The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent

“Your Highness, the Crown Princess!”

Claire greeted me just like she did with Alice earlier.

It was an awkward moment that made my head feel fuzzy.

Well, not that I literally felt fuzzy, just saying.

Right. I knew Claire. Of course, I knew the young Claire, but the Claire I truly knew was the one who had become a villain under the Emperor’s command.

I might have emphasized this a few times already, but let me say it again: in the game, Claire did not have the innocent image she has now. No matter what lines she delivered, she was indifferent, and if anyone annoyed her, she showed her displeasure outright. I never saw her stuttering.

Claire only got flustered or angry when stories about her little sister, whom she adored, came up.

She was already dead by the start of the main story.

…Of course, she was alive at this moment. I didn’t know how she managed to survive, but I guessed it had something to do with the significant impact I had on this world. After all, I was the only one who changed here.

Has the Emperor become more cautious?

Anyway, it wasn’t important at this point. Those sisters were only background characters connected to the main character’s swing sword skills, so it wouldn’t matter much when they actually started to meddle in the story. Luckily, I had the ability to turn back time.

Leo Grace, who had been stiffly standing by Claire’s side, also lowered his head towards us.

The main character, Leo Grace.

True to a game protagonist, he was handsome, and his skills were decent enough. From a story perspective, he was a character with a variety of emotional expressions and had a cheerful hero vibe, mixed with qualities of a harem protagonist.

In terms of game performance, he was a late-bloomer; he started off weak, but his abilities skyrocketed as time went on. It wasn’t that his raw abilities were impressive, rather, it was his utility skills that approached broken levels. He lacked healing skills but had a buff skill called “Inspiration,” which temporarily boosted the abilities of the characters by nearly 70% depending on the setting, and it was an area skill to boot.

Moreover, since it centered around him and included self-buffs, as long he used the skills periodically, he could melt enemies even at top difficulties. Of course, the rest of the characters had to be set up properly too.

That said, his stats weren’t bad either. Pure ability stats placed him among the top tier by the endgame.

Thanks to that, he had a notorious reputation as the character that everyone squeezed through in the early stages. And those important buff skills didn’t become available until halfway through.

So I was curious about how this character would survive in this world.

The “Inspiration” skill acted as a real damage buff in the end because this was a game. In real life, while cheering someone on could help channel strength, it wouldn’t ever let them exceed their physical limits.

In the game, that type of cheering would give enough power, but that was just a gameplay allowance.

Similarly, I’m interested in how the balance for guest characters or enemy bosses labeled as “the world’s strongest mage” or “the worst mercenary” will come across; will performance take precedence or will the lore?

Well, this is a turn-based game, and there wasn’t much freedom like in Western RPGs, so it’s a completely different story.

“Nice to meet you. I am Sylvia Fanggriffon.”

“Silvi…!”

Claire suddenly lifted her head at my words, looked at Alice beside me, then quickly bowed her head again.

Completely opposite from the original.

Or rather, it could be said that it was worse than in the original. Claire was already better than Alice in every aspect, but Alice didn’t bow down and greet her. If anything, Claire treated Alice as an inferior, resulting in a bad-sister vibe.

Though I would admit that calling their relationship bad might be a bit much.

“Both of you.”

Alice, who had been silently watching the two bowed figures, opened her mouth.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Ah, um, that is…!”

At Alice’s words, Claire bravely lifted her head again.

And looked at me.

I was a bit surprised by that look. Even under pressure, the intensity of Claire’s gaze on me was unwavering. The way she looked directly at me reminded me a bit of the Claire I had seen in the game.

Though she did stutter more. But, who cares?

Claire had grown well. Thankfully without undergoing a horrific past.

“Sylvia…!”

“…”

It seemed like something other than ‘Lady’ almost slipped out, but still, it wasn’t ‘Sister!’ so that was still a step up.

Seeing this rush of affection, I could tell that protagonist Leo had likely grown close to her at a sibling level. In some ways, she might have grown even closer than Leo. After all, he had been born into nobility, while Claire had not.

“Yes. What is it?”

I replied to Claire after a brief hesitation.

“Could it be…?”

Claire seemed to want to ask me something but suddenly gasped and inhaled sharply.

All the eyes around us turned this way.

In this situation, questioning ‘the Crown Princess’ about her orphanage background would definitely lead to some serious repercussions, and it seemed like she had just now made that connection.

Hmm.

Claire needed to learn more caution. After all, the original Claire was depicted as arrogant yet unbelievably perceptive, which made sense considering how difficult it was to survive without being quick on the uptake.

The Grace couple is renowned for their fairness and kindness. They probably wouldn’t treat Leo differently because Claire was an orphan.

A child raised with love throughout her life.

Claire had become such a child.

Given that she had a biological father, there was no way for her to fall into a character who was secretly jealous of Alice.

“Could it be?”

When I asked after her, Claire turned pale.

“W-Would you be able to accept my greeting!?”

“…”

Once again, the atmosphere became awkward.

Alice’s expression went from shock to utter disbelief. Initially, she thought there was something brewing beneath all this, but now Claire had come out with something utterly baffling.

“If it’s a greeting, I already received one.”

Claire’s face turned beet red.

And Leo’s complexion turned pale to match; if he got any paler, he might end up matching his hair color.

“Rather, could you introduce yourself first?”

When I asked, Claire’s face turned even redder.

“I am… Claire Grace. The daughter of Baron Grace.”

However, Claire’s voice, bowed in respect, didn’t stutter like before.

“I see.”

“Baron Grace is nearby the Imperial Palace,” Alice commented, looking like she was rummaging through her thoughts.

And then she looked around purposefully.

Though the students surrounding us were still there, the expressions of the ones at the forefront were not very welcoming. To be exact, they had expressions that suggested they simply couldn’t back off because of the people behind them.

“…Keep this in mind. As long as we attend this academy, we are all students like you. The status of Crown Princess is only a title outside of this academy; in here, we are all simply people here to learn, be they nobles or commoners.”

That’s right.

In reality, this wasn’t just a matter of hierarchy among students; teachers and students were involved too.

The Headmaster is a Duke, but among the teachers, some are Baron, Count, or even commoners. Applying the class system here would lead to a bizarre scene where teachers bow deeply to students.

To prevent that scenario, there’s a rule that ‘the class system does not apply within the academy.’

In a way, it may seem like an empty notion, but it does serve a purpose too. In practice, commoners and nobles have built friendships, and after graduation, capable individuals have found placements accordingly. It contributed to breaking down prejudices.

“So, you don’t need to bow to me like that here. Well, it doesn’t mean you have to follow my words either. But if you treat me that way, I’ll treat you as lower-class people, as a Crown Princess would. If you’re okay with that, then proceed.”

“…”

The sounds of responses disappeared.

But in the distance, I could hear whispers.

There probably weren’t just first-years here. We were in a corridor that leads to the first-year classrooms, so there would be second to fourth years as well.

And this was something that applied to all grades.

After looking around, Alice shifted her focus back to Claire and Leo before her and said,

“What will you do?”

Hmm.

Not bowing before the Headmaster was probably the ‘unbending’ reason Alice thought about. No matter how much the rules applied, she likely thought that she shouldn’t bow down just because she was the Emperor’s daughter.

But aside from that, her intention was to apply the rules generously.

Now I understood why Alice reacted so rigidly towards Claire, who previously bowed slightly before the Headmaster. By treating Alice as ‘the Crown Princess,’ it would be only fair that she viewed Claire as an inferior.

“Ah…”

Claire had a blank expression before quickly brightening up.

She stood tall, brushing off the slight bow, and stepped directly towards Alice.

With her hand extended, she spoke.

“I am Claire. Claire Grace.”

A small gasp echoed from the crowd. It might even have been Leo from behind.

Seeing this, Alice stared at Claire intently, then extended her hand to lightly shake Claire’s hand. Although she didn’t have a smiling face, she also didn’t appear overly displeased.

In contrast to the original version of Alice, she was incredibly composed…

…

Wait a minute, was that expression mimicking me?

“I am Alice. Alice Fanggriffon.”

“Alice.”

Claire, undeterred by Alice’s nonchalant demeanor, brightly smiled and let go of the hand she had lightly held. Alice too released her hand without reluctance.

Then Claire turned back towards me.

The perplexity from earlier had vanished, and Claire wore a cool smile.

It was similar to the smile she wore while dying instead of Alice at the end of the original story.

In reality, this expression was closer to Claire’s true nature, and that twisted attitude she showed throughout the game was likely her defense mechanism when things went bad.

“I am Claire.”

And she introduced herself to me once more.

Extending her hand towards me,

“Claire Grace.”

She confidently declared her name.

“…”

I lightly glanced at Claire’s hand. There were calluses on her white palm, a sign of diligent sword training.

I reached out to lightly grasp Claire’s hand.

“I am Sylvia Fanggriffon.”

As I spoke with the same stiff expression, Claire’s eyes flickered for a moment.

But soon, Claire smiled brightly, gently shaking my hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

The warmth from our held hands felt nice.

Did she feel the same in the original?

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