Anoseka Volume 1 Chapter 7

This is MTL. So, I cannot guarantee that the translation 100% contextually accurate or appropriate.

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Chapter 07 "Notebook"

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Part 1

About a week has passed since the bullying of Marie began.

When I peeked into the back of the school building after school, I saw Marie taking out her burnt personal belongings from the incinerator.

"There's nothing I can do about it if it's burned."

She gave up her personal belongings that were burned and put them back in the incinerator.

I was watching the scene from the shadows, and my heart began to ache.

"How can she be so tough? If it were me, I'd be leaving after a few days."

Marie is too strong mentally.

[Could it be the difference in growing up? In both her previous life and this life, Marie was placed in an even harsher environment than Master. She had to be mentally strong to survive.]

"——Does she really want to go to such lengths to achieve her ideal happiness?"

If it were me, I'd compromise right away.

Stay low profile, generate no unnecessary strife, and be happy with the happiness that is available.

That's the key to living my life.

However, since I died young in my previous life, the key to this secret is not very convincing.

[Are you sure you don't want to move, Master, even after seeing this situation? If you order me to do so, I can track down the main culprit and hunt them down.]

"It wouldn't be funny if I left it to you."

The performance of Luxion, a paid item, is unparalleled in this world.

You could say it is absolute.

After all, he's the guy who could win a fight with the world, not just a country.

[——So, are you going to continue to stand by and do nothing?]

I am troubled.

If I lend a hand here, I will have to be prepared to do so accordingly.

I hate trouble.

In the first place, the cause of everything is Marie's actions.

——And yet, why? Before I knew it, my legs were moving.

Luxion follows.

[You're not being honest.]

"Noisy!"

I stepped out of the shadows and approached Marie in front of the incinerator.

"Yo."

When I called out to her, Marie turned around, looked at me —— and immediately turned away.

"What do you want? If you're going to lecture me, can you leave? I don't have free time like you do."

"You're always having another argument ready."

When I remember my little sister's foul mouth, I feel annoyed —— and strangely nostalgic.

Could it be because of that? I couldn't leave Marie more than this.

"Why don't you just give up? If the bullying escalates any further, it will be irreversible."

Bullying problems existed in the schools of my previous life, but the ones in this world are worse.

Because of the world in which war is commonplace, students have an unusually low sense of aversion to violence.

When it comes to the use of brute force, all of them are not afraid to use their hands.

Even though they are nobles, they are strangely bloodthirsty —— anyway, I think it should stop here, for Marie's sake.

But Marie stood up and looked at me and snickered.

"You don't understand anything. Even if I stop here from going after those five guys, the girls won't forgive me. I have to go out with one of those five to shut them up."

"——You knew from the beginning?"

From Marie's attitude, it seems that she expected the extent of this.

Is that mean she has struggled in her previous life not just for show?

"I have no choice but to rise to the top."

"Looks like you're headed for doom to me."

"If I succeed, it's a big chance for me to turn things around."

"Even if it's risking your life?"

"Don't talk to me like it's a gamble. I hate gambling."

"No, it's a gamble no matter how you look at it, right? And the odds are too bad."

"You'll never know until you try!"

If you succeed, you will probably achieve a turnaround, but I think the probability of failure is higher.

I mean, can Marie, who is not even the protagonist in the first place, date five of the capture targets?

"I hate to say this, but... You and Olivia are not the same type, no matter how you look at it, right? If those five guys are attracted to Olivia, that means"

When I make it difficult to say, Marie guesses and hides her chest.

"What are you looking at, you pervert!"

"Was there something to see? I mean, I'm not just talking about breasts. I'm talking about personality, looks, and atmosphere? You and Olivia are totally different types."

"T-Those five will care more about what's on the inside than what's on the outside."

Marie must have noticed it, too.

Could it be that I and Olivia are not the same type of people, and that I may not be the favorite of those five? She thought.

Still, she seems to have a faint hope that the five capture targets will evaluate her based on what is inside rather than what is outside.

So I let out a deep sigh in front of Marie.

"Do you really think you have a chance against Olivia-san based on what is inside?"

"T-That's! That's——"

She didn't say it in words, but she thinks that if she can seduce one of the capture targets, she can get one of them! Or so Marie thinks such a thing.

In the first place, her inside is too bad because it lacks sincerity.

I can't say that her inside is wonderful even in flattery.

Marie moves her mouth to argue, but she is aware of it and no words come out.

Finally, I urge Marie to give up, as she shuts her mouth.

"You don't have to compete with Olivia-san, do you? You should find your own happiness. If you want, I'll help you."

When I reach out my hand, Marie turns her head and shakes it off.

"——I don't like the sermon from the top."

"Ha?"

"You're lucky. You got this cheat item called Luxion, so you can be a winner for the rest of your life. But not me. I —— haven't got anything yet!"

Saying that, Marie rushes out and walks away from me.

I pull back my outstretched hand and scratch my head.

"What a stubborn girl"

Luxion, who had been watching my persuasion, blames me for my earlier behavior.

[I doubt that you are really trying to persuade her. There must have been a better way to put it.]

"I'm not a good talker, no way I will be able to convince her skillfully"

[Master has a tendency to be harsh towards Marie. Is it what you called physiologically impossible?]

It seems that I am tougher on Marie than I think I am.

I have some things to be remorseful about, but the stubborn Marie is also a problem.

As I ponder, Luxion teases me.

[——No, or is it the mindset of being mean to someone you like? I didn't think it would apply to Master, since the data shows that it tends to be more common at an early age. But it seems possible.]

"Oi!"

It was unclear whether Luxion himself intended to do so, but I couldn't help but feel that he was teasing me in terms of timing.

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Part 2

Around that time.

There were two girls in Marie's room in the girls' dormitory.

"Where the hell did that woman go!?"

"What are we going to do?! If we don't take her out quickly, Stephanie will!!"

"I hate it too!"

Stephanie had ordered them to come to Marie's room to take her out of the academy.

By the time they came to the room, they had searched all over the school, but could not find Marie.

They are frightened that they will not be able to carry out Stephanie's orders.

Then one of them notices something under Marie's bed.

"Ne~e, this is."

"It's not a travel bag. Why is she hiding this under the bed?"

When looking around the room, there is a lot of extra space due to the extremely small amount of personal belongings.

One of them opens the travel bag, and found inside are Marie's personal belongings.

But then she realizes.

To find a tattered notebook tucked away in the travel bag as if to hide it.

"——That Marie, why does she hide the notebook?"

"I mean, what language is this? I've never seen these before."

While the two girls are looking at a notebook written in a language they cannot read at all, another girl comes to Marie's room.

"I know where she is! She's outside!"

Hearing that, they leave the room.

In her hand was Marie's notebook.

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Part 3

Marie was outside the school when she ran away from Leon.

She wanders around the city in a daze.

Walking down the main street, Marie checked the amount of money she had on hand.

One banknote and several coins.

That's all Marie has.

"It's hard to buy food at a food stall with just this. I also have to buy burnt notebooks and writing materials, and then——"

There is not enough money.

In the face of the reality, Marie let out a deep sigh.

And at that moment, she stopped in front of a store that sells dresses.

Marie looks at the dresses in the show window and smiles weakly at the price tag.

"With the money I have, a dress is just a dream. A~Ah, when will I be able to dress up nicely and live an elegant life?"

Will such a future ever come? Maybe it's a world she'll never be a part of. ――That's what it seems like.

Feeling weak, Marie recalls Leon's words.

(That mob guy is terrible. You don't have to say that much. I understand that compared to Olivia, I'm not as good as her.)

She did not know Olivia's personality, but she still somehow guessed that she was better.

When she played that otome game, Marie was also disgusted by the personality of the protagonist.

All of Olivia's dialogue, which she sometimes inserted, was full of beautiful things.

Marie hated Olivia.

Don't know anything about the world, full of flowers in her head —— This is her evaluation of Olivia.

However, compared to what she is now, it is understandable that Olivia is better than her.

(Like dishonest, even I'm aware of that. But —— I still want to be happy. What's wrong with me wanting to be happy?)

As she stood pondering in front of the show window, the clerk noticed Marie.

As she tries to approach, Marie walks away from the store as if to escape.

It makes her feel ashamed of herself for running away, and it makes her cry even though she didn't shed a single tear when she was bullied.

That's when it happened.

"I've been looking for you."

Marie was confronted by a group of three girls who tangled with her.

"——You came again? You people never learn, do you."

Marie, who was puffing out her chest to be strong, was flustered when her gaze fell on a familiar notebook held by one of the girls.

"T-That's my notebook!"

Marie's reaction was enough for the girls to see the importance of the notebook.

The notebook was the one that contained the strategy information for that otome game that was so important to Marie.

For Marie now, it is an important item that will affect the future.

The corners of their mouths turn up and the three laugh.

"If you want it back, follow me. I will take you to a special place."

"Guh"

Marie had no choice but to follow the three girls.

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Part 4

When I returned to my room in the male dormitory, I was lying on my bed and looking at the ceiling.

"——Why do I have to worry about Marie?"

Ever since entering the school, I have been swept up in the actions of Marie, a fellow reincarnator.

It's almost time for the May Tea Party to begin.

A class on tea ceremony etiquette was also started, and the girls had to be invited like gentlemen.

Or rather, in that otome game school, where the purpose is marriage hunting, it is just the beginning.

Even though I come from a poor baron family in the countryside, if I can't marry, it's not good for the society.

This thing called public perception is very troublesome.

In a previous life, there is a way to live without worrying, but not in this world.

If my public perception is bad, not only me personally, but also my family will be harmed.

——In that sense, it's a really unpleasant world.

So, as for me, I want to concentrate on my marriage hunting, but —— I can't get Marie out of my mind.

If this were a story of colorful love, it would still make sense.

But not when it comes to Marie.

As a fellow reincarnated person who knows what happened to that otome game —— I'm worried that Marie will do something unnecessary.

"Making me worry about something I don't need to worry about, isn't she like my little sister"

I can't remember the face or name of my hateful sister now.

Since my reincarnation, my memory of that area has been very vague.

It was the same for Marie.

I turn over on the bed a few times, and Luxion approaches me.

[Master, there is an emergency.]

"What? Or rather, you're so close."

Luxion came up to mere inches from the tip of my nose, his red camera eyes glowing.

[Marie has been captured by sky pirates.]

"Ha?"

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Part 5

"That idiot, what is she doing?"

[The place is a warehouse district in the royal capital. Marie is being taken there by the girls.]

"If you notice it, stop it."

[Yes, so now —— Master, someone is here.]

As I leave the male dormitory and head toward the school gate, a girl who seems to have returned from outside comes in front of me.

"The protagonist and the others, huh?"

Luxion, who has disappeared, seems to want to rescue Marie, ignoring Olivia-san.

[Please get your priorities straight. We don't have time for Olivia and her group right now.]

"I've had no intention of getting involved from the start."

I just closed my mouth and walked quickly past Olivia and —— I passed next to His Highness Julius.

I can hear their conversation.

"I see His Highness Julius likes skewers"

"I love it. I'm glad you like it too."

Apparently, they were returning from playing outside.

I'm glad to see that the relationship is growing well here.

Then all that is left is to help Marie.

After passing by the two of them, I immediately ran out.

Luxion, who has vanished from sight, starts navigating me as it is.

[I will guide you to the destination in the shortest distance. And then —— I am also rushing the preparation of [Arroganz].]

"I didn't want to go on a rampage in the royal capital, though."

[It can't be helped.]

Leaving the school gate, we headed to the warehouse district in the royal capital.

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Part 6

Olivia, passing Leon, stops and looks back.

Then she saw Leon running.

Julius, imitating Olivia's actions, notices Leon in his line of sight.

"He's —— my classmate Bartfalt."

"Do you know him?"

"He's a well-known man. Before entering the academy, he was a successful adventurer. I hear he will be given the rank of baron in the future."

"He's an amazing person."

Olivia's honest admiration apparently made Julius jealous.

"Eventually, I'm going to take out my airship and go on an adventure. When I do, I'll do even better than he did. Then, will you come with me? It will be a fun trip with you."

Olivia smiles with a troubled look on her face when Julius invites her to join him.

"I rather prefer to stay in my room and read."

"I-Is that so? No, then I will prepare a room for you on the airship. You can study there as long as you like."

"E-Etto, even if you say so"

Olivia wondered how to refuse the invitation.

There was a figure looking down at two of them from the second floor of the school building.

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Part 7

Near a window on the second floor of the school building.

Looking down at Julius and Olivia with a blank expression on her face was Angelica.

Her followers were behind her, but they had shut their mouths in response to Angelica's mood.

Angelica says in a calm tone.

"——It seems my warning didn't reach that woman."

After giving her a warning a while ago, Angelica would be in no position to ignore it.

No, it's like she disrespected the kindness that was done with her warning in the first place.

She had let her off the hook once, and that was how Angelica felt about it.

When Angelica looks back, she is lit by the setting sun streaming in through the window.

Angelica's face was shaded and looked dark.

Within it, her red eyes seem to glow.

"I need to talk to that woman directly once."

The pressured entourage nodded in unison in reply.

"I-I'll call her right away."

"No, I have plans too. There is a meeting at His Highness' May tea party, so I'll call her afterwards and we'll talk."

"We'll make arrangements for that."

"——I leave it to you"

After saying so to her followers, Angelica turned her head out the window again.

There was Julius, looking quite happy, walking alongside Olivia.

(Even though he hadn't looked at me that way in years.)