Sion could sense the commotion outside.
The door was tightly shut, and the noise from the abandoned building itself, along with the seeping wind, made it hard to hear clearly, but something felt off.
Could it be that someone has come again?
The frequency of these so-called “guests” showing up is strangely high.
‘…This isn’t something I should get involved in, is it?’
Sion, in her worst physical condition, pulled the blanket up to her head.
Unable to fall into a deep sleep due to the gnawing hunger and the biting cold, she drifted in and out of shallow slumber, unsure how much time had passed.
**Thud! Thud! Thud!**
Someone was pounding on the door as if trying to break it down.
*—Princess! I’m coming in!*
A familiar voice. Sion opened her eyes at the desperate voice coming from outside.
“Huh…?”
*Click! Clack!*
The locked door rattled. That was the sound of the lock being undone.
In her half-asleep state, Sion grabbed the coat hanging on the chair and draped it over herself. She sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for the door to open.
‘Did the Elders finally decide to give me an answer?’
So, it was a battle of endurance after all. If she just lay low, she’d win.
She thought it would take much longer, but the conclusion came faster than expected. Either way, it was good news.
After fumbling with the lock, the Elder burst in with a frantic expression.
“Princess! Please get dressed and come out quickly!”
“…What?”
“It’s urgent! You need to prepare right away!”
Sion began to suspect that this wasn’t the moment she had been waiting for.
She asked the Elder, who was rushing around as if biting his nails.
“Are you finally going to answer my questions?”
“That’s…!”
Her voice cracked from lack of water.
The Elder’s expression faltered, and Sion’s suspicion turned into certainty.
“Whatever it is, if it’s not that, I’m not going.”
“Princess!”
“Get out of my room. One-sided negotiations are off the table.”
The Elder was at a loss. The task given by the Grand Elder wasn’t easy.
Under the sudden stress, he felt like tearing his hair out and running around in circles.
‘How am I supposed to convince her…?’
It was a basic principle among the Elders not to mention the Reverse Praise Society or anything related to it to the Princess.
Unless she was to be discarded, there was no way to explain the situation due to the possibility of an unexpected outcome.
With the Grand Elder, the decision-maker, absent, it was inevitable that the Elder’s words would fail him.
“How long are you going to stand there? Get out of my room.”
At Sion’s cold response, the Elder clenched his teeth.
After taking several deep breaths, he threw out a bait mixed with a bit of truth.
“…The guests who have arrived know everything you’ve been curious about.”
Sion’s eyebrow twitched.
A silence that felt like a millennium passed between the Elder and the elven girl.
“Sigh… Wait outside. I’ll get ready.”
“Princess! Please hurry as much as possible!”
“I got it, so close the door first.”
As Sion said, the elder grabbed the doorknob to leave, but…
He suddenly stopped in his tracks, a question flooding his mind.
“Since they said they’d evaluate the vessel’s qualifications, should I bring a weapon too?”
The man who came as the envoy of the Reverse Flow Praise Society doesn’t forgive careless mistakes.
If he had to wait again for the same reason, it was clear that violence would be directed at him this time.
Swallowing his fear, the elder checked his perfectly fine gums.
With a tense face, he said to Sion:
“…You should dress neatly and bring a weapon.”
After finishing his words, the elder closed the door, saying he’d wait.
Sion changed her clothes and thought:
“Dress neatly and bring a weapon?”
Even if she dressed neatly, Sion only had one outfit suitable for going outside.
He should know that, so why say that? Who on earth came to make him act like this?
“Well, that’s not my business anyway.”
She didn’t care who the guest was.
If the elder’s words were a lie, Sion wouldn’t stay still.
Seeing him so flustered, it must be no ordinary guest.
If things didn’t go her way, Sion planned to ruin the meeting with that guest.
* * *
**Clunk!**
Sion finished preparing and opened the door.
She had changed into her outfit, carrying a sniper rifle and goggles. The elder knew this was the best she could do with her current attire.
“As you said, I dressed neatly and brought a weapon.”
“I’ll guide you. Let’s hurry!”
The elder checked Sion’s appearance and quickly led the way.
Sensing the urgency, Sion asked:
“Where are we going?”
“To the conference room.”
At the elder’s words, Sion furrowed her brows.
The situation was full of questions.
‘Conference room?’
Wasn’t that the place the elders would throw a fit about, saying she couldn’t enter even if she wanted to attend meetings?
As the elder guided her there, Sion dragged her weary body.
“Please go in quickly.”
As she stepped into the conference room, her mind froze.
‘???’
Was she hallucinating?
She couldn’t understand the scene before her.
Why was that elder standing still, blood pouring from his mouth like a waterfall, without receiving any treatment?
And what were these blood-stained corn kernels scattered on the floor?
“….”
Before questioning those things, the most important point for Sion.
Why were Rohan and Clara sitting there?
‘Is this a dream? A lucid dream?’
Faced with an image she had never imagined, Sion’s mind resorted to escaping reality.
“….”
But the girl knew well this wasn’t a dream.
A dark, gloomy imagination.
Just the thought made sorrow well up in her chest. It felt like tears would pour out any second.
Rohan’s lips twitched with joy upon seeing Sion’s face, but he suppressed it to avoid showing and glared at the elder.
“Taking this long just to bring someone here?”
“I’m sorry! Actually…”
“Go on, try to explain. If I don’t buy it, I’ll shove a blade in your mouth.”
“…”
At the sharp threat, the elders all shut their mouths.
Rohan checked on Sion, who was frozen.
And then he panicked enough for his expression to crack.
While the elders looked straight ahead, not giving a single care, Sion looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
‘No way.’
Could it be a misunderstanding from just the picture?
Rohan, trying to speed things up, looked at the elders with disdain and continued.
“Useless fools, I can’t trust your work at all. Go check it out yourself and come back.”
Rohan gestured to Clara with his chin.
This is what it means to convey a message with just a glance. Clara clearly knew what to say to Sion.
“…”
The girl, who had been sitting in silence, got up from her chair.
Without a word, she led Sion, who was holding back tears, outside.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
As the sound of their footsteps faded, Rohan got up from his chair and grabbed the sword leaning against the wall.
“Now, let’s hear the reason.”
Rohan slapped his palm with the scabbard! Thwack! Thwack!
The elders’ pupils shook uncontrollably at Rohan’s relentless approach.
“Hex told you to raise the vessel properly, so what’s with this mess?”
“Th-that is…”
The Sion Rohan faced was gaunt and haggard.
She looked like she hadn’t eaten or drunk properly. She looked much healthier when they were suffering together in the dungeon.
Rage boiled inside him.
“Idiots. Can’t even handle something this simple?”
**──Whack!** Rohan started a beatdown with the thick scabbard.
He began beating the visible elders into a state of combat incapability, whether their bones broke or not.
**Whack! Crack! Thud!**
“Ugh…!”
“Guh! M-my leg…!”
The conference room echoed with brutal, dull sounds.
And voices squeezing out through the pain.
All the elders except the Grand Elder were rolling on the floor, battered.
The elders didn’t resist Rohan once while being beaten.
‘Idiots.’
Even if they borrowed the name of the Reverse Praise Assembly, could it really be this easy?
Rohan buried the joy of easily neutralizing most of them.
Using the remaining anger as fuel, he gritted his teeth and glared at the Grand Elder.
“I don’t need the others. Grand Elder Levin Maxwell. You, tell me the truth.”
“…”
A troubled light flashed across the old man’s wrinkled eyes.
The act of desperately racking his brain. Rohan didn’t give him any leeway.
“Got nothing to say? Then I guess there’s no objection if I report this directly to Lord Hex.”
“Even as a politician who doesn’t step onto the battlefield, I know full well that a healthy body is essential for building strength.”
After a long silence, the Grand Elder finally spoke.
Rohan, as if he’d been waiting, was ready to pounce.
“Oh ho, so you know that, yet you look like *that*? Go on, keep yapping.”
“However, I believe that hardships are a necessary element for an intelligent being to grow wings.”
“So you turned them into *that* for mental growth?”
“Exactly as you say.”
Watching the elder ramble on, Rohan stifled a laugh.
He was steering things in a direction that would be easy to exploit.
“You don’t get it. Only a handful grow stronger after falling into the abyss.”
“Yes, as you say. But I’m confident that the Testarossa bloodline belongs to that handful.”
In other words, don’t discard them.
Rohan tapped the floor with his blood-stained scabbard and stroked his chin.
“A plan, huh? It’s hard to call it an intentional plan at this point.”
“That’s… because the hardships have only just begun.”
Words are flowing so smoothly.
Rohan’s eyes turned toward the entrance of the conference room.
‘When will they arrive?’
Rohan waited for Clara and Sion to return.
This seemed like the perfect moment to keep his promise with Sion.
“Levin Maxwell.”
“Yes, speak.”
“I’m unimpressed by the mediocre training you’ve set up. It’s like child’s play—I’m not even angry.”
“…I’ll push them harder. Just watch—”
*Thud!* The scabbard slammed into the floor, cutting him off.
“I said today I’d judge the potential of the vessel.”
“…”
The Grand Elder, at a loss for words, closed his mouth.
“Levin Maxwell. You were confident the vessel would overcome mental hardships and grow, weren’t you?”
“That’s correct.”
“Good. I’ll see for myself the mental strength of this vessel you’re so confident about.”
Rohan gave the Grand Elder an order.
When the Testarossa bloodline returns, reveal everything that’s been hidden until now.
The Grand Elder looked visibly flustered.
But at Rohan’s assurance that he’d take responsibility, he nodded as if he’d never been flustered at all.
