Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Chapter Nine

The game hadn’t really done Applebloom justice. She was in a word, cute, and her voice had a sort of south western twang to it. It made him think of mid-texas. Specifically, it reminded him of a girl he’d met at a conference in mid-texas. Sure, he worked at a call center, and he had absolutely hated that job, but there were some perks to it. He’d been made a team-leader, which was just a nice way of saying he handled the really difficult calls.

Those customers that were too irate to listen to reason, and it was his job to talk them down. The conference he’d been sent to had been about desclation, and how to redirect customers attention away from the issue and to the benefits of the service they were receiving. The conference itself had been a massive waste of time. It was a bunch of buzzwords said by some less than stellar salespeople, and all of it had been completely worthless. All of it except for meeting a few interesting people.

He shook his head, and offered his hand to Applebloom, “You okay?” he asked, his voice polite, “I mean everything alright?”

She nodded after a moment, “Sure,” she answered, “Ah’m fine. Just not used ta a fancy place like this. Sorry, Ah didn’t even introduce mahself. Ah’m Applebloom.”

He smiled, “My name is Copper Plum, and this is Artemis,” he said gesturing to Artemis, “It’s nice to meet you. So, what class are you coming from?”

She grinned, “Advanced potions and summoning. Ah’m ahead on the potions, but not quite up ta par on the summoning,” she admitted, “Ah cain’t seem ta manage to summon a defender, and Ah keep getting a dang Turkey Shot.”

Listening to her he knew what that meant. Turkey Shot’s were one of the easiest monsters to summon. They were so weak that all too often they were considered little more than pets. That said, once summoned they could act as eyes for the summoner. As long as the connection lasted the turkey shot could show the summoner exactly what they were seeing. In a long range battle they allowed their casters to deliver devastating blows from further than they could naturally see.

Which was why most of them were shot out of the air the moment they were seen in the game. Even the NPCs shot them out of the air. He figured that it was just a game mechanic, but being in this world for real meant that likely the reason was because they understood that if it was allowed to look at the battlefield the Turkey Shot could show their summoner exactly where to strike.

“Summoning a Turkey Shot isn’t the worst thing,” he said as they walked inside, “While out and about it allows you the chance to see things further out, and of course it allows you to deliver a fatal strike to an enemy that is beyond your natural sight. Pretty useful if you’re in an area with monsters or enemies.”

She gave him a smile, “Thanks fer trying to make me feel better, but it really ain’t gonna work. Ah showed ever’body that Ah could brew a perfect polyjuice. Ah even managed ta look like our teacher fer ‘bout ten minutes, and then Ah turned back. Then, after that Ah went and summoned a Turkey Shot. Ah went from bein’ top of the class ta one of the lowest. Gonna have ta work harder ta get ahead. Jest like always.”

Artemis walked closer, “If my Captain says that a Turkey Shot is a worthy summon, then it is worthy,” she stated, her voice confident, “Additionally, he is correct in that if this summon allows one to view things from far away, and shot them before they can see the one who summoned the creature then it is beneficial. Even if it is destroyed, from the sounds of it summoning another is not difficult.”

Applebloom looked at her, “Maybe, but our teacher sure didn’t seem ta think that it was that impressive,” she replied, “Anyway, thanks fer helping me back up. Ummm… Is this yer dorm?”

He looked toward it and nodded, “Yeah, I believe so. If I’m not badly mistaken I believe that I’m on the third floor. You live here too?”

She shook her head, “Ah was thinkin’ so, but Ah doubt that they’d put boys and girls in the same dorm. Wouldn’t make no sense. Ah’m sure that they’d be worryin’ bout what might happen when the lights are low,” she replied, “Ah mean, gotta figure that they’re afraid some girl might get a notion ta just go claim some fella.”

He smiled at her, “Maybe, or maybe they’re trusting that everyone would simply behave themselves. We’re supposed to be here to learn, and to act like we’re going to move on to better things. Plus, I’m sure that there is some kind deterrent to girls, or boys, being able to access the incorrect floors. I could be wrong on that, but that’s a thought at least.”

She looked at him, “Maybe, but Ah wouldn’t bet on it,” she said as she walked forward and looked at the sign, “Well, guess that it is mah dorm. Says that it’s Co-Ed.”

She shrugged, “Ah think Ah’m on the first floor, so have a good night, Copper. It t’was mighty nice ta meet you.”

She walked on in, and he felt Artemis’ arm slip through the space between his arm and his side, “Captain, are you interested in her?”

He smiled at the question, “Artemis, she’s the protagonist, the main character, and I’m a mob, a background character. Even if I was interested, which I’m not, it wouldn’t work. Main characters go with main characters. It’s that simple.”

The answer seemed to pacify her, and he walked toward the stairwell. Just to see if he was right he pressed his hand against the open doorway of the first floor. He expected to feel a barrier, some magical wall, but there was nothing. It was just an open space. That meant that the girls likely had the same access. It made him wonder why they’d do that. It was odd to think that they’d allow the boys access to the girl’s dorms. Walking up to the third floor he stepped out and felt the coolness of the air around him.

Air conditioning was a thing in this world, but it wasn’t done by the science behind it in his previous world. Instead it was done through multiple wards that created the colder climate. The wards worked in such a way that they sensed the temperature outside, and they decreased the temperature in their selected place about twenty degrees lower. Thus, if it was eighty degrees outside it would be sixty degrees inside. It wasn’t a perfect system, because changing out the wards took days, not moments, and so it was possible for someone to freeze to death if there was a sudden cold snap.

He’d actually looked for how to alter the wards when he lived back at home. There was a very real part of him that wanted to alter the wards in Delicate Emerald’s room. Make it so that it was forty degrees colder than it was outside. Since their island usually was about eighty to ninety degrees it would have frozen her out of her room. She would have spent a small fortunate having some traveling mage come in and change it for her every couple of days. Only for it to be reset again.

The only reason he didn’t was because while some of the magic books they had talked about it, there wasn’t a full description or list of information about it. He couldn’t alter it if he didn’t know how it worked. So, in the end what he had ended up doing was just living as good as he could for the sake of living better. He was a firm believer in the best revenge was to live well. Let Delicate Emerald get upset at his accomplishments. Let her become angry over the fact that he was doing well.

Sure, it boosted her as well, since he was her son, but it would anger her to no end. She would have to talk well of him to other nobles, and that would make her practically sick. She would hate every single moment of it. She’d want him to fail, hard, so that she could mock him. Granted if he did then it would bring shame to their whole family, but he was certain that she would spin it in such a way that everyone would believe that it was him that failed.

The one thing she had going for her was the fact of how close Artemis was to him. That might be enough for her to find some disgrace for him. She could claim that he was bedding his servant, that he was sleeping with a mere demi-human. Not that she was. Still, from what his father told him it was the kind of ammunition that someone who was of a higher status could use against him. He wasn’t sleeping with her, but circumstantial evidence would be just as good as real evidence to a bunch of gossiping nobles.

He didn’t want to give her more ammunition, but at the same time he didn’t understand why it would even matter. Whoever he ended up with, if he ended up with anyone, was up to him. Screw what the rest of the world considered or thought about it. It wasn’t their business, and it would never be. Maybe that was the part of him from his old world, and that was the part of him that believed that everyone deserved to pursue happiness. It wasn’t a guarantee, but everyone got the chance to pursue it. At least that was his belief.

He walked toward the room that he had been assigned. He looked at it, and on the front of it was a simple place to rest his hand. Just like the wards that controlled the temperature there were wards that allowed access to the rooms. He touched the door, and relaxed, “I Copper Plum swear that I am the resident for this room for this semester.”

The door clicked open, and he stepped into what had to be one of the most posh and brilliant rooms he’d seen in his entire life. Standing there he observed it for a moment, taking in everything, before he walked forward and touched the bed itself. It felt like the sheets had been changed that day. The feeling of high thread count sheets was something he absolutely loved. Sure, to most of the nobles that likely felt like a downgrade, but to him it was better than what he had back home.

He looked around, and walked toward the closet. Like the door he touched it, and allowed the ward to sense him. Once it did, the closet itself connected to his personal closet at any location he wanted. He focused on the closet back on the ship, and he allowed the closet to open. There before it was a shield that was active, and he smiled, “Artemis, lower the energy barrier while I get some clothes.”

The barrier lowered, and he grabbed a couple of suits of clothes for the dresser in the room, “Thank you.”

“Of course my Captain, but may I ask if it was a good idea to connect this closet to the one aboard me?” she asked as she studied him, “If someone has access, while the energy barrier is down, there is a small chance they could access the rest of the ship. They would be dealt with of course, but the chance still remains.”

He looked at her, “Which is why I want the barrier back up,” he said as he watched as it formed again, “And besides is someone else opens the closet, even if it is an administrator, they won’t have access to the private closet. That’s the way those wards work, or at least that’s the way they’re supposed to work.”

He considered it for a moment, “Okay, new idea, I’m going to cancel that connection, until I need it again,” he said as he looked at her, “Sound good?”

She nodded, “It is a sound judgment my Captain.”

With that he retouched the door of the closet, and he focused no longer on the closet in his cabin on the ship, but instead he focused on the simple closet that was there. When he did he heard a slight click, and the door opened to show a barren closet. Inside was surprisingly well made, and it was painted the same color as the rest of the dorm room itself. The brilliant white was present, but he could see the thinnest layer of dust inside of it. That was evidence that the closet itself most likely was rarely used, and there had been absolutely no intention of it really being used.

It was one of the mechanics from the game itself that he remembered. How the protagonist could get any of the clothes that she owned from any part of the game. She just had to walk up to the closet in her dorm, open it, and then select her clothes. Of all of the lore from the game itself that was the one thing that he could remember exceptionally well. He’d thought that it was just a stupid bit of lore to explain the reason why they’d made the closet accessible to every other closet in the game, but here it really was because of the wards.

“Artemis,” he said as he looked at the closet for a moment, “I know the nanoweave suit you wear can more or less transform into any other piece of clothing, but would you like to get some other clothes?” he asked as he looked at the closet, “I mean, I don’t think that it would hurt for you to be able to wear something else.”

He looked to see her standing there surprised, almost as if he had caught her completely unaware, and then slowly a small smile crossed her lips, “I’d enjoy that my Captain,” she replied, her voice still sounding soft and sincere, “Although, I doubt that anything we purchase would be able to contain the same level of protection as the clothes I am currently wearing contain.”

He nodded, “Believe me, I know,” he replied as he looked at her, “But this isn’t about protection. The academy itself isn’t an exceptionally dangerous place. Sure, the labyrinth they use does have some dangers, although compared to the one we went through it’s not nearly as bad, but when we do have to enter it we can use the uniforms that you’ve created. Otherwise I think that wearing clothes that will help us fit in would be more beneficial.”

She nodded, “I see,” she replied, “It is to remain covert, and to ensure that we are not able to be picked out easily from the rest of the individuals. It will allow us the ability to move quietly, and carefully, among the rest of the students. I suppose that in a situation of potential war it would be beneficial to be harder to locate. This tactic is acceptable.”

He smiled, “Good, then tomorrow we will go and see what the student store has. From there we’ll just make the best of what they have,” he said as he looked toward the bed itself. As much as he wanted to simply settle in and go to bed he knew better. First he put the clothes away in the dresser, and then he walked toward the bed. Aboard the ship he’d more or less just stripped off before going to bed.

Artemis had explained that the bracelet of his uniform would allow him to summon his uniform form anywhere, and it would cover him as it was supposed to without issue. He would become completely safe in it, and he would be protected in a few moments. She had also tried to argue that sleeping in it would be more beneficial than sleeping without it. But one of the habits he’d developed in this world was sleeping in a pair of boxers and that was it. The shack his father lived in, and thus he lived in, didn’t have the wards for temperature control.

Instead it was just as hot inside as it was outside. Oh, occasionally his father would manage to get some wizard to cast a temporary breeze spell on a window, and it would allow a breeze to travel all throughout the home. It would make things slightly cooler, but it wouldn’t be a permanent fix. Instead he’d learned to sleep without much on so that he could actually get some sleep.

He did the same here, and he felt the coolness of the night air around him. This was exactly what he had been hoping for. Like in the ship the air was cooler, and it was more comfortable. He crawled into the bed, and then he saw Artemis studying the bed from where she was. He could see the inner conflict that was happening inside of her. He understood that she was battling with herself if she should attempt to crawl into the bed or not.

Her android body didn’t have to rest, but it did have to be refueled occasionally. She was able to consume the organic fuel, which appeared to be a milky like substance. He’d watched her consume it once, and from what he could see it looked thicker than normal milk. He didn’t want to know the taste, but that was mostly because his mind had gone to places that he really didn’t want it to go. There’d been far too many nights he’d watched borderline hentai to not think those thoughts.

“My Captain,” she said, her voice sounding uncertain, “Would it not be better for your servant to be closer to you? It would keep up appearances, and if nothing else it would at least make it easier for me to act as your protector should the worst possible outcome happen.”

He shook his head, knowing what she was thinking, “Artemis, I’m not going to tell you yes or no,” he replied as he studied her, “I’m not going to because I think this more about want than pragmatism. So, instead I’m going to just ask, what is it that you want? What do you want right now?”

She stepped forward, “I… I… I want to be near you,” she said, her voice sounding far less confident and more timid, “I desire to be near you.”

He breathed out, “Okay then, but nothing else.”

Somehow, he had the feeling that he had just started something.