The elders who had gathered for the meeting did not look pleased.
They had seen their carefully laid plans fall through twice now, without even knowing the reason why.
It was little wonder that their deeply lined faces had grown as furrowed as trenches.
Still, was that the only cause?
It was not just this issue that weighed on them and wore them out.
“Hmm…”
They were supposed to pool their wisdom and come up with a fundamental solution to prevent a similar failure from happening again.
Yet recently, another large problem had arisen elsewhere.
“Lately, the Princess has been asking strange questions. Do any of you have an idea why?”
“She’s been saying the same things to me as well.”
“Hmph! Who knows where she got such wild ideas…”
They assumed it was a bout of rebellion, as had happened occasionally before, and reacted in their usual way.
But the Princess’s response this time was markedly different.
Simply urging her to concentrate on training, as they had done in the past, was not enough to make her retreat quietly.
She stubbornly persisted in demanding answers; if you added a bit of exaggeration, even a leech would have been shocked and fled.
“Now that I’m this old, just facing that kind of headstrong behavior tires me out.”
“She really does poke at the most uncomfortable spots… Indeed, she carries Testarossa’s blood.”
“Hoho, that was my thought as well.”
She even insisted that, as a member of the royal family, she had the right to attend the elders’ meeting or at least receive a set of meeting minutes.
Her sudden and impossible demands, along with her refusal to back down, were a constant source of irritation.
“She said the same thing to me.”
The Princess had not forgotten the hastily concocted story they had used to gloss over the situation when she was young.
She asked how the countrymen who had supposedly settled in a safe land were doing, which country they had been sent to, and where within it they were.
She even displayed the will to meet them if possible, to offer them words of comfort.
“How are we supposed to arrange for her to meet those who returned to their Mother’s embrace for the greater cause?”
If she kept digging, it would prove even more troublesome than the previous matter.
They agreed that the Princess’s unprecedented behavior called for a strong measure of restraint.
“Chief Elder, what should we do?”
“Hmmm… If she is to become a weapon that reclaims our honor, she must cast aside all distractions. It appears she still has not learned her duty.”
The Testarossa bloodline possessed the qualities and conditions to become the bullet that could pierce Frozenheart.
Whether they liked it or not, they had to keep her with them.
But her constant deviation like this was anything but pleasant for the elders.
“For now, let us set that aside. There is a more important issue at hand.”
“Hmm… Simply brushing it aside won’t be easy…”
Tap! Tap!
The Chief Elder struck the floor with his staff and broke off the conversation.
The elders fell silent and turned their eyes to the highest seat.
“How can we address today’s main topic with so much fuss going on?”
“”””””……””””””
“Let us postpone our discussion of the Princess until the next agenda item and first deal with the most important matter.”
The Chief Elder who was wearing a flashy robe that hardly suited his surroundings pulled something out from within his clothes.
The old elf sitting at the head of the table took out a shiny black coin.
It looked as though merely touching it could bring misfortune, and on both faces were engraved images of human hands.
As soon as the elders saw it, they gasped.
“Ooooh!”
“Are those benefactors helping us again this time?”
“Aah…! I can feel how close we are now to realizing our long-held wish!”
The Chief Elder quietly watched their excited reactions.
Having once enjoyed riches and fame only to settle in this cramped place, they must have felt no small amount of frustration.
It was exactly as he had expected.
“Now that we have our answer, we must prepare to show our sincerity. Otherwise, we might end up making another unfavorable deal.”
“We still have some remaining treasures, so we can choose from among those.”
Though they had already received help from Tigrova and promised painful expenses in the future, there was no doubt about the benefactors’ skills.
They would clear the path that was currently blocked once again this time.
The elders had no doubt about that.
***
It was Saturday, a day with no Academy classes.
When Rohan finished his workout in the training room and stepped outside, he saw a message from Clara.
[Clara: The macarons you gave me are really delicious! (˶˃ᆺ˂˶)]
So she finally ate them.
The girl who had hesitated to eat them, saying they were too precious to eat, had only just tried them today.
She had sent a long message filled with her impressions and gratitude while saying this was her first time trying something like that.
The rainbow macarons he had given Clara came in a box of eight.
He did not regret it at all.
Her simply enjoying them was worth more than anything else.
Even Ichinose praised them, so I guess the taste of food bought with points is guaranteed.
After replying to Clara, Rohan packed his bag and left the training room. He was heading back to the dormitory.
As he walked, he thought back to Clara’s recent behavior.
“Hmm…”
She came up to him more comfortably now, even showing a brighter smile when they were at the bookstore.
Her messages to him were cuter and more affectionate than before, but Rohan could sense it.
He could tell that, at times, something about Clara’s behavior seemed off lately.
This is tricky.
Timid behavior was normal enough for her and something Rohan understood well.
But the subtle changes he noticed in her gestures since the day they talked at the café were baffling in a way he had never seen before.
She often trailed out her voice mid-conversation as if something came to mind, then gave up with a sigh.
She was definitely curious about something.
Well, I just have to wait.
Even though he was curious too, he should not pry too much.
That was, without a doubt, the right approach where Clara was concerned.
Still, he was happy to feel that the distance between them had shrunk considerably.
His relationship with Clara was steadily moving forward.
“……”
It was the weekend, and having finished his workout more leisurely than on weekdays, he walked through the Academy City’s main street beneath the bright morning sun.
Shops that had not been open earlier in the morning were now doing business, and there were quite a few passersby.
Rohan slowed his steps and looked around.
He was there to buy something he had recalled when giving Clara the macarons.
I should get a gift for the manager, too.
He wanted to return the favor for all the various ways the manager had taken care of him.
It would have been a lie to say he had not received help through his connection with Clara.
He said nothing too hard. Should I look for something soft?
Rohan veered off in a different direction on his way back to the dormitory.
He remembered the large buildings that were prominently displayed in Abyss City, but he did not know exactly how the shops in this area were set up.
He intended to find out during this opportunity.
And when he thought about giving a present, another person drifted into his mind. It was Jo-yeon.
Would the instructor even accept something from a student…?
It was difficult to give her anything, even if he wanted to.
Regardless of preferences, it seemed like she would refuse a present from a student while saying that it was against the rules.
He wasn’t sure about it all, so he put that thought aside for a moment.
He walked past the shopping district he had always seen in passing, then went farther in.
Rohan moved deeper inside.
Oh! There’s a place like this.
Just glancing around made him feel as though he had traveled abroad.
Rohan stopped in front of a wagashi shop that had been opened by people from the Three Nations Alliance.
He tried the thinly sliced yokan, which they offered as a sample.
It tasted pleasantly good. This sweet flavor seemed like it would go well with the hot tea the manager always drank.
“I’m thinking of giving this as a gift. Can you wrap it?”
“Oh, of course!”
The man in traditional attire nodded his head enthusiastically.
Rohan who was guided inside the shop looked around at the neatly arranged products.
Three Nations chestnut yokan. A small size is two coins, so it’s not too expensive… This should be fine.
Rohan did not have a great deal of financial leeway.
But he figured he could consider this as an expense worth saving points on.
“I’ll take one of these wrapped, please.”
“Thank you very much!”
With practiced hands, the worker quickly prepared it.
A neat paper bag soon appeared on the counter.
After paying and stepping outside,
He noticed the sunshine was too nice to just go back.
Since he was already out, he decided to continue his walk and turned down an alley.
Then he spotted a quiet park, and from beyond the bushes, he heard a familiar voice.
– Roll to the left.
– Meoow!
– Look at that form! Roll to the right.”
– Meoow!
Wondering if it could be what he thought, Rohan quickened his steps.
He checked beyond the bushes.
“Don’t jump into the road again. Okay?”
– Meoow…
As he had guessed, the voice belonged to Noah Frozenheart.
Rohan’s prediction was right, but the situation he saw was momentarily incomprehensible, leaving him at a loss for words.
“?”
In front of Noah, plump cats were tumbling around. They were apparently being disciplined.
“Your ears are better than an ordinary person’s, aren’t they? If you ignore the sounds you hear and just walk around, you might run into a car. That would be terrible, understand?”
– Meo, meooow!
When Noah growled intimidatingly, the cats flopped onto their backs, showing their bellies in surrender.
It was quite a sight.
“What are you doing…?”
Rohan, who had been watching the situation, emerged from the bushes.
Perhaps the sudden sense of another presence caused her to lose focus.
She and Rohan’s eyes met.
“Huh?”
She seemed surprised to see him and her round ears perked in surprise.
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