Date Event

【This time, it was from Rachel’s point of view】

I was Rachel. I was supposed to be just an ordinary high school girl who spent every day playing games, but before I knew it, I had been reincarnated into a place that resembled a game world, and I was enjoying my school life in another world. At school, there were Gordon-sama, the prince of this country, Cedric-sama, the minister’s son, and Mark-sama, the knight commander’s son—those three were called the Top 3 Handsome Boys in the academy, and I spent my days being approached almost daily.

But Josette, the villainess, always got in my way with her two hangers-on. Josette seriously pissed me off. I was going to raise my parameters smoothly and absolutely reach a happy ending.

There was a time when I lived thinking that way, but partway through, my game knowledge stopped being useful, and everything started going in a weird direction. The reason was that my older brother had been reincarnated into this world too. Caro-san, who used to be a hanger-on, was now lovey-dovey with my brother and had basically become my best friend, and even Josette-san, the villainess, seemed to have feelings for my brother. In the game, I thought the three romance targets were my type and sounded nice, but after I came to this world and actually interacted with them, I started feeling like something was off, and now we were kind of distant. I decided I would be careful not to raise any flags and live quietly from now on, but…

(I really didn’t want to raise any unnecessary flags… but I guess it couldn’t be helped.)

The other day, I found out thieves were going to break into Marie’s bakery where I was living and working, so I asked Mark, the knight commander’s son, to get the Knight Order to move in order to protect the shop. And then, at that time, he asked me to go on a date with him, and to protect the shop I had no choice but to accept.

So today, I told my older brother I would be late to work and I was scouting the date route. Mark was a noble, so he apparently didn’t know much about the city. That meant I had to do the research like this. By the way, the date was tomorrow. Even if he was a noble, shouldn’t the one who invited someone be the one to scout things out? Luckily, after I started working at Marie’s bakery, I began earning a high wage, so my wallet wasn’t in bad shape, and I thought I’d be fine covering the date expenses. Still, I felt like normally the person who invited should pay. I really wanted to say, You’re a noble—aren’t you rich? It stung, because just like in the game’s system, the main character had to bear the entire cost of the date.

In game terms, it was early June of the first year—only the third month since the game started—and on top of that, my previous part-time job paid poorly, so I usually got through date events at places that cost almost nothing, like “the nearby park” or “the forest.” Since this one was also meant as thanks, I felt like that would be rude.

After I put together a date plan, I headed to Marie’s bakery.

I came in through the back door, went up to the second floor, got myself ready in my room, and entered the shop.

“I’m back. Huh? A new hire?”

Inside the shop, there was an unfamiliar woman working in the eating area, wearing a T-shirt on top and a uniform skirt on the bottom.

“Welcome back, Rachel-chan.”

“I’m back, Marie-san.”

“This is Patty-chan, our new hire. Kent-san asked me to let her do a trial shift for today. She works hard, so if she wants to, we’ll probably hire her.”

Marie answered me, unusually working in the shop-side kitchen.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rachel. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, I’m Patty. Thank you for having me.”

As Patty came into the kitchen carrying cleared dishes, I spoke to her.

(She looks pretty normal… could this be the girl Josette-san mentioned, the one who sits next to him?)

“Then I’ll go help Ke— I mean… I’ll go help Kent-san.”

“Rachel-chan, I’m counting on you.”

I told Marie and moved to the workshop to help Kent.

When work ended, I went back to Kent’s home together with Catherine ahead of the others.

“Catherine-chan, thanks for the meal today. It was delicious.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that.”

While preparing dinner, I thanked Catherine for lunch. When dinner was ready, Kent and Marie came home. By the way, when Catherine cooked by herself, the result turned into a black object, but when she cooked with someone “helping,” it became proper food. It was still a mystery.

Then, a little later, Caro returned in a carriage.

“I’m back. Marie-san, I’m sorry I suddenly took the day off.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. It was something important, right?”

Caro apologized to Marie, and Marie answered her gently.

(It really feels like a family… and it’s so comfortable.)

I thought it was more fun to live surrounded by people who felt like family than to live alone in a dorm. After we ate, my usual routine was to take a bath and then return to my lodging. Recently, I often invited Caro to bathe with me. I thought I was normal, but lately I’d been thinking about Caro a lot. Still, I knew she was lovey-dovey with my brother, and I didn’t want to ruin our relationship, so I didn’t say anything. As her best friend, I invited her casually.

“Caro-san, let’s take a bath together.”

“Eh? Y-yes. That’s fine.”

Caro and I undressed in the changing room and entered the bath area.

“Then, Caro-san, I’ll wash you.”

“Thank you. Then please do.”

I put body soap on a bathing sponge and started washing Caro.

(She really is soft. This squishy feeling is kind of addictive.)

She wasn’t fat, but her body had a soft, squishy springiness. It felt really nice to touch.

“Rachel-san, that tickles.”

“Oh, come on, come on. Take this, take this!”

“The way you’re touching me is kind of like Kent-san.”

“Oho? So this is how you two do it, huh. Here!”

“Eep. Now I’m mad. My turn.”

“W-wait… eep!”

I must have taken it too far, because Caro counterattacked, and we tangled up and fell together. Caro ended up underneath me, with me on top, and we stared at each other.

(Seriously… why is she looking at me with such a cute face?)

“Mm.”

“Huh?”

Without thinking, I stole Caro’s lips.

“You were so cute, Caro-san, I just did it. Tee-hee.”

“Honestly, Rachel-san… my turn. Mm.”

After we flirted for a while, we soaked in the tub and warmed up.

“To be honest… I’ll have to leave this house soon.”

“Huh? What about my brother?”

Caro told me.

“I do want to stay with Kent-san, but now that that matter has been settled, I’ll have to return to my estate.”

“I see… then it can’t be helped. But we can still meet at school like always, so I don’t think we’ll become distant. At school, nobles and commoners are supposed to be treated equally.”

“That’s true, but I probably won’t be able to work here anymore, and it makes me sad that I’ll have fewer chances to see Kent-san.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. I’m sure it’ll turn out in a good direction.”

“Hearing you say that makes me feel a little better.”

I didn’t have any proof, but I somehow felt things would probably move in a good direction.

“Good night. See you tomorrow.”

After I got out of the bath and got ready, I returned to my lodging.

“I’m back.”

I entered through the shop’s back door and went up to the second floor.

(It’s always like this, but after closing, I stop sensing Emily-san. And in the morning, by the time I wake up, she’s already started cleaning the shop…)

Emily never left the shop. Until now, I thought she was basically a shut-in, but she didn’t seem to eat either, and now I couldn’t sense her presence at all.

“This is definitely weird. Does my brother know about this too?”

Even though I knew it was wrong, my curiosity got the better of me, and I opened the door to Emily’s room.

“Emily-san, are you in there?”

There was no sign of anyone inside, and there were no signs the furniture had been used.

(What does that mean?)

I started getting more and more anxious. Then I heard the sound of a door opening downstairs.

“Rachel-oneechan, sorry! I forgot something, so I’m coming into the shop!”

I heard Catherine’s voice from below. She had come to get something she’d forgotten. I hurried down to the first floor and went to Catherine.

“Catherine-chan, isn’t this building weird?”

“Why are you so flustered, Oneechan?”

Catherine looked puzzled, so I explained what happened.

“Oh, that’s what it is. Emily is… she’s right there, you know?”

Catherine pointed to an empty spot inside the shop. For a while, Catherine couldn’t see the shop-bound fairy, but now—maybe because Emily’s power had returned—Catherine could see Emily even when Emily was in a state no one else could see.

“Um… I can’t see anything.”

“Emily, show yourself a little. She says she can’t see you.”

Pop—Emily suddenly appeared right in front of me.

“Eek!”

I screamed in surprise.

“I startled you, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”

Emily apologized to me.

Then Catherine and Emily explained the situation.

“So she’s a shop-bound fairy… I didn’t know that existed.”

After hearing it, I said it like I understood in my head. It was a secret from other people, but when Kent told me about her beforehand, he said it was fine to tell me, so Emily answered without hiding anything.

“I’m really shocked. I thought you were a ghost or something.”

“I am a noble fairy, so I would prefer not to be lumped in with ghosts. Outside business hours, I disappear to conserve magic power. Still, I’m sorry for startling you.”

Once the mystery was solved, I got sleepy, so we broke up and I went to sleep.

Morning came. Today was Saturday, so both school and work were off, but because I had a date planned with Mark, I felt heavy from the start of the day. I prepared breakfast in the shop kitchen downstairs, ate quickly, returned to my room, and started getting ready to go out. As the game’s starting equipment, I had four kinds of seasonal casual outfits—spring, summer, autumn, and winter. On dates, if I didn’t choose the right one for the season, affection would drop. It was summer now, so I was supposed to wear the summer outfit, but since I had zero intention of raising affection, I deliberately chose the spring outfit. Then I finished getting ready and headed to the meeting place. By school rules, we were supposed to wear uniforms when going out, but only a few people followed that faithfully.

The meeting place was the Central Plaza, and I arrived right on time. I considered being late, but since this was a “thank you” date, I decided it would be rude to the other person.

(Hmm… he’s not coming… I feel like I’ve already been waiting about an hour…)

“Sooorry. Did you wait?”

“Nope, not at all.”

What I really wanted to say was, “Don’t make me wait an hour, you bastard,” but I swallowed it.

“Huh? It might get a bit hot today—are you sure you’ll be okay dressed like that?”

“You might be right… maybe I should’ve dressed lighter?”

“No, it’s fine. So where are you taking me today?”

(Yes. Outfit check—Affection minus 3 points, acquired!)

“Then today, let’s go see a play.”

“Nice. Then let’s head to the theater at once.”

Mark and I arrived at the theater.

(Alright, the genre I pick here is…)

I chose a genre that wouldn’t change Mark’s evaluation either way. If I dropped affection too much during a date, he’d get angry and leave. To prevent that, I had to balance things—making sure I didn’t raise affection while also not dropping it too far.

“The play was fun, wasn’t it?”

With a beaming fake smile, I said that to Mark.

“Y-yeah. It was fun.”

Mark answered as if matching my tone.

“Then it’s about time for lunch. I made a reservation at a restaurant, so let’s eat there.”

“Sounds good. I was just getting hungry.”

With that, I led him to the front of a very high-class, prestigious restaurant.

“We’re here.”

“Eh? We’re going in there?”

Mark looked utterly shocked. The restaurant I’d guided him to was the kind upper nobles used—a truly prestigious place. But the owner didn’t discriminate; even commoners could be served as long as they paid. A knight commander was a mid-ranking noble, so he shouldn’t normally use a place like this.

(It costs a bit, but high-end places are neutral for Mark, so it can’t be helped.)

“Welcome, Rachel-sama, Mark-sama.”

A server in an immaculate black uniform led us to our seats. Looking around, I saw customers here and there enjoying their meals—people who looked like high-ranking nobles, and merchants in expensive clothes who looked like they had money.

“Rachel, are you sure your money will be okay if you picked a place like this?”

Mark asked me, worried. The moment I heard that, I could tell he probably didn’t have enough on hand to pay the bill here.

“It’s fine, so don’t worry.”

I told Mark.

I finished the meal without issue, using table manners that rivaled a noble’s. Mark looked a bit shaky, but he seemed to manage to finish too.

(There goes about half of the wages I earned so far…)

After I paid, I thought that as I put away my slightly lighter wallet. After this, all that was left was window shopping in the commercial district until time ran out, and today’s mission would be complete. Of course, I chose that option because it also didn’t change affection.

But then something happened that I hadn’t expected at all. When we went to the commercial district, we ran into Kent, Caro, Marie, and Catherine—completely by chance.

“Oh? Isn’t that Rachel-chan? Oh my, oh my—are you on a date?”

“Waaah, Rachel-oneechan is on a date with a handsome guy!”

Marie and Catherine spoke to me, not knowing the situation.

“Um, uh…”

I couldn’t come up with anything clever in the sudden moment.

“Isn’t that Caroline-san? Are you shopping?”

Since Caro was among them and Mark knew her, he spoke to her first.

“Mark-sama, good day. Yes—we came to the commercial district to shop, the four of us. I’m sorry. Even though they didn’t know, my companions have interrupted you.”

Caro responded politely.

(She grasped the situation instantly… as expected of Caro-san.)

“We have somewhere to go now, so please excuse us.”

After Kent signaled to Marie and Catherine with his eyes, he said that to Mark, and the four of them disappeared into the crowd.

“Are you acquainted with the beautiful woman from earlier?”

“Huh?”

After they left, Mark asked me out of nowhere. At first I didn’t know who he meant, but then I realized he was referring to Marie.

“Yes, well… she’s the owner of my part-time job.”

“I see. I understand.”

After I answered, Mark made a gesture as if thinking deeply.

After that, I got through window shopping without incident.

“I had fun today. Sorry for making you go along with me.”

“No, it’s fine. You listened to my unreasonable request.”

“Then I’ll see you at school.”

“Yes, see you at school.”

I managed to finish the date event safely.

“It hurt to spend that much just to avoid changing affection, but there probably won’t be a next time, so it’s fine. I can just earn the money again.”

Feeling the satisfaction of clearing a date event for the first time in a while, I headed home.