Leon's POV
Whether they belonged to the academy's high or general class, every student was inducted into the Adventurers' Guild ( I already was) .
This afforded the aristocrats an opportunity to get a taste of the suffering their ancestors had endured.
Everyone had to register as an adventurer, regardless of gender, and per custom, had to make their way through a dungeon. And if you were from a poor noble family, adventuring was the perfect way to collect some extra coin.
The guild's course was popular at the academy. On weekends and long holidays, many of the male students went on adventures to reel in as much money as they could.
Apparently, both my dad and Nicks had earned their fair share through adventuring. Although when I thought about how all that money went toward paying for tea parties and the like, I almost wanted to break down in tears.
I wasn't pressed for cash, but I was still excited about dungeons. It was one of the few features in this otome game that I had enjoyed. Or at least…I had been excited.
It was now the middle of May, and most of the first-year students had gathered to explore the depths of the capital's famous dungeon.
As I glanced around, I realized I was utterly out of place.
"I can't believe Lex, Raymond and Daniel abandoned me in my time of need," I muttered to myself, they had opted for free weekends, Raymond and Daniel would be looking for wives and Lex would be in his man cave on his ship, since his shipyard was all the way in the countryside.
"Jerks. Not that I wouldn't have run, too, if I were in their positions, but still."
I was equipped in my own new alloy armor with green accents, one which Lex, Jarvis and Luxion all manufactured .
Beside me, adorned in leather and steel armor, iron guards protected her arms, chest, and shins, stood Olivia.
I would have given her one like mine but Lex warned me about that and told me not to give Olivia freebies, so as to not make her feel like charity case
Honestly, it was vaguely stylish, perhaps because of the whole fantasy world aesthetic.
However, a worrying number of students wore armor that forsook practicality in favor of chic and flair.
As for me? I focused on safety. Though it still looked good, I then remembered Lex's words when he fave it to me.
'Don't worry about the looks, we made sure it's atheisticaly pleasing, Luxion wanted to make it function over form, but I put my foot down, what's the point of me wearing armor and it not complementing my looks,' then looking pitifully at me he added
'I so sorry you won't ever be able to understand that feeling because of your subpar looks'.
Pulling me back from my head Olivia shot me a guilty look. "I-I'm sorry. Miss Angelica insisted you come with us."
Grumbling at her wouldn't get me anywhere, not when she hated this as much as I did.
I finally had my chance to explore a dungeon, but I'd landed in a group of elites.
A tall, slender man with light-blue hair, light-blue eyes, and a solemn face stood nearby. His own outfit was the epitome of style, though I had no idea how it was supposed to protect him. In the game, he was the cool love interest with glasses—ostensibly cool. He was actually quite worthless, hence why I liked to call him Sir Four-Eyes the Useless.
His real name was Chris Fia Arclight.
A single sword hung at Chris's waist. As a serious swordsman, he always fought on the frontlines—a Swordmaster, if you wanted to use game terminology.
He hailed from one of the court noble families and was the heir of Holfort's Sword Saint, a man who'd cut his way to the top with his trusty blade.
In the game, Chris had something of a rivalry with another one of the love interests, a delinquent with spiked red hair. Greg Fou Seberg was the rugged type who preferred real battle experience to mere practice; he looked the part with his sleeves rolled up over suntanned, muscular forearms and a spear propped on his shoulder.
By the time he enrolled at the academy, he'd already explored numerous dungeons and beat tens of monsters.
He made for a splendid frontline fighter, but he was still the rich, pampered child of a regional earl.
If I remembered right, Chris and Greg had a friendship event midway through the game that improved their relationship. The event wasn't required to clear the game, but it did make things easier if you did. Naturally, I completed this BL-fantasy event over and over again each playthrough.
There were five total potential love interests for the heroine, each with their own signature color per the game: black for the crown prince, Julius Rapha Holfort; green for the prince's foster brother who was the heir to a viscounty, Jilk Fia Marmoria; purple for the narcissist with a talent for magic who was heir to an earldom, Brad Fou Field; blue for the son of the Sword Saint who was skilled with the blade in his own right and would soon be an earl himself, Chris Fia Arclight; and finally, red for the rough, blunt heir to an earldom who preferred the battlefield, Greg Fou Seberg.
Even flanked by dozens of followers, the strength of these five commanded the atmosphere of the room.
Actually, there should have been one more character here, a young elf named Kyle.
He was a slave the protagonist bought for herself, her own personal servant. In the game, he took care of her needs, supported her in battle, and could update her on her progress with her love interests. But I didn't see him with us today. As he was a cute little-brother type, I never thought of him as anything more than the protagonist's minion.
You might be wondering why Olivia and I were here with this group. I'm sorry to say we had attracted their attention.
Olivia was a scholarship student, and therefore unusual, and I was an accomplished adventurer and while they were four here at the Academy they only needed one, but with Angelica's recommendation I drew the short end of the stick,so The academy wanted me to act as an escort for Prince Julius.
The nobles considered it gauche—an abuse of status, really—to bring soldiers or knights from your territory to the dungeon. But I was the same age, had already made a name for myself, and was part of the student body.
The academy didn't want to see any harm come to the kingdom's future monarch, and evidently Angelica was worried about her fiancé.
Still, we were only venturing to the first level of the beginner floors. The level of protection was overkill. Prince Julius realized it, too, if his disgruntled look was any indication.
I recalled him telling the protagonist in the game that he hated this kind of thing.
Angelica and her group also joined us, of course.
We were a group of about thirty. It felt like too many, but we were basically going to sightsee. We'd probably be fine.
"The elites recruited us, but they haven't even bothered to say hi," I noted.
Olivia looked apprehensive. "Should we say it first?"
"Is it worth it? They'd just think we were butting in. Best keep our heads down and follow their lead."
I still couldn't help wondering which guy she was going to end up with, but I was hoping to find out from more of a distance.
Isn't it about time one of you got over here and started feeding her your cheesy romance lines? I thought, glancing at the five noblemen. Yet even as I had the idea, it bothered me. Why did I have to watch a decent woman like Olivia get it on with another dude?
I would just have to stomach it for the sake of all our futures. If she didn't hook up with one of them, who knew what could happen? We might all be screwed.
A professor stood in front of us. "All right, break off into teams. Once you reach the third underground floor, we'll have you come back. Do not proceed any farther."
They were split up into five teams of six, but they nevertheless moved as one huge group into the dungeon, Olivia and I were our own team.
Prince Julius got stuck in the center since we couldn't risk him getting hurt, and my team played vanguard.
Eh, this is fine.
"I'm telling you, learn your place!" Angelica shrieked. Her voice seethed with anger as it echoed through caverns.
Everyone glanced over to see Angelica confronting Marie, apparently fussing over the team breakdown.
Our professor was flustered, too young and intimidated by Angelica's ducal lineage to intervene.
Marie, meanwhile, ducked behind the prince's back as if for protection.
Now this one? She is calculating.
"Angelica, enough," Prince Julius said.
Angelica turned to him. "Your Highness, are you truly going to indulge her?"
Marie stayed behind the prince, her eyes cast down at her feet. She pinched the fabric of his sleeve between her fingers, playing up the cute and innocent angle.
"Your Highness, I…" She hesitated. "I just wanted to be with you. You can refuse me if it inconveniences you. I don't mind."
"Don't push your luck!" Angelica snarled. "His status far overshadows yours. I've forgiven your behavior until now, but if you're going to have that attitude…" Angelica was as quick to anger as she had been in the game. She flew off the handle at the drop of a hat. Well, she was the protagonist's rival, essentially the villainess of the game. The developers probably designed her to be a short-tempered beauty who brandished the power of her family when it suited her.
But something was wrong with this scene… The woman the prince was supposed to protect was Olivia…but she stood next to me.
"Wh-what's happening?" Olivia asked, panicked. Okay, she actually did look adorable.
"Nothing that concerns us" I said proceeding deeper into the dungeon.