The shooting training that Rohan had been teaching was unfortunately interrupted.
As Ichinose, who was lting in happiness, snapped back to reality, she first answered the phone.
She had an inkling of what was happening. But, just in case, she couldn’t ignore it.
“Noah? What’s going on?”
─Noah──!!! Oh! My! God! How could this happen!!!
The voice of the beast girl was so loud that even though she hadn’t turned on the speaker, it echoed loudly.
Noah’s shouting was so clear that even Rohan, who was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) a few steps away, could distinctly hear it.
“···.”
Ichinose, already expecting this, moved the phone away from her face.
The smartphone was jumping like a fish in her palm, trying to contain the beast girl’s heated voice.
Only after Noah finished speaking and the noise died down did Ichinose return the phone to her face.
“I often go out alone. Why are you so worked up?”
─Where are you? You’re not lost again, are you? What if you run into a Monolith!
“I’m not bad with directions! And I’ll be fine even if I et a Monolith... Anyway, there’s no need to worry, calm down.”
Ichinose finished speaking and moved her head toward Shion, signaling for permission.
She silently moved her lips, conveying her ssage, and focused on Shion’s reaction.
If Shion looked even slightly uncomfortable, Ichinose could just tell Noah that she would return soon.
The answer ca quickly.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shion smiled. She truly had no problem with it.
Noah Frozenheart had been kind to her, and she wanted to grow closer.
“Noah is also my benefactor. I would be happy if you visit.”
“···Thank you.”
─What? Noah? Who are you with?
“Noah. I’ll share my location with you through a ssage, so co visit.”
Ichinose spoke honestly, providing Noah with her location.
Even though the three of them had secretly ford an alliance, she had no intention of leaving Noah out.
After finishing with the shooting range, they went up to the living room, maybe exchanged a few words of idle chat.
The mansion bell rang, and Noah’s face appeared on the cara.
Seeing Noah practically leaning in with her face, Shion smiled and opened the front gate, unlocking the door.
A mont later, the front door creaked open, and Noah appeared at the mansion.
“Here cos the super cute tiger!”
“You ca quickly.”
Ichinose was the first to greet her.
Noah’s unique energy and vitality brightened the atmosphere, bringing smiles. She was a girl with an unshakable charm.
“I’m fast, of course. But whose house is this?”
Noah proudly smiled and perked her round ears, her tail wagging as she checked out the people in the mansion.
“Rohan’s here? And the two of you too?”
“Noah, welco.”
“Ah, welco···!”
“I’m also a guest. This is Shion’s house.”
Rohan finished his greeting.
Noah, who suddenly appeared in front of Shion, apologized, then walked toward Ichinose.
She stretched out her arms to hug, but Ichinose stepped back, avoiding her.
“Noah went out by herself! How an!”
“I wrote it in a mo, didn’t I? I left it so you wouldn’t wake up from the noise.”
“But how could you do that! You promised to have lunch with !”
“A promise? When did we make that?”
“We always eat together, it’s an unspoken promise!”
“What... You also go out without saying anything sotis. On the other hand, I left a mo.”
“Well, now I’ll leave a mo too!”
Ichinose lightly smiled at Noah’s persistent behavior, understanding why Noah wanted to stick so closely.
“Noah.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t worry about the Monolith. You can’t just avoid them if you want to.”
“···But if we’re together, we’ll fall into a dungeon together.”
Ichinose had heard that while she and Rohan were in the dungeon, Noah had struggled ntally and suffered.
Having always lived with such confidence, seeing Noah in that state was refreshing for Ichinose.
In so ways, it was even cute.
“That’s too extre. Do you want to be with 24/7 for the rest of your life?”
“Yeah!”
“Why are you saying such things so happily...?”
Ichinose took back her previous thought that it was cute.
She felt the need to suppress it before things got worse.
“I’ll still be with you after the sester ends, during the break!”
“It’s fine if we stay at your house. But you also need to see your parents.”
“If Noah cos with , then my mom and dad will want to see you too.”
“That’s a happy thing, but···.”
Ichinose trailed off, glancing at Rohan.
He was smiling as if he thought their relationship looked good.
Ichinose avoided Noah’s attempt to hug again, her curiosity about the situation suddenly growing.
"Did Rohan set his vacation schedule?"
"? I was thinking of going to the south, but that's on hold. I don't really have any plans. Just training?"
At Rohan’s casual remark, the girls, who had resolved themselves, felt a range of emotions in an instant.
They had thought he might visit the Sepia Isles and et the girl Letera, but seeing that he had no plans brought a sense of relief.
Ichinose felt a bit of regret that Rohan wasn’t planning to go to the Samhwa Kingdom or Tigrova.
And there was also concern about him pushing himself too hard without proper rest.
"Rohan... you do know that rest is an important part of growth, right?"
"So, I’ve been resting enough. I’m resting right now."
From Rohan’s perspective, that was the truth without any exaggeration.
Just looking at these girls made him feel refreshed ntally.
Noah, who had been tapping her tail on the ground while listening to the conversation, suddenly made a suggestion.
It naturally brought everyone together.
"Let’s all go to the beach when vacation starts! It’ll be sumr right after finals, right?"
"Well, it will be sumr, roughly. But... if we go to the beach, we’ll have to wear swimsuits..."
Ichinose, who lacked the confidence to show off her skin, felt a bit self-conscious.
Especially because she was acutely aware of Rohan’s presence. Shion and Noah’s impressive figures made Ichinose’s confidence plumt even further.
"Or how about the snowy mountains of Tigrova? We can make snown and gather snow to build a house!"
"...Noah, you really have a lot of ideas."
While Ichinose was being dragged around by Noah, Rohan turned to the two girls standing beside him.
"Yeah, staying cooped up and training during vacation would be a bit much. Shion, Clara, do you two have sowhere you’d like to go?"
"With you... I’d be happy to go anywhere..."
"Sa here."
Rohan thought seriously about it. Taking a break seed like a good idea, but it also ant making real decisions.
Right now, his own knowledge of the world was limited. He wanted to show everyone more and make so mories together if possible.
‘But it’s still too early to go to the south. I’m not strong enough for that yet.’
He had no mory of the south, so he had researched the geography and conditions.
Outside the small land where survivors lived, there were powerful monsters everywhere, and the monsters that appeared were quite dangerous.
Additionally, criminals ford groups and hid everywhere, causing problems every day.
If he started digging into the mysterious information and clues he had in his head, sothing would definitely happen.
So, now, it was better to go on a regular trip.
"A trip..."
The beach or snowy mountains, either would be fine.
Rohan agreed with Shion and Clara’s sentint that the most important thing in a trip is not the place but the people you’re with.
Anyway, he would think about it seriously after finals were done.
As the days passed, the weather ward up.
Looking at the street passersby, there were more short-sleeve shirts than long sleeves, signaling a comfortable atmosphere.
Spring was over, and sumr was slowly creeping in.
At the sa ti, the students of Orion Academy beca busier.
The final exams for the first sester were just around the corner.
The students’ focus was shifting, not so much on written tests, but on practical ones.
The written tests would proceed in the usual format, but with the curriculum undergoing significant changes, the practical exams were entirely unpredictable.
During the first class's briefing ti.
Juyeon, after quietly confirming that the students were waiting for her words, opened her lips.
"The practical exam for Orion Academy’s final exam will be──."
"““···.””"
As Juyeon purposely drew out her words, the students held their breath, silently waiting for what she would say next.
Rohan was the sa.
‘In Abyss City, the final exam was a bell-stealing ga among the students on a mountain.’
But he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t say for certain at this point.
With Oga’s death on the deserted island and the world being in such disarray, things were far from normal.
It wasn’t just a slight change either. In Abyss City, students had been tortured by Oga, and there were no changes in the curriculum.
Thus, there might be so changes to the exam content as well. That’s what Rohan thought.
***
Satisfied with the students' concentration, Juyeon slightly lifted the corners of her mouth and showed them a small bell that made a soft ringing sound.
"Steal the bell from the instructors."
"···!"
It wasn’t from the students. The bell had to be stolen from the instructors.
Rohan couldn’t help but gape at the absurdly raised difficulty level.
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