’re already a knight and a baron. You’re a  student, but we took that into account.” 

The room that I was shown to on a map was at a higher grade than the one before. 

“I see. In that case, I’ll take the key.” 

“We’ll guide you there at once! You can leave your luggage transportation to us.” 

The staff member took my luggage, briskly──or rather, nervously catering to me. 

The difference between how they treated me before I enrolled and how they did now was clear. 

◇ 

I spread out onto the bed in my spacious room, staring up at the ceiling while mumbling. 

“Why did things turn out this way?” 

Luxon, who floated next to me, gave an honest reply. 

[Isn’t this the result of having acted careless? You assumed that because I was here, you could more or less do anything unreasonable and still be okay, which proved to be fatal when you got carried away and participated in the duel. You thought that making blunders would still be fine, but you shouldn’t have have behaved violently, doing whatever you pleased. This is a matter of dealing with the consequences. You paid a large sum of money for your life, knowing that much of it would flow towards the work of the royal court. The result was a promotion, or rather, an outcome you didn’t want. Well, to put it plainly…you reap what you sow.” 

“Thanks for the exact answer. If you had already noticed it while the ordeal was still in process, you should have said it out loud, you idiot.” 

[Even if we did try to correct this mid-way, there wouldn’t be enough information to go off of. If I were to speak honestly, then even I’m a little surprised of this result.] 

What a useless AI. 

“Damn…thanks to that, I’m back to the life of having to search for a marriage partner.” 

[Isn’t that fine? It’s possible that the girls’ opinions of you may have changed now that you have been promoted.] 

“You think they’d change?” 

[Yes. Not the ones that made bets on the duel, though. That’s likely why you’re enemies with around seventy percent of the academy’s students. I had been gathering information, and it seems that both boys and girls have been spending the summer vacation earning money through dungeons like never before.] 

There were those that bet everything they owned, and fools that borrowed money. They should not have gone that far in their belief that they would win. 

Well, if it were me and I didn’t know any better, then I would have also made a bet on Julian and the others. 

[By the way master, as a result, there has been a lot of abusive slander about you, with people calling you things like a coward, the worst sharp-tongued jerk, and so on.] 

“That’s the information you found?! So doesn’t that mean my reputation hadn’t changed for the better?! On the contrary, didn’t it get worse?!” 

[I saw many that hated you, master. However, you seem to be popular amongst a portion of the boys. They talked about how you said the things they wanted to hear.” 

“That makes so glad, I might shed a tear!” 

Marriage had become more difficult than it had been before I enrolled in the academy. 

I was definitely reaping what I sowed, but if I knew that it would have resulted in this, I would have restrained myself! 

[Well, isn’t this okay? This world where women domineer over men may be tough, but marriage isn’t everything. If one doesn’t care about their reputation, they’re free to do anything other than handle marriage. The power of money is potent in particular. You could find girls who are having financial difficulties.] 

“Hmm~, isn’t that cruel? If that’s the way you’re thinking, than aren’t you the worst?” 

[That’s exactly the way you would solve it, master. So, I’ve prepared a mirror. Look at it and voice out complaints to your heart’s content. Your complaints and grumbles would all apply to you as well, master.] 

I then saw a large mirror in the room. 

…Huh? Did Luxon really prepare one? Was it just to voice its sarcasm and dislike towards me? 

“You…have quite the free time.” 

“I don’t want to hear that from you, master. Besides, I’m busy. Want to know? First of all, gathering information in the academy is──] 

I immediately ignored the thing and closed my eyes. 

At any rate, this was troubling…I didn’t think that those five would be disinherited. 

Just what was going to happen from now on? 

◇ 

Three days had passed since the opening ceremony of the new school term. 

It would be hard to say that my life at the academy was going well. The people around were avoiding me. It was a relief that Daniel and Raymond came to give me an apology, but it  would take time for our relationship to be like it was before. 

Perhaps having felt indebted towards me, the two were a bit awkward when they spoke. However, it seemed they were doing fine without me. According to Luxon’s investigations, neither Anjie nor Livia seemed to be  troubled in their academy life. Three days had passed and I still didn’t know what would happen, but people seemed to have calmed down around those two. 

It seemed that Anjie was getting fed up with her followers desperately trying  to regain her trust, but other than that, things were the same as before. Livia continued studying during the summer vacation, and had already reached a level where I could not understand whatever she was saying. 

She had already begun studying the lessons of the second-year class. I was afraid of being asked to help with her studies. I wanted to apologize and have her forgive me for pretending to be more  competent than I actually was. However, there was also a problem. It was about Julian and the others. They didn’t separate from Marie. While it seemed that they were no longer  lovers, they had formed a group of seven, including Marie and Kyle, and challenged dungeons many times. It seemed that Greg and Chris were trying to build up their strength so that  they could have a rematch with me. 

For Jilk and Brad, it seemed that their main goal was earning money, since they no longer received support from their household. 

The same was true for Marie. 

Marie’s viscount household had been in financial trouble from the beginning. It seemed that she was challenging the dungeons under the expectation that she wouldn’t receive support from them. 

In addition, Julian was also participating with Marie and the others. They argued that they had “come together by chance to tackle a dungeon,” but that was a stupid excuse. 

While my reputation plummeted drastically after the duel, it seemed that there were girls who became sympathetic towards the prince and the others, cheering them on. 

All things considered, the seven of them seemed to be having fun──no wait, one of them didn’t seem to be having fun. 

That person was the ringleader, Marie. 

She seemed to be hiding a side of her that was suffering from her loss of status, honor, and fortune. Her other side made it seem like she was having fun. 

Despite seeming like she was having fun to the people around her, Marie’s laugh was from her having to face the troubling reality. 

Her shrewd movements came to an end, and nothing felt more wonderful than thinking about how this definitely wasn’t the result Marie wanted. 

How refreshing. It seemed I would be able to sleep well that day. 

I was sitting on a bench in the school courtyard, and while I was thinking about such things, two people sat beside me. I first assumed that they were Daniel and Raymond, but I thought differently when I noticed a certain gentle  atmosphere and pleasant scent. They didn’t smell like those guys. I looked up and saw Livia and Anjelica sitting. 

“Leon, you’re by yourself again today?” “Thanks for rubbing salt on the wound. I’m alone today.” “Good grief, what to do with that manner of speaking you have? Leaving that  aside, if you have free time, then come with us.” 

Anjie had a slightly tired expression, perhaps from having to deal with her  followers. 

“Come with you? Where?” 

Livia seemed to have a cheerful expression. 

“There’s a stall with these great, famous crepes.” 

As expected of an otome game world. 

It was a fantasy world of swords and magic, complete with crepes and other  sweets. A gentle world for females. A world that would be the toughest for males. “Do they have strawberry or chocolate?” However, my body needed some sugar, so I was also interested. This bitter  world was tough for males, so I would at least eat some sweets. Livia answered with a smile. “They do! Their strawberry jam is popular.” Crepes seemed like a novel concept to Anjie. “A stall? I don’t have much experience with those. I never got to purchase  something from those since my followers kept telling me that I shouldn’t eat from them.” Most of the girl followers who said that actually ate at those stalls. I believe 

Luxon made a report on something like that. The two held hands, got up, and headed towards the crepe stall. “Leon, hurry up.” “Hey, be quicker.” They walked while pushing my back. The two were gentle and cute, but they were people that I couldn’t lay a hand  on. 

…Wasn’t it too unreasonable to have those closest to me be the ones that I couldn’t do anything with? The world of otome games really is tough for me.