← Previous Chapter | Chapter Index | Next Chapter →

Everyone Has Something They Won't Compromise On

Translated by: ME

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

「By any chance... are you familiar with KoiSaba...?」

At my words, Flora-chan let out a sharp, audible gasp.

Franz looked suspicious. 「Milady? What are you talking about?」

You just stay quiet for a second.

Flora-chan stared at me, her face a mask of shock. In response, I gave a slow, deliberate nod—though I wasn’t entirely sure why. In times like this, the rule of thumb is to just nod knowingly.

「Achievements... all unlocked...」 Flora-chan murmured in a trembling voice.

I knew it!!

Also, damn, that’s impressive! A hundred percent completion!?

「Does that mean you even did the Freshness Prince ending!?」

As I leaned in, unable to help myself, Flora-chan cast her eyes down.

「...No. I created a custom cheat MOD that 'unlocked achievements without playing.' I distributed it for free on social media, and it got quite a few likes.」

「Why didn't you put that on the Workshop!? I want that so bad!!」

「I thought maybe cheat MODs specifically for unlocking achievements weren't really 'done' for simulation games...」

「They are totally, definitely, 100% 'done'!!」

At my outburst, Flora-chan’s expression finally softened.

「Ah... so it wasn't just me... Reincarnated into this 'Dad Joke Comedy World'...!」

Dad Joke Comedy World.

You hit the nail on the head, but wow, that’s harsh!

But I’m just a "mob" reincarnation. She, on the other hand, is the heroine—who knows what kind of karma she’s carrying from her past life. There is a world of difference in difficulty between watching a bad joke from a distance with a smirk and being thrown right into the middle of the punchline.

As a side note, 'Achievements' are the same as 'Trophies' on certain home consoles. Depending on your gameplay, a message saying 「Achievement Unlocked」 pops up. Incidentally, you can turn these messages off in the launcher settings. And just like trophies, nothing particularly happens once you get them.

In romance simulation games like otome games, there’s usually an achievement for 「Viewing [Character]’s Ending.」 Having all achievements unlocked meant she had technically "cleared" the King’s brother’s ending... though it seems she got it without playing by using a cheat MOD. I, for my part, had earned every single achievement except for that one.

To dig a bit deeper, 'MOD' is short for 'modification,' referring to programs created by users to alter a game. Sometimes the developers themselves release them, in which case they’re called 'Official MODs' to distinguish them from fan-made ones. They aren't just for cheating. There are various types: bug fixes, removing annoying elements, character beautification, re-texturing, or even increasing the difficulty. There’s a famous, insane MOD for a certain RPG that replaces every dragon with Tho-mas the Tank Engine; it’s so nonsensical that even the official developers featured it.

The game this world is based on had its source code (the original program) fully open to the public. It was a very MOD-friendly setup. The developer had said, 「Some parts were finished in a rush, so please feel free to modify and play it however you like.」 Thanks to that, despite being a Japanese-only indie game, it had a wealth of MODs. There were even cute ones to change Flora-chan’s outfits. There were even English translation MODs, so I wonder what people from other countries thought when they played it...

Flora-chan, who had been looking at me with emotion, suddenly looked like she’d realized something.

「Could it be, customer... would you like to buy five kilograms of beef sirloin...?」

Guh... there it is! The five-kilo sirloin!

「No, six kilos of pork belly,」 Franz corrected immediately. Wait, the weight actually increased from the original game!?

「Ah, right. Please wait just a moment.」

Flora-chan smiled and disappeared into the back of the shop.

「...So, what exactly is going on?」

In response to Franz’s question, I answered while eyeing the yakitori again.

「It means that girl is just like me—she has memories of her past life and has played the game before.」

The sauce-flavored skin is a must. I can't pass up the liver either. The meatballs (with cartilage) are also tempting...

「So that whole 'past life' thing wasn't just one of your incredibly cringy delusions, Milady...」

I felt like he’d just said something horribly insulting that made me want to punch him, but I had more important things to worry about. Heart... no, green onion and meat...

「Thank you for waiting! Six kilos of pork belly!」

Flora-chan emerged from the back, lugging a large styrofoam box with a 「Heave-ho!」 Franz paid the bill, asking for a receipt.

Six kilos...

I wonder what our family chefs are going to do with this. Braised pork belly, maybe?

Once Franz finished the transaction, I looked Flora-chan straight in the eye.

「Three skin and one liver with sauce. Then one tail, one green onion and meat, and one cartilage—those with salt, please.」

「Yes, coming right up!」

Hmph. A fine selection indeed...

Franz’s eyes were full of exasperation, but I wouldn't be swayed by something so trivial at this point!

I paid for the items Flora-chan wrapped for me and took my change and receipt. Sigh... what a great shopping trip...

「Milady, want to carry this?」

Franz patted the large styrofoam case hanging from his shoulder.

「Huh? I may not look it, but I’m a young lady of a Marquis family, you know?」

「Right. ...And?」

「Why would you think a lady who has never carried anything heavier than a two-kilogram dumbbell would carry that?」

「...No, I'm saying it because you’re a lady who can lift two-kilo dumbbells...」

Excuse me!? That’s two kilos in each hand, which only adds up to four kilos! That box is six kilos! Good heavens, Franz, can you not even do simple addition?

「Um...」

Flora-chan spoke up hesitantly as we were bickering.

「Yes? ...Ah, sorry! We’re cluttering up your storefront!」

「No, that’s fine! It’s not that...」

Flora-chan fidgeted for a moment, but then she looked up with determination.

「If possible... could we talk sometime when you have the chance?」

「Yes, absolutely.」

An immediate response. Naturally. I had plenty of things I wanted to ask her as well.

「Really!? Then...」

Smiling happily, Flora-chan and I made a promise to meet on the butcher shop’s next day off. Apparently, they’re closed on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. ...Isn't Flora-chan working too hard? Is she going to be okay?

***

After returning to the estate, I decided to have tea with the yakitori as a snack.

Sigh... what should I start with? Everything looks so delicious... I suppose I’ll start with the skin.

「...So, about that girl who runs the butcher shop...」

Hmm?

I stuffed my face with yakitori while listening to Franz.

「This is delicious!!」

Seriously, it’s amazing. I felt obligated to say it, following the trope of "Noble Lady + Commoner Gourmet."

「Hah, glad to hear it.」

Such a cold response!

But even Franz’s cold shoulder couldn't bother me because this yakitori is just that good. The charred bits are fragrant, and the sweet-savory balance of the sauce is perfect. This is seriously delicious... I might want some seven-spice chili powder. Maybe I’ll have someone bring me some...

「Does that mean that girl also has memories of a past life, like you, Milady?」

「Yes. It seems she played the game.」

More than just played it—she’s a powerhouse who made her own MODs. She’s a very core gamer.

「How did you even figure out she had memories of a past life?」

What’s next... two skins in a row? No, let's change the pace with a salted one.

「Milady, are you listening?」

「I’m listening, I’m listening. Loud and clear.」

Green onion and meat! I choose you!!

「This is delicious...!!」

Salt, coarse ground black pepper, and probably a tiny hint of garlic powder. It’s so good. A little squeeze of lemon might be nice too. And the onions are so sweet and tasty...

In my pure white teacup was freshly brewed, steaming barley tea. ...We boil our barley tea at home, but I didn't expect to get hot barley tea when I asked for 「some tea.」 Well, I'm not complaining.

I’d rather have a beer than barley tea, though! Ahh... but the barley tea really clears the grease from my mouth. Now I can move on to the next skewer with a fresh palate.

「...Milady. What about my question?」

「Huh? Oh, uh...」

What was it again? Was it about what I was eating next?

As I reached for the liver skewer, Franz let out a very long, deep sigh.

「I’m talking about why you knew she had her memories.」

「Oh, that. Right, right.」

This liver is delicious too!! No gaminess at all, cooked just right, and not dry. Bravo! Horosho!

I polished off the liver and set the skewer on the plate. I should probably have a serious talk with Franz. ...I feel like he’s about five seconds away from actually snapping.

「It was her handling of the King’s brother.」

「Didn't she handle him normally?」

Franz rested his chin on his hand and narrowed his eyes slightly. ...Could you do something about that grumpy look? It’s kind of scary...

「Didn't you think it was 'too normal'? There was zero agitation or nitpicking at His Highness’s string of idiotic words and actions. It was the perfectly manual-compliant response of a shop clerk.」

「...Now that you mention it, you're right...」

Franz looked convinced. ...Did his mood improve a bit? (I hope so.)

「That 'manual-compliant response' is the method for avoiding the King’s brother’s events.」

「Ah... so it’s like, 'don't take him seriously,' I guess.」

That’s exactly right, but could you maybe put it a different way?

「You said it yourself, Franz—that 'the King’s brother was quiet.' That’s because her response successfully avoided an event.」

「By the way, what kind of events happen if you fail?」

「Who knows?」

He’s a treasure trove of tiny events. There’s no way to know for sure. Plus, they trigger randomly from several different types.

Normally, seeing an event you've never seen before is a good thing in a game. It gets you a little excited. But the unseen events for the Freshness Prince are just plain annoying. The only thought they inspire is: 「Just finish already.」

「Possible events that could have happened there... like His Highness trying to pay with a check and being shocked when told 'we don't take those.' Or him seeing pork offal and saying, 'How barbaric, eating internal organs...!' only to try a sample of stir-fried offal and doing a total 180 a second later, shouting, 'Delicious!'...」

「Every single one of those is incredibly pointless...」

「That is His Highness.」

I nodded, and Franz had a look of pure dread on his face.

「Also, she seemed friendly with the knight boy. That was another reason I thought 'maybe.'」

「Ah... what was it? ...A love interest?」

「Yes. Probably, but at this stage of the shop, the two of them should have only just met.」

Love interests don't appear until the shop rank has gone up at least once. But those two had the casualness of old friends. It definitely didn't feel like they had just met yesterday or today. There shouldn't have been any point of contact for those two except for 'Taurus coming to the shop as a customer and getting to know her.' Yet they were talking with that level of ease.

In that case, the highest probability is this:

'Flora-chan (Butcher) has memories of her past life and used them to break the flags.'

Amazing! That’s so 'reincarnated into an otome game'! Flora-chan (Butcher), you’re incredible! You've got the bittersweet otome game interactions, and you’ve got the classic trope of 'breaking flags with game knowledge.' You’re like the protagonist of an otome game reincarnation story!

「There isn't detailed info on Taurus in the game, but it's known that he's the 'Knight Commander’s son,' so I think you could find him if you looked. ...So, my guess is that Flora-chan (Butcher) used her game knowledge from her memories to track him down.」

As we saw with the greengrocer, a love interest in this game is just a 'nuisance to business' if you aren't interested in romance. Nipping that in the bud early and training them properly is an effective strategy. Plus, unlike the 'Duke’s Son' or the 'Crown Prince,' the butcher’s love interest isn't someone out of reach. You can go see him if you’re determined.

Taurus-kun’s father is the Knight Commander, but they’re basically commoners. His self-made father holds the title of 'Knight,' which belongs to the 'quasi-noble' rank. It’s not a true noble rank. Since it’s a non-hereditary title, only the father is 'treated like a noble.' Taurus himself is probably nothing more than a neighborhood brat. Not that I know for sure.

Flora-chan with her past life memories, I'm glad you ended up at a butcher shop...! If it had been a greengrocer or a fishmonger, you’d probably have been at a loss! You might have a one-in-a-million chance of meeting a Duke’s son somewhere, but for the Crown Prince, there’s nothing but despair...!

「...And well, that’s how it is. For a brilliant mind like mine, a deduction of this level is child’s play.」

「Right, right. Sasuga, Milady.」

Hey, what’s with that monotone voice!?

「Well, I’m meeting Flora-chan again next Monday, so I can hear the details from her then.」

So for now, just let me focus on my yakitori.

And so, I finished the rest of the yakitori, shouting 「This is delicious!!」 the whole time.

*****

This is more like a cultural reference section now....

Flora admits she didn't actually play the Prince’s route; she wrote a Cheat MOD to bypass it and distributed it on SNS for "Likes. Antoine’s outrage isn't that she cheated, but that she didn't share the MOD on the Steam Workshop. This reflects real-world gamer frustration when a useful MOD is only available on a random social media link instead of the central hub.

Antoine mentions a crazy MOD that replaces dragons with a specific blue locomotive. This is a legendary real-world meme in the Skyrim modding community. Replacing terrifying boss monsters with Thomas the Tank Engine is the "gold standard" for absurd gaming MODs.

The game's developer released the source code because they "finished it in a rush" and told users to just "fix it themselves". This is a jab at "Early Access" or "Indie" developers who release buggy, unfinished games and rely on the community (Modders) to make the game actually playable or translated.

Flora calls this world a 「悪ふざけコメディ時空」 (Dad Joke Comedy World). She is acknowledging the "Kuso-ge" (crap game) nature of their reality. It’s a moment of solidarity between two people who realize they aren't in a high-stakes fantasy drama, but a low-budget comedy.
Antoine describes the romance between Flora and Taurus as "bittersweet like a mandarin orange in a vinegar salad". Sunomono is a Japanese vinegar-based side dish. Sometimes it contains fruit. Antoine uses this bizarre culinary metaphor to describe the "sweet" romance happening inside a "sour/salty" comedy setting.

Antoine asks for "tea" and is surprised to get hot barley tea. In Japan, barley tea is almost always served ice-cold in the summer. Serving it hot is rare enough that it confuses Antoine's modern Japanese sensibilities, even though it's perfectly normal in a "fantasy" setting.

Antoine deduces that Flora used her "past life memories" to find the love interest (Taurus) early and "train" him so he wouldn't be a nuisance later. This subverts the "Otome Game" genre. Usually, the heroine falls in love; here, Flora is "managing" the male lead like a difficult employee to ensure her shop runs smoothly without romantic drama.

Thank you for reading. If you want to help my hobby please download and install LDP9 with my link down below. Just Click the small yellow LDPlayer Banner.