NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1
These days, it’s hard to find a heroine who doesn’t come with a 19+ tag, but just 20 years ago, we sometimes had heroines with a history of sexual abuse, even in all-ages games.
Of course, they never actually showed those scenes, just a little ‘look how pitiful this kid is’ moment, but honestly, it’s still a setup that could make anyone spit out blood.
However, Claire Fanggriffon is a character that can clearly be classified as a heroine, but she’s definitely not one that can be pursued. At least not in the series I played, as there was no route for that.
No, the issue isn’t about pursuing her; saving her is simply impossible.
Sure, it’s a 20-year-old series, but the storyline we’re dealing with right now started only five years ago. The 14th installment came out five years back and since then, three more have been released.
And by the late 2010s, it was simply too late for that kind of degrading character to appear.
The character traits might be attractive… I guess. Given her unfortunate past, some character traits make sense.
Like pretending to be cheerful to hide her dark past, becoming more mature than her peers, acting tough to seem strong, or reconciling with her estranged stepsister after being saved from her terribly dark past—
—While those setups exist, honestly, such a dark backstory could be created without necessarily involving ‘degradation’.
Whether it’s the creators’ taste or because the scenario writer who was scripting 20 years ago kept writing, who knows?
Regardless of Claire’s popularity, those stimulating setups continuously hindered her fame.
Moreover, whether Japan is different, domestically a few users keep stirring the pot around the character’s past, and that just dragged the perception further down.
Anyway, whether the production team was aware of this or if Claire was originally supposed to be a character for that purpose, in the latest installment, this character ultimately refuses the Emperor’s summons for his true daughter and sacrifices herself for her stepsister.
Regardless of the controversies trailing after her, no one could deny that story. “She was unhappy until the end, but still met the conclusion she wanted” is a character arc that always stays popular.
“Hmm…”
One problem is that this Claire, who is currently writhing in front of me, hasn’t even earned the name ‘Fanggriffon’ yet and doesn’t have such a gloomy past.
Claire is a character sold to a brothel by the orphanage’s head for money.
Actually, the orphanage itself had a special relationship with the brothel. It pretended to be an ordinary orphanage while essentially serving as a supply line for broken children, replacing them as needed for the “special clientele” of the brothel.
…Maybe the kid that was ‘adopted’ recently was sold off for that ‘purpose.’
With “special clientele,” of course, gender wouldn’t matter at all.
A girl who rolled around the brothel becomes the Emperor’s daughter. It doesn’t usually make sense, but there’s a narrative reasoning behind it.
The character Claire just happened to have talent.
One day, while being degraded as usual, Claire finally couldn’t take it anymore and exploded, killing the ‘client’ she was dealing with.
Hearing the screams, the thugs rushed in, and Claire accidentally broke an oil lamp while trying to defend herself with just a fork, which ended up igniting the whole place.
In this world, the safety mechanisms were practically nonexistent and the rights to human life were underdeveloped. A fire that started in a shabby brothel quickly spread to engulf the surrounding slums, resulting in numerous casualties.
Ironically, many nobles who were opposing the Emperor died in that inferno while trying to be at the brothel, which dealt quite a blow to the noble faction… that was the backstory.
While investigating the incident, the Emperor discovered Claire’s existence and immediately took her in as his daughter.
Many of the ‘children’ under the Emperor then became his loyal subjects, siding with him, only because they had no right to inherit the throne. They were simply tools for the Emperor to fulfill his own ambitions.
Even until the latest game, Claire’s real identity has remained a mystery. There were hints of her biological parents possibly appearing in the next installment, but that’s about it.
Anyway, she isn’t ‘Fanggriffon’ yet, which means she hasn’t gone through those horrific experiences…
…On the contrary, it also means my current orphanage is related to that insane brothel.
Yes, it means there’s a possibility that not just Claire, but ‘I’ could be sold off too.
The reflection in the mirror showed a remarkably enchanting girl.
What if the contents were of an adult male? To the nobles who bought children and did such things, that would probably look like a playground.
“Dammit.”
“Wha—…?”
“Ah.”
Claire echoed my muttering.
Seeing Claire in that state, I clutched my head.
For the past month, I haven’t been able to do anything.
Of course, it’s not that I’ve never thought about things. I did consider getting out of the orphanage somehow and running away to a proper place.
And I know of a potential escape route.
The protagonist of this game is an incredibly earnest and good-hearted fellow. Naturally, his parents are the same. An old noble family that has lived in the capital for generations, which operates a proper orphanage to highlight the good nature of their family.
Not just a facade of an orphanage, but a genuinely good one. They sincerely care for and love the children, responsible for them until they become adults.
Having achieved every Platinum Medal in the console versions of [Chronicles of Aetherna], and even before the official Korean release, I had bought the Japanese version and cleared it while writing guides, I know my way around the Imperial Capital’s map. If this world is truly the world I remember from the game, then I should be able to find a way just by looking at that map.
But the problem lies with the scale of the game.
Unless it’s a massive Western studio with an enormous budget, it’s rare for any company to reproduce an entire city in a game. It’s impossible for a small to mid-sized company with about 40 members.
While the settings might detail regions to some extent, not every area is meticulously represented. It’s really only the key spots that are portrayed. It’s somewhat like two or three blocks on the street. Eight such locations appear in the game.
The rest are all battle fields outside the city, and naturally, considering it’s an JRPG, there would be monsters and treasure chests there, making the design rather illogical. It has to be set up just as a dungeon, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s entirely different from the real city’s outskirts.
Anyway, I know somewhat how the city looks, but I haven’t mastered the wayfinding like a pro. The capital is described as a complicated place. Even if the streets are well-maintained in the city, the illegal settlements and century-old wooden houses chaotically mix in the back alleys and won’t appear accurately on any map.
So that’s why I’ve just been dragging my feet all this time.
“Sylvia, is something wrong?”
The kids here followed me surprisingly well.
Maybe it’s because the last leader reigned over the children with a fist. Whenever the kids got into trouble, he was the one who got hit, so instead of the old woman, he kept them quiet with his fists.
In all that, he never hit me.
Maybe it’s because of this pretty face.
…It’s strange to say that about a child’s appearance, but I do have a face that could be seen as pretty from a child’s point of view. From an adult’s perspective, it’s ‘a face worth watching’, and…
Perhaps to the eyes of a criminal, it would be seen as a face they want to grab right away.
I’m not sure how I ended up with this face in the orphanage.
If it were a web novel, I would perhaps acquire this child before me, and then the main storyline would go vastly differently from the original, but—
—How exactly?
I pondered while observing the other children gazing at me blankly.
For starters, they’re all ‘products’ and terribly cute. I can’t fathom how they managed to gather such children from the back alley.
…They might not be ‘just orphans’. Well, there’s no way I could prove that now.
Well, being born into another world is fine. Meeting a heroine from childhood is nice, too. Honestly, I was a bit moved once I realized it. Magic, flying battleships, all those ridiculous steam devices—it’s stuff that ignites everyone’s fantasies, right?
The problem is, I feel like I’m destined to get exploited and die before I can even enjoy it.
Yes, maybe the character Sylvia Black was an original character, who knows? Maybe she knew Claire before she became the Emperor’s daughter. Maybe she was just someone who was sold off before the main story began, that’s why she never showed up.
“…”
Even spinning my head anxiously, there are no solutions appearing.
The usual status window didn’t pop up, nor did any abrupt guidance sound like what usually happens. Searching in my mind also didn’t bring forth any remarkable abilities.
“Big Sis?”
“……”
Despite it sounding quite like English, it has that distinct Japanese video game feel, and I doubt it’s just my imagination.
In reality, the age gap between Claire and me probably isn’t that vast. At most, maybe a year apart, or a few months difference. From our similar heights, that seems about right.
But maybe because the old woman said I was the eldest, all the kids called me sister.
“…Nah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
And I tried to be nice to them as much as possible.
I could offer nothing in return.
I’m not the kind of person who empathizes with others’ pain, trying to help the kids in need.
If I can’t do something, I’ve been just keeping my distance and watching like a bystander. That’s my position.
However, even so, I can at least say a kind word to these children whose futures are so grim.
…Thinking back, perhaps that’s why the kids attach themselves to me.
*
And soon, the day of farewell approached.
“Claire!”
In the worst possible way.
“Someone has come to take you! Be happy and come out!”
“……”
Normally, when leaving this place, the kids would be a lot happier. It’s only natural to be glad escaping a place filled with nothing but abusers.
Plus, the kids don’t even realize they’re being sold off.
They only think they will be adopted into a wealthy household and grow up warm and well-fed.
…The kids still don’t understand that nobles or bourgeois wouldn’t come to a filthy place like this.
But even so, Claire just looked up at me.
Her eyes glimmered with fear and yearning.
Had she formed any sort of bond with me in between?
“…Let’s walk to the front together.”
I stood up and said that.
Seeing Claire smile at me as if she knew not what would happen next made my heart feel lighter.