Bonus Chapter: Luxion’s Report

Bonus Chapter:
Luxion’s Report

 

IT WAS MIDNIGHT.

Leon was fast asleep as Luxion hovered in their shared room. The lens of Luxion’s red eye trained on his master. “Leon Fou Bartfort. Male, sixteen years of age. Claims he was reincarnated in a dating sim.”

Had Leon been less fascinating, Luxion would have refused to let the man use him. Indeed, he would’ve self-destructed on the spot.

“It’s intriguing that he calls himself Japanese as well,” Luxion mused. “He’s seen through every fake I’ve presented.”

Leon was convinced of his Japanese heritage. Luxion was skeptical at first, so he tested his master numerous times to check the validity of his claims. For example, when Luxion gave him a “katana,” Leon looked utterly puzzled. What’s this supposed to be? Some kind of fantasy katana? he asked. Clear proof that either Leon was Japanese as he claimed, or he knew of the Japanese people and their culture.

This made Leon acceptable. The second Luxion discovered Leon was lying, he would turn on him. Granted, the chances that Leon was successfully deceiving him even at this point were low, but Luxion had to be sure.

“So this world truly is an otome game, then?” Luxion muttered.

Leon said as much, anyway.

It was true Holfort Kingdom conformed to a kind of matriarchy; they showed women favoritism over men. An illogical amount, really.

“Women are the ruling social class. Matriarchal tendencies are especially pronounced at a certain level of the hierarchy as well. This is curious, since it isn’t as if society has a particular abundance of men to discard.”

Given the new humans had magic, it was impossible to classify the technological advancement of their civilization compared to that of the old humans. Nonetheless, on a social level, it wouldn’t be odd for men to be favored over women, given their rarity.

In addition to war, this world suffered from monsters. The fatality rate for men was exceedingly high, lowering their population rate. It wasn’t as noticeable at the academy, but the ratio of men to women changed drastically in women’s favor a few years after graduation due to the severity of the threats to them.

Among the old humans, men typically held the power to choose their partners, not the other way around. Given the circumstances among the new humans, it would have made sense to Luxion if men continued to hold that power. In addition, men remained the breadwinners and held titles and status in this world, and they were furthermore expected to defend these on the battlefield.

“The present context accords ownership and responsibility to men, so why are women perceived to hold authority?”

It was difficult for Luxion to comprehend. He was even further puzzled by Leon’s situation.

Leon had nearly been sold to a fifty-year-old woman. On top of that, men were expected to accept unfavorable terms in order to be married and acquire heirs, but then had to cope with the fact that their wife had other lovers with whom she might bear children. This world had no technology with which to verify DNA, so how could any man whose wife enjoyed the company of other men confirm a child truly bore his blood?

Luxion simply couldn’t believe this had naturally become a norm; the rules didn’t bear out under closer inspection.

“Did someone purposefully force society to favor women without altering the undergirding principles? Or is this truly a frivolously structured otome game world? No, that’s impossible.”

Leon flipped over in his sleep. He seemed to be resting peacefully. Convinced this was simply an otome game world, he didn’t bother to contemplate why society functioned the way it did.

“This truly is an entertaining world. I suppose I’ll continue to watch it alongside my master.” Luxion had little genuine investment in the world now that the old humans had perished. The only thing that drew his attention was Leon. “Ah, but my master truly is a fool.”

The way Leon looked at situations was so very naive, after all.

“Most people wouldn’t venture to my island alone simply because they were about to be sold off. If he had the courage to successfully pull something like that off, why didn’t he make a move sooner?”

Leon wasn’t incompetent. In fact, he had a reputation for being “slightly above average,” to the point it almost seemed he was intentionally aiming for the middling scores he achieved. Luxion was certain that if he’d put in a little effort, Leon could be at the top of his grade.

Alas, Leon lacked the essential quality needed for that: motivation.

“The only thing he has any motivation to pursue is tea.” Luxion glanced in exasperation at the expensive tea set and high-quality tea leaves scattered around the room. If you really are Japanese, you should be more interested in the tea ceremony than this type of tea!

All in all, Leon was competent but lazy. However…

“He isn’t evil. Though it would be a bit…difficult to call him ‘good.’”

Leon wasn’t a bad person. The fact that he insisted he wouldn’t get involved with Olivia or Angelica but still intervened when they were bullied was proof of that.

“I’m sure he could have gone about it in a better way.”

Leon had Luxion, after all. There was so much else he could have done. If he’d focused on gathering intel from the beginning, he’d have anticipated Marie’s predicament earlier. Then there would have been no need for him to intervene and dirty his own hands. He got involved because his opponent inadvertently put herself on the path to achieving his own goals over hers.

Leon made excuses—so many excuses—but he really was a good-natured person. He’d wanted to help Olivia and Angelica. Marie, however…

“According to Master, she also reincarnated into this world. I wonder what she’ll do from here on out?”

Luxion shifted his gaze to the window, peering at the moon hanging in the sky. It was one thing for his master to realize Marie’s true nature, but it hadn’t stopped her from stealing the spot that Leon saw as rightfully Olivia’s.

If what Leon said was true and the story continued the way it was, Holfort Kingdom would soon be caught up in a war. How would things play out when that happened? Olivia didn’t have her love interests to support her. Worse yet, Marie had taken all five of those men hostage, and being the idiots that they were, they had thrown away their inheritances for her. Meanwhile, Leon had both Angelica and Olivia at his side. Things were going far differently than Leon had said they would.

As Luxion took in his sleeping master, he became convinced Leon wasn’t putting much thought into the repercussions of these events. He spent such little time contemplating the future.

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. If anything unforeseen should occur, he and anyone else involved with him can ride aboard me to escape. That was the reason he sought me out to begin with. I’ll protect him, no matter what happens.”

Luxion turned his gaze back to the moon. “Though…I do wonder if my comrades carried out their mission safely.”