Chapter 99: Aeng-ae Nose Wants to Sleep (2)

Orion Academy Dormitory.

It was clearly a time when only a few second-year Cadets were present, the first-years absent due to exams.

Rohan’s room was occupied by girls who didn’t even move an inch.

Oppa… I miss you.

Rohan’s absence is much greater than I thought…

Clara and Shion pictured the same person in their minds.

They continued the same thought.

The two girls kept sending messages to Rohan as if reporting their daily lives.

Shion stared at her smartphone, which didn’t reply no matter how many texts she sent, and got up from the bed.

She then placed her hand on Clara’s waist, who was engrossed in a game, lying face down.

“Clara.”

“Yes?”

“Before going shopping with Rohan, I want to buy at least the clothes I’ll wear that day.”

“Ah…! Then shall we go now?”

Shion nodded.

As silent preparations followed without a hitch, the topic of conversation also changed with the flow.

“I watched a few videos earlier, and cooking seems simpler than I thought.”

“Really…?”

“Beginners are guaranteed the basics as long as they don’t deviate from the recipe. If we turn on a video and do it together, it’ll somehow work out.”

Finding and learning housework.

Along with training together, it was one of their struggles to somehow make the time waiting for Rohan’s return to speed up.

It would also be necessary when the two of them lived together.

“Oh, Oppa will be tired when he comes back too…! Shall we try it after training today…?”

“Well, I can’t keep emptying the fridge like this.”

Clara agreed with Shion’s words and recalled a phrase she had once read in a book.

If you capture someone’s stomach with your cooking, they can never escape.

What if she became a master chef and captured Rohan’s stomach? Delusions began to bubble up in her mind.

“Hehe…”

Unaware that her stomach was already captured the other way around, Clara let out a giggle.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? Are you hungry?”

“No… no.”

After much deliberation, Ichinose shut her mouth.

Since her reason, telling her it was embarrassing, overcame her instinct to be comfortable, she fiddled with the clothes she was using as a pillow, adjusting them.

She lay down.

Tossed and turned, then got up again.

Adjusted them once more.

Lay down. Tossed and turned, then got up again. Adjusted them again.

She kept repeating these actions like a machine.

…

Ichinose felt like she was going crazy. No matter how she adjusted it, the discomfort wouldn’t go away.

Rohan, who was building the campfire, also stared at her with questioning eyes, as if asking what she was doing.

“Can’t sleep?”

Rohan asked quietly.

Honestly, the situation was so ridiculous that Ichinose felt like screaming.

“…Rohan.”

“Yeah.”

Ichinose finally sat up from her lying position.

She asked in a small voice, trying to hide her rising emotions.

“In the current situation, if there’s a way to maintain my condition, how much risk do you think I should take?”

A half-meaningless sentence to Rohan.

Nevertheless, he stroked his chin and pondered, trying to understand. He pushed a twig into the flames and gave a bland answer.

“It’s a little hard to understand what you mean… Well, if you can maintain your condition, you should try your best within the possible limits, right?”

Was that an answer?

An unusually serious and determined air emanated from Ichinose.

“I’ll be honest.”

A stiff voice unlike before.

Unable to easily determine whether it was tension, a warning, or a confession, Rohan hardened his expression.

“Are you sick somewhere? Did you catch a cold?”

“Th-That’s not it…!”

“If you’re not sick, that’s good. Tell me if there’s a problem.”

After taking a deep breath, Ichinose pointed to her rolled-up outerwear.

“It’s uncomfortable to lay my head on, so I can’t sleep.”

“Huh?”

“…The pillow is so uncomfortable that I think I’ll get a stiff neck.”

Wouldn’t he think it was a complaint from a rich girl unfamiliar with hardship?

Ichinose hurriedly added.

“I was prepared to sleep in an unfamiliar place as much as possible. But this is harder than I thought…”

“Well, it’s different when you actually experience it.”

“…”

Rohan nodded slightly as if understanding, and then asked seriously,

“So you couldn’t sleep yesterday either? I thought you were sleeping.”

“I slept… very deeply…”

Rohan blinked at Ichinose’s words.

As if telling him not to look at her like that, the girl lowered her head, and Rohan’s thoughts raced.

It was a simple problem that didn’t require much time to solve.

She slept deeply yesterday, but now she can’t sleep because the pillow is uncomfortable?

Where did Ichinose rest her head yesterday?

The answer was clear.

As he reached the answer, a point of caution struck Rohan’s mind like an arrow.

Considering Ichinose’s personality… she must have fretted a lot before saying this.

The corners of Rohan’s mouth twitched violently at the girl’s cuteness, but he clenched his teeth to suppress it.

He couldn’t laugh now.

In a situation where he couldn’t retreat, he had to hold his laughter in and take her seriously so that Ichinose would be comfortable until they lay down with their heads together.

“Okay.”

“Yes?”

Rohan moved slightly away from the campfire and patted his thighs.

Tap! Tap!

He maintained an indifferent expression with all his might.

“Feel free to use them if you need to. It’s a cheap price to pay for maintaining your condition.”

At Rohan’s consent, seemingly relieved yet embarrassed by her own words, Ichinose blushed.

She stood up and shifted her position awkwardly, moving the outerwear she had spread on the ground.

“E-Excuse me…”

After much hesitation, she laid her head down on Rohan’s thigh.

!!!

And then, the comfort.

Ichinose’s inner self erupted in surprise like fireworks.

This is it…

This was the perfect pillow she had longed for.

Impeccable elasticity, just the right height and width, and even a warm temperature.

Forgetting her mountain of embarrassment from earlier, she felt like she could fall asleep already.

Drowsiness washed over her like she had been waiting for it, her consciousness blurring.

As she drifted deeper into slumber, Ichinose opened her eyes slightly at the feeling of something covering her.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Rohan’s shirt was draped over her like a blanket. His attire now consisted of only a thin t-shirt, his trained physique clearly visible.

“…”

Meeting Rohan’s gaze, who was smiling, Ichinose quickly shut her eyes.

She even raised her arms to cover her eyes.

Normally, she would have thanked him first. But perhaps due to fatigue and drowsiness, her thoughts weren’t as clear.

Unlike usual, she became whiny.

“I must look quite ridiculous…”

“No?”

“I can’t deny that I’ve been sheltered… I’m realizing it now…”

“I wasn’t thinking that. I just smiled because you looked like a baby.”

“W-What, a baby?!”

She was instantly jolted awake.

Utter shock.

Just how far would her image as a classmate plummet?

“Aeng-ae Nose.”

“Don’t give me weird nicknames… If you tease me too much, I might run away…”

“Sorry, sorry. Go back to sleep.”

Wasn’t it terrifying that she couldn’t lift her head despite being treated like this?

“Rohan…”

“Yes, yes. I’m here.”

The sudden shock wore off quickly.

Sleepiness robbed the strength from her voice, making her mind drift further.

“Thank you…”

Ichinose mumbled, and then

She began to sleep soundly.

“Hmm.”

Hex of the Reverse Praise Society stood above the sea.

Below him, a giant sea monster served as his platform.

Is that Grand Commander over there?

He watched the transport ship, which looked like a dot.

Perhaps due to the weather, the uninhabited island where the cadets were located was only faintly visible.

I’ll be discovered if I go any further.

Hex maintained his distance from Juyeon with utmost caution.

Then, he manipulated his mana to extract the factor stored within his body.

Bzzzzzzt—

Mana formed a double helix in his palm.

The geometric structure commonly known as DNA.

The Paradise Knights and the other Instructors… A year’s worth of stack should be enough.

There was no need to kill anyone for certain. He only needed to stall until Juyeon and Omega’s confrontation.

Without Juyeon present, the rest wouldn’t be anything more than playthings for him and Omega.

The moment Juyeon was defeated, that uninhabited island would transform into a hellish landscape.

A chance to acquire a plethora of valuable test subjects. The thought of the research was exhilarating.

“…”

Hex suppressed his excitement.

He adjusted the factor and recalculated the possibilities.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Omega’s combat body this time was specifically designed to counter Juyeon.

He had truly abandoned everything else and focused solely on that aspect.

Omega. I believe you can win and get your revenge. Give me those precious test subjects.

The more he examined the basis, the higher Omega’s win rate seemed. He even had plenty of hostages to use.

Moreover, he had fully grasped the skills and abilities of the Instructors protecting the cadets on the uninhabited island and the Paradise Knights who came to support them.

In the duel between Omega and Juyeon, those factors couldn’t create any variables.

Nevertheless, he felt strangely uneasy.

A tiny bit of anxiety created a sense of discomfort.

Hmm…

But he ignored it.

Such emotions were meaningless to someone who believed in theory.

He focused on his task.

Shall we begin?

The factor Hex created flowed down from his hand and seeped into the sea.

While creating chaos on the uninhabited island was one of his main objectives,

It was also his role to prepare an escape route for Omega, just in case.

He had to keep Omega alive, as there was no one to replace him.

Even though Omega has a fiery temper, he cherishes his own life.

Hex covered his anxiety with confidence and anticipation.

He began to meticulously manipulate the factor by carefully releasing small amounts of mana.