Vol 3. Chapter 147: Treating Her as an Equal

“One night. If I can’t save her, you can discuss it with the academy and take her back to the Elven Forest, so she can receive the Elf Queen’s treatment,” Vinny said.

This was the most reasonable approach right now.

“Even the Church of the Dawn can’t do anything—what could you possibly do?” Milian still couldn’t believe it.

“The Church of the Dawn not having a way doesn’t mean I don’t,” Vinny said, staring straight into Milian’s eyes. “Don’t worry about what method I’ll use. Anyway, I’ll do everything I can. I won’t harm Dale.”

After a long stare, Milian silently looked away.

Elves had always been creatures extremely sensitive to feelings. Of course she could sense that the sincerity in Vinny’s eyes was absolutely not something he’d put on as an act.

“But in the end, you aren’t Facilis. What method could you even have?” Milian pondered for a moment. Thinking of Vinny’s identity, her eyes brightened slightly, as if she were considering whether he really did have a way. But then she remembered all the comments from the outside world, remembered the rumors that Vinny’s bloodline might be fake—and even if it wasn’t fake, it was dead—and her gaze dimmed again.

“I said I have a way. You don’t need to care what the method is. You only need to know this: I will never harm Dale. That’s enough.”

“...” Milian fell silent for a moment. Then she lifted her head and looked at Vinny. “I don’t like you humans.”

“I know.”

“But I have to admit this—Dale’s approval of you, and your feelings for her, are absolutely not fake.” Milian took a deep breath. “You’re telling me all this on your own initiative because you want me to cover for you, right?”

“Milian, you’re actually not stupid.”

“Isn’t that something anyone could guess??” Milian crossed her arms over herself, hugging those huge, soft, bouncing mounds, and shot Vinny an annoyed look, feeling like what he’d just said was an insult to her intelligence.

“Fine. Tell me. What do you want to do?” Milian asked.

“Then let’s plan it,” Vinny said. “Tonight, I’ll carry Dale out for treatment. You cover for me—make sure those patrolling nuns and priests are certain Dale’s been in the room the whole time. Can you do that?”

“You’re taking her out?” Milian frowned.

“What else would I do? Didn’t I say it earlier? I have to use my own method. If I could do it inside the church, why would I tell you all this? Why would I need your cooperation?” Vinny shot Milian a glance.

“...” Milian hesitated. “Then how long will you need? Even if I agree to help, they’ll still check the rooms tomorrow morning.”

“One night. I only need one night. By early tomorrow morning, Dale will be the same as usual.” Vinny swore it with absolute certainty. “Just one night—this timing is already the absolute limit.”

“Fine. I got it.” Milian was silent for a moment, then agreed to Vinny’s conditions. “If anything unexpected happens, I’ll find a way to stall them for you.”

“When are you taking her?”

“Tonight, after they finish checking the rooms,” Vinny said, his thoughts clear. “Since you’ve agreed, I need to go make some preparations now.”

“You stay here with Dale. If anything happens, tell the nun at the front desk.”

“Okay. I understand.” When it came to Shicodale, Milian could only choose to cooperate with Vinny.

“But even if you fail, I don’t want Dale to keep staying here,” Milian added.

“This is the Carillian Academy branch of the Church of the Dawn. For you humans, shouldn’t this be the most suitable place?” Milian asked, puzzled.

“Then all I can tell you is that you elves have been out of touch with humans—and the Church of the Dawn—for far too long.” Vinny glanced sideways at Milian. “Staying here isn’t safe, even if most of the nuns and priests at the bottom level aren’t bad at heart.”

“Enough. I’m not saying more. It’s hard to explain this to you properly.” Vinny shook his head. “You just need to cooperate when the time comes.”

After that, Vinny took one last look at Shicodale—pale-faced, lying on the bed, lips pressed tight, pain written all over her expression—then stood up and left.

Only after Milian heard the door close did she withdraw her gaze. She kept staring at the Moon Elf girl on the hospital bed, murmuring something under her breath.

After Vinny left the church, he headed straight for the maid café.

When he arrived, he saw a notice hanging on the tightly shut front door. On it, a lazy black cat hugged a paper sign that read: “Closed today, meow.”

Vinny didn’t care. He walked up and knocked.

“Coming, coming—sorry, guest! Because of what’s been going on at the academy lately, we’ve temporarily stopped operating, meow.” A cute cat tail slipped out first, and Miao Ke pushed the door open and spoke to Vinny outside.

“Miao Ke, I’m looking for your manager. It’s urgent,” Vinny said.

“Huh? Our manager?” Miao Ke sized Vinny up from head to toe. “Guest, are you an acquaintance of our manager?”

“Yeah. An acquaintance. A real old acquaintance.”

“But in Miao Ke’s memory, I don’t think I’ve seen you much,” Miao Ke said, tilting her head.

“Miao Ke, this is urgent. Is your manager in? Just tell her that Vinny wants to see her,” Vinny said.

“Vin... ny?” Miao Ke instinctively felt the name was familiar. Then she remembered. “You’re... Vinny, the young master of House of Facilis?”

“That’s right.”

“Ah, okay! Then Miao Ke will go inform Manager Luna right away, meow.” Miao Ke nodded obediently and shut the door.

Not long after, Miao Ke returned, opened the door again, and let Vinny inside.

“Honored guest, pardon our rudeness, meow—sorry, meow! Miss Luna asks that you come to the second floor for a talk, meow!” Miao Ke stood up straight and gave Vinny a proper salute.

“Mm. Thanks. Sorry for the trouble,” Vinny said, following Miao Ke upstairs.

Aside from the suites specially prepared for VIP customers, the second floor also included the staff lounge.

Led by Miao Ke, Vinny arrived at an exquisitely decorated, cute staff lounge. The walls inside were pink, and white little cat paw pads were painted across them.

“Miss Luna, Mr. Vinny is here, meow,” Miao Ke said as she pushed the door open and guided Vinny inside.

Vinny saw Luna sitting upright with a teacup in her hands.

“Mm. You worked hard, Miao Ke,” Luna said.

“Do you need Miao Ke to stay with you, meow?” Miao Ke asked, glancing at Luna.

“That depends on what Vinny wants,” Luna said, giving Vinny a look that carried a deeper meaning.

“Meow...?” Miao Ke froze. In that instant, she understood the priority, and the way she looked at Vinny changed as well.

“Vinny, do you want Miao Ke to stay here?” Luna asked.

“Guest follows the host’s arrangement. What do you think, Luna?” Vinny asked back.

“Oh? Then naturally it’s up to you. But to prevent misunderstandings, I’ll explain first—Miao Ke isn’t an outsider. She’s my confidante, someone completely trustworthy,” Luna said.

“Alright. Since you say so, Luna, then Miao Ke can stay,” Vinny nodded.

“Meow.” Miao Ke looked at Luna. After receiving Luna’s approval, she glanced at Vinny, then obediently stood to the side, silent, watching the two of them.

“Looks like you’ve adjusted pretty well these past few days,” Luna said, smiling as she looked at Vinny.

Miao Ke opened her mouth slightly. Hearing that Luna still had to address Vinny with honorific language, Miao Ke vaguely realized something—but she still didn’t speak.

Vinny also knew Luna was someone who understood boundaries. Since she’d already stated Miao Ke was her confidante, and dared to say all this in front of her, that meant there was no problem.

“Mm. It’s alright. You, on the other hand, look like you’re perfectly fine,” Vinny said.

“Of course.” Luna smiled. “As your current ‘chief minister,’ no matter who runs into trouble, I can’t be the one who does, right~?”

This wasn’t a public setting, so their conversation didn’t need restraint.

“By the way—did the roommate you were worried about come back?” Luna asked.

“That’s why I came to you, Luna,” Vinny replied.

“Oh?”

“My Moon Elf roommate did come back, but something went wrong. She’s receiving treatment inside the church right now, but it’s not working. They aren’t very good at healing the mind,” Vinny said.

“So you have other arrangements?”

“Yes. They keep saying she needs slow recuperation, but really it’s just that their mind-healing methods are too few and their understanding too shallow. Right now, only I can save her.”

“I understand.” At this point, Luna naturally understood what Vinny wanted to do. “What do you need me to do?”

“Luna, do you have a treatment room here?” Vinny asked. “I need a dedicated enchanted treatment table, and I need someone beside it continuously recharging it.”

The enchanted treatment table was a medical product of the Church of the Dawn, created to the greatest extent possible to ensure an injured person’s condition wouldn’t keep worsening. It had been invented by the Dawn Saintess Agnes Facilis.

If Vinny remembered correctly, according to the family tree, that Saintess Agnes was the grandmother of his great-grandmother Sophia.

But even now, the cost problem still couldn’t be solved.

The church at Carillian Academy did have many of them equipped—but Vinny absolutely couldn’t operate there.

“An enchanted treatment table... yes, we do have one.” Luna nodded.

“You do? Where? Can I use it?” Vinny hadn’t expected Luna to actually have an enchanted treatment table. This thing was not easy to obtain—licenses aside, the cost of a single unit was an astonishing number that could make your jaw hit the floor.

“Yes. It’s an advanced enchanted treatment table. It’s in our shop’s basement. When do you plan to begin?” Luna asked.

“Tonight.” Vinny frowned. “Tonight, I have to heal her.”

“Good.” Luna nodded. “Then later I’ll call Amisha and Fennia over. With me, that makes three people—enough to continuously supply healing energy to the treatment table.”

“Alright. Thank you, Luna. Then I’ll see you tonight.” Vinny stood up, expressing his gratitude for her timely help.

“You’re really being polite,” Luna said, tossing Vinny a teasing, ambiguous look. “Even though the relationship between us is already so perfectly clear~”

Vinny froze for a second, suddenly wondering if Luna was deliberately making it sound that ambiguous. Even Miao Ke—who looked like she understood none of that—seemed a little lost.

“Then... please notify Fennia and Amisha for me. I’ll get going.” Vinny finished the tea in his cup and left.

He still needed some tea, after all. Tonight, he might have to stay up all night.

After leaving the maid café, Vinny didn’t go straight back to the church. He needed one more person’s help, so he went to the dorm area. He stopped in front of a villa, hesitated for a moment, then knocked.

“Who is it?” A lazy voice came from inside.

“Me.”

“Aww~ Vinny. Long time no see?” Not long after she heard it was Vinny, the door opened, and Aesphyra leaned against it with a gentle smile at the corner of her lips.

“We literally saw each other yesterday.” Vinny curled his lips. “Anyway—can you lend me a potion?”

“Hm? What potion?”

“A high-grade one. An invisibility potion.” Vinny hesitated. Potions like that—whether in cost, ingredients, or crafting difficulty—were top-tier. Even high-level alchemists couldn’t claim they could brew one perfectly every time, and no one could say how long it would take to make.

“Oh? Only one day and you’re already asking for something that big, Vinny?” Aesphyra teased.

“Sorry to bother you.” Vinny turned to leave.

He owed Aesphyra plenty already. If he didn’t absolutely have to, Vinny didn’t want to run to her every time something happened.

Because the more he owed her, the less he could treat her as an equal.

“Wait, Vinny.” Aesphyra stopped him. “If you can’t get a potion from me, where else are you going to get one?”

“I’ll go find Mirexia,” Vinny answered. “Even though I don’t know if she has one either.”

He lifted his foot to leave—then a hand gently pressed down on his shoulder from behind.

At the same time, Virtue changed.

[Virtue +80]

[Current Virtue: 8484]

“I said... wait,” Aesphyra said with a smile, enunciating each word.

“Uh...?” Vinny didn’t know if it was his imagination, but the moment he said “I’ll go find Mirexia,” Aesphyra’s expression seemed to gain a few more traces of a smile that wasn’t really a smile.

The difference from her usual warmth was extremely obvious—maybe she wasn’t even trying to hide it.

Then Aesphyra elegantly brushed back the hair by her ear and turned, walking inside. Not long after, footsteps approached from far to near. When she reached the courtyard gate, she had an extra potion bottle in her hand—still hot.

“Here. Take it.” Aesphyra handed the potion to Vinny.

“Thanks. But why is it hot?”

“Because I just brewed it.” Aesphyra laughed. “Your timing is really something, Vinny.”

“...Thank you. I owe you again. But this time it’s really urgent.” Vinny didn’t know what was going on with the Virtue change, but he thanked her anyway.

“Vinny.” Aesphyra stepped closer.

“What? What is it?” Vinny didn’t understand. All he could smell was that rose-cold fragrance right in front of him.

Then he felt a light tap on the tip of his nose.

“Vinny, you’re weirdly... overly ‘polite’ today.” While Vinny was dazed by that burst of rose scent, Aesphyra had already returned inside and closed the courtyard gate.

“So polite it’s making me uncomfortable.”