Vol 3. Chapter 103: Can Only Call It a Hard Weakness

Just as Vinny had expected, he and Ferdi still failed to escape a round of scolding in the end.

However, since the other side had clearly been the one to start trouble, and Vinny’s intervention had been to keep the situation from blowing up, Vinny himself barely got chewed out at all.

The one who got it the worst was Ferdi, who even got assigned a written self-reflection.

“Ugh, why am I this unlucky??” Ferdi complained, face full of resentment. “The study trip hasn’t even really started yet and I’m already writing a self-reflection. This is going to kill me!”

“Hmph, and you were saying I’m the one who acts cool. Aren’t you exactly the same?” Vinny glanced sidelong at Ferdi, amused. “If you didn’t want to show off, why did you agree to ‘test’ that tribal youth in the first place?”

“That was me acting cool?? That was me offering earnest guidance!”

“I think someone praising you as ‘extraordinary’ went straight to your head,” Vinny folded his arms and tore right through Ferdi’s inner thoughts without mercy.

“Mind your own business. So what if it did?” Ferdi said, totally justified. “Nobody ever calls me a top expert. So my ego inflated a little and I acted the part—pretty normal human behavior, yeah??”

After all, at Carillian Academy, Ferdi barely counted as a small fry, but once he was outside Carillian Academy, he instantly turned into an iron-blooded berserker who could stomp all over people. Of course he was going to show off a little.

If he didn’t show off now, then when??

“Fine, fine, fine. Then from now on I’ll praise you as a top expert every day, how about that?” Vinny said, laughing.

“Oh? I like the sound of that. You said it yourself,” Ferdi replied.

The two of them bickered and shoved at each other all the way back to Shicodale’s side, then followed the teachers-and-students group to the foot of Kamov Mountain.

“Kamov Mountain has always been the sacred mountain of our tribes,” the students walking at the front, including Vinny, listened as the tribal guide introduced Kamov Mountain to them.

“The origin of this mountain has long since been lost,” the tribal guide said, “but they say a powerful retainer of one of the Demon Pillars fell here, and this mountain was formed where it died. This is its burial ground, which created this magic dead volcano that gives off residual warmth all year round.”

“Of course, that’s just what they say—an oral legend without any hard evidence at all. Its credibility is very low. Our tribes are more inclined to see Kamov Mountain as a symbolic object of Conquered Grand-Emperor Domos, a sacred mountain that shelters our people.

“These days, now that this sacred land is open to outsiders, that legend isn’t as tightly controlled. Back in the day, anyone who dared spread that story would’ve been rolled up in a blanket and trampled to bits under ten thousand hooves, haha.”

Another legend.

If there was one thing Tyrelis Continent wasn’t lacking, it was legends. The real events and the things people made up had been mixed together so thoroughly that you couldn’t tell which was actually the truth anymore.

This went double for a place like the tribes, where civilization lagged behind and writing only appeared very late. Most of the time, those legends had been passed down mouth-to-mouth, so there was even less chance of anyone knowing what really happened back then.

Led by the guides, everyone lined up and started up the mountain.

“Hey, Kamov Mountain was formed when a Demon Pillar’s retainer fell here? Vinny, bro, you buying that?” Ferdi jabbed Vinny with his elbow.

“Quit poking me with your pig elbow. Besides, how would I know?” Vinny shot him a look. “Does it look like I could’ve been on the scene back then?? If you want to believe it, then sure, it’s true. Why are you asking me?”

“Hey, what if—and I’m just saying what if here—what if this kind of wild history actually is true?” Ferdi teased.

“If it’s true, then it’s true. What else can you even do about it?” Vinny said, face full of “whatever.”

By the time the group finished climbing together, it was already afternoon. The sun was about to set.

The students and teachers of Carillian Academy all had very good physical fitness, so even after walking for so long while carrying their luggage, they didn’t feel all that exhausted.

When they finally reached the mountaintop, Vinny saw row after row of buildings standing there like clusters of villas, which, under the setting sun, had a beauty all their own.

“Wow. The material they used to build the hot-spring inns is Blossom-Glass Wood,” Ferdi sighed. “My family has a whole house built out of Blossom-Glass Wood. In sunlight and in warm places, this wood gives off a pleasant fragrance, and it’s extremely durable and sturdy. It practically never gets damp.”

“All right, all right, we get it, your family has money,” Vinny said, digging a finger in his ear.

He looked over the vacation-villa-like cluster of Blossom-Glass Wood lodges. As expected of the northern tribes’ most famous tourist spot—it really was nicely done.

Come to think of it, on the way up, Vinny had noticed several abandoned altars halfway up the mountain. The tribal guide had introduced them as former tribal rulers’ sacrificial altars to the sacred mountain.

“Hey, when they assign us rooms later, how about we all get placed together?” Ferdi was of course referring to the card buddies.

“Shoo, shoo, shoo. Who wants to stay with you card-addicted lot? I actually want a good night’s sleep; I don’t want to be playing cards all night long,” Vinny said, glancing at Shicodale at his side and immediately taking a few steps back in disgust.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? And besides, like you’re some innocent saint? You don’t have a card addiction? You’re just calling the rest of us out??” Ferdi clicked his tongue.

“No thanks. We came here to soak in hot springs. If all we do is play cards, isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?” Vinny still refused.

In truth, he just felt it would be inconvenient for Shicodale to be alone, and even more inconvenient for Shicodale to share a room with other people. After all, Shicodale’s public gender was male. Vinny really couldn’t relax about him sharing a room with others.

Also, given Shicodale’s personality, if he left him on his own, who knew how twisted up he’d get inside.

“I’m pretty sure they’re still going to assign rooms according to the Academy’s dorm setup. It’s not like it’ll be this casual, like you just pick whoever you want to room with,” Vinny analyzed.

Hearing this, Shicodale lifted his eyes to look at Vinny too. He’d been tangled up over this matter himself.

“Fine, fine, fine. You’re such a buzzkill,” Ferdi said with disdain. “What’s the problem? We’re all men here. What are you being shy about?”

“Tch. I’m more suspicious you might have something going on with your orientation. Otherwise, why are you always clinging to me?” Vinny glared at Ferdi.

Once everyone entered the lobby of the hot-spring inn, things turned out exactly as Vinny had said: rooms were assigned according to the Academy’s dorm system.

In other words, Vinny would still be sharing a dorm with Shicodale, which made Shicodale let out a quiet breath of relief and subconsciously move even closer to Vinny.

How to put it... Vinny also felt there was a downside to this. Shicodale should be getting tempered and trained, but because he was always stuck to him like this, it seemed impossible to really cure Shicodale’s social anxiety effectively.

On top of that, the rooms here were all for two people only. Which meant those who had previously lived alone would now all have roommates, whether they liked it or not.

“Here, Vinny, this is your room number.” Fecolin, who was in charge of room assignments, handed a labeled key to Vinny.

“Okay. Thank you, Teacher Fecolin.” Vinny took his luggage and walked along with Shicodale.

He looked over the environment of the hot-spring inn. It was pretty nice—clean and tidy, with wooden floors laid over with soft pads that were spotless, square brick lights set in the ceiling, and a hallway that, while not particularly spacious, felt quite cozy.

Shicodale leaned at Vinny’s side, curiously taking in their surroundings as well.

He’d thought that coming to the tribes’ turf would leave him completely at a loss and terribly afraid, but once he actually arrived, he realized it didn’t seem as terrifying as he’d imagined.

Maybe... it wasn’t because he wasn’t afraid, but because—

Shicodale unconsciously glanced at the blue-haired youth beside him.

He was a timid, conflict-averse person who didn’t really have much of a backbone, and only when there was someone he could lean on could he manage to appear calm and composed at all.

“We’re here, Dale. You open the door,” Vinny said.

“Oh, okay.” When they reached the end of a hallway, Vinny’s voice snapped Shicodale out of his thoughts. Vinny passed the key to Shicodale.

“Vinny, it won’t open?” Shicodale stared, a bit confused.

“Dale, you’re twisting it the wrong way,” Vinny said, pressing a palm to his forehead helplessly.

Shicodale’s socialization level really was way too low. You could only say that back when he was still a Moon Elf princess, his people had protected him too well and turned him into a sheltered, silly sweetheart.

Vinny took the key back and flicked the door open with a twist.

“Ah, so that’s how it works. Thank you, Vinny,” Shicodale said, cheeks a little red as he looked at him.

He clearly knew he should be handling things by himself now, but somehow it felt like there wasn’t much difference between then and now.

It was just that the person he depended on had changed.

The two of them carried their luggage into the room. The room had two bedrooms and a shared living room; aside from the shared living space, there were two separate bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.

It wasn’t big, but it felt warm and cozy.

Vinny glanced out the door. The closest room to them was the one directly across from theirs.

No idea who their neighbors would be.

Most likely unfamiliar classmates or some senior students.

Vinny closed the door and noticed Shicodale had already started unpacking his luggage and, on reflex, was looking around for cleaning tools.

So that passive got triggered, huh?

“Dale, there’s no need to clean up here. Take a break,” Vinny said.

“Eh? Okay,” Shicodale nodded at his words. He’d always been very obedient to Vinny.

The two of them sat in the room for a bit. Vinny discovered that the place was actually pretty well equipped; the cupboard even held a bunch of different board and tabletop games.

Soon enough, mealtime rolled around. Vinny was hungry too, and he figured he’d take Shicodale to the dining hall to eat.

Looking at Shicodale following behind him, Vinny couldn’t help feeling a little sentimental.

Time really did fly.

But to be honest, Vinny didn’t even want to imagine it—if he weren’t here, what would this kid do? Would he get so nervous just going to eat that he’d be shrinking in on himself, uncomfortable from head to toe??

Vinny suddenly felt that his attitude toward Shicodale was starting to resemble a worn-out old father.

He shook those thoughts off and pushed open the door.

And then—

He started to suspect he might have opened it the wrong way.

Weird. This was Tyrelis Continent, not Blue Star. So why were there two door gods pasted outside his door??

No, not pasted. Standing.

Vinny opened the door and saw, right outside, two girls standing in front of the door across from his, each with her arms folded, like a pair of guardian deities. He fell silent.

The two girls, who had set their luggage down and were standing there with arms folded, silently staring each other down, also noticed the movement on this side and simultaneously looked over.

“You two, long time no see,” Vinny said, greeting them with an awkward but polite smile, then turned to the silver-haired girl among them. “You’re way too courteous. Why are you serving as a doorman now? I don’t have money to pay a gatekeeper, you know?”

“Vinny, you’re staying here too?” Aesphyra said with a bright smile.

“Are you kidding me? If I weren’t staying here, how would you be seeing me walk out from this door?” Vinny lifted a brow.

“Ah~ Vinny, sometimes I really wonder if you’re deliberately stalking me,” she said, sing-song.

“Why would this young master stalk you, you nutball?” Vinny scoffed. “This young master has bad teeth and doesn’t like eating nuts, thanks! On the contrary, you—I suspect you, white-haired pervert, are the one stalking this flower-of-youth pretty boy. Why do I keep running into you every time??”

“Tch. Don’t tell me you’re living right across from me?” Vinny clicked his tongue.

“What an unfortunate coincidence,” Aesphyra arched a delicate brow, then drew back her gaze and refocused on the black-haired girl in front of her. It wasn’t even clear which part of this she was calling “unfortunate.”

Vinny shifted his gaze to Aesphyra’s opposite, the black-haired, violet-eyed beauty with long, straight hair.

Who else could it be but Isatia Lanteville?

Today, as usual, Isatia was wearing Carillian Academy’s girls’ uniform: a deep-blue student skirt paired with black stockings and loafers. It had to be said, that color really suited Isatia’s hair, and it made Vinny think of the uniform girls °• N o v e l i g h t •° from his previous life.

There was also the red tie at her chest and the red ribbon tied at the side of her hair. As expected of the imperial princess’s taste—she really knew how to coordinate an outfit. Even in a school uniform, she wore it with a completely different flavor. That color scheme was probably personally selected by Isatia herself.

Ah.

Just from the way both of them had set their luggage down on the floor, Vinny already knew exactly what was going on.

Weren’t these two ranked first and second in the first-years?

On campus, both of them had lived in villas alone and had no roommates.

Now, just perfect—they both had them.

However—

Aesphyra silently watched Isatia with a smile, and Isatia silently watched Aesphyra without speaking. In those two pairs of similar starlit-violet eyes, there was nobody else but each other.

Fuck. Seeing this scene, even Vinny couldn’t help wanting to ship them a little.

But how to put it... at first glance, the stand-off between the two of them didn’t seem to have any problem. Their auras were clashing head-on, neither willing to yield.

In reality, though, if you looked a little more closely, you’d start to feel like laughing.

Why?

Because, objectively speaking, Aesphyra was almost a whole head shorter than Isatia.

Isatia was on the taller side for a girl’s build, while Aesphyra was right at the floor of the “girl” category—clinging to the edge of that label and about to get flung off. Any shorter and she’d be officially classified as a loli.

So with the two of them locked in an intense aura clash, what you actually noticed was the height difference and, well, the development difference.

Kind of hard not to grin.