Chapter 56: Trigger Condition for a Tsundere
Folia: “Razé-chan!”
Carna: “Razé.”
Razé: “I missed you two!”
Razé broke into a smile after seeing her angel and goddess for the first time in a few days. She felt they looked cute in their plain clothes.
Razé was back at the academy. Today they were going to have the first-day assembly.
Carna: “This is a souvenir from me. I’ll give it to you now in case I forget it later.”
Razé: “Waa-. Thank you for always bringing me souvenirs. This is from me. It’s something simple, but I hope you’ll like it.”
Razé passed a paper bag to Carna after taking her gift.
Carna: “What is it?”
Razé: “Aroma oil. It has a very good smell so I wanted to give them to you. Folia, I’ll give yours later at the room.”
“Thank you!” Folia replied with sparkle in her eyes.
Carna: “I’m happy for the gift but wasn’t you busy at work? Did you overstrain yourself to make time buying the souvenirs?”
Razé laughed when she saw Carna looking at her with a worried face. “I wasn’t that busy until I couldn’t have time to go shopping. I’m fine. Besides, I can use teleportation.”
Carna: “Really?”
Razé: “Yes. I had some free time at work and this summer holiday was very fulfilling. Don’t worry about it.”
Carna smiled gently, perhaps because she was relieved to hear Razé’s reply.
Razé then headed to the dormitory to prepare for the first-day assembly while enjoying her reunion with the angel and goddess. She received the key and uniform from the matron and then went back to her room with Folia. She exchanged souvenirs with Folia, unpacked her luggage, and then changed into her uniform. This uniform was embedded with a special magic circle. Except for the entrance ceremony, the students were not allowed to bring the uniform out of the academy.
Razé finished changing her clothes and waited for Folia. She was reminded of something while she was staring at her angel.
Hmm? Lords Moldir is the school’s priest… Is it okay for a school staff to have a relationship with a student?
The ear cuffs given by Zale swayed on Folia’s ears.
…Isn’t this what you called the forbidden love? Will Lord Moldir be okay…?
Folia was 17 this year, while Zale was 27… Razé thought this 10 years age gap was acceptable, but if she looked at the reality, she realized that the relationship was in a grey zone. She wasn’t bothered because their feelings were mutual, but Razé was reminded of the knowledge from her previous life.
She looked at Folia, who was putting on her make-up and checking her appearance in front of the mirror.
It’s an otome game after all. There’s no need to worry! She decided to forget the morality of her previous life for her angel’s sake.
* * *
All the students gathered in the main hall. The first-day assembly went smoothly, and the teachers explained about the Battle Fiesta once again this year.
Last year, Razé was hurt by an unexpected intruder. But this year they were confident that there wouldn’t be any forbidden magic. Sergio’s invention had made up for the security deficiency. Thanks to that, the winter tournament last year had ended without any problems too.
However, that didn’t mean that they could let their guard down. It was very likely that there was a spy from Magenda in this academy. And they had started to monitor the suspect already. If it was up to Razé, she wanted to immediately crush the person who were hostile to Carna-sama. But they had decided to leave the suspect at large to monitor their movement.
Razé looked at Harlens who was on the stage. At the academy, he was her supervisor. As the principal of the academy, he was worried too, but they made the decision because they had Razé Orphan here. Razé felt honored by their high expectation but she preferred if there wouldn’t be a situation where she personally needed to make a move.
Well. As long as I’m here, I’ll protect these golden eggs even if it cost my life.
Her passion was the same as when she first entered school. However, she was much more enthusiastic than before, probably because she loved her school life. After all, she had become a soldier since she was young, so she rarely had a chance to have a relationship with normal people. She had never expected that she would be able to go to school like this.
Of course, she was unaware of the hidden reason which was to keep the Wolf Fang in the country. Her weakness was that she tended to underestimate herself. Even if something did happen at this school, there was no way that the country would negligently kill the Wolf Fang. But this had never crossed her mind.
“Next, we will announce the tournament chart.”
Battle Fiesta’s tournament chart emerged on the stage. At the same time, match number magically appeared on each student’s hand. Razé’s number was Y2-1.
This chart was also posted at the school building. Although Razé had a special identity, she didn’t know who her opponent was. She squinted her eyes looking for the name on the chart. After a while, she found the match number Y2-1.
“Huh?” Razé was shocked when she saw her opponent’s name. It was Luca Fein Streinge.
She double checked to make sure that she didn’t make a mistake. Her opponent was that Luca, the son of the Minister of Finance, one of the love interests in the otome game.
He seemed to be surprised too, and their eyes met when he turned to look at her. Luca immediately turned his eyes away. Razé also felt awkward as she pushed her hairs behind her ears.
This is way too unexpected…
Honestly, Razé was not close[1] with Luka. And he also must feel the same way too. Among the main casts of the otome game, Luca was the only one that Razé rarely interacted with.
Nobody could get along well with every person in their life. It was only normal to have a type or two that they couldn’t get along with. Whether it was her previous life or the present life, and regardless of this world being an otome game, it was the same.
Razé didn’t really hate him either, so she usually kept a certain distance from him without offending him. She didn’t think that he would be her opponent in the upcoming Battle Fiesta.
This is so awkward…
Luka had a typical aristocratic attitude. Just like a lofty aristocrat, he initially had a harsh attitude even towards the angelic Folia. Well, the protagonist halo broke that wall down easily.
Basked in the protagonist halo, Luca had achieved a special technique. It was a sacred technique that only worked for Folia. It was called ‘tsundere’. One thing to keep in mind here was that, very unfortunately, this technique could only work for Folia.
If any commoner girls including Razé tried to approach him carelessly, he would scorn them with his cute face. And according to Carna’s Book of Prophecies, ‘cute’ was a taboo word for him.
Razé sneaked a glance at Luka while avoiding catching his eyes. When she saw him looking at the angel Folia, her cheeks were twitching.
Luca-sama is the only love interest who clearly likes Folia …
Luca’s personality was perfectly match for a love interest of an otome game. But… Unfortunately, Folia chose Cardinal Moldir, who was (probably) deceased in the otome game. They were already lovers. There was no chance for him at all. With enlightened eyes, she put her hand together and muttered to herself, “Luca-sama. You’ve worked hard.”
Razé was unaware that Adis, who was sitting at the back, was watching her suspiciously…
This marked the beginning of our second Battle Fiesta.
[1] 苦手な人: I’m not sure how to accurately translate this. It’s not hate, not like, and not indifferent either. ‘Dislike’ might be a little too strong. It’s that uncomfortable feeling you have towards someone caused by personality differences, so you tend to stay away from them. ↩