Ch.6060. Tomboy

“……Let’s put this down.”

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t realize.”

Princess Elenoa Luden Griffin awkwardly smiles as she releases her grip on my jacket sleeve.

Even when we’re alone, this kind of behavior isn’t particularly welcome, but especially when there are people around like now.

“Ahem.”

Particularly when King Orpheus is present, I wish she would refrain.

It could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

The reason we’ve gathered at the palace’s main gate is to see Princess Elenoa off.

With the incident resolved, she needed to return to Robern Academy, so a carriage was waiting, but…

“…Isn’t Deus a professor too? Couldn’t he come along?”

Seemingly dissatisfied, Elenoa glances between me and the king as she makes her request.

Hearing this, Orpheus scratches the back of his head and shakes it.

“He still has work to do at the royal palace.”

If I can complete the third and final trial, I’ll become the first Black Mage officially recognized by the king in the Griffin Kingdom.

I don’t know how long it will take, but even after finishing the trial, I probably won’t be able to return to the academy right away.

It would cause quite a commotion.

“Then should I just stay and go together with him? It makes sense to travel once rather than twice.”

The princess, who had been suffering from chronic fatigue due to nightmares, was showing renewed vigor, but Orpheus seemed to think it was excessive.

Yet his expression showed he didn’t want to coldly reject his sister’s request.

“The midterm exams are coming soon. Shouldn’t you be aiming for the top spot this time?”

“Ngh.”

When I interjected, Elenoa glared at me with a sulky expression, then sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“Right, I am Elenoa Luden Griffin after all.”

Her smile was brilliantly beautiful, knowing the meaning and weight of her own existence.

I nodded with satisfaction.

“A good answer.”

Elenoa headed toward the carriage with a confident smile.

I was about to finish seeing her off, but noticing the concerning looks from King Orpheus and Archmage Rockpellican, I cleared my throat and approached Elenoa again.

“Hmm?”

Elenoa opened the carriage window and tilted her head, wondering what was happening.

“I have something to tell you.”

I cleared my throat again, deliberately drawing the attention of the king and the Archmage.

At my serious tone, Elenoa’s face flushed slightly with expectation as she swallowed.

“O-okay. You can… tell me.”

Glancing nervously at her brother, Elenoa nodded as if she had made up her mind.

To her, I coldly declared:

“At Robern Academy, we are professor and student, so use formal speech. And don’t act so casually like you do now.”

“……”

“As a princess, you should know how to show proper respect.”

As I turned away, the king gave me a bewildered yet amused smile.

And from behind came an angry scream.

“You…!”

The Archmage hurriedly cast a sound-blocking spell to prevent the princess’s harsh words from escaping.

The carriage rattled as the princess tried to jump out, but at the Archmage’s gesture, the coachman urgently drove the horses forward.

“You are truly mysterious.”

King Orpheus, calmly watching the princess’s carriage depart, grumbled that I was exasperating, then quietly asked:

“How old are you exactly this year…?”

“…Twenty-eight, Your Majesty.”

Shinwoo Kim was twenty-five, but Deus was three years older.

“Hmm, quite an age difference.”

“……”

“I hope you remember and consider your current position and situation.”

I wanted to dismiss his concern as unnecessary, but I could already picture the king demanding to know what was wrong with his sister if I did.

So I elegantly let it pass through silence.

Only when Elenoa’s carriage disappeared from view did King Orpheus speak in a more serious tone.

“I’ll give you the next trial tomorrow. You must have been quite exhausted from your research lately.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“And you have a visitor.”

“…?”

I wondered what he meant, but then another carriage entered along the same path Elenoa had just left.

It was a carriage I had ridden several times before, bearing the emblem of Norsweden.

The black-haired woman in the carriage hurriedly disembarked and immediately knelt respectfully before the king and the Archmage.

“I am Deia Verdi, sister of the Count of Norsweden. Thank you for permitting my entry to the royal palace.”

“It’s fine. The margrave of the northern border is always welcome. We’ll take our leave now. Those things behind the carriage look like tribute gifts, but you can unpack them later. First, spend some time with your brother.”

“Thank you for your generous consideration.”

Seeing Deia, King Orpheus playfully patted my shoulder.

“Deus, your sister is much better than you.”

“……”

The young king laughed like an old man and left, followed by Archmage Rockpellican.

Only Deia and I remained.

Deia, who had remained kneeling until the king departed, stood up smoothly and glared at me.

“Nothing to say?”

With her arms crossed, clearly showing her displeasure, I thought for a moment before answering.

“Have you been well?”

“Have I been well…?”

Deia nodded emphatically and took a deep breath.

“Have I been well? Huh?! Sure, I’ve been great! Someone like a madman confessed to being a Black Mage, and I thought I was going to die from anxiety! Do you know how worried I was that I might be executed for treason alongside you when entering the capital?!”

Deia knew that I had confessed to being a necromancer and was arrested.

From her perspective, even entering Greyfond, the capital, must have felt like a life-threatening gamble.

“…Yet you came anyway.”

When I pointed this out sharply, Deia stumbled over her words before bursting out in frustration.

“I had no choice! I needed to assess the situation!”

One troublemaker leaves, another arrives. This one has a foul mouth and harbors resentment toward me, making her even more exhausting.

‘I’d rather be taking the trial.’

As if she could read my thoughts, Deia glared at me resentfully.

Having nothing particular to say, I was about to ask her directly.

How she felt about me, who had taken over her real brother Deus Verdi’s body.

Certain that she must have already formed an opinion before coming to me, I opened my mouth, but—

“Wait.”

Deia extended her hand to stop me.

After briefly looking around, she brushed her forehead with her hand and said:

“It’s been about two months since you left Norsweden, right?”

Yes, I left in March, and now it’s May. The scent of flowers naturally permeated the streets of Greyfond.

“If we count a month as 30 days, and you asked me for 5 minutes…”

Deia suddenly started saying something unexpected. She began calculating something, spreading her fingers.

“One month would be 150 minutes. Two months makes 300 minutes. Converting that to hours, it’s 5 hours.”

Snap.

Spreading her fingers to indicate five hours, Deia exclaimed with wide eyes:

“You can use my 5 hours!”

“……”

“Well, what do you think?”

I wondered what she wanted. I could roughly sense her complex emotions—wanting to sit down and have a proper conversation but not wanting to be the one to suggest it first.

“I don’t need—”

“What?”

I was about to say I didn’t need those measly five hours and suggest we just go to a café, but Deia raised her eyebrows threateningly.

She seemed determined to maintain the position that she was being dragged along unwillingly.

Since this could be our last meeting depending on her choice, I decided to accommodate her as a brother.

“With five hours, let’s go into town. They’ll probably allow that much because of recent events.”

The Archmage’s disciples would likely follow me from a distance, but considering my position, even going into town was pushing it.

‘Greyfond.’

Come to think of it, while I had often walked through Greyfond in the game, I had never actually done so with my own feet.

Realizing this made me somewhat excited.

“Greyfond town? It’s my first time too. Do you know any good places?”

“…Yes.”

Places I know.

Of course, I know many.

Being a location with numerous minor side quests and events, I naturally draw upon the information stored in my head.

“There’s a restaurant called Mercen. Its food will probably suit your taste.”

“……”

“Let’s go.”

As I walked past her, Deia’s hesitant footsteps quickly followed behind me.