Although in the original game a professor had merely mentioned that Veronica, Saintess of the Church of Light, went straight to the grading room upon arriving at the Magic Tower, without giving any concrete scene inside, this left Greg uncertain about the exact situation in there. The only thing he could be sure of was that he had done everything he needed to do to the best of his ability.
Not only had he transcribed word-for-word the fruits of wisdom distilled from countless discussions and verifications within the player community, but he had even held his handwriting to the strict standards he used when facing exam-oriented education in his past life.
He believed that anyone who laid eyes on his exam paper would be instantly drawn to it.
After all, that pleasing sense of neatness was a silent bonus in itself.
Of course, Greg didn't fully expect an outstanding answer on a single sheet of paper to directly prompt Veronica to approach him on her own initiative.
Doing so exceptionally well in the preliminary defense was merely laying the groundwork.
His true killer move would come during the secondary defense stage.
Because during that segment, Veronica would openly observe in the defense hall, allowing him to showcase himself even more directly.
He believed two consecutive stellar performances would definitely draw her to take the initiative to make contact with him.
“Sigh, I really don't know if I can pass the preliminary defense, it's all Greg's fault!”
Victoria, who was eating beside him, suddenly set down her spoon and complained.
Greg retorted helplessly, “Wait, what does you passing the preliminary defense have to do with me?”
Since being around Rom and Corwin always somehow dragged conversations into romantic topics, upon seeing Victoria and Silvia walk out of the hall, Greg had excused himself from his roommates by claiming he was going to spend time with the person he liked.
Then, he had naturally joined Victoria and Silvia for lunch.
Victoria said resentfully:
“Isn't it because you drag me into the lab every day to do that kind of thing!? It makes me spend so long cleaning myself off after returning to the dorm every night, cutting into my study time!”
Hearing this, Silvia's spoon dropped onto her plate with a sharp clang.
Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson, her voice trembling noticeably: “E-Eh!? You... you two have already done that kind of thing!?”
Greg reacted immediately: “What kind of wild, outrageous nonsense are you spouting, you gray-haired brat!?”
He hurriedly turned to Silvia to explain: “No, Silvia, you've misunderstood! Victoria didn't mean what you're thinking!”
Victoria looked at the two of them with a blank expression, completely clueless as to why they were so worked up:
“Misunderstood what? Isn't it true that you dragged me into the lab, constantly getting me caught in explosions that left me covered in dust and potion residue, requiring a long time to clean off?”
Only then did Silvia truly realize she had misunderstood.
Her face turned even redder, but this time out of embarrassment.
She lowered her head, wishing she could bury her face in her plate, fiercely berating herself in her mind for being a shameless girl who had accidentally let her thoughts stray to that.
Meanwhile, Victoria kept asking from the side, “What part of what I just said was so misleading?”
Both Greg and Silvia remained silent, neither answering her question.
After the three finished their meal, they prepared to leave the dining hall.
As they reached the entrance, they suddenly heard a discordant noise, as if someone were speaking ill of Greg.
The three turned to look and saw the three noble girls who had cornered Victoria on the airship earlier.
Sitting near the exit, they deliberately raised their voices, as if terrified that passersby wouldn't hear them.
“Hmph, that Greg Sass looks decent enough on the surface, but he's actually a useless trash kicked out by his family! Those achievements rumored around the academy were definitely fabricated!”
“Exactly, exactly! Who knows how a guy like him managed to sneak into the representative team—he must have used his body!”
“Besides, I heard he often bullies lower-year students back at the academy, acting lawless just because he has a bit of talent—”
Greg originally wanted to stay in character and ignore them for now, planning to settle accounts after returning to the academy, but Victoria suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Victoria knew the reason these girls were speaking ill of Greg was entirely because he had chewed them out for her earlier, leaving them holding a grudge and spreading bad rumors behind his back.
Although she believed she disliked Greg quite a bit herself—since the guy constantly annoyed her and never spoke properly—even so, she hated hearing anyone other than herself speak ill of him even more.
Without any hesitation, Victoria strode straight over, before Greg could even stop her.
“Hey, you guys.”
Her voice wasn't loud, yet it carried a presence that could not be ignored. “Have you said enough?”
The three noble girls turned around. Seeing it was Victoria, their expressions shifted from surprise to disdain and mockery.
“My, my, look who it is. Turns out it's that commoner.”
“What, does your heart ache just because we said a couple of things about that trash?”
Victoria paid no mind to their sarcasm. Instead, she stared straight at the lead girl, saying word by word:
“The way you talk behind people's backs is truly ugly. It's not your place to judge what kind of person Greg is. If you're unconvinced, you're free to beat him fair and square during the exchange, instead of buzzing around like a few flies like you are right now.”
The lead girl was left red and pale from her words, gritting her teeth in retort:
“Y-You're just a commoner! What right do you have to boss us around!?”
“What's wrong with being a commoner?”
Victoria didn't yield an inch:
“At least I won't rely on family connections to sneak into the representative team like certain people, only to wag my tongue behind others' backs. If you have the spare time to speak ill of others, why don't you spend it reviewing the preliminary defense content—though given your level, I doubt you'll make it to the secondary defense anyway.”
“You—!”
The three noble girls were completely choked by Victoria's barrage, their faces alternating between green and white.
They remained silent for a moment, exchanging glances with one another. Then, the lead girl suddenly let out a cold laugh, changing her tone:
“Oh~ I get it. You're defending him so fiercely... couldn't be because you two are already sleeping together, could it?”
Another girl immediately chimed in, her voice shrill and mean-spirited:
“No wonder! For a commoner to become a representative and get so close to him, turns out she used these kinds of methods. Tsk tsk, who would have thought? Looks so proper on the surface, but knows how to play dirty behind closed doors.”
The third girl agreed, her gaze scanning Victoria contemptuously:
“Right, right! Who knows what shameless deals were struck in private for him to take such good care of you.”
Victoria's brow furrowed, on the verge of erupting. But before she could speak, a pink figure stepped forward ahead of her.
“Please shut your mouths!”
Silvia's voice trembled slightly, but her tone was extraordinarily firm.
Standing beside Victoria with her fists clenched, her pink eyes burned with rare anger:
“Victoria and Senior Greg are not the kind of people you say they are! Please apologize immediately!”
The three girls froze for a moment before turning their spears toward Silvia.
“Oho, another one shielding her own.”
“What, are you one of his little lovers too?”
“Or do you want to join their two-person world and make it a love triangle?”
They assumed Silvia would angrily talk back like Victoria—yet to their surprise, Silvia's cheeks flushed crimson at a pace visible to the naked eye.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't squeeze out a single word of rebuttal. Instead, she lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting together as her eyes darted shyly toward Greg's direction before quickly pulling back.
Greg: “......”
Um... Silvia, aren't you just proving their slander right like this?
Just as Greg was contemplating whether to take the risk of ruining his reputation to step in and forcefully suppress them, a petite figure suddenly joined the battlefield.
Rate on N.U.
