Reincarnated as an Instructor in an Adult Game

Chapter 36: Patron?

The next day at the training grounds.

As the students gathered, I stood with my arms crossed, counting them with my eyes.

Erika, whose eyes met mine, blushed shyly and quickly looked away with a huff.

...Hey, that’s foul play. Are you aiming for this?

After that, we had parted ways in front of Erika’s house, but at the last moment, she had kissed me on the cheek.

I looked at her in slight surprise, and she turned bright red before rushing inside her house.

The three adventurer girls who had been watching gave their impressions:

"How innocent~" "That’s dangerous, she’s way too cute~" "...Completely head over heels for the instructor."

Satour, Minty, and Roll said this one after another while grinning at Erika’s front door.

I wondered if she had really received a noble education—lately she had been showing her emotions much more openly. The gap between that and her usual seductive atmosphere only made her look even cuter, which was troubling.

I confirmed everyone was present with my eyes, but three students in particular caught my attention.

It was the dark expressions on Aurora, Win, and Rain’s faces.

If there was an event for songstresses at this time of year... it had to be that.

Even if it was hard to notice in the game, in reality where I could see their actual expressions, I picked up on it early.

Well, even in the game you could see their expressions, but the atmosphere was different.

Just looking at their faces, they only seemed troubled, but if you could sense the atmosphere, it was clear they were anxious.

While keeping an eye on the three of them, I started training as usual.

After training ended.

As the students headed back to the changing room, I called out to stop the three girls.

After all, this wasn’t something I should talk about while the other students were around.

By the way, Erika was standing beside me with her arms crossed, looking at me suspiciously. That was pretty much a given now.

"Sorry for stopping you. I noticed your complexions looked off. Did something happen?"

I already knew what had happened.

But if I suddenly brought up something they hadn’t told me themselves, it would be way too suspicious.

So I needed to hear it from them first.

The three girls whispered among themselves with dark expressions, then Aurora seemed to steel herself, looked up, and began to speak.

"Um, actually... we’ve been looking for a patron." "...A patron?"

They nodded at my words and continued explaining.

About a year ago, a patron who had been funding them suddenly said they would stop.

That one patron’s investment had been quite large, and it had definitely helped with things like costumes and travel expenses.

The three of them had also been providing plenty of returns for the investment... or so they thought.

It wasn’t that the patron had lost interest or didn’t see future potential. What the patron had demanded was... freёwebnovel.com

"O-our... bodies. But... without money, we..."

"I understand. Thank you for telling me."

I gently stroked the heads of the three girls, who looked like they were about to cry, one after another in a comforting manner.

They seemed surprised at first but quietly let me stroke their hair.

Then I glanced at Erika, who was watching the three with a worried expression beside me.

When Erika noticed I was looking at her, she let out a big sigh and approached the girls.

"Shall we negotiate?"

The three girls looked surprised for a moment, then immediately turned serious and nodded.

The failure route of this event happened when these three couldn’t talk to anyone.

After that, the three would go to the patron and be embraced by him.

Gradually the light would disappear from their eyes, their energy would fade, and in the end they would stop coming to the academy and go missing.

In the game, you could witness conversations like "What should we do..." "But..." "Uuu..."

There was no actual depiction, but based on later lines where they mentioned being called by the patron, the theorycrafters had reached this conclusion.

...Damn, theorycrafters, you’re spot on.

Well, since they tried to lay hands on my students, it was probably best to drive the point home.

I approached the three who were talking with Erika and handed them a piece of paper.

I told them to take it to the patron, refuse him, and say that Instructor Reid had told them to do so.

The three tilted their heads as they accepted it, then froze in shock after reading the contents.

I smiled wryly and told them I’d be in the instructor’s office, then walked away.

It was probably a little past 4 PM.

While I was working in the instructor’s office, there were two light knocks on the door. I answered, and Erika came in looking somewhat tired.

She sat down on a nearby chair and spoke wearily.

"I’ve settled the matter." "Thank you, Erika." "...Well, considering what we’ll get in return, it’s a cheap price." "Yeah... I suppose so."

I poured some tea and handed it to Erika.

She accepted it, took a sip, and breathed a sigh of relief.

If they followed the success route, these three would become songstresses who could compete for the top spots on the continent. It was definitely a cheap investment.

Erika then placed her tea on the desk, her cheeks faintly flushed, and gave me a sulky glare.

"M-my boyfriend... worked hard, you know?" "...That reaction is a little too cute."

I bent down from where I was standing, met Erika’s gaze, and kissed her.

First a light, touching kiss, then a longer, deeper one.

"Fuuu... n, nnuu..."

Finally, I gave her trembling lips one last kiss, then pulled back. Erika was left with a dazed, "poof" expression on her face.

I might have overdone it. She stayed like that with no reaction for a while, even after I finished organizing my documents.

She only recovered after we arrived at [Suzuya].

How did I get her there? I carried the unresponsive Erika in a princess carry.

...Yeah, I’m really glad I reincarnated as Instructor Reid.

If I’d been one of the students, my stamina would’ve been nowhere near enough.

The three adventurer girls outside saw me carrying Erika in a princess carry and grinned at us.

When we arrived at [Suzuya], Neemi smiled and said, "Ara ara... fufu~"

I had already told Neemi about Erika yesterday, and she had given her approval.

When Merinu-san came to pick her up and we left the bar, she kissed my cheek again—probably as payback.

Then she hurried off... but that reaction was seriously too cute.