I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City

34 – The Princess and the Academy City -4-

The princess, with her arms crossed, twitched her fingers as if feeling empty.

Despite the tense atmosphere, the lack of weapons made it awkward.

Tell me everything you know.

I am still investigating some parts. So let’s fill in the blanks from the beginning.

The beginning?

Yes. Let’s go through the front of the memory in detail. I will fill in the parts I can.

…

Rohan started rustling as he unwrapped a hamburger.

He handed one of the two hamburgers he bought before coming to the princess, but she shook her head, refusing it.

It was wise not to eat what others handed over in such a situation.

“Princess Testarossa. This is not a difficult problem.”

“?!”

“Just trace back your memories and identify the suspicious parts. From the day the ruler of Tigrova changed.”

A title Rohan had never used before.

The princess’s eyes filled with astonishment at hearing it from someone else’s mouth.

“…Did you dig that deep into me? I’m impressed. It actually makes you more trustworthy.”

“If it displeases you, I can change the title. If you give me an alias, I’ll follow it.”

“No need. It’s an empty name anyway. There’s no reason to demand courtesy.”

“Is that so.”

“No need to force formal language either. Call me whatever you like.”

With a single word of permission.

Rohan eagerly discarded the honorifics.

“Testarossa is long… Then how about Sion?”

Sion Testarossa.

How long has it been since someone called her by her real name, not ‘Princess’?

That single word was like a flame emerging in the darkness before her eyes, and the princess couldn’t suppress a strange sense of elation, letting out a hollow laugh.

“Unbelievable. My name was sold so easily.”

“No one around me knows it except me. It’s exclusive information that only I have, so don’t worry.”

“Have you ever thought that saying that might put you in danger?”

Rohan barely managed to hold back his laughter at Sion’s not-quite-threat.

To think that someone with a nature incapable of persecuting the innocent would say such a thing.

To the old, decrepit elders, he might be a useful tool, but to Rohan, he seemed only fresh and naive.

“Since you’ve proven your ability to gather information, I don’t think you’ll die.”

At Rohan’s words, Zion shrugged his shoulders, indicating he didn’t know.

“I wish you’d at least give me a name to call you by. Even an alias would do.”

“Rohan.”

Zion muttered the name Rohan a few times before nodding.

“Alright. Let’s recall the day the ruler of Tigrova changed.”

“Okay.”

Rohan listened intently while chewing on a french fry.

“Honestly, there’s not much to remember. I was just a snot-nosed kid back then, knowing nothing. I was in my room when I heard the bad news about my parents from the elders and ran away at the same time.”

It was from that moment that Seolho Daejae, Noah Frozenheart’s father, became the new ruler of Tigrova.

Rohan, showing that he was listening, made Zion chew over the important fact.

“You mean you didn’t see your parents with your own eyes? You only heard it from the elders.”

“…That’s right.”

That part must be the most unsettling for him as well.

Rohan felt a primary satisfaction in having reminded him of that.

“First, let’s correct the most important fact.”

“I’m listening. Speak.”

A brief pause.

Rohan, satisfied with Zion’s concentration, began to speak.

“First of all, the Great Tiger Emperor has never killed the Testarossa royalty.”

“.”

“But it’s true that he fought and won. Tigrova is a country where personal martial strength is the highest authority.”

The Great Tiger Emperor became the ruler of Tigrova by demonstrating overwhelming power.

However, he was not needlessly cruel and had a thick network of supporters, so he did not kill Zion’s parents and sent them back.

Regarding his subsequent actions, the Great Tiger Emperor is different from the impression Zion has in his mind.

He accepted a few elves residing in the coniferous forest as members and tried to place the Testarossa bloodline in key positions in Tigrova.

“Let’s stop here for now.”

Rohan’s explanation ended.

Zion’s expression contained an indescribable unease.

Bright red blood flowed from his lips, which he bit hard to suppress his emotions.

“Even if I concede a hundred times and assume what I just heard is true. Then my parents.”

The girl’s question about who harmed her parents was left unfinished.

Because there were people who flashed through Zion’s mind, assuming Rohan’s words were true.

The elders and Rohan.

It was clear that one of them was lying to him.

“Shall we take steps to make it easier to find the answer?”

“.”

“What do you think the elders want?”

The girl’s mind was already a mess.

The air was oppressively heavy.

“Answer me. You know what the elders want from Zion, don’t you?”

Rohan pressed in a low voice.

Zion replied in a small voice.

“…To retrieve Tigrova from the Great Sage.”

The fact that he confessed so easily without any doubt meant he was very confused.

Rohan felt sorry inside as he forcibly led the conversation.

“How will you retrieve it?”

“By fighting and winning as the last descendant of Testarossa.”

“Fair and square?”

Seeing Zion nod in affirmation, Rohan stroked his chin.

‘If we add the condition of ‘someday,’ the possibility isn’t zero.’

The Great Sage would grow old, and Zion’s strength would peak and rise.

But.

When the premise was within a few years, it was an absurd plan that could only be criticized as a pipe dream.

Unless they devised a special trick like the elders.

“Then think about this one thing. What do you think the elders are doing by calling in these loose screws?”

“…”

“They can’t help with training with their abilities, so what are they doing?”

The narrow room fell silent in an instant.

Creak Rohan leaned back in his chair and waited.

He wasn’t waiting for an answer.

He just needed to give Sion some time to think.

“Sion.”

“.”

At Rohan’s call, the girl lifted her head.

Her eyes had lost their sharpness, now sticky and dull.

Her face was filled with ominous thoughts.

“What are humans and beastmen?”

“Humans and beastmen.”

Sion’s mind was in a daze.

There was an answer that came to her reflexively at the sudden question.

But she couldn’t continue.

Rohan’s gaze and the atmosphere warned her not to utter those words, with a fierce and savage intensity.

The girl forcibly awakened her mind, which had been sinking into a sticky swamp.

Princess. Humans and beastmen have filthy blood, no different from Satan’s.

Do not converse with any race other than elves. They are deceitful beings who lie at every opportunity.

These were the words she had heard endlessly from the elders during her formative years.

She had heard them so often that they echoed in her dreams and hallucinations.

Sion grimaced at the piercing headache.

“Don’t tell me what someone taught you, tell me what you saw and felt. How were the passersby on the street?”

“.”

There wasn’t any particular impression.

Neither good nor evil.

However.

The girl with closed eyes whom he encountered while buying the Waterdrop Friends merchandise.

Could he curse that girl, who greeted him first with a gentle smile, as dirty blood?

“.”

Rohan gave Sion another moment to think.

Watching was enough.

It must be hard to hear such information from the start.

He thought he had softened the information as much as possible, but it seemed it was still too harsh.

But if he didn’t break down, it was fine.

In fact, solving this first suspicion is the entirety of the ‘Broken Crown’ story.

How long had the elf girl leaned against the wall in silence?

Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!

The clock shattered the silence, announcing it was time to go.

“For now we should go back.”

Sion moved unsteadily with a weak voice.

He put on the military boots he had taken off and took out the goggles from his chest.

“I wonder if the information was helpful. I’ll keep collecting more.”

Rohan opened the window as if seeing off a guest and spoke softly as the cool breeze invaded the room.

“Sion.”

“.”

The girl, with one foot on the window frame, looked this way.

“Don’t be so shocked. You don’t have to believe my information right away.”

Sion murmured, wondering what to do after hearing everything.

Rohan added a word along with an apology.

“There will be ways to verify the facts.”

“.”

There were naturally many parts that raised doubts.

Because she had spent many years outside.

Tap.

Sion, who had been on the window frame, came back into the room.

Facing Rohan directly, the girl asked.

“Just in case… really just in case…”

“Yeah.”

“If I judge that everything Rohan said is true… what should I do?”

Sion seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown.

“Even if you’re so angry that you feel like your head is going to explode, don’t act rashly.”

“…Are you telling me to wait? Or to stay calm?”

“Both.”

“…”

Sion tightly shut her mouth.

She didn’t seem confident in either option.

“Wait.”

Rohan picked up the remaining hamburger on the desk and wrote his number on the wrapper once more.

He forcibly placed it in Sion’s hand.

“Do you remember what I said?”

“…”

At those words, a conversation immediately resurfaced in the girl’s memory.

A short chat they had when they first met in the ruins.

I’ve roughly noted the times when you can call, so feel free to call even if it’s not about work.

Whether you have a concern, or you’re feeling down and want something sweet? Even trivial matters are fine.

Sion nodded with a slightly relieved face.

Rohan cautiously bid the girl farewell once more.

“After all, we’ll meet again.”

No matter how much she thought about it, it was an incomprehensible statement from Sion’s perspective.

Nevertheless, unable to deny it, the girl remembered Rohan’s words as she left the academy city.