Chapter 53: The Stormy Lunchtime Part 2

Released:

“Who are you?”

When Sion asked this with a chilly pressure, Clara pursed her lips.

It was difficult to decide how to answer such a simple question.

“I-I’m Rohan oppa’s younger sister…!”

“His real sister?”

“That… I’m not…”

She wanted to use a more powerful word to describe her relationship with Rohan, but this was all Clara could manage at the moment.

“Unfortunate, but just knowing Rohan’s name doesn’t give you any credibility. You might’ve just picked up on it when I first mentioned him.”

“Auuu…”

“Let’s set aside your attire. If your relationship with Rohan is legitimate, why were you hiding? A person who isn’t confident about it can’t be trusted.”

Faced with the elf woman’s barrage of questions, Clara couldn’t easily counter.

Of course, many refutations popped into the girl’s head. Later, when she lay down to sleep at night, she’d probably kick her blankets in frustration, wishing she’d spoken up then and there!

But to Clara, someone this aggressive was still difficult to handle.

It would almost be easier to settle this with a fistfight.

“I-I can prove it by showing you our messages…”

“Hmm.”

Clara casually showed her phone screen, which Sion glanced at.

It was full of emojis and a complicated mess.

Having never used a smartphone, Sion merely saw it as something chaotic.

“I sent him a message a bit earlier… He’ll be here soon! And he mentioned there might be an elf guest…”

“Very well. Assuming your relationship with Rohan is as you say… I’ll ask again. Why were you hiding?”

“Th-That’s… just out of habit…”

She had been cuddling Rohan’s blanket in her underwear and sniffing it.

It was a reflex of her to spring into action when caught doing something so embarrassing.

Unable to explain this out loud, Clara simply blushed and lowered her gaze.

Sion felt an unsettling hunch that the girl was hiding something crucial and sharpened her gaze.

“You’re leaving out the most important detail.”

“……!”

Startled, Clara jerked her head up.

From Sion’s point of view, it was just a guess thrown out of intuition, but Clara’s reaction only heightened her wariness.

“Negotiations are off. There’s nothing trustworthy here, so I’ll restrain you first.”

“Huh!? But Oppa will be here if we just wait…”

“That might happen. Or maybe the one who shows up isn’t Rohan, but your reinforcements.”

“……”

“Don’t resist. I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt too much.”

All she needed was some cloth or zip ties to bind the girl’s wrists or fingers lightly, making it easier to monitor any hostile moves.

They weren’t items that could completely suppress someone with magic, but it was the best she could do without proper restraints.

“Stay still.”

When Sion finished speaking, she holstered the handgun she’d been holding.

She had drawn it unconsciously, but she also knew better than to fire a gun in the academy dormitory.

Besides,

Without a sniper rifle, any other weapon in Sion’s possession was more or less the same in her eyes.

Step. Step. Step.

As Sion closed the distance, Clara suddenly vanished from sight before reappearing silently on the opposite side.

Impressed by the girl’s footwork and speed, Sion quietly marveled to herself.

Still, in this situation, it was crucial not to show her inner thoughts.

“I’d rather you didn’t resist.”

“No way…!”

At some point, the girl’s hands now held a butterfly knife and a pistol fitted with a silencer.

Sion glanced at them calmly and took a good look at her opponent’s weapons.

She’s got quite a nice pistol.

It was the same model that Sion also owned. Interesting.

Besides, wielding a butterfly knife and a handgun simultaneously required no small degree of skill and dexterity.

Sion felt a spark of curiosity and once again took a step forward.

When she saw Sion try to close the gap, Clara raised her voice desperately.

“If… If you come any closer, I’ll s-subdue you!”

“You plan to bury bullets in my limbs under the name of ‘subduing’?”

Startled by Sion’s words, Clara looked down at the weapons in her hands.

In reality, Clara was no different from Sion; she had drawn her handgun on reflex.

“I don’t want to make a mess of Oppa’s room…”

With her slender fingers, swish! Clara folded the butterfly knife away.

She didn’t stop there; she hid the handgun as well.

For a moment, Sion wondered if the now-unarmed girl intended to fight hand-to-hand.

Sliiide.

But contrary to Sion’s expectations, Clara pulled out something else.

A jet-black object that contrasted with her fair hands.

An extra silencer? No. That’s…!

When she saw the flow of magical power moving through the item in Clara’s hand, Sion realized it at once.

Neither that knife she had handled so deftly nor the concealed handgun was her real weapon.

This new object was the girl’s true ace.

Bzzzt––!!!

Sion moved her own magical power to create power to counter that weapon.

Thin electric currents jumped out from her body in complex patterns.

“”…….””

At the moment Clara resolved not to retreat any further,

Tension reached its peak, forcing both sides into a standoff filled with aggressive movements.

Bzzzt––! Bzzzt––!

The vibrating sound shattered the tense silence.

Clara glanced at her phone screen and promptly put away the item she had taken out.

“It’s a call from Oppa…!”

The girl’s face lit up with excitement. The fierce intensity from just moments ago had completely disappeared and was replaced by a cheerful demeanor.

Her bright expression was so carefree that it seemed impossible to believe she had been preparing for battle just seconds before.

Thanks to that, Sion suddenly felt all her tension drain away.

If this was an act, she thought, it was only natural to let herself be fooled.

“…Put it on speaker so I can hear, too.”

···

···

Rohan opened the door to the academy dormitory.

Only after confirming that neither Clara nor Sion had suffered any injuries did he bend over and start gasping for breath.

“Phew…! Hah…!”

How long had it been since he’d run this hard without pacing himself?

His lungs protested furiously as if asking him if he’d lost his mind.

“O-Oh! Oppa! Here, have some water!”

Clara quickly filled her cup with water and handed it to Rohan.

Rohan accepted it gratefully and gulped down the cold water in large swallows.

Sion, meanwhile, silently observed the two of them for a moment before stepping closer to Clara and bowing her head.

“I apologize for not trusting you from the start. I think I overreacted.”

“No, it’s fine! I think it couldn’t be helped, given how messy the situation was…”

“I should’ve thought to call Rohan from the beginning.”

“…I-Is that so?.”

With the blood rushing to her head earlier, even such a simple solution hadn’t come to mind.

The tension must have played a significant role in hardening their thoughts.

“I’m sorry for pressuring you so recklessly and trying to subdue you. I have no excuse.”

“N-No, really, it’s fine…!”

And so, the two socially awkward girls, each in their own way, continued their exchange.

While Sion repeatedly apologized and Clara kept insisting it was fine while backing off,

Rohan finally caught his breath and straightened his back.

“Phew…! Now I feel alive again.”

At the same time, both girls’ gazes shifted toward Rohan,

And Sion, as if waiting for the moment, raised a question.

“Rohan. Why didn’t I hear about such an important piece of information?”

From her gaze, it was clear she was referring to Clara.

Rohan didn’t feel particularly guilty, as he had his reasons to explain.

“I tried to tell you during our call yesterday. But the call suddenly got disconnected.”

“Ah.”

Sion recalled that the call had indeed cut off before she could hear the end of something.

She hadn’t realized that what she missed would turn out to be such critical information.

“I was frustrated and waited, too. But since you didn’t call back, I told Clara about it…”

And yet, things had turned out this way.

Sion accepted the situation without objection.

“I’m sorry. My hasty actions caused this mess.”

“No, I should be the one apologizing. I should’ve told you sooner… As long as you’ve worked things out between yourselves, don’t apologize to me.”

Rohan appreciated Sion’s willingness to take responsibility and apologize without hesitation.

Despite her pride and sense of honor regarding her lineage, she understood that acknowledging mistakes and reflecting on them didn’t diminish that pride.

Rohan approached Clara, who was nervously standing nearby with her lips tightly shut.

He looked into her eyes and asked,

“You’re okay, right? Neither of you got hurt?”

“Mhmm…!”

“For now, that’s the case.”

That was enough for Rohan.

Even if it had been during class, he would have dashed out as soon as he saw the message.

He felt incredibly fortunate that this incident happened during lunchtime instead.

“Have either of you eaten lunch? Aren’t you hungry?”

“…….”

Their silence was an unspoken affirmation.

Looking back and forth between the two, Rohan smiled faintly.

“Then let’s eat together. I haven’t eaten yet, either.”

Saying he would quickly wash up because of the sweat, Rohan headed to the restroom.

And so, Clara and Sion were left alone once again.

Sion turned her gaze toward Clara and asked calmly,

“Are you Rohan’s lover? If I interrupted your time together, I apologize.”

“Huh…?!”

Clara’s eyes widened in surprise.

For the first time, Sion’s lips curved into a faint smile at Clara’s reaction.

“You seemed closer than just siblings, so I thought I’d ask. Was I mistaken?”

“W-Well…. we’re not lovers or anything…”

Sion’s expression shifted as if she hadn’t expected that answer.

Clara who was pleased by Sion’s unexpected reaction lightly swayed her twin ponytails and reevaluated her impression of the elf in front of her.

M-Maybe she’s actually… a good person!

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