The Heroine's Best Friend

Chapter 2 Part 3: The Game Begins

The crowd was too dense. After the chaotic ending of the tutori - er - the entrance ceremony, the students had spilled out to the common areas. I haven't been able to find Maria. If I had to guess using my game knowledge, Maria is currently getting a tour of the campus explaining where all the activities are located. I pout inwardly to myself. I wanted a tour. But in the game, the tour was for the heroine and her best friend certainly didn't tag along. 

I was shuffling along lost in thought when I nearly walked straight into a student. 

"What the?" I gasp as I come to my senses. I look up and see a wide smile and red hair. 

Red alert! Red alert! An alarm was blaring in my head. Shiiiiiiiiiiiit. Isn't this -

"Why, hello my sweet chickadee!" he swoops in gracefully to take my hand and land a light kiss. 

My modern American sensibilities react automatically and I jerk my hand away, wiping the top of my hand that was slightly wet on my skirt. 

"Hi. Bye." I say quickly as I attempt to step around him. He quickly matches my move and remains in front of me. 

"Well I was hoping to wait until a ball, but if you would like to dance, it would be to my absolute pleasure," he coos. 

I make a very unladylike noise from the back of my throat. Wow. Do men like this really exist? Wait. Dumb question. I'm in otome game land. Yes, men like this exist. How do I answer him? Mackenzie Brown wants to kick him and tell him to stop being a disgusting skirt chaser. But he also is one of Maria's capture targets and I shouldn't ruin her chances by picking a fight with one of them. And he does relinquish his playboy ways once he falls in love with the heroine. Fine. I'll play nice. 

"Forgive me, Your Grace," I say emphasizing that I'm fully aware of who he is, even if I don't remember his full name. "I'm afraid I'm a bit out of sorts from the excitement of this morning's ceremony and I'm not in the right state of mind to have an official meeting. If you would like to make arrangements with my maid, I can certainly find time at a later date to make your acquaintance." 

"Well my lady," his voice also changing to something more closely resembling what a gentile noble should sound like. "I shall certainly take you up on your offer. Please don't allow me to take up any more of your time and rest well." He gives me a slight bow and steps to the side. 

I curtsy slightly in return and take this opportunity to make my escape. I slap my cheeks slightly. Stay away from the capture targets, dummy! 

I never said this out loud to Maria, but I am slightly worried about my relationship with the boys. The best friend in the game is a side character. She supports Maria and does very little. But I've read a ton of those isekai reincarnation stories where the protagonist shifts to whoever the main character is, regardless of what their original role was within the story. If Maria was a mindless NPC, then maybe I would have a little fun and romance the harem. But Maria is also a reincarnater like myself. And she loves this game. This is her fantasy. And double and, she is only 17 and never had a real romance before. I'm 28. I've had boyfriends and I don't need to be seducing kids 10 years younger than me. 

I should have headed to Rose dorm, but in truth I was a bit lost. The crowd has pushed me along before I was able to break free, I walked around without paying attention, and now I'm half running away from a playboy. Something catches my eye. I stop and stare for a moment. 

COMBAT WIZARDS! 

I'm in the combat gardens. I don't know the real name of this location. But this garden is where the 2nd year combat students typically hang out. It's one of the few areas I know since I worked so hard to romance Sir Grey. Did I like the Combat Wizards mini game? Absolutely not. But I did get really good at it since I had to play so much of it. 

I prance over to where the game tables are. The mini-game was a strategy game for two players. They would have an army of wizards on a grid playing field. The pieces moved and fought based on a hand of cards. Each player starts with 20 cards, 10 of which are the same between both players and 10 of which are randomly chosen. Looking at the table set up, it looks nearly identical to the gameplay screen during the minigame. 

There arn't many students here right now so I sit down at one of the empty tables staring intently at the board. 

"Do you want to play?" a voice says from behind me. 

"Yes!" I reply without looking up. 

He sits down across from me and presses his hand to the table bringing his side of the battlefield to life. I copy his motion and my side lights up as well. This minigame sucked. I never liked it. But why is it that now it's in front of me I can't help but get excited. 

The game board, which now looks like an LCD screen to my surprise, deals out the cards. It's touch screen! It's EXACTLY like the minigame. Here I thought I was going to have to hold physical cards. 

I'm laughing like a villainess about to land a killing bow on a helpless victim. I'm going to destroy this kid! 

"You can go first." He says. 

I look up at my opponent for the first time and the blood drains from my face. 

"SIR GREY?!"