Honestly, I was curious.

How do the protagonists manage to traverse the entire empire, seeing all the side quests and relationship events, without running out of time?

Of course, I never seriously questioned it by digging into the lore or anything like that. After all, there's no such thing as a "second playthrough" in real life. From that perspective, the protagonist's life is limited to a single playthrough, and during that single playthrough, it's impossible for them to complete every relationship quest.

As for side quests, some are hidden, and if you forget to talk to the NPC at the right time, you miss them altogether.

So, I had always just chalked it up to "game logic." Just like how in an FPS, characters don’t die from a single bullet, or how they can walk around while shrugging off gunfire because of a bulletproof vest, RPGs also use a simplified concept of time so players don’t get overwhelmed.

But what happens when you apply that logic to real life?

In an FPS, the protagonist would be some kind of superhuman, dodging bullets while shooting down enemies left and right. You can die as many times as you want in a game, but not in reality.

So what about the peculiar time logic of an RPG?

The answer is simple: you cram everything into the available time limit.

In the game, weekends like this don’t come around often. If they implemented an actual "weekend every week," the game would be too long. In the first semester, there are about three key weekends spaced out between major events, and in the second semester, two weekends appear before the main storyline picks up and the characters start adventuring outside the academy.

Each of those weekends has seven side quests: three in the morning, three in the afternoon, and one at night.

The morning is, of course, the "morning." That’s the time before lunch—roughly from 7 AM to noon. During that period, you're supposed to complete three quests.

I mean, wouldn’t it make more sense to have four in the afternoon and three in the morning? The morning hours are just too short!

And it’s not just the side quests. The "relationship events" between characters also overlap with the "morning, afternoon, and night" time frames. Side quests are separate, but relationship events take just as much time, requiring you to run errands, offer advice, train, study, or help with some task. Each event could take anywhere from several minutes to over an hour.

With all that in mind, it makes sense to get a head start on side quests as early as possible, assuming you want to complete all the relationship events too.

But still...

"Four in the morning...?"

Four in the morning!?

You were already out on the roads hunting beasts at that hour!? Are you crazy?

And there were only two of them—Leo and Claire.

Oh, right. The academy’s 24-hour carriage service, which is known for being reliable, was mentioned in the game’s lore. It runs between stations precisely on schedule without any detours or ambushes from bandits, so even the local residents use it sometimes—though they have to pay, unlike students.

I guess they run it around the clock for crazy people like Leo and Claire who want to get started before dawn. But I never expected there would actually be students taking it in the pitch-black hours before sunrise.

"Uh? Sylvia?"

Claire noticed me as soon as I arrived, right after they had defeated the target of the quest—an Elemental Dog.

Under the glow of the streetlights, I could clearly see the slightly dazed look on her face.

"...Can I ask what exactly you're doing here at this hour?"

I tried my best to sound calm, hiding the fact that I had run here after getting off the carriage.

"Uh, um..."

Did I look angry? Claire, looking a bit flustered, glanced over at Leo. Leo shrugged, just as confused as she was.

"Well," Claire started hesitantly, "Leo and I were doing our morning training—"

"…Morning training?"

"Ah, yeah."

Even though I had interrupted her, Claire didn’t seem upset. She calmly continued explaining.

"We practice every morning—mental conditioning and sword swings. It’s a routine we stick to."

"...Morning?"

I looked up at the sky.

It was starting to get brighter, sure. But it was still clearly nighttime. The sky had a slight bluish tint, but anyone could see that it was still more night than dawn.

"Yeah, and?"

Claire tilted her head, puzzled.

So, you’re telling me you woke up at 4 AM... or earlier, really, if you were already doing mental conditioning and sword swings by then. And it must have taken some time to get here, considering our only mode of transportation is the academy carriage.

I mean, you could have ridden a horse, but I doubted they had one. There was a stable at the academy, but few students had their own horses.

There were cars too, but even fewer people used them. Plus, using a car inside the capital was still limited due to conflicts with the carriage drivers.

Maybe they rode a bicycle? That could be possible, but I didn’t see any bikes parked around.

"Don’t you get tired waking up and moving around so early in the night?"

"Tired?"

Claire looked genuinely confused at my question. She glanced back at Leo.

Leo also wore a puzzled expression.

…A strange, cold feeling crept over me.

No, it wasn’t the chill of the early morning air. It was more like… an unsettling realization.

"Well... it’s about our energy," Claire said. "Keeping our bodies filled with clean energy is the first thing we learn in the Grace family. To use sword energy properly, we need to maintain a clear mind, and to do that, we can’t afford to be tired. That’s why we meditate and clear our minds of fatigue..."

Leo added, speaking as if he were holding back from switching to formal speech.

Energy? Clear mind?

What are we, in some kind of martial arts fantasy?

...

Oh. Right.

I knew this.

The setting of this world casually uses terms like "sword energy" and "presence." Claire had already demonstrated her ability to release sword energy during our duel. Sword energy in the Age of Enlightenment... what a bizarre concept.

But of course, there’s also magic and mana stones in this world! Obviously!

"......"

That being said, I didn’t realize their meditation had the actual effect of eliminating fatigue and sharpening their minds. I thought it was just self-hypnosis at best.

"So, you’re telling me," I asked, wanting to clarify one last time, "that even if you don’t get much sleep, you can meditate in the morning, get rid of your fatigue, and keep your mind sharp enough to wield sword energy properly?"

"Yeah…?" Leo answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

So, I’m the weird one here.

I’m the one who was mistaken.

It’s my fault for not expecting the main characters to actually complete all the side quests in the game world.

"Um, Sylvia?"

Wait, hold on.

A cold sweat started running down my back. It must have been my imagination, but it felt like my body temperature had dropped by a couple of degrees.

So, what about the other characters?

When Leo, the protagonist, does side quests, he can only take six party members with him, including himself. Two of them are usually support characters.

So what about the other characters? Do they also complete side quests on their own?

What if the protagonist splits tasks with the others?

"Sylvia? Are you okay? Are you feeling sick?"

Claire came closer, worried, when she saw me standing still, sweating.

"..."

I glanced at Claire for a moment, then…

Once again, I rewound time in my mind.

•  

I should get a driver’s license.

As I sat in the swaying carriage, I made a firm decision.

I wasn’t sure if there was even a system for getting a driver’s license in this world, but whatever. I needed to learn how to drive. It seemed like the best option.

Horses need constant care from people. Sure, cars need maintenance too, but they’re still easier than dealing with a living animal.

And driving would be more convenient for me than riding a horse. Plus, I’d have access to it whenever I needed, unlike now.

"..."

Even though I couldn’t hear what the coachman was saying up front, I could sense his discomfort from his posture. He was clearly not happy with this situation.

I mean, why wouldn’t he be?

Important information about students gets passed around among the academy staff. They all know I’m a princess. Naturally, he must have found it extremely uncomfortable to see me riding alone at this hour.

Not that he’d assume I was off to assassinate someone or anything like that.

"..."

But if you’re a coachman and you see a high-ranking noble with a sour expression, arms crossed, staring ahead without a word, you’d probably feel like you did something wrong.

Of course, it wasn’t his fault.

I was just frustrated.

"We’ve arrived at the eastern road of the capital."

"...Thank you."

The coachman stopped the carriage, got down, and opened the door for me as he spoke. I stepped out and thanked him.

"The next carriage won’t arrive for another 30 minutes. Will you be alright?"

"I’ll be fine."

Sensing something was off, he bowed quickly, climbed back up to his seat, and hurriedly rode away.

"..."

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my pocket watch.

The soft ticking of the watch sounded unusually loud in the stillness of the night.

"Three-thirty," I murmured quietly, looking up at the sky.

The moon shone brightly.

...Sigh.

After letting out a deep breath, I slowly started walking.

Well, fine.

Let’s just get this over with.

At least I had gone to bed early last night and managed to get five hours of sleep.

...

Maybe I should learn that meditation technique too.

•  

Elemental Dogs aren’t particularly strong beasts. Despite being called "dogs," they’re larger than wolves, and their fur color and elemental effects change depending on their attributes.

Of course, those "effects" appear as real wind, fire, ice, or earth in this world, not just visual gimmicks like in the game.

I had encountered these creatures several times already.

They’re good practice for target shooting.

The quest request was simple: "An Elemental Dog has been spotted on the road, threatening travelers. Please deal with it."

The Elemental Dog in front of me had green fur and seemed to be surrounded by wind. If I took it to Earth, I could probably sell it for a high price.

But here, it was just another common beast.

"...Sigh."

Suddenly, I felt a wave of indifference wash over me.

Was I really up this early just to kill this one thing?

And I already knew what kind of monster it was going to be.

"…Grrr."

The Elemental Dog growled, keeping its distance as if it knew how dangerous a lone human could be.

"..."

Click.

Without a word, I pulled back the bolt, loading a bullet into the chamber, and aimed at the dog.