The World of Otome Game
is a Second Chance for Broken Swords
Story Starts
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Chapter 2.2 -
Interlude
Knighthood of the Saint and
The Barony of the Second (Step) Son
When I saw that homing streak of red carve across the sky—a swarm of swords racing after it while cutting down strays as collateral—my heart skipped a beat.
"Could it be?" I whispered.
"Mistress?" Sella asked—the recently-named, contracted lunar spirit—asked.
"Leysritt, Sella—do you see that breach in the wall? We rush in. Can you keep pace with my bike?"
"Yes, Mistress." They both chorused.
I eased the craft to idle. The floating stone hummed, holding us steady while the leased vessel bobbed in the wind.
I leapt for the airbike secured to the hull, thumbed the starter and felt the engine shriek to life. I plucked several strands of hair free and murmured, "Engel lied"
"Storch Ritter! Dēgen!"
The strands ignited, weaving themselves into threaded light constructs—a great bird of woven brilliance hovering over my crown, two swords at its sides.
"Destroy anything that bars our path—and anything that will. If not, we rush through."
"Yes, Mistress!" they chorused, as my guardian spirits called forth two orbs that shimmered like mirrors of the sun.
"Please," I whispered to myself, as hope filled my heart.
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Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was the ethereal face of Sella—her pale skin giving off a faint glow even in the dark. Leysritt pressed close to my back, her arms wrapped around me.
A grin crept across my lips as I reached forward, cupping the breasts of my guardian spirit.
Fingers wandering, I snorted softly. Blessed with this much softness—and reuniting with Shirou—I must have done something right in my last life.
His hair, his height, even the lines of his face bore no resemblance to the boy I remembered. But I still recognised him—unmistakably, impossibly, him.
The moment I saw him wield those twin dao, comfort and relief flooded me. I wasn't the only one unfairly given a second chance.
Serendipitously, we ran into each other—though the academy would have brought us together soon enough. What surprised me wasn't the place, but the timing. After all, I had seen it before, from Taiga's otome game.
Even with the walkthrough followed step by step, the game could still throw in random elements that ruined a run, forcing a restart—or at least a reload from an earlier save.
Worst of all, the game had a ridiculous mechanic: mid-battle, healing one love interest over another could drastically change your route—a nightmare if you were aiming for the harem ending.
The only way around it was to end battles quickly, cutting down the number of times you had to choose between healing one love interest or another—or risk losing the route altogether.
The easiest method was brute force: overpowered guardian spirits and airships. Fewer turns, faster battles, and less chance of the party splitting apart on the battlefield.
That means buying one of the game's microtransactions—a special seven-in-one bundle that unlocks coordinates to a cluster of floating islands in the troposphere above the Indian Ocean.
I vaguely remembered the coordinates. In the game, you stumbled on a book that listed them, adding the set to your 'adventure journal'.
The problem was that the game had no copy feature. Back then, I was too weak to fetch pen and paper—-or even my laptop sitting on the desk—and neither the caregiver nor Taiga was home. So we memorised the coordinates and keyed them into the airship's navigator.
One coordinate pointed to the location of the Lost Item Luxion. The others marked six special dungeons—three cosmic, one lunar, one terran, and one mythic.
In those dungeons, you could farm rare materials or stumble upon a guardian spirit to contract. However, if you didn't have time to rely on chance, there was an alternative. At the bottom of the dungeon lies a special altar—and with the right offerings, a spirit shall be summoned and will accept a contract. The dungeon itself provides hints on what to offer.
It was just annoying, as sometimes the hint was found in the flavour text of the items.
Since I had been there when Shirou played the bonus content, I already knew the needed offerings and where to acquire them. So, I went straight into one of the cosmic dungeons and farmed starlight mana gems for the altar.
With those offerings, I contracted the two lunar deities, Luna and Diana. I meant to add Hecate as well, but her altar required another kind of gem.
But these weren't deities in the true sense—not gods, not goddesses. They were closer to elementals, manifestations of reality itself, embodying concepts, elements, and even ideas.
To human eyes, they were amorphous, beyond human comprehension. When bound, they took the shape most familiar to their contractee. When the pact demanded an image, I offered theirs—Sella and Leysritt, my maids, my protectors. They had died for me in another life, shaping the Dress of Heaven. Here, in honour of them, I gave their likeness to my new guardians.
To seal this contract, each guardian declared their chosen name. A name freely given held power—anchoring them to the mortal plane.
While in the game, special guardian spirits usually had fixed names. In Shirou's playthrough, they were both called Luna and Diana—even though their bodies were male, thanks to catering to Taiga's tastes and kinks. Which, honestly, was funny if you asked me.
In this case, as they peered into my memories—a consequence of the ritual—they chose the names of my fallen companions.
But that was all they were. They answered to their new names, yet remained only copies of a distant memory.
Still, that was me brooding. In the game, this was nothing more than an excuse to let the player customise another attendant to romance. The saving grace was that growing close to attendants or spirits never hurt your affection points with the main romantic targets.
"Mistress," a stern voice interrupted my thoughts.
I looked up to meet Sella's stern, irritated face—Diana in truth—clearly roused by my perverted ministrations.
"Lovely morning we are having, don't you think?" I chuckled awkwardly, trying to defuse her glare—hands still not releasing.
"And what's so lovely about waking up to being groped in the chest?" Sella deadpanned.
"Ah, I was just boosting our yuri-yuri affection—ow! Hey, why hit me? It was only a little skinshi—ow! Hey!"
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Olivia, still pouting from the morning's scolding—not once did Sella move her hands from her chest; she did still give her a few more strikes, though.
'Still worth,' Olivia thought, a grin slipping from her face.
'Pervert,' Sella's voice carried through the mental link as Olivia rode her airbike, the two guardians flanking her in the sky.
'Don't mind me—I just remembered something nice,' Olivia replied over the link, at their speed.
'Was it the feel of my breasts beneath your palms?' Sella asked flatly, her tone cool even across the link.
'I invoke my right against self-incrimination,' Olivia quipped as she revved her bike, taking a steep dive towards the main island's central complex.
'Mistress, isn't that already an admission?' Leysritt added—unhelpfully, at keast in Olivia's mind.
'I invoke my right against self-incrimination.'
Olivia guided her airbike into one of the docks reserved strictly for Leon, his immediate family—emphasis on 'immediate'—and herself with her guardian spirits.
Leon's bike was already there. Of course it was—he was such a busybody. Olivia only sighed.
It had only been three weeks since they moved to the borders of his father's barony. Life in the troposphere, with its storms and constant rain, had been a hassle, so Leon reported back to the guild. Unlike most fantasies, the guild here was no mere independent adventurers' hall but a government branch—fitting, in a kingdom founded by adventurers, where the profession was revered. And so the islands—dungeons included—were relocated.
The feat was so remarkable that Leon was immediately granted a barony title. What was unsaid was buried in the royal scroll. Another clause was that if he earned any knightly achievements before graduation, his rank would rise again. And with Leon, that was almost a certainty.
Olivia grinned at the memory of Leon wanting to share credit—while she successfully contracted two guardian spirits—she gave credit for conquering the dungeon to Leon.
'Mistress?' both voices chimed through her mind as a giggle escaped Olivia.
Olivia waved them off and assured them it was nothing—though Sella still shot her a sharp look and an implied threat courtesy of a raised fist.
Olivia was pleased with her forethought, seeing Leon throwing himself into work the moment they arrived. She didn't really want that.
He'd help buy back all the lands his father once lost, and together they resettled many common folk across the island—with Luxion's drones easing the burden.
Now they were developing the land. From where she stood, olivia saw drones and commoners working the rice padies carved into the mountain's edge.
Little steps, as Leon has begun purchasing various animals as livestock, and some fish for harvesting later—Olivia overheard that he plans on seeding the rice paddies with either crab or crayfish as well.
In the meantime, they invested in local businesses—inns, kitchens, suppliers—while a branch of the adventurers' guild rose in stone. So far, only one cosmic and the lunar dungeon had been explored.
Leon planned to contract one of the special lunar deities—in the game it had been a randomised fusion of several. He left Olivia the task of completing the trio of lunar sisters.
Once that was done, the dungeon could be opened to the public. Olivia still planned to clear the Terran dungeon—and perhaps another cosmic—to gather offerings for Hecate.
Because they discovered the dungeon, they were granted first dibs—but only within reason. The guild allowed a limit of one year, after which the dungeons would be forced open to the public. Special dungeons held rare materials, and even the chance encounter with guardian spirits was treasured. Leon could not simply hoard such resources, and the rule prevented any single family from gaining too much power.
'Well, too late for that. We already have Luxion—a powerhouse in his own right,' Olivia mused.
She whirled toward her guardians, mischief in her eyes. "Come on—let's go pester onii-san!"
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END