Chapter 3: They Say No Tree Refuses to Fall After Being Struck Ten Times, Right?
The atmosphere among the students who had crowded around the Old Schoolhouse grew solemn.
Esther felt gazes piercing her like arrows.
Waves of pitying looks flew her way in bundles.
The girl known as the academy's goddess had let her crumbling be seen by the other students.
I... was rejected?
Esther murmured to herself in a daze.
No matter how many times she repeated it, she couldn't comprehend the situation she was in.
—I find you repulsive.
It wasn't merely a rejection.
She had said she was romantically interested in him, and what came back was the word repulsive.
The exchange rate was appalling.
The math didn't add up.
...This isn't right.
It was her first confession.
Even before confessing—she had never once felt drawn to a member of the opposite sex.
Just standing still, men would trail after her and declare their feelings of their own accord.
That girl had shown her heart to the first man she had ever felt drawn to.
—It would be best if you stay out of my sight from now on.
Raword had been nothing but cold.
He had recoiled and poured out cutting words.
It was cruel enough to say: die here, pierced through.
That can't be it. Something must have happened to Raword today. That's why... he was like that.
Esther shook her head.
There was no way she was lacking in charm.
There was no way she could fail to bring a man to his knees.
She denied reality.
T-tomorrow, I'll try talking to him again.... He must have had something unpleasant happen to him today....
And so, the next day.
Esther slowly approached Raword in the classroom, where he was reviewing sword art theory.
The very last seat.
Raword, absorbed in studying alone even during the noisy break time, looked impressive today as well.
The sight of him ceaselessly striving and focusing toward a clear goal drew Esther in again today.
"Raword, I'm sorry for saying that so suddenly yesterday. If you have time, could we talk again today...."
Bolteok.
Raword picked up his textbook and rose from his seat.
"Excuse me? I was in the middle of talking...."
Esther called after him, but Raword left the classroom with a scowl, ignoring her thoroughly.
"...Eh."
She froze in place once more.
This time too, of course, the other students were watching her.
I'm not... giving up.
A 2nd rejection.
She had reached the point of overcoming shame through sheer stubbornness.
A little while later.
Esther ultimately decided to deploy her feminine wiles.
Esther's surefire strategy—confident not only in her face but her figure as well.
A last resort.
A secret move.
In a word—a finishing art.
She subtly loosened the front of her uniform to accentuate her curves.
She was normally a girl who fastened every button and kept her tie drawn up tightly, but today she undid 2 full buttons.
Someone might say it's merely 2 buttons—but for a girl of her usual upstanding conduct, it was a transgression large enough to negate her entire life up to that point.
Even knowing it was a violation of the school code.
By this point, Esther had stopped caring what she could see in front of her.
A forbidden art is all the more powerful for being forbidden.
"Ah, it's hot~.... It's so hot today.... Don't you think?"
She fanned her chest with her hand and peered sideways at Raword.
Raword looked at her, then—
"...Lowly piece of flesh."
He muttered and scrunched up his face.
"W-whaaat?"
Even after that happened, she refused to give up until the very end.
She ceaselessly appealed her charms to Raword.
The approach even evolved to become more brazen—but the results were dismal.
Meanwhile, there existed at the academy a group of male students who called themselves Esther's fans.
They tailed after Esther, sneaking peeks at her from behind.
The fact that they followed Esther around was the same as before the confession incident—but.
"Now then... Esther. What kind of rejection will you show us today?"
At some point, they had begun to feel an inexplicable thrill at the sight of the proud Esther being rejected pitifully by Raword.
They had awakened to an irreversible taste.
"Shh, be quiet. It's starting. The 10th confession."
"What's today's concept?"
Today's confession concept was: the domestic woman.
In the morning, Esther went to find Raword at the training grounds, where he was honing his swordsmanship.
Today, he would be unable to ignore her.
She had gone so far as to prepare a lunch box by hand.
She hugged the cloth-wrapped lunch box to her chest and approached Raword from behind.
The idea of making a lunch box was perfect, even by her own assessment.
Men are inherently weak to domestically inclined women.
She had personally prepared a healthy meal for him who strived every day, staging the scene of her taking care of his meal.
Hehe....
Above all, it was a strategy that could leave a deep impression—that Esther, cold to every other man, considered Raword alone to be special.
A lunch box presupposes that considerable effort has gone into it, so it also carried the implication that she had woken up early in the morning, thinking only of him, and made it with care.
The lunch box was an undefeatable strategy, the key to victory.
Cheok—
Esther confidently held the lunch box out.
"Raword, you've been working hard since early this morning."
Raword turned to look at her with an expression of irritation—but that alone wasn't enough to deflate her.
She had already been rejected 9 times.
A gaze loaded with contempt had become as routine as a morning greeting.
"When you use your body in the morning, you have to eat a filling lunch. This is... I was making mine in the morning and had a bit left over... so I, I brought it."
She had tried to say honestly that she had made the effort for Raword's sake—but those very words were too embarrassing, so she swallowed them back.
"I'm quite confident in my cooking, you know? I prepared 5 side dishes, all good for your health. You won't be disappoint...."
Raword ignored Esther and rummaged carelessly through his bag.
He pulled out a clumsily crammed rice ball and chewed it down like an animal.
"I’ll manage on my own."
Raword tossed aside the 5-dish lunch box Esther had poured her heart into making and crammed what could barely be called food into his mouth.
"I believe I told you to stay out of my sight."
...Esther swallowed her tears and walked away.
"Truly Esther. Rejected again today."
"Aahh... it burns.... That face on the verge of tears sets me on fire...."
The self-proclaimed Esther fan club.
They had become a gathering of perverts who observed the spectacle of the proud-hearted Esther being pitifully rejected by Raword.
***
003
I set out for the academy.
Our home—the Hasgard Earldom—is far away, but the time had come to meet the heroines.
I believe Raword has grown distant from the heroines since he began training to become a holy knight—but I couldn't rest easy until I saw it with my own eyes.
The 30th ending: Paradise.
The route in which Raword conquers all 5 heroines.
I had, after all, lived through the experience of reaching that worst possible outcome.
I must not let my guard down.
While I was stuck among men who had kept their purity in hopes of going to paradise after death, this bastard got to taste the real paradise.
The game my junior made had a total of 31 endings.
31 flavors, like some kind of ice cream shop.
5 endings for each of the 5 heroines.
5 multiplied by 5, 25.
On top of that, no fewer than 5 harem routes.
Combined, that's 30.
Add 1 hidden ending to that.
And that's 31.
Raword meets the female characters in order.
Not just any women—women who come to feel drawn to Raword.
As long as this world is a romance simulation game, it's only natural that the heroines fall for the protagonist.
Each with their own reasons, each falling in love in their own way.
The story flows as the developers intended.
With a crafted story and illustrations filled with soul, it asks the player:
Take a look—there are 5 heroines, each with all sorts of charms.
They say they like you.
What do you think? Cute, right? Pretty, right?
So—which one are you going to conquer?
Oh, right.
There's also the option to conquer all of them.
—Something like that.
On top of that, around about now, Esther's confession event would have occurred.
The 1st heroine, Esther.
Being the first, Esther was a character designed to draw the player's gaze and make them feel interested in the scenario.
In other words.
She was a character the developers had "put effort into."
She was made to steal hearts with beauty that no words, however many added, could fully express.
Brilliantly gleaming eyes.
Silver hair that spread a mysterious, fantastical atmosphere.
A figure that seemed as though it could only exist in a master sculptor's finest work.
The tsundere classmate who speaks formally.
Against an Esther like that... could that protagonist bastard—who had been so obsessed with women that he succeeded on a single try at the harem route—have held firm without being conquered?
Going by the letters alone, he seems to have no interest in anything besides the goddess—but what's inside is unknown.
I'll go myself.
Go and see it with my own eyes.
***
I was an extra—and not someone in a position to become an academy student or teacher.
Even so, the method by which I could keep a close watch on the heroines and intervene was a scholarship.
Meaning.
Becoming a patron.
"You wish to offer a scholarship to our students?"
A question from an academy teacher.
She was the only character who had caught my eye when I played the game—that academy teacher.
A female teacher clearly set in her 30s, unlike the heroines whose ages were hidden as 'XX.'
I was lucky.
I was almost tempted, just for today, to acknowledge the existence of the goddess.
Long, red, straight hair.
A mature impression that young girls could never attain.
Her skin, without a single wrinkle, made her look young at a glance—but the atmosphere itself was different.
I can pride myself on having a radar that picks up on that particular quality only an older woman has.
Didn't I mention that a succubus transforms into her prey's ideal type?
......She looked exactly like that succubus.
To be precise, it was the succubus who had taken on this academy teacher's form—but the suggestive air of that day drifted back to me and I flushed a little.
It felt like it wouldn't be strange at all if Chris appeared any moment to take off her head.
And being enchanted before that happened seemed fine too.
I should wrap up the business at hand and make my move.
First, let me ask her name.
In the game, not even her name had appeared.
Avoiding the world's destruction and preventing the family's annihilation are important—but the me of this life deserves to be happy.
When I was a holy knight, it was attached to me, but I had lived as if it didn't exist.
This time, for real.
"Yes, the Hasgard household wishes to sponsor 5 students."
I calmly dropped the name of the earldom.
The financial aspect had already received my father's approval, and I had set aside enough money to comfortably cover 5 students.
The head of the Hasgard family—my father—had always said that giving is the most noble thing a noble can do.
He was also the one who had been more delighted than anyone when he heard I was sponsoring students.
"I see. Then... shall we go by academic performance?"
The academy teacher swept her long hair behind her ear as she asked.
Setting aside the question itself, that small gesture sent a fragrance drifting over—a blend of spring flowers, grass, and the crisp scent of soap.
Dammit. Pull yourself together.
Don't let every little gesture like that toy with all 5 senses.
No matter how long I'd lived as a chaste holy knight, I'm not some middle school boy.
"No."
I reined in my wandering mind and said it firmly.
"The truth is, I looked into the students a little beforehand. The student I wish to sponsor is Esther."
And the remaining heroines.
"Lucia, Amelia, Veronica, Rebecca. 5 students in total."
"They're all... female students?"
Oh.
The look in the teacher's eyes shifted sharply.
Could she be seeing me as your typical reckless son of an earldom?
Does she see me as trash using his position and wealth to covet beautiful girls?
This is a problem.
Even if it might not look like it, I was a holy knight.
A noble and chaste holy knight.
Respected by colleagues and recognized by superiors.
—Haah, I'm not Commander's backpack. Please get yourself together. Have you no pity for the one who gifted Commander the fine sword? How many times has it been now that you've left your sword behind.... Dear God, please watch over Commander....
—Daywin, if you wanted more food, why didn't you just say so.... Thanks to you using my name at the serving station to eat 2 bowls, I went without dinner tonight. Daywin, could you show a little respect to me, your bishop?
...Minor grievances I had forgotten suddenly surfaced.
Sorry, Chris.
My apologies, Bishop.
"As you say, they are all female students—but is there a problem?"
"Hmm.... It's more an issue of fairness, perhaps. The students you've mentioned are all—"
She put emphasis on the word "all."
"—performing poorly academically."
That was true.
The heroines' grades were terrible.
A story like: the top student in school meets the bottom of the class.
The connection between Raword, who had been ranked first since enrollment, and the heroines who vied for last place.
Yet they all possessed tremendous potential.
Simply hidden until a player discovers it.
Discovering that potential, drawing it out, and earning the heroines' favor—that was the game's primary narrative and goal.
"So I'd like to carefully suggest—what about Raword from the Swordsmanship Division, who placed first in this year's entrance exam? In terms of his circumstances, Raword is the one who needs the scholarship, and as the top student, the justification is more than sufficient."
She cleared her throat and continued.
For some reason, the succubus's sticky voice seemed to overlap with hers.
"And yet you insist on sponsoring only female students with low grades?"
"...That is correct."
At a question like a finishing shot, I had no choice but to confirm it.
"Ah.... I see...."
The academy teacher nodded awkwardly.
The glance I caught of her eyes had sharpened further.
Aah.
That's definitely the look she gives a reckless troublemaker.
She's absolutely seeing me as trash.
Beautiful Teacher—Daywin Ending: Locked.
Cannot be conquered.
Save point to return to... doesn't exist.
Can't be helped.
The way things were going, it looked like it would be impossible not only to dispel her suspicions but even to get close to the heroines.
In the end.
"I was the one who recommended Raword to the academy."
I told the truth.
"Oh... really?"
She opened both eyes wide.
She asked me to wait a moment, then rummaged through various documents.
"You are!"
She waved a single sheet of paper and changed her expression.
Her attitude visibly shifted.
Well, of course it would.
The person who abruptly declared they'd sponsor only 5 female students with the worst grades, versus the person who scouted a genius from a slum and got him into the academy by recommendation—there's no way they'd look the same.
"In that case, this changes... things. You must certainly be someone with a discerning eye."
She shot a glance at me, then stamped the sponsorship certificate with a thud.
"I'll deliver this directly to the principal."
"Might I meet them?"
"The principal?"
"No, the students."
Why would I want to meet that old man.
"I'd like to convey the scholarship news in person."
"Ah, yes. Knowing where the money comes from will give the students motivation too. But Amelia probably won't be particularly pleased about the scholarship. She might even be put off by it. That's a bit...."
She subtly extended her index finger and jabbed upward.
"She's our student now, but she's originally someone very highly placed."
"Understood. I'll meet them in order, starting from the 1st years."
"Yes, for 1st years, the first would be Esther. Esther is...."
She stopped mid-sentence and changed her expression.
It was a face tinged with worry.
"...Of all people, the first one is Esther."
Of all people?
Wasn't Esther a student with an excellent reputation not just among students but even among teachers?
A student whose academic performance was somewhat disappointing but whose conduct was upright and sharp.
I distinctly remembered that being her setup—but the teacher's expression was deeply ambivalent.
"Is there some kind of problem with the student?"
"Ah, no."
She made a small sound—mm—and paused a moment.
"...You'll understand when you meet her."
Walking down the corridor to meet Esther, I had unease for company.
Caught off guard by the worry that had suddenly washed over me, I ended up not asking her name after all.
***
"Nice to meet you, Esther. I came to let you know that you've been selected as a scholarship student."
"Yes...."
Esther, seated on the sofa, stared blankly at the ceiling.
"I've... been selected for a scholarship?"
Her voice was one from which all soul had been drained.
"Why would it be me? I'm nothing but a lowly piece of flesh...."
Hm?
A sense of dissonance struck me.
This wasn't the Esther I knew.
Esther was always a character brimming with confidence.
Sometimes to excess—but it was a confidence grounded in ability, so it wasn't unpleasant. That kind of character.
Esther simply stared, with hollow eyes, intently at the ceiling pattern.
Where has the tsundere gone.
"What do you mean, why. Your grades are a little...."
Mm.
Being too honest would hurt her.
"A little lacking...—but I hear your reputation among teachers is excellent and your popularity among students is immense. It seems you have quite the grand nickname too. The academy's goddess, was it."
"Hi—hiieek!"
She flinched violently in an instant.
"What's the matter?"
Am I misremembering the setup?
"Ah, no.... It's just... suddenly...."
"Come to think of it, students really are quite juvenile. 'The goddess,' honestly."
"Hi—hyaah!"
Every time the word "goddess" was said, Esther overreacted.
Like pressing some kind of button, she leapt up from her seat.
Why is she like this...?