As I walked with Irina to the center of the stage, she whispered this in my ear:
“I won’t let your determination go to waste. I don’t intend to hold back.” (Irina)
I looked at Irina in surprise, and she smiled gently once again.
I don’t understand why she’s looking at me with such an expression.
It just seemed like the plan went wrong somewhere.
I don’t know where it went wrong, but it’s up to the protagonist, Allen, to save Irina.
Without cooperation between the protagonist and the heroines, they won’t be able to defeat the evil god, and there’s a high possibility that this world itself will head towards the bad ending.
My own life and death don’t matter at this point, I just didn’t want the heroines to get caught up in this and die.
…Well, I guess things will work out somehow.
There’s no helping it at this point.
For now, I will continue to focus on clearing Irina’s bad reputation.
The spectator seats at the school’s arena are full, with everyone badmouthing me and cheering for Irina.
This is going exactly as I planned, and it shows that the strategy is proceeding according to plan.
“Lazy bastard! Get your ass kicked by Irina-san already!” (Spectator)
“Someone who mocks others’ efforts deserves to get beaten up!” (Spectator)
Such jeers are being thrown around in abundance.
You guys are so fickle1!
Whatever you bunch of nobodies say won’t affect me!
Fuwahahah, I know something about Irina that even you guys don’t—like the color of her underwear!
There’s no way I would be swayed by your trivial insults!
As I stood in the center of the duel arena, facing Irina while recalling her underwear, she inexplicably sent me a cold gaze.
“I’m starting to feel like it might be best to crush you with all my might regardless of your determination.” (Irina)
“W-Why… Was it obvious that I was recalling the massive stash of underwear in Irina’s drawer…” (Louis)
“It seems like I should definitely go all out and crush you. …Just don’t die, okay?” (Irina)
Gyaaah!
She’s totally pissed!
I involuntarily shivered as Irina approached with the tip of the wooden sword pointed at me while laughing lightly.
Well, that was my fault.
But in the end, I did manage to get her motivated, so I suppose that’s a good thing.
Despite her saying she wouldn’t hold back earlier, there were small traces of her not being able to bring herself to go all out against me somewhere.
But now, it’s like her determination has become one hundred times stronger.
I can feel her resolve to thoroughly crush me, no matter how much I flatter her or apologize my way out of it.
As we faced each other, a slender woman approached us.
By the way, she’s flat-chested.
She has short, silky blonde hair and a beautiful face with a somewhat strong-willed expression.
She is one of the High Elves and also the principal of this school.
She is none other than Seleniel Lilliana.
There are already rumors going around about her being alive for several hundred years or not alive at all.
Just so you know, her exact age isn’t even listed in the official game materials.
“Now then, we shall begin the duel between Louis von Armstrong and Irina von Luccaria!” (Seleniel)
As Principal Seleniel raised her right hand and made the declaration, the audience erupted in excitement.
The sound of a *gong* resonated, announcing the start of the duel.
Of course, I’m just here to spectacularly meet my villainous end.
I continued to provoke and taunt Irina in a loud voice that everyone in the audience could hear.
“Heyyyy, miss (nee-san), aren’t you trying a bit too hard? You’re wayyy too serious, desperately working like your life depends on it – seriously, it’s like, sooo boring! Hehehe, if you lose to me now, it’s game over for you!” (Louis)
I seem to have turned into a bit of a “gal”, but oh well, it’s quite fun.
I was hoping that Irina would get more worked up but…
— Well, looks like that didn’t work.
Irina lightly nods and sends me a warm look that seems to say, “Yeah, yeah, I understand what you’re trying to do. I know you’re just pretending.”
What’s with that sweet gaze?
Did I accidentally snap her back to reality?
Of course, I wanted to have some super sweet lovey-dovey romcom moments with the heroines!
But that’s not what I was aiming for!
I need more of a cold, disdainful look as if you’re looking down on me!
But it seems quite difficult to anger Irina now.
Let’s try attacking to gauge the situation.
“Here we go, Irina! I’m not going to apologize for what I’m about to do.” (Louis)
Saying that I kicked off the ground and closed in on Irina.
Of course, my movement was painfully slow.
No wonder I can’t even beat a simple slime.
I wonder if I have even less strength and stamina compared to my previous life.
“Heheh! What’s with that slowness? Is he trying to make us laugh?” (Spectator)
“Hahahah! ‘I’m not going to apologize for what I’m about to do’? What an idiot!” (Spectator)
At least the audience seems to be reacting as they should.
Now, if only Irina could take it seriously…
“Uraaaaaaah!” (Louis)
I shouted as I swung the wooden sword at Irina.
Of course, she easily avoided it.
However, I decided to give an overreaction.
“W-What?! You dodged my attack!” (Louis)
And yes— the audience erupted in laughter.
With my current performance, I could probably have the entire nation rolling in laughter.
Could it be that I have the potential to be an entertainer?
As I was pondering about such useless thoughts, it seemed Irina couldn’t endure hearing people smack talk me any longer. She was glaring around, seemingly about to shout in frustration.
Irina is kind-hearted and has a strong sense of pride.
She probably can’t stand hearing people say bad things about the one person who saved her.
However, if things continue like this, the plan will completely fall apart.
If Irina ends up defending me, it might even make it much harder to clear her bad reputation.
While one could interpret that she is defending the lazy me out of kindness, it might also be interpreted as her being too timid to defeat me.
To completely erase Irina’s bad reputation, it’s better to have her go all out against me right here right now.
With that in mind—
“Hey, Irina. Come to think of it, you had a lot of white panties, but don’t they get stained easily?” (Louis)
I whispered that into her ear.
Of course, I adjusted my voice so that only she could hear.
The effect seemed to be significant because she blushed all the way up to her ears and shot me a furious glare.
“…Hey, don’t you have any delicacy?” (Irina)
“Well, you know, there was one that seemed a little stained, so I was just curious.” (Louis)
“…………!” (Irina)
Of course, there wasn’t any underwear with stains on it.
Or rather, I hadn’t paid that much attention.
Back then, I was too busy looking for the notes.
Irina swung the wooden sword with full force with tears in her eyes.
Right now, if she was playing baseball, this would have definitely been a home run.
To no one’s surprise, I was sent flying with my body bending into a curve and slammed against the wall of the arena before losing consciousness.
＋＋＋
Three days later, I finally regained consciousness and found myself summoned to the principal’s office.
“Sigh… At this rate, you’ll be expelled. So, what are you going to do, Louis?” (Seleniel)
Principal Seleniel sighed while holding her head in her hands.
On top of being the principal and a high elf, she is also one of the heroines in this story.
Since it is a fantasy-themed game, having an elf as one of the heroines is… well, quite expected.
However, somehow, it seemed like there was a connection between her and the supposed biggest mob character, Louis-kun.
As surprising as it may be, Louis has quite a wide range of connections.
He seems to be playing a much more central role in this game than I anticipated, and there is a chance that his death could serve as some kind of turning point for the story.
If that’s the case, it would explain the reason for introducing this seemingly useless mob character, and his exit from the scene would also make sense.
While still speculative, it’s not as far-fetched as it might seem.
Setting that aside, I don’t understand why there is a connection between me and Seleniel.
Though I don’t understand it, I’ll make use of whatever resources I have.
After all, there are still plenty of heroines in this school that I want to help.
Of course, the elf who’s glaring at me right now is also one of them.
And so, I got down on my knees and pleaded to be allowed to stay in the academy.
“Please, Principal-sama! I don’t want to be expelled yet! Please spare me from expulsion!” (Louis)
Lately, I feel that I have been doing nothing but kneeling…
Oh well, whatever.
Whatever it takes to save the heroines I guess.
As I bowed my head, Seleniel let out another sigh.
“Sigh… Of course, if you genuinely reflect on your actions, I can cancel the expulsion… But, are you sure? Being expelled would definitely be easier, you know?” (Seleniel)
Upon hearing those words, I lifted my head and asked her.
“Why do you say that being expelled is easier?” (Louis)
“…Don’t you understand? If you continue attending this academy like this, you might end up being ridiculed and bullied for the rest of your life here.” (Seleniel)
Ah, that’s it.
With a confident smile, I spoke up.
“I don’t care what the nobodies say. As long as the people I want to protect are safe, that’s all that matters.” (Louis)
Upon hearing my words, Seleniel’s eyes widened in surprise.
She then stared at me for a while, seemingly trying to figure out my true intentions. Eventually, she let out a third sigh, as if giving up.
“…Alright. If you put it that way, I’ll cooperate. After all, you’re Ren’s son.” (Seleniel)
Ren.
That’s my father’s name.
Hmm, I see.
It seems like her connection is more with my father than with me.
“However, there must still be some form of punishment. People around won’t be satisfied with just the duel.” (Seleniel)
“Well, that makes sense.” (Louis)
I nodded in agreement with Seleniel’s words.
Of course, I never expected to get away scot-free.
And so, I ended up with a one-week suspension as punishment.
“I wondered how this would turn out but… Ren, your son is growing up to be quite similar to you.” (Seleniel)
＋＋＋
Hooray for the NEET (confinement) lifestyle.
Not working is truly the best.
Maybe I’m fine with a lifetime of suspension, after all.
As I was thoroughly enjoying my suspended life in the dormitory, I heard a voice—
“…Hey, Louis. Are you there?” (Irina)
It was 2 AM in the middle of the night.
For some reason, the main heroine of this scenario, Irina, managed to sneak into my room..
How did things end up like this?
TL notes:
Thanks for reading!
The heroine roster is getting quite big lol. Good thing I have the character list, otherwise, I would have forgotten all of the names.
The elf has definitely fought alongside Louis’s father during the war.
Thanks for the chapter!
What? Will there be a night battle?
Honestly, I don’t like female elves. Yes, they are immortal and beautiful outside. However, I can’t stand it when I die. That my woman sex with my descendants. Jeez, it is horrifying.