Part-1 Ch-07 Ep-04

 When I returned to the courtyard with the drinks, I found Maki being pestered by a few boys from another school. She was already cute to begin with, and her outfit today made her stand out even more, so it was no surprise she drew attention.

If it had been the usual Maki, she would have brushed them off easily. So at first, I figured it would be fine to leave her to it. But even after watching for a while, the boys showed no sign of leaving.

Seeing the troubled look on her face, I vaguely understood why she could not act the way she normally would.

This was the school festival. She was carrying our class’s signboard. If she acted too forcefully here, it might cause trouble for the class. She simply did not want to create a scene with students from another school.

How responsible.

In that case, I should step in and pull the two of us out of there quickly. Just as that thought crossed my mind and I started forward, I froze. Because this scene, no, this exact moment, was familiar from a CG.

“…Do you have some business with our student?”

Ah. As expected. A single boy stepped in between Maki and the other students. It was none other than the fourth capture target, Ranjishi Takashi. Ranjishi Takashi is a character you meet at the cultural festival. And if you do not meet him here, he never appears again in the game.

That is because he has appearance conditions.

There are three cultural festivals before graduation, and unless your stats exceed a certain threshold by that time, his encounter event will not trigger. He is a character locked behind specific requirements.

There is a total stat requirement, plus a mental stat threshold. When I played the game, I interpreted it as “since he has a scary face, the heroine who approaches him needs strong nerves.”

Otome heroines tend to take actions toward boys that are slightly beyond normal social boundaries (based on my research), so perhaps the baseline for “mental strength” is different from that of regular people.

For Maki, whose stats are practically maxed out in every category, those conditions are basically irrelevant. And finally, I remembered. I had completely forgotten about this encounter event.

For now, I decided to hide in the shadows and watch. Ranjishi Takashi only looks intimidating; he does not resort to violence. Normally, just his silent presence is enough to make the boys bothering her lose interest.

Sure enough, as predicted, the boys eventually grew bored and wandered off, and Maki seemed to be thanking him. According to the story, this is where a little of his background comes out.

Ranjishi Takashi, who normally struggles to open up, talks to the friendly, easy-to-speak-to heroine about his troubles: how he cannot fit in with his class because of his frightening appearance, how he is poor at conversation, and so on. That becomes the opportunity for them to grow closer.

Even from a distance, Maki was smiling more brightly than I expected. I found it strange that this encounter was unfolding more faithfully to the game than the previous ones, and I immediately realized why.

Because I was not intervening.

With all the previous capture targets, I had ended up ruining the events myself while trying to support her. Maybe when I am not involved, Maki gets along with the capture targets more smoothly.

“…You know, Nagase-san,”

I recalled something Seishuku-san had said earlier, back in the fortune-telling booth.

“You’re a thorough herbivore, so you avoid fights you cannot win. That kind of feeling.”

“That is reassuring, isn’t it? Like you know your own limits.”

“Hmm, that is true, but…”

I remembered the way she had tilted her head, as if wanting to say something more. While watching Maki wave goodbye to Ranjishi-kun, I tilted my own head, wondering why that memory resurfaced now. When the timing felt right, I returned to Maki just as he was leaving.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

She replied, “I was being hassled by some boys from another school, but a kind person helped me. And since he might come to the café later, I gave him a discount ticket.”

“I see… Sorry I couldn’t help you.”

The words slipped out before I realized it, and even I was startled. Maki only blinked at me.

“It really is fine.”

More importantly, let’s head back to class. Following her prompting, I picked up the signboard we had left on the bench. On the way back to the classroom, walking side by side, Maki suddenly said,

“If something really bad ever happened, I think your face would probably be the first one to come to mind.”

“Eh?”

“It’s not that I want you to save me or protect me or anything, but your face would probably come to mind.”

“…Why are you smiling like that?”

“Huh? Am I smiling?”

“…Does this mean I’m still allowed to hope?”

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing at all~” Maki abruptly brightened and took off running.

Still in my prince outfit, I ran after her.