Prologue Ep-4

 Once I realized that this world was a game world, I discovered that there were other convenient functions besides the ability to view Hime-chan’s status.

One of them was the “Map” function.

Not only could I see the map of this world, but since it was centered on Hime-chan, I could instantly pinpoint her current location.

For example, like this.

“Hime-chan, found you!”

“Ahh, you found me~”

The way she crouched in the shadows of the park bushes, puffing out her cheeks, was adorable.

“I thought you wouldn’t find me this time.”

“Fufufu, no matter where Hime-chan is, I can always tell.”

“Is that because Matsuri-chan is my prince?”

Lately, that was the second thing out of her mouth. She asked with such an innocent expression that I could no longer bring myself to say, “No, I’m not a prince.”

“Yeah, yeah. Something like that,” I replied vaguely.

Well, as she grows older, there will probably come a time when she realizes, “Oh, wait, this isn’t a prince at all. It’s just my childhood friend, Nagase Matsuri.”

That would be a little sad in its own way. But it would be far better than her continuing to mistake me for a prince forever and being unable to fall in love with a proper capture target.

After getting tired of hide-and-seek, we moved on to the sandbox to build a castle. There was something I wanted to confirm there. In this game, there was a boy with a childhood friend setting who was overwhelmingly popular among fans.

At our current age of six, we should already have met him, and a certain event was supposed to occur soon.

I knew the capture target’s name, but since we were only six years old, and all the children we played with at preschool or in the park looked the same age, it was impossible to tell who was who.

The game never depicted their faces from that period, so even I could not identify him by appearance alone. That was why I decided to use Hime-chan’s help to figure it out while I still could.

Because that event should happen soon.

“Hime-chan, Hime-chan. Among your friends at preschool, or the ones you always play with, is there a boy you like?”

“Hm, Matsuri-chan! I don’t believe in cheating!”

“You know some surprisingly difficult words. Um, but that’s not what I meant.”

“It’s not?”

She was both right and wrong. Where did she even learn the word “cheating”?

“Um… a childhood friend… or something like that?”

“Huh?”

What was I even asking a child who had only lived for six years about childhood friends?

At this rate, we would get nowhere.

Ah, right.

“Is there anyone who’s going to move away soon?”

“Ah, there is. Shin-kun! He’s a friend from preschool, and we play together sometimes.”

“By any chance, is his surname ‘Kagami’?”

“Yeah, I think so. The teacher always calls him ‘Kagami Shin-kuun’ when picking him up.”

Bingo. That was probably him.

Capture target number one: Kagami Shin.

The capture targets in this world shared a distinctive trait in their names. Every capture target had a surname consisting of three characters.

Conversely, everyone else had surnames that were not three characters long, which made them easy to distinguish.

And the only boy who had any contact with Hime-chan during her childhood was this Kagami Shin.

The day before his family moved away, Kagami-kun would call Hime-chan to the large cherry blossom tree in the nearby park and make a certain promise.

He would promise that he would definitely return to this town someday, and that when they grew up, they would get married. As a keepsake until then, Kagami-kun would give Hime-chan a toy ring.

That ring would later become a symbolic “promise ring” that resurfaced as a topic during their high school years.

Kagami-kun grows into a truly wonderful young man, which is why he is extremely popular among fans of the game. I absolutely want to leave a strong impression here and turn it into a beautiful memory.

A six-year-old boy giving a ring to the girl he likes and saying, “I’ll definitely come back for you.” Isn’t that incredibly stylish and romantic?

“Shin-kun, huh. I’m in the class next door, so I don’t really know him well, but it’s sad that he’s moving away.”

“Yeah, but he said it’s because of his dad’s job transfer, so it can’t be helped.”

As she cheerfully asked, “What shape should we make for the top of the castle? Can I make it?” I found myself thinking that she was surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

Come to think of it, the protagonist of this otome game was never the type to cling to or obsess over anyone. She was a natural seductress, oblivious yet honest and pure.

She never fixated on a single person, but her kindness and straightforward, free-spirited nature naturally captured the hearts of those around her.

“What’s wrong, Matsuri-chan? You’re grinning.”

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that Hime-chan really is a wonderful girl.”

When I answered with a foolish grin,

“Eh? …Ehehe~ It makes me happy when Matsuri-chan says that.”

She gave me a soft, melting smile that was impossible to resist. I had the overwhelming urge to cup her cheeks in both hands and squish them.

No, no. That would not do.

I had to guide Hime-chan properly.

“Alright, Hime-chan! Let’s think of a present for Shin-kun!”

“Shin-kun likes acorns. We can pick them up around here.”

That was about what one would expect from a preschool boy’s favorite things.

“W-well, is there anything else? What does Shin-kun like…?”

“Ah, he likes pine cones too. He always stuffs his pockets full of acorns and pine cones until they’re bulging.”

He also likes pill bugs.

At those words, both Hime-chan and I remembered that on the day I fell from the jungle gym, we had been collecting pill bugs together.

Why do children this age love pill bugs and acorns so much?

Still, as a childhood memento, maybe that was fine.

“Ah, but I want to give him flowers too! Cute flowers! The other day, when I went on a picnic with Papa, Mama, and bigbro to the big park over the hill, I found a place with lots of them.”

“Hime-chan, you’re a genius! All right! This is the first step toward becoming a wonderful woman. Let’s gather lots of flowers, acorns, and pine cones before Shin-kun moves away and give them to him as a present!”

“Yay, yay! Then I’ll ask Mama where the flowers were.”

“I’ll get ready too.”

The park over the hill was a larger one with a somewhat deeper forest, but since Hime-chan had gone there on a picnic before, it should be fine for just the two of us.

Besides, although my physical age was six, my mental age and thinking ability still retained elements from when I was seventeen. Surely, the two of us would be fine.

It would be our first little outing a bit farther from home, but surely…

Let’s bring chocolate and cookies for snacks. And so, a few days later, we made a promise to go search for presents for Kagami-kun together.