Side Character Who Became the Pseudo-Protagonist

Chapter 16: Unskippable Event

Ding!

The small bell on top of the door rang out when I pushed the door and entered the diner. I really wish it hadn’t just announced my arrival, but whatever.

The entire diner looked like a retro American 80s diner, decorated with the usual checkered floors along with a random assortment of colorful bits and bobs thrown around like the developers wanted to recreate a diner, but never experienced it themselves.

Still, the place was packed, which was probably why that man was so confident in not getting caught. But still, it did give me peace of mind that he wouldn’t try anything because of the same reason.

Yet as soon as I started approaching their table, the man tipped his hat downward and stood up from his seat.

Colette watched him go, but didn’t seem to want to say anything afterward.

The man passed by me without a word. I couldn’t feel any hostile intentions, but just in case, I wanted to try to remember his face...Well, as much of it as I could.

It wasn’t wise for me to just attack this guy under the assumption that he was a terrorist, which he probably was—

But still, I had no way to prove it, and so all I could do was let him pass by peacefully.

I stared at him until he had passed through the doorway before turning my attention back to Colette, who was holding some kind of poster in her hand.

Though I wasn’t worried about her safety just yet, as at this point, her life wasn’t what they valued, but the political problems she brought with her.

Taking the seat opposite her, I nodded toward the doorway before asking.

"New friend?"

"Not exactly..."

Colette frowned, showing the poster in her hand. I read it aloud, already getting the ick from the title at the top of the poster.

{Public Seminar: The Future of Operators and Citizens}

’Ahh...so this was the angle they were using to get her.’

In the game, Colette getting kidnapped happened off-screen, and everyone was made aware after the fact. But now, I seemed to have caught on to it early...

"Colette...you know this is a one-way ticket to getting kidnapped...right?"

Well, as much of a ’character’ as she was, I refused to believe that someone like Colette lacked common sense.

Even if she was sheltered, there was no way she would willingly waltz into a suspicious seminar alone like that.

But seeing the hesitation on her face, something else had to be going on. Another factor that made her want to go.

"I know..." she said after a while. "But what the man said...I felt like I should step in and help somehow..."

"What did he say?"

Colette lowered her eyes to the poster.

"He said the seminar was about the growing tensions between Operators and civilians. Apparently, there have been a lot of complaints lately. People were scared of foreign Operators being allowed inside Ygg.

’So I was right. This has White Noise written all over it.’

Well, the topic did make sense. Operators, even if they were cadets, were considered military assets and many people were scared of them.

At least Ygg citizens could tell themselves that Ygg Operators won’t do harm to their own country and countrymen.

But having Operator cadets from a different country in your own country was like having a loaded gun inside your house that could go off at any moment.

Well, the comparison wasn’t one-to-one, but at least the sentiment was there.

"And?"

"And..." she hesitated. "Apparently someone from Astaron, a girl, came out crying from the last seminar because it had turned hateful..."

Colette continued explaining. "I’ve even heard a few stories about Astaron students being bullied. But they can’t do much about it because they’re scared an incident would cause a war."

"Other Astaron students are attending the seminar as well, sharing their perspectives on the matter and hopefully trying to come to an agreement."

"I know it’s suspicious, but if it puts the people’s hearts at ease and hopefully helps other cadets from Astaron...I have to go."

...This was one of those unskippable events, wasn’t it?

My first thought really was, "Okay...why not convince the other Astaron students to not go?". It’d also be pretty easy to just report the seminar to someone in power...

But knowing the game, it would just find a different way to get her.

At least with this, I had some prior information and had somewhat of an upper hand in regards to the scenario.

"Let me come with you."

"What...?" she flinched. "It really has nothing to do with you, why would you put yourself in danger—?"

I lied as easily as I breathed.

"Any matter involving the safety of Ygg and foreign Operators inside our borders falls under the responsibility of House Midgard. If there are tensions between Astaron students and Ygg citizens, then ignoring it would be irresponsible."

Ahh, did I go overboard with the patriotism? No, have faith...it was something a Midgard would say...

Probably.

"That’s...very admirable of you."

No, Colette...I just don’t want to die in a war, thanks.

Afterwards, we exchanged numbers, and she was picked up by a few bodyguards and escorted her back to her room.

’Thank god...I was really starting to think she’d have none and I’d have to be her bodyguard. That gives me some peace of mind. Kind of...’

Wait...then how the hell did she get kidnapped originally?! Well, I guess having armed guards in a civilian seminar about their co-existence was probably not a good idea.

The seminar was supposedly happening in two days, which was about the same timeline as I expected from the game.

So I had two days to get my bearings and figure things out in the world.

...It’s not going to be easy.

If I was to let this happen as is, some backup is necessary. Hell, if something goes wrong, then everything’s screwed.

I couldn’t exactly walk up to Nathan and say "Father, I know the future, please lend me some armed forces."

Racking my brain, I tried to think of any way to get some kind of force to help be my insurance without much hassle.

And before long, an option came up, one that I should’ve thought about earlier.

If this mission was to succeed.

I would need the help of Asgard Academy’s Triad...

Though before worrying about that, the first order of business was to get to my dormitory.

Cadets of Asgard Academy were given free housing and even a discount on their tuition depending on their performance.

Since Operators were such big assets, the government pulled out all the stops to help and train them, even if some were in a bad financial place.

I didn’t really need it per se, but the Midgard Residence was so far away from school that I thought just living on campus would be more of a convenience.

Still, the campus was huge.

Aside from the main three buildings, a few more were scattered throughout the area. It wasn’t a stretch to call the place a city in its own right.

After a few minutes of walking, I arrived in a residential compound. Villas were spread out evenly and built more for function than decoration.

Still, it was comparatively luxurious to anything else I had seen inside the city, which was definitely a boon for someone like Leon who came from a commoner background.

Well, supposedly...

The lady in the reception told me that each villa was shared amongst students. I didn’t particularly mind and was given a key for Villa 3.

Making my way there, I found somebody standing outside with a similar key, eyes wide open as they stared at the building in awe.

He had long white hair tied roughly behind his back, wearing a simple white tee and baggy black jeans.

For a second, I thought Leon Hart had come back to life, especially with that hair color. But upon closer inspection, a key difference I noticed were his eyes.

They had a hypnotic rainbow pattern, with swirl-like pupils unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

As soon as the guy saw me, he quickly dug into his pocket, fished out his sunglasses and put them on.

"Ahem...hey! Are you living in this Villa as well? I’m Lohan West."

This guy didn’t look like any named characters or part of the Nine houses, but with his features, there’s no way he’s just a regular person...right?

"Yeah, nice to meet you. I’m Nolan Midgard," I said after a while. "Is there anyone else living in here?"

He nodded, pointing towards the front door as we made our way in. "Seems like it? There are some shoes already positioned neatly outside."

And indeed there was. They were so positioned so perfectly that only someone who was a clean-freak would care about.

No...it can’t be him...right? Please don’t tell me it’s him.

Lohan simply shrugged, already making his way up to the door and pushing it forward. Inside, somebody was already busy doing push-ups on the living room floor.

But when he saw me, his entire body stumbled, crashing into the floor in a heap of mess.

"There’s...no way."

"Seems like we’re stuck together again."

"Nolan..."

"Aidan..."