I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City

Clack!

The princess returned after diligently completing another day of repetitive training.

Today had been especially dreadful—she was drenched in monster blood.
With every step, the soles of her shoes squelched unpleasantly.@@novelbin@@

“...Is anyone there?”

No one welcomed her home, even after all the hardship she'd endured.
Things she hadn't paid much attention to before started to bother her lately.

Ever since she became certain that the elders were tracking her movements, everything felt different.

‘They’ve only ever cared about calling me a royal or a princess when it suits them...’

Now, it was time to head back to her room, rest, and inspect her weapons—a moment of peace she genuinely looked forward to.

As she made her way to her room, holding her gun, her long, pointed ears twitched.

—I’ve always thought we couldn’t trust those types!
—But can we formally hire someone else? If you’re going to rant, at least do it inside a room...
—Aren’t you just nitpicking the results after the fact?
—You didn’t object when we first hired them, and now...

...
...

The atmosphere had been off ever since the day the princess returned alone, without the expected guests.

The elders’ voices were raised as they argued, the root cause being consecutive failures.

Unseen, mysterious factors were disrupting their plans, leaving the elders visibly agitated.

The princess had tried to subtly probe them about the identity of the expected guests and the purpose of their invitation,
but they dismissed her inquiries, saying it was nothing she needed to concern herself with.

“Phew...”

Ignoring the heated debate, the princess continued walking.

She finally stepped into her private space.

She removed her sniper rifle and gear, placing them on the table.
Taking a damp cloth, she wiped the monster blood from her face, sat down, and opened a drawer.

She had to clean her equipment before cleaning herself—it was second nature by now.

Swish, swish.

As she continued the now-automatic process of cleaning her gear, her thoughts wandered.

—You’re likely curious about many things without clear answers.
—What exactly happened to the elves who lived in the Tigrova coniferous forest?

Was sending that man back then a gain or a loss?

She still didn’t know. The lack of information made it hard to decide.

‘Even so...’

It was clear that the elders were keeping something from her, working together to maintain their silence.

Thump!

After rolling up the cloth she used to clean the gun and tossing it into the trash,
she touched the sewn-in section under her vest with her fingertips.

The implanted tracking device she had voluntarily reinserted felt foreign and uncomfortable.

—By now, you should have a sense of how to use that tracker.

“...”

The thought of being manipulated by that man left her feeling irritated and uneasy, but her resolve was already set.

She opened one of her vest pockets with a flick and pulled out a cherished notebook.

Once again, she checked the phone number written inside.

‘I’ll have to visit him.’

She knew gathering information would take a significant amount of time.

But enough time had passed—surely, she’d learned something by now.

Along with her resolve, a faint excitement about heading to the city filled her heart.

“Hm-hmm~”

Humming a tune she’d heard during her last visit to the city, the princess began preparing to wash up.

***

"Sleepy..."

Rohan stood at the counter, stretching in an attempt to shake off his drowsiness.

He had tried to use the spare time to sit down and study some theory, but no matter how much he stared at the material, nothing stuck.
Right now, he had no room for other tasks—he had to compress his focus to avoid any mistakes on the job.

“Haaa…”

His poor condition, caused by mana exhaustion, was truly dreadful.

Even though the weather outside was cool and pleasant, his body felt heavy, like on a humid day just before the rain.

Still, he had to endure.

How could anyone always approach their work in perfect condition?

Buzzz—!!!

“Huh?”

The phone in his apron pocket vibrated noisily.

Thinking it might be the manager, he quickly pulled it out.

[Clara: Are you okay? Are you feeling unwell? •́︿•̀ ]

Peeking between the bookshelves, Clara blinked her wide eyes at him.
When it came to talking about games, she was fine with a conversation, but for everyday matters, she clearly preferred messaging.

‘Nice. Healing stack: one.’

That Clara would message him about something unrelated to games, even with the current distance between them, was a surprise.

It was like a refreshing shower on his exhausted mind.

Rohan replied that he was fine and gave a small wave to the girl.
Clara, flustered by the response, glanced around nervously before retreating.

Rohan smiled at the sight.

‘I'll start cleaning in twenty minutes.’

Feeling somewhat unfocused today, he decided to allocate a generous amount of time for cleaning.

It was an instinctive choice—anything less would feel too rushed.

As he solidified this decision with his refreshed state of mind, the bell at the entrance jingled.

Turning toward the door, Rohan’s eyes widened.

He recognized her instantly.

Even without the suit she wore almost every day, her striking red hair and unique presence were unmistakable.

“Instructor!?”

“Rohan. Are you managing work well?”

“What brings you all the way here, Instructor...?”

“What a strange question. Obviously, I’m here to buy books.”

Jooyeon strode toward the shelves, casually glancing at the recommended books near the counter as she continued.

“And, as the instructor responsible for Class 1, I have a duty to supervise cadets working part-time jobs.”

“Ah...”

Rohan nodded in understanding.

Coming from Jooyeon, the explanation felt completely plausible.

“Is your condition improving? Your complexion looks a bit better.”

“I’m feeling much better than when I first got up.”

Rohan smiled faintly to show he was fine.

Jooyeon, relieved, scanned her surroundings calmly.

“Are you working alone?”

“Yes. The manager has gone home, so I’m responsible for closing the store.”

“I see. I would have greeted the manager if they were here... but it seems you’ve earned their trust. That’s a good thing.”

Did she find something she liked?

Jooyeon raised her eyebrows slightly as she picked up a book and moved to another shelf.

“Did you have dinner?”

“I plan to eat back at the dorm after I’m done here.”

Normally, he would have grabbed a cheap meal at the Orion Academy cafeteria before coming to work.

But today was an exception.

“Heading straight to the dorm, then... No plans for the evening, I assume?”

“At this hour? Where would I even go?”

His casual response made Jooyeon meet his gaze.

“Then have dinner with your instructor.”

“Excuse me?”

Rohan blinked in surprise, and Jooyeon placed the books she had picked up onto the counter.
She had chosen a mystery novel and a historical fiction.

“Does that feel like too much?”

“No, it’s just... unexpected.”

Rohan replied as he reached for the register to process the books.

Including a paper bag, the total came to 4 coins and 31 tokens.

Taking her card, he completed the transaction.

“I thought it might be awkward for a cadet to join their instructor for a meal, but I couldn’t think of a better way to phrase it.”

“It’s sudden, but not awkward or uncomfortable at all.”

Jooyeon, retrieving her card, briefly met Rohan’s calm gaze before smiling faintly.

“You’re not lying, which surprises me. You don’t find being around superiors uncomfortable?”

“It depends on the superior, doesn’t it? And I never say no to someone offering to buy me food.”

Though his response had layers of conditions, it wasn’t a lie.

After all, who would turn down dinner with an attractive instructor like Jooyeon?

“...If you’d shown even a hint of reluctance, I would have taken it as a joke and let it go.”

“I doubt any cadet in Class 1 would turn down an invitation from you, Instructor.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”

“Instructor, I’m not good at flattery.”

Jooyeon, holding the bag of books, chuckled softly at how smoothly things had unfolded.

“Just so you know, this isn’t special treatment. I came under the pretext of supervision, so I couldn’t leave without doing something.”

“I understand.”

If other cadets were also working part-time and Jooyeon had visited them, she likely would have offered the same.

“Is there anything you’d like to eat? Any food preferences?”

“I eat pretty much anything as long as it’s not bad.”

“That’s a tricky request.”

“But my standards are low. A burger from the main street would be fine.”

“Hm...”

Jooyeon expressed her mixed feelings with a subtle movement of her lips and eyebrows before stepping back from the counter.

“Alright, got it. I’ll take care of some errands while you finish work. Call me when you’re done.”

With that, Jooyeon left with her books, and Rohan, still processing the sudden interaction, stepped away from the counter to start cleaning.

‘What kind of storm just hit me...?’

It was both exciting and confusing. Unreal, even.

As he mulled over the conversation for any potential missteps, he grabbed the mop and headed to the corner of the store.

“Hiii...”

In the corner, Clara was trembling, huddled in fear.