The word "opportunity" was sometimes like a mirage—it appeared close, but was actually far away.
Just a moment before Catherine could act, she suddenly realized her current state.
Her cheeks were flushed and sweaty from exercise, her athletic wear was damp with perspiration and clinging to her body, her hair was disheveled, and her overall outfit was entirely unsuitable for a formal social setting.
In the end, she could only temporarily abandon the idea. First impressions during initial contact were exceedingly important, even affecting the course of future interactions.
Thus, she turned slightly to the side, using the pedestal of the tall Hero Statue as cover to hide herself in the shadows. Exposing only a small fraction of her face, she quietly observed the two approaching figures.
She planned to head back along her original route after the pair left the area.
Evidently, the exhausted Victoria and Silvia had not noticed someone standing behind the statue in the square.
They stumbled forward, whispering back and forth, their voices faintly audible across the quiet morning square.
“That guy Greg really is an absolute jerk!!”
Victoria's voice was husky and thick with discontent. She swung her fist, which tugged at a wound and made her grimace in pain.
“I was almost squeezed dry by him, and yet he actually said so casually... ‘It's your own stamina that's lacking, your endurance is too short’?! Is that something a human would say?!”
Silvia walked beside her, letting out a helpless, gentle smile upon hearing this, and softly comforted her,
“Victoria, don't be angry. Senior Greg did it so we could adapt to the dungeon's battle rhythm faster. Besides... didn't we succeed in the end? Even if the process was a bit grueling.”
Victoria curled her lips, her complaints far from over:
“But he's super double-standard too! When he came to settle accounts with me, he babbled about ‘even good sisters keep clear accounts’ and pinched every single copper! But when it was my turn to settle accounts with him, he put on a face of ‘we're brothers, talking about money hurts feelings’! That shameless bastard!!”
Silvia giggled softly behind her hand, continuing her gentle persuasion:
“Alright, alright, look on the bright side. Our gains this time were truly substantial. If Senior Greg hadn't led the way and commanded us, the two of us could never have obtained them on our own. So we should actually be thanking him.”
“I know that too...”
Victoria sighed, her shoulders slumping:
“I just hate that infuriating look of his... And besides—”
She suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Silvia, a trace of suspicion in her gray eyes:
“Silvia, why... does it feel like you're always speaking up for Greg lately? Every time I complain about him, you say nice things on his behalf. Since when... did the two of you become so close?”
Silvia's body stiffened imperceptibly, a flash of panic crossing her pink eyes for an instant before being quickly masked by an even gentler smile. She hastily waved her hands:
“N-No! Victoria, don't overthink things! I just... I just feel Senior Greg saved me twice, so I've always been deeply grateful and wanted to repay his kindness. That's why... I spoke up for him a little! There's really nothing between Senior Greg and me!”
“Oh... is that so?”
Victoria stared at Silvia for a couple of seconds before nodding, seemingly accepting the explanation:
“Makes sense. As annoying as that guy is, he really did save you, so it's natural to want to repay him. For a moment, I thought you two had gotten really close without me knowing.”
“H-How could that be!”
Silvia's cheeks flushed slightly, but her eyes grew even softer as she looked at Victoria:
“We're the best friends who grew up together, aren't we? That will never change.”
“Of course!”
Victoria grinned, slinging an arm around Silvia's shoulders. “Come on, let's go back, take a nice bath, and sleep like the dead! I'm completely exhausted...”
Their voices faded into the distance alongside their footsteps, eventually disappearing around the corner of the tree-lined path leading toward the dormitory area.
Behind the statue, Catherine's expression turned somewhat peculiar.
“Greg Sass and Victoria Cecil have not only long reconciled, but their relationship has even developed to the point where they can team up and dive deep into a dangerous dungeon for high-intensity exploration?”
Furthermore, while Victoria hadn't noticed Silvia's feelings for Greg in their conversation just now, Catherine certainly had.
Although she had known there seemed to be some connection between them back during the Screech magic conduit incident, she had never expected it to be like this.
This discovery instantly overturned many of Catherine's previous conjectures and made Greg's behavioral logic even harder for her to understand.
Since their relationship was already so close, he fully possessed the ability and sufficient reason to personally offer Victoria assistance in any form.
Why go through the extra trouble of doing it through me then?
If he had someone else grant the favor on his behalf, the beneficiary would feel grateful to that third party, not to Greg Sass himself. So what profit did this bring him?
Unless... he didn't care about so-called benefits at all?
Was his help to Victoria out of some... purer motive?
At this moment, no matter how reluctant Catherine was to admit it, reality was telling her that there might truly be people in this world who did not care about profit.
This gave Catherine a slight sense of discomfort, as though a crack had formed in the foundational cornerstone of the worldview she had trusted for so long.
Because in this circle where exchange of interests and power games were the dominant rules, she had seen far too many disguises, calculations, and transactions, yet almost never a truly selfless act.
Yet Greg Sass's current behavior was faintly pointing toward this possibility outside her cognition.
“Does such a person... truly exist in this world?”
Alongside her confusion, an unprecedented desire to investigate surged in Catherine's heart.
Greg Sass was like an intricately designed puzzle lacking key clues—the more she tried to solve it, the more doubts she uncovered instead.
“Originally, wanting to contact them was merely to fulfill my contractual obligations, and perhaps build some valuable connections along the way.”
“But now it seems...”
She looked in the direction where Victoria and Silvia had disappeared, the corners of her mouth slowly curving into an arc entirely different from her usual professional smile.
“Perhaps I can flip things around and learn more deeply through them... about what kind of person Greg Sass really is.”
“What secrets and value lie hidden behind his contradictory behavior, his hidden situation, and his complex web of relationships with these unusual girls?”
“This might be an investment... far more interesting and holding far greater potential returns than simply fulfilling a contract.”
She draped the towel back over her shoulders, adjusted her breathing, and set off with vigorous strides, jogging back toward the dormitory area along the path she had come.
In her mind, she was already formulating a natural and efficient way to initiate their first formal contact with Victoria and Silvia.
Rate on N.U.
