“Well, look at you, Greg! We agreed to slack off together, but you went and studied behind my back, didn't you!”
In the corridor, Victoria stood with her hands on her hips, accusing flames burning in her gray eyes. She blocked Greg's way, wearing a look that said, 'You're not leaving today without an explanation.'
Greg sighed helplessly.
“Hey, are you trying to slander my innocent name? Is there any environment in a dungeon where I could read in peace? Stop falsely accusing me. When I say I didn't grind, I didn't grind.”
“Then how on earth did you end up at the top of the list!?”
Victoria's voice raised an octave, clearly dissatisfied with his answer.
“Because I'm naturally brilliant,” Greg replied without batting an eye.
Victoria: “You have so much hair, yet you have the nerve to say that?”
Greg: “...That's 'brilliant to the point of balding.' That's not what I meant at all.”
Victoria: “But aren't both used to describe someone as really smart?”
Greg: “No, those two phrases... Wait, actually that seems right... Hold on, is that right?”
Greg felt like he hadn't quite adapted to Victoria's off-the-wall responses and was almost drawn into her logic, but fortunately, a soft voice chimed in just then:
“Alright, you two, stop bickering every time you see each other.”
Silvia walked over from the side with a helpless smile, standing between them and skillfully stepping into the role of mediator.
She looked at Victoria, then at Greg, and spoke softly:
“I think as long as we all passed the preliminary defense, that's something to be happy about. Why argue?”
Victoria huffed and turned her head away, though she didn't press Greg any further about secretly grinding.
Seeing this, Silvia hesitated for a moment before turning to Greg, a trace of subtle concern in her tone:
“Um... Senior Greg, these past few days... Sister Veronica hasn't come looking for you again, has she?”
She had been worried ever since Greg was taken away last time.
Although Greg returned safely in the end, an inexplicable unease still lingered in her heart.
Greg shook his head.
“No. Didn't I tell you guys before? She only wanted to meet me because she thought my answers were excellent. There's nothing else going on, so you don't need to worry.”
Yet Silvia didn't put her mind completely at ease because of his response.
She bowed her head slightly, her fingers unconsciously twining together, her voice dropping lower than before:
“Although I know it might sound bad to say this... I feel Sister Veronica probably didn't want to meet you just for that, Senior Greg. So... it would be best for you to be extra careful lately, Senior. If that power of yours gets exposed, it will definitely cause big trouble.”
Victoria chimed in from the side, agreeing for once:
“Yeah! To be honest, I also feel that woman definitely has something wrong with her head, so it's definitely not that simple!”
The two of them—one being a Candidate Saintess of the Holy Church of Light and the other being the Hero bearing the Will of the World—had naturally both met Veronica in the Holy Church of Light.
Evidently, however, the first impression Veronica left on them was less than stellar.
As a Candidate Saintess, Silvia had interacted with Veronica a few times in the Church and had long noticed that her faith in the Goddess Serafina was overly fanatical, unable to tolerate even a speck of impurity in her eyes.
As for Victoria, it was purely by intuition, and as luck would have it, her intuition was always remarkably sharp.
Looking at the serious expressions on their faces, Greg felt a faint warmth in his heart.
“Alright, since you both say so, I'll pay extra attention from now on.”
He knew they were genuinely worried about him, but he still didn't plan to tell them the news that he had already completely hoodwinked Veronica.
Leaving Silvia aside for a moment—even if she found out he had lied and fabricated that his soul was female just to survive, she certainly wouldn't laugh at him to his face, and would even proactively understand his difficulties.
Yet precisely because Silvia was so understanding, Greg felt even less inclined to tell her, likely wanting to preserve his image in her heart.
Victoria, that Little Gray, was a completely different story. If she found out about this, she would definitely treat it as leverage and mock him with it every chance she got.
So right from the start, Greg had ruled out the option of "telling Victoria."
In any case, whether for the sake of his moral integrity or for secrecy, he didn't intend to reveal it right now.
“Anyway, let me drop this topic for now.”
Greg clapped his hands, changing the subject.
“Didn't you two say earlier that you needed to prepare for the secondary defense with your roommates? Shouldn't you be heading over now?”
The topic for the secondary defense was announced alongside the list of students who passed the preliminary defense.
This year's secondary defense topic was—Analysis of the Applications and Limitations of Elemental Resonance Theory in Actual Combat.
Compared to the preliminary defense topic regarding the mechanism of mana conduction loss, this subject was undoubtedly much more difficult.
It not only required students to possess a solid theoretical foundation, but also a deep understanding of actual combat along with a rich imagination.
Fortunately, before the secondary defense officially began, there was a five-day free preparation period.
Thus, most students chose to form study groups with roommates or friends who had also passed the preliminary defense, discussing and practicing with one another to prepare for the secondary defense.
Naturally, Greg had no need for any of that, as the best answer was already burned into his memory.
Since he now had a backed-up identity to fall back on, he could naturally copy without any worries. Moreover, the better his performance now, the safer he would be when facing Veronica later.
“Oh right! I almost forgot!”
Reminded by Greg, Silvia and Victoria finally remembered.
Silvia quickly bade farewell to Greg: “In that case, I'll head over first! Goodbye, Senior Greg! Make sure you prepare well too!”
With that, she hurriedly rushed off toward the dormitory area.
Victoria crossed her arms before leaving, looking at Greg with a challenging gaze:
“Hmph! I'll definitely surpass you in the secondary defense. Just you wait, traitor!”
After throwing down those harsh words, she turned and left cleanly.
Watching both of their figures disappear at the end of the corridor, Greg finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Because he intended to head to the agreed location next to meet Allie and the others. If anyone else tagged along, things would become very troublesome again.
Yet just as he turned around and walked toward the Magic Tower's exit—
“Would you like to go for a walk together?”
A cool, familiar voice suddenly called out from beside him.
Greg turned his head to see Vivian already standing beside him at some point, her long blue hair shimmering softly under the corridor lights, her ice-blue eyes gazing calmly at him.
Greg: “...Here we go again!?”
Rate on N.U.
