Refuse Harem
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Prius
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 206 – Dear Tenma, Are Men Really Such Troublesome Creatures? II
Author Note:
My apologies. Not only was the update slower than it was supposed to be, but the arc doesn’t end with this chapter either ( ;∀;)
The next update should be within a week, so please be patient!
“And so, I have achieved my original objective, and as of today, I’m releasing you. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Vincent for his help――”
“Are you planning to run away with the victory?!”
After school, as Sophie told the man sitting in front of her, with a richu board on the table, a voice rang out before she could finish her sentence. It was a pretty serious yell, making Sophie’s mouth twitch.
“……No, it’s not like I’m trying to run away with the victory. Now that there’s no longer any reason to detain you, I feel reluctant to ask for any more of your time.”
“No matter how good an excuse you come up with, it won’t change the fact that you’re trying to run away with the victory!”
“Uwah, how troublesome……”
Sophie couldn’t help but whisper that.
Recently, Sophie had been playing richu against Vincent to prepare for her richu match against Remiel, and perhaps because she had become used to her life at the boy’s academy, her true thoughts leaked out more easily.
Sophie inwardly reprimanded herself, No, I shouldn’t! I’m a lady after all! But Vincent remained sullen and she couldn’t help but have a question.
Why?! He was originally forced to submit, so shouldn’t being released be a happy turn of events for him?!
He was finally free from the cheeky girl. Sophie thought she would just take his sarcasm with a fresh expression and that would be the end of it. This was unexpected.
While Sophie was confused, Vincent’s face suddenly changed from anger to a frown, curling his lips and looking at her resentfully as if he was “wounded.” He looked at her as if accusing her of betrayal, and Sophie asked herself, Am I at fault here?!
Sophie didn’t quite understand Vincent’s change in emotion, but she could immediately guess the reason.
I guess this person…… is unhappy that I’ve always been winning.
In the beginning, their games were often evenly matched, but once Sophie understood Vincent’s habits and move patterns, she won every time.
Knowing that Vincent was a man of great pride, he probably couldn’t accept ending their interaction with the constant memory of losing.
But the current situation wasn’t the time to cling on to such pride.
If things continued like this, he would be subjected to a terrible stigma.
“Listen, Professor Vincent, this is a serious matter! There are suspicions among the students at the moment―― that you are into much younger girls!”
Sophie never imagined that the students would think Vincent was a lolicon because of his interactions with her.
Although Sophie clasped her right hand and leaned forward while explaining forcefully, the man in question leaned back against the sofa, crossed his arms, and turned his face away as if he wasn’t interested.
“So what? It’s not like…… I have any sexual interest in you!”
“I have no doubt about that.”
Sophie dismissed it, unaware of the unnatural pause between his words.
Vincent had clearly disliked Sophie from the moment they first met.
To him, the fact that Lorenzo, his nemesis, acknowledged Sophie made her an abhorrent figure. On top of that, he was forced to repeatedly play a game with her since she used her authority to order him to do so.
In such a situation, there was no way one could develop affection. If someone could, then that person was just a masochist.
That’s why we can’t just let rumors like “pedophilia” go unchecked! In my previous life in Japan, being accused of being a lolicon meant social death.
Just thinking about it made Sophie shudder.
In the first place, age-gap marriages weren’t commonplace on modern Earth. A man who married a girl much younger than him was looked upon with contempt. This was clear from the reactions of Lars and the other students.
“Anyway, I cannot force you to continue doing things that will make you lose the trust of the students.”
“Why should I feel guilty about something that’s not true?”
“Public opinion and personal feelings are separate.”
“Who exactly is part of this ‘public opinion’?”
Aaaahh, geez! This is why gold star people called silver star people annoying!
When Vincent pointed out something inconsequential, Sophe felt like retorting, Are you Remiel?
Sophie instinctively held her head with her hands, but letting her emotion out would only get her into a stalemate.
If I lose a few matches, will he get bored of me as an opponent? But there’s no way he wouldn’t notice my blatant attempt……
He was an opponent she had faced dozens of times.
Due to richu’s nature, if one spent a long time confronting each other, one’s thoughts and habits would be transmitted to the board.
Before playing the game, Sophie thought Vincent was a sarcastic and inflexible person…… Well, that was absolutely correct, but if Sophie hadn’t played the game, she probably wouldn’t have noticed how he surprisingly maintained a delicate sense of distance during matches and how decisive he was when it mattered.
Just as Sophie understood Vincent through their games, he should’ve been able to read at least a little of Sophie’s personality from the game. If her skill suddenly started to get dull, he would immediately realize it was on purpose.
I wonder why all the men in this academy are so troublesome……
Wondering if all men were like this, Sophie went back in time to remember Tasuku’s memories in an attempt to remember her past life self.
――Yep, I can’t deny it. Men are, or rather, Tasuku (myself) also was.
As shameful as it was to admit it, her previous life self was unable to even express his opinions clearly or vocally like Vincent.
Just as Sophie remembered all the times Tasuku had withdrawn to his shell and began to feel a little self-loathing, Vincent pointed at the now quiet Sophie as if declaring war.
“Anyway, I won’t allow you to run away with the victory!”
“Are you a kiiiiiid!?”
Despite Gerald being there, who had been standing upright the whole time as her escort, Sophie couldn’t help but retort forcefully.
The previous Sophie would have come to her senses and put her ladylike atmosphere back on, but recently, she no longer felt the need to pretend, even around Gerald.
She was in a state where she no longer cared what people think.
Gerald himself understood Sophie’s change of heart and his expression didn’t change.
He simply carried out his duties as an escort, listening carefully to the faint footsteps that could be heard from the corridor from time to time.
Perhaps the reason he had no intention of mediating the situation as an escort was because every time Sophie faced Vincent, it often ended in an argument.
Nay, to him, Sophie fighting with someone was just a normal part of everyday life.
Wait a minute! Despite how I look, back in the Queen’s Rose, I was praised by the lovely angels for being a “calm and intelligent woman”!
Sophie was aware that she was always fighting someone when she was at the King’s Sword, but when she sensed that from Gerald, she wanted to loudly argue back.
Even as Sophie was going through this agony, Vincent kept telling her, “Anyway, I won’t let you run away with the victory!” which was a phrase that Sophie was tired of.
……My past self (Tasuku) also had a troublesome personality, and I guess Vincent isn’t much different.
I guess it can’t be helped. Let’s use justification for this situation.
Sophie cleared her throat ostentatiously, straightened up, and looked straight at Vincent.
“Professor Vincent, you might have forgotten, but the reason I came here was because His Highness had commanded me. I cannot deny that I’ve spent a little bit of time on something unexpected, but I certainly didn’t forget that.”
Sophie told him with a smile and he blinked slightly. Sophie only meant it as sarcasm, but it seemed he had truly forgotten Sophie’s purpose in coming here.
“To fulfill my initial goal, I would like to focus more on the business from now on. Even though I asked the Institute of Medical Science for help, things aren’t going smoothly. They are also constantly short-staffed.”
Although a special team had been formed, their work didn’t just focus on the business Sophie was promoting.
The Institute of Medical Science was an organization responsible for the planning, launch, and operation of all research and projects related to the nation, so its responsibilities were diverse.
Its former name was apparently the “Royal Institute,” but it had since been renamed the Institute of Medical Science.
But the name change didn’t result in the downsizing or division of operations.
If that were the case, it was a mystery why they bothered to change the name at all. It was still a general branch that oversaw all business related to the nation, and the work remained extremely demanding.
It’s a really black company where you need not only intelligence but also physical strength just to carry out daily duties. To be honest, it’s an environment where it would not be surprising if people died.
In this world, there was no concept of labor standards. Even in Sophie’s previous life, where there was a law, there were many places of business where it seemed like there was no labor law at all……
“I don’t just care about achieving my goals. One of my responsibilities is to make sure that I don’t put too much burden on the people involved. So please understand.”
Just when Sophie thought that this would convince him, Vincent fell silent for some reason and then made an unexpected suggestion.
“So if I help out, you can spend your free time for richu?”
“Heh……? Professor Vincent would do that?”
A silly voice escaped without meaning to.
Eeh, is he serious?
Helping Sophie also meant being connected with the Institute of Medical Science.
And at the Institute of Medical Science was Lorenzo, whom Vincent hated.
Why would a man who had three silver stars and became a lecturer simply because he didn’t want to work under Lorenzo choose to get involved with him?
What on earth has caused this change of heart? When we first met, he was so adamant that my business was meaningless……
Vincent wasn’t the type of person who easily changed his opinion. So Sophie couldn’t help but suspect that there was some ulterior motive behind it.
“I appreciate your suggestion, but do you really need to go to such lengths to have a match? All noblemen enjoy richu. You won’t be short of opponents, will you?”
Even though Sophie just stated her honest opinion, Vincent glared at her with a suspicious look.
“Richu is a highly advanced mental game. There’s no point in playing against someone who only knows the rules. It’s just a waste of time.”
He implied when it came to his skill, it wasn’t so easy to find a worthy opponent.
“You defeated the second prince in richu, right? There are only a handful of people in this kingdom who are strong enough to defeat him.”
“So you are aware of Remiel’s skill.”
Sophie remembered the existence of a man who, despite being enrolled in this academy as a silver star, almost never attended lectures, which made her inwardly clap her hands.
That’s right. There is Remiel!
Remiel’s richu skill was well known and he always had free time on his hands, so he would be a perfect opponent for Vincent.
Above all, it was convenient for Sophie to have his time wasted by a man who followed her around like a stalker every day and forced her to play with him.
As her joy for finding a good alternative came to her, before she could suggest it, Vincent’s face frowned.
Sophie instantly realized that, Ah, something happened before.
“Err……did Remiel do something?”
When Sophie timidly asked, Vincent began to speak quietly.
When Vincent was still a student at this academy, he was called to the royal castle once and ordered to be Remiel’s opponent in richu.
Although Remiel was still a child at the time, his skill already put adults to shame.
“That man was originally supposed to be his opponent. But because he flatly refused, I was forced to go to the castle in his place……”1
Very early on, Vincent was quickly turned away with the excuse “Now there’s no point.”
So Remiel’s personality was already like that during his childhood……
Just hearing the story brought the whole story to Sophie’s mind.
Even though the other party was royalty, being treated like an incompetent by a child ten years younger than him must have deeply hurt Vincent’s pride.
Judging from the dim light in his light, there was no doubt that Remiel’s name had been engraved in his mind as the most hated person after Lorenzo.
“……As annoying as it is to admit, that person is certainly a genius. He has a level of strength that an ordinary person could never reach even if they tried for a lifetime.”
No matter how angry he got, I guess the fact he accepted Remiel’s talent shows that he is a silver star, thought Sophie.
Once he recognizes something, he’s the kind of person who can see it without distorting it.
Sophie’s impression was short-lived.
“But that’s a separate issue! You’re not planning on making him my richu opponent in your stead, are you?”
It was as if her mind got read, which made Sophie inwardly twitch.
“I don’t want to have anything to do with that person!!”
Don’t want to have anything to do, you say? He is still nominally a silver star and your student, you know……?
It was a problematic comment for a lecturer, but Sophie didn’t feel like pointing that out. Remiel’s unique thought process would throw anyone off. He couldn’t be the only lecturer who wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
But well…… If I think about it carefully, if I ignore his strange pride, he has excellent calculation skills and is actually quite smart.
Due to their terrible first meeting and her guilt of having threatened him, Sophie had never seen Vincent as a potential human resource, but it might not be a bad idea.
Author Note:
“Notice”
The fifth volume of the comic was on sale! And the latest chapter has been updated on Comic Earth Star (*’▽’)
Both of these have a lot of silver star stories, so I’ve included some here as well.
I hope you will take a look! (*’ω’*)
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