Chapter 82: Connections Are the Best!!!

“Ah! Clara!

Noa Frozenheart’s eyes, gleaming with interest, were clearly visible from afar.

At the same time, the tiger girl crossed the bustling crowd without bumping into anyone.

The moment Clara was in front of her, she kicked off the ground with her characteristic cheerful smile.

“Come here!!”

“Eek…!”

Noa’s embrace closed the distance in an instant.

And Clara’s elegant evasion. She perfectly positioned herself behind Rohan.

After her hug missed, Noa didn’t force a second pursuit.

She simply turned to the approaching Ichinose and exclaimed excitedly.

“Nose! See? I told you! She’s super fast.”

“Noa… You should apologize first. Even if you’re the same gender, hugging someone without permission is a crime.”

Noa pouted at Ichinose’s prim reaction.

Urged to apologize quickly, Noa drooped her tail and ears apologetically.

Clara nodded, saying it was okay, while busily darting her eyes around.

That, could that person be…?

The woman who always accompanied Noa Frozenheart.

Jet-black Princess Cut hair, closed eyes, beautiful features, elegant atmosphere, a petite figure smaller than Clara herself.

All the characteristics matched.

Ichinose Yui…!

Just like Noa Frozenheart, a celebrity she couldn’t not know.

A famous person she couldn’t approach casually even if she knew her.

“Are you two going to lunch?”

Rohan spoke while looking at Ichinose and Noa.

He gestured to Clara, who was tightly gripping his clothes, assuring her that it was alright and not to worry.

“There’s a collaboration going on at a restaurant here.”

“…Collaboration?”

As Rohan raised an eyebrow in question,

Ichinose, with a completely serious face, slightly opened her eyes and informed Rohan.

“It’s Droplet Friends. Do you know Ululi and Bluebee?”

“Ah!”

Remembering Ichinose’s favorite characters, Rohan let out a short exclamation of understanding.

Shion, who had been listening quietly, shrugged her shoulders.

Ichinose also recognized Shion, whom she had met before at the goods shop, and gave a nod.

“Noa isn’t interested in Droplet Friends… but she’s the perfect person to eat with until I get the goods I want.”

A feat of eating impossible for Ichinose’s small stomach.

Noa, seemingly proud of being a good eater, patted her flat stomach with a pang! pang! displaying her confidence.

“Weren’t you all headed to that restaurant too?”

“We’re not. We were going to grab a quick bite nearby.”

Ichinose quietly registered the unique auras of the women who were with Rohan.

As Noa said, Clara’s instantaneous movements were impressive.

To have such skill despite being an unfamiliar name, it naturally piqued her interest.

Whether or not Noa knew Ichinose’s thoughts,

She swished her lively tail and asked Rohan and the two girls.

“Do you want to have lunch with us?”

“Noa. We made a reservation for two, so it’s not possible.”

“Huh? Really? I hate small tables!”

“It won’t be cramped. Even so, we made a reservation for two, so unfortunately, we can’t bring anyone else.”

Ichinose recognized that Clara was uncomfortable with Noa.

She was interested and had a lot she wanted to ask, but it wouldn’t be right to force such a girl to accompany them.

The conversation paused for a moment.

Ichinose adjusted her Sword and addressed Rohan, who appeared to be the center of the group.

“We’ll be going then.”

“Bye-bye! Clara and Elf friend! See you later!”

As Rohan said goodbye, mentioning seeing them in afternoon classes,

Noa waved her hands and blended into the crowd with Ichinose.

Following that,

Rohan looked at Shion, who remained silent.

“…”

The girl’s gaze, fixed on Noa’s retreating figure, seemed filled with thought.

However, Rohan had no intention of intervening in this matter. It was right whether he acted or not.

It was something Shion had to do as she felt.

As Noa’s figure grew more distant, Shion bit her lower lip and moved her head, as if her inner conflict was deepening.

The girl shifted her gaze towards Rohan, and after a brief exchange of glances, as if she had made up her mind,

She took a step forward and opened her closed lips.

“Wait…!”

A beautiful voice that stopped everyone in their tracks, regardless of who it was calling.

This naturally included Ichinose and Noa, with their heightened senses.

“Were you calling us?”

“I’m sorry to bother you when you’re so busy…”

At Ichinose’s question, Shion nodded affirmatively with as much courtesy as she could muster.

“No, it’s fine. I still have some free time.”

The atmosphere hinted at an unspoken ‘So, what’s the matter?’

Shion’s gaze shifted from Ichinose to Noa, who was yawning widely enough to show the inside of her mouth.

“Noa Frozenheart-nim.”

“Huh? Me?”

Even though she had just been referred to as an elf friend, when the other party addressed her so formally, Noa couldn’t help but respond in kind.

This wasn’t her home country, Tigrova, after all.

“I am Shion Testarossa, the last bloodline carrying the name of Testarossa, daughter of the late King Weber Testarossa and Queen Melissa Testarossa.”

“Testarossa? What’s that?”

“…Testarossa?!”

Ichinose’s closed eyes snapped open.

Unlike Noa, her expression showed increasing surprise the more she pondered the name.

Well-versed in history and information, Ichinose couldn’t hide her confusion at the name Testarossa.

“What? Nose, do you know who that is?”

“Ha… What are we supposed to do if Noa, of all people, doesn’t know?”

It was too long a story to explain right now.

She wasn’t even sure if it was okay to mention the usurpation in front of a Testarossa, especially since she was from the Three Kingdoms Union.

In the first place, Ichinose wasn’t even certain if this elf girl was truly of Testarossa lineage.

If all of this were true, Rohan was just becoming more intriguing.

Just what has he been doing…

Ichinose looked at Rohan, her golden eyes questioning him, but Rohan only offered a nonchalant smile.

Noa and Shion’s conversation continued.

“I wish to request an audience with the Grand Emperor of Snow.”

“You want to meet my dad?”

“Yes.”

Noa walked closer, closing the distance until her face was almost touching Shion’s.

Shion didn’t pull back but stood still, accepting Noa’s approach.

“Hmm?”

Did the tiger girl, with her unusually sharp intuition, see something in Shion’s eyes?

Seemingly satisfied, she lowered her head and started sniffing the elf girl’s neck.

After a while, Noa, who had been engrossed in her olfactory investigation, lifted her head.

“Okay. I’ll ask him.”

“…Do you believe me?”

“It’s hard to talk about belief when I’m too dumb to even understand what you’re talking about.”

Having finished speaking, Noa took her smartphone out of her pocket and immediately made a call.

The phone rang only once before the other party answered.

“Dad! Are you busy?”

Rohan watched Noa with interest.

The Grand Emperor of Snow, the ruler of Tigrova, was answering the call on the other end, right?

It was a strange feeling that Noa, even as his daughter, had a direct line to someone considered one of the strongest in the world.

“I’m about to eat with Nose! Did you have lunch, Dad?”

Unpretentious greetings exchanged between father and daughter.

Rohan, his group, and Ichinose quietly observed the scene.

While the father and daughter chatted before getting to the main point, Rohan racked his brain, mulling over the information.

Is the Grand Emperor of Snow… a doting father, just like the Community predicted?

Even in Abyss City, the Grand Emperor of Snow was only mentioned endlessly. There was no route for Gamers to encounter him in the game.

Originally, he would have appeared eventually as patches were released, but Rohan was no longer in a position to see him that way.

Because of this, the curiosity in his heart pounded.

“I met an Elf in Academy City, you see? She says she’s Weber Testarossa’s… right?”

At Noa’s murmur, Shion quickly nodded.

“There’s a friend here who says she’s his daughter. She wants to meet you. What should I do?”

“Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.”

Noa responded reflexively, indicating the Grand Emperor of Snow was speaking.

At some point, she put her smartphone back in her pocket. She gave Shion the answer she was waiting for.

“He said you can come anytime. The sooner, the better, he said.”

“!!!”

“It’s rare for my dad to say that.”

Despite the fact that the Grand Emperor of Snow was clearly not someone who could be met so easily, the appointment was made with surprising ease.

Was it because of his daughter’s request? Or did the name Testarossa provoke a reaction from the Grand Emperor of Snow?

Rohan and his group couldn’t possibly know.

“…Rohan.”

“Yeah. Tell me.”

As Rohan gave her an encouraging smile, Shion, in a good mood, took a step closer to him, her voice excited.

The breasts hidden under her hoodie were tantalizingly close to touching him.

“May I go to Tigrova today? I’ll return as quickly as possible.”

Ichinose and Noa couldn’t help but feel curious about the girl asking Rohan for permission.

They wondered if they had ever met an Elf who was so affectionate towards someone of the opposite sex.