Chapter 146: The Last Exam of the 1st Semester Is

Rohan’s shooting lessons were unfortunately interrupted.

Ichinose, who had been melting in happiness, came to her senses and answered the phone.

She had a feeling about what it was. Still, just in case, she couldn’t ignore it.

“Noa? What’s wrong?”

─ Nose──!!! How! Could! This! Be!!!

The Beastkin girl’s voice was so loud that it echoed even though the speaker wasn’t on.

What Noa was shouting could be clearly heard even by Rohan, who was a few steps away.

“···.”

Ichinose, as if she had already anticipated it, held the phone away from her face.

Her smartphone, trying to contain the Beastkin girl’s fierce voice, thrashed like a fish in her palm.

Only after confirming that Noa had finished what she had to say and calmed down did Ichinose bring the phone back to her face.

“It’s not unusual for me to be alone sometimes. Why are you so upset?”

─ Where are you! Are you lost again? What if you run into a Monolith!

“I’m not directionally challenged! Monoliths are··· Anyway, you don’t have to worry about that, so calm down.”

After finishing her words, Ichinose turned her head to Shion to ask for permission.

She conveyed her meaning by moving her lips silently, and Ichinose focused on Shion’s reaction.

Even if Shion gave her permission, if there was even a hint of burden, she could just tell Noa she’d be back soon.

The answer came immediately.

Shion smiled without a moment’s hesitation. There truly was no sense of burden.

She was indebted to Noa Frozenheart and wanted to get closer to her.

“Miss Noa, you are also my benefactor. I would be happy to have you visit.”

“···Thank you.”

─ What? Nose? Who are you with?

“Noa. I’ll share my location with you via message, so come on over.”

Ichinose honestly told Noa her location.

Even though the three of them had secretly formed a cooperative relationship, she had no intention of ditching Noa.

After tidying up the Shooting Range and going up to the living room, they had barely exchanged a word or two of small talk.

The mansion’s doorbell rang ding-dong! and Noa’s face appeared on the camera.

Shion chuckled at the sight of Noa practically sticking her face to the camera and opened the main gate, also unlocking the entrance.

Not long after, the front door burst open! and Noa appeared in the mansion.

“Super – cute tiger, appearing!”

“You came quickly.”

Ichinose was the first to greet her.

Noa’s unique energy and vitality brightened the atmosphere and brought smiles. She was a girl with an undeniable charm.

“Of course I’m fast. But whose house is this?”

Noa twitched her round ears with a proud smile.

She wagged her tail and checked the people in the mansion.

“Rohan’s here? And those two as well?”

“Miss Noa. Welcome.”

“W-Welcome···!”

“I’m a guest too. This is Shion’s house.”

Rohan finished the greetings.

Noa apologized to Shion for suddenly visiting and approached Ichinose.

As she spread her arms to hug her, Ichinose took a step back to avoid it.

“Nose going out alone! That’s so mean!”

“I left you a note, didn’t I? I wrote it down because I didn’t want to wake you with the noise.”

“Still, how could you! We promised to have lunch together!”

“A promise? When did we?”

“We always eat together, so it’s an implicit promise!”

“What the··· Noa, you go out without saying anything sometimes too. On the other hand, I at least left a note.”

“Then I’ll leave a note too from now on!”

Ichinose smiled faintly at Noa’s struggling to come up with an answer.

She understood the reason why she was being so stubborn and trying to stick to her.

“Noa.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t worry about the Monoliths. It’s not like we can avoid them by avoiding them, right?”

“···But if we’re together, we’ll fall into a Dungeon together.”

Ichinose had heard that Noa had been mentally distressed and suffered while she and Rohan were in the Dungeon.

It was novel for Ichinose to see her acting like this, after she had always lived so confidently, without fear of anything.

In some ways, it was also cute.

“That’s too extreme of a method. Do you plan to stick to me 24/7 for the rest of our lives?”

“Yes!”

“What are you saying so cheerfully···?”

Scratch that about cute.

She felt the need to suppress it before the symptoms worsened.

“I’ll be with Nose during the break after finals too!”

“I don’t mind you coming over to my house, but Noa, you have to see your parents too.”

“Nose can come with me! Mom and Dad will miss Nose too.”

“That’s certainly something to be happy about, but…”

Ichinose trailed off, glancing at Rohan.

He was smiling as if he found the closeness between Noa and herself pleasant.

Dodging Noa’s attempt to hug her again, Ichinose suddenly expressed her curiosity.

“Rohan, have you made any plans for the break?”

“Me? I was thinking of going to the Southern Region, but I put that on hold. No real plans. Just training?”

Rohan’s casual words evoked a mix of emotions in the determined girls.

A sense of relief that he wasn’t going to the Sepia Archipelago to meet a girl named Lete.

A hint of disappointment from Ichinose that Rohan wasn’t planning to visit the Three Kingdoms Union or Tigrova.

And a shared concern that he was pushing himself too hard without a break.

“Rohan… you do know that rest is an important part of growth, right?”

“That’s why I’m resting plenty. This is resting, isn’t it?”

From Rohan’s perspective, it was the honest truth.

Just looking at these girls made him feel refreshed.

Noa, who had been listening while tapping her tail on the floor, suddenly made a suggestion.

Naturally, it united everyone.

“Let’s all go to the beach during break! It’ll be summer right after finals!”

“Roughly speaking, it will be summer. Still… if we go to the beach, we have to wear swimsuits…”

Ichinose lacked the confidence to boldly expose her skin.

She was even more conscious of it because of Rohan. Shion and Noa’s impressive figures completely crushed Ichinose’s self-esteem.

“Or how about the Tigrova Snow Mountain? We can make snowmen and build a snow fort!”

“…Noa, you’re full of ideas.”

While Ichinose was being swayed by Noa, Rohan asked the girls on either side of him,

“It’s true, just holing up and training during break might be a bit much. Shion, Clara, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“Anywhere is fine… as long as I’m with… with you, brother…”

“Same here.”

Rohan thought it was something to seriously consider, beyond just rest.

Even Rohan himself had limited experience in this world. If possible, he wanted to show everyone many things and create memories.

‘It’s still too early for me to go to the Southern Region during break.’

Because he had no memories, he’d looked up information about the geography and situation in the Southern Region.

It said that beyond the small area where survivors lived, the land was teeming with powerful Monsters, and the level of those Monsters was extraordinary.

Furthermore, criminals lived in hiding throughout the region, causing constant trouble.

If he started poking around trying to confirm the riddles and information he currently had in his head, things would definitely blow up.

So, for now, a normal trip was the right choice.

“A trip, huh…”

Whether it was the beach or the snow mountain, it was all good.

Just like Shion and Clara, Rohan believed that the location of a trip was less important than who he was with.

In any case, it was something to think about seriously after he cleanly finished the final exams.

Day by day, the weather warmed.

Looking at the pedestrians on the street, short sleeves outnumbered long sleeves in the pleasant weather.

It felt like spring was passing and summer was stealthily approaching.

At the same time, the Orion Academy Cadets were getting busy.

The final exams that marked the end of the first semester were right around the corner.

The Cadets’ focus was more on the Practical Exam than the written one.

They had heard that the written exam would proceed in the usual format. However, with the significant changes in the curriculum, the Practical Exam was completely unpredictable.

Class 1’s homeroom time.

Juyeon confirmed that the Cadets were quietly waiting for her words, then opened her mouth.

“The Orion Academy final exam Practical Exam will be──.”

“““….”””

Juyeon deliberately paused, and the Cadets held their breath, quietly waiting for the rest of the sentence.

Rohan was the same.

‘In Abyss City, the final exam was stealing bells from each other in the mountains.’

But he wasn’t sure. He had no certainty right now.

With Omega’s death on the Uninhabited Island, the original story had been twisted.

And not just slightly twisted. The Cadets being tortured by Omega, the changes in the curriculum—none of that happened in Abyss City.

So, the exam content might have changed as well. Rohan expected as much.

Satisfied with the Cadets’ concentration, Juyeon slightly raised the corners of her lips and showed them a single bell that made a ting! sound.

“Stealing bells from the Instructors.”

“…!”

Stealing bells from the Instructors, not from fellow Cadets.

Rohan’s jaw dropped at the absurd increase in difficulty.