I’m Not Even an Otome Game Mob Character - Chapter 8

TN:
I said I’d add a dark theme for some of you guys, but it doesn’t look like I can do that without us having to pay a LOT more money than we already do for this website. Getting the plugin for a dark mode switch seems to require a more expensive subscription, and it’d cost a few hundred USD a year. If anyone has any suggestions on how we could bypass this, please help.

Until then, I’ll make a channel in our discord and publish PDFs of the chapters in dark mode there so you can still read. Enjoy the chapter!

 

What kind of situation is this?

Octavia-sama was smiling broadly while Ojou was awkward for some reason.

Only Ojou’s little Sister in Octavia-sama’s chest, who had been born a few months ago, seemed calm. She faced the sky and moved her hands.

I didn’t think she was being cautious about me from how she felt when I was invited. She keeps stealing glances at Octavia-sama, so maybe she’s worried about her Mother.

Aren’t tea parties supposed to be more relaxed than this?

The fruit juice in the glass teapot was refreshing, and the scent of seasonal fruits wafted from whatever the maids had poured into our glass teacups. But Ojou didn’t show any signs of relaxing from the good smell. I was afraid to touch the rare glassware, so I couldn’t do so right away. They’re definitely expensive, so breaking them would be scary.

“Um, thank you for your invitation on this day.”

For now I’ll say a greeting to buy some time.As a commoner I might have not been able to drink this black tea that used a lot of fruits in my entire life. I want to let my Mom drink it too. Can’t I bring it home? They seem fast so probably not.

“If it’s fine with you I would be happy to meet together from now on. Dia has never introduced you to me. I must at least make up for as much time Gerald-sama has spent with you.”

“Motherr.”

It’s unfair for only you two to be together, Octavia-sama smiled as if she wasn’t disappointed at all. Ojou was flustered, but she didn’t seem to be able to speak strongly to her Mother, so she didn’t continue speaking from there.

“Occasionally, if you’re okay with it.”

“Oh, I’m happy.”

If I have Dad’s permission I don’t really mind. I’m happy to be able to eat sweets and stuff.

The Duke only mounts surprise attacks on me every once in a while, so we don’t spend much time together. Perhaps Octavia-sama might have already spent more time with me than he did just with today’s tea party. But this tea rotation is tough. It’s like that time I got carried away in my previous world and spun around too much in a coffee cup. Depending on how it’s operated, that can become a thrill ride.

(TN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cetXRcVWiuk&ab_channel=mame)

“Because of you, recently, Dia has started to wear matching dresses with me.”

Octavia-sama smiled happily. Her dress and Ojou’s dress were of the same design. They wore relaxing dresses that seemed to be one-pieced, with ribbon chokers stopped by baby red rose ornaments, and the collars opened up widely around the chest like the character ?. Octavia-sama wore pale violet while Ojou wore a pale blue that looked like forget-me-not. With their cattish eyes and pale blonde hair, the two looked quite similar.

“She used to refuse, stubbornly. I’m glad you seduced her.”

“Sedu…”

“I haven’t been seduced!”

While I wasn’t sure whether I should reply to her dubious phrasing, Ojou put both of her hands on the table and denied it, bright red. Octavia-sama smiled gently, so much so that the impression of her round eyes was almost gone.

I persuaded her. That’s probably what she meant, but Ojou shot herself in the foot just because I happened to hear it. I didn’t do a thing. Don’t misunderstand. Though that goes for the Duke as well.

“Um… Octavia-sama.”

“That’s hard to say, is it not? You can call me Via.”

She smiled widely. Like the Duke, she gave off the feeling that she couldn’t be opposed even though she was smiling.

A nickname would certainly be easier since such a long name might make me stutter, but Ojou transparently puffed out her cheeks and glared at me. Maybe she means to say, someone like you mustn’t call my Mother so familiarly. Ojou always talks about her Mother with adoration in her eyes.

“If you’re jealous, why not have him call you Dia?”

“!? I’m not jealous!”

“Is that so? Then only I will be getting a pet name.”

Ojou bit her bottom lip and looked somewhat annoyed.

What is this? I can feel the image of a threatening kitten and an adult cat, teasing her with only the tip of her tail. Isn’t Octavia-sama playing with Ojou?

It didn’t seem like I could interrupt them, so I worried as I stared at the two. Ojou didn’t seem to like it, but it felt like I had to call her by a nickname. But I want to avoid doing something Ojou doesn’t like.

“Um, then, Oku-sama.”
(TN: Oku isn’t just the first part of Octavia’s name in JP pronunciation, but it’s also the respectful word for a married lady, madam)

I thought of a different nickname as a compromise.

After the two stared blankly for a second, one of them laughed pleasantly while the other’s face became red in rage.

“Don’t give my Mother a strange nickname!!”

Ojou got mad in the end. What should I have done?

“Fufufu… that’s fine. With that…”

“Haa?”

Oku-sama really hits the mark. Ojou’s little Sister was drawn in from her Mother’s arms. She moved both of her hands and raised her voice like she was having fun. Was what I said so funny?

I put my hand on my tea and let my mind wander for a bit. The fruits gave a refreshing smell and sweetness. It was delicious. It’s quite good even while warm, but Ojou’s body temperature has been rising since a while ago. Something colder might be better for her.

“Ojou, give me that for a sec.”

Ojou held the teacup still as if she was trying to calm down.

“You have your own part don’t you?”

“Never mind that.”

I stood from my seat, went to Ojou’s place and held out my hand as she was getting suspicious. She gave me her teacup without understanding why.

I covered it with both of my hands and waited for a few seconds. When I felt that it was ready, I returned the teacup to Ojou.

“Hoi.”

Ojou received it as she tilted her head. For now she would take a sip.

Her pale blue eyes widened.

“Have you calmed down a little?”

“What is this!?”

“Eh? I just cooled it.”

I just cooled it a little with magic. It wasn’t as if I was freezing it so I didn’t need to spend a lot of magic. Why was she so surprised at magic that could be done with just my quantity of magical power?

“How can you use magic without chanting!? And this is Ice Magic…”

“Isaac-kun, do you have a dual affinity?”

Ojou wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Oku-sama asked me as if it was unusual to see.

“No, I’m just training other attributes a little. Wind spends the least amount of magic for me next to water, so I can use it moderately.”

So for magic that needed both the water and wind attributes, I would be bound by the upper ceiling of my wind attribute.

I only used shabby magic, so I tilted my head. I don’t think it was enough for these two to be stumped about.

“…It’s my first time seeing a child who tries to use attributes other than his affinity.”

After a few beats, Oku-sama muttered in admiration. Now that she mentions it, it’s my first time showing other magic attributes outside my family. It was like an extension of water magic so I didn’t think it through. Well, it’s Ojou’s family so I guess it’s alright.

“…But what about the chant!? How can you activate magic without compensation?”

“Eh? Couldn’t you just ask the spirits for help?”

Ojou was flabbergasted at my reply.

“The spirits…? You don’t call ilt out for a compensation in magic power…?”

“Of course I don’t have enough magic power to summon a spirit.”

Ojou made a face as if she didn’t understand, and I also tilted my head in confusion.

I only have enough magical power to know that there are spirits. If it were Ojou or Ernst family members, then they might have enough magic power to see and summon them. Without that magic power, you had to say a magical incantation or use a medium as payment. The scarcity of magic commoners could use also contributed to the low literacy rate.

It probably follows to some degree that I had thought of and could use a certain magic that I had thought of on my own, and I could use an incantation for it, too. But I don’t want to take the risk of calling back my dark history so I ask the spirits for help without an incantation. A Chuunibyou invocation would be scary.
(TN: Chuunibyou – kid who thinks they’re an anime character)

“…Wait a minute, Isaac-kun. Even among nobility, those who can summon and employ spirits to some extent with their own magic power have a high status you know.”

Oku-sama told me that there was not even a concept of asking them for help in the first place.

“Hmm. People with a lot of magical power do seem that way.”

Pushing their way through with strength huh. Nobles are troublesome.

Nn? Which means…

“Am I weird?”

I asked, pointing to myself. Ojou nodded her head.

“You’re different.”

“I don’t believe that there’s any example of using magic so ambitiously even from commoners you know?”

Even Oku-sama affirmed me.

Really. Mom and Dad didn’t say anything so I didn’t think it was that unprecedented.

“How do you, ask the spirits for help…?”

Ojou asked me, brimming with curiosity. It feels like you’re making friends with the fairies so it seems that women would like this.

“…I just do it by habit?”

“What is it that you mean?”

I answered with the first thing that came to mind, but Ojou stared at me with a look that asked if I was messing around. I answered truthfully though.

“Look, it’s like saying thank you or something.”

“That thing?”

When I joined my hands in prayer, Ojou seemed like she thought of something, but she didn’t understand.

“And then, if you thank them a little bit in times when you’re humming or something, they get happy. I think Ojou would understand if you tried playing an instrument like that while learning.”

“Just like that…?”

Ojou made a face that said she couldn’t believe it whatsoever. After thinking of how to get her to understand, I remembered one thing.

“Ah. An offering.”

“An offering??”

“Look.”

I went back to my seat and clapped my hands together twice towards the three cookies on my saucer that had been distributed to me. Then I closed my eyes with my hands joined and paid my respects.

I opened my eyes after waiting for a few seconds to see that the cookies had decreased by about half. Even while I was looking, the remaining portion disappeared as if melting into thin air.

“So? Did you see the spirits?”

After I confirmed that the cookies had all disappeared, Ojou nodded, staring at the saucer intensely.

When I get a snack, I leave behind half or a third of it to offer to the spirits. When I was younger, Mom told me that there are spirits even though we can’t see them, so I experimented to see if they’d eat sweets. Interestingly, it was a success and I was able to confirm the fact that they exist. Then it became a habit.

Ojou can see them, so she might have been more tense than I was at that time.

“Amazing…”

“Ojou, wanna try it yourself?”

Understanding that she could do so, Ojou quickly straightened her back.

“‘Please help yourself.’ If you think like that, it’ll get through.”

I simply taught her the method. Ojou nodded and faced her cookies. Science tests for kids are like this. I knew her heart was beating.

She clapped her hands together more reservedly than I did and bowed slightly to the cookies.

After a while, Ojou gently peeked out of one of her eyes to find that the cookies were disappearing. Then both of her eyes opened, and her expression shone. She surely sees the spirits eating. Even I understand how exciting it would be to see a picture from the world of storybooks like that.

“I, I did it…”

Ojou looked between me and the saucer on which her cookies were disappearing and happily reported her success.

“It would be bad if they got fat so practice moderation.”

I told her not to go too far, and Ojou obediently nodded again.

Just like animals in farms or in the wild, even if you don’t plan to put them to work, overfeeding them wouldn’t be good. Ojou probably gets more chances than me to eat sweets so she should practice caution regularly. Whether spirits actually get fat is something I don’t know since I can’t see them.

Ojou’s expression continued to shine and she stared at the cookies disappearing on her saucer wordlessly for a little while. Then she noticed Oku-sama looking at her softly, to which she got flustered and started drinking the tea I had cooled. She wants to calm down and at the same time she doesn’t want Oku-sama to tease her.

“Isaac-kun, I’m glad you’re here.”

Oku-sama muttered as she stared at Ojou, who was shy and shrinking. I understand being happy that Ojou seems to be having fun because I feel that way too, but what does my presence have to do with it?

I thought it was strange, so I looked at Oku-sama and noticed.

“Um, may I hold her?”

I went to where Oku-sama was and extended my arms towards Ojou’s little Sister.

She was changing the way she held her more than she was at the beginning. Her arms are probably getting tired. And she’s a noble so she could probably ask a maid or someone else to do it, but if I’m not imagining it then when she’s with her family, Oku-sama always tries to hold her. I’ve only met her twice, but from what Ojou says that seems to be the case.

Oku-sama’s pink eyes widened a little bit. She smiled gently like a fragrant flower.

“Okay.”

“Thank you very much.”

I tightly held Ojou’s little Sister who had been gently handed over to me and returned to my seat.

“I can hold her as well.”

“Ojou, it’s better for you to start by holding her head in place.”

She raised her hand and insisted with an expression that said, unfair. Since I knew how painful her physical attacks were, I judged that she wasn’t strong enough to support her little Sister’s head and stopped her. But since she had never held her before, Ojou pouted.

“Isaac-kun, do you have siblings? You seem to be used to this.”

Seeing me calmly hold Ojou’s little Sister, Oku-sama tilted her head dubiously.

“No, I don’t. The neighbors sometimes have me look after their children.”

In the lower parts of the city, sometimes both parents work. When neither of them are around, I’m entrusted to play with them along with the other kids from the neighborhood who can’t work yet. Of course, they don’t always entrust their kids to other kids. The association of housewives follows up when there are breaks in the household.

Those older than me are already young men and women who have started working, so I was entrusted quite often until last year. Even now after I’ve become an apprentice, on my holidays I still get asked.

“Isaac-kun could make a good groom.”
(TN: The word for groom here also means son-in-law)

I wonder. From my memories of the past life, I’ve never had a girlfriend who was the same age as me, so I felt complicated. And right now, I’m not interested in love. Even the aunties at our village joke, saying, marry my daughter, but the daughters themselves wouldn’t want someone who used to change their diapers, would they.

For now I should take it as one of many compliments and give my thanks. When I thought that, my stomach rumbled.

“Ah.”

Oku-sama said that I could have some cookies. But the saucer in front of me was empty after feeding my part to the spirits, and the big plate of cookies was beyond that. Meanwhile, my hands were full with Ojou’s little Sister. I’m an idiot. I’ve played myself.

The maids distributed three more cookies to Ojou and my saucers, but I still couldn’t move.

I stared at Ojou, freely moving and freely trying to eat her own part as usual, as my stomach rumbled. How nice-, it seems delicious.

“…What is it?”

Noticing my gaze and the noise from my stomach, Ojou, who seemed to be having a hard time eating, stopped her hand that had a cookie on it.

I could not eat the thing before me that I wanted to eat. This situation was unexpectedly torture. Is there no way I can eat it? That thought monopolized my mind.

“Ple-ase.”

I looked to Ojou and opened my mouth quickly.

“!?”

Her eyes widened and her face reddened, and at the same time I noticed that I had said something stupid and became embarrassed. It’s not something a good older man would do, and it’s not as if Ojou, a young lady, would do such a thing.

“Sorry…”

Feeling shame paint my cheeks, I hung my head a little, meeting pink eyes with my own. As if Ojou’s little Sister was happy that we made eye contact, she raised her voice in enjoyment and smiled. That calmed me down a little, but escaping my shame will not be so easy.

Daaaamn, I should have eaten at least one before offering.

As I was regretting it too late, a sweet smell tickled my nose. Enticed by the smell, I moved my eyes to see a cookie before me.

“…I, It’s Flora’s fault after all.”

There was no helping it. Ojou held out a cookie before me with her face turned away. Maybe she was frustrated, or maybe she was dissatisfied. Her eyebrows were knit very closely, and her face was also red. With a face that seemed like she was about to get angry, her hand holding the cookie was wobbling. She doesn’t have to force herself if she feels that humiliated.

“Eh, but…”

When I was about to refuse since I felt somewhat bad, my stomach growled again.

After hesitating for a few seconds, I leaned down, opened wide and ate the cookie in Ojou’s hand. I could not go against my inner man.

Ojou got surprised and withdrew her hand. After chewing and swallowing firmly, I smiled.

“Delicious. Thanks, Ojou.”

As expected of a Duke’s sweets. It wasn’t too sweet, and it had the flavor of high-class goods. Its highly renowned mouthfeel was also good.

I rejoiced at the flavor of a cookie I usually wouldn’t get to eat while Ojou was conflicted about something.

Wasn’t she going to go back to her seat to eat, I thought, before Ojou took another cookie from my small plate and presented it to me.

“Is this okay?”

Sure enough, she’s not meeting my eyes. Ojou nodded while looking dissatisfied.

I didn’t really get it, but I thanked her since I was grateful to be able to eat something I wanted to eat.

“Thanks.”

Then another cookie entered my mouth.

In the end, for whatever reason Ojou gave me several cookies.

I feel like she wasn’t able to eat that much at that tea party. Let’s give her something as an apology.