Late at night, when everything was quiet, it was lights-out time.

After washing up, the students all stayed inside their own tents, getting ready to sleep.

After Vinny finished scrubbing the pot and bowls, he went down to the seaside to wash up. Once he was done, he sauntered lazily back toward his tent.

As he passed Aesphyra’s tent, he saw her sitting on a little stool outside. Her soft, black-stockinged feet, bare now that she’d taken off her loafers, were swinging in the air as she elegantly wiped down her cheeks.

Mm. A little white cat washing its face.

Vinny didn’t know why, but that was the image that popped into his head.

“What is Vinny staring at~?”

Before he could react and pull his gaze back, Aesphyra’s eyes—full of laughter and sultry charm—had already landed on him.

“What? Is it that novel? I can’t even look for a second now?” Vinny turned his eyes away and pursed his lips.

“Was that look on your face saying you wanted to come sleep with me tonight~?”

Aesphyra rested her chin on one hand. Her crescent-moon eyes were brimming with mischief. “I wouldn’t say no, you know?”

“Really? Heh, here we go again. I’ve seen through you already; I can’t even be bothered to call you out. If I actually did come over, you’d be the first one not okay with it.” Vinny gave Aesphyra a sideways glance.

“And how does Vinny know I’d be ‘not okay with it’?”

Aesphyra tilted her head, eyeing him sidelong. “You’ve never tried, have you?”

“Tsk tsk, listen to yourself. And what if I really did try?”

Vinny felt like this girl toyed with him like this every single time. If he just let her string him along like some pure little virgin boy every time, wouldn’t that completely wreck his dignity??

He was the Camella Capital Delinquent, the Camella Idea King—how could he let this silver-haired shorty jerk him around like this??

“Come on, then~”

Aesphyra’s eyes were drenched in lush, seductive allure. Under the night moon, the pale moonlight fell over her silken silver hair, and with that fair, dewy skin and flawless face, she was a living, breath-stealing painting.

Not only that, she even matched it with a little movement: her over-the-knee black stockings wrapped around those legs; the faintly visible sheen of skin underneath; the way she stretched those legs out straight and swung them in the air.

“Vinny, come here~?”

“You—seriously, I’m done with you!”

Vinny hurriedly yanked his gaze away; he could feel his cheeks burning for some reason.

You’d go this far just to win?? White-furred nutball, you…!

In the end, this round still ended in Vinny’s defeat.

He’d wanted to hold his ground for once, but ultimately he fled in disarray, running back to his own tent.

“Hee-hee~”

Aesphyra’s lips curved with a satisfied smile as she slipped her toes back into her loafers and returned to her tent.

“Whew…”

Back in his tent, Vinny swallowed. The shocking image from just now still wouldn’t leave his mind.

A silver-haired girl beneath the moon.

A picture-perfect scene of beauty.

He pressed a hand against his chest and found his heart was pounding wildly.

What was with that?

Vinny couldn’t figure it out. He clearly saw Aesphyra’s face all the time and was long since used to it, familiar with the kill-power of the Destiny Heroine’s looks.

So why wasn’t he getting used to it? Why, instead, did Aesphyra’s kill-power feel like it was only getting stronger??

Ah, ah, was it because of that day? Was it really because both he and Aesphyra had acted so weird that day?

Vinny slapped himself lightly on the head.

Vinny, Vinny, you can’t fall for it. She’s a cold-blooded green-eyed warhawk—and one with really twisted tastes. She just likes teasing pure-hearted boys like you. You cannot take the bait.

He’d bet anything that if he really did “play along,” Aesphyra would absolutely punt him straight into the sea.

Mm. Yeah. That had to be it.

“Eh? Vinny, are you okay?”

Shicodale, already finished washing up and inside the tent fixing his hair, looked over and saw Vinny suddenly rush in with a very unnatural expression, face red and ears burning. He couldn’t help finding it strange.

“N-no, I’m fine.” Vinny forced himself to calm down and shook his head. “I just came back from running at night. Let’s hurry and sleep; we’ve got hunting tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

Shicodale didn’t doubt him.

Even though he was very curious why Vinny would go out for a night run this late, he didn’t ask.

“Dale, are you done washing up?” Vinny asked.

“Mm, yeah.”

Shicodale was sitting in the tent in a duck-sit, hair tie clenched between his teeth, both hands gathering up his glossy, silver hair.

Right now, his little white, tender feet were bare; who knew where he’d tossed the little white socks he usually liked to wear.

“Ahem, Dale, how many times do I have to tell you?” Vinny shot him a look, quietly reminding him. “Some of your poses are way too much like a girl, you know that? You’ve been with me this long—I figured you’d have picked up at least a bit of manly bearing and style by osmosis. How are you still this dainty and fussy?”

“At this rate, when are you ever going to become a real, stand-tall man?” Vinny asked.

“Mm… sorry, Vinny.” Shicodale lowered his head.

“What are you apologizing for again? Dale, how many times have I told you not to apologize?” Vinny said, meaningful and earnest. “Changing habits is hard, but you’ve got to stick with it.”

“All right, let’s just go to sleep.”

With that, Vinny lay down inside the tent.

“Mm, okay.”

Since the tent only had so much space, Shicodale could only lie not far from Vinny, always keeping a certain distance between them.

However—

Mm. Since they were in the same enclosed space, Vinny could definitely smell Shicodale’s hair and body scent.

As for Shicodale, Vinny didn’t know—but he was sure this kid hadn’t fallen asleep at all.

With his back to Vinny, he was stiff as if he’d been bitten by a crocodile.

But that was only normal. A girl sleeping in the same space as a guy was definitely something to be nervous about.

Thinking that, Vinny looked at Shicodale’s back and drifted toward sleep.

That fresh scent on Shicodale really was nice—like kissing flowers and grass after the rain.

Very soon, Vinny fell fast asleep.

The next morning.

A crisp bell rang out, precisely waking all the students still fast asleep.

Everyone’s eyes flew open at once as they all remembered there would be a points assessment this morning.

The once-peaceful campsite instantly became noisy.

Some were yanking others out of their sleeping bags; some stumbled out, still half-asleep with their hair a mess, to wash up; some had even put on the wrong clothes. It was chaos.

Even Carillian Academy students couldn’t completely adapt to the nightmare of getting up early.

Oh, hey?!

The instant he heard the bell, the Vinny who’d been eating a feast in a luxury villa in his dreams got yanked back into the real world. He instinctively tried to sit up—only to feel a weight pressing on his chest, making him feel stuffy.

Right, why did his chest feel stuffy?

Wasn’t it because the fireplace in the villa had been stoked too high, so the air wasn’t circulating?

Vinny forced his eyelids open and saw a white creature lying on his chest, curled on its side like an octopus wrapped around him.

Holy—?!

Vinny snapped awake and pushed at the Shicodale draped over him.

“Dale, Dale. Wake up, come on!” Vinny called.

Shicodale, making a soft little noise in his sleep, shifted slightly.

He had no idea how he’d fallen asleep. He’d been tense all night, but once he did drift off, that scent made him not want to wake up again. Usually, when he was making breakfast, he was absolutely never late getting up.

“Eh—eh—eh?”

Only after Vinny called him several times and pushed him over and over did Shicodale slowly peel his eyelids open.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, and when he finally # Nоvеlight # saw what was in front of him, his eyes instantly went wide. The next second, his face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, like a ripe little apple.

[Virtue +80]

[Current Virtue: 5504]

“V-Vinny?! You—how…”

“Don’t ask that. I’m the one who should be asking you that question,” Vinny said helplessly. “Let go, Dale. Otherwise we’re going to be late. Don’t forget we’ve got work to do today.”

“Ah—ah, ah!”

Realizing that he’d been sleeping wrapped around Vinny, Shicodale sprang up like a startled cat and scrambled back into the corner of the tent.

“S-sorry, Vinny!”

“It’s fine. But you really are a pretty restless sleeper, huh, Dale?”

Vinny glanced down at his own chest and couldn’t help griping.

Sleeping was one thing—but flailing around, grabbing people in your sleep, that he could accept.

How was he supposed to accept the drooling?

There was drool all over his shirt.

Not only that, because they’d both taken off their jackets to sleep and were only wearing shirts, Shicodale had fidgeted around so much that his shirt was on the verge of giving out.

A bit earlier and Vinny would’ve seen that white…

Ahem. Better to just pretend he hadn’t seen anything.

“S-sorry, sorry!”

Shicodale had realized how he looked right now, and how bad his sleep habits were. Shame flooded him.

[Virtue +70]

[Current Virtue: 5574]

“I-I’m not usually like this…”

“All right, all right, enough. Don’t say that, and don’t say sorry. It’s no big deal. Hurry up and get dressed.”

Vinny didn’t even look at him, afraid he’d see something he shouldn’t see.

He tossed Shicodale’s jacket over to him, then shrugged his own on and stepped out of the tent, leaving the space to Shicodale so he could gather himself.

As for his hair getting messed up while he slept?

If it was messy, it was messy. He didn’t have “hair-gel hands” he could just run through his hair to make it perfect again.

When you were out like this, who still had the energy to worry about their image?

…Okay, the second he thought that and stepped out of the tent, Vinny felt like he’d been slapped in the face.

“Good morning, Vinny~”

The fresh sea breeze lifted the clean, tidy, silk-like silver hair of the girl before him—a dreamlike vision of beauty.

The silver-haired girl held one hand to her temple to keep her hair from blowing around; the tips of her hair, however, danced in the wind. Over the sea, half a sun hung low, and the morning light traced her breathtaking profile.

This white-furred nutball really was flawless from all 360 degrees, huh??

“Morning. You’re up too?” Vinny turned his gaze aside slightly.

“If you’re up, Vinny, how could I still be asleep~?”

“Tch. I was actually hoping to see this white-furred nutball of yours in full bedhead before you had time to fix yourself up.”

Vinny folded his arms.

But thinking about it, that was probably impossible.

It wasn’t like he’d never stayed in the same courtyard as Aesphyra—every time he’d opened his eyes and seen her, she’d already been perfectly put together.

She was probably the type who would still look perfect even without time to get ready—and the little bit of disheveled would just add to the contrast and charm.

That’s what being too good-looking did to a person.

“All right, I’m done here. I’m going to wash up.”

After thinking it over, Vinny decided lining up to get water was too much hassle. He turned to Aesphyra instead.

“Aesphyra, give me a hand?”

“Oh?”

Aesphyra tilted her head, immediately understanding what he meant.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, don’t waste it.”

Vinny tipped his chin up and slapped a handkerchief over his face. “I’m betting you can’t hit me.”

“Pfft.”

Aesphyra couldn’t help laughing.

She raised her hand, gathering a ball of clean water in her palm, and then smacked it right into Vinny’s face.

[Cleansing Rinse Orb]

“Augh—!”

Vinny snapped fully awake. The fog in his brain vanished in an instant under that freezing shock.

Ordinary water magic couldn’t be used for washing people; after all, most water spells were meant for attacking enemies. The water wasn’t clean; it had impurities, and some even carried toxins.

Functional water spells were the exception.

For example, [Cleansing Rinse Orb] was a functional water spell.

The water it produced, while costly in mana, could be safely used as a clean water source for washing up.

The spell’s rank wasn’t high, but it was hard to learn and complicated to cast. Basically no students were willing to spend that much time mastering a non-combat spell.

Well—Aesphyra excluded. She’d nearly learned every spell below Master that was possible to learn, and these functional spells were no exception.

“Thanks, yeah.”

After washing his face, Vinny took another cup’s worth and went down to the seaside to finish washing up.

Shicodale took quite a bit of effort before finally stepping out of the tent.

That was understandable. At the end of the day, he was still a girl; it took more time to get himself in order.

Off to the side, Aesphyra watched Shicodale emerge and continue fussing with his appearance. A deep light flickered in her eyes for an instant, then vanished.

Since Shicodale was moving a little slowly, Vinny had Aesphyra help him out too, saving the time of fetching water.

Once everyone was ready and lined up, the assessment was about to begin.

The mentors lifted the protective barrier magic around the campsite and read the rules out to the students again.

“Everyone, you’re allowed to fight over prey, but attacking each other is strictly forbidden. If anyone is caught, the lightest punishment will be expulsion. Do you all understand?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep