That little fool—after her homeland fell, she wandered alone all the way to Carillian Academy. Before that, she had lived in a haze, spending her days in fear, with nowhere to stay. If the thought of “saving her people” hadn’t been the single straw keeping her going, she probably would’ve lost the will to live a long time ago.

Like a cat that had fallen into water—once it’s hauled onto shore and placed on a blanket in front of a fire, of course it’ll stay by the flames and refuse to leave.

Even though, in terms of daily care, Vinny was the one being looked after by Shicodale, he could tell that from childhood to adulthood Shicodale had always been someone with very little backbone—someone who drifted with the current, who desperately wanted to settle into a stable environment. Or rather, with the way Shicodale had grown up, there was no way she could’ve ever developed a personality with strong opinions.

She was the Moon Elf King’s precious jewel—the princess of Mistmoon Forest—pampered to the fullest. It wasn’t that she understood nothing about the outside world; it was more accurate to say she knew absolutely nothing. The elf race had always carried an air of isolation from the world, after all.

Shicodale was a good kid, an obedient kid. You could tell she’d been used to listening to her father and mother since she was little—she had never made decisions for herself, and she didn’t resist that, either. Over time, she simply got used to letting people she trusted steer her choices.

And so, the period after Mistmoon Forest was invaded and occupied by the northern tribes—after her father died in battle—was the most painful time of her life.

Back then, she wasn’t just bearing the agony of losing her closest family, of her home being destroyed, of her people being enslaved. She was also drowning in the helplessness of losing her safe environment, and the confusion and uncertainty of the future.

It was the first time she had been forced to decide her choices and fate entirely on her own. No one would cover for her anymore. Every action would be her responsibility—and that filled her with a fear she’d never known before. Yet she could only be shoved forward, forced to choose.

Fortunately, she made it through that time.

When she arrived at Carillian Academy—a completely unfamiliar place—she met him. After she offered goodwill and help, after they spent a long time together, Shicodale’s trust in him was built up little by little. And once that trust crossed a certain threshold, Shicodale shifted her dependency without even realizing it—she began to rely on him instead.

In that process, Vinny noticed it. Back then, he’d thought that even though it looked like he was helping Shicodale, he actually hadn’t helped her at all. Instead, he’d made her take the foot she’d finally managed to step forward... and step right back. He’d let her find a new person to depend on—someone else to make decisions for her.

But at the time, Vinny had no better option. He couldn’t exactly demand they switch dorms. There was no need for that, and he didn’t have the heart to do it. Besides, there was no guarantee a new roommate would be able to keep Shicodale’s secret the way he did—no guarantee they’d cherish her, protect her.

So he dragged it out. And dragged it out. Until now—until Vinny realized there was no other way.

He knew, of course, that climbing higher in the rankings meant more resources. But if his ranking rose, there was no telling whether he’d still be able to stay in the same dorm room as Shicodale afterward.

And the biggest reason... was probably that Vinny couldn’t bear it himself.

They’d only just separated, and Vinny was already starting to worry about Shicodale. If they truly got separated, he didn’t even know how bad his worrying would get. Forget anything else—just the thought of Shicodale rooming with other students made it impossible for him to feel at ease.

“Well... because of some personal reasons.” Vinny said it, and then offered a token bit of humility. “And honestly, I’m not as amazing as you say. What I said just now wasn’t false modesty. At Carillian Academy, everyone is at least three-star Soulcaster as a baseline. Two-star Soulcasters are extremely rare. And my Soulcaster is only one-star. Even if I’ve stepped into the Magus realm, my ‘value’ still doesn’t compare to a lot of first-years.”

“Besides,” Vinny added, “Milian is in the top three among first-years. She’s very strong. I don’t think I have absolute confidence I can beat her, so I won’t go up there and make a fool of myself.”

“I see.” Hearing Vinny’s “personal reasons,” Eric nodded, understanding that Vinny didn’t want to say more, and didn’t press the matter.

Eric had watched many of Vinny’s duels. Aside from that practical battle last semester, when he’d gone easy on a student named Andre, Vinny had always displayed his strength quite fully.

Eric felt he had a good eye for people. Even before enrollment, he’d thought Vinny wasn’t simple—that he had something admirable about him. Now it seemed he’d been right.

Besides, a gentleman keeps his tools hidden. Until a critical moment, he won’t reveal his trump cards. That was perfectly normal.

As he spent time with Eric, Vinny found him talkative yet measured. Every gesture carried an unmistakable air of noble refinement—like the storybook stereotype of a “good” aristocrat.

Someone worth befriending.

Before long, several days of travel had passed. Eric reached his mission location, and after bidding Vinny farewell, he got off the carriage early.

That left only Vinny in this compartment.

With no one to chat with and no one to play cards with, he spent day after day sitting in the cabin. To be honest, Vinny found it pretty boring—but there was nothing to be done. That was just how travel was.

Other than Eric, none of the students riding this unicorn carriage were familiar faces—let alone card players. Vinny couldn’t even find someone to strike up a conversation with.

Come to think of it... did Aesphyra pick up her task and leave on the first day, or the second?

Probably the first day. That girl was always doing her own thing—either leaving absurdly early, earlier than anyone else, or waiting until the very last moment to depart.

Still...

She left without even saying goodbye.

Vinny sat in the cabin, thinking gloomily.

As the days went by, there were fewer and fewer people in the carriage. What had once been noisy—filled with students unexpectedly running into acquaintances and chatting—quieted down in an instant.

It started to feel stifling. Vinny stepped out into the outer corridor.

The corridor was empty—almost no one left.

He knew why. The direction this carriage was headed was the final stop.

His practical assessment location.

He didn’t know if it could be called bad luck, but his practical assessment was at the very last stop.

Vinny leaned against the sealed glass window, arms crossed, head tilted back, lost in thought.

He didn’t know how much time passed. When he raised his eyes again, he found the sky soaked in dusk—an unmistakable scene of the sun sinking into the west.

It’s almost dark already?

Vinny looked down reflexively. The carriage was close to the ground now. He could see golden wheat fields flashing past below.

Dusk. Wheat fields. A carriage.

The scene felt unbearably familiar.

All of a sudden, he remembered.

Wasn’t this exactly how it looked before enrollment—back when he’d run into Aesphyra on the carriage and ended up talking with her?

Back then, that white-haired nutball had even told him her “ideal type.” He still didn’t know whether she’d been teasing him or if she’d meant it.

For some reason, Vinny’s lips curved into a faint smile.

Come to think of it, Mirexia should’ve set out by now too—after finishing the last batch of Student Council paperwork.

He hoped she’d have a smooth trip as well.

The next morning, Vinny felt the carriage—which had been steady, though slightly swaying the whole time—suddenly come to a stop. Then he heard a series of knocks.

“Facilis—Facilis?”

A voice called to him from outside.

Knowing they would reach his destination today, Vinny hadn’t even taken off his clothes to sleep last night—he’d just lain down fully dressed. He rolled over once, got up, and opened the door.

“Yeah. I’m here.” Vinny pushed the door open and found the teacher in charge of this carriage run standing outside.

“Perfect timing—you’re awake. Vinny, pack up your luggage. You’ve arrived.” Seeing that Vinny was already dressed, the teacher said.

“Understood. Thanks for coming to tell me in person.” Vinny pulled his suitcase out from under the bed.

“It’s nothing. This is the final stop. We have to call on every student still on the carriage. If anyone misses their stop, we can still send them to the right station.”

“You’ve worked hard.” Vinny stepped out into the corridor as the teacher went to call on the others.

Vinny casually grabbed a few pieces of white bread from the dining area and came back out, eating as he watched the carriage land smoothly.

Waiting at the door, Vinny observed that besides him, there were six other students still on the carriage, also waiting to get off.

Looks like there wasn’t a single unlucky idiot who’d missed their stop.

Before long, the door opened, and a long-missed fresh breeze swept over them.

“Everyone, I wish you success,” the teacher said. “Do you all remember where you’re supposed to wait for the escort caravan after completing your tasks?”

Everyone nodded and disembarked one after another.

After all of them had gotten off, the unicorn carriage closed its doors. Soon, the beautiful unicorn spread its wings and carried Carillian Academy’s magic carriage back into the sky.

Once they were off, the students went their separate ways, heading in different directions.

It seemed none of them knew each other, and all of them were on solo tasks.

Vinny didn’t greet any of the unfamiliar students, either. He lifted his luggage and went on his way.

They had landed outside a small border town of the Tyrel Empire—already a sparsely populated place.

After getting off, Vinny checked his luggage to make sure he had enough rations and water.

After confirming everything was in order, he entered the town to ask for directions. Under the locals’ guidance, Vinny headed toward his destination.

Judging from the routes those other students took, it seemed only his destination lay outside the Empire’s territory—right along the border.

To be honest, this was the first time he’d ever traveled this far alone.

The last practical assessment had also been far away, but he’d had someone to lean on. That person had done all the thinking and commanding, while Vinny did nothing—only putting in a bit of effort at the end.

This time...

It really was just him.

Vinny dragged his luggage onward. As he walked along a forest path, he spotted a damaged signpost.

On the incomplete sign, the words “Gaflei Fort Ruins” were written, and the edges had been stained by something dried and dark red.

Vinny didn’t pay it much attention. No matter what it was, it was all the same.

From here on, he’d already entered territory no longer under the Tyrel Empire’s jurisdiction.

The weather didn’t seem great today.

As he walked, the fog ahead grew thicker and thicker. Visibility dropped sharply.

Wild grass choked both sides of the stone-paved road. It was clearly the same road as before the signpost, but the moment he stepped past it, it was like he’d entered another world—gloomy and eerie.

As he continued forward, Vinny suddenly caught a heavy stench of blood—like a slaughterhouse. Combined with the oppressive atmosphere around him, it was enough to make your scalp prickle.

Vinny frowned. Following the scent forward, the CRACKLE of burning flames felt unbearably sharp in the silence.

On a patch of roadside grass ahead—

An overturned carriage.

A burning tent.

And dark red pooling across the ground, laid out before him like horror that didn’t need words.

The contents of the white burlap sacks piled on the cart had spilled everywhere, rolling across the ground. A middle-aged man dressed like a coachman lay in a pool of blood. And nearby, several people dressed like merchant caravan guards lay sprawled around the overturned carriage.

I just got here... and I run into this?

Clearly, this disaster had struck not long ago.

Vinny stared at the dead with calm focus—and noticed a detail.

These corpses were still relatively intact.

But the mission details he’d received stated that the victims’ bodies were not intact.

Which meant—

If this was done by the bandits squatting in the Gaflei Fort ruins, then by those bandits’ usual style...

They hadn’t left yet.

They were still at the scene.

In the instant that thought formed, a chill-radiating Frostfang spear appeared in Vinny’s hand.

And in the next moment, he caught a sound coming from behind the overturned carriage.

He walked over.

Behind it, several people wearing fur—faces painted with strange red patterns—seemed to be talking among themselves, doing something out of view.

“?” A strange glint flashed through Vinny’s eyes.

A trap?

Why were they showing no reaction at all, even with him this close?

Were they pretending not to see him—trying to lure him into a trap?

Vinny hesitated for a moment, then picked up a pebble and tossed it toward them.

The pebble hit the ground, rolled a few times, and harmlessly rolled to a stop in front of the suspicious group.

...Alright. No trap. He’d overthought it.

It seemed the sound of the pebble was what finally made them react. They all turned in unison toward the unfamiliar blue-haired young man who had appeared here.

After a brief blank stare, they drew the gleaming curved blades hanging at their waists—SHNK—faces contorting as their muscles bunched together. They bared their teeth and glared at Vinny viciously, already thinking about how to carve him into pieces.

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