I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City - Chapter 101



100 – The Disaster Duo and the Tiger

“This?”

“A familiar presence. They’ll notice soon enough, too.”

Rohan relaxed from his low stance and stood comfortably.

Ichinose also loosened her grip.

She closed her eyes, focusing on her senses.

‘…I know exactly who it is.’

Sadly, not Noah.

The presence itself was wrong. Noah would have sensed them, Rohan and herself, from much farther away.

So, who were the students approaching?

The answer was clear.

‘Gilbert Kaniat.’

The heavy footsteps, proportionate to his stature, and the sheer assertion of his presence made Ichinose’s identification easy.

The other one would be his assigned partner, which naturally led to Dick Wikitree.

The two who were on good terms with Rohan.

It was a relief to Ichinose that there was less need to be on guard for this encounter.

*Rustle!*

The undergrowth parts, revealing the cadets.

Just the pair they’d expected. Following protocol, greetings are exchanged.

“Welcome, you two.”

“Glad to see you.”

Gilbert, standing at the front, looked even healthier than he had back at the academy.

His face beaming with a bright smile. Could this desolate island be his calling?

“Ah! Just as I thought, Rohan and Ichinose Yui!”

“Urgh… the joy…”

The unexpected thing was the sallow complexion of Gilbert’s partner, Dick.

He drew the eye immediately.

“What’s wrong with him? Sick?”

“He doesn’t look well.”

As Rohan and Ichinose each offered a word,

Gilbert sighed, shaking his head.

“He’s just hungry. But even in that state, he refuses the food I brought back.”

“…The fact is, it’s not fit for human consumption. Even the neighbor’s dog wouldn’t touch it.”

Dick retorted, his face pale and his voice weak.

Rohan could roughly imagine the situation, but he asked just in case.

“If you found food… what about resupply?”

“The resupply point was already cleaned out. Someone beat us to it. Everyone’s so quick these days.”

“Then what food did you get?”

Gilbert snorted, as if that was an excellent question.

With a face shadowed and serious, he crossed his arms and continued to explain.

“Dick Wikitree may be my partner in name only. He’s my partner all the same. When my partner’s hungry, I forget my petty feelings and worked diligently to procure him a meal.”

“And the result?”

“I caught three Geroai.”

“Geroai…”

Monsters with huge eyes and tiny wings.

Minor F-class pests that induce dizziness and nausea when you meet their gaze.

“If Rohan were here, he’d know just how many nutrients are packed in those big eyeballs. Even tuna eyeballs are bursting with vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids, you know?”

Standing next to Rohan, Ichinose shuddered, her skin crawling at the mere thought.

“Well… I guess if you grilled them or cooked them properly, it wouldn’t be so bad. I’ve actually seen videos of people eating them.”

“See? He gets it! Now are you starting to understand?”

Gilbert shot a scolding glance at his partner, who clutched his rumbling stomach.

Dick remained steadfast.

“No way I’m eating that. I’d rather peel off the stickers….”

“You weakling! With that kind of mindset, you’ll never be able to save the world!!!”

“How am I even supposed to save the world?”

Ichinose, listening to the dizzying exchange, felt anew how fortunate she was to be teamed with Rohan.

Rohan, for his part, found the back-and-forth tiresome.

Cutting through the chatter, he asked, “So, you’re out looking for food now?”

“No! We’re being chased!”

A confident voice. But a sentence that didn’t quite fit.

Thinking he’d misheard, Rohan addressed Gilbert again.

“We’re being chased by Noah Frozenheart!”

“What are you talking about?”

“He was complaining about being hungry, so we generously offered him some food. But he got angry and started chasing us.”

“I thought I was going to be beaten to death right then and there…”

Gilbert and Dick launched into a retelling of their escape from Noah, who, too hungry to run properly, hadn’t been able to keep up with them.

Listening quietly, Ichinose suddenly gasped, her voice full of alarm.

“The food… don’t tell me…!”

Gilbert responded to the questioning gaze of the girl with a vigorous nod.

From his inner pocket, he produced a grayish lump. It looked slimy and squishy to the touch.

“It’s roasted Geroa. I added pine bark to the inside for extra flavor.”

“You’re insane.”

Giving just the eyeball isn’t enough for him, he puts pine bark in it, why even?

Noah, who usually ate most things, might have seen the food that Gilbert gave him as an act of dousing him with water.

“Hah…”

At Rohan’s deep sigh, burdened by such considerations,

Dick, whose stomach was growling in hunger, seized the opportunity to pressure Gilbert.

“See? Even Rohan’s reacting like that’s a no-go.”

“Hmm… Pine bark has a certain sweetness, which should create harmony. Perhaps the White Tiger beastmen simply dislike vegetarian fare? I may need to refine my studies.”

“It’s not a species problem. That’s just not something you eat.”

Rohan, watching the bickering pair, finalized his assessment of the situation.

“These two are a disaster, not guests.”

Noah Frozenheart, a ravenous tiger.

Wasn’t this a madcap duo dragging along the clear calamity of a tiger plague?

“…”

Silence descended. Rohan’s gaze, sharp and stinging.

Gilbert, to break the quiet, boomed out.

“Rohan! The next thing you’re going to say is… ‘Meeting like this is fate, so I’ll hide you!’ “

“What are you babbling about? Don’t try to pass the buck and just go back.”

Rohan pushed Gilbert and Dick back the way they came.

“Why?! Take us in!”

“Ugh… You’re too heartless, you know!”

Though Dick’s plight was pitiful, a clear escape route existed.

If they really couldn’t bear it, they could use a flare to summon the instructor, or simply remove the sticker.

“Like I’d take in these sweaty nuisances. Can’t you see I’m trying to spend some quality time with Ichinose?”

“W-what are you saying!”

Ichinose, under the duo’s fixed gaze, hugged her sword and hopped back and forth.

Rohan, amused by the sight, shared the location where he’d captured the Honbird.

By providing this information, he managed to send the calamity-ridden duo, pursued by the tiger, on their way.

··

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Having seen their visitors off, Rohan and Ichinose returned to their shelter and sat down.

Rohan, with a mess kit of water bubbling away, grabbed a bag of instant noodles.

But he didn’t add the noodles or the soup powder, continuing his conversation with Ichinose.

“That was quite the storm. Still, knowing Noah is nearby is… advantageous, I suppose.”

“Y-yes, I suppose so…”

“Should we go look for him?”

Ichinose narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, glancing at Rohan.

As usual. No change in expression, and the words flowed so smoothly.

It was, somehow, infuriating.

Ichinose felt the urge to pinch Rohan’s cheek, to pull and stretch it.

‘Hiding such mischievous tendencies, were you?’

Dwelling on that joke from before, continuing to stiffen up like this, felt like a losing game.

Ichinose quelled the ripples in her heart and opened her mouth.

“It’s fine. He said he’d eat and then rest, right? I can’t condone a partner sacrificing their rest out of personal acquaintance.”

“Hmm…”

“I was worried, sure, but I wasn’t about to rush over in a panic just because I heard the news. I gave him plenty of advice too.”

Noah also had a partner named Korin, didn’t he?

Ichinose intervening rashly out of friendship could very well make things awkward.

“Then I’ll take that as a ‘no go.’ Making ramen?”

At his repeated confirmation, Ichinose nodded.

Only then did Rohan dump the noodles and soup powder from the mess tin.

*

“Tch…”

Noah, huffing and puffing, scanned his surroundings.

A hellish, astringent taste still lingered in his mouth.

‘If I catch them, they’re done for!’

Noah had already decided what punishments Gilbert and Dick would receive.

If he’d only had more strength left in his body, he wouldn’t have let them escape.

To be betrayed by hunger, to lose them because his body demanded sustenance… that made Noah even angrier.

“Noah! C-calm down! We’ve come too far!”

His partner, Korin, frantically trailed behind.

Unable to find shelter from the torrential rain on the first day, Korin was just as disheveled as he was.

Looking at that pitiful state, Noah’s desire for revenge wavered. It reminded him that this wasn’t the time.

In the end, Noah Frozenheart…

Ceased the frantic pursuit, his legs stilled.

“Augh!!! I really have to catch those two…!”

Letting emotions cloud judgment during a trial is a disadvantage. He knew he had to discard it.

But for Noah, acting with a cold, calculated focus wasn’t as simple as saying it.

“Let’s go back and wait for the supplies. Yeah? They won’t be late this time.”

“Sorry for moving without a word…”

Noah’s snow-white tail and rounded ears drooped.

“It’s alright. I have water left, so let’s go back and rinse your mouth.”

“Okay…”

Corin, on the contrary, was grateful that Noah had stopped here.

Before eating what he’d received, Noah had tasted it first and asked what it was – a benefactor, plain and simple.

“Hungry…”

Just as Noah, resigned, was about to return with Corin.

He stopped dead in his tracks!

Noah stood still, twitching his nose, prompting a questioning look from Corin.

“What’s wrong?”

“This smell…”

“Did you find something?”

“Yeah. I think I did.”

From noble mtl dot com

Closing his eyes, focusing on his sense of smell, he could feel it clearly. A scent carried on the wind.

A foreign element amidst the natural aromas.

‘Ramen!? Could this be the supplies?’

The distance was considerable.

He would have missed it if he hadn’t been so hungry.

“…”

Entranced by the scent, Noah dragged his feet,

Beginning to follow it to its source.