The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Chapter 168

Roti is a hybrid-type character.

She primarily uses firearms. True to her quiet, reserved image, she wields a rifle, providing support from behind the party while staying safe. She's the kind of character who handles firepower support from the backline.@@@@

However, she’s not limited to firearms. Since she has a talent for magic, her magic skills are quite impressive. While she’s not quite as dedicated to magic as Mia Crowfield, who focuses solely on it, Roti is versatile enough to contribute with physical attacks as well as magic-based support. Because of this, Roti was often a useful character in the party.

And the other commoner character who follows Roti into the party is someone who exclusively uses firearms.

Still, after dealing with Rena, I wasn’t really concerned about my character overlapping with hers.

Roti and I have completely different images. At first, I was a little worried, but in the end, a cool and collected character in love isn’t the same as a cool beauty character.

The next commoner character who enters is very energetic by nature, so it’s not like she’d be an issue either.

“E-excuse me...!”

Even though she’s an energetic character, I didn’t expect her to come charging forward like that.

*

Alice thought of me as a sister, and Claire felt the same, but that didn’t mean we were always together.

I liked to have some alone time, and both of them had enough sense to notice when I wanted to be by myself.

Especially after the whirlwind of vacation, when I’d lost the remaining days of break entirely, I often found myself lying on the bed in my room after school started again, doing nothing but staring into space.

Neither Alice nor Claire would have expected me to be lying around in bed, but they’d surely noticed that I enjoyed being in my room with the door closed.

So, even now, I was alone. Alice was having a chat with Charlotte, and Mia Crowfield was still in her room.

Rena had gone upstairs to do another round of firearm checks. Maybe buying new bullets had sparked her interest.

Sophia had tried to speak to me but was quickly grabbed by Claire and dragged away. I really appreciated that she respected my desire for alone time.

“Well, I’ll go back to my room for a bit.”

“Oh, okay.”

When I got up to leave, Alice nodded.

“If anything comes up, just call me.”

There was a guest phone near the lounge. It wasn’t connected across the sea, but it was enough to connect to rooms within the hotel.

...Though, I kind of wish they had wireless communication technology.

Well, it’s not like smartphones would exist, but still.

As I walked away from those random thoughts, I passed someone on the way to the elevator.

“Ah...”

It was a familiar face.

This character appeared as a party member in the original story. However, their role wasn’t particularly large. It seemed like a character added to match the setting of "an academy that includes both nobles and commoners."

Still, she was a character you could pursue in the game. While she didn’t have a major role in the main quest, she did have her own side quests and relationship events.

But at this point in the story, this was our first time meeting, so there was no need for us to be overly familiar with each other.

At least, that’s what I thought.

“Miss Baker.”

I nodded, and Lily finally got to the point.

“Is... Roti... doing okay?”

Hmm.

If my gender were male, this would be the perfect moment to head straight into a romance route.

I wasn’t disappointed, though. I’ve always believed that the heroine should end up with the protagonist. If she got closer to me, I’d end up feeling like I was the NTR (Netorare) character, and I wouldn’t have been comfortable with that.

“She’s doing fine.”

In fact, compared to when she was in the commoner class, the hostility she used to feel has greatly diminished. At least, within our group, no one would discriminate against Roti because of her skin color.

“Ah...”

She seemed worried about Roti but hadn’t really thought about how to continue the conversation afterward.

“No, I mean... um...”

I stared at her for a moment before slowly speaking.

“Is Roti not getting along well in her class?”

I brought up a topic Jake would be interested in.

“Uh...”

Lily hesitated and couldn’t give a proper answer, but just that hesitation told me that Roti wasn’t doing well in her class.

I decided not to pry further.

“What kind of weapon do you use?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, what kind of weapon do you use during practical training?”

“...I use a Winterfield rifle.”

It was a rifle made by the Winterfield arsenal, which was based on an Austrian design. Unlike other bolt-action rifles, it had a feature where you could just pull the bolt handle straight back to reload, which made it memorable.

“I see.”

I nodded.

If this were Earth, the ammunition probably wouldn’t be compatible, but since it was the same empire-made firearm, it would likely work together. Even if we were in the same party, I didn’t think there would be any big issues.

“Then, how about you come and see it in person?”

“...Huh?”

“I think it’s better for you to see the situation firsthand rather than just have me explain it.”

“...Y-yes!?”

Her reaction was as surprised as you’d expect from a scene in a Japanese manga.

It was nice to see that again after a long time.