I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City

37 – The Long-Awaited Progress -3-

Clara assured.

No one would find her personal story interesting.

So she hesitated to even make it a topic of conversation.

But Rohan listened to her situation more seriously than a government official.

For the first time in her life, Clara spoke more than she thought, as if she were acting spoiled.

Strangely, when talking with Rohan, her mouth opened uncontrollably.

“Hmm.”

Rohan listened and fell into deep contemplation.

What could he be thinking?

“.”

Clara sipped her drink through a straw, glancing at Rohan from time to time.

As she savored the sweetness with curiosity, her name was called.

“Clara.”

“Yes Ah! Uh, yes?”

“If it’s uncomfortable to speak casually, you don’t have to force it. You can mix it up as it comes out naturally.”

This didn’t seem to be the main point, but Rohan lightly addressed it.

Nod, nod.

Clara, curious about what Rohan, who had been pondering for a long time, would say, nodded while shaking her twin-tails like a tail.

Only then did Rohan continue speaking.

“The room the academy provided as a dormitory has hot water and isn’t cold, you know? The washing machine works well too, though it’s a bit small in capacity.”

An enviable story.

Clara quietly listened to Rohan’s voice.

“I leave early in the morning on weekdays and don’t come back until work is done. So the room is empty, right?”

“?”

“Do you want to wash there? If you’re sleepy, you can take a nap, or you can just use the washing machine and leave.”

“!!!”

Rohan spoke with a nonchalant face as if it was no big deal, but Clara froze as if struck by lightning, understanding his words.

Her eyes widened as much as they could.

“It’s a bit uncomfortable since it’s a room where a man lives, but I do clean it regularly.”

“Still…”

“The weather hasn’t fully warmed up yet, so washing with cold water and sleeping on a cold floor isn’t ideal, right?”

Rohan ended his sentence, seeking agreement with a question that wasn’t really a question.

He grabbed a bread knife to cut the muffin he had bought along with the drink.

Ssshhk.

The softly cut muffin was placed in front of Clara.

The girl quietly watched it before raising her head.

“…Rohan oppa.”

“Yes.”

“Is it okay if I ask you just one question?”

“Ask two or three if you want.”

Clara stared at Rohan with an endlessly serious expression. Her gaze seemed to pierce through him.

Her voice had slightly lowered, and she wasn’t shrinking back helplessly as usual.

There was a cold sharpness and alertness beneath her eyes.

Rohan could see it.

“…Why are you doing all this for me?”

It was a reasonable question. Unexplained kindness is indeed suspicious. It was a valid question.

In a situation that was too good to be true, doubt was justified.

How should Rohan explain it?

He crossed his arms and pondered for a moment, then chuckled.

“Looking back, it does sound strange even to me. I was too eager.”

“.”

“If I were Clara, I would have refused. Telling someone to comfortably use a house where a man lives alone is unsettling.”

Clara blinked at the candid admission.

The sharp aura that had been subtly emanating from her subsided.

“Of course, it’s not that I have any ill intentions… No, saying this makes it even stranger.”

“.”

Rohan cleared his throat and gulped down the remaining drink.

Clara swallowed nervously.

Srrk.

Rohan, who had been tapping his fingers with his arms crossed, leaned forward.

No matter how he thought about it, this seemed like the only way.

“Clara. Would it be okay if I speak without any evidence to show? I’ll be honest.”

“If, if you speak honestly.”

Rather, she welcomed it.

The girl was confident she could read the malice () in humans.

So, when she indicated it was okay, Rohan reached out.

He gently held one of Clara’s slender fingers.

“I want to get closer to Clara.”

“Huh!?”

“It might be a bit of an unpleasant story… but I felt uncomfortable knowing Clara was staying in such a room, so I overstepped my boundaries. I’m sorry if it was burdensome.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay… r-really…”

The girl mumbled, losing her composure at the apology.

The earnestness in Rohan’s apology made the listener feel more embarrassed, as if they were the guilty one.

The vigilance she had been holding evaporated the moment her fingers were grasped.

Now, Clara’s face was just burning hot, as if it would explode.

Her consciousness spun in the heat.

‘…’

It was a completely different feeling from when she was grabbed by the wrist and thrown down by the instructor during training at Zeno.

Back then, her body naturally moved to counterattack, but now, she couldn’t move at all, even though only one finger was being held.

It was the same in the academy city.

She couldn’t count how many times men she didn’t know tried to approach her, pretending to be friendly.

Every time, she only felt displeased and wished they wouldn’t interrupt her game.

But the situation with Rohan was different.

In conclusion, she couldn’t respond.

No matter what experience Clara tried to apply, there was no situation like this.

“Hmm, what would be a good example to give?”

Rohan lowered his head and shared his thoughts as he looked at the now quiet Clara.

“Leaving a man like me on the cold floor and Clara staying alone on the icy ground are entirely different pictures, aren’t they?”

“Hyaaa…”

“Anyway, just think about it. If you need anything, just let me know anytime. Got it?”

The girl affirmed not with a nod, but with silence.

Rohan apologized once more and decided to change the subject.

Clara’s fingers were still in Rohan’s hand.

“Since Clara told me a story today, should I tell mine too? Of course, only if Clara wants to hear it.”

Only then did the girl flinch and react.

“I, I want to hear it…”

“Thank you. I almost felt embarrassed.”

Rohan rummaged through his coat with his free hand and took out his Orion Academy student ID.

He handed it to Clara, telling her to look.

“As it says there, my homeland is Southern Zanhyang. It’s not a powerful country.”

“South? If it’s Zanhyang in the south…?”

The girl’s eyes filled with shock as she confirmed the letters on the student ID.

She had received education about foreign countries back in Zeno, so she knew how the South had perished.

She also knew that there were only a few survivors among the many citizens.

The materials she had seen in photos were horrifying.

“On the family register, I’m alone. Well, not just on the register, but in reality too.”

“I, I’m the same…”

“There are many similarities between Clara and me.”

“Heh…”

Being an orphan with no place to cling to is nothing to laugh about.

But she laughed.

It was the first time this grim situation had brought a smile to Clara’s face.

“Hmm, what else should I talk about?”

“I… like any story…”

“It might not be interesting, though?”

Rohan laughed as he spoke a line he had heard somewhere before.

Clara realized why Rohan had given that answer when she had said those words.

So, she gathered her courage and spoke.

“Oh, oppa! It’s not about fun, it’s about getting to know each other…”

“That’s right. Clara is right.”

The sweet atmosphere between the two seemed to allow no one else to approach.

But there was someone who had to intrude on this conversation.

“Excuse me. We’re closing the hall now…”

A truly apologetic business smile.

The beastman part-timer, whose ears drooped from fatigue, said so, and Rohan and Clara had no choice but to tidy up their seats.

*

“Sigh…”

Returning to the small room, Clara exhaled a hot breath that was far from the cold space.

The heat that had risen in her body still hadn’t completely subsided.

In her arms was a macaron that Rohan had brought from somewhere and handed over as a gift.

Clara hugged it and lay down on the bed.

‘…’

She wondered what kind of conversation they would have had if they had talked more.

It felt like the touch Rohan had left on her fingers was still there.

I want to get closer to you, Clara.

‘What does that mean?’

The girl kept replaying the ticklish moment while looking at the ceiling.

It’s different from leaving a guy like me on the cold floor and Clara staying alone on the cold floor.

When she recalled these words, the answer came easily.

It was likely based on Rohan’s good intentions, rooted in his personality.

There wasn’t a trace of the bad feelings or ill intentions she had grown tired of encountering in life.

But.

If asked whether she liked this answer, well.

Buzz!

A small vibration sound.

Clara quickly checked her smartphone with some expectation.

[Rohan: Did you get in well?]

Unknowingly, the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile.

Clara sent a reply at lightning speed.

‘Tomorrow…’

She had to wait until tomorrow afternoon to meet Rohan again.

The girl rolled around on her narrow bed, her imagination running wild.

What kind of face should she make when they meet?

What should she say to the suggestion of using the dormitory?

“…Ah!”

A way to understand and learn more about Rohan came to mind.

Not just to grasp the situation with a dirty purpose like Zeno, but to learn about the lifestyle and traditions of the South.

Tap, tap.

Since it was once a powerful country, a search brought up a flood of information.

The girl scrolled down, reading about the characteristics of the South.

“!? “

Her finger stopped at a particular passage.

[A country that lost its past wealth and was left with only desolation, now called Zanhyang (). Solarea, which once ruled the South, was a country that practiced polygamy, like Tigrova and a few other countries…]

The girl, who had been lying on her bed reading, suddenly sat up.