"Are you okay?" Merlin asked as he slowly landed beside Monica on her right.

Monica's heart leapt at the sight of him. She nodded eagerly and said, "I'm fine, Merlin. Thank you for helping me!"

She lowered her head slightly. At first, she had thought it was another student who had attacked the three elves.

Fortunately, she had been wrong. It was Merlin who had intervened—and truly saved her.

"You're welcome. Stand up," Merlin said, gently helping her to her feet.

Monica felt a flush of embarrassment at his touch, but she didn't pull away.

"By the way… why were you surrounded by those three elves? And who are they?"

He recalled that the elves had never dared to openly show hostility toward Monica, let alone attempt to kill her.

Something deeper was clearly at play.

Monica pressed her lips together and said, "It's all because of Tina and Tira."

"Tina and Tira?" Merlin's brow furrowed in surprise.

The images of the two elves who had bullied Monica flashed in his mind, and suddenly everything became clear without further explanation.

"Are they targeting you again?" he asked, his tone cold.

He had assumed his previous warning would be enough to keep them in check. He hadn't expected them to be bold enough to harm Monica.

Still, their actions didn't technically break any rules. After all, the academy allowed students to kill one another.

No matter the method, everything was considered legal—and within the rules.

"All right, let's find a safe place first. That black smoke will have drawn the attention of the other students."

He glanced at the tree roots still smoldering from his fire magic. The thick black smoke curling into the sky would surely attract nearby students.

Monica didn't resist. As she started to walk, Merlin scooped her up into a princess carry.

Her body froze, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Merlin, you…" she stammered, struggling for words. But Merlin just smiled and gave her a quick wink.

"It's okay."

With that, he leapt and vanished from sight.

***

By the stream's edge, Monica brushed the sweat off her skin.

She cast occasional, nervous glances at the boulder behind her.

"Merlin… you weren't peeking, were you?" she asked weakly.

"I wasn't peeking. How many times do I have to say it, Monica? Do you think I'm a pervert?" Merlin rubbed his temples in mock exasperation.

He hadn't expected Monica to be so shy. Besides, the boulder he had leaned against was over two meters tall and wide.

Even if he had been peeking, she would have noticed immediately.

Still, he understood—his relationship with Monica was new, not yet as close as friends who had known each other for years.

One thing was certain: he would never do anything perverted. Doing so would ruin his mission to win Monica over—a loss too great to risk.

Monica let out a relieved sigh. "It's not that I don't trust you, Merlin… I'm just embarrassed. I'm sorry."

Her voice was soft, tinged with a hint of sadness.

Merlin stayed silent, shaking his head.

Ten minutes later, her voice came from behind him.

"I'm done. You can come over now."

Hearing that, Merlin rose and walked toward her.

She had changed into fresh clothes and looked both adorable and charming.

"Thank you for waiting for me, Merlin," she said shyly.

"It's nothing." Merlin waved his right hand.

At the same time, he deactivated the protective magic around them and walked to the stream to wash his face.

"By the way… how many points do you have now, Monica?"

Monica hesitated for a moment. Then, remembering it was Merlin asking, she quickly replied, "I have 5,700 points, and I'm ranked ninth."

Merlin froze mid-wash, staring at her in disbelief.

"5,700 points… and you're ranked ninth?"

"Um!" Monica nodded slightly, then pulled out her tablet to show him her ranking.

Merlin was even more surprised to see that she had the same tablet as his.

He looked at her name in ninth place, and finally, his doubts were put to rest.

"You're really in ninth place, huh? How did you manage that?"

It should be noted that breaking into the top ten was extremely difficult.

It wasn't that Merlin underestimated Monica, but she was timid, and it seemed almost impossible that she could have accumulated so many points in just one day.

"I don't know either," Monica said, pursing her lips with a hint of sadness. "I was just walking around the forest, and every time a monster came near me, I hit it with all my strength. But… strangely, they all died instantly. I don't know if it was luck or something else."

She stared at her right hand in wonder and confusion.

Merlin: "..."

If he didn't know Monica to be such an innocent and timid girl, he might have thought she was bragging.

One punch killing every monster?

Even Merlin couldn't do that.

At the very least, it took him three or four moves to defeat a level six monster.

'Huh… is this the incarnation ability of the ultimate villainess? Incredible,' he muttered, a hint of envy in his voice.

Merlin was certain that Monica could instantly kill a level seven—or even level eight—monster if one stood before her.

After all, she had a direct connection to her original body, whose power rivaled that of his master, Linda.

Shaking off that thought, Merlin stood and gently patted her head.

"Whatever the reason, you did your best, Monica. Congratulations on making it into the top ten. If you can maintain your rank, a big reward awaits you after you leave this island."

Monica blushed at his touch. Instead of pulling away, she leaned slightly into it and replied shyly, "Thank you, Merlin. I'll try even harder!"

She clenched her right hand with excitement. For the first time, someone had genuinely praised her efforts, and the feeling made her both happy and giddy.

"[Ding! The affection of the villainess Monica Sael'myr has increased by 7 points! Current affection: 77 points!]"

Merlin was pleased. The more he interacted with Monica, the faster her affection grew.

Still, he couldn't afford to be careless.

His goal wasn't just to win over the Monica in front of him—it was to reach the true Monica, hidden somewhere, so he could complete his mission and earn 500,000 system points.

"[Ding! Congratulations, master. You have completed the mission to save Monica! Reward: 15,000 system points and a Soul Control Hairpin (mythical). Accept now? Yes/No.]"

Without hesitation, Merlin selected "yes," and the mythical item instantly appeared in his pocket.

He took it out and examined it carefully. The hairpin was green and exquisitely beautiful, as if carved by the gods themselves.

Even just looking at it filled Merlin with a sense of calm and warmth.

Then, under Monica's innocent gaze, he handed it to her.

"Here, Monica. This is for you."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.