Refuse Harem
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Prius
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 203 – The Young Lady Named Sophie Linier ~ Marcus’ Hardship ~ I
Author Note:
I will be uploading twice, today and tomorrow, so if you want to read it all at once, please come back tomorrow(^_^.)
A bird flying high in the clear, blue sky suddenly descended and landed on a poplar tree.
The moment Marcus saw the gray bird resting its wings in the shade of a tree, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
“I’m hungry……”
That bird was the same species as the one that Sophie had shot down with an arrow during the previous mountain exercise and had made into yakitori for the group to eat. Remembering the taste at that time had naturally made Marcus hungry.
“Hey, why don’t we catch that bird and eat it?”
Marcus tried to propose that to the man at the forefront, Gerald Forcius. But sure enough, the response the man gave was “We don’t have time for that.” It was a response that Marcus had pretty much expected.
If the young lady were here, she would have made an improvised bow out of zelkova wood, some prepared string, and some bird feathers she picked up, and shot down the birds, plucked them, dismantled them, and made something delicious with some unknown seasonings.
But if Marcus were to reveal that to Gerald, he would surely be met with a sharp gaze and be questioned, “What do you mean……?” It was also possible that Sophie would feel indignant and wonder why Marcus revealed something unnecessary to Gerald.
That was no good.
Based on past experience, Marcus refrained from saying anything unnecessary and instead focused on moving his feet in silence.
They were currently in the middle of the mountain exercise for black star students.
In order to keep up with Gerald, who was moving at almost a jog speed up the steep mountain without slowing down, it would be wise to conserve as much energy as possible.
Above all, even though it was a request from Sophie, Marcus just wanted to get this troublesome matter over with and go home.
At this speed, we’ll be able to get down the mountain faster than expected.
But contrary to Marcus’ wishes, a shout came from behind.
“Wait a minute! Don’t just go off like that, you two!!”
The one who yelled while out of breath was Evert Orion. He frowned and yelled in anger.
“Pay a little more attention to others around you! People behind you can’t keep up at all, okay!”
As he said that, he pointed toward the corpse-like black star students.
He looked as if he was having difficulty breathing and was clearly exhausted, but Marcus didn’t hide his annoyed attitude as he continued.
“We’re not even halfway up there. The young masters of the gold star showed their determination by following us with dying will, so don’t whine over something like this.”
In the end, they didn’t reach the summit and their climbing speed was slow back then, but Marcus didn’t take that into calculation.
It was only natural that gold star students, who didn’t normally exercise, and black star students, whose physical fitness was essential, had different foundations.
It was obviously too early for black star students to give up at this point.
As Marcus implied this without saying it, Evert asked him with a dissatisfied expression.
“I can’t believe Lars Rydholm climbed this mountain, but the real question is Miss Sophie. Did she really climb this mountain? Did you not carry her on your back or something?”
“Me? No way.”
Far from being carried, the young lady was the one who carried a man on her back, but Marcus decided to keep quiet on the matter not for Sophie’s sake, but for Lars’ honor.
Evert looked dissatisfied with Marcus’ quick response, and then he started venting his anger at him.
“Rather, Miss Sophie asked you to lead the way, right!? Why do you just follow Gerad’s order!”
“Why? Because it’s a pain in the ass, of course.”
Even though it was a request from Sophie, leading black star students, the group of sons of families with ranks of viscount or higher, was nothing but a hassle for Marcus.
Because of that, it was easier to just go along with Gerald’s actions, which black star students had no choice but to follow.
In fact, if Marcus led the mountain climbing at Gerald’s speed, there would have been immediate criticism.
“Damn it…… I knew it would end up like this, that’s why I didn’t want Gerald to take the lead!”
Evert groaned with a bitter look on his face.
Perhaps because they had known each other for many years, he had anticipated something like this happening to some extent.
Still, he didn’t complain to Gerald directly, perhaps because he was his friend, or perhaps because of his pride as a black star student.
Well, at this rate, no matter how I look at it, half of the black star students will be wiped out in no time.
Marcus sighed softly and reluctantly called out to Gerald.
“Hey, let’s take a break for a while.”
The man, who usually didn’t even move his eyebrows, furrowed his brow at Marcus’ advice.
His expression was one of dissatisfaction as if to say, “From just this much?”
Doesn’t this guy know that his physical strength is abnormal?
Marcus was used to climbing mountains and had been working on his physical strength for a long time, so he was able to keep up with Gerald’s pace, but Gerald’s speed was beyond the level of mountain exercise. The copper stars, for whom the mountain exercise was also a part of their required curriculum, wouldn’t be able to keep up with Gerald’s pace to reach the summit.
But explaining all of that to Gerald was too much of a hassle, so Marcus decided to use his trump card.
“If the young lady finds out you led the mountain climbing without taking a break, she will yell at you like crazy. She is very particular about that sort of thing after all.”
“……The break won’t be long.”
Gerald thought for a moment and agreed.
He must have imagined Sophie raging with anger.
With his approval, the black star students’ strength instantly drained from their bodies and they collapsed to the ground.
Seeing that the group only managed to endure by sheer perseverance up until now, Marcus had a fed-up expression.
“What’s with all your blind obedience to Gerald? Is it loyalty or something? It’s somewhat scary.”
When Marcus let this slip out, Every, who was the only one of the black star students who hadn’t collapsed and was still standing, curled his thin lips and spoke in a provocative tone.1
“Hmph. You’re the one who shamelessly and joyfully obeys a woman’s order. I don’t want to hear things like that from you.”
“Order? It’s not like I was ordered to do this. Well, it’s true that I couldn’t refuse. But she offered that as a reward, so there’s no way I could’ve refused.”
“Haah? You accepted the job because you were offered a reward?!”
“Of course I did. Who would willingly take on the task of leading black star students without any compensation?”
When Marcus answered as if it was obvious, Evert, unable to bear it any longer, sat down on a large rock.
“Don’t you have any pride?! This is why a commoner is no good!”
Even though he received such words, Marcus didn’t feel angry in particular.
After all,
There’s no way I can refuse that. If there’s anyone who can, I’d like to see their faces……
That day, Marcus was on early morning duty and was cleaning the stables with Conrad and the others.
After cleaning, the horses had their coats brushed and were fed hay.
By the time they finished, it was almost breakfast time, and they usually headed to the dining hall hungry.
On this day too, just as Marcus was leaving the table thinking, Well then, let’s have some breakfast, Sophie arrived.
Moreover, she was all by herself.
Seeing Sophie appear without an escort, probably snuck out of the dormitory on her own, Marcus covered one of his eyes with his hand in a sigh.
“Young lady, are you still having a one-sided quarrel with Gerald? At least have an escort accompany you. There are only men here after all.”
“Don’t call it one-sided! It sounds like I’m some sort of a selfish girl!”
“Okay, that’s not what I want you to be concerned about, though.”
Even though this young lady seems to have great crisis management skills, she doesn’t seem to have much of a sense of danger when it comes to men……
As Sophie puffed her cheeks, Marcus couldn’t help but preach to her.
“At least refrain from acting alone. Also, this area is muddy and the ground is slippery, so if you wear that expensive-looking dress, it’ll get dirty.”
Although it was normal for Sophie to pay attention to her appearance, she seemed to be especially motivated in that regard today.
She was wearing a deep blue dress that was clearly made of high-quality silk and a small but sparkly diamond necklace around her neck.
The ground was softened by last night’s rain and must have been muddy and difficult to stand on, but she remained standing upright gracefully on her high heels.
It was easy to forget because of her bizarre ability to act, but when one looked at her beautiful posture, Marcus was strangely convinced that she was indeed an aristocratic young lady.
Marcus unconsciously felt the gap between him as a commoner and almost put a wall between them for a moment, but Sophie continued without caring.
“Oh my, when one asks someone for a favor, one needs to dress appropriately for that, right?”
“A favor?”
“Yes. Actually, I came here today to ask Marcus a favor!”
Sophie looked up at him with her hands clasped together prettily, eyes batting her eyelashes, which made Marcus reflexively take a half step back.
Why did Marcus sense fear before he could appreciate her visual cuteness?
“Eh……? What?”
Asking for confirmation was a bad move.
There was also the option to pretend not to hear it.
Sophie seemed to have been waiting for that reaction and began to speak with such glee that Marcus immediately regretted having asked.
The request was to accompany the black star students on the mountain exercise.
But what really made Marcus feel weary wasn’t the request itself, but the series of events Sophie had with the black star students that led up to it.
What’s with that……? Why did it end up like that?
“Now, young lady. Did you really think I’d agree to such a request? In the first place, there’s no way any of the black star students would listen to me. I can only see you are asking the wrong person for the job.”
“You can rest assured in that regard. If any of the black star students complain about Marcus’ orders, I will make them bawl out their eyes right then and there!”
“Right then and there……?”
Marcus gasped at the ominous words.
Given her past track records, it was easy to imagine what she would do.
“Don’t tell me, are you planning to accompany the group, young lady?”
“Of course I will.”
Sophie said as if it was obvious, which made Marcus nearly become dizzy.
To be frank, Marcus was sure there was no problem in the physical strength aspect for Sophie to climb, but there was no way that Gerald would agree. He would definitely stop her.
That guy would likely say ‘Rather than the young lady, he will go in her stead’…… Should I just go but leave everything to Gerald?
Marcus pondered the possibility of accepting the request, but then he realized that things would just become troublesome later on.
If he forced the duty on Gerald, there was no way the black star students who worshiped him would stay silent.
“Sorry, young lady, but that’s too much for me to handle.”
“Please, Marcus! You’re the only one I can ask for. Of course, I will make sure to thank you for this!”
“No, there’s no need for thanks or anything.”
Since his trouble with gold stars a few years ago, Marcus made it a rule to not accept personal requests from anyone. He hated being seen as someone who was motivated by money.
But at this time, Marcus slightly misjudged Sophie.
Just because she was the daughter of a gold star, she wasn’t the type of person who tried to solve everything with money.
She had―――― a much more calculating personality than that.
Author Note:
My apologies for such an incomplete update after such a long time (-_-;)
It’s really long, so I divided it into parts. I’ll update the rest tomorrow (‘◇’)ゞ
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