I cracked my knuckles for a moment, unbuttoned my shirt to let the cool breeze in, then grabbed the axe and swung it hard at the tree.
Éclair joined in, even though he didn't seem very enthusiastic.
The two of us chopped trees together, making them fall one by one.
The villagers watching us were amazed, unable to believe that two young men like us could be stronger than a lumberjack.
Pfft, did they forget Éclair and I had taken down all those bandits?
"Oi, can you tie up the logs for us?"
"Huh? Oh, sure!"
Once they finished tying them up, Éclair and I each carried a bundle of logs.
"They're really strong. No wonder they took down the bandits so easily!"
"So cool. With strength like that, and still helping others, I wonder which noble family he belongs to?"
The villagers were talking about us, but neither of us paid much attention.
When we reached a damaged house nearby, one of my subordinates was hammering nails. He turned around when he heard us drop the logs.
"Already done, sir? I'm not even finished with this part yet!"
"Then take a break. I'll handle it from here."
"But—"
"That's an order."
"Ughhh, fine..."
He climbed down the ladder, and I grabbed the hammer and nails before climbing up.
"Éclair, chop those planks cleanly!"
"Understood."
Éclair easily handled everything and tossed the planks over to me.
I grabbed them and hammered them in place. After a few minutes, the house was restored, looking even better than before.
I looked at the result with pride, then noticed about 100 women staring at me.
'Oh, they're players, but the way they're staring at me is giving me chills...'
What on earth are they thinking?
"Boss! They've prepared the food!"
"What?! Already?!" I quickly dropped my tools and headed toward the wooden table in the open field.
Since the wooden houses were under repair, and I preferred eating outdoors, they had set everything up here.
The village elder greeted me warmly when I arrived, introducing the dishes and thanking me for helping repair the village.
Honestly, I wasn't too interested in the thanks—I was more focused on the food being introduced.
"Stir-fried bamboo shoots, braised fish, beef and potato soup, and... rice! There's rice!!!" I happily picked up a bowl of rice and took a deep breath to enjoy its scent.
"Of course! Since you decided to invest in our village to grow rice, it wouldn't make sense not to plant any!"
"My decision to invest in this village was never wrong..."
Suddenly, I felt many eyes on me—it was the players again.
'Hey... why do I have this weird feeling something's off?'
Oh well, never mind. Time to eat.
In real life...
"Alright, these two guys are really handsome. I guess this game is still an Otome game."
Looking at the cold, silent purple-haired guy standing nearby and the brown-haired guy enjoying his meal with such delight.
And the way he loves rice—could he be Asian?
For some reason, the game kept zooming in on the brown-haired guy's face while he ate.
He looked like a hamster munching on food—so adorable!
Suddenly, she noticed other players rushing to strike up conversations with the NPCs, especially the purple-haired guy.
Few, however, seemed to pay attention to the brown-haired guy.
Why is that? Ah, I get it. The first handsome guy they met must have been the purple-hair guy, what's he call again? Éclair right? And that's why they're trying to get closer to him.
Hmph! Amateurs. He may be handsome, but I'm more impressed with the brown-haired guy!
Determined, she moved her character toward him to start a conversation.
[???]
[Hmm? Do you need something?]
His dialogue popped up, followed by three choices:
1. [You're really handsome!]
2. [You're really strong! I admire you!]
3. [What's your favorite food?]
Hmm, what should I pick?
Option 1? Seriously? Who praises someone's looks right after meeting them?
Options 2 and 3? Ermmm... both are safe choices. Not sure which one to go with...
As she watched him enjoy his food with gusto, she decided to go with Option 3.
[What's your favorite food?]
As soon as the question was asked, he stopped eating, glanced at her, and thought for a moment.
[???]
[Well... there are lots of foods I like, so it's hard to pick just one. But if I had to choose, I'd say my favorite flavor is definitely sweet.]
After answering, a notification appeared:
[Interest level increased! 1♡/120♡]
[Your relationship with the character has been established as "Acquaintance."]
"...Only +1?"
She was surprised. In most other Otome games, choosing the correct answer usually resulted in a +3 or +5 increase. For harder-to-court characters, however, it was often just +1—even when picking the "right" response.
So he's a difficult character to woo... and I wasn't even prepared for this.
She felt slightly discouraged. Normally, she only flirted with characters to unlock their CGs (character graphics). Hard-to-court types weren't usually her thing.
[???]
[Hey, what's your name?]
Suddenly, he asked her, prompting a response.
[Me? My name is Yumyum.]
[???]
[Pfft, that's such a funny name. I bet your parents weren't serious when they named you, huh?]
...Alright, fair enough. In a way, the character I'm controlling is also my child.
[What's your name, then?]
[???]
[My name?]
As he spoke, he smiled.
[My name is Willhart. Please remember it.]
***
"Thank you for fixing our entire village, really, I don't know what I can do to repay you!"
"Just plant rice, I need it," I replied simply, then got onto the carriage with my subordinates.
The players looked very sad for some reason, probably because they couldn't make Éclair feel anything at all.
In fact, their level of interest was -10♡! What a cold person!
I looked out the window and noticed the only player I had spoken with.
For some reason, whenever she said something, I always felt like I cared about her a little bit.
Maybe because this is an otome game, choosing the right words makes the character more interested in the player.
And it seems I'm also an object of flirting.
'I'm not even in the mood to care about feelings.'
The sound of the horse's neighing signaled that it was time for us to leave. I watched the village gradually disappear from my view.
"Éclair, what do you think about those girls?" I asked, and a voice from atop the carriage replied.
"Extremely annoying, even when I glare at them a few times, they still stubbornly try to talk to me."
He really doesn't like the players.
"What about you?" I turned to ask my subordinate.
"Well, in my opinion, they are a bit... tactless."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because they kept asking me everything while I was eating. Don't they know how to leave others alone?"
Well... another bad impression.
"Oh right, do you plan to go to the Fairy Tales Academy?" He looked at me.
"...No, there's too much work, no time to attend school," I replied after a moment of silence.
"But you're only 15, you don't have to carry all the responsibilities."
"Among those who know how to handle paperwork, is there anyone besides me who can manage it all?"
"Well... Leo can handle it..."
"But he's busy with other matters, someone skilled in math should do what they're best at."
"..."
We both fell silent.
'That goddess, what does she mean by making me observe the players like this?' I put my hand on my chin, leaned against the window, and looked outside.
While my subordinate was flipping through reports, a voice called out, and he turned on the speaker.
[Um... can you hear me?]
"I can hear you."
[Wow, technology is really advanced, just last year we were using pigeons to send letters, and now we have this calling device.]
"Get to the point."
[Okay, okay, is the Boss there? If so, let me inform them.]
I frowned and looked at the device.
[Former Boss of Dark Days, now Count Batya Milov, is about to return to our base.]
"...Old man?"
Okay, I'm a little surprised.
[Mr. Milov also left a message for you, Boss.]
"...What is it?"
[Alright, wait a moment, let me try to imitate him... ah hem! "BOY! DADDY LOVES YOUUUU!!!" Uh, my voice...]
"..." I covered my face with my hand, feeling incredibly embarrassed, while my subordinate tried his best not to laugh.
He wasn't my father, but acted as if he were my real father. Doesn't he feel embarrassed?
"Alright, hurry up and get back as fast as possible. It's an insult for the host not to be home when guests arrive!"
"Understood!"
The horse neighed, and the carriage began to move at full speed.
In real life...
[Village Elder]
[Oh, right, I haven't given you this yet.]
The village elder, who had been planting rice, suddenly remembered something and turned to the players.
[You should come to my house later, I have a lot of letters from the Fairy Tales Academy. I think they're for you.]
"Fairy Tales Academy? Does it have anything to do with Disney movies?" I asked curiously.
After finishing planting the rice, the players went to the elder's house to receive the letters.
When they opened the letters, the content inside was congratulating them for being accepted into the academy.
"Oh yea, a typical Otome academy story. I hope there's something more interesting..." I sighed, quite disappointed.
But then I remembered that guy Willhart. I wondered if he went to the academy...
...Brother's room.
"Download complete," he said, and immediately started playing the game.
He wasn't interested in the story, especially since it was an Otome game, and he wasn't gay.
"The interface is nice, let's see what's beyond the Story mode."
Then, he saw the Training section and immediately clicked on it.
The screen went dark, and suddenly a chain appeared, making a noise. In the middle was a character selection interface.
...So many characters! More than the fighting games he usually played!
"I like this!!" Smiling, he immediately started trying out each character.