Vol 3. Chapter 77: How Could I Bear to Hurt You?

“Tsk! You pocket-sized white nutball, why are you suddenly saying something that weird? Don’t you think it’s sappy? Don’t say that kind of thing again. Doesn’t it gross you out?!” Vinny said, completely at a loss. He still didn’t turn back to look at Aesphyra, so he didn’t even notice her emotions shifting.

Seriously. Anyone else could’ve said something like that and it’d be fine. Even if Mirexia said it, it would’ve been fine. Granted, [N O V E L I G H T] with Mirexia’s personality, even if she actually felt that way, there was no way she’d ever say it outright... but even that would’ve felt way more normal than Aesphyra of all people.

Vinny just couldn’t imagine Aesphyra—this green-tea sea-empress type—throwing a straight ball like that. Maybe precisely because something like this should never happen to Aesphyra, the fact that she really did it was what shocked him so hard.

Yeah. Vinny felt like he’d just been purely shocked. He never expected Aesphyra to suddenly say something so direct and so sappy.

Aesphyra... the Aesphyra who, in his last life, stabbed a sword into his heart and then made out with his childhood friend... was honestly saying she didn’t want anything to happen to him in this life??

First the absurdly abnormal straight ball, then the massive contrast behind it—both hit him so hard he couldn’t react.

Of course, maybe even he didn’t realize it, but there was a third feeling mixed in there too.

If Aesphyra had a Virtue System of her own, and if the target could be Vinny, then the Virtue spike right now would’ve been insane—enough to let her cash out in a single wave.

“Ohhh~ so Classmate Vinny doesn’t like that kind of direct expression?” Seeing that Vinny wasn’t picking a fight and was still too flustered to turn around, Aesphyra slipped right back into her usual posture, smiling like a crafty fox.

“Yeah, I don’t like it, so what?? Wait, no—what do you mean like or don’t like? What does that have to do with liking anything? Tsk. This young master just thinks it’s goosebump-inducing when words like that come out of a white-haired nutball like you!”

Alright, now Aesphyra got it.

Vinny was as easy to read as ever. She could relax—he was fine.

That panicked nonsense and stress response you get when someone pokes right through what you’re thinking, and you instinctively try to plaster on a disguise... it was way too easy to read. One glance and you could tell. If anything, it was basically Vinny’s authenticity seal. Nobody else had that strong of a “Vinny smell.”

“Then okay~ since Classmate Vinny doesn’t like being that direct, should I use a more roundabout way next time?”

“You—what roundabout or not? When did I ever say I like roundabout ways?!?” Vinny felt like something about that was off and shot back.

“Oh? So Classmate Vinny actually prefers me to be more forceful?~”

“You... forget it. There’s no talking sense into you, you white-haired nutball. As a human, I can’t possibly understand the thought process of nut-based foods.” Vinny gave up on arguing like he always did.

“Classmate Vinny, did you dislocate your neck?”

“Screw you, you’re the one who dislocated your neck!”

“Then why won’t Classmate Vinny turn around after all this time?”

“I don’t want to see you. Is that not allowed??”

“Huh? Really? Classmate Vinny won’t even look at me anymore?”

“Get lost, get lost, get lost! I swear your white-haired nut brain got smashed by a warhammer. Otherwise how could you end up this... concentrated??” Vinny rubbed his face.

“Then turn around?”

“You tell me to turn around and I just do it? Nah. Not turning.”

“Turn around?~”

“Not turning!” The two of them went back and forth like little kids, flipping those two words over and over. It looked like they were fighting like cats and dogs, but somehow it felt like they were both enjoying it.

“Alright, alright, I’m done messing with you. Dale’s coming back anyway. This young master’s tired too—I’m going to rest. You’ve confirmed I’m not being seduced or brainwashed by [Blood-Debt] now, right? You can go?” Vinny finally turned around, his face back to normal, and lay down on the bed.

“Eh, does it have to be Dale?” Aesphyra tilted her head. “Classmate Vinny, you live under the same roof with Dale every day. How do you not get sick of him?”

“You’re not... having weird thoughts about that cute Moon Elf boy, are you? Don’t tell me your dating standard is ‘as long as they’re pretty, gender doesn’t matter’? Or do you just like that type of soft little boy~?” Aesphyra teased, those dazzling violet eyes full of mischief.

“Get lost! Me and Dale are pure brotherhood, okay?! Tsk tsk. Whatever, I’m not even going to explain. A woman like you wouldn’t understand that kind of bond anyway.” Vinny snorted.

“Oh? Really? Classmate Vinny, don’t go wrecking that pure elf boy, alright?”

“Don’t you try to flip this on me. I think it’s you, you bad woman, eyeing my cute, innocent roommate. I’m warning you right now—I’m not letting my roommate walk into a wolf’s den. Give up.”

“And you—don’t you like girls? How about you shift your attention a little, huh? Stop staring at the boys’ dorm all day, alright?” Vinny raised an eyebrow. “If you’ve got nothing else, hurry up and leave.”

“Classmate Vinny, you said before that we should treat each other sincerely, right?~” Aesphyra narrowed her eyes and tucked her smile away.

“Yeah, but if you’re about to ask some weird crap, or ask me to help you chase Dale and play wingman, then I can’t answer that.”

“Then, Classmate Vinny, that sinful [Divine Armament] [Blood-Debt]... have you really seen it? I mean in real life.” Aesphyra ignored his teasing and asked directly.

Vinny knew her tone had turned serious.

“Of course not. My experience isn’t that rich. You know that. I barely ever left the Camella capital growing up, and lately I haven’t left school except for Secret Realms. Where would I even get the chance to run into it? You haven’t seen it either, so how could I have?” Vinny answered.

“Then how do you know it in such detail? You read it in a book?” Aesphyra pressed.

“I didn’t read it. Do I look like someone who reads? If I said it just suddenly popped up in my head, would you believe me?” Vinny pouted. He didn’t feel like hiding it from her anymore.

“Suddenly popped up?” Aesphyra pondered for a moment. “After you got hit by the star?”

“No, before that.”

“Then after? After you got hit, did anything strange happen?”

“No. Didn’t that priest already ask me all that? What, you think I was lying? Do I have any reason to lie?” Vinny spread his hands.

“So it just... appeared out of nowhere in your head?”

“Not exactly. It’s more like... how do I put it... when that old man Charles brought it up, I got that picture in my head.” Vinny rubbed his temple.

“Do you still remember what it looks like?”

“Of course I do.” And then Vinny described it to Aesphyra.

After listening, Aesphyra fell silent, sitting with her legs crossed in the chair, saying nothing.

Vinny didn’t interrupt her.

He knew that in his last life, Aesphyra died under [Blood-Debt]. And not just died—she died to [Blood-Debt] in Vinny’s hands.

He could practically picture why Aesphyra flipped in that route. Vinny’s Spirit Soul and [Blood-Debt] had insane compatibility. He’d squeezed every last drop of profit and power out of it. Plus he’d always been grinding like a rat, and as a mid-game boss he kept building strength during every blood-disaster incident, devouring the flesh and blood of tons of Sorcerers. That boosted both him and [Blood-Debt] to ridiculous levels. And there was probably heavy backing from Bronze Blood too. All of that was why, when the big disaster hit later, he was able to make Aesphyra crash and burn.

Vinny thought it was totally normal for Aesphyra to have a shadow in her heart about it. That thing killed her once. Even if this was the second life and she knew he wasn’t the same Vinny... the moment a sinful [Divine Armament] from his past life suddenly surfaced in his head, her wariness was completely understandable.

“So what, you’re this on guard—looking like you’re facing a mortal enemy—because you’re imagining the day I grab that sinful [Divine Armament] called [Blood-Debt] and come chop you up or something?” Vinny said it on purpose like a joke. While he spoke, he also acted like he didn’t care, deliberately watching her expression and reaction.

Aesphyra lifted her eyes and looked straight at him.

It was the same face as in her memory of the last life... but the feeling was completely different.

Vinny... killing her?

Just imagining that possibility made a flood of images flash through Aesphyra’s mind.

Before they enrolled—mutual distrust, mutual suspicion, endless verbal sparring, trading barbs like knives. Then after enrollment—constant bickering, constantly trying to make the other lose composure, a pair of happy enemies.

The way they got along now looked like before enrollment.

But in truth, everything had changed too much.

From complete distrust and wanting to kill each other at any moment... to reconciliation and a first spark of trust after the Demon Pillars invasion... then to never leaving each other behind and sharing life and death when they faced Nine-Li Snow, that Demon lord.

None of that happened overnight.

It was built from tiny, boring daily moments—piece by piece—until their understanding and trust became the foundation that held everything up.

Back then, right after she’d reincarnated... if she’d learned that something about [Blood-Debt] had appeared in Vinny’s head, she might’ve really struck first.

But now?

Saying Vinny wanted to hurt her?

This life... the Vinny who’d shared life and death with her... wanted to hurt her??

“Then, Classmate Vinny... which knife do you want to stab me with?” Aesphyra suddenly smiled. She stood up and leaned in close.

Her silver hair brushed past, and Vinny’s nose filled with a cold fragrance of roses and wild roses.

“A white knife? Or an emotional knife? Or both?”

“......” Vinny froze. Staring at her right in front of him, he couldn’t force out a single joke.

Stuff like “stab your ass, meow” or whatever—he couldn’t get even one word out.

He didn’t know why. Maybe instinct. Maybe some unnamed feeling pushing him. Looking at the silver-haired girl in front of him—playful but serious—Vinny’s gaze steadied, and he blurted out, stammering,

“I... how could I bear to hurt you?”

“.........”

“?!” The moment he realized what he’d just said, Vinny’s whole face flushed red in an instant.

Aaaahhh?!

What the hell did he just say?!

He almost wanted to turn around and ostrich himself again, but the words were already out. If he suddenly spun away now, wouldn’t that be the ultimate guilty tell?

So he could only brace himself, stare at Aesphyra, and not move an inch.

“Heehee~” Aesphyra chuckled softly. “Oh, is that so~?”

“I-it is, yeah—no, wait, no, not like that! Don’t get the wrong idea, I-I didn’t mean it like that, but I also didn’t—no, I...” Vinny completely lost the ability to speak coherently.

“Okay~ I got it.” Aesphyra laughed lightly as she straightened up, sweeping her bangs behind her ear. “I understand the situation now. Classmate Vinny, get some rest.”

With that, Aesphyra stood, waved at Vinny, and walked to the door.

Just when Vinny was watching her leave and thinking he hadn’t blown his cover, Aesphyra suddenly came back, smiling sweetly at him.

“Classmate Vinny, go wash your face. The color of your face right now isn’t much better than a monkey’s butt~?”

Then she strode out. Along with that, came the Virtue notification.

[Virtue +120]

[Current Virtue: 5294]

Hearing the light click of Aesphyra’s heels fade down the hall, Vinny stayed frozen on the bed, still wearing that dumb expression... mouth half-open like he wanted to say something, but nothing would come out.

Wait, me??

Vinny’s brain was blank.

He grabbed his head, totally at a loss.

Why??

Why did he say that just now??

Wasn’t there a better way to say it?

He could’ve just said, “Of course not,” or “I won’t hurt you,” right? So why did the thing that popped out of his mouth become, “How could I bear to hurt you?”??

That line was way too weird, wasn’t it?!

Vinny replayed it in his head over and over, and the more he tasted it, the more he felt something was wrong. It felt like it had a ton of room for misunderstanding.

But what could he do? Aesphyra already heard it. It wasn’t like he could swallow the words back down.

“Heeheehee! Classmate Vinny, Classmate Vinny, I bought the bread!” Right then, Shicodale came back into the room with a little bag of bread. But Aesphyra was gone now. All he saw was Vinny sitting on the bed alone, cheeks bright red, muttering to himself about something.