“Tsk, tsk. So you even got threatened by them. You look downright miserable right now.”

Once that man left and the huge villa was finally down to just the man on the sofa alone, an ethereal voice, with a hazy undertone to it, echoed through the room.

“Why are you still here?” The man on the sofa frowned deeply. “You dare keep showing up in front of me—are you really not afraid I’ll deal with you?”

“If you really had that idea, wouldn’t you have done it last time already? Besides, you know you can’t, and you won’t. I know exactly what kind of person you are. You can’t turn down what I can offer you. Admit it—we’re both not exactly ‘good people.’”

“Don’t lump me in with something as filthy and notorious as you!” the man on the sofa snapped.

“Hehe. What’s wrong? Still can’t quite throw away that so-called dignity of yours? In that sense, you really can’t compare to him. He’s clearly much more pure than you.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re even saying right now??” Faced with the ethereal voice’s direct provocation, the man on the sofa completely lost his temper. The thing he hated most was other people comparing him to that person.

“This really isn’t me deliberately using reverse psychology on you. Whether it’s talent, temperament, or willpower, he’s stronger than you in every way, my respectable Young Master. I’m just telling the truth here.”

“What are you trying to get at? You think if you anger me and belittle me, I’ll just decide to work with you?? Keep dreaming, you demon. I will never compromise with you!”

“Haha. If you really didn’t have that thought, then why bother saying so much useless nonsense to me?”

“I just know that, as I am now, I can’t handle a corrupt thing like you, that’s all. Now get lost. Don’t contaminate my personal space any further. Don’t even think about continuing to poison my mind.” The man spoke in open disgust.

“How is this ‘poisoning your mind’? I’m really not trying to insult you here, my oh-so-upright Young Master. With your level of talent, I really don’t think any [Divine Armament] will ever look twice at you in this lifetime.” That ethereal voice laughed in a very subtle way.

“What a joke. You think my talent needs to be judged by a demon like you? You think I’d believe even a single word out of your mouth?” the man said coldly. “You think I don’t know you’re just trying to jack up your own price in front of me?”

“Young Master, who said demons can’t tell the truth? Look at those so-called ‘good people.’ Do they only ever tell the truth? Haven’t you already seen that for yourself?”

“……”

“Hehe, I’m in no hurry, you Young Master who still hasn’t recognized what you need most and remains obsessed with dignity and morality. We have all the time in the world.”

“When you finally figure it out, we can talk again. I’m free anytime.”

With that, the voice vanished from the room, leaving the man alone, sitting there in heavy silence.

———————

“Ugh—my back’s breaking. Finally done.”

Stretching lazily, Vinny walked out of the exam hall.

The written portion of the midterm exam was over. This whole stretch of time was finally, properly wrapped up.

After the Exotic-Beast Hunt, Vinny had thought he’d finally be able to relax for a while. He hadn’t expected to get even busier afterward. Once the second semester of first year started, the course load only grew more intense. On top of that, he had to juggle all kinds of tests—written exams and assorted practical assessments—exams getting more and more frequent. After a few weeks of this, the students were practically getting roasted.

It was just like the academic pressure from his previous life, only even worse. The academic pressure here didn’t just include book knowledge; a bigger share was magic and practical combat. Fortunately, every student here had mana nourishing their bodies, so their physical constitution was leagues better than ordinary people from his previous life.

And, most importantly, Carillian Academy not only had top-tier environment and teaching resources, it also understood very well what “work–rest balance” meant.

For example, after this midterm’s written portion, there was a closely following midterm practical assessment. The Carillian Academy administration very considerately decided to let the students “rest” while conveniently knocking out their midterm practical task.

Compared to last semester’s practical task, this first-year midterm practical was clearly ramped up in difficulty, but for the Vinny of today, it felt relatively simple.

After the midterm written exam ended, Carillian Academy arranged for the students to go on a study trip. At the travel destination, they would complete their practical assignment—namely, to kill a few spirit beasts in the area. Each student was assigned a different spirit beast type.

That part all came down to luck. For example, Shicodale’s task was relatively simple: killing ten flower wolves would be enough. Vinny, on the other hand, had drawn the short straw—his task was to kill five Philor sheep. This kind of spirit sheep was already extremely rare in number. Even though he only had to kill five, they were basically impossible to find. Only in very hot places was there any chance of spotting them.

Vinny felt like his luck lately was insane in all the wrong ways. He’d basically achieved a “seven visits in, seven visits out” rate with the cathedral and sanatorium by now, and on top of that, he’d pulled such a troublesome kill quota. It was just too much.

Honestly, wasn’t this the fault of a certain white-furred nutball??

She’d sucked his luck completely dry, channeled all of it into her own fortune, and that was the real reason he was this unlucky, right??

So really, wasn’t this whole mess the result of a certain little white nut playing wrong? Vinny felt that was very likely.

Anyway, no matter what, he could finally get a bit of relief from the nonstop academic grind and relax for a while, and that alone made Vinny pretty happy.

Ever since this semester started—or more precisely, ever since the end of last semester—he’d been unlucky for a long time. Now that the midterms of this semester were over, he couldn’t possibly keep on being unlucky, right?

After being unlucky for so long, luck had to turn at some point, right? A person couldn’t just stay unlucky forever, right??

When Vinny got back to the dorm, he saw Shicodale in the middle of packing.

“Vinny, should I help you pack your luggage?”

Seeing Vinny return, Shicodale was like a cozy little cotton jacket.

“Did you already finish packing yours?” Vinny asked.

“Yes. Mine’s all done already.” Shicodale gestured at the luggage he’d neatly packed and set in the living room.

After one semester of training, this Moon Elf princess, who used to have ten fingers that never touched spring water, could now both host in the parlor and work in the kitchen. All the household chores he used to be completely clueless about were now a matter of routine.

“I haven’t even started on mine. Could I trouble you to pack with me?” Vinny asked.

“Of course.” Shicodale nodded.

“Then I’ll be in your care, Dale.”

Vinny and Shicodale went up to the second floor, to Vinny’s room.

Vinny started stuffing his clothes into the suitcase by hand.

“Vinny, you can’t just stuff them in like that,” Shicodale suddenly said. “You have to fold the clothes first and then put them in the luggage bag. Otherwise they’ll take up a lot of space.”

“Oh, oh.”

At his words, Vinny started folding his clothes before putting them into the suitcase. But his technique was really not there; everything he folded came out wrinkled and puffy, taking up a ton of room.

“Vinny, how about I do it instead?” Shicodale suggested when he saw this.

Vinny pressed his lips together. He couldn’t shake the feeling that if he kept trying to help, he’d just be making a mess and getting in the way. So he could only let go and let Shicodale handle it, while he moved off to the side to do some other little tasks.

Shicodale, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ like a little wife, helped Vinny pack and straighten all of his luggage, while Vinny, who couldn’t help at all, sat on the bench to the side, looking out the window and counting the clouds in the sky.

As he packed, Shicodale suddenly discovered a cloth bag by the drawer, a bag whose style clashed with all of Vinny’s luggage.

How to put it… Shicodale felt that this kind of cloth bag looked more like something a noble young lady would carry out of a luxury boutique. Even if he didn’t really have a concept of human luxury goods, the feeling was similar. After all, he had once been a princess of a royal house.

He had no intention of opening the cloth bag. It was just that the bag hadn’t been properly tied shut, so Shicodale happened to see what was inside.

These are…??

Seeing what the bag contained, Shicodale was quite surprised, but very quickly he realized what they were.

These should be the women’s shampoo and skincare lotions Vinny had mentioned last time, the ones he’d suddenly had the whim to try out, right??

Shicodale hesitated a little.

At a glance, you could tell these shampoos and skincare products were very high quality—already enough to count as luxury goods.

If Vinny just wanted to experience using women’s shampoo and lotion once, he really didn’t need to buy things of this level, right??

Shicodale felt a little puzzled, but in the end he didn’t think too much about it. After all, that money was all hard-earned by Vinny. As someone who was just sitting back and enjoying the benefits and still relying on Vinny to support him, he had no right to say anything.

Shicodale didn’t dwell on it. He put those things away as well and placed them inside Vinny’s travel bag.

At that moment, Vinny was looking out the window, and Shicodale had his back to him, so Vinny had no idea what Shicodale had just put into his travel bag.

After the midterm exam, the classes over those days were pretty relaxed. The schedule was basically empty. A few days later, the first- and second-year students set out for the destination of this study trip: a hot-spring resort between the Tribes and the Tyrel Empire’s border.

That’s right, only first and second years got to enjoy the study trip. Third and fourth years were busy preparing for graduation—either pushing their strength higher or buried in coursework, so busy they were spinning. Even if they were allowed to join, they wouldn’t have the spare time.

That was one of the benefits only lower grades like first and second years got to enjoy.

Inside the unicorn carriage, Vinny glanced at Shicodale sitting beside him and could clearly see the anxiety and worry in his face.

Ever since he’d heard that their destination was within the Tribes’ territory, he’d been like this.

Which was understandable. After all, because of the Tribes’ invasions, Moon Elves all carried some mental trauma regarding humans—let alone going straight to the home base of that human power.

He’d finally spent a semester at Carillian Academy, eased some of his fear of humans, and learned that there were humans of high moral character too. Now, once they got there, he was afraid everything he’d built up would collapse.

“Relax, Dale. Don’t be scared. You’re a student of Carillian Academy now—you should have some confidence in your own Academy, you know?” Vinny drawled, and as he spoke, he didn’t forget to take Shicodale’s hand, giving him confidence.

“Mm. Thank you, Vinny.” Shicodale nodded a bit timidly, but his expression already looked much better.

At that moment, footsteps sounded from outside the carriage, coming from far to near.

Vinny knew the other students assigned to their carriage were arriving. Because there were a lot of people traveling this time, the carriages had fixed assignments. Which student rode in which carriage and which single room they’d sleep in—all of it had been allocated in advance.

The students coming in were almost certainly strangers—either some second-year senior or some first-year classmate.

Luckily, Vinny had once again been assigned to the same carriage as his roommate Shicodale. That made it easier for him to comfort Shicodale and saved him a lot of trouble.

Vinny didn’t even want to imagine how panicked Shicodale would get if he had to sit alone in a carriage full of complete strangers. Even though this Moon Elf princess had had some contact with people and events by now, he was still a major social-phobic at heart.

Just as Vinny expected, the student who came in was a guy he didn’t recognize at all, the type who looked pretty prematurely mature. If he didn’t know that there were no upper years participating in this study trip, Vinny would have thought he was a fourth-year about to graduate.

When he came in and saw that he didn’t know either of them, this guy was surprisingly self-possessed. He grinned and greeted the two of them cheerfully.

“Haha, hello there, pretty lady and handsome guy. You two are first-years, right?”

“Yeah, man, but I’ve got to correct you on one point—we’re not a guy and a girl.” Vinny explained.

“Huh??”

The guy froze for a second, let his gaze go back and forth between Vinny and Shicodale, then pondered for a moment and suddenly had a look of realization.

“Oh! Sorry, I misjudged. Hello, you two pretty ladies.”

“No, man, I’m a guy??” Vinny couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out.

“Huh? Then…”

The guy turned to look at Shicodale with a face full of “I did not see that coming.”

“Yup, he’s a guy too,” Vinny said.

“For real??” The guy’s expression was full-on disbelief.

“For real, one hundred percent. Look, my elf friend here even has an Adam’s apple.” As he spoke, Vinny pointed at Shicodale’s throat.

“Hey, you’re right. This elf miss—no, little bro—really does have an Adam’s apple?” The guy stared in shock.

“Dude, you definitely don’t have a girlfriend, right?” Vinny suddenly said, for no particular reason.

“Hold up—how did you see through that??”

The guy instantly had the look of someone who’d just had his secret brutally exposed, clutching his heart in mock agony.

“Nothing, it just felt like you didn’t.”

If he had to explain how he felt it, Vinny wouldn’t know either. He just knew he’d gotten a lot more sensitive about these things than he used to be.

Before he’d even finished speaking, the carriage door was pushed open again.

This time, when the person came in, Vinny realized he actually knew her.

“It’s you??” ×2

The red-haired girl who’d stepped inside the carriage was just as surprised.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep