Chapter 33: The Princess and the Academy City (2)

“Um… I have another appointment today, so it will be difficult.”

“…!”

The girl was frozen stiff like a statue.

Rohan had never seen Clara this shocked before.

Unable to speak, her lips trembled.

What should he do here?

Rohan knew.

“Instead!”

Clara’s courage had already reached its limit with the first invitation, but he knew well that he couldn’t end the conversation with just that.

So, with a joyful heart, he made a sincere offer.

After all, this opportunity was precious to Rohan as well.

“How about tomorrow? I’ll even buy you a drink. Or any other day you’re free is fine too.”

“B-But you must be pretty busy, so there’s no need to trouble yourself for someone like me…”

“Someone like you? You shouldn’t underestimate yourself like that.”

Rohan’s intuition told him that Clara’s mind was probably filled with nothing but apologies.

And since he’d told her to stop apologizing, she was probably at a loss for words.

Hence, Rohan spoke again and took action.

“Here, take this.”

“…?”

Would it be appropriate to carelessly grab the hand and lead such a delicate girl?

Rohan offered his apron like a rein, and Clara, with a puzzled look, quietly grabbed onto it.

“Let’s go.”

“W-Where to?”

Walking backward while maintaining eye contact with the timid Clara, Rohan led her to the table next to the counter and sat her down.

He then opened the snacks the manager had left for him, brewed some warm tea and placed it in front of Clara.

The girl glanced back and forth between the refreshments and Rohan; her expression saying that she couldn’t understand the situation at all.

“…Um, what is this?”

“This is too much for me to eat all by myself, right? So, I’d like some help.”

Rohan said, offering a snack with a straight face.

Clara hesitantly accepted the snack and expressed her gratitude.

Watching the girl nibbling on the snack like a hamster, he then resumed their interrupted conversation.

“I’m sorry. I’m really someone who doesn’t usually have plans, but they just happened to get messed up today.”

“Oh, no! It’s my fault for speaking without thinking…”

“How about tomorrow? Are you busy?”

Clara shook her head. She wasn’t busy.

Her short twin tails and the ribbon on her clothes swayed along with her head together.

“Then I’ll buy you something delicious tomorrow, so can you please help me with the Weekly Boss?”

Rohan held out his pinky finger as a promise.

Clara hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head and linked her pinky with his.

As always, the Princess told the Elders she was heading out to train.

After leaving her tracking device in the Ruin, she stepped into Academy City Elysium.

Outwardly, it was a transgression, but inwardly, it was a struggle to escape the deep-seated doubts in her heart.

Click!

Arriving at the meeting place in District 2, the Princess removed her goggles and placed them in their case.

She lowered the mask that covered her face up to her eyes.

She knew she had to blend in by dressing as naturally as possible.

….

As she looked up at the street, the brilliant signs and lights filled her vision.

The girl was genuinely impressed by the prosperity of the Academy City after sunset.

Two hours…

For the Princess, who had lived in the infrastructure-less Ruin, Academy City was nothing short of a fascinating and intriguing entity.

Even the two hours she had while waiting for the meeting wouldn’t be enough.

That much time would just fly while looking around on her own.

Step. Step. Step.

She walked along the street, following the pedestrians.

How could she describe this current state of excitement and worry mixed together?

“…”

The girl slowed her pace.

A small sense of wariness sprouted within her.

Is something lacking?

The Princess could feel the gazes on her with each step she took.

Remembering that the same thing had happened last time, she thought she dressed up as naturally as possible, but for some reason, she was still attracting attention.

I don’t feel any hostility mixed in.

Still, it bothered her.

Wasn’t it a sign that she was lacking naturalness in some unexpected area, creating disharmony?

…I should ask him if there’s anything awkward about my appearance when we meet.

The Princess naturally headed towards the shopping mall.

Since she had known about the monetary system since childhood, she always carried a few coins for emergencies.

And sometimes, while killing Monsters and wandering through abandoned houses in the uninhabitable zones, she would find dust-covered coins.

She got on the escalator in the shopping mall and looked around each floor.

The Princess got off on a lively floor and looked around.

A lot of them are wearing similar clothes.

She remembered hearing that this was the uniform of the educational institution called the Academy and deduced they were probably gathered here because this floor had many stores selling school and office supplies.

And so, after wandering around for a while,

“!”

The Princess’ sharp eyes spotted a familiar blue sign.

The Princess quickened her pace.

The corners of her mouth twitched, incongruous with her cold expression.

…I didn’t expect to see this store in District 2 as well.

The store was of the same brand from where she had purchased the notepad and pen decorated with a chubby dragon and a naive shark character when she had secretly snuck into Academy City before.

As the Princess walked towards it, the automatic doors slid open.

A bubbly bell chimed, and the staff turned their attention towards her.

“Welcome! Welcome to Droplet Friends!”

The staff’s bright greeting calmed the Princess’ mind a little.

The Princess bowed her head politely in response to the greeting and stepped inside.

Most of the customers were women or children.

The Princess blended in among them easily and looked around at the merchandise.

Woolly wearing a suit and a fedora, how interesting.

Taking in the characters dressed in various types of clothes, the Princess moved sideways, one section at a time.

After passing the cute items, large characters greeted her.

Dolls?

Frankly, she was tempted.

She really, really wanted one. She wanted one, but it would be a problem to take it back.

If a doll like this were to suddenly appear in her dark room, its presence would be too conspicuous, so no matter how much she wanted it, it was impossible.

Well, it can’t be helped…

It was truly a shame but she had to be content with just looking.

Unable to leave, the Princess poked the soft doll with her finger.

After spending some time soothing her regret,

A voice reached the Princess’ ears, making them perk up.

“102 Coins and 28 Tokens, your payment is complete.”

“Please deliver everything to this address.”

“Understood! Thank you as always!”

What could one buy here to spend that much money?

The Princess’ gaze naturally turned towards the checkout counter.

…Blind?

It was a graceful girl with her eyes closed.

The sword she held like a cane was both fitting and incongruous.

The girl took the card after the payment and turned to leave.

Having caught a glimpse of the girl’s capabilities, the Princess held her breath.

Strong.

As if sensing the Princess’ gaze, the girl turned her head.

Seeing the Princess standing there, frozen stiffly, the girl with closed eyes offered a gentle smile and a nod before disappearing.

“…”

The Princess, who had inadvertently returned the nod, realized that there wasn’t much time left before her meeting.

She hurried with her shopping.

“That will be 1 Coin and 10 Tokens.”

“Here…”

Clink, clink.

After purchasing a new notepad, pen, and some stickers, the Princess then left the store.

··

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─ I know where it is. I’ll head over immediately.

After receiving the man’s reply, the Princess ended the call and stood in front of the payphone and waited quietly.

There were few pedestrians, so she didn’t attract much attention, which put her at ease.

Thud.

Deliberately loud footsteps.

The Princess’ gaze shifted, and she met the person she was waiting for.

“I’m here.”

The Princess didn’t think she was on friendly terms with this man.

She still couldn’t tell if he was friend or foe.

“Why are you dressed like that?”

If the purpose was disguise, there were less conspicuous outfits available.

Wearing the Academy Uniform, which seemed to garner considerable respect within the Academy City, must have had a purpose.

That’s what the Princess thought.

“I thought I would keep you waiting if I returned to the Dormitory, so I came straight after my part-time job.”

“So you’re also infiltrating the Academy?”

Rohan just smiled at the Princess’ question without providing any further explanation.

“Let’s move for now. There’s a place where we can talk…”

“Wait, there’s something we need to address first.”

“Yes?”

The Princess showed Rohan her outfit.

“Is something wrong with my attire?”

“Not particularly.”

“Hmm…”

She wasn’t carrying her large Sniper Rifle, and her goggles were hidden.

The zipper of her outer garment was pulled all the way up to conceal the magazine inside.

And considering the evening weather, it wasn’t a particularly strange outfit.

“Did a Peacekeeper stop you for a random inspection?”

“No. It’s just that I’m attracting a lot of stares. If I don’t address this issue, I might actually get stopped.”

“Aha.”

Rohan nodded slightly as if he understood.

“Do you know the reason?”

“You don’t need to worry too much about it. It’s just a simple problem.”

“Simple?”

The Princess grew even more curious.

It was dangerous not to recognize a simple problem.

“Answer me. What’s the problem?”

To the Princess, who glared at him with narrowed eyes, Rohan replied nonchalantly,

“It’s because you’re pretty.”

“W-What…?”

“It is your appearance itself that is attracting attention, is what I’m saying.”

Rohan stated the obvious as if asking why she even bothered to ask, and

He started walking ahead, urging her to follow.