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 Interlude

Professor Honeypot studied the information from the adventurers’ guild. The evidence was all there. She couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that Copper Plum had single handedly managed to become the most successful adventurer the school had ever produced. No, that wasn’t right. He was a successful adventurer before coming to the school. She wanted to take some credit for his achievements, but she understood that what little she had done wasn’t enough to take full credit.

She could say that she helped though. Copper Plum had managed, somehow, to rise through the ranks and become an established adventurer, and then he threw it all away in an attempt to make Prince Apollo see some sense. It was a fool’s errand and she knew that. Prince Apollo was multiple things, but a brilliant student wasn’t one of them. He was pampered, given far too much, and had little in the means of responsibilities. He was, for all rights and purposes, a boy with far too much time on his hands.

She then looked at the memo that had been sent out. Not one of the professors was expecting Copper Plum to return. For a good many they seemed relieved. The boy was headstrong, and he didn’t seem to understand the place where men belonged. Still, there was so much promise in him that she felt horrible about not being able to help it grow. She would have liked to help him climb the ranks of adventuring until he was truly able to claim his place among the most influential members of the guild.

Instead she had to settle with watching his achievements from afar. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right, but she had long since learned that most things weren’t right or fair. In truth the world seemed to work more on a concept that the strong got to do whatever they liked, and the weak just paid for it. It was enough to make her feel nothing but anger, but she had to remind herself that these were simply how things were here.

She was about to go onto designing her next lesson when a new memo flashed in front of her. The greenish fire, something from the Kingdom of the Ancient Dragon, revealed a single scroll. She took a moment to look at it before breaking the wax seal and opening it. She felt a small thrill of triumph rush through her. She re-read the words again and again, and she couldn’t stop the feeling of absolute joy. The fact that Professor Upper Crust let out a loud screech of annoyance practically made her day.

“HOW COULD THEY DO THIS?!!” Upper Crust yelled from her room, “THAT BOY IS A NIGHTMARE! HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND HIS PLACE, AND HIS ENTIRE GENDER EQUALITY NON-SENSE HAS SPREAD! UGH! I WAS PLANNING ON GETTING THINGS BACK TO THE STATUS QUO!”

She smiled, “Oh, stuff a sock in it Upper,” she said, knowing that her voice carried, “The boy is a born adventurer. He’s got greatness in him, and he deserves some respect for that, if nothing else. Although it means that I’m going to have to try and find him a wife now. I actually want to see him succeed.”

There was a moment of hesitation, “A WIFE?” came the screech before Upper Crust walked into her room, “You have got to be kidding! That boy doesn’t need a wife, he needs to have his head removed from his shoulders! He’s causing the boys to question their place. There’s a movement to allow the boys to have servants without being mocked. Do you understand how horrifying that is? It means that the girls will actually have to start caring for them!”

Honeypot looked at her and shook her head, “Upper, you’re a classic sexist,” she said as she looked at her, “Those boys all have the potential to be great adventurers, and we both know that all nobility are born from those adventurers. In truth, if they go on to be adventurers then they should deserve all of the praise and promise that comes with it. Having a wife that actually cares for them, that loves them, is part of that.”

Upper Crust rolled her eyes, “You are completely hopeless,” she growled, “If you like that boy so much, then go claim him. You’re not married, likely never will be, so just go lay claim to him and have a younger man as your husband. I’m sure that he’ll at the very least find a way of shutting you up.”

She shook her head and looked at Upper Crust, “You know,” she said, her voice relaying how unbothered she was, “Before I wouldn’t have considered it, but look at him,” she said as she held the memo, “He’s not only raised in ranks, but he’s somehow managed to do so with the blessing of the king and queen. They accept what he did for Prince Apollo as a justifiable means. I have to agree. The prince needed to be brought down a peg, and he needed to be made to look at what he’d been doing.”

She watched Upper Crust turn her on heels, “I will agree that Prince Apollo needed to be shown the errors of his ways. I will accept that he needed to be forced to stop spending so much time with that Satin girl, but I will not accept that we should praise this young upstart for it! He’s an annoying fly that refuses to be killed. When he falls, and it will eventually happen, I will personally laugh.”

With that Upper Crust walked off, and Honeypot watched her. There was no denying that most of the girls at the school, and several of the female professors, felt the same way. They didn’t like him for his accomplishments. They didn’t like that he didn't just grovel and attempt to appeal to them. They hated that he thought that he was on the same standing as everyone else. They hated that there was no way for them to prove to him that he was wrong.

She walked back into her room, looked at the mirror, and considered herself for a moment. She wasn’t terribly old, not yet, she was in her mid twenties, and adulthood was at seventeen. She shook her head, she was his professor first, and anything else that came would either come naturally, or it wouldn’t at all. She wouldn’t push for it.

Still there was a small part of her that was thrilled by the idea. That same small part of her considered what a date with him would be like. Personally, she would be fine with the two of them going into a labyrinth. It was something of a dream of hers to go into a labyrinth with someone she would consider marrying. That one person would help her, providing her with the protection she needed, and in return she would help be his sword. She would cut down his enemies, and he would keep her safe as her shield.

The small thrill rushed through her as the mere thought of consummating said love inside of the labyrinth filled her. A place with monsters around every single corner, and a place ripe with danger that was being used as a bedroom. Although she was not exactly unused. Her wilder days had been spent before. She had a demi-human servant, or sexual slave if one would rather call a spade a spade. He’d bred her in every possible way, exactly what was demanded of them, and when she finally understood that having him was not what she wanted she had freed him.

It was quite a stir. She was seen either as very kind or exceptionally stupid. Either way, she couldn’t stand the thought of forcing him to be at her beck and call. She wanted to give him the chance to deny if he wanted, and to let him live his own life. With his new found freedom he had left the capital, left the entire kingdom, and apparently he had traveled back to his homeland. Again, she couldn’t blame him, not exactly, but it had proven to her that what they shared wasn’t intimate like the girls enjoyed to pretend things were.

It was a transaction. She had paid to be bred by a beastman, and in return he had been given to someone with a modest sex drive. The fact that he was gone wasn’t a horrible thing. It allowed her to grow, and now she understood what it was that she wanted. She wanted to find someone that captured her fancy, and to find someone that she could enjoy being with. Copper Plum perhaps could fit the bill. Again, she was his professor first, and anything else that came from it would be second.

Maybe things would grow, but there was no guarantee. The only thing that she could absolutely count on was the fact that she could help foster a healthy obsession with labyrinth raiding. She could accept that. As those thoughts crossed her mind she could still hear Upper Crust going on about how things were going to be completely ruined from this point on. She could practically hear her cursing her luck, and bemoaning the fact that everything was going to be so completely different now.

Personally, she was fine with the change. She didn’t want to see anyone to be dropped to the same point that the boys and men had been, but she was perfectly fine with things being equal. That's the way it needed to be. Things needed to be different. It was honestly the only way she could see the kingdom continuing onward in any meaningful way. If things continued the way they were then there was little doubt in her mind that everything would eventually fall apart.

It would be far too difficult to keep the men motivated by the thought of marriage. Especially when their brides were able to have other lovers. They were almost expected to have other lovers, and their husbands were expected to raise children that weren’t theirs. Sure, if a woman came into a new marriage with children already established that was one thing, but it seemed exceptionally cruel to bring another man into the relationship, have a child with him, and then allow, no it would be force, her husband to raise said child.

“I couldn’t do that,” she said to herself, “I really couldn’t. I would rather be completely devoted to the one that I married. I can’t be a virgin again, not that it was anything of real value anyway, but I can devote myself to whomever I marry. If that happens to be Copper Plum, well then he will have someone that will never run around on him.”

As she considered these thoughts Gold Bit was currently running around like a chicken with its head cut off. First, his son had challenged the Prince to a duel. Next, his son had somehow managed to beat the Prince, and third his Son was promoted for the act. He wasn’t sure if it was some kind of joke, or if there was the act of a vengeful goddess to blame. He breathed out, trying to get himself settled. It didn’t matter. Copper Plum was on his way, and when he arrived he would do all he could to help.

Of course he was bringing Diamond Tiara Rich with him. Which meant that their house needed to be up to the standards that was expected of nobility. It also meant that Delicate Emerald would undoubtedly be putting her foot right in her fool mouth. He tried to remember the fact that at one time he loved her. He tried to remind himself that once upon a time Delicate Emerald was actually a loving and caring woman, but he couldn’t force the image into his mind.

Delicate Emerald had become a living, and breathing, nightmare for him. Her demands on finances had pushed him to the very brink of bankruptcy. It had been all he could do to support her. Or at least it was until his son became an accomplished adventurer. The moment that happened he improved their dock, improved the house, and on top of that he’d brought strange golems that were able to help with the fields.

The work they normally did was cut in half thanks to these strange metal golems. Still, there was so much to do that he found himself practically wanting to rip his hair out and run off. He watched as his son’s airship approached. The large vessel dwarfed the one that he’d brought them, and that was still an insanely nice airship. Of course he’d done something that had completely upset Delicate Emerald. She had wanted the airship to be her main means of travel. She had demanded that it be sent with her, to the capital, where she could use it willingly for the good of their family.

Copper Plum had explained that the airship was tied to the improvements done to their home. As such it could be used to go to the capital, when there was a need for it. Additionally it could be used to go to nobility court, and again it was when there was a need for it. It however wouldn’t be used as a means of transportation for someone that had an airship, and had the means to go back and forth on their own. Nor would it be used by anyone other than those who had official business for the domain of their family.

He’d basically told her that she wasn’t going to use it to show how well off they were now, and if she didn’t like it then she could just go jump off a cliff. It had resulted in an immense amount of bickering, squabbling, and finally promises that she would allow him to produce another heir with her if he would simply state that her needs were indeed tied to the good of the domain. It was something he knew that he couldn’t do. And so for the first time ever he had put his foot down and informed her that no, he would not be doing that.

Delicate Emerald had nearly erupted at his new found spine. Finally, she had left on her airship, which was about half the size of their new one, and swore that she would stop coming out to see them so often if that airship wasn’t sent for her when she wanted to return. She also swore that he if ever said no to her again she would make his life a complete and living hell. However, he noticed that she didn’t seem to say much when Copper Plum was around.

The evidence was there. Their son, his son, had surpassed his station, and he was higher nobility than she was. At this point he could claim that she was a bother, and if she tried to say much he could claim the head of their household, which would be his right, and stop all of her allowance. She was treading very thin ice with him, and she had learned not to say much while he was around. He hadn’t informed her of Copper’s return simply because a small part of him wanted to see what was going to happen.

The airship his son owned soon approached, and when it did he moved toward the docks. To his surprise Tarnished Tiara was following him. His oldest daughter actually seemed interested in seeing her brother. For whatever reason, however it appeared, there had been something of a bonding between them. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but the evidence was there. Tarnished Tiara seemed interested in getting on her brother’s good side.

He wasn’t going to complain if she was truly wanting to bond with him. He watched as the ship docked, and soon the door opened and the gangplank began to descend. The first to leave was not his son, but instead it was the Duke’s daughter. Diamond Tiara Rich walked toward their small port with the kind of grace that spoke of excellent manners and breeding. She was someone that was truly a cut above, and he could see how it reflected on her face. Part of him wondered if there was something between his boy and her.

If that was the case then he would have to continuously attempt to prove himself. Their stations were too distant for a simple match. No, he would need to prove that he could climb the ranks, and prove that he was meant to be there. Next was a girl that looked like she might belong to a lesser house. She seemed a little uncertain of her walk, but at the same time he could tell that she was someone not afraid of hard work. Likely she came from a small domain like their own, and likely she had grown up doing farm work.

That would serve his son well if that was the case. She looked nice enough, her mannerisms didn’t seem like those of someone that hadn’t seen a hard day’s work, and she actually seemed fairly happy to be there. The next out was the servant that his son had. Artemis, the rabbit girl, and there was no denying that she had her eye on his son. He hoped that his son wasn’t serious about the girl. Sure, she seemed nice enough, but a demi-human being anything other than a servant would be looked upon poorly.

Granted, the beast people could have children with humans, but none of their children would be considered legitimate. If his son went for that route it would prove to make his entire life at court an uphill struggle. Not that he was convinced that his son would actively attempt to attend court. Even now it seemed that he was far more interested in adventuring. If that was the case then it would be fine.

Adventurers were considered the highest form of nobility. If his son wanted to make his living by diving into labyrinths, hunting monsters, and protecting the kingdom in that way then he would be fine with it. Finally he watched his son exit the ship. Behind him was another rabbit girl. There was some similarities between the two, and he knew that they were likely sisters. His son was playing a dangerous game. One could be considered acceptable, but still just within the realm of deviant behavior. Two would be seen as nothing but deviant behavior. There wouldn’t be any spinning of this.

“Son,” he said as Copper neared him, “Welcome home. So, are you so determined to give your father a heart attack? The duke’s own airship just dropped off a collection of maids and attendants for his daughter. Still, it’s good to see you, and we’ve prepared a feast, come, let’s celebrate!”