Clara.
The S-rank limited character from Abyss City. Upon release, it reached the top spot in the store’s revenue rankings.
When Rohan last checked, Clara’s promotional video had surpassed 2.7 million views.
Though her tenure in Rohan’s party was shorter compared to Ichinose Yui and Noah Frozenheart, Clara was the third S-rank character Rohan fully upgraded. Despite the shorter timeframe, his affection for her was no less than for the other two.
This was why he remembered her backstory so vividly.
‘Clara’s origin is from Zeno.’
Zeno was a small, impoverished country in the west with a closed-off and insular stance toward the outside world.
Unlike Rohan’s homeland in the south, which was stable, Zeno was a nation teetering on the brink of collapse due to internal conflicts.
From what Rohan recently learned, Zeno’s leadership had suffered successive deaths, leaving the nation in a near-anarchic state, with neighboring countries starting to encroach under various pretenses.
Clara was likely well aware of this situation.
While Zeno maintained an outwardly xenophobic attitude toward foreign countries, internally, it focused its efforts on training spies for assassinations, intelligence gathering, and technological theft.
Clara had been one of the orphans trained in this harsh environment.
‘Back then, her name wasn’t Clara—it was No. 11.’
As someone naturally timid, Clara could have easily been discarded like the other orphans who came seeking food, only to be chased away.
However, her overwhelming talent in combat set her apart, earning her great expectations even within Zeno.
‘What a harsh fate.’
But as fate often does, it took an unexpected turn.
One day, Clara was assigned to track down and eliminate a group amassing wealth through the smuggling of foreign goods into Zeno, as well as to confiscate their assets.
There wasn’t much point in dwelling on the details.
The girl, who had lived her life burdened by the oppressive duty of self-sacrifice for her country, encountered the outside world for the first time on that mission.
A warehouse filled with untouched smartphones, laptops, vividly illustrated magazines, books, and external drives loaded with animation and movies.
At first, Clara dismissed these as mere propaganda, tools to confuse Zeno’s citizens.
However, she wasn’t foolish. Despite her timidity, she secretly kept some items for herself while returning the rest to Zeno.
‘The handlers who trained Clara made two critical mistakes.’
First, they underestimated her. They assumed her passive demeanor meant she lacked the courage to escape.
Second, based on that assumption, they sent her on the mission before properly instilling ideological loyalty.
Time passed.
While secretly building her knowledge and waiting for an opportunity, Clara’s persistence seemed almost divine.
As if the heavens themselves wanted her to leave, a critical event struck Zeno: an uprising.
The farmers, living in a poverty-stricken society mocked by other nations, rose up. Some formed militias, while others turned to banditry.
Without a strong central leader, Zeno’s fractured leadership devolved into endless infighting, and the small nation began to crack apart.
When one faction of the leadership sent its spies—Clara included—not to gather intelligence but to suppress the rebellion, Clara seized the chance and escaped without looking back.
Rohan now found himself face-to-face with that very girl.
‘It feels different to meet someone who lived through the story I know from the game.’
He even understood why Clara maintained her unique fashion sense.
After wearing the same skin-tight black suit every day, she fell in love with modern fashion after seeing it in the magazines she smuggled out.
‘Even her interest in gaming stemmed from her exploration of the outside world.’
While Rohan knew much about Clara’s past, he realized he knew nothing about her present.
He knew how she escaped Zeno, but not what happened after—until she met the protagonist in her second year.
That was why Rohan was pleased to see Clara initiating the conversation herself, seemingly ready to share her personal story.
“Still... you’ve never asked me anything. About why I’m at the bookstore every day until closing...”
Clara brought up the subject hesitantly, and Rohan replied carefully.
“Honestly, I was curious, but I thought asking might put pressure on you.”
“So... you were curious!”
Her eyes sparkled, and her twin tails seemed to wag, like a tail responding to her emotions.
‘That’s what makes her happy, huh.’
Curious about what Clara would share, Rohan decided to nudge her gently.
“If you’re ready to tell me, I’d love to know.”
“Well... but it might be boring...”
Clara fidgeted with her drink’s straw, swirling it aimlessly. Rohan extended a hand and lightly tapped her pale hand with his finger.
“!!!”
Startled, Clara met his eyes for the first time.
Rohan smiled warmly.
“Does it really matter if it’s interesting? What’s important is that we get to know each other better.”
“...”
They saw each other almost daily, shared hobbies, were in the same guild, and often hung out after work.
Where else could one find such a close friend?
"Wouldn't it be nice to speak more casually from now on? What do you think?"
"Ah! Uh? E-e-eh...?"
Clara let out a strange sound, unable to focus her gaze. She seemed more than a little flustered, but it didn’t look like she was going to run away.
Rohan watched her reaction, amused by how fresh and genuine it was.
Clink!
The ice melting in Clara’s cup shifted, making a faint sound.
"Our relationship... our relationship..."
Clara repeated Rohan’s words to herself for a while, as though deliberating deeply. Finally, as if she had reached a decision, she straightened her back, placed her hands neatly on her knees, and nodded with determination.
"O-okay! Let’s speak casually...!"
"Then, is it alright if I just call you Clara?"
Clara gave a small nod and, hesitatingly, asked in an awkward mix of casual and polite speech, "W-what about me? How should I call you...?"
Her speech was clumsy, but at least she remembered their age difference.
"I mean... no, I... I won’t be entering the Academy until next year..."
"So, we’re only a year apart. It’s no big deal. Just call me however you like, even by name."
Even though the age gap was minimal, Rohan’s presence felt significantly older to Clara. Inevitably, her choice of address led to one conclusion.
"Th-then... Rohan-oppa...?"
"That’s fine by me. It’s music to my ears."
Clara, still unfamiliar with speaking casually, smiled shyly, her lips twitching upward.
While Rohan found the exchange endearing, he decided to shift the topic, eager to hear what Clara had to say about herself.
"So, are you ready to tell me about yourself now?"
"...Yeah."
With the disclaimer that it wouldn’t be everything, Clara began to share her personal story.
"I came from... somewhere far away..."
"I see."
This confirmed that her homeland wasn’t one of the three great powers operating the Academy City. There was no need to mention Zeno by name.
"I-it’s just that, for now, there aren’t many places where I can work while waiting for my identity papers... and I just like the bookstore..."
"Your identity?"
"At the Bureau of Public Safety, they told me that my situation is similar to that of a refugee. So, I had to apply for immigration and get my status recognized before anything else. So, I went to the office... uh, went there..."
"Ah."
"While I was there for a consultation, I met the manager, who was visiting on other business..."
The scene was already taking shape in Rohan’s mind.
‘That’s probably when the manager suggested she come to the bookstore.’
It made sense now.
Rohan focused on Clara’s voice, listening intently.
"I can’t explain it all in detail, but for someone like me, the process to get identity papers is... really complicated and takes a long time..."
"So, you can’t look for work or anything until it’s approved?"
Clara nodded.
She went on to explain in detail what she had been told at the Bureau, and Rohan didn’t miss a single word.
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
The conditions for obtaining an identity within Academy City seemed simple at first glance:
Even for Rohan, who had played Abyss City, this aspect of the city’s systems had never been clearly explained, making it new information for him as well.
In conclusion, obtaining an identity in Academy City was a straightforward process for some but a daunting challenge for others.
"So, how are you managing in the meantime?"
"U-uh, the city provides food and shelter until my paperwork is done... and for my phone bill, I followed the manager’s advice, so the subsidies are just enough to cover it..."
"Hmm."
Rohan’s expression grew serious.
It wasn’t a pleasant story to hear, especially knowing this was happening to a character he deeply cared about.
Even if Academy City was a collection of nations with immense resources, how impressive could the food and shelter they provided to someone waiting, like Clara, truly be?
‘Could she have been living like this the whole time before finally enrolling in Orion Academy?’
It was difficult to say for certain.
But considering Clara’s eventual presence at the Academy in Abyss City, it was plausible.
With her abilities, she would have had no problem meeting the entrance requirements.
"Is the room they gave you warm? Do you have hot water?"
"I-it’s not really necessary to shower with hot water... Uh, I mean, no...? And I don’t really feel the cold..."
Her answer, in her clumsy casual speech, implied she had been bathing in cold water and sleeping in a frigid room, even during winter.
"Hmm."
Rohan’s concerns only deepened.