Chapter 127: Grown Up

What were she and Vinny like when they were young?

Mirexia remembered, but only vaguely. It felt like it was so long ago, so distant that she almost didn’t recognize the boy and girl in her memories.

Both of them had changed a lot compared to their childhood selves, especially her. Ever since she found out that her mother had actually passed away long ago, rather than going to a faraway place, she realized she no longer recognized her former self.

Looking at Vinny, who had also changed dramatically, Mirexia felt a sense of melancholy for some reason.

Personality changes often come with great pain, and the young man before her was likely no exception.

No matter what, the winds of time had blown the two of them further and further apart, and there was no going back to how things used to be.

Ever since she was established as the future queen of the kingdom, their relationship was destined to drift further apart...

Would it always be like this from now on?

Mirexia didn’t know.

“Virtue +120.”

“Current Virtue: 1554.”

The cake was finished, the fruit tea was drunk, and it seemed there was no reason for the two of them to continue sitting together.

After all, they had both grown up. For adults, friends naturally spend less time together, and people change. It’s only natural to become less aware of what’s happening in each other’s lives, and thus, less understanding of the changes in each other.

There was no helping it. Mirexia had her own duties and goals she had to achieve, and she was sure Vinny was the same.

Mirexia returned to her office, and Vinny went back to the streets to continue his investigative work. When they parted, they exchanged only a few polite words. Vinny offered to walk her back, but Mirexia declined, and Vinny didn’t press further, simply bidding her farewell.

It seemed their relationship really couldn’t return to what it once was.

Perhaps it was simply because they had both grown up, each with their own responsibilities and busy lives.

As she watched Vinny’s retreating figure, Mirexia thought to herself.

As the midterm exams approached, all the students at Carillian Academy were too busy to idle, and the student council’s workload increased even more.

Vinny, who had just finished his investigative work, was immediately summoned back to the student council to help.

Of course, considering he was a clueless novice, the °• N o v e l i g h t •° only tasks he could handle were fetching tea and observing how the seniors worked.

After a week, Vinny felt like he had never been more overworked in his life. Aside from his studies, he was constantly running around, feeling like a corporate drone from his previous life.

Aesphyra was probably busy too, but strangely, Vinny hadn’t seen her these days. Logically, as a fellow freshman, she should be just as swamped as he was. But Aesphyra was on a different level, she was likely filling in for some department, handling more important tasks.

“I’m a workhorse in the student council, a workhorse, a workhorse,” Vinny hummed a strange and off-key tune as he carried some documents to Mirexia’s office. He knocked on the door.

“President Mirexia, it’s Vinny. I’ve brought some documents regarding the midterm exams. May I come in?”

No response. The president’s office was silent.

“President Mirexia?” Vinny thought she might be too engrossed in her work to hear him, so he called out again, but still received no reply.

Was Mirexia not in her office?

“Excuse me,” Vinny turned the doorknob and opened the door. Sure enough, Mirexia wasn’t there, but the lights were on, indicating she had just stepped out and would return soon.

He’d just leave the documents on the desk and go.

With that thought, Vinny placed the documents on Mirexia’s desk and left.

As he opened the door, he saw a short-haired girl with thick glasses carrying a tea tray, her eyes filled with nervousness and anxiety as she approached.

“Ah!?” Caught off guard by someone exiting the president’s office, the girl was startled, and the tea tray slipped from her hands.

Vinny quickly caught the tray and handed it back to her.

“Th-thank you!” The girl stammered as she took the tray.

“Who are you?” Vinny recognized her, she was one of the freshmen who had joined the student council with him.

If he remembered correctly, her name was Zoe.

“S-sorry, I wasn’t careful enough,” Zoe steadied the tray and apologized repeatedly.

“Young master here says, can’t you walk more carefully?” Vinny frowned.

Why wasn’t this girl watching where she was going? And why was she so jumpy, as if she were carrying a bomb?

“Sorry, sorry, I’m really sorry,” Zoe quickly lowered her head.

Vinny glanced at the tea tray. She must have been assigned the task of delivering tea to the student council president today, something he had been tasked with before.

The tray was shaking. Vinny looked at the girl’s hands and noticed they were trembling.

Was he really that intimidating?

Vinny didn’t understand.

But this girl had always been very introverted, hardly speaking to anyone in the student council. When she did, her tone was always cautious, as if afraid someone would bully her.

“I’m not scolding you, but you should be more careful when walking. Otherwise, not only could you hurt others, but yourself as well,” Vinny glanced at the tea tray, which held one of the student council’s jade porcelain enchanted teacups.

Half the tea had spilled, and the intricate carvings on the white jade cup had dulled.

“Y-yes, I understand.”

“What’s wrong with you? You’re acting like you’re doing something shady,” Vinny gave her a look.

“I...”

“Do you need a hand?” Vinny offered.

“N-no, it’s fine,” Zoe said weakly.

“Come on, it’s partly my fault for startling you. We’re classmates, so it’s only right to help each other out, right? You seem like you’re having trouble carrying this tray, let me help.” Without waiting for Zoe’s refusal, Vinny took the tray and placed it in the student council room.

He then picked up one of the white porcelain enchanted teacups used for guests, poured himself some tea, swirled it, and drank it.

“Um, thank you for your help. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now,” Zoe said softly and then left.

Watching her retreating figure, Vinny looked at the dull teacup in his hand and chuckled.

Really, what was he thinking? This was Carillian Academy.

He must have been so busy lately that he was getting paranoid. How could he even think of such absurd things?

The girl was probably just extremely shy and socially anxious. Thinking back on his earlier behavior, Vinny felt like he had been bullying her.

“All right, back to being a workhorse,” Vinny shook his head and was about to leave the president’s office when he noticed a familiar doll in the display cabinet.

At a glance, he recognized it as the blonde doll he had given Mirexia before enrolling.

So she had put it here?

It seemed Mirexia still liked it, as it was placed where she could see it while working.

With that, Vinny left the student council president’s office and went about his other tasks.

Soon, the midterm exams began, and the regions were decided.

Since Reiswyn was so vast, every year, armies from various countries were sent to deal with the monsters. To share the burden, Carillian Academy also sent its students to hunt monsters in areas with lower contamination levels. This not only helped clean up the pollution but also served as training for the students, killing two birds with one stone.

To ensure the students’ safety, Carillian Academy also sent many instructors to protect them.

Considering that first-year students were new to hunting monsters in Reiswyn, lacking both experience and strength, for their safety, they were allowed to form teams and be led by instructors.

Upperclassmen, however, didn’t have instructors accompanying them. After all, the areas Carillian Academy students went to weren’t highly contaminated, and upperclassmen were more experienced, often acting alone. It was impossible to assign instructors to protect each student individually.

Although the chances of upperclassmen failing were extremely low, each one was a genius of Carillian Academy. Injuring even one would be a major incident, so they were given tokens. If they encountered an insurmountable situation, they could crush the token, and the instructors would immediately rush to their aid.

As a first-year student, Vinny was naturally allowed to form a team. Initially, according to Fred’s suggestion, they planned to form a five-member team for the midterm monster hunt, but plans changed.

The academy required freshmen to form five-member teams based on their soul cultivation classes, with each team led by an instructor.

Thus, Shikondell, who had wanted to team up with Vinny, was assigned to another group.

While other soul armament classes were divided into several groups of dozens of students, Vinny’s class had only five people, so the entire class formed one group, led by their class instructor, Franklin.

“Alright, brats, I won’t go into the rules too much. I’m sure you’ve all read the form, right?” Unlike other instructors who gave lengthy instructions, Franklin couldn’t be bothered with formalities. “Our class doesn’t need illiterates who can’t read.”

“Reiswyn, you all know it, right? The northern land tainted by the Demon God Pillar, constantly spawning monsters or the Demon God Pillar’s minions. We have to clear it out every year, or else the monster population will grow and threaten the entire southern continent.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll head to Reiswyn for monster hunting. The rules are simple: the more you kill, the higher your score. Normally, you’d be free to act on your own, but you’re a bunch of rookies, so I’ll have to babysit you. Remember, don’t cause trouble for me, don’t wander off and get eaten by wolves. Losing your life is a small matter, but getting me in trouble is a big deal. Got it, brats?” Franklin stood with his hands in his pockets, speaking bluntly, leaving the five students momentarily speechless.

“What, are you all mute? I asked if you understood?”

“Understood,” the students finally replied in unison.

Well, Vinny was starting to doubt whether Franklin was reliable.

“You’d better understand. Don’t say you get it now and then come asking me about every little thing later.”

“Oh, and remember to bring food and water. You can’t eat the monsters, and you can’t drink the water there.”

“We’ve been in class for a while now, and this is the first time our armor class is fighting together. You might feel a bit unfamiliar at first, but take it slow. There’s always a first time, you’ll get used to it. Alright, that’s all. Go home and prepare. Dismissed.” With that, Franklin stepped off the podium and left the classroom, leaving the five students looking at each other.

They could all see each other’s thoughts and felt somewhat helpless.

With a teacher like this, they’d have to rely on themselves and their classmates.

But one person was an exception.

“Well, comrades! I’ll take my leave first. See you tomorrow!” Barbatos shouted in his loud voice and then left the classroom.

The next day, the convoy to Reiswyn set off, pulled by unicorns as usual.

But this time, the convoy was much larger than during the freshmen’s enrollment, as it included almost all of Carillian Academy’s students and many instructors. Only the Dean and higher-ups stayed behind.

About a week later, Carillian Academy’s convoy arrived at Reiswyn.

The weather wasn’t particularly warm, and as soon as Vinny stepped off the carriage, a gust of wind nearly blew him back.

Damn, it’s so cold!

Vinny was so cold he felt like peeling off Fred’s skin to use as a coat.

Luckily, Vinny was wearing his warm winter uniform, but even so, it wasn’t much help.

Most of the other freshmen were in the same boat, their noses running from the cold, and they immediately wanted to crawl back into the carriages.

The upperclassmen, however, seemed used to it. Though they also felt the cold, it wasn’t a big deal.

Soon, the students were herded like convicts to a fortress.

The fortress flew the griffin flag, the banner of the ancient empire and also Carillian Academy’s emblem.

The freshmen gathered in front of the fortress, with each team’s captain responsible for collecting the maps. These maps showed the pollution levels of Reiswyn this year and the areas where they were supposed to operate.

“What are you standing around for? Do you want me to queue up and get the map myself, Captain Varelis?” Seeing Vinny standing there like a log, Franklin glared at him and snapped.

“Oh, right,” Vinny slapped his forehead. He had been so caught up in playing cards on the carriage ride that he forgot he had been chosen as team captain before departure.

Why him? Who knew? Maybe Franklin could really gauge armor soul compatibility, or maybe it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision.

After collecting the map, all the students and instructors stood below the fortress. Then, they saw a middle-aged man in white robes, wearing a tall white cross hat and holding a mithril cross staff, step onto the fortress walls.

Beside him were two knights in full iron helmets and silver cross surcoats.

Almost instantly, Vinny’s brow furrowed.

The hypocritical bastards from the church had arrived.

Just as the Pavone family had the Wrathful Dragon Knights as their personal guard, other “Sage” families had their own soul knight orders. The knights beside this bishop were the most powerful armed force of the Church of Radiance, the former personal guard of the Saintess, the Holy Radiance Cross Knights.

They were all equipped with [Saint Envoys], but unlike priests and nuns, they specialized in combat.

The irony was that the knights who had raided Varelis’s family were these very same former guards of the Saintess.