Blonde hair that appeared to have been spun from threads of gold, along with pointed ears that symbolized the race of beauty.
Paradoxically, the princess who possessed those features had nothing else.
It was a pitch-black room where even the electricity barely worked.
All that occupied that space was a creaking bed that squeaked whenever she lay down, and a table piled high with firearms and their parts.
That was all.
“……”
She silently loaded the magazine and inspected her firearm.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The massive sniper rifle that had once frightened her was now the princess’s only friend and support.
I’m tired.
After finishing her preparations, she took off the goggles she had been wearing and lowered herself onto the bed.
She did not lie down.
Remaining seated, she buried her face in her hands and slowly steadied her breathing.
Recently, whenever she was alone, she often found herself frozen in moments like this.
She even felt that she could stay like this forever.
Mom… Dad…
For the princess, life in Tigrova was practically a blank in her memory.
Her last recollection of Tigrova was reading a fairy-tale book in a spacious room.
It had been a childhood spent in a luxurious room, waiting for her parents to return.
She was too young to learn anything properly and too immature to form a solid sense of self.
During that time, the elders had suddenly appeared and insisted she had to flee and pulled her away into life beyond those walls.
Unable to comprehend the situation, she ran off in a panic only to learn that her parents had been murdered by the newly crowned ruler of Tigrova, the Snow Tiger Emperor.
The story ended with how they had to escape because the Snow Tiger Emperor intended to wipe out the elf royal family.
It was a story far too cruel for a young princess to accept.
With her mind shattered, she had no chance to compose herself before being raised on the frontier as a living bullet to reclaim Tigrova.
– Your Highness. Humans and beastkin carry filthy blood that is no different from that of devils.
– Do not talk with any race other than elves. They are vile beings whose wicked mouths spew lies the moment they get the chance.
– Your Highness is the only remaining member of the royal family. You must take responsibility for us and lead us.
– How could you harbor such doubts? Have you lost your thirst for vengeance for the late king?
– No matter what happens, we will seat you on the throne. Our very existence is proof of who you are.
My head hurts.
She had been hearing those words repeatedly ever since childhood, for far too long.
In a quiet place, she could now hear them as if they were hallucinations; they often echoed even in her dreams.
“……”
Nevertheless, her resolve was stronger than anyone else’s.
Although she had experienced prolonged psychological pressure, she had still managed to preserve her mental shape.
The elders did not realize that the doubts the princess had carried from the past had never fully vanished.
I have to get back to the city somehow.
The elders were completely opposed to any outside contact, claiming that royal blood must never mingle with the lowly.
When she was caught the first time, the elders reprimanded her so severely that it left lasting trauma, but she did not give up.
She needed evidence to justify her actions.
She wanted to know exactly what had happened on the day Tigrova’s ruler changed.
She tried to look into the details of that day without the elders noticing, but publicly available information was clearly limited.
No matter how hard she searched, she could not find any definitive story about her parents.
Everywhere she looked, the information ended with the fact that Tigrova’s ruler had changed from elves to white tiger beastkin.
There must be some information somewhere….
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the door ended both her thoughts and her brief moment of rest.
The face she had buried in her hands returned to reality.
– Your Highness. Are you inside?
It was the elder’s voice.
She suppressed the suffocating sensation in her chest and answered.
“What is it?”
– Distinguished guests will be arriving soon. Please come out to greet them.
“……”
Unlike usual, she found herself strangely at a loss for words.
She had been more mentally exhausted than physically, so she did not want to move. However, the princess could not bring herself to tell the elder this.
When the not-so-brief silence continued,
the elder responded in a familiar tone.
– Distinguished guests require proper treatment. Since the late king is not here, it is only right that you go, Your Highness.
“…Alright.”
She barely managed to hold back the sigh that almost escaped her.
Rising from the bed, the princess began to arm herself lightly.
***
Rohan stepped out into the night streets and began operating his smartphone.
He wanted to make sure no sound or vibration would go off if a call or message came in.
While adjusting the settings,
He noticed that Ichinose’s profile picture had changed to a cat.
Cute.
That single change felt like a good sign of how things might happen.
He sensed a lightness in his steps.
Should I go?
After checking the bus routes on the bustling streets, he boarded a bus right before it departed.
Since rush hour had passed, there were ample seats available.
He inserted a token and sat down.
Although there were no office workers heading home, the air was heavy with the smell of alcohol, which meant that someone who had been drinking earlier was still on board.
“……”
Creak! He cracked the window slightly to let in some fresh air.
Taking in the cold, crisp breeze, Rohan organized the information in his mind.
The main story begins with Act 1 of The Broken Crown.
He reviewed the internet news and quests once more while thoroughly checking if he had overlooked anything.
Inside the rattling bus, his eyes focused as he read the text:
[A 30-year-old male content creator goes missing while filming an exploration of a restricted ruin.]
– After tracing the last phone call with an acquaintance, it is assumed that he was attacked by someone while filming, and according to the data released by the Elysium Public Safety Department, only a severed leg was found at the scene…
That was just a mistake caused by trying to shoot a sensational video and wandering into that restricted zone where those guys were.
That was the entire beginning of the incident. Nothing more, nothing less.
Abyss City gamers did not even know about the channel the thirty-something creator ran, nor did they know what he looked like.
They simply recognized this as the starting point of the main quest.
The key point is…
The critical fact was that the perpetrators had already fled far away.
They had committed the crime purely for their own amusement. It was not related to any request.
And they had done it habitually on their way to meet their clients, the elder elves.
Rohan’s gaze turned to the quest window.
He then dismissed it and lifted his head to stare at the bus’s ceiling.
Those bastards.
The old elves who tried to reclaim their glory by using the princess as a weapon knew they only had one chance, and they also knew what failure would mean.
That is why they acted extremely passively and shady.
“……”
The group Rohan intended to face in order to remove those old men’s fangs was similar yet different from before.
Their goal included confirming Noah Frozenheart’s range of activity and the routes she normally traveled, but that wasn’t the only reason they were hired.
They were also a group formed to check whether the Snow Tiger Emperor might have planted any bodyguards to protect his daughter.
It wasn’t as if they planned on endangering Noah with brute force.
Even so, they were far more expensive and specialized than the Yard-Pound Brothers. They had just the right skills and techniques for dirty work like thievery or surveillance.
Because of that, Rohan was replaying the day Abyss City opened in his mind.
He recalled as many details as possible about the appealing main story he had experienced that day.
Originally, if you wanted to find the mastermind from the beginning…
The first step of the quest was to gather information discreetly among the citizens, who were abuzz with the grim news, to determine where the disappearance had taken place.
Next, he would visit several locations presumed to be the accident areas and discover the security officers controlling access. That was the second step.
The third step was to avoid the line of sight of the Elysium Public Safety Department officers in order to infiltrate the interior and collect evidence.
Once that process ended, a roughly indicated circular location would appear in the corner of the map.
Then there would be another round of exploration.
If I followed the game exactly, I’d be slower than the real security officers. Actually, it’s impossible to avoid their line of sight like in the game.
The Elysium Public Safety Department wasn’t an incompetent law enforcement group.
Because they protected the Academy City, it was mentioned multiple times how many skilled individuals they had and how incredibly hard it was to become a security officer.
That setting, which hadn’t really been felt in Abyss City, would now shine since it had become reality.
Therefore, Rohan intended to skip the intermediate steps again and head straight for the outcome.
He didn’t know what kind of changes this shortcut might bring about in reality, but in his current situation, he had no clearer answer than this.
— The next stop is….
Beep!
Rohan pressed the bell to get off the bus.
··
··
Although it was an Academy City, there was a place that was still difficult to call an Academy City “just yet”.
Rohan relied on his memory as he moved under a dark bridge.
He arrived at an industrial complex where development had been suspended for a long time due to a corporate bankruptcy.
He walked as quietly as possible.
He insisted on moving only in the darkness to avoid the half-dead streetlights flickering on and off.
They’re here.
Once he went deeper in, he saw three vehicles with their engines running. One dump truck carrying a container and two sedans.
Two vehicles had their engines running but empty driver’s seats, while the only occupied one was a sedan in front.
Inside that sedan’s driver’s seat, there was a guy snickering at something on his smartphone.
Because of that, light was spilling into the interior.
His body, except for his face, was covered in tattoos as if to imply his affiliation.
Maybe the others went to look around.
From every angle Rohan looked, the guy seemed to be alone. No one was lying down.
Although there was no other passenger, he did see a firearm on the seat right next to him.
“…….”
Rohan closed his eyes and listened carefully for confirmation.
Aside from the dull roar of the engine, he heard the clank of metal and giggling laughter in the distance.
Good. Now’s the time.
They were fairly far away, so if he was going to act, it had to be now.
Rohan moved to find the ideal position.
As quickly as possible.
This wasn’t the place where they planned to meet the elves.
But just as a sparrow can’t fly past a grain mill, a thief would be a thief.
They had come because they’d heard there was an abandoned industrial complex, hoping to find something of value and also to dispose of some bodies they had piled up.
Swish, swish.
Rohan moved slowly while suppressing any noise and crouched down. He grabbed a handful of weeds from the ground.
He lightly wet them in a puddle of muddy water.
The harsh night wind blew at just the right moment.
Chop!
Part of the grass Rohan released stuck to the car’s side mirror like a strand of hair.
It wouldn’t interfere with driving, but it waved around in a distracting way.
Perhaps the driver noticed.
Zzzz— The driver’s side window rolled down.
“Shit… so filthy.”
Along with the curse, the driver reached out to remove the grass stuck to the side mirror.
Holding a knife in one hand, Rohan lunged forward and forcefully pressed the driver’s arm downward.
Crunch!
The guy’s arm bent in a direction it was never meant to bend.
He saw the driver’s eyes widen in shock. The man’s mouth and abdomen convulsed as he prepared to scream.
“Shhh.”
Rohan shoved a sock into the man’s gaping mouth. Then he struck like lightning with the knife, plunging it deep into the man’s neck.
“Mm, mmph—!!!”
He then gave the blade a violent twist once it was embedded.
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