Sion could sense that something was chaotic outside.
Although the door was tightly shut, and the sounds of the abandoned building itself along with the seeping wind made it hard to hear clearly, she could tell that something was wrong.
Did someone come again?
The frequency of visitors whom they referred to as guests was unusually high.
…It’s not something I should be involved in.
Sion who had reached the worst physical condition pulled the blanket over her head.
Unable to fall into a deep sleep due to the gnawing hunger in her stomach and the piercing cold on her skin, she drifted in and out of shallow slumber, unsure how much time had passed.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Someone pounded on the door as if assaulting it and shouted.
– Princess! I’m coming in!
A familiar voice. Sion opened her eyes at the desperate voice coming from outside.
“Huh…?”
Clank! Clank!
The closed door rattled. It was the sound of the lock being undone.
In her half-asleep state, Sion put on the outer garment hanging on the chair. She sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for the door to open.
Did the elders finally decide to give me answers?
So, it was a battle of endurance after all. If she just lay down and held out, she would win.
She had thought it would take much longer, but the conclusion had come faster than expected. In any case, it was a welcome development.
After fumbling with trembling hands to unlock the door completely.
Clang! The elder opened the door and entered with a frantic expression on his face.
“Princess! Please get dressed and come out quickly!”
“…What?”
“It’s urgent! You need to prepare right away!”
Sion began to suspect that this wasn’t the moment she had been waiting for.
She asked the elder, who was rushing as if he were about to bite his nails off.
“Are you finally going to answer my questions?”
“That’s…!”
Her voice that was cracked from lack of water posed the question.
The elder’s expression showed that he had made a mistake, and Sion’s suspicion turned into certainty.
“Whatever it is, if it’s not that, I won’t go.”
“Princess!”
“Get out of my room. I refuse one-sided negotiations.”
The elder was at a loss. The task given by the Chief Elder was proving difficult.
He felt like tearing his hair out from the sudden stress, almost ready to jump around.
How am I supposed to persuade her…?
It was a basic principle among the elders not to mention the Reverse Reverence Society or anything related to it to the princess.
If she had been decided as a discarded card, it wouldn’t matter, but there was still a possibility of an unexpected outcome, so they couldn’t explain the situation.
With the Chief Elder, the decision-maker, absent, it was inevitable that the elder’s words would fail him.
“How long are you going to stand there? Get out of my room.”
At Sion’s cold response, the elder clenched his teeth.
After taking several deep breaths, he threw out a bait mixed with some truth.
“…The guests who have arrived now know everything you’ve been curious about.”
Sion’s eyebrows twitched.
A silence as long as a millennium passed between the elder and the elven girl.
“Haaah… Wait outside. I’ll get ready.”
“Princess! Please hurry as much as possible!”
“I understand, so close the door first.”
As the elder was about to leave, following Sion’s words and reaching for the doorknob,
A sudden question filled his mind, causing him to freeze in place.
Since he said he would evaluate the vessel’s qualifications, should I also bring a weapon?
The man who had come as the messenger of the Reverse Reverence Society did not forgive careless mistakes.
If there was another delay due to the same issue, it was certain that violence would be directed at him this time.
Swallowing hard in fear, the elder checked his perfectly intact gums.
With a tense expression, he spoke to Sion.
“…You must dress neatly and bring a weapon with you.”
After finishing his words, the elder closed the door, saying he would wait outside.
Sion changed her clothes and pondered.
Dress neatly and bring a weapon?
Even if she were to dress neatly, Sion only had one outfit suitable for wearing outside.
Knowing that, why would he say such a thing? Who could have come to make him act like this?
Well, it’s not my concern anyway.
She was indifferent to who the guest might be.
If the bait the elder had thrown out turned out to be false, Sion would not stay idle.
Judging by how flustered he was, the guest was clearly no ordinary person.
If the outcome wasn’t what she desired, Sion planned to turn the meeting with the guest into complete chaos.
Thud!
Sion opened the door and stepped out after she finished her preparations.
She had changed her clothes and brought along her sniper rifle and goggles. The elder knew this was the best she could do with her current attire.
“Like you said, I dressed neatly and brought a weapon.”
“I’ll guide you. Let’s hurry!”
The elder, after confirming Sion’s appearance, quickly took the lead.
Sion noticed his urgency and asked,
“Where are we going?”
“To the conference room.”
At the elder’s words, Sion furrowed her brows.
The situation was filled with questions.
The conference room?
Wasn’t that the place the elders would vehemently refuse to let her enter, even if she expressed a desire to join the meetings?
As the elder guided her there, Sion dragged her weary body along.
“Please go in quickly.”
The moment she stepped into the conference room, following the elder’s guidance, her mind went blank.
“???”
Was she hallucinating?
The scene before her eyes made no sense.
Why was that elder standing still with blood pouring from his mouth like a waterfall without receiving any treatment?
And what were those bloodstains teeth scattered on the floor?
“………”
But before she could question those things, the most important point for Sion was this:
Why were Rohan and Clara sitting there?
Is this a dream? A lucid dream?
Faced with an image she had never even imagined,
Sion’s mind resorted to escaping from reality.
“…….”
Yet, the girl knew well that this was not a dream.
A dark, unsettling imagination crept in.
Just the thought of it made a surge of sorrow rise in her chest. It felt as though tears would pour out any moment.
Rohan who saw Sion’s face twitched the corner of his mouth in delight,
But he suppressed it discreetly and glared at the elder.
“You took this long just to bring her here?”
“I’m sorry! It’s just that…”
“Go ahead, try to explain. If your excuse isn’t convincing, I’ll shove a blade into your mouth.”
“………”
At the sharp threat, the elders collectively shut their mouths.
Rohan then turned his attention to Sion who stood frozen.
And his face broke into a grimace.
While the elders stared straight ahead, showing not even a shred of interest, Sion looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
No way.
Had she misunderstood everything just from seeing the image?
Rohan who was eager to move things along as quickly as possible looked at the elders with a tone of utter disdain and spoke.
“Useless fools. I can’t trust a single thing you do. Go see for yourselves.”
He jerked his chin toward Clara.
This was what it meant to communicate without words. Clara immediately understood what she had to say to Sion.
“….…”
The girl, who had been sitting in silence, lifted herself off the chair.
Without a single word, she led Sion who was holding back tears outside.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
As the sound of their footsteps faded, Rohan rose from his seat and grabbed the sword resting against the wall.
“Well then, shall we hear your reasoning?”
He slapped the palm of his hand with the sheath—smack! smack!
The elders’ eyes wavered violently as Rohan closed the distance between them without hesitation.
“Hex-nim told you to properly raise the vessel, didn’t he? Then what the hell is this?”
“Th-That’s…”
The Sion Rohan had seen was gaunt and haggard.
She looked like she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything properly. In fact, she had seemed far healthier back when they had suffered together in the dungeon.
A burning rage bubbled up inside him.
“Pathetic bastards. You can’t even handle something this simple?”
Smack! Rohan began his assault. He attacked mercilessly with the thick sheath of his sword.
Whether bones broke or not, he didn’t care. He simply beat the elders into a state of complete incapacity.
Crack! Thud! Smack!
“Guh…!”
“Agh! M-My leg…!”
The conference room was filled with the heavy, brutal sounds of impact.
And voices clawing their way out through pain.
Aside from the chief elder, the rest were left battered and bloodied, rolling across the floor.
Not one of them dared resist Rohan as they were struck.
Pathetic.
Even if he was using the name of the Reverse Reverence Society, could things really be resolved this easily?
Rohan buried his satisfaction at having subdued the majority so effortlessly.
He gritted his teeth, channeled the anger that still seethed within him, and fixed his gaze on the Chief Elder.
“I don’t need the others. Chief Elder Levin Maxwell. You will confess the truth.”
“….…”
A flicker of distress passed through the old man’s wrinkled eyes.
He was desperately wracking his brain, but Rohan gave him no time.
“Nothing to say? Then I suppose you have no objections if I report everything to Hex-nim as it is.”
“Even though I was merely a politician who never stepped onto the battlefield… I understand that maintaining a healthy body is crucial to cultivating strength.”
After a long silence, the chief elder finally spoke.
Rohan, as if he had been waiting for this moment, was ready to tear into him.
“Oh? So you do understand, and yet she ended up looking like that? Go on, keep running your mouth.”
“However, I believe that hardship is an essential element for an intelligent being to spread its wings.”
“You’re saying you put her through that for the sake of mental growth?”
“That is correct.”
Watching the elder ramble on, Rohan suppressed a laugh.
The man was conveniently leading himself right where Rohan wanted him.
“You don’t get it. When someone falls into the abyss, only a rare few manage to rise from it.”
“Yes, you’re absolutely right. But I am confident that Testarossa’s bloodline belongs to that rare few.”
In other words, he was begging Rohan not to discard her.
Rohan tapped the blood-stained sheath of his sword on the ground and stroked his chin.
“So this was your plan, huh? Though she was hardly in a state where you could call it an intentional plan.”
“That’s… because the hardship had only just begun.”
How smoothly the words flowed from his lips.
Rohan’s eyes shifted toward the entrance of the conference room.
When will they arrive?
He was waiting for Clara and Sion to return.
Now seemed like the perfect moment to keep his promise to Sion.
“Levin Maxwell.”
“Yes, speak.”
“I find the so-called training you’ve devised utterly laughable. It’s so childish that I can’t even be angry.”
“…We will push her even harder. If you just give us a little more time—”
Thud! The sheath of Rohan’s sword struck the floor with force, cutting him off.
“I believe I said that today I would judge her potential.”
“…..…”
The chief elder fell silent, seemingly at a loss for words.
“Levin Maxwell. You were confident that she would endure mental hardship and grow stronger, weren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“Good. Since you’re so sure, I suppose I should see that so-called strength of will for myself.”
Rohan gave his order to the chief elder.
The moment Testarossa’s bloodline returned, he was to reveal the truth they had been hiding.
Though Levin Maxwell was visibly flustered,
The instant Rohan assured him he would take full responsibility, the elder nodded as if he had never been flustered at all.
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