Chapter 4: The Republic's Nobility

Chapter 4:
The Republic’s Nobility

 

BACK IN THE HOLFORT KINGDOM, students were gathered in one of the capital’s pubs to welcome the new scholarship students. Olivia had juggled planning the celebration with her busy days at school, so the party was a little belated. However, like Leon, she didn’t drink alcohol. Instead, she spent her time looking after everyone else.

“Are you all getting used to life at the academy?” Olivia asked.

As she spoke, some boys in unkempt uniforms followed her every movement with their eyes. Aaron, the former adventurer, had made good friends with two other unscrupulous boys. The three of them leered at Olivia, and they emanated an unsettling air.

“Aaron, she’s not drinking.”

“Our plan’s a wash. How are we gonna get her drunk enough to drag her home with us?”

Despite their complaints, Aaron just grinned as he placed a small jar on the table. “We just need to use this. We’ll wait for the perfect opportunity, then I’ll spike her drink.”

In short, they were up to no good.

“Uh-oh, looks like I found some bad boys!” sang someone behind them.

Cleare had hidden herself with a cloaking device while she kept an eye on everything. As she spoke, she shot mist out from her body.

Alarmed by the strange voice and the sweet aroma, Aaron and his flunkies looked everywhere, trying to identify the source.

“Who was that? And why does it suddenly smell so…sweet…”

A sudden drowsiness hit them, and the three slumped forward onto the table, unconscious.

“You only have yourselves to blame,” Cleare sniffed. “You shouldn’t try to mess with Livia. Fortunately, I’m not as short-tempered as Luxion. I’ll let you keep your lives.”

She dropped the cloaking device and surveyed the pub as she sorted out how to dispose of these problems. Fortunately, she spotted a reliable bunch not far away: another group of boys enjoying some drinks by themselves. There were no girls with them, but they seemed to be living it up.

“Aha!”

As Cleare wove her cunning scheme, Livia noticed the three unconscious boys.

“Oh, no! What happened to these guys?”

“They must be exhausted,” Cleare said. “It seems they overindulged with some stronger brews and passed out.”

“Cleary? What are you doing here?”

“I was worried, so I came to check in on you. But that’s not important. You should get these boys back to their dormitories.”

Livia hesitated, thinking it over. Their welcome party had only just started. “Maybe we should let them rest a while, then we can take them home.”

“Wait, it looks like those boys over there are getting ready to leave.” Cleare bobbed to indicate the group of boys she’d been eyeing a second earlier. They were huddled together with their arms around each other’s shoulders, and they were getting up to leave—presumably to head home.

“A-are you sure it’s all right to ask?” Olivia said, sounding doubtful.

“Of course. They would be more than happy to oblige you, I guarantee it.”

“I feel bad imposing on them. Don’t you think it’s our responsibility to make sure these boys get back safely?”

“Trust me, it’s fine. They won’t mind at all.”

“R-really?”

Livia reluctantly edged up to their table. As she did, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.

“Uh, um…”

A few of them glared at her, but a man with slicked black hair and a black beard put on a smile. He seemed to be their leader.

“Is something the matter?”

Livia fidgeted as she glanced back at Aaron and the others. “A-a couple of students drank too much. If you’re heading back to the boys’ dorm, do you think you could take them with you?”

Livia worried she was putting an undue burden on them and readied herself for their anger, but the boys merely glanced at each other. They exchanged a few whispers and then smiled.

“If that’s all, you don’t have to act so bashful. We don’t mind.”

“S-sorry, I was a bit on guard.”

“It’s no problem. We’ll make sure they get back safely.”

Their previous hostility vanished, and they happily agreed to help. They marched right over to Aaron and his friends, scooped them up, and headed for the door.

“Uh, um, are you really sure it’s okay?” Olivia asked, still a little surprised by their newfound generosity. “I’m not causing you all any trouble, am I?”

The leader picked Aaron up in a piggyback and smiled at her over his shoulder. “It’s no problem. We’ll take good care of them.”

“Thank you!” Her shoulders slumped with relief. “I guess it all turned out exactly as Cleary promised…”

With that out of the way, Olivia rejoined the welcome party. Meanwhile, Cleare watched the boys as they hauled Aaron and his friends out of the pub. “Serves you right for trying to lay your hands on Livia.”

She slowly faded into the background, her blue lens glowing eerily.

 

***

 

Aaron awoke in the boys’ dormitory the next morning. Only, it wasn’t his room at all. The furniture was different, and another boy was with him. Aaron could only assume that the other guy lived here.

Although perhaps boy wasn’t the right word. This fellow was tall and muscular, his black hair flowing down his back as he made coffee. His white shirt was hanging open, leaving his chest exposed.

“Want some coffee?”

Aaron nodded, puzzled as to what was going on. “Yeah, sure.”

Sunlight spilled in through the window, making the other man almost glow. “I carried you back to the dorm last night, but the staff here didn’t know which room was yours. Sorry. I had no choice but to let you sleep here.”

“S-seriously? Thanks, and sorry for the trouble,” Aaron said.

“Nah, it’s no big deal.”

Aaron was taken aback at how easily he’d thanked this man. Can’t believe I actually expressed gratitude for something like this. What the heck is wrong with me?

Normally, he would have complained left and right, but he didn’t really feel like doing that today.

Just then, Aaron noticed his uniform, neatly folded and laid out on the bedside table. His head spun as he realized he was in his underwear.

D-did he actually take off my clothes? And ouch, my butt seriously hurts. Aaron patted his rear.

“Sorry,” said the man. “I dropped you on the way here. It was hard to keep hold of you. You got pretty feisty.”

Aaron must have been more drunk than he’d realized. Did I really have that much to drink? And when did I fall asleep? Crap. I have no idea.

The last thing he remembered was plotting to drug Livia. Obviously, that hadn’t worked out. A-and why do I feel so nervous in front of this guy?

The other man looked at him, and Aaron’s cheeks flushed.

 

***

 

Cleare was keeping an eye on them both.

“It seems my test was successful. A human will mistake a rapid pulse rate for the inception of romantic feelings.”

She went to check up on her other test subjects and found them all still sleeping in other boys’ rooms.

“I look forward to seeing what the future holds for them.”

Cleare was giddy. After all, she had been a research AI before Angelica and Olivia repurposed her. As such, she was a more devoted investigator than Luxion.

“I wondered how they would react when thrown into a peculiar situation, but it looks like they aren’t much different from the old humans. How intriguing.”

She considered procuring a love potion for further experimentation, but it didn’t seem like it would be necessary.

Cleare glanced back at a rustling sound behind her and found Angie and Livia still slumbering soundly together in their underwear.

Angie stirred at the sound of Cleare’s musings and sat up, eyes still heavy with sleep.

“Oh, good morning, Angie! Listen to this, I’ve discovered the most fascinating—”

On the verge of a detailed explanation of what had just transpired, Cleare was shut up when Angie flung a pillow at her. Then Angie flopped back down in bed, using Livia’s chest as a pillow as she fell back to sleep.

“Unbelievable!” Cleare grumbled. “Here I am, saving Livia in her time of need, and you have the audacity to assault me with the furniture?! I’m going to send pictures to Master again!”

Cleare’s method of revenge largely consisted of taking snapshots of the two girls as they slept. She forwarded the data to Luxion, sure that it would soon fall into Leon’s hands.

“Mwa ha ha. This is what you get for angering me. Now, I should go check on my guinea pigs again.”

Without Leon’s watchful eye to keep her in check, Cleare was taking matters into her own hands. At least, so much as a robot had hands.

 

***

 

I was finally getting used to life in the republic.

“Today was as exhausting as yesterday,” I muttered.

I was on my way to the tram when a car suddenly stopped right in front of me. Judging by the exterior, it was an expensive classic. The driver slid out of his seat and smoothly opened the back door.

“Huh?”

I thought he’d mistaken me for someone else. That was, until a girl stepped out. Miss Louise motioned for me to join her inside the vehicle while the students around me erupted in surprise.

“I haven’t properly introduced myself,” she said. “I’m Louise Sara Rault. You’re Leon, right? An exchange student? If you don’t mind joining me, I’d like to have a little chat.”

I’d never dreamed the villainess would approach me like this. Why was she even interested in me? And why had she gawked at me like that when we first met? That still bothered me.

“A chat you say?”

“Yes, that’s right. I would be delighted if you’d join me for a ride.”

I shrugged and hopped in.

The car’s interior was obviously quite expensive, and the cushy seats gave it an aristocratic feel. Louise slipped in beside me, the driver shut his door, and we were off.

A wave of nostalgia hit me as we went. I had no idea if cars here were built anything like the ones in my previous world, but they sure felt the same.

“So, have you grown accustomed to Alzer?” Louise asked, sounding a little nervous.

Jeez, small talk much? Surely this wasn’t why she’d invited me into her car. “Pretty much.”

“If you run into any trouble, please let me know. You can even use my name if you need to.”

One mention of the Rault family princess, and people would probably do anything for me. Honestly, I was largely too terrified to actually try anything like that.

“That’s awfully kind of you,” I said.

“Oh? Did you expect me to be malicious? Did Noelle say anything?”

“Something like that.” I mean, the only other time we’d met, this girl had been picking on Noelle.

“I’m not always like that, you know,” she said.

“I’d believe those words if they came from someone else, but not you.”

Miss Louise smiled. “You even sound just like him…”

To be fair, she seemed like a completely different person now than she had on the tram platform. Was it just because Noelle wasn’t here?

We chatted casually for a while, and I noticed to driver glaring at me in the rearview mirror.

Oh, knock it off. Just keep your eyes on the road. More importantly, I frowned at Louise. “Now then, what was it you wanted?”

Miss Louise pressed her face close to mine.

“Huh?”

She placed her hand my cheek and stared straight at me, her eyes misting over.

“Wh-what are you…?” I debated yelping that I had my fair share of fiancées already and flinging myself out of the car—but before I could, she said something completely unexpected.

“Hey, would you call me ‘Big Sis’? Just once?”

“Sorry, what?”

Listen, a beautiful woman had pressed herself up against me and skewered me with a sensual gaze—I was fully within my rights to assume she was going to confess her feelings or something. I never would have guessed she’d say something like…that. Not even I could see that coming.

“Uh, sorry, um…”

“You can’t do it?” she asked. She was getting rejection vibes, and she gave me a dejected look.

She’s gotta be messing with me, right? I winced and tried to clear the air. “I, uh, have bad memories of my older sister. It’s kinda hard for me to respond to that.”

“Oh, so you do have an older sister?”

“Yeah,” I said, chuckling. “She tried to blow me up.”

Her eyes widened. “Th-that certainly is rather extreme. Were you hurt?”

“Nah, I was fine.”

All this talk brought back memories of my duel with the bozo brigade at the end of our first term. Jilk had manipulated my sister into planting a bomb on Arroganz. I’d come out of it unscathed, but no matter how you sliced it, it had been a pretty rotten thing for her to do. Still, given the circumstances, I couldn’t really blame her. No harm, no foul.

“Do you hate her?” Miss Louise asked.

“Honestly? It’s not really that black and white. Guess you could say I detest her, but hate her? Not entirely.”

“You sound like a very kind young man.”

Normally I would’ve found that heartwarming, but this was a pretty awkward situation. Miss Louise had pulled away a bit, but there still wasn’t much space between us. Our thighs were touching, and now she was squeezing my hand.

What the hell is going on here?!

The car was circling the school, so it didn’t seem like we were actually going anywhere. Was she ever going to let me escape?

“Why do you want me to call you ‘Big Sis’?” I asked. “Is it some kind of fetish?”

“It’s not a fetish! I-I don’t know how to explain it, and you probably wouldn’t believe me, even if I did.”

Okay, not a kink. Now I was even more curious. Why else would she make such a request? “All right…why me?”

“B-because you…” Miss Louise looked away, her cheeks brightening. She kept mumbling for a while, trying to explain herself.

Huh. What do you know? She’s actually kinda cute.

But I didn’t have long to reevaluate my feelings about Miss Louise. A sudden transmission from Luxion interrupted my thoughts. “Master, sorry to disrupt your fun time.”

I wanted to snap that I wasn’t having any kind of fun, but Miss Louise was beside me, so I forced myself to swallow my sarcasm.

Luxion took my silence as assent. “There’s a problem at the academy.”

Huh?

 

***

 

A professor had approached Jean after class to enlist his help. By the time Jean got back to his classroom to gather his things, he was running late.

“Wonder if Noelle’s hungry.” He wasn’t thinking about his schoolmate but his elderly dog.

The room was growing dark as Jean grabbed his bag and headed for the door, only to find a boy standing there blocking his path. Jean recognized him right away. Bad rumors followed Pierre everywhere he went. Worse, he had a gang of his flunkies with him.

“Uh, um?”

The other boys grinned, and Jean stared at them in confusion. He always made sure to have nothing to do with Pierre or his friends.

“You’re in charge of keeping those exchange students in line, right?” Pierre asked. “Tsk tsk. Not doing a very good job, are you?”

“K-keeping them in line? Uh, no, I was just told to help if they needed anything…”

But Pierre’s flunkies only pressed in closer, surrounding Jean. Jean hugged his bag to his chest and trembled in fear as Pierre sidled up to him.

“Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Those guys are an eyesore, and you’re basically responsible for them, right?”

“N-no, like I said…” Jean knew Pierre was nothing but trouble. A chill ran down his spine at the thought of what the guy might want with him.

For lack of a better term, Pierre was the academy’s problem child. He was the second son of one of the Great Houses, so like all those of the highest tier of nobility, he had a crest on his right hand—proof of the Sacred Tree’s blessing. His boys bore similar crests, although theirs were marks of lesser favor. All the same, every last one of these guys were of noble blood.

Pierre grinned. “Come with us. We’ll put you straight. You should be honored that someone as great as me is taking time out of his day to discipline you.”

It wasn’t rare for a noble like Pierre to express disdain for a commoner. The whole republic was divided between those who had the Sacred Tree’s divine protection and those who didn’t, and everyone who lacked a crest was seen as naturally inferior. Frankly, as far as the aristocracy was concerned, if you didn’t have a crest, then you were a lesser being—whether you were a fellow citizen of the republic or an outsider.

“Come on,” Pierre crooned. “Let’s go out back.”

Pierre grabbed hold of Jean, who dropped his bag as the boys dragged him from the classroom.

 

***

 

I begged Miss Louise to drop me off at school and scrambled out of the backseat, making a mad dash for the back of the main building.

“Leon, wait!” Miss Louise shouted, stepping out behind me.

I ignored her pleas and hurried onward. Luxion appeared at my right shoulder, dropping his cloak.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?!” I demanded.

“Jean wasn’t one of the people we were keeping tabs on. In fact, you should be praising me for realizing what was happening as quickly as I did.”

“Dammit!”

The academy was vast, and by the time I found the problem, it was all over. The only people in the back of the school were a crowd of teachers and a few students who hadn’t yet gone home. And in the middle of the crowd was Jean—hanging upside down from a tree.

I gasped for air and stood there, frozen, as the teachers worked to get Jean down. In the chaos, Luxion had reengaged his cloak so that no one would notice him.

“Well, he’s still alive,” Luxion noted.

The professors brought out a stretcher and lifted Jean onto it.

“This is awful,” one of them muttered.

“Think they used magic on him?” asked another.

“The nurse’s office won’t be able to handle this. We need to get him to a hospital.”

I pushed my way through the crowd. “Excuse me, coming through.” When I reached Jean, I couldn’t help myself—I started shouting. “Hey, get a hold of yourself! Who did this to you?!”

“Hey, stay back.”

The teachers tried to pull me away, but before they did, I heard Jean mumble, “Noelle, I’m sorry.”

After that, the teachers carried him off, leaving the students murmuring to each other.

“It was them.”

“Yeah, he must have done something to make himself a target.”

“He’s just a second-year, right? Poor thing.”

All right, good. They knew who was to blame.

I grabbed the closest male student. “Hey, who did this to Jean?”

“What, you mean you don’t know?”

I glared at him pointedly. The boy glanced around to make sure no one was listening before he answered.

“It was Mr. Pierre of House Feivel. Whenever he decides he doesn’t like someone, he and his cronies string them up in a tree. You’ll end up the same way, if you keep sniffing around.”

The boy pulled away and retreated. The others were leaving as well.

Pierre of House Feivel? That sounded familiar.

“If I recall correctly, House Feivel are the antagonists who target the protagonist in the middle of the game,” Luxion said. “This Pierre is a key individual in one of the game’s events. He unwittingly helps the protagonist and her love interest confirm their feelings for each other.”

Pierre was your classic aristocratic villain. He went after the protagonist and prompted the love interest to rescue her. After that, the two of them confessed their love. So basically Pierre was a plot device.

“He sure had his fun.”

“I can see you’re contemplating revenge,” said Luxion. “Given your policy on maintaining equilibrium, I would recommend against it. Pierre is integral to the story. If you destroy him, it may have unforeseen repercussions.”

In short, if I wanted to stick to the script, I couldn’t lay a hand on him, huh? That was annoying, but I guess I didn’t have any choice.

“Well, he sure plays the villain well,” I said. “I want to punch his lights out.”

This was stupid. That guy had assaulted Jean, and all I could do was sit on my hands and watch. If I didn’t, I risked screwing up our whole mission.

As I stood there, still frozen, Miss Louise came rushing to the back of the building.

“Leon,” she called out, sounding winded. “What…in the world…is going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Pierre was scum, but if I was going to ignore his actions just so we could keep the plot intact, then I was just as bad.

 

***

 

That evening, I went to Jean’s apartment, and once I’d explained the situation to the landlord, I managed to borrow a key. Jean’s place was immaculate. Given how diligent he was about everything, that wasn’t surprising.

As soon as I opened the door, an elderly dog came hurrying toward me. She growled and raised her hackles, but I let her work out her wariness and put out my hand for her to sniff.

“Sorry. Your master’s going to be in the hospital for a bit.”

There was no way for her to understand what I was saying, but she ceased her snarling and licked my hand. She was so weak with age that her legs trembled.

“She doesn’t have very long left,” said Luxion.

“Either way, we’ll look after her until Jean is discharged.”

“Are you trying to atone?”

“Yeah. I can’t make the perp pay for what he did. Not when the safety of the whole world is at stake. I know it’s not like we’re that close, but Jean looked after me.”

I’d even considered breaking up his relationship with Noelle—the human Noelle, at least. The least I could do for the guy was look after his dog.

“He really dotes on this old girl,” I snorted. “He must be worried about her.”

“So we’re up against this Pierre Feivel, hm?” Luxion said. He was more concerned with who to fight than caring for who got hurt. “Seems like the Six Great Houses command quite a bit of authority.”

“They’re nobles. They breed creeps like him all the time.” I hefted Noelle up into my arms and started for the door.

“You need only say the word, and I will destroy the entire country for you,” Luxion reminded me.

True enough, we wouldn’t have to worry about the Sacred Tree if I let him. As far as Luxion was concerned, that was a net win for us.

“If I was going to let you do that, I would never have come here in the first place. And come on, you know I’m never going to let you commit any massacres. Get that through your thick robot skull already.”

Luxion’s grudge against the new humans really knew no bounds. His extremist bent could get pretty troubling.

“I thought you might have a change of heart,” he said. “You do tend to flip-flop, as they say.”

“I prefer the term adaptable.”

“I think the problem is that you simply can’t make up your mind.”

We slipped out of the room and locked the door behind us.

I shrugged. “Maybe you have a point. Either way, whichever twin Pierre picks a fight with is probably our protagonist. As annoying as it is to let him buzz around, we don’t have much of a choice.”

But I can think up what awful things I’ll do to him once the plot doesn’t need him anymore.

“What will you do if Noelle turns out to be the protagonist, Master? Will you tear her from Jean and throw her to her stalker, Loic?”

“All I can do is hope that Lelia is the real protagonist.”

I wanted Jean and Noelle to be happy, if that was at all possible. Even as beaten up as he was, Jean had called out her name. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t have feelings for her.

“Hey, uh, what are we going to do about Elle here?” I asked. “What should we feed her?”

“I will tend to her diet,” said Luxion.

If nothing else, I would look after the old girl until Jean made a full recovery.

 

***

 

While Angie and Livia were still in bed, another letter arrived from Leon. They eagerly took turns reading it. He’d written about the happenings in the Alzer Republic, and since neither of them had any interest in digital mail, Cleare had printed a copy for them.

As Livia reached the end, her face fell. “So Mr. Leon is looking after an elderly dog, huh?”

“Seventeen is pretty old for a dog,” Angie agreed. “It must be a lot of work to take care of her.”

Leon had said as much in the letter. The dog basically required full-time nursing. However, Leon did note that Luxion was helping him out.

“Still, he seems to be in good spirits,” said Angie. “My only concern is whether he’s getting along a little too well with the girls over there.”

Living apart like this so soon after their engagement made Angie uneasy. She couldn’t help but worry that Leon might be cheating.

“I-It will be fine!” Livia assured her, sounding flustered. “He’s said how much he misses us. And besides, he’s not the type to cheat.”

Angie flashed her a small smile. “Oh, you never know,” she teased. “He sure can get a girl’s heart pounding. If I were one of those Alzer girls, I wouldn’t pass up that kind of opportunity.”

“W-well, true.” Tears welled in Livia’s eyes. “He is an amazing guy, but I couldn’t take it if he cheated.”

“I’m sorry,” Angie cooed. “Don’t get upset. I don’t want him to cheat either, but that problem does seem to be haunting us a bit.” Clarice and Deirdre worried her quite a bit. If she and Livia let their guard down, some enterprising girl would swoop in and steal Leon from under their noses.

“I already warned him,” Angie said. “But if we keep pressing him about it, he’ll grow annoyed. We’re in a real bind.”

“Can’t we just write that cheating is a no-no?”

Angie shook her head. “Leon wouldn’t be very happy if he thought we suspected him, especially if he hadn’t done anything. What do you think, Cleare?”

The robot jolted in midair, taken aback by the question. Angie closed in on her, and Cleare quickly retreated.

“Hey! What’s going on with you?”

“N-nothing!” said Cleare. “I’m just in the middle of an experiment, and I think he’d be a bit, ah, put out if he found out what I’d been up to.”

“Hold on. What’s this ‘experiment’ you’re talking about?”

“I-I am afraid I…can’t really disclose the details at this time!” sang Cleare. She really was much more free-spirited than Luxion.

Livia frowned. “Cleary, you know better!”

At this scolding, Cleare burst out crying and fled the room—not that her round little robot body could produce actual tears. “You two are so cruel! You know I’m doing my best for you!”

“H-hey!”

“Cleary?!”

Angie and Livia scrambled after the errant AI.