The True Endgame

Book 2: Chapter 63: Patch 11.0: The Not-So-Delusional Princess

Before Ryouta could fully realize it, his life has become busy. No longer are the days where he wakes up, plays video games, forces himself to eat something, and then goes to bed before waking up and repeating that exact same process over, and over, and over again.

He would never have believed it if anybody tried telling him a few months ago that he would have not just a girlfriend, but three girlfriends. He wouldn’t have even believed it if somebody tried telling him all about the fishing tournament, meeting up with Blackstache and Rachel, getting on questionably-good terms with a man that he originally disliked at first sight, and losing Bonekraka as a friend.

Ryouta lies in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

The last couple of months have just gone by in a total blur. It feels like just yesterday he first started playing Fantasy Tales Online, and now he’s here.

Oh, and not only is he dating three girls, but one of them technically comes from a royal bloodline.

“Would I be a king if I married her and then the royal family was put back in power?” he asks nobody in particular. “What if we all got married… would I be the king, and would all three of them be queens?”

These are questions that Ryouta does not know the answer to and he doubts that there are many who would know how to answer such questions.

One thing is for sure, though, and it is that he is one hell of a lucky man. Serra, Cassandra, and now – wait, he still doesn’t know what Nell’s real name is. Either way, Serra, Cassandra, and now Nell are all amazing. Even if Nell has only officially been a part of their relationship for a few days, she gets along great with both him and the other girls. Cassandra was a bit more competitive than usual at first, but now she’s come to accept Nell as an equal, a friend, and a girlfriend that she doesn’t need to worry about.

As for The Soaring Wolves and The Shoebill, after they got back in-game, they decided that it would be best to head east. Going north is not safe due to the Augus Empire and the Goddess’ Own, going west is not safe due to the Northern Wardens, and all of the nearby islands are under control of the Free Sailors which The Shoebill’s crew is tired of being around. They’ve had enough of pirates for now, so they wish to head for new and preferably safe lands where they are not going to be hunted down by some of the game’s major factions.

According to Cassandra, there is a mountain range the size of a continent to the east, and the only people who live over there are all parts of small villages who just want to get away from everybody else. They either venture into the mountains for riches or stay near the bases to live quiet and simple lives. Due to how little the land there is worth, none of the major factions try to conquer them either.

And so that is where The Shoebill is heading.

But, given how it will be a long journey even with the engine that Tabitha installed on The Shoebill, little time has been spent in-game lately.

Ryouta makes sure to go spend some time as Fenrir every day to play with Rock and keep Spencer and Corwin company as they take turns helming the ship.

There is one other reason that Ryouta is so interested in heading to the east, but for now, he keeps that reason to himself.

Instead, he has got to worry about meeting Nell at the airport.

Only a week has passed in real life since the tournament and Nell has already bought a plane ticket to come over and visit from overseas. He would have thought that her parents, given that she technically has the blood of royalty in her, would be much more concerned about her flying overseas to meet a guy she’s known for a few weeks.

Nope.

Apparently, her parents are fully supportive of her decision to fly over and meet him.

He was even on the phone with her when they were going over her flight plans, and she was talking about one of her delusional fantasies where he is actually fooling her and planning on selling her into the sex trade of a foreign country. This was while he could hear her parents in the background not just talking to each other, but actively engaging in her fantasies.

Ryouta has a feeling that he knows who Nell has inherited her personality from.

This is his first time in the airport since he moved here with his parents years ago. Supposedly, airports used to be full of life with hundreds of flights going to and from every day, but now they are mostly barren. Most people who use airports at this point are just businesspeople or celebrities as tourism has seen a major decline across the world, and few people ever have to leave to visit family as most families live together in megacities now.

Travel via plane is only done out of necessity or as a luxury for the rich at this point.

Serra tugs on his sleeve.

He signs “welcome back” to her and then returns his vision to the television hanging from the ceiling. All they’ve been talking about this entire time is how today is the five-year anniversary of the tragedy that made Australia uninhabitable. Though, calling it an anniversary was probably too nice for something so devastating.

Serra tugs on his sleeve again with her left hand while pointing up at the screen of flights with her right hand.

Nell’s flight has “Arrived” next to it in large, green letters.

It’s another twenty minutes before a certain wheelchaired girl rolls up to baggage claim where Ryouta and Serra have been waiting.

“My hero!” Nell shouts for everybody to see, waving her arms with a huge grin on her face.

Everybody looks at her and then the man she’s calling her hero. Being called her hero, in real life, around a bunch of strangers, is really embarrassing.

Serra is in the path of all their stares as she’s next to Ryouta, so she tucks herself behind him to hide from their eyes.

“Could Cassiel – whoops! Could Cassandra not come?” Nell asks, rolling up to the two.

“She had to,” Ryouta yawns, “cover for somebody at work. They called out at the last minute, and since Cass Cass promised she’d go in when needed to the next time since I guess she refused the last few times, she had to go. Said to tell you she’s sorry that she couldn’t be here but will come over after work.”

“That is most alright! I am looking forward to seeing her.”

“Hi,” Serra greets her.

“Hello, Serra! Your voice sounds so different in real life.”

Ryouta realizes just now that, as far as he knows, nobody told Nell that Serra is deaf in real life. He also realizes that one of his girlfriends is in a wheelchair and the other is deaf. What’s next, somebody who’s blind? He’s starting to remind himself of that one game he played before where the protagonist had heart problems and was in a school full of girls with various issues to romance.

“She’s deaf, by the way,” Ryouta explains.

“Really?” Nell asks, looking up at him, then looking back at Serra. Ryouta was not expecting her to look as excited as she looks right now.

To both his surprise and Serra’s, Nell starts signing to Serra. Not only is she signing, but she’s using ASL which really surprises them.

While Ryouta maintains his expression of surprise, Serra brightly smiles and signs back to Nell.

“How’d you learn sign language, and I thought I read that BSL is different from ASL? Wouldn’t you know BSL instead?” Ryouta asks.

“Oh! One of my maids growing up was deaf and originally from America, so I learned ASL to talk better with her,” Nell explains.

Nell may be a perverted and delusional princess, but she’s also a nice person.

“You’ll have to give me some pointers then. I’ve been trying to learn it myself, but I think Serra misunderstands me half the time. She either starts taking her clothes off or tries taking off mine every other time I try signing to her,” Ryouta explains.

Nell signs some more to Serra, gets a response, and then looks back up at Ryouta. “She says that she understands you perfectly fine. She just pretends to misunderstand you to try and have sex,” Nell explains.

Ryouta and the other strangers nearby all blink a few times at how blunt that was.

“A-anyways, let’s get your luggage. Which one is yours?” Ryouta asks.

Nell points at the conveyor belt for luggage.

There are nine large suitcases all in bright colors on it.

“The tourist visa is good for six months, so I brought enough clothes to last!” Nell explains.

“You’re – you’re staying all six months? I thought you were just coming over for a week?” Ryouta asks.

“Oh! I am sorry, my hero, I forgot to tell you that I changed my mind a few days ago about how long I would be staying.”

“But… but you said just yesterday that your return flight was next week.”

“Did I?” Nell asks, trying to innocently tilt her head and smile, but Ryouta sees right through her.

Looks like he’s got a roommate for six months.

Knowing Cassandra, she’s going to get jealous and force herself into his apartment to stay that entire time as well.

Knowing Serra, she’s just going to play along and do the same thing that they are. He doubts that Serra’s parents are going to complain.

At least his bed is big enough, barely, for the three of them. Though, he isn’t looking forward to sleeping on the couch for six months.

What he has to worry about right now is how to get these nine suitcases back to his place.