บท 9: Chapter 9 – The Protagonist
The night in Academy City was busy. Students walked out in the street to get some fresh air after studying all day.
Even today was the first day of school, and many students, especially those from Royal Academy and Diligentia Academy, were diligent in their studies.
Ignoring Diligentia Academy, which was filled with chosen students, the students in Royal Academy need to keep their grades to stay in the Academy.
Some of the students were commoners, unlike Patientia, filled with nobles, or Castitas, filled with the servant of the Goddess.
I walked alone in the street while the other students were walking with their friends, talking merrily. I didn't care, though, as I looked around the area with a smile and hands in my pockets.
This rather calm atmosphere was totally different from when I was in Horizon Online. Back then, the street was filled with warriors and run-down buildings. Even my mansion wasn't safe from burglars trying to steal the riches that I purposely left behind in my home.
That was why this calm and lovely atmosphere was really new to me.
'I still can't get used to such calmness and still put my guard up.'
Getting attacked in the street was normal. Only in the Royal Capital of Horizon Online was the player able to rest easily. However, that kind of life didn't fit the strongest player, Arthur. I was always in constant danger to keep my mind sharp to survive.
A single negligence would cost me my life, after all.
"My former comrades would die from laughter if they knew I was walking to a café alone to meet a sulking girl."
The hard-rocking people who threw their lives to defeat the last boss. No way would they ever think their comrades would visit a girl in a café after sunset.
I stopped in front of a rather luxurious café and looked inside through the big window. A commoner wouldn't even think to visit a café like this; the interior furniture and luxurious entrance screamed this café was for a noble.
However, while I was a commoner in this world, I already got the title of Paladin, which essentially put my authority similar to the Pope and the Duke of Virtue Kingdom.
Also, thanks to the generosity of the system, Horizon Online's Gold in my inventory was converted to Sins Paradise's Gold. And the fact that I got all my former comrades' and enemies' money meant I got a ton of gold that could last me a lifetime.
I didn't know how much I had as the numbers got cut off at the end. My appearance was also passable to enter this fancy cafe, so I didn't need to be embarrassed when going inside.
With a confident smile, I entered the café and looked around. I found the girl I tried to find at the corner of the café, which was far from the window, drinking alone with a solemn and sad gaze.
"There she is," I muttered as I saw a waitress approaching me.
***
The girl at the corner of the room, Eliza, was still oblivious to the boy that tried to approach her. She looked down at the drink, playing around with the straw while pouting.
'Why did he refuse me? He usually is happy when I ask him out.'
As this was their first day in Virtue Royal Academy, she planned to teach him how to act like a noble and asked him to visit the new café that was famous amongst the nobility.
While the Royal Academy didn't really care about one's standing, nobles would look down on the students without any manners or without friends. And Eliza knew that Arthur had no friend besides her.
"And here I am really kind enough to ask him out. I don't know any more about Arthur!"
"What?"
"Hya!"
Eliza was surprised when she suddenly heard Arthur's voice from the side and let out a cute yelp. She turned her head, looking at Arthur, who stood beside the table with a cheeky smile.
"I heard something like, 'I don't know any more about Arthur!' What's that?" He asked with a playful tone as he sat across from Eliza. "And here I am, kind enough to accompany you when you're alone."
"A-A-Arthur! N-Nothing! B-BY THE WAY, How long have you been here? Didn't you say you have somewhere to go after school?" Her face blushed red, embarrassed as she shouted at him. She had never thought that Arthur would show up so suddenly.
"Since you played with your straw." He replied as he rested his head on his hands. "And I did get somewhere. But as I thought you would still be here, I came here after I finished my business. Thanks for waiting for me, Eliza."
"I-I am not waiting for you!" She tried to deny him, but her smile betrayed her.
***
Looking at her, I couldn't help but think.
'She's just a tsundere. How easy. And I confirmed that the requirement still progressed nicely.'
---
Requirements!
1. Refuse her invitation 10 times (1/10)
---
While my intention was to keep the protagonist away from this girl, I also found out that I just needed to refuse her offer or invitation 10 times.
It didn't matter whether I went with her later or not; I just needed to refuse her to finish the requirement.
"B-but, I guess I can have your company here. Hehehe…" She began to murmur to herself happily. Her mood was lifted
"Listen, Arthur!" Then she started to tell me about nobility and such, something that I already had an idea about.
Unexpectedly, I enjoyed Eliza's expression as she looked happy with my company.
The original Arthur in the Eroge was really an idiot guy. If he had just accompanied Eliza and kept the protagonist away, the beautiful childhood friend close to him wouldn't have gotten stolen.
While waiting for my order and listening to Eliza's 'lecture,' I noticed something.
'The students started to fill the café. I guess the protagonist will soon arrive with his friend.'
From the edge of my sight, I saw the waitress from before walking toward this table, bringing my order on a tray. It was nice as my order had finally arrived, but my focus wasn't on the waitress.
Instead, I looked past her at the black-haired boy wearing the Royal Academy uniform. The boy had just entered the café with his friend, a busty purple-haired and purple-eyed girl with a perky butt and erotic latex clothes that only covered her private parts, like a bikini.
Her hair was done in a high-ponytail and it was swaying at the same rhythm with her hips.
'There he is, the protagonist and his helper.'
Many people ignored the girl and only glanced at the boy, which was quite strange, but not me. Because soon, they would approach our table and begin to talk to Eliza.
"Arthur, did you hear me?" Eliza called out to me while raising her voice a little.
I turned my attention back to the brown-haired girl, smiling softly. "I do. You're talking about a noble's attitude, right?"
"Yeah!"
Although my attention was divided, with my high status, it was easy to understand everything that happened around me. That was why I also heard what Eliza talked about and the waitress saying thanks after putting my order on the table earlier.
And I also noticed footsteps that belonged to the protagonist approaching us.
"So you must be careful, got it? Especially around Princess Cariss–"
When Eliza was about to finish her explanation with a haughty face and index finger raised near her cheek, someone interrupted from the side.
"Hello, can we sit here? Unfortunately, there is no other empty table."
It was the protagonist. He had a friendly smile on his face, which made people want to talk and be nice to him.
"Ah, I am also from the Royal Academy. My name is Adam Spencer. Nice to meet you." He continued, ignoring Eliza's displeased face as her explanation was suddenly interrupted.
I, however, wondered about something else.
'Is this fucker dense or confident? How the fuck is he able to ignore Eliza's expression, which literally told him to fuck off? And it is clear that we have something here, sitting just the two of us.'
It was amazing. Ignoring the expression of the person you talked to really needed talent. The girl beside the protagonist, Adam, also smiled seductively while looking at me. Clearly, she wanted to seduce me and break apart my relationship with Eliza.
However, no one could actually see the girl. The reason why Adam was confident earlier was also thanks to this girl. She was what all Eroge's protagonists had, the helper. And she was also the one who helped Adam enter the Royal Academy even with his status.
But I wasn't Arthur in the game. So I was able to keep his smiling face while looking at Adam.
"Ah, you're a student from the Royal Academy?" I asked them with a friendly tone, making the protagonist's smile wider.
"Ye–"
Adam answered, thinking he could get into our space together. However, before he finished his sentence, I raised my middle finger at him.
"Can you please kindly not bother us? Don't you see we have our time together here?"
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