Shortly after ELO’s release, many players had wondered why the Headmaster allowed Fran and her twin brother, Finn, to have their own farm in the academy.
Compared to other farms, this farm certainly wasn’t that big as it spanned only nine hundred square meters. However, it still took up a decent bit of space on the academy’s private lands.
(A/N: In order to give you an idea of the size of the farm, it is equivalent to two basketball courts placed side by side.)
Fran was also a member of the Farmer’s Club, which was headed by Finn.
The Dwarf siblings mostly cared for a dozen beasts as well as planted crops like cherry tomatoes, lettuce, garlic, and anything else that caught their fancy.
’It looks the same as in the game,’ Alex noted when he arrived at the farm that was a good distance away from the Ironheart Dormitory.
The academy had many teleportation gates, and people mostly used them to travel around with ease.
This made Alex wonder how the Doom Cow, Daisy, was able to use the teleporter on her own.
Since Fran was one of his favorite characters in the game, he was very familiar with her romance route. However, he had never seen Daisy among the beasts on the farm.
’Could she be here because of the butterfly effect?’ Alex thought.
Ever since his arrival in Arcana, he had changed the fate of Charles Lambert, who was supposed to die in the Dungeon of Beginnings.
Of course, Charles’ life was not the only one he had altered.
Unbeknownst to Alex, he had also changed the fates of the Cairo, Lavinia, as well as the other Catkins who had challenged the Etherion Domain with him.
Lavinia wasn’t supposed to enroll at the academy, and would have lived her life differently.
But, after meeting Alex, her fate had shifted a bit, opening a different branch leading to a different future.
"Are you worried about Dim Dim?" Fran asked, noticing that Alex was paying close attention to the little bun, who was being introduced by Daisy to the rest of the monsters on the farm.
"A little bit," Alex replied while doing his best to keep his lips from twitching.
The young man couldn’t help but feel anxious because almost all the farm animals were now licking the Dim Sum God. Thoroughly tickled, Dim Dim was giggling non-stop.
"They won’t eat, Dim Dim, right?" Alex asked.
"They won’t," Fran replied. "Probably."
"..." Alex’s heart was pounding like a jackhammer against his ribcage. He didn’t know if this was caused by the threat of one of the animals accidentally gobbling Dim Dim up or by the sight of Fran’s playful side.
Suddenly, the Dwarf smiled faintly and placed her hand over her chest.
"Let me once again introduce myself to you," Fran said. "My name is Fran Terra. I know that we already introduced ourselves in the class, but I don’t really like to speak so formally with people outside of classes.
"And, since I believe that Dim Dim will be a regular guest in our farm, I can already consider it a friend. As you are its guardian, we’ll be seeing each other very often as well. In that case, just call me Fran, and I’ll just call you Alex. Do we have a deal?"
"Nice to meet you, Fran," Alex said, extending his hand for a handshake. "My name is Alex Stratos. Just call me Alex."
Fran looked at Alex’s hand before glancing at her own hands, which were a little dirty because she had been tending to her garden when she noticed that Daisy had left the farm without permission.
She had been in a hurry to look for Daisy because people might treat the Doom Cow as an aggressive monster and attack her.
"M-My hands are a little dirty right now," Fran stammered, her voice tinged with embarrassment.
"I don’t mind," Alex said. "Besides, I don’t think your hands are dirty. Those are the hands of someone who is a hard worker."
The cute Dwarf blushed after hearing Alex’s words. Perhaps due to his encouragement, she reluctantly shook his hand after cleaning her hands up a bit with her handkerchief.
Fran’s hand was rough.
It wasn’t the delicate and soft hand of a noble lady who had been pampered all her life.
Alex could feel the strength from her handshake, which made him realize that she was indeed someone worthy of his respect.
Suddenly, Fran asked the young man a question that made his heart skip a beat.
"Alex, out of curiosity, if you were to grow something with your own hands... what would you plant first?" Fran asked.
The young man couldn’t help but feel surprised because this question was a trigger that would allow him to advance into the Fran Route.
Even without a system notification, Alex knew by heart the multiple choices that would appear when Fran asked this question to the protagonist.
< A choice appears before the player >
Question: What will you plant?
A) A golden fruit tree — its fruits are rare and valuable. Selling them will bring in a fortune.
B) A spikerose vine — beautiful but dangerous. A perfect blend of elegance and defense.
C) A healing herb bed — they take patience to grow, but they help people and animals alike.
D) A fire pepper bush — spicy, aggressive, and fast-growing. Great for a quick meal or a prank.
E) "Nothing, honestly. I’d just clear it and use it for something more useful than growing weeds."
Those were the multiple choices that would affect Fran’s impression of the player.
The correct answer was C, a healing herb bed.
The neutral answers were A, B, and D. Players who picked these answers could have a friendly relationship with Fran.
Choosing E would give Fran a bad impression of the protagonist and the Farmville Route would henceforth be permanently sealed off.
Just as Alex was about to give the ideal answer, he suddenly paused and bit his lip.
’No, not .’ Alex involuntarily clenched his fist because this wasn’t what he wanted.
He was incredibly fond of Fran. If someone were to ask him whether he wanted to unlock her romance route, the answer would be a definite yes.
But Arcana was no longer the setting of a game to Alex.
He didn’t want his relationship with Fran to be fake, successful only because he knew in advance what responses would please her the most. He craved a relationship that wasn’t dictated and limited by multiple choice questions.
Seeing his expression, Fran frowned, wondering why the simple question left the young man looking like he was fighting an internal battle.
"Are you alright?" Fran asked.
"Yes," Alex replied. "It’s just that your question was a bit sudden that I momentarily had an existential crisis."
"... Huh?" Fran blinked in confusion.
"No, please don’t mind me, I’m just saying nonsense." Alex coughed lightly before finally giving his answer. "I think, if I were given a plot of land, I’d probably plant a random seed that I got by chance.
"Maybe the seed would give birth to something weird, stubborn, or impossible to grow in this environment. Maybe, deep inside, I want to know if something unexpected could take root. Something that is not determined by choices or any power that would force an outcome that is already set in stone."
As Alex answered this question, he gazed at Fran in a sincere and gentle manner. He didn’t want to repeat the answer that he had already said countless times in the past just to make her part of his world.
This time, he would not choose a predetermined answer.
He would give her a sincere answer even if it might sour her impression of him.
A long silence passed before Fran smiled faintly.
"... I wasn’t expecting that kind of answer," Fran admitted before glancing at the animals, who had started to eat the food inside the bamboo steamers that Dim Dim had summoned.
"I know," Alex replied.
"You’re weird, Alex." Fran smirked. "But, not in a bad way."
After saying those words, the cute Dwarf left the young man to see what kind of food Dim Dim was giving the monsters, who seemed to be very happy with its taste.
Alex pressed his hand over his chest, which was still beating hard.
He knew that he had done the right thing by giving a different answer from the choices that were available in the game.
Whether his answer had planted a seed in Fran’s heart or not, it didn’t really matter.
’We can start as friends,’ Alex thought. ’That is how it should be.’
So, with a clear conscience, Alex watched as Dim Dim offered Fran a bamboo steamer containing custard buns, which would soon become her favorite snack.