Chapter 92 : The Male Students’ Despair

TL:SummerPeanut

I will stop using single quotes for party names Red Lotus and Reimei now since most readers should know by now.

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8 July 2030.

“Is this the end, I wonder?”

Glasses senior asked me, and I nodded back.

“That’s likely the case...there's nothing left but magic beasts that can't even be called mobs or shrubs...”

Then Ike, while looking satisfied, replied.

“Alright, now Red Lotus can head off on the nomination quest without a care in the world. Well, maybe it would have been better if the school's teaching staff took initiative, but this does well to cut off any hesitation."

As expected Ike who is full of responsibility. And glasses senior is another solid personality too...

“By the way, Mars, you and Ellie have incredible detection skills. Well, in regards to Ellie, she somehow knows the magic beasts’ location though… Thanks to that, this is the first time I've hunted so many magic beasts in this area."

We were here to exterminate magic beasts near the town of Regan.

By 'we' I mean Red Lotus and S class freshmen.

It was just the right magic beast extermination for us.

Misha's level is low so it’s good training for her.

Well, her level didn't get any higher.

“Where is your team going, Brother Ike?”

“We're going to Ede’s or rather Count Mesalius's territory. It’s a bit of a messy quest so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Hmm. I'm going to do the various leftover work now and see if I can get out on 10 July. Mars. Take care of the Lister Imperial School. But are you guys going to be nominated on a quest too?"

“We don't know because we haven't been told anything yet...”

“Hmm... That's strange...normally I think the quest would have been handed down by now.”

“I'll ask Duke Regan later. See you tomorrow then."

On the way back to the dormitories, I asked Baron about the quest.

Apparently, Baron and the others have already been notified by Duke Regan about the August quest.

It appears that they are going with other senior students to various cities to get acquainted with the nobles and guildmasters.

In other words, they are going to make connections.

They say this task also goes around the rest of S class so the nobles and guildmasters will remember us better.

“Why are we the only ones without quests?"

When I muttered that, Baron said.

“Maybe it has something to do with...the harem party? Maybe they thought if you guys got a quest, you will brew something up again. Then Lister Imperial School’s reputation will drop so Reimei could possibly be waiting at the school the whole time...”

Baron has made a plausible case.

It would undoubtedly be...frustrating for the requester if a harem party came...after submitting a request...

9 July 2030.

“Duke Regan, may I have a word?”

I knocked on the principal's door.

I was told I could come in so I went in and Ike is there too.

“Um, I have a question for you...but if you're just talking to Brother Ike, should I come back to visit you later?”

When I said that, Ike replied.

“Aah, I’m done with my business. I'll be leaving tomorrow so I just came to report about that. And is your business about the quest?"

“Yes...Reimei is a harem party so I was wondering if the quests aren't coming due to that... The party members seem to be worried about this too..."

Then Ike said.

“Well then, I'll take my leave first now.”

And as he was about to leave the principal's office, Duke Regan chimed.

“Ike, wait a minute. Since it’s just nice, I want you to listen together."

She held Ike back.

“To tell the truth. There are a lot of quests coming to Reimei. We've never had so many quests in our history and we can never handle them all. Evidently, we won the previous Freshmen Combat Tournament’s complete victory over the Royal School of Syrians in the martial arts division and the overall championship. So the nobles of this country are desperate to forge relationships…from the dukes to the counts of the Lister Confederacy, and even from the royalty of the Kingdom of Balkus. We're not even sure which quests we should let you take on."

Apparently, the opposite of what I expected was happening. This made me feel a little assured.

“The origin of the Reimei party is quite special.

Mars is the second son of the Count of the Balkus Kingdom.

Clarice is the eldest daughter of the Viscount of the Zarkham Kingdom.

Ellie is the daughter of the former Duke of Syrians.

Misha is a rare elf in this world.

Lastly, Karen is the second daughter of the first duke of the Lister Confederacy.

We at the school are all the more struggling with this...

You shouldn't go to someone who is close to the current Duke of Syrians but we will receive complaints of favoritism if you take the quest of the Duke of Fresvald..."

It's going to be hard to stop the idle grumblings from Duke Regan's mouth... is what I am thinking when Ike opened his mouth.

“Isn't this a very enviable dilemma? I think only Duke Regan can be bothered with this kind of thing, right? If you can't decide, why don't you consult Reimei as well?"

When Ike said that, Duke Regan responded below.

“Certainly, that should be considered. Then I will give you the quests we have narrowed down, and you can choose which ones you like. If you can narrow it down to at least three, I'll decide the rest.”

After receiving more than 10 quest forms from Duke Regan, I returned to the classroom after school.

When I explained the situation to the members of Reimei, they were all relieved.

The worst that could happen was that the party would have to break up.

“What quests do you guys want to take?”

I asked, and one of them was the first to answer.

“I want to go to the sea!”

When the runaway elf said that, everyone decided to go to the sea even though they had not even seen the quest.

Is it true that summer equals to the sea in this world, too?

Thinking that there would be no such a convenient quest, I rolled up the quest forms given to me by Duke Regan and...actually found one... Let me check the content first…eh?

A week of enjoying the sea with the Marquis San Marina

Is this a quest? Don't you have something more for us to do, like some subjugations or errands? Showing this to everyone is only going to make them more excited... Well, I've always wanted to go to the ocean too. I haven't been to the ocean in my previous life... Huh? I can't swim...at least not in my previous life...

July 10, 2030.

The members of Red Lotus set out for the Mesalius territory first thing in the morning.

Everyone had an obscure look on their faces. They must have a very difficult quest awaiting them from now on.

In comparison, the members of the Reimei team are ...

“Clarice, what would you do if you are picked on by someone better looking than Mars?”

“What about Eririn?"

Karen and Misha are asking Clarice and Ellie respectively.

“I’m...devoted to Mars… I suppose?"

Hey. What's with the question mark?

"There's no one cooler than... Mars. And...even if there was. ...unlike Clarice... we are bound by our hearts... so no cheating."

That's as expected of Ellie. But when I said that, Clarice... I knew it, the usual fights started... This one is the usual development.

The Reimei girls are going shopping girls-only swimsuits shopping spree after school today while I’m going to Duke Regan to ask her for this quest. They are all thinking hard about which swimsuit to wear.

Then, after school, I told Duke Regan that we would take Marquis of San Marina's quest.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I thought you guys would never accept this quest but... you won't regret it, will you?"

“I don't know what would happen to those four if I told them the plan to go to the sea is canceled now. At the very least, I think I’ll be in danger...”

"Yes...but...there’s actually more than that... Well, okay. I’ll be sending out a note that you will be accepting the request of Marquis San Marina so Reimei’s departure will be around July 20. Please let everyone know. Do your best...and don't work too hard."

Somehow it felt like she said some meaningful words to me... Today is the first time in a while that I’ll be alone because the other four female members are hanging out together...or rather it’s been years that I've had to eat dinner by myself.

When I was in Japan, I went to movies, dinner... and even yakiniku*1 by myself.

It is probably the best luxury to always be able to enjoy dinner with Clarice, Ellie, Karen, and Misha.

I usually have dinner in town at night but today I decided to have dinner at the male dormitory.

Huh? This might be my first time having dinner at the male dormitory.

I use the facility every morning but my breakfast timing is so early that I almost never see other students.

I didn't expect the evening meal in the male dorm to be so crowded.

As I was standing in line for the serving of food, I was approached by a man in a blue robe.

He seemed to be a B class student. Behind the man, there are many men.

Each robe of their robe is a different color.

"Yo, playboy. You having dinner alone today?"

What? Is he trying to get me into trouble? He must have seen the suspicious look on my face.

"Hey, hey. I'm not trying to get you involved in anything. I apologize if I offended you. No one in this grade is trying make trouble with you or make you feel uncomfortable. They've all seen the Freshman Combat Tournament, and the general's match was a blast. It’s just that there’s hasn’t the opportunity to talk to you, and right now I just happened to see you so I decided to call you out. Can I have dinner with you?"

Come to think of it, I've talked to girls but I've never had a chance to talk to boys from other classes.

Huh? When did I talk to girls in other classes? I talked to them on the way I go to the principal's office, or in the student council room... Well, I have a lot of opportunities to talk to them.

I'm grateful to be approached in such a friendly manner by a person of the same gender.

“Of course. I've been a bit lonely on my own too, and I'd appreciate it if you'd do that."

I said that to the guy who approached me, and I was surrounded, not just by the guys around that guy, but by all the boys who were here.

“Eh!? What's going on?"

“There’s just that many guys who want to talk to you. Well, it's mainly about your female relations.”

I was being bombarded with questions from the boys while I was eating.

Who are you dating? Who do you like? How far have the relationships gone? etcs...Their questions were really all about female relationships.

They said they had a lot of other questions they wanted to ask me above first because if I didn't, their youth would be wasted according to them.

So I answered what I could.

“I'm not…in a relationship. As for who do I like... I do like them all, but if I had to choose one, it would be Clarice. As for how far have I gone in my relationship... healthy relationship."

The boys went crazy at my words and said.

“Yesssss! Now, I can officially go for Clarice! I don't care if I lose in academics, martial arts or magic but I'm not going to lose this one!"

Everyone else is shouting about who they're aiming for too.

Hmm? I didn't lie but maybe I didn't say enough.

“Well, there's something I want to add. As for our relationship, it's already been decided that Clarice and Ellie are my fiancées. Clarice will be my legal wife and Ellie is the mistress. I thought it should be a well-known fact..."

When I said this, the boys all made a complete reversal and cried.

Some are even seriously crying that their youth is over, while others are dropping their chopsticks in abandon.

“S-so you're saying that Lady Karen and Misha aren't engaged with you right?”

He asked me with his remaining energy.

“Aah. Duke Fresvald and Teacher Sasha told me that they wanted me to have them as mistresses but my father and mother said that I am not ready for the third yet so they put the talk on the shelf for now.”

Apparently, these words were the last straw...everyone is covering their heads or faces while sobbing.

They were saying things like there’s no hope anymore or there’s reason to keep living anymore...

I couldn't stand this atmosphere anymore therefore I finished my dinner quickly and left the place as quickly as I could.

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TL’s note:

1. https://upload . wikimedia . org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Yakiniku_002.jpg. Was quel ga dsier eta.