The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

“Is it okay if we team up with kids from other classes?”

“It should be fine. The whole point of gathering us all together like this was probably for that. Besides, we’re not sticking together because the teachers put us in teams. We just ended up gravitating toward people we’re comfortable with. So, do you think anything serious would happen if we expanded that to other classes?”

Inside the academy, the nobility class only ever meets other students from other nobility classes. It’s not like they even consider meeting commoner students.

This was true for the commoner class as well. Unless you were someone like Jake, who specifically sought out certain friends, the commoner students didn’t try to mix with the nobility class kids.

Moreover, this year’s nobility class, especially Class A, is so strong that no one would dare approach them.

We even have two people who could potentially be the future emperor and one who could be the future king... not to mention the count families, and even dukes.

With these kinds of people all hanging out together, even the commoners, let alone other nobles, wouldn’t even think to start a conversation. Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw any other noble kids talk to me for the entire first semester.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

When I stared at her, Claire tilted her head in confusion.

How much courage does she have?

Even Leo, who had adapted relatively well recently, used to turn pale every time he came near us.

Once I had decided that she was “sister material,” she immediately came up to talk to me without hesitation. It’s clear that, even though she’s from the Grace family, her courage isn’t what you’d expect.

Come to think of it, wasn’t she the one who boldly used informal speech with Alice in the original?

“...It’s nothing.”

“Really?”

Claire tilted her head again, but didn’t say anything else.

“Anyway.”

Claire continued the conversation with Alice.

“The academy’s motto is that ‘we’re all students here.’ I know that it’s not always followed, but that’s the general idea. Thinking about how I’m able to speak to you like this, it seems to be part of that idea.”

“Well... I guess that’s true.”

“So, the reason we’re all gathered here is because of that. The reason they don’t separate us into four groups and send us off is probably because it would cost too much time and resources. But maybe they hope that we’ll cooperate with each other here at the academy.”

“You’re being a lot more thoughtful than usual— *cough!*”

Leo made a random comment and was immediately grabbed by the collar by Claire.

Claire just looked at us as though this happened all the time.

“Anyway, I’m in favor. Having Roti with us won’t make us any more dangerous, and Jake guarantees her abilities.”

“Hmm.”

Alice turned her head toward Charlotte.

“I agree... too. The beasts from the southern continent are known for being vicious. I’ve only seen them in the zoo, but wild ones would probably be much worse, right? Even adding one more person to our group can’t hurt.”

After hearing Charlotte’s opinion, Alice turned her gaze back to Roti.

Roti looked like a doll.

Not that her appearance was the issue—though, her looks did make her resemble a doll—it was more that she barely reacted to what we were saying.

She didn’t say anything, simply lowering her eyes and waiting quietly while we talked about whether or not we’d take her with us.

“Roti, are you uncomfortable?”

Alice, knowing that Roti wasn’t saying anything, was likely worried, not just because of her status or background. Having spent time with her, Alice was sharp enough to notice.

Jake wouldn’t just take her with him because he said “let’s go,” but Alice wasn’t expecting that kind of response either.

“I will follow your decision.”

Roti spoke in a calm, composed voice.

“No, that’s not... what I mean.”

Of course, I didn’t want to hear her outright refuse, but Alice stifled a sigh and decided to ask directly.

“You must have friends in your class, right? Wouldn’t it be strange if we suddenly took you away, and your friends didn’t like it?”

If we took a friend away, it might upset those left behind, so it made sense to ask.

But—

“...”

Roti didn’t respond.

Alice seemed troubled by this lack of a response. It was hard for her to tell if it was because Roti didn’t want to come with us or if it was just because she didn’t have anyone else to stay with.

I knew.

Roti didn’t have friends.

It was because she was from a colony.

If Roti were an empire citizen, even as Jake’s maid, there probably wouldn’t have been any issues. In fact, her background might have even made her popular among the other students.

However, discrimination against colonists existed even within the empire.

In this world, there were no minimum wages or worker protections, so workers were dying from overwork. And most of the workers dying within the empire were the white empire citizens.

Normally, in such a situation, you’d expect labor movements or even revolutions to break out, but in this world, things weren’t progressing like that. The historical period of the communist revolution was a bit different in this world.

The emperor had been advising to replace rebellious workers with colonists whenever labor issues arose.

Colonists weren’t slaves.

But the money they were paid was almost equivalent to slavery, and they couldn’t say anything about it.

Colonists were a small minority within the empire, and they were in an environment where lynchings were a real threat.

A few colonists wouldn’t change the market dynamics. They were too few to organize resistance, and the empire deliberately mixed them with different regions and bad-class locals to keep them from uniting. Originally, people from completely different countries and tribes were forcibly gathered, making it even harder to unite.

But, without knowing these facts, the workers of the empire only saw colonists as people who “took their jobs for ridiculously cheap wages.”

This setting doesn’t appear in the main story, but it was included in the side stories explaining why there hadn’t been a nationwide independence movement in the colonies or why workers didn’t unite for revolution.

Although there were some flaws in applying this to real history, the game’s world had been designed with this setup in mind, and it worked as expected, so there was no need to question it.

“Ugh...”

As Roti’s mood grew even more somber, Alice’s expression reflected her uncertainty.

Alice glanced at me. Her eyes were silently asking for help.

Sister, huh?

I almost wanted to tease her with that thought, but the atmosphere didn’t seem right for that, so I held back.

“Can we trust Roti’s abilities?”

I turned to Jake and asked.

“Of course. Honestly, she might be more helpful than me.”

Everyone seemed to accept this explanation with little resistance.

Despite Jake’s casual appearance and somewhat flippant behavior, he had earned a lot of trust through the missions they had completed together.

The only one looking confused was Sophia.

“Well, she’s using firearms, so...”

Alice glanced at me and Rena as she said this.

“Alright, then.”

Alice nodded.

“She’ll join us. And if you want to bring any friends along, just let me know. It’s fine with me.”

“...Understood.”

But seeing Roti like this...

Well, thinking back to the original, it wasn’t completely unexpected. The commoner class wasn’t one I interacted with much, so there wasn’t much room for change there.

I remembered that not long after we started moving with Roti, a girl would approach us. We could just bring her along.

As I was thinking this, Alice gave me a suspicious glance.

...What is this? Can she read my thoughts now?

* 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Today, since Leo and Claire already completed their mission, let’s just relax.”

Alice said, looking at Jake.

“You said you had a lot of work to do, right?”

“That’s right.”

Jake replied in a deadpan manner.

“This place is huge, but there are almost no people like us... to ‘manage’ it. You guys said you hunted beasts, right?”

When Leo and Claire nodded, Jake continued.

“There’s plenty more to do aside from that. This trip is a week-long, so we can take it easy. I’m telling you, there’s no way we won’t have enough to do to fill the time.”

Hmm.

I wonder if our diligent protagonists will really take it easy.