episode_0075

Cleo tapped her foot for a while.

The hands of a clock tick and move every time you step.

It’s already been 30 minutes since Hwayoung and Tangaroa left.

Now we have to go to the main auditorium and play the semifinals.

“Phew.”

The elf let out a sigh of tension.

My plan so far to become the Phantom Thief Ombre.

Obtain a model and a suit from Priestley, create an alibi to deceive Mr. Coleman, fight other rankers while disguised, and gather romantic power…

Although he was caught by Mr. Coleman in the end, he succeeded in placing in the top four.

There is now one step left.

After defeating Graven in the semifinals and Mina or Angela in the finals, he announces it to everyone.

This is the passion of me, Cleo Macariel.

I love this game so much that I disguised myself as the Phantom Thief Ombre and participated in the tournament…

Of course, there are people who think it is unfair.

Anyway, it is true that she gathered romantic power by using the privileged information she had as a student council member.

However, as Cleo looked out the window, she thought that the number of critics would be small.

The spectators heading towards the main auditorium hold pickets cheering for Ombre.

Some even imitate phantom thieves with improvised masks and capes.

A wave of crowds praying for the appearance of the phantom thief Ombre, or rather, for his victory.

That appearance instilled confidence in Cleo.

The student council secretary jumped up, adjusted his cape and mask, and prepared to leave.

Then a crunching sound is heard from behind.

When I turned around, I saw that the Scyllade squid was devouring the food at a furious pace.

“Are you that hungry?”

Crunch crunch.

“Tsk. It looks like both the Chairman and Mr. Coleman are a little late, so I’ll give you some… ”

“Arrr!”

A petite dog that violently refuses food.

When I put down the feed container because I thought there was something strange, it started scratching the food bowl again.

And what was revealed-

“What is this…? ”

To anyone discovering this article for the first time.

Well, it’s probably one of the three: Cleo, Kyo Hwa-yeong, and Tangaroa.

I, Colman Cantor, go down to the underground dungeon to stop the plot of the 61st Blue Dragon, Rosewater.

At 4 a.m. on June 23rd, Rose Water kidnapped Student Council President and Crown Princess Lilac Bonnet, locked her somewhere, and threatened to erase Lilac’s memory if I did not come alone.

If I do not return by midnight on June 24th, please search the underground dungeons and issue a warrant for Rosewater.

Thank you so far. Please say hello to your parents and older brother.

… Is this some new joke?

It suddenly occurred to Cleo that that might be the case.

Hasn’t he also pretended that his models were stolen?

Mr. Coleman laughed in front of me, but he actually thought it was too much.

So, to make trouble for him, he pretends to have been kidnapped and goes into hiding with the Chairman, then reappears…

But Cleo quickly shook her head.

There are too many things that don’t make sense to be considered a joke.

First, this is the day when the final battle of the Romantic Festival takes place.

No matter how angry he is, it is extremely irresponsible for even the chairman to hide.

If this was a prank, it should have come out by now.

Second, if it was a prank, I would have left the letter somewhere more visible.

If it weren’t for the little girl’s sudden gluttony, this post would have been buried until at least tomorrow.

This is consistent with Coleman’s request to begin the search after 24 days.

finally… Since rose water was mentioned, it cannot be considered a joke.

The leader of the 20 martyrs was an object of fear even within the Blue Dragon dormitory.

Considering the bad relationship between the Chairman and Rose, we can’t mention her in something for laughs.

Based on the above, this letter is true. The problem is that it was discovered too early.

then…

Cleo took off her cloak and mask and stormed out of the student center.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before I saw Petra Lin, the head of the Kuroshio Dormitory, in front of me.

“Sir!”

“Ah… Was it Cleo Macariel?”

“Sir. I’m in big trouble.”

The clerk hurriedly showed Coleman’s letter.

As Petra read each line of the letter, her expression seemed to grow paler.

“… Where did you find this?”

“Sylade grown in the student center… So, in the frog-like pet feeder.

Mr. Coleman must have taken the time to put this up so it wouldn’t be discovered.”

Petra nods.

She tapped Cleo on the shoulder and said.

“You did a really good job. I will report this to the dean immediately.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, but… ”

The housemaster put a finger to his lips.

“If it becomes known that the Crown Princess has been kidnapped, it may cause panic among students.

Leave it to our teachers and don’t tell others.”

“Well, to Mr. Coleman’s parents… ”

“… We will contact you about that as well.

Cleo, please don’t get upset and act like you normally do.”

Act as usual…

So, should I first participate in the finals as Phantom Thief Ombre?

Petra Lin heading to the main building.

After calming down her surprise, Cleo returned to the student center.

After putting on the mask and cloak of the Phantom Thief Ombre, she departs for the main auditorium.

As we enter the player waiting room in the back –

“You came.”

Graven’s brief greeting.

Angela and Mina also look up and down her disguise.

But for a moment, the waiting room was filled with tense silence.

Click, click, the sound of Graven tapping his foot.

Cleo couldn’t bear it anymore and opened the waiting room door slightly to peek into the main auditorium.

A virtual table installed with Funforge colleagues shows off in the center of the auditorium.

Cleo’s mother and father are sitting on one side of the audience.

And the dean, professors, and the emperor sitting in the VIP seats above.

Cleo’s heart was pounding.

Surely Petra said she would report the disappearance?

However, both the emperor and the dean sit calmly.

Petra herself is not visible, but this is still…

“Everyone.”

Hwayoung’s voice heard from behind.

Cleo hurriedly looked back.

“The semifinals will begin in 10 minutes.

Graven, ranked 1st in romantic power, will face Ombre, ranked 4th, and Angela, ranked 2nd, will face Mina, ranked 3rd.

As previously announced, the rules use the Era of Romance Season 1 regular game rules -”

Hwayoung is in charge of the game, which was originally supposed to be in charge of Coleman.

In other words, Tangaroa has not yet found Coleman and the chairman.

Hwayoung continued to announce how the competition would proceed, but Cleo did not hear it.

What do we do? Should I play the game like this?

“Mr. Ombre.”

Should I tell you? But both the Dean and His Majesty are staying quiet.

“Mr. Ombre?”

Cleo, or rather Ombre, looked at the main auditorium.

Parents, crowd, emperor, dean.

A chance to conclude the legend of the phantom thief Ombre.

A chance for Cleo Macariel to prove that she dedicated her first year to the Romantic era.

but-

“Ombre-”

“I will abstain.”

Hwayoung opens her mouth wide.

Mina and Graven jumped up in panic, but Cleo ran away without them having a chance to catch her.

The housemaster is right. It would be careless to tell others.

But there’s no law saying I can’t go there myself.

Cleo, running like the wind, headed straight to the dungeon entrance that Coleman had written down.

I took a wrong turn a few times because I didn’t have a map, but fortunately there were footprints left by someone so I didn’t get lost.

When I entered the five-way road deep underground…

“Oh my god.”

A hat that someone had thrown away and some scattered clothes.

Cleo followed the traces and went down the left passage.

Let’s go through the broken barrier and go down the stairs…

What you see in front is a cliff, and what you see in the distance is a shining ancient building.

What you see below is a golem blocking a straight path, and-

“Vice Chairman?”

“Cleo?”

Tangaroa was groaning and tearing out his head in front of the golem.

Cleo hurried down and joined the platypus.

“How did you get here?”

“Vice President, how… Did you find the Chairman and Mr. Coleman?”

“No. I found a strange message that Rosewater had sent to Coleman, so I searched the human’s room and found a map.

I came here after seeing that… ”

“I came here after seeing the letter Mr. Coleman left in the rice bowl.”

Huh, Tangaroa bursts into laughter.

“Colman, you weren’t completely thoughtless.

So did you tell the professors?”

“Yes. I informed Petra’s housemaster, but no one seemed to move after that… ”

“So you came forward yourself… So what about the competition?”

“Abstained. Let’s go into that building quickly!”

Cleo urged Tangaroa, but he shook his head.

“I want to go too, but I can’t.”

“Yes?”

The platypus beast took a step to the side.

What lies between Tangaroa and the Golem…

“Romantic era table?”

The era of romance is already well underway.

But something is strange.

In a typical romantic era, both players would choose one side each and fight against each other…

In this game, the units belonging to Tangaroa were several units from the Academy, and the formation was also very strange.

“What on earth did you do to make the game state like this? ”

“I didn’t touch it. It’s been like this from the beginning.”

“Yes?”

The golem trembled and declared to the two people.

“Solve. Challengers.”

“I guess this is a romantic era puzzle.”