Refuse Harem
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Prius
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 204 – The Young Lady Named Sophie Linier ~ Marcus’ Hardship ~ II
Author Note:
Thank you very much for the typo reports!
“As for the reward, let’s see……”
Sophie pointed her index finger under her chin while muttering “Uh~n,” as if she was pondering.
“How about a barbeque?”
She said that with a gentle smile.
“Barbeque…… err, what is that?”
Marcus tilted his head at the unfamiliar words.
“We’ll grill some meat and vegetables outside and eat them, it’s basically an outdoor party. Let’s do it with all of the copper star students.”
“Heeh~?…… no wait, young lady. Did you just say all of the copper star students?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Do you know how many copper star students are there? There are two hundred of them, you know?!”
“After all, isn’t it more fun to eat with a large group of people?”
“You must be underestimating the appetite of two hundred copper stars! I have no idea how much you’re going to prepare, but there’s no way it will be enough and a fight will break!”
“It’s okay, I’ll prepare enough for everyone to eat until they’re full.”
“No no no! If you try to prepare food enough to feed them until they are full, you’ll go bankrupt!”
“Oh my, please don’t underestimate the wealth of the Linier Family. That’s why I’ve worked so hard up until now!”
Sophie flicked her long hair back and declared confidently, but Marcus couldn’t help but want to retort that, You shouldn’t spend your hard-earned money to pay for the copper star students’ food bill!
“I’m requesting Marcus, the copper star’s director, to take care of all the troublesome tasks. I think it’s only natural that I should reward you that much.”
“Eh, what’s with all that praise? It’s actually kind of scary……”
Although Marcus was suspicious, Sophie pressed on.
“You see, I’m thinking of seasoning the meat with a secret sauce based on the black drop sauce I had the other day.”
“……Young lady, could you please stop intentionally refusing to listen to what others had to say?”
“It’s something I’ve made through years of trial and error, my masterpiece! I’ll treat everyone to meat that’s been dipped in it!”
“Aah, I see……”
As Sophie clenched her fist, showing confidence in the taste, Marcus stopped retorting.
He realized that the best thing to do would be to clearly say “No.”
Marcus opened his mouth to refuse, but it was already too late.
Suddenly, he heard a loud rumbling noise from behind him.
When he looked back,
“Meat? Did she say meat?”
“We can eat our fill? Can we really eat our fill?”
“Moreover, the meat is tastier than the last time…… seriously?”
Conrad and the others had drool coming out of their mouths.
Seeing their eyes gleaming and hearts pumping with anticipation of the delicious food, Marcus realized.
Ah, this…… I’m done for……
He never had any right of veto to begin with――――
“Treating every student of copper star with meat? That’s quite bold of her.”
When Evert heard Marcus’ story, he immediately responded sarcastically.
The man sitting defiantly on the rock with his legs crossed and his chin resting on his hands didn’t appear to understand what Marcus implied.
“Is that the first thing you said after hearing what I said? At that rate, you won’t be able to beat her in your lifetime.”
“Haah?”
“Hey, you guys know the dispute I had with the gold star a few years back, right?”
In response to Marcus’ question, Evert affirmed it indifferently.
“Well, yeah……”
“Then you guys can probably imagine my personality a bit.”
It was the past dispute with the gold star before Lars’ generation enrolled. The conflict that occurred at that time was a painful one. For this reason, Marcus had come to hate those who used their wealth to lord it over others.
“If the young lady’s reward was simply money, even I would just make up a random excuse and insist on refusing. But I couldn’t refuse this time…… because she created a situation where I couldn’t refuse.”
Even with this situation, Evert still looked a bit unconvinced. Perhaps he thought that Marcus couldn’t refuse because the other person was a woman who held the purple star.
“That young lady knew that I’d be at the stables with the kids at that time. That’s why she chose to come early in the morning. Do you know why she did that? Because she knew I would refuse if she approached me when I was alone.”
Copper star people consumed a lot of stamina, so replenishing energy was an important factor.
Simply put, they were a group of people who—no matter how much they ate—would still get hungry.
When they heard that meal would be provided for all of the copper star students, their eyes lit up.
“Even those kids wouldn’t wag their tails no matter how much food was offered if someone gave them orders arrogantly. But that young lady isn’t that kind of person.”
The situation this time was completely different from that of the gold star a few years ago.
It wasn’t an order, but a request.
The reward wasn’t just for Marcus as an individual, but the copper star as a whole.
She was also mindful of the fact that the other parties were black star students and prepared measures to counter the situation.
“Now what would’ve happened if I refused in that situation? I would’ve been the one losing out.”
In fact, when Marcus mentioned this to his classmate Doni, he simply told him with a straight face, “You know what? If you don’t accept it, it’ll be a rain of blood.”
In the previous incident with the gold star, Doni had fully supported Marcus, but this time, he quickly changed his stance. The fact Sophie had given advice regarding the byakuya snake’s poison before also played a major role in this.
When the mountain exercise began, Doni had been plagued by mysterious stomach pains many times, but after he made sure not to cut the poison sac, the symptoms disappeared.
For this reason, Doni worshiped Sophie like a goddess.
“Isn’t that just plain scary~? The girl who I’d only known for a few months knew my personality inside and out and could read the situation as well as utilize it in her actions. Moreover, even people around me had grown to support her.”
Marcus scratched his head with one hand and sat down to meet Evert’s gaze.
“You won’t want to make an enemy against someone that smart regardless if that person is a man or woman, right?”
“――!”
When Marcus turned his chestnut-colored eyes, which was known as the color of commoners, and said in a mocking manner, Evert clicked his tongue loudly.
“She’s a daughter of a merchant, so of course she’s good at calculations.”
Even though Evert was still talking nonsense, his expression looked vexed, and Marcus couldn’t help asking Keith, the man standing nearby.
“Hey, why is he so hostile toward the young lady?”
“It’s because he has been completely beaten down by Sophie-sama. He probably wants to somehow restore his pride. It’s just a pointless attempt, so please just ignore his behavior.”
Even though they were fellow black star students, his words were quite harsh.
Moreover, he didn’t stop there.
“Evert, you once told me that ‘the less immune a man is to a woman, the greater the scar he suffers from the wound,’ but isn’t it the same even if you are immune? You’re carrying a greater trauma than I am, aren’t you?”
“Damn it……!”
As Keith cut in with a smile, Evert grimaced.
He never thought that his past behavior would come back to haunt him.
“What, did the young lady beat you down that terribly? Well, I can’t help but pity you~”
“Shut up, it’s a humiliation to be pitied by someone from the copper star!”
Perhaps fed up with the loud noise, Gerald, who had been silent up until then, started heading toward the top of the mountain.
“Enough pointless chatter, let’s hurry up.”
Hearing the cold command, Evert turned around in shock.
“Eh?! The break is over?!”
”Since you can talk that much, it means your feet can do more.”
“Stop considering that talking and walking consume the same amount of energy! That’s right, let’s have lunch here while we’re at it!”
“You can just eat the portable food.”
Gerald’s tense reply made Evert break out into a cold sweat out of a bad feeling.
“Could it be…… you’re asking us to run while eating?!”
“That will save time.”
As Gerald nodded as if it were natural, Marcus was surprised in a different way than Evert.
“Eh, are you going to eat that? That tastes really terrible, right?”
He never thought an aristocrat would eat something like that (portable food).
That was something that even the copper star students would only eat reluctantly because it was better than being hungry.
But Gerald remained calm.
“It’s all the same once it enters the stomach.”
Hearing the sincere words that weren’t out of self-restraint, Marcus was completely convinced.
Aah, I see. This guy is really hopelessly incompatible with the young lady.
Author Note:
【Short Memo】
Sophie: Very particular when it comes to food.
Gerald: Not particular at all when it comes to food.
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Finally XD
sorry to keep you waiting
No no no
I’m just stoked
No apology needed
Thank you very much for tling this