My Friend and I Reincarnated Into a Tragedy Dating Game

Looking down at the squirming and blushing Raisa, I couldn't help but feel like I was looking at a kid. Oh, how first impressions change...

Before, I thought she was a rather scary woman that I couldn't get along with, but now I wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly called me Onii-tan.

In the end, her legs began trembling before giving out entirely, leading her to fall to her knees. Raisa was on the verge of crying as she looked at me.

"I-I messed up really badly, didn't I?"

A wry smile formed on my face as I got down on one knee as well and continued to pat her shoulder.

"Nobody gets it right on their first try... Well, most people don't."

Raisa looked up at me, trying to hold back tears, though they ended up pouring down anyway.

"I'll make sure it's perfect next time!"

I raised a finger and shook my head.

"No."

A fearful expression formed on her face, but I hurriedly followed up.

"Remember, we should be having fun together. In other words, you should be excited for next time."

This time a genuine smile formed on my face, after which she began to as well.

We weren't able to do all that much after that because I truly was tired and it had gotten quite late. Though reluctant, Raisa thankfully did end up sending me back. Though it was still a little early, I wasted no time washing up and going to bed, falling asleep like a rock.

I wasn't a person that had vivid dreams. In fact, the times that I could even recall having dreams in the first place were scarce. As for recalling what the dream was about, the number of times that happened could be counted on one hand.

However, tonight I began to have one of the most vivid dreams of my life.

...And it was about a book.

To be specific, the book that I had touched once entering a study in my manor. It was as vivid as a lucid dream, but I didn't actually have any control.

There was a giant replica of a book in front of me, while a hoarse voice was calling out around me.

"Flip the page! Gain limitless power! Flip the page! Gain limitless power!"

...Whoever this guy was needs to drink some damn water. His voice was honestly kinda harsh on my ears.

This entire thing continued on for an uncomfortably long time, pissing me off more than anything. If it was actually reverse psychology and wanted me to avoid the book, then it was doing a damn good job.

Fuck! Leave me alone!

I spent the slow night internally cursing at the book. I may have said many things about the book's mother and how I fucked her, but I honestly don't know how you would fuck a book, and what was even considered a book's mother in the first place.

When I finally woke up, I felt exhausted.

Rage boiled in me as I held back the desire to rush into the room with the book. It would be immature to do so, after all.

...Doing that would have to wait until I learned the fireball spell.

That or if I could figure out who the book's mom was and how to fuck her.

After getting out of my room and walking down the hallway, I saw James. He looked at me as though I was a crazy person.

"You went to the Darcy family? If you were going to a place like that then you should've informed me to make preparations!"

I blinked a few times.

"...The Darcy family?"

James looked back at me as though I was stupid.

"You went to a noble's house without even knowing who they were?"

Though he was saying words to me, I couldn't really hear them right now. It should've been obvious to me, it made sense that Raisa was part of the Darcy family. Yes, it was only a passing fact in the game, but they mentioned that family was the one that was strangely weak among the three archdukes in the kingdom.

The reason why that mattered, was because the Darcy family was one of the main antagonists of the game's story. In fact, if you combined all of the people together, they would spell more trouble than the main antagonist, who was me.

King of Slaughter, Queen of Massacre, and Daughter of Chaos.

Those were all the names that the game gave them. Near the midway point of the story, these three characters would all be introduced. The reason why I didn't recognize Raisa earlier was that all three of those characters were grotesquely changed from their human form, obtaining tentacle appendages.

In fact, the Daughter of Chaos didn't have white hair nor green eyes, but ink-black hair and ruby-red eyes. I always unconsciously thought that under normal circumstances, they were a family with black hair and red eyes.

I tapped my chin a few times.

Right now with the trust Raisa had in me, I could hatch up a plan to kill her and her parents in one fell swoop. Then, I could get rid of all three murderous abominations with a relatively low amount of effort.

If it succeeded, that would prevent an extremely large amount of deaths and prevent us from even needing to save certain people in the main cast.

James was calling out to me and waving his hand in front of my face, but I ignored it.

There was just one tiny thing bothering me. From the interaction I had with Raisa earlier, she seemed like a naive kid. She didn't seem to be the type that would aspire to become a bloodthirsty killer.

If that's the case, it might be possible that the Darcy family wasn't actually responsible for turning into the abominations that they were and instead forced to be by some other third party. That would mean killing them would be useless.

...Yet, I heavily doubted that it was that simple.

Else those three wouldn't be the only people converted into those kinds of monsters. Even if that wasn't their intention, they had taken some part in becoming those things. After a bit of deliberation, I figured it would be better to use Raisa's trust to find out what was going on behind the scenes in the Darcy Family.

Maybe then, I could find the source of the problem and nip it from there.

...Hm? Why am I looking at the ceiling?

It was only now that I realized I was put onto a stretcher and being carried off by a few butlers.

I hurriedly got off of it and turned to look at James, who was looking at me in concern.

"What are you guys doing?"

James' brow furrowed slightly.

"You appear to be sick. We are having you visit a doctor."

I felt a headache coming on. Waving my hand dismissively I walked on my own.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just... thinking about something."

James paused before responding.

"Are you sure?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"As sure as I'll ever be."

James let out a small sigh.

"Don't overestimate yourself. Seek treatment if you need it."

I gave a small nod.

"I know, but really, I'm fine."

It was definitely quite difficult to shake him off, but thankfully I was able to do so. Thankfully, he did end up letting me go. I had breakfast with Jess, then a bit later I got onto the carriage.

At first, I simply accepted the fact that sitting there was going to consist of awkward silence. However, I suddenly remembered that I should be meditating to get a better feel for mana anyways.

With that in mind, I crossed my legs and closed my eyes, slowing my breath down in an attempt to block out all other sensations. It took a second, but I was able to sense mana like before, and I then began practicing moving it around.

However, before I could get Into it, Jess suddenly called out to me.

"Brother, do you hate me?"

I opened my eyes to see Jess looking at me with melancholy. It appeared that I had done something incorrectly to cause some sort of misunderstanding.

"No, I do not."

Jess looked down to the floor of the carriage, kicking her legs ever so slightly.

"Then why do I feel so distant from you? It feels like you've changed."

...That's probably because I actually did change. Or more accurately, the real Bryson was replaced by some rando that was me. My mind suddenly worked into overdrive, trying to figure what I could say to skirt around the fact I wasn't actually Bryson.

"Sorry. I've just realized some things."

Jess looked at me despondently.

"Does that mean you wish to stay apart from me?"

Once again, I shook my head. It appeared she was extremely insecure about something.

"It's not like that. I just have some new goals in mind and I'm focusing on those."

Jess blinked a few times.

"Does that mean you won't be showing up to dinner as often?"

I scratched the side of my head. My plan was to go out to the slums every day instead of having dinner to stabilize the situation. The only times I would not, was if there was something else such as a place that I needed to go to.

"From now on, I'm not sure if I will even end up attending."

Jess waited a few minutes before responding.

"I see."

Silence proceeded to fall, which made me think it was fine to start meditating. And so, I did exactly that.

Unfortunately, my session would be cut off once more.

"If you won't be showing up to dinner, then could we act as we did before in old times?"

Jess spoke up once more, prompting me to open my eyes again.

...Did you really have to phrase the question like that? How the hell was I supposed to know what old times meant when I literally just took over this guy's body!?

"What do you mean by that?"

Jess tilted her head to the side.

"Well, maybe we could stay in the same room again, and take our baths together. You weren't so resistant to it before, you know?"

My eyebrow twitched.

Say what now? Are you telling me Jess and Bryson regularly took baths together before this?

...I guess it isn't too strange considering they are siblings and all. If it wasn't for the fact that Jess was one of the capture targets for the main character, then I might've thought she was actually in love with me.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Incest was a big no-no. I mean, Raisa's family was enough reason to learn from example.

I scratched the side of my head.

"Would bathing together really make you happy?"

Jess gave a nod.

"Yes."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, hesitating for a few moments. Then, I made a decision that I would end up regretting.

"Ok then."