Greg rolled his eyes in his heart, blocking out the bad cat's demonic whispering in his head without hesitation.
He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked right at Silvia, speaking in a firm and clear tone:
"Of course. You helped me a lot this time."
He paused, watching Silvia's eyes suddenly light up, before adding:
"Without your enhancement magic and timely support, the battle wouldn't have gone so smoothly. Your light magic also played a role in distracting and purifying those monsters. You did great, Silvia."
"R-Really?!"
Silvia's eyes instantly sparkled, and a radiant, relieved, slightly bashful smile bloomed on her face as she unconsciously patted her chest.
"Thank goodness... I thought... I was just being a burden to you again..."
Seeing her genuinely happy yet somewhat lingeringly fearful expression, Greg suddenly recalled that in the original game's setting, one of Silvia's defining personality traits in the early stage was a severe lack of confidence.
Unlike Victoria, who also came from a commoner background but was proud and resilient, Silvia felt immense pressure from her identity as a Candidate Saintess, along with implicit ostracization and malice from another faction within the church. This had even caused her to develop feelings of aversion toward her own identity and a desire to escape it.
It was precisely this mindset that led her to always appear timid and hesitant, unable to fully exert her power despite possessing powerful Light-attribute talent and a church background.
Although according to the original plot, Victoria would gradually help her overcome and resolve this issue later on...
...Greg felt that, considering Silvia had genuinely helped him quite a bit this time—whether providing support or obeying orders to evacuate the others at the end—it was only right for him to give her some positive feedback.
As he continued walking forward, he spoke in a casual conversational tone:
"There's no need to constantly doubt yourself, Silvia. Your power is very special and strong."
He glanced sideways at Silvia, seeing that she was listening intently.
Noticing this, Greg's voice softened a bit further:
"Besides, you're not alone. You have a friend like Victoria by your side, someone who will stand firmly with you no matter what happens. Of course..."
He paused, his gaze quietly fixed on the deep passage ahead.
"If you run into trouble or need help in the future... I'll certainly help you too. So you can completely... try to believe in yourself a bit more. You're far more reliable than you think."
These words weren't particularly profound guidance, but coming from Greg—who had just demonstrated immense strength in a desperate situation and whom she viewed as a reliable senior—their weight was entirely different.
Silvia listened in a daze, feeling as though something had gently squeezed her heart before it began pounding wildly.
A strange, scalding warmth rushed from her heart throughout her whole body, sending heat flushing into her cheeks.
Looking at Greg's tall, upright back walking ahead of her and his calmly talking side profile, a hazy emotion in her heart seemed to quietly awaken under these words, sprouting into life with flutterings of panic.
Senior Greg... He said he'll help me... He said I'm reliable...
She unconsciously clutched her chest, trying to calm her irregular heartbeat, but her eyes couldn't pull away from Greg's back.
Before they knew it, they had arrived near the dungeon's exit, and not far ahead were the exit stairs leading to the academy's surface.
Greg, walking at the very front, stopped in front of the stairs.
He turned around, his eyes sweeping across the four people behind him before finally landing on Silvia's face.
"You go out first. I have a few other matters I need to handle."
Walking at the back, Alvin and his two companions felt as though they had been granted a grand pardon. Hurriedly nodding, they cast a look of mixed gratitude and fear at Greg before scrambling up the steps, disappearing into the light above.
Silvia looked at Greg, clear reluctance showing in her eyes.
Those words from moments ago had left her heart in turmoil; parting right now gave her an indescribable feeling of loss.
But remembering that Senior Greg said he still had things to handle, it had to be something very important.
Suppressing her reluctance, she gave a soft nod. "I understand, Senior Greg. Then... please be careful too."
"Mm."
Greg acknowledged her, watching as she turned around to step onto the stairs as well.
Just as Silvia's foot was about to touch the first step, Greg's voice suddenly came from behind her:
"Once you're out there, enjoy the glory you deserve."
Silvia paused mid-step and turned back in astonishment, only to see that Greg had already turned without hesitation and walked back into the darkness of the dungeon's depths. His figure was quickly swallowed by the shadows, leaving her no chance to ask.
Enjoy... the glory I deserve?
Filled with doubt, Silvia chewed over this cryptically sudden sentence, continuing up the stairs in confusion.
When she finally stepped out of the dungeon entrance and was once again bathed in the bright morning sunlight of the academy, the sight before her left her frozen in place, her mind going completely blank.
The dungeon entrance square, which should have been sparsely populated in the early morning, was unexpectedly packed with people!
There were students in academy uniforms and teachers with serious expressions.
A dense crowd swarmed the area, and the moment she appeared, every single pair of eyes locked onto her simultaneously.
Immediately after, someone in the crowd shouted out first:
"She's out! That's her! The three who came out earlier said this junior rescued them!"
Like a stone tossed into a tranquil lake, those words instantly set off massive waves.
"Great job, freshman! Those three had been missing for days—we thought they were long gone!"
"Amazing! To actually bring people back from the deep area—this year's freshmen class really has hidden talents!"
"I think she's with the church, right?"
"That's truly incredible!"
Praise, exclamations, and curious whispers rushed in like a tidal wave from all directions, instantly overwhelming the bewildered Silvia.
Countless eyes converged upon her.
Silvia froze in place, her pink eyes wide and her cheeks rapidly flushing red from the sudden, overwhelming attention.
Only now did she suddenly realize what Senior Greg's private conversation with those three had been about, and fully understood what Senior Greg meant by his final words: "enjoy the glory you deserve."
He had handed over all the credit entirely to her.
While he himself still chose to remain behind the scenes, bearing all those awful insults and misunderstandings from before.
"N-No! It's not like that!"
Silvia waved her hands in panic, desperately trying to explain, though her voice sounded faint amid the noisy crowd. "It was Senior Gr—"
She couldn't finish her sentence.
A familiar grey-haired figure shot through the crowd like a gust of wind, carrying obvious urgency and joy, rushing straight in front of her before opening her arms and tightly hugging her.
"That's wonderful! Silvia! You're okay! You really pulled it off!"
Victoria's voice sounded in her ear, filled with relieved excitement and a lingering tremble of fear. The hug was tight enough to make Silvia slightly breathless, but she could clearly feel the unreserved care behind it.
"V-Victoria..."
Swept up in her friend's excitement, Silvia hugged her back, but quickly remembered the more important matter and hurriedly lowered her voice to explain into Victoria's ear:
"No, Victoria, listen to me, it wasn't me... Senior Greg did all of this! I-I just followed him and didn't really help much..."
Hearing this, Victoria released her embrace. Her hands remained resting on Silvia's shoulders as her grey eyes looked at her earnestly, her brow slightly furrowing:
"Greg? Right, where is that guy? He didn't come out with you?"
"Senior Greg said... he still had other matters to handle, so he went back into the dungeon."
Silvia answered softly, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward the now-empty, deep entrance.
"That guy..."
Upon hearing this, Victoria gave a soft sigh, a look of realization appearing on her face mixed with a complex, helpless expression as she shook her head:
"Knowing his personality, after going this far, don't you get it? Even though he didn't state it outright, he definitely dumped all the credit on you on purpose. He really is... such an incredibly stubborn guy."
"I-Is that so?"
Silvia was still somewhat unsure. In her heart, she felt pained by Greg's sacrifice while simultaneously feeling at a loss over this heavy gift.
"From what I know of him, nine times out of ten, that's exactly it."
Victoria spoke with certainty as she patted Silvia's shoulder:
"He definitely has his own plans and considerations. Since he arranged things this way, let's try not to mess up his plans and just accept the current situation for now. At least you came back safe, and that's what matters most."
Hearing Victoria's confident analysis, Silvia nodded, half-comprehending, as the panic in her heart calmed down slightly.
Yet at the instant she nodded, a faint thought quietly crossed her mind.
Why does Victoria... know Senior Greg so well now?
The thought brought an indefinable tang of bitterness, causing her to unconsciously look up at the side profile of her friend, who was currently blocking some of the overly enthusiastic onlookers for her.
A subtle sense of rivalry was born in her heart.
Rate on N.U.
