Translator: Nonon
Proofreader: Silavin
The protagonist of the otome game of magic and swords, When the Ring of Fire is lit, World is painted red, is a girl of humble origins capable of wielding the rare alchemy magic, with hair that’s fluffy, long, almost golden with a tinge of red and near translucent eyes.
She had no special origins nor did she have any secret powers bestowed by her bloodline. Both her family and ancestors were just typical commoners.
However, as a child, she happened to learn alchemy magic from a passing alchemist and owing to alchemy magic and the influence of her love interests, she carved out a place for herself as an exemplary student in the academy after enrollment. And occasionally, she’d nurture a love far above her station with her love interests, defeat the sealed dragon, save the hero from assassins and make a harem for herself made up of several men. Really just an ordinary(?) girl.
She had no default name, and the player was to set both her first and family name. That’s the reason I started calling her the protagonist in my head.
I have no idea what route she’s on at the moment, but there’s one thing I know for certain.
“Umm, I’m sorry for listening in. You’re married to Lady Violet, aren’t you… Lord Heartfield?”
“… Yes, I am.”
That she’s a ticking time bomb to us.
I can’t let her meet Lady Violet at the very least. Both for her mental well-being and to make sure her image doesn’t worsen in the minds of Ash and Chartreuse so they don’t show more animosity towards her.
“I’m much obliged to Lady Violet for all the help I received from her in the academy. However, I had no idea where she’d disappeared to a few months ago, so I was looking for her and happened to run across her here…”
I can’t tell if it was a veiled insult when she said she felt obliged or if there was no special hidden meaning because she’s basically a good person.
Either way, I must reject her plea here.
Even if her words are filled with good intentions, there’s no guarantee that they will lead to a happy conclusion.
“I’d like to meet her and apolo-”
“Ms. Nephrite!”
But well before I could voice my disapproval, a male student, Ash, clad in the uniform for nobles, called out to her.
Maybe because the voice came out of nowhere, Ms. Nephrite flinched and turned to the direction of the source.
“My apologies, but we discovered that some of the luggage was damaged. Could I trouble you to restore them using your alchemy magic?”
At first, she looked a little troubled upon hearing Ash’s request, but in the blink of an eye she pasted a smile on her face.
“Alright, I suspect there’s more damage to fix so let’s get right to it! Because this is one of the few occasions where I can be of help!”
“I appreciate it. However, I must say that you’ve helped us a great deal on many occasions before. There’s no need to be so modest.”
“Haha thanks, Ash.”
She thanked him cheerfully, turned around to face me again and bowed deeply.
“Forgive me, Lord Heartfield. I hope we can continue this conversation at a later date.”
“Huh, Ms. Nephrite?”
She simply bowed in response to me calling out to her, and proceeded to leave the place.
…Shit, I couldn’t find a chance to clearly voice my disapproval. As it stands, she’s going to visit me and ask for my permission to meet with Lady Violet again. There’s also the possibility that she’d make a direct trip to the mansion. This has become quite bothersome.
I want to respect her good intentions and feel grateful for them but…
Come to think of it, there’s something odd about the timing Ash popped up, could it be…
“He’s being wary, huh”
It’s just my guess, but I think Ash’s being wary of me. I can also sense the same sense of wariness from Chartreuse.
(Maybe) Ash and Chartreuse saw their beloved Ms. Nephrite approach the husband of the person they hate, Lady Violet, and hastened to remove her from my presence. He probably knows the reason why I was exiled to Shiki.
“Well then…”
I scanned the church and made a little bow when I spotted the Priest and walked towards the door.
There is much to do. I need to provide assistance to the Azalea academy’s investigation which is set to start tomorrow and make introductions to the blacksmith. Also the first thing to be prioritized is the mental wellbeing of Lady Violet.
I can’t just leave her be. Even if it means making more enemies in the Azalea academy or the royal family, I wish to protect her.
As such, I need to be meticulous and carefully plan my steps—
“Hear me out, Clo!”
“…Hm”
Just after leaving the church and closing the door behind me, a man, who’s somewhat more of a nuisance than Ash or Chartreuse, appeared before me.
“I made all that effort to set up a room to spend a passionate night in and went around Shiki asking out all the girls, but couldn’t reel in a single one. It was too much even for me that I cursed my own fate!”
“…Is that so …”
If you’re done cursing your fate, then I need you to shut up and go back home.
I already have a ton of things weighing on my mind, I’d like to ask you not to add to them. However, without bothering to pay any attention to my circumstances, this man in front of me, Khaki, continued to speak, making grand gestures as if he were putting on a play.
“But! I heard the girls from the Azalea academy have arrived.”
“…Yeah.”
“This is truly a fateful encounter! The reason why I couldn’t find a partner for tonight, was because I needed to spend that time with these girls! So, I ran over to meet them, haha!”
Alright, for now…
This is an oddly vexing sequence of events that seem to be connected together. Including the punishment to this exceedingly annoying, optimistic, foolish, lustful demon.
“Should I go with my fist?”
“Huh, what was that, Cl- augh?!”
I knocked him out with a punch straight to his face.
Khaki
A loverboy whose batting range starts at age 10 and ends at 70 as long as the person is a female.
A hero who doesn’t mind a dwarf, elf or an undead as long as they have the rough figure of a woman.
Is an exceedingly annoying, resilient optimist, hence the general consensus in Shiki, is that it’s faster to knock rather than talk some sense into him.