Chapter 40 - Volume 2

Volume 2 prologue part2

The students were moving in a hurry in order to prepare for the school festival.

It was a sad sight to see that it was mainly the boys that were busy while the girls were only ordering them around.

I knew fully well that this scene came from a world that was gentle towards girls while being troublesome for boys.

However, there was an atmosphere of fun as well in this moment before the festival.

The scenery that differed from the usual academy was refreshing and pleasant.

The one who sought to destroy such pleasant things came to my cafe.

It was my older sister, the second daughter, “Jenna.”

My sister, who was a fanatic about the city, sat on a chair and slumped over a desk.

Behind her was her lover──a demi-human slave who had cat ears, a tall figure, wore a high-class suit, and was her exclusive servant.

It was common for girls in the academy to have slaves like what she was doing.

Almost all of the girls in the advanced class had lovers attend to them.

──It was indeed a sorrowful sight.

When I was cleaning up the interior of cafe with Livia, my troublesome sister stormed in, and I concealed my discomfort.

“What do you want? If you’re here to cause a bother, then I’d prefer if you go back.”

Livia warned me about being frank.

“Leon, you can’t say something like that to your older sister.”

As if she had just gained a new ally, my sister lifted her head and protested.

“She’s right! You should treat me better. Can’t you at least bring out some tea?”

What an awful attitude she had.

However, this was a world where girls held a strong position.

Right, this was a world where women domineered over men.

That was only the beginning of it.

“Like I said, hurry up and tell me why you’re here. I’m busy right now.”

My sister started speaking with a disgruntled attitude.

“To tell the truth, I had a fight with a close friend of mine.”

I was surprised that my sister even had a close friend, but I kept silent about it.

“A fight, you say? If so, then I think you should reconcile with that person.”

When Livia said so with a smile, my sister laughed scornfully.

“It’s pointless. After all, our fight centered around a man.”

“A, a man? U, umm──”

Perhaps unfamiliar with the matters between boys and girls, Livia turned to me for help.

“Were you two competing for a man?”

“You see, he’s the heir of a viscount household, and he’ll be rich in the future.”

“He’ll be rich?”

After listening to her, it turned out that boy was the heir of a viscount household. but since he was poor up until now, it seemed that nobody looked his way.

However, he held some territory in the Holfault Kingdom’s mainland.

It was discovered that the territory was a landmine of resources.

The country would aid him in the development of a mine that would be under his ownership. In other words, he was going to have a huge source of income.

Since that was the case, the boy who hadn’t been noticed until now was being pursued by girls like he was prey being discovered by carnivores.

“Since he owns that territory in the mainland, he’ll definitely be wealthy in the future. With such an excellent case like this, I can’t help but go after him.”

Livia listened to her story.

“I, it doesn’t have to do with love? Do you like that boy or──”

“Such things are unnecessary for marriages between nobles. What matters is the ability to earn a living. Love and affection is something I can enjoy with ‘Meole’ here and other lovers. Do you not know that having assets is important?”

──I didn’t need to know that!

I wanted to wallop her.

She was a woman, but since she was my dear sister, was I not allowed to knock some sense into her?

“You’re just as rotten as ever, I see.”

Leaving that aside, this was the first time I heard the name of the cat-eared slave behind her, Meole.

I wasn’t really interested in him from the beginning, so I didn’t really care.

“Anyways, you’re saying that the person tried to snatch away the boy you were aiming for? It would do you well to sever relations with such a person. Those who try to go after someone else’s sweetheart are the worst.”

Cheating, unfaithfulness, and adultery were pretty bad, weren’t they?

Thereupon, my sister replied.

“──That’s not it.”

“Huh?”

“My friend had been aiming for him since the beginning, but since the conditions were right, I wondered if I could go for him as well.”

──So the one trying to steal him away was her!

She was the one that was being the worst kind of person.

“You’re terrible. I’m not going to say anything more to you.”

My sister objected when I said that.

“Why won’t you help me?! If you acted as an intermediary between my friend and me, this matter could be resolved. The only thing you have going for you is your strength, so use it to help out your precious sister.”

“Precious? Hey, go look up the definition of precious in a dictionary.”

In the first place, why would I have cared about settling the matter?

When I was about to ask what she wanted from me,

“Look, you’re strong, right? So, you just need to introduce yourself in front of my friend and the boy. Simple, no?”

──Was she planning to use my power to threaten her friend and the boy? Didn’t that make her the worst?!

Livia warned my older sister.

“You can’t do that!”

“──Why not?”

When my sister glared at her, Livia was surprised and took a step back. Meole, who stood in the back, folded his arms and intimidated Livia.

“U, um──”

I stepped in front of Livia.

“Despite what I said just a while ago, I’ll voice my opinion. ──You’re absolutely disgusting. I’m not going to do anything to help you. Also, don’t pick on Livia. I prioritize Livia over you, and Anjie wouldn’t stay silent if something happened to her.”

My sister soon flinched after hearing that.

“M, my bad. Bringing in the daughter of a duke household is no laughing matter. Anyways, you’re a useless, stupid brother. Meole, let’s go.”

“Yes, milady.”

No, it was her story that was no laughing matter.

My older sister left the empty classroom.

Livia was relieved.

“That was a little scary.”

The cat-eared guy was a slim man with a well-defined musculature, making his glare frightening since his tall figure and his muscles gave off a sense of intimidation.

Livia couldn’t help but feel scared.

“Don’t worry about it. If they do something, then tell me. I’ll crush them at once.”

“That’s a bit much─but, thank you for your concern.”

When I saw Livia’s smile, I averted my gaze from her.

Upon which, I heard the sound of frantic footsteps.

They came from Daniel and Raymond.

“This is serious, Leon!”

“I, it’s the neighboring classroom!”

◇

When the four of us headed towards the empty classroom next to ours, Julian’s figure appeared there.

He was handing out leaflets to the girls that came to watch.

“If you have the spare time, please come. I welcome you.”

The girls blushed from Julian’s smile.

“O, okay!”

“I’ll go. I’ll do all I can to come during the three days of the school festival!”

“I, I’ll spend a lot of money!”

Was there some kind of propagandism was going on here?

With his refreshing smile, Julian was advertising his own exhibit in front of the girls.

“We welcome you to our ‘princess cafe’!”

──It was a princess cafe!

Daniel dropped his shoulders.

“It should’ve been nearly impossible for the room next to ours to be a cafe as well.”

Raymond kept glancing at my direction.

“Do you think they did it to spite you, Leon? I believe there were people in the executive committee that lost to that bet about the duel. But even so, this is too cruel.”

When Julian noticed me, he looked at me with a telling smile.

Did this guy hate me? What a coincidence. I hated him as well.

His navy blue, fluttering hair seemed to have been sparkling. As expected, one could say that he was the type of prince that would make for a capture target in an otome game. He was beautiful to a fault, and sparkled to a fault.

Well, Julian, who was the former crown prince but now currently just a prince, was Anjie’s former fiance.

He was an utter fool who casted away Anjie and chose a different girl.

Originally, it wasn’t supposed to be Anjie or that girl, but the protagonist of this world, Livia, that he would choose.

Things got thrown into disorder because of that girl.

“Baltfault, it seems that you’re running a cafe. I, along with a few others, are also planning to open one. Do come if you’re able to. We welcome you.”

I took offense at the stupid prince’s triumphant expression.

Livia was surprised after Julian handed her a leaflet.

“A, a set of tea and sweets goes for one hundred dia!”

Livia was about to collapse from the shock, so I rushed in to catch her.

When I picked up the leaflet and examined it, there were some very bullish prices there. ──No, rather than being bullish, they were approaching the level of rip-offs.

Speaking in terms of my previous life, it felt like paying for cheap tea and sweets with ten thousand yen. To make matters worse, the extra options jacked up the prices even more──so that in a matter of minutes, twenty thousand to thirty thousand yen would be gone in a flash.

Even hostess bars weren’t as bad as that!

Daniel and Raymond were dumbfounded.

I thought that ten to twenty dia would be enough for one customer, but I was careless. This was an academy that spoiled daughters from noble families attended.

There were many rich people, so it was fine to make the prices steeper.

Julian tilted his head when looking at Livia.

“Was that too cheap? Though, Marie said that this was a good price. Honestly, I would have liked to earn more.”

Livia seemed to have been disheartened by the difference in their senses of money.

“──Leon, nobles are unbelievable. I would never have the courage to go into such an expensive cafe like this.”

“You’d be right to feel that way. It’s fine to just ignore these guys.”

She had fundamentally been raised in a different environment, so her differing sense of values wasn’t something that could easily be ignored.

──It couldn’t be helped since her differing sense of values was a huge matter.

Julian made an expression of irritation.

“They’re fairly lax prices. However, Baltfault──I won’t lose this time.”

Julian proceeded to leave after saying that, but we followed him in order to inspect the movements of this enemy.

What was this guy saying, talking about not losing at a school festival?

What a comical guy. It seemed he had a knack for getting people to laugh.

When we entered room in succession, Julian was surprised.

“H, hey, why did you come here?!”

“Well, I suppose I’m scouting.”

“How impudent!”

“I’m going to be honest, I was curious so I decided to see what you were up to. Well, you can show me what this is, right?”

When I pushed Julian to the side, I was surprised at the unthinkable sight laid before me.

I already had a hunch about it from the beginning, but this wasn’t a cafe.

Gorgeous sofas lined up along low tables within a dim room.

The place had originally been an empty classroom, but it was filled to the brim with a high-class aura, perhaps from all the effort that had been put into its interior design.

Inside the room were “Chris Fier Arkwright” and “Brad Fou Field” who were trying out some outfits.

What they were wearing was pretty much a suit. However, the torso area was unbuttoned. They wore shirts that matched with their black suits.

I couldn’t help but shout.

“Isn’t this a host club?!”

Chris, a serious young man with blue hair and eyeglasses, noticed me and sharpened his already piercing gaze.

“Baltfault, was it?”

Brad, who had long purple hair and was wearing a flashy suit, brushed his bangs.

“Are you here to inspect us as enemies? You’re the same sneaky, filthy bloke as ever.”

The filthy ones were them.

Rather than being a cafe, wasn’t this actually a host club?

“You’re all playing unfair!”

When I said that, Chris looked very delighted and laughed.

“I didn’t expect you say those words. It seems that it was the right choice to go along with Marie’s suggestion. It’s valuable enough to see your bitter expression.”

This guy again! He really was just up to no good!

Julian made a declaration in front of us.

“The ones who will win during this school festival will be us. Baltfault, don’t try to run away when your loss is apparent.”

Julian really took joy in agitating me.

Were these guys idiots? Were cafes and host clubs something to compete on? In the first place, the playing field was different from the previous battle!

Livia constantly tilted to her head to the side.

“Um, is this a cafe? I feel like the atmosphere is closer to that of a pub.”

Brad brought his face closer to Livia to intimidate her.

“Is the honor student making a complaint? I would prefer if you not make any complaints towards Marie’s suggestions. Furthermore, we’re not serving alcohol. Just sweets and tea. We are the ones doing the service, though. You just don’t understand Marie’s line of thinking.”

“U, umm, but, something seems off.”

I cut in between Livia and Brad.

“No touching. You’ll dirty Livia. Buzz off.”

When I made hand motions to shoo him away, a wrinkle appeared between Brad’s eyebrows.

“──You really are an irritable guy, aren’t you?”

Were these guys not ashamed about being the former heirs of prestigious households? I wouldn’t really say that a host club was the proper course of action to take in the school festival.

Daniel, who looked at the inside of the room as if he was seeing something unusual, was surprised at the menu on a table.

“The service charge itself is one hundred dia!”

Raymond was also astonished.

“S, something this expensive for a cafe…”

As we were surprised, the girl who seemed to have coordinated the dresses, a person who reincarnated, appeared from behind some curtains. “Kyle” was next to her.

Did she plan on participating too as a hostess?

This girl’s name was “Marie Fou Lafuan”. She was the youngest daughter of the Lafuan viscount household, and a woman that deceived the heirs of prestigious noble families, including Julian.

She was an extraordinarily wicked woman for someone who reincarnated, which was something that I could’ve lived without.

She had a petite build, blond hair, and blue eyes. Perhaps she was a devil who took on a cute disguise. Her long hair was soft and curly, and she had a slender figure with a chest that could called a slab.

I couldn’t help but feel annoyed whenever I looked at her.

──It made me remember about my younger sister from my previous life.

“It’s a matter of course. Let me say this. Everyone, not to mention Julian, was originally going to become the heirs of prestigious families. Isn’t it natural to pay that much to receive our services?”

I clicked my tongue when I saw Marie in her dress.

“Are you the princess being advertised? Aren’t you the youngest child of a viscount household? Calling yourself a princess is──”

Marie’s face turned a bit red as she replied to me.

“M, my heart is that of a princess at all times.”

Thereupon, Brad followed up.

“Marie, you’re always our princess. Our treasured woman.”

Thank you, Brad. Anyways, it was quite rude for a mob like you, someone with a minor role, to say that.”

“I do not lie. I’m a pure being, after all.”

If you’re pure, then hoodlums are saints. Stop joking around.”

I wanted to send a low kick towards this woman.

Marie brushed her gentle hair and then spoke to us.

“I look forward to the day of the school festival. Though, since your cafe will be empty, we’ll use it as our break room. Ah, we’ll make sure to pay you. So, do serve us proper tea.”

Even if she hadn’t said that, I still wouldn’t have made any lies regarding tea.

After all, that would be a disgrace towards my mentor.

At any rate, an unexpected enemy showed up right next to us.