T/N: This chapter is dedicated to my cookie donor, Yomna! I"m glad to hear that you are enjoying this one!!
Allied with a Dangerous Character
It"s here. The biggest crisis so far of Cecile Alldington"s life.
“Miss Alldington. May I have some of your time?” said a boy who had purposefully come to my cla.s.sroom to seek me out, despite having never exchanged even two words with me before. Even with our lack of an introduction though, he"s someone that I know frighteningly well. He has indigo colored hair and a handsome, intelligent face, and I already know that next semester, he will become the student council president.
“……Excuse me, but do I know you?”
Of course I do. All too well.
“My name is Gray Randolph. I"m in the grade above you.”
“I know.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, um, nothing.”
Why……! Why is this sort of event suddenly happening to me!? I thought that I wouldn"t have to speak with any of the game"s characters aside from Ashley and possibly the hidden capture target! Why is Gray Randolph suddenly taking the initiative to approach me!?
“What can I do for you?” I ask calmly, despite the chaos currently raging in my mind.
“Not here, I"d like to speak with you somewhere else….”
Are you perhaps referring to a place where there"s no one else around? That would be a bit…. troubling. Quite scary, really….
Without even waiting for me to reply, Gray grabs my hand and starts towing me out of the cla.s.sroom. Oswell looks troubled for a moment, acting like he wants to stop Gray from taking me, but then he seems to think better of it, possibly reminding himself that Gray is an uppercla.s.sman….
‘What are you waiting for? Help me!!" I cry in my head. You may or may not be dangerous, but at least you are safer to me than Gray!! According to my investigations, you are uncomfortable with seeing blood so that all but disqualifies you from being a yandere. That means you should be protecting me from the real yandere characters!!
The place that Gray ended up dragging me to is an empty cla.s.sroom. If I remember correctly, this room should be where Gray and the heroine often had their clandestine meetings during the game. It"s a place that only Gray seems to know about for some reason. Why would he bother to bring me here of all places…..?
And where did that gallant, princely type character of his disappear to? Gentlemen do not just whisk young women off to secluded areas like this!
“So, what is it that you want from me?”
“I"m not going to sugar coat it for you. Cecile Alldington, you need to leave this school. Immediately, if possible.”
Somehow, the color of his eyes look different… Is this really the same Gray that I know?
“…Why?”
“I don"t know if you"ll believe me or not, but if you continue attending this academy, next year your life will be in danger.”
“What?”
“I"m saying that you"re going to be killed.”
The magic that let"s you see the future hasn"t been discovered yet, and I"m sure that Gray didn"t have that sort of power in the game… So why does this boy seem so certain of his predictions? Enough to make such a confident declaration? The only people who should know that I"ll probably be killed off in the future are those who have actually played this game before, right?
“You need to believe me(俺:ore).”
Ah. He never used ‘ore" in the game….
“Randolph-senpai, do you like Otome games?”
“I"m a man, so of course not. The one who liked them was my little sister…… huh?”
“I quite liked your route in the game, Senpai. It also always topped the internet popularity polls.”
“Internet…. No way, you….”
Does this perhaps mean I have one less death flag to worry about?
“Formerly j.a.panese, I died when I was 17.”
“j.a.panese….. Seriously!”
Gray grabs a hold of my shoulders, looking excited.
“This is my first time meeting someone else who……”
“Same here.”
I"ve never met any other reincarnators before.
“I have no problem with it or anything, but I must say I am surprised. To think there really are men who get addicted to Otome Games. And a yandere one at that! You must be quite the enthusiast, Senpai.”
“Y-your wrong! My sister was the one who was obsessed! She was always playing it right in front of me without wearing headphones or anything, so I couldn"t help but overhear it….. And then she would always gush and rant to me about it afterward. That"s the only reason I was able to understand a bit of my situation when I reincarnated into this world….”
“When did you die in your previous life?”
“I was 18. I was from Hokkaido, by the way.”
“So you were a year older than me even in our past lives, huh? I was from Kanagawa Prefecture. I guess that means we probably didn"t know each other. I went to an all girls high school too, so we had even less a chance of meeting.”
“That mecca of babes!?”
“Ugh, really?”
He"s really taking no time in destroying Gray"s suave image. He keeps using words from j.a.pan that don"t exist in this world and he even called an all girls school a mecca of babes…. Even though, since there are no guys around, all the girls there have thrown away any traces of their femininity and put zero effort into looking good.
“Oh, by the way, when you see Leila Morton, do you ever get the urge to take her away and confine her all to yourself? If you have, would you kindly never come to speak to me again?”
“Who would think that!? Especially about her! She"s flat as a board!”
“Ugh, you"re the worst. Men are such superficial idiots!”
Whether it"s Oswell or Gray, the only thing they seem to care about is looks! My dear Ashley is the only one of the bunch who has any semblance of sensitivity.
“Anyway, since you"ve played the game before, shouldn"t you already know!? If you keep attending school like this, you are going to die next year. Doesn"t Cecile get killed no matter who"s route the heroine decides to take?”
“So you came to find me just in order to warn me, Senpai?”
“Well, I couldn"t just ignore you when I know you"re going to die, even if you are considered to be a villainess.”
‘It seems like he might actually be a decent human being." I think, surprised.
“Well, for now, as long as I don"t bully the heroine, the likelihood of me dying significantly decreases. If I"m being blunt, the possibility still isn"t completely zero, but that hardly matters. I can"t leave this academy.”
If I were to leave, that would mean I would have to disappear. And of course, my whereabouts would have to remain an absolute secret. That means that I wouldn"t be able to tell anyone, not even Ashley, where I was going. That boy swore his unwavering loyalty to me. I absolutely will not betray that trust. More than that, I can"t bear the thought of hurting him if I were to leave.
“But I heard that if it ends up being Ashley"s route, you"ll die no matter what happens?”
“Senpai, you sure do seem to know a lot. Are you quite certain you never played the game yourself?”
“I didn"t!! It"s just that my little sister would never shut up about it. ‘Cecile is so annoying! She deserves to be killed off!" She literally complained to me about you during every route. “
“You sound like you must have gotten along well with your little sister.”
That is exactly how I felt when I was playing the game too. I also couldn"t wait for someone to get rid of her.
“Ashley won"t kill me. He"s much too nice. And I also won"t be killed off by my followers. I made sure of that by refusing to make any friends here.”
“Can school even be fun like that?”
“We"re living in a magic fantasy world. Just that fact is enough to make every day exciting! So don"t you dare try to pity me.”
I guess the only person I need to worry about now is the hidden character. He"s a character that only players who have completed the game would know about. ….Someone who played the game…? Besides me…..!
“Senpai!!”
“Ah-…. Uh, yeah…..?” Gray says, startling at my sudden exclamation.
Looks like G.o.d hasn"t deserted me just yet…..!
“Did your sister ever say anything about the hidden character?”
“Hidden character? There was someone like that?”
“So you don"t know….?”
“I wasn"t exactly hanging off her every word! I barely managed to remember some of the more nasty things in the story.”
So you remembered about me?
“You numbskull! Doesn"t that mean you"re basically useless to me?”
“You-…… I went through all this racket cause I was worried about your life, and this is how you treat me!?”
“One more thing: Gray-sama would never speak like this, Senpai. He would never say anything so coa.r.s.e! You should speak more softly, and use sweeter words.”
“I can"t believe you call this character, ‘Gray-sama." Are you one of those crazy fangirls that can"t distinguish 2D from reality?”
Even though I finally met a fellow reincarnator, I don"t think I"ll be able to muster up any positive feelings for this guy. Really, the only thing I"ve gained from this is the knowledge that I no longer have anything to fear from the heroine taking Gray"s route. And a big woopdidoo to that. I"ve managed to learn absolutely nothing more about the hidden capture target, who has always been my greatest threat anyway.
“Do you truly understand though, Senpai? We have absolutely no information on the hidden character. He could be anyone, and his personality could be anything. There is even a possibility that he will be a devilish last boss sort of character. Or literally Satan. He might actually destroy the whole world, you know?”
“There"s no way Satan would appear in an Otome game.”
“So naive. Yandere character"s are probably even more cruel than Satan, you know? Love can make people do terrifying things. It is all-encompa.s.sing and can give someone obsessed with it unbelievable power.”
“It"s because of these unrealistic fantasies that you probably never had a boyfriend, Alldington.”
“And it"s your utter lack of delicacy that probably prevented you from ever having a girlfriend, Randolph-senpai.”
It may be true that I never had a boyfriend, but that was only because I never had the chance to meet any boys at my all girls school. And that"s not just an excuse. It"s pure fact!
“Well, whatever the case, you probably know more about this world than I do. At most, the only things I can remember are about you and the heroine. I know the appearances of the capture targets, the basic premise of the game, and I remember a few of the major parts in the plot that my sister told me about, but that"s it.”
“I figured as much….”
I think there is no longer any benefit to me interacting with this man further. I guess it"s about time that I go back to the cla.s.sroom.
“Shall we work together, Cecile Alldington?”
“…..How so?”
“This world is being completely overrun by those insane b*stards. So for our safety, we should be sticking together! The more people we have searching for that hidden character, the better, don"tcha think?”
Well, that is true. And it"s not like I can just go up to some random person who doesn"t know that this world is a game, tell them that I am looking for the hidden character, and enlist their help. I would sound crazy. So I guess Gray might be just the right tool for this job. At the very least, he"s the only tool I have at my disposal….
“I really have to wonder just how helpful you would actually be with any of this though, Senpai.”
“You looking for a fight?”
“Gray-sama would never say anything like that.”
But still, I guess his help would be better than nothing. At the very least, I suppose he won"t be a detriment.
It was around this time last year that Ashley mentioned to me that I was getting a bit… domineering. At that time, I had been none too pleased by his observation. I believe he said that after I had blown up at Father for carelessly throwing down fertilizer in uneven clumps into our garden…. It seems like he might have been right though. This cold, calculating feeling I have towards Gray seems to stem from that side of me.
“In any case, you desperately need to make a name for yourself, Senpai. You need to establish your influence and political power.”
I guess it isn"t bad being a bit forceful. Makes it easy to get things done. And if all goes well, Gray is already fated to become the student council president anyway, so I"m not really worried about whether he can follow the plan or not.
“What about you?”
“I would be raising my own death flags if I were to stand out, so I would rather remain more inconspicuous. “
“I see….. Well, I am fearful handsome and extremely talented… shouldn"t be hard. And I even might become the student council president, seeing as this character had that position in the game"s setting as well. Got it. No problem,” he says, not knowing that if the heroine takes Alec"s (the vice president), route, that Gray ends up raising his own death flag. For now, I think he"s better off not knowing that. If I were to carelessly let that piece of information slip, then he might actually refuse to take the presidential position! I"m sure it"ll be okay if I just mention it to him after the election, since all Senpai has to do is be careful and he"ll be absolutely fine.
“Whenever we need to exchange information, should we just use this room?”
“Yes. If at all possible, I would prefer not to speak to you anywhere but here.”
“Why?”
“I"m sure you"ve noticed, but tons of the girls at this school are madly in love with you since you have not only an attractive face and body, but also maintain excellent grades. I refuse to end up becoming the center of attention just because one of your fangirls happened to see us acting friendly together and came to a ludicrous misunderstanding because of it.”
Gray grasps his own chin and looks off to the side murmuring about how he should have guessed that might be the case. Honestly though, does he need to strike up a pose!? Dang that perfect appearance of his!
“So, that means if I want to bully you, all I have to do is talk to you in front of a bunch of girls, ey?”
“Senpai, you have an awful personality.”
It seems like it might be in my best interests to end this alliance of ours as soon as possible.
“….Oh, that"s the bell. Would you let me go back to my cla.s.sroom now?” I say, a bit irritated.
“Wait, we should exchange our contact info first. It would darned inconvenient if you left before doing that…”
“There are no cell phones in this world, you know…”
“Oh yeah….. Then I guess if anything happens, our only choice is to search the whole school until we find each other…”
He better only call out to me in places where no one else is around…
“Well then, see you later, Randolph-senpai.”
“Don"t you mean Gray-sama?”
“……”
“It"s a joke. You can just call me Gray.”
“Okay then. See you later, Gray.”
Randolph really does sound too similar to the Rudolph, and I would hate to call the capture target teacher by the wrong name, so I guess calling him Gray really is for the best.
“Oh, that reminds me….”
“Now what?”
“About that redhead you were talking to in the cla.s.sroom earlier… Don"t you think that he might be the hidden character?”
Oh, he"s talking about Oswell. So Gray is also suspicious of him. Hardly surprising I suppose though, since he saw Oswell being extremely friendly to me, a key character in the game"s plot.
“As of right now, I think that"s fairly unlikely since he doesn"t seem that interested in Leila Morton.”
“But….. you know…..” Senpai mumbles. Is there another reason that he has to doubt Oswell?
“He was glaring something fierce back there in the cla.s.sroom.”
“Oswell was? At who?”
“At me.”
Although I hadn"t noticed a thing, Senpai seems to think that in the moment I looked away from Oswell, he had started glaring at Senpai.
If that is true, does that mean that Oswell feels some sort of rivalry towards Gray? After he steals Leila"s heart, I could see him acting that way out of jealousy, but….
“Isn"t that just in your imagination? You"ve never even met Leila before, so there"s really no reason for Oswell to be feeling antagonistic towards you.”
“That"s true….”
I"m sure he"s just feeling a bit territorial at most, since another ikemen just showed up out of nowhere, so he feels like he needs to a.s.sert his hotness or something.
“Well, whatever the case may be, let"s just be careful, okay? Although it is very unlikely for Oswell to be the hidden character, we still can"t completely rule him out either. So let"s just do our best to stay out of trouble and stay alive.”
T/N: Well this chapter was a long time in coming…. Sorry about that! I want to say that I will be working on translating more now, but I think I need to stop making promises when I don"t know what my schedule is going to be like haha. All I can say is that I will do my best to try to maintain a somewhat regular release schedule!
On another note, I was feeling good about this chapter while translating, but after my editing read through, it felt choppy. Is that just because I have been working on this chapter too long? Or do I need to try to spend a little more time working on the flow from paragraph to paragraph? I was also thinking it might be because it was mostly dialogue, but I just don"t know… I"m looking for ways to improve, so feel free to give me honest feedback!! I promise I won"t drop it just cause I hear about something that I could be better at haha.