The Heroine's Best Friend

Chapter 3 Part 1: Of Magic and Men

"You're kidding!" Maria exclaims in disbelief. 

After our late lunch, we both couldn't wait to sneak back to our dorm room to speak freely about what happened today. Lunch was also mentally exhausting for me. Despite my best efforts to keep Lord Simon included in the conversation, he would so little that it would grind any topic to a halt. 

"I know! I was so taken off guard I completely bombed my game!" I say after taking a sip of my tea. Tea really is the perfect drink for gossiping. Maybe this is the real reason for all those tea parties. 

"But in the game, the first time you are able to play Sir Grey isn't until after raising your strategy to level 7." 

"But I'm not you. Maybe I don't need the same requirements as you." 

"I suppose," Maria says sounding not entirely convinced. 

"Look. Wouldn't it be weird if he wouldn't play ANYONE until they were a certain level? And how does he even judge that? I doubt any of the capture targets can secretly see imaginary stats about us." 

"There has to be a way....they just know." 

I shrug my shoulders. Truth is what do we even know? It's still much too early to have an idea of how our presence is affecting the game. 

"Anyways....." she continues. "You met three capture targets today! I haven't even met one!" 

"But you got to learn about the cool features of the academy!" 

Maria had filled me in on what I missed. After the entrance ceremony ended, the headmaster had made Lady Tutorial.... I can't even think her name without laughing.... give Maria a tour of the campus. Most of what Maria said wasn't all that surprising except for the message system. In the game, when you got a message, it looked very similar to getting an email notification. There was an envelope looking icon and a little alert would be on it letting you know you had a message. I assumed we would just get handwritten letters. But, just like how I was surprised Combat Wizards looked identical to the mini-game and played on a touchscreen, the mail also had surprising digital elements. 

In designated areas on campus and in the common areas of the dorms, there were tables with those touchscreens embedded in them. The mail system worked the same as in the game. Maria told me the touch screens were called rainbow glass here in the game world. I  guess to create rainbow glass required the coordinated work of both a fire spellcaster and a water spellcaster. I'm also wondering if the game devs had some biases to water and fire users. We haven't even started our first day and I am hearing about water and fire magic non-stop and haven't even heard a peep about wind, blossom, light, or shadow. 

Side note about the blossom users, Maria has shared some Japanese insight with me. In the English version of the game, they had translated the magic to "blossom." But in the original Japanese version of the game, the school of magic was called Hanasakuya, which is derived in part from the Japanese goddess of "delicate earthly life's" name. I guess it just didn't hold up to western translation. 

"That wasn't all that fun. I've seen the tutorial 13 times." 

"Why thirteen?" 

"Six capture targets with two endings each, plus the full harem ending." 

"Six capture targets?" I say as I silently count down the ones she had told me about. 

"Oh, yeah there's six. There's a hidden character too." 

"Hidden character?! Why didn't you tell me about him? Who is he?" 

Maria hesitates a moment before answering. "I don't think we will see him, so we shouldn't need to worry about him." 

"What do you mean he isn't going to show up? Isn't he already here?" 

"Well in order to unlock him, you had to have beat one route first. Then, starting on the 2nd playthrough, the secret character appears if you visit the right places on very specific days. He's not a student, so initial interactions are really important to lure him to visit the school more often." 

I start intently at Maria trying to read her mind. She's holding back something. Up until now, she has happily over explained everything. "What are you not saying, Maria?" I ask out loud. 

She sighs. "I don't like him." 

"Really?"

"Yes," she sighs again. "I love this game and all the characters! But the secret character..... I just don't like him." 

Maybe he's a yandere and that's why she's not saying anything. I stare more hoping I have some mental power of persuasion to get her to spill the details, but it seems she has great immunity to my make-believe power and remains silent on the matter. 

"Fine. Keep your secrets. I guess we just have to focus on who we have already. Having successfully saved you from the creepy pedophile, we don't need to add another unworthy man to the mix." 

I see Maria rolling her eyes. "Professor McGreggor is a perfectly fine romance target." 

"No he isn't and good riddance. Anyways....." I say trying to change topics before we fight about this more. "Is there anything noteworthy happening tomorrow?" 

"Hmmmm....." Maria ponders. "Lady Angelica is introduced tomorrow. We have a few classes together and she starts to say mean things to me. And...." I can tell she's thinking hard. "I'm pretty sure I meet all the capture targets tomorrow too." 

"Heh?! Really?" 

"Yeah. It's one of the weakest moments in the game. I think they couldn't figure out how to write them all into one spot very well so it's super awkward." 

"This should be fun to watch!" 

"You won't be there," Maria deadpans. 

"No! Why?!"

"I'll be asked to go to the headmaster's office. They will all be there for some reason or another." 

"I have to spend the day without you again!" I say with a pout. Maria reaches over and pats my head. Well, at least I won't run into any capture targets then if they are all together for Maria's first day. Maybe I should have more of a plan of what to do tomorrow. Oooooo, maybe I should see if I can sniff out who the secret character is. 

Finally tomorrow I get to start learning magic!