“Mirexia and Vinny seem to have such a close relationship, it’s really enviable.” Watching the interaction between the two, Aesphyra, standing to the side with her hands behind her back, said with a smile. “Or should I say, it’s no surprise since you two are childhood friends who understand each other so well?”
Her tone sounded like she was simply expressing admiration, but whether it was due to preconceived notions or not, Vinny couldn’t help but feel a hint of sourness in Aesphyra’s words.
“I just came to check if he’s recovered,” Mirexia replied with feigned calmness, though the subtle upward curve of her lips betrayed her words and demeanor.
Well, if it weren’t for Aesphyra previously telling Vinny that Mirexia had stayed by his side for two days and nights while he was unconscious, only leaving when she couldn’t stay awake any longer, Vinny might have believed Mirexia’s indifferent attitude.
Originally, Vinny had planned to take this opportunity to subtly mock Aesphyra, hoping to squeeze some moral high ground out of her. But now...
Well, he had eaten the care package Aesphyra brought him, and now he felt a twinge of guilt whenever he looked at her.
Wait, why should he feel guilty? Damn it, it must be because of Aesphyra’s earlier comments and that strange dream, which had subconsciously made him feel like he was somehow encroaching on someone else’s territory.
In reality, his relationship with Mirexia hadn’t changed because of this incident. Vinny knew that very well.
In the original story, Mirexia had no romantic feelings for Vinny; it was all one-sided on his part.
But there was nothing he could do about it. After all, this was a yuri game. Vinny was fully aware that he was in a world where men had no right to choose their partners. He wouldn’t let himself get carried away just because he had saved Mirexia once and she seemed to view him in a slightly better light. If he got too full of himself, he’d probably end up following the same tragic path as in the original story.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward.
Vinny remained silent, Mirexia didn’t say anything either, likely because Aesphyra was present, and Aesphyra simply watched the two with a smile, saying nothing.
There were three people in the room, yet an eerie silence hung in the air.
“Oh! Now that the monster extermination is over, what about our grades?” Vinny suddenly clapped his head, realizing a serious issue, and broke the silence.
“Don’t worry about that. Because of the special circumstances of our situation, plus the fact that we thwarted the Bronze Blood’s plot, the academy has exempted us from the extermination quota,” Mirexia explained.
“That’s good... But if the monster extermination is over, shouldn’t there be a lot of injured people in the monastery? Why does it seem like I’m the only one lying here?” Vinny scratched his head.
Come on, this made him look like such a weakling.
“Of course, Vinny, who told you the monster extermination was over?” Aesphyra’s lips curled into a beautiful smile.
“? Didn’t you already come back?”
“Aesphyra completed her extermination quota early and reported it to the instructor, so she came back ahead of time,” Mirexia explained from the side.
“Huh??” Vinny’s eyes widened.
Well, it wasn’t really that surprising. After all, she was the protagonist blessed by fate, a cheat-level character. It made sense that she would finish her extermination quota in record time.
Vinny had initially wondered why Aesphyra, the chosen heroine, hadn’t shown up when the female lead was in danger. Now he realized it was a good thing the Bronze Blood hadn’t run into her. Otherwise, she would’ve ripped their heads off in less than a minute.
“Well, Aesphyra, you’re really amazing,” Vinny said, feeling like he should at least give her some symbolic praise since Mirexia was present.
“Not at all, Vinny. You’re ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the one who’s truly impressive. You sensed Mirexia was in danger at the critical moment and even managed to defeat the Bronze Blood followers. Your strength is really unbelievable.”
Vinny detected something off in Aesphyra’s praise.
Wait, her words weren’t actually complimenting him. If you listened closely, there was a subtle implication.
Was she suspecting that he had some secret dealings with the Bronze Blood? That this whole incident was a staged act to gain Mirexia’s trust?
Hey, now that you mention it...
Given Aesphyra’s understanding of Vinny from the original story, knowing he was a morally bankrupt individual who would go to any lengths to gain power, even turning to the Demon God Pillars, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
The Bronze Blood’s attack had been so sudden, and why was it that Vinny, of all people, had discovered their plot when even the instructors and the church had failed to notice anything?
How could a guy with a sealed bloodline like him have managed that?
And how could a mere Artisan have played a key role in Mirexia’s battle against the Bronze Blood?
Now that he thought about it, he did seem pretty suspicious. Following this line of reasoning, Vinny even started to think he might be a Bronze Blood spy planted in Carillian Academy.
If he were Aesphyra, he’d probably suspect someone like Vinny, who had a shady past.
From her perspective, this could very well be an evil scheme orchestrated by the Demon God Pillar cultists to deceive the innocent princess.
“Oh, it was just a coincidence. I guess the goddess must have been looking out for me,” Vinny waved his hand dismissively.
“You’re being too modest, Vinny. Given the strength of those Bronze Blood followers, even Mirexia struggled against them. Yet you managed to chase them off. It seems you’ve been holding back your true strength all along, haven’t you?” Aesphyra said with a meaningful tone.
Vinny frowned. He couldn’t quite decipher Aesphyra’s words. It felt like she was either mocking him for being a mere Artisan who shouldn’t have been able to defeat enemies even Mirexia struggled with, or she genuinely suspected something and was probing him.
“Not at all, it was all thanks to Mirexia’s strength. Honestly, I just stumbled in at the right time. Whether I accidentally entered the Demon God’s plane or not doesn’t really matter. Mirexia could have handled it on her own.” Even if Aesphyra did suspect he had connections with the Demon God Pillar cultists, Vinny couldn’t explain it to her. After all, it was all just too coincidental.
But he couldn’t exactly tell her the details of what happened in the secret realm, could he?
That he had awakened his bloodline and sensed the aura of the Demon God Erunes, which was why he rushed over?
“Oh? Is that so?” Aesphyra hadn’t heard the details of what happened in the Demon God plane from Mirexia.
She only knew that Mirexia had been ambushed by the Bronze Blood, and then Vinny showed up to help her deal with them.
The two had managed to escape the extended Demon God domain created by the cultists.
“Yes, that’s roughly what happened,” Mirexia nodded without showing any emotion.
Of course, she didn’t want to downplay Vinny’s contributions, but Vinny had repeatedly asked her not to reveal his secret, saying it was something only between the two of them.
So Mirexia kept quiet about it, even when reporting to the instructors, sticking to the story Vinny had provided.
Whether it was out of friendship, gratitude for saving her life, or her own personal feelings, Mirexia would keep Vinny’s secret. Though she probably wouldn’t admit to the latter.
“Oh, I see,” Aesphyra’s smile remained as enigmatic as ever as she glanced at the two.
“Excuse me, young man, sorry to disturb your rest. Are you feeling any discomfort now?” Just as the three were lost in their thoughts, a nun walked in and asked Vinny.
“Thanks to your care, I’m feeling much better,” Vinny replied.
“That’s good to hear. Would you mind coming with us? Our Arch-Bishop would like to meet you. We’ve already contacted Carillian Academy, and they’ve agreed,” the nun said, her hand resting on the cross pendant at her chest, speaking with a gentle and devout tone.
The Arch-Bishop of the Church of Radiance wanted to see him??
Vinny frowned, about to say something, when he caught the flicker in Mirexia’s eyes from the side.
He instantly understood the meaning behind her gaze.
“Of course, but I’d like to use the restroom first,” Vinny smiled at the nun. “I’m sure the Arch-Bishop can wait a little longer, right?”
“You’re too kind, of course. Please, go ahead,” the nun smiled and left the room.
“Ahem, so...” With only the three of them left in the room, Vinny was trying to come up with an excuse to send Aesphyra away. But before he could say anything, Aesphyra spoke up first.
“Mirexia, Vinny, since everything seems to be fine now, I’ll take my leave,” Aesphyra said with a smile, looking at the two.
“Oh, alright then. See you later, Aesphyra,” Vinny immediately understood that Aesphyra wasn’t leaving because she had something to do, but because she had sensed that he and Mirexia needed to talk privately.
With her high emotional intelligence, she chose to leave without waiting for them to ask.
This girl was really...
Nothing seemed to escape her.
Feeling Aesphyra’s gaze, Vinny felt immense pressure. At first, he had arrogantly thought that the chosen heroine was just lucky, nothing more.
But the more he interacted with Aesphyra and understood just how formidable this reincarnated monster was, Vinny gradually realized why she was the protagonist. And it was because of this that he felt a deep sense of powerlessness in her presence.
Even if he faced her head-on, Vinny wouldn’t stand a chance.
He was sweating bullets.
“Well then, Mirexia dear, see you later~”
“Yes, see you.”
After saying goodbye to Mirexia, Aesphyra left.
“Mirexia, the Arch-Bishop has already spoken to you, hasn’t he?” Hearing the footsteps fade away completely, Vinny roughly understood what Mirexia had been hinting at earlier and spoke up.
“Yes, he’s probably looking for you for the same reason,” Mirexia nodded.
“Alright, let’s get our stories straight so we don’t give anything away. What did you tell them?”
Mirexia recounted what she had told the Church of Radiance to Vinny. After that, the two left the monastery together.
“Pleasure to meet you, Your Highness,” as soon as they stepped out of the monastery, they were greeted by two fully armored knights in silver armor.
The two knights greeted Mirexia first, then silently turned their gaze to Vinny standing beside her, saying nothing.
The familiar armor design and their armbands were highly recognizable.
They were the Holy Radiance Cross Knights of the Church of Radiance.
Once the most trusted swords and shields of the Saintess, they now served only the Pope. Seeing Vinny, a supposed descendant of Varelis, they showed no sign of respect.
“Well then, Mirexia, I’ll go with these two knights,” Vinny didn’t mind, smiling as he waved to Mirexia.
“...Do you need me to come with you?” Mirexia’s expression remained unchanged, but there was a hint of concern in her eyes.
She knew a bit about Vinny’s attitude toward the Church of Radiance.
“No need, I’ve already troubled you too much these past few days. Besides, if you came along, it would only cause trouble for these two knights,” Vinny glanced at the two knights. It was obvious they were here specifically for him.
“I understand,” seeing that Vinny didn’t want her to come, Mirexia had no choice but to let it go.
This was Carillian Academy’s stronghold. No one would be foolish enough to cause trouble for a student of the academy here. That would be crossing a line.
And these were church knights; they wouldn’t do anything to harm Vinny.
Even if the Church of Radiance had strayed from its path in recent years, it was still a representative of the human faction.
“Let’s go, gentlemen,” watching Mirexia walk away, Vinny visibly cooled his expression, looking at the two knights with an indifferent face.
He could be polite to the lower-ranking nuns and priests, but these two were different.
As members of the Church of Radiance’s knight order, they were very close to those who had raided his home, if not the same people.
The two Holy Radiance Cross Knights didn’t say much either, gripping their sword hilts as they led the way.
The atmosphere instantly turned cold. Neither side seemed willing to exchange even a single word, their mutual disdain written all over their faces.
“Vinny, you’re finally awake? You were sleeping like a log earlier. Where are you off to now?” Just then, a familiar voice interrupted.
Vinny turned to see his teacher, Franklin.
Before Vinny could say anything, he noticed, though he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, that the two knights seemed to become noticeably more respectful upon seeing Franklin.
This left Vinny puzzled.