Vol 4. Chapter 7: A Clash of Masters, Every Move Deadly

“......” Seeing Vinny walk in her direction—only to walk toward Isatia and greet her with practiced familiarity—Aesphyra kept her elegant smile, yet stayed silent.

[Virtue +80]

[Current Virtue: 1304]

[Virtue +30]

[Current Virtue: 1334]

Hm. Virtue went up twice. Vinny had no idea which one Isatia had popped, which one Aesphyra had popped, or whether both were popped by one of them—or why.

“You came here specifically to wait for me?” Vinny asked, a little surprised.

“Mhm.” Isatia nodded. Her answer was still as concise and clear as ever.

“Then I didn’t keep you waiting long, right?” Vinny asked.

“No.” Isatia closed the book she’d been holding. She had been in the exam room next door, and only came to the door of Vinny’s exam room after hearing the commotion, so Vinny didn’t know how long she’d actually been out here.

“And besides, waiting for you isn’t an agonizing thing.” Isatia pressed the book against the hem of her school uniform skirt and said softly.

“Ah, ah... i-is that so.” Getting hit with a straight ball from the black-haired, long-straight-haired school-uniform beauty, Vinny crumpled on contact like always. He had absolutely no idea how to respond, and he looked extremely awkward.

“......” Aesphyra watched the interaction between the two in silence from the side. Her face still wore that proper, polite smile, but—

[Virtue +80]

[Current Virtue: 1414]

Huh? Who added that Virtue??

Vinny looked at Isatia, then slid his gaze sideways and swept the surroundings.

Weird. Other than him and Isatia, there didn’t seem to be anyone else here. That was creepy, you know??

“Isatia, did you want something from me?” Vinny moved his gaze back to Isatia and coughed lightly as he asked.

“If there’s nothing, I can’t come find you?” Isatia hugged the book to her chest, her cold brows like plum blossoms in the dead of winter.

“Ah, of course not. Isatia can come find me anytime.”

“This time, it seems you did pretty well.” Isatia nodded, then continued.

“Mm, yes. Thanks to you, I performed well this time,” Vinny said. “Even though the questions were really hard this time, compared to everyone else, I think I did okay.”

He could even turn his paper in more than ten minutes early. That really was some leeway.

“Not bad. A huge improvement.” Isatia praised him in a calm tone. Those beautiful eyes, glittering like stars, stared at Vinny seriously. When she nodded, even though her tone was flat, it gave him an enormous sense of affirmation. It made him feel like she meant every word.

That kind of serious, affirmative, heartfelt praise felt completely different from a casual, perfunctory response. After all, everyone wanted sincere recognition from others—the emotional value those two things gave was completely different.

If the Virtue system were two-way, Vinny felt like he’d be popping Virtue from Isatia too.

“That’s also thanks to you, Isatia. Without you, my improvement wouldn’t have been this fast.”

“That’s the result of your own hard work and willingness to learn.” Isatia attributed it to Vinny’s diligence. “No one can teach someone who refuses to learn and has no desire to improve.”

“Anyway, I really owe you for this period. Otherwise, my exam would’ve been a disaster,” Vinny said with genuine gratitude. “Do you have time right now? I want to treat you to a meal.”

Isatia had helped him with a huge problem, so he definitely had to show something. She taught him with real dedication—just how dedicated, only Vinny knew.

Sometimes Vinny truly couldn’t keep studying anymore. When his brain couldn’t keep up with the learning intensity, had no ideas for the problems, got bored, and grew drowsy—Isatia would find a way to make him focus.

Mm-hm. All you could say was that her methods were extremely effective. They always worked, and they always hit the mark.

Vinny felt like he definitely had to show his appreciation. Even if she didn’t care about a meal at all, he couldn’t not have that sincerity.

“If you have time, then I’m free anytime.” With Vinny taking the initiative to treat her to a meal, Isatia naturally gave a positive reply.

[Virtue +30]

[Current Virtue: 1444]

[Virtue +100]

[Current Virtue: 1544]

Alright. Now Vinny truly couldn’t tell at all.

Which one was Virtue Isatia popped, and which one was Virtue Aesphyra popped? Or were both popped by the same person??

Did Isatia pop Virtue because of his invitation? Then what about Aesphyra? Why was she popping Virtue? Because she hadn’t even gotten the chance to pursue Isatia yet, and he invited Isatia first??

Why did neither of those feel right? At least from their expressions—how they were before, how they were now—nothing changed at all. You couldn’t see any emotional fluctuation or shift. Even their eyes didn’t change.

Damn it, the women of House of Carillian really were each more capable of acting than the last. Were they all this deep and scheming??

If he didn’t have the Virtue system, he would’ve been fooled too.

“Aiya~ Isatia, I really couldn’t tell. Even if you don’t say it on the surface, you seem to like staying with Vinny quite a lot?” However, before the two of them could leave the Teaching Hall and head to the back street, a voice came from behind—an insincere smile in the tone, thick with meaning.

Generally speaking, most puberty-age girls with first crushes—when they heard someone say they were close with some boy—whether they liked him or not, would instinctively deny it, or at least offer a token explanation.

However, Isatia clearly wasn’t among them. Hearing Aesphyra’s words, she only replied with a few short words.

“Mhm. What about it?”

Isatia didn’t even turn her head. She gave a flat, affirmative reply—and even added a “what about it,” the kind of baffling, speechless line that could make the person asking flush red, yet be unable to answer a single word.

Huh??

Whether Aesphyra was shocked by that line or not, Vinny didn’t know—but Vinny himself was shocked.

Was Isatia sparring with Aesphyra, or did she really mean it??

Either way, Vinny got blindsided by another straight ball from Isatia.

This might’ve been Aesphyra’s attempt to put her on the spot, yet Isatia just went with the flow and directly admitted she liked staying with him??

That kind of statement was already a very obvious signal.

“Aiya, so it really is like that?” Aesphyra put on an astonished expression. Those deep purple eyes made it impossible to read what she was really thinking.

“Like is like. Don’t like is don’t like.” Isatia didn’t care at all about how direct she was. Her gaze was the same as before.

“I’ve never hidden my feelings or intent. People who don’t dare to express their feelings, and people who haven’t even realized their feelings yet, all seem strange to me—because their behavior only makes what should be simple become complicated.”

Oh, come on.

Vinny’s whole body stiffened the instant he heard that.

No, seriously—Isatia’s straight ball was way too big, wasn’t it??

To be honest, this was basically no different from a confession, was it??

Going this hard right away? Th-this wasn’t right, was it?

Where the hell did this take him?? This wasn’t how it was supposed to go in that damn game?? Shouldn’t she have been invisibly and gradually tying her worldline together with Aesphyra’s, then—through all of Aesphyra’s various flirting methods and them going through hardships together—get conquered, their feelings slowly heating up, until Isatia willingly entered the crystal palace Aesphyra the damn sea empress built??

Fine. Take ten thousand steps back—even if he was playing that damn game, even if Isatia really had that kind of intention toward him, shouldn’t there be some process? A friendship phase and an ambiguous phase, feelings continuously rising, then both sides understanding each other’s feelings without saying it, and only after some accidental event would they formally get together, right??

Who knew Isatia didn’t care about any of that. She came up and flipped the board, declaring she didn’t play those twists and turns—she liked going straight to the finish line.

Vinny suddenly had the feeling that the romanceable heroine in that damn game had jumped up and started conquering him instead.

“Oh? Then does that mean Isatia doesn’t accept other people’s pursuit anymore?” Aesphyra lifted her pretty brows.

Tsk!

Hearing that, all the complicated mess from getting hit by Isatia’s straight ball vanished from Vinny’s head. He turned and looked at Aesphyra with pure contempt.

A dog can’t stop eating shit, and a nutball sure as hell can’t stop spinning, huh??

So this damn sea empress really did have ideas about Isatia. Seeing him effortlessly invite Isatia to eat together—and even enjoy her tutoring services—she was unwilling to accept it, and her defense broke.

Damn it! Thought you could actually fix yourself!

At that thought, Vinny pressed his lips together. For some reason, he felt a little unhappy.

In the past, Vinny might’ve felt only contempt toward Aesphyra. But now, for some reason, a churning taste rose up inside him—something that didn’t sit right.

This annoying idiot!

Looking at the polite smile Aesphyra was giving Isatia, Vinny didn’t know why, but he was just really unhappy.

Ah—was it because he despised her behavior?

Sure enough, this white-haired nutball really was the most annoying thing in the world!

“I think I’ve made my meaning very clear.” Isatia’s eyes flickered, and she stared at the emotions and colors flowing in Aesphyra’s eyes with deep meaning.

Others might think Aesphyra said that because she had intentions toward her, but as one of the rare players who stood on the same level as Aesphyra, Isatia could see some things others couldn’t.

It was an extremely clever disguise.

No... maybe it wasn’t a disguise. There was another possibility.

That she herself hadn’t even realized it.

Masters trading blows—every move deadly. From the subtle details in Aesphyra’s tone at the end of her words and what her eyes revealed, Isatia could judge many things.

“Alright, I see it. Isatia, you seem serious.” After a brief exchange of looks, Aesphyra teased, then her tone shifted.

“But isn’t this a little too casual?”

“You two might not understand each other at all. You might not even have grasped the outline of the other’s personality yet.” Aesphyra spoke as if advising them.

“This kind of thing can be understood slowly. And—” Isatia lifted her chin. She was much taller than Aesphyra. When she lifted her chin, that meant she could only be looking down at Aesphyra.

“I believe I understand Vinny—and some related matters about Vinny—better than certain people do.”

“Uh...” Vinny immediately understood what kinds of “related matters” Isatia was referring to.

“Related matters... including secrets unknown to others?” Even so, Aesphyra didn’t look like she was being suppressed by Isatia’s presence at all. She narrowed her eyes like a cat, smiling as she calmly met Isatia’s gaze.

“Aesphyra’s understanding is always unique. It’s just that sometimes, it’s still lacking.” Isatia’s tone remained flat, as if talking head-on with Aesphyra was something she had plenty of room for—no pressure at all.

“Oh? What’s lacking?” Aesphyra asked.

“A lack of confident certainty.” Isatia answered without hesitation.

Holy—why did it suddenly start smelling like gunpowder??

Even Vinny, sitting steady on the spectator seats, got startled. Isatia’s fierce aggressiveness was so obvious even an outsider could smell it.

So this was the presence of the First Princess of the Tyrel Empire??

If he had to force an analogy, it was like: What I want—whether it’s a thing or a person—no one is qualified to fight me for it, and no one can take it from me.

“......Pfft.” Facing Isatia’s continuous aggressive offense, Aesphyra suddenly laughed, then said meaningfully, “Really? Isatia, are you that sure you know that much?”

“Everyone has some secrets of their own.” Isatia said lightly. “But that’s a matter of personal privacy, isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes, Isatia, you’re absolutely right. Since it’s a secret, of course it’s meant for specific people to know—no outsiders get to learn even a shred,” Aesphyra curled her lips into a smile, then looked at Vinny. “Right, Vinny~?”

Aesphyra’s look made Vinny instantly understand what she was broadly pointing at. His heart jolted, cold sweat spreading across his back.

What secret did he have that only Aesphyra knew?

Did that even need asking?!

In Vinny’s head, keywords like “beauty contest champion” instantly popped up. Other than a Shicodale who posed basically no threat, only Aesphyra knew about that.

And though Vinny’s expression change was subtle, Isatia still caught it perfectly.

[Virtue +40]

[Current Virtue: 1584]

“Hehe, yes. These things are fine as long as Vinny and I know them. You absolutely mustn’t let a third person find out.” Aesphyra giggled, then returned Isatia a teasing look.

“Aiya, looks like Isatia doesn’t know everything after all?” Aesphyra folded her arms over her chest, then—wearing a joking tone with a trace of mock scolding—smiled at Vinny.

“Vinny, too. Isatia is being so sincere with you, and you still won’t even tell her this tiny little secret~”

Like hell. This was pure, unfiltered black history—who would go telling people about it?

“Sure enough, some things just can’t be known by anyone other than me, right~?” Without waiting for Vinny to speak, Aesphyra laughed softly—and then kept sending Isatia a smile full of meaning.