“Vinny, so you really did run into trouble during your practical assessment?”

“Yeah.” Vinny nodded, then told Shicodale about everything that had happened on this trip—from finding the hidden chamber beneath Gaflei Fort, to later witnessing the Demon God Abyss, to encountering a Demon Pillar minion.

Of course, he left out what that underground research institute of the Ancient Empire had actually been used for.

“So that’s what happened... Vinny, you went through something that terrifying?” Shicodale listened to Vinny recount one detail after another, trembling the whole time, as though he were experiencing it all himself rather than merely hearing about it.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I really was too selfish after all!”

“Why are you apologizing to me again all of a sudden, Dale?”

“My father once told me that if someone who’s seen the Demon God Abyss keeps recalling that experience, they’ll go mad and lose their mind. And I still made you think back on those horrible memories just so you could confide in me. I only thought about myself. That was awful of me!” Shicodale said, filled with guilt.

“It’s fine.”

“Vinny, I’m really sorry. I was so childish, and I said something so selfish. You must’ve felt terrible hearing that, I—”

“Dale, if you keep going on about this topic, then I’ll be forced to keep remembering that awful experience too, you know?”

Vinny knew that if he did not say something, this little fool would spend the entire day drowning in guilt.

“Ah! Sorry! Vinny, you’re not feeling unwell, are you? Th-then let’s talk about something else!”

As expected of Shicodale. Starting with “sorry” was as classic as ever.

“Let’s talk about... let’s talk about...” Shicodale’s big eyes darted around as he desperately searched for a topic. “Right! Vinny, the scenery I saw on the way back— ah, sorry, sorry, I brought that topic up again! We won’t talk about the practical assessment anymore!”

Vinny looked at the flustered Shicodale with a dark expression, then smiled helplessly.

“You don’t have to force yourself to find a topic, Dale.”

“Th-then... what should we do now?” Shicodale asked helplessly, fingers twisting together, not knowing what to do to distract Vinny.

“How about... Vinny, tell me what kind of compensation you want?”

“There’s no need, Dale.”

“But...” Shicodale still wanted to say something.

“Being able to see you again safely is the best compensation I could ask for.” Vinny smiled at Shicodale.

“Eh... ehhh??” Shicodale froze. His pretty little face flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Mm... mmm!”

[Virtue +100.]

[Current Virtue: 7439.]

“That was too sly, Vinny,” Shicodale said softly.

“Actually, Dale...” Vinny looked deeply at Shicodale and finally decided not to hide this from him.

“Dale, this time... I wasn’t alone.”

“Eh?” Hearing the sudden heaviness in Vinny’s voice, Shicodale’s heart tightened slightly, and a bad feeling crept into him.

“But practical assessments are supposed to be solo, aren’t they? Vinny, what exactly happened?” Looking at how hard it was for Vinny to say it, that sense of foreboding in Shicodale’s heart only grew stronger.

“I ran into Milian at my practical-assessment site.” After a moment of silence, Vinny let out a sigh and said it.

“Milian??” Shicodale was startled that Vinny had suddenly brought up Milian. His heart clenched at once. “Did... did something happen to her?”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her these past few days either.”

“Milian...” Recalling what he had gone through with Milian this time, Vinny’s voice grew even heavier.

“What happened to Milian??”

“This is what happened.” Vinny finally began explaining. He told Shicodale how the two of them had been trapped in the Demon God Abyss, and how Milian, in order to save him, had secretly placed the Soul-Heart on him, and how in the end, he had been the only one to walk out.

“Milian... she’s trapped in the Demon God Abyss??” Even after hearing it, Shicodale still seemed unable to believe it. His eyes widened, and for a long time, he could not speak. “How could that...?”

Seeing that Shicodale could not believe it, Vinny had no choice but to take out the glowing emerald Soul-Heart from his chest.

“This is... Milian’s Soul-Heart??” Shicodale stared wide-eyed at the jade-like pearl in Vinny’s hand, the one with only half its emerald radiance still flowing through it.

“How could this happen...” Shicodale looked utterly lost. No matter what, Milian had once been his childhood friend. Before the split between the Golden Elves and the Moon Elves, the two of them had been very close.

He could not believe that the Milian who had been alive and well before the practical assessment had now been reduced to nothing but a pearl holding half a soul.

“Dale, during this break, I have to make a trip to Eternity Forest.” Vinny gently set Milian’s Soul-Heart on the table. “I need to hand it to the Golden Elf Queen and hope they have some way to bring Milian back.”

“Vinny... but the Golden Elves’ forest doesn’t allow any humans to set foot inside it.” Shicodale could not help saying.

“I’ve already thought about that too. There’s more than one Golden Elf at our Academy, right?” Vinny voiced his plan. “After something like this, no matter what the situation is, I have to go to Eternity Forest myself and explain everything clearly to Milian’s family.”

“Vinny, are you planning to use the other Golden Elf students at Carillian Academy to get into Eternity Forest?” Shicodale understood what he meant.

“Exactly.”

“Then... should I go with you?” After a brief hesitation, Shicodale made the suggestion.

“There’s no need, Dale. I’m just making a trip to Eternity Forest, not going to war. And you still haven’t mentally prepared yourself to have contact with the Golden Elves, have you?”

The moment Vinny said that, Shicodale fell silent.

It was true. Just as Vinny had said, Shicodale still had no desire to interact with the Golden Elves. Going to ask them for help like some beggar—especially something like appearing before Queen Selivlin—was something he found deeply repellent.

“So during this break, I’m leaving the house to you, Dale.” Vinny said, “I’ll be back soon.”

“But...” Shicodale started to say more, only to stop himself.

“What, do you think Queen Selivlin would do something to me?” Vinny said. “I don’t think she’s that unreasonable.”

Though for some reason, in the original story, that Golden Elf Queen had seemed to have a very bad impression of Vinny, it was probably because his reputation was terrible. At most, that dislike had only stayed at the level of surface disgust and displeasure. It had never reached the point of actual hatred, much less any reason to harm him.

And this trip was for Milian.

Milian had been trapped in the Demon God Abyss in order to save him. Right now, her life and death were still unknown. If all he did afterward was lightly hand her Soul-Heart over to her people, explain the situation, and leave them to figure it out themselves—

Wouldn’t that make him a complete bastard??

That was not the kind of thing someone who had received such a debt of gratitude should do. That was more like trying to wash his hands of responsibility—openly telling the Golden Elves, Anyway, I can’t save an elf, so I’m not dealing with this. Here, take the remains. You figure it out yourselves.

No matter how good-tempered the Golden Elves were, they would still have every right to be angry.

At any rate, Vinny could not do something like that.

Since childhood, there had been very few people willing to help him sincerely, so he remembered every one of them clearly.

Anyone who had ever helped him, he never forgot.

Let alone someone who had saved his life like this.

Even if he could not help much, he still had to do something.

“That probably won’t happen.” Although Shicodale disliked the Golden Elves, he also did not think the dignified Queen of the Golden Elves would have any reason to personally harm Vinny, a human.

She was the ruler guiding the entire elven nation. Her bearing could not possibly be so petty that she would start some kind of diplomatic incident over mere personal dislike. Vinny was not just a student of Carillian Academy. He was also a noble of the Camella Kingdom.

“Then that settles it. I’ll go myself.”

Seeing how Vinny was, Shicodale knew there was no point trying to persuade him. In matters like this, Vinny was stubborn.

But...

Wasn’t that exactly who Vinny was?

Wasn’t that exactly what made him so compelling?

“I’m definitely bringing Milian back. That girl is still waiting for someone to save her right now.” Vinny’s brows tightened.

“Vinny... mm, I believe you can do it. I really do.”

“But what if the Golden Elves refuse to let you into their territory? And what if Milian’s situation leads to some misunderstanding and conflict breaks out?” Shicodale asked worriedly.

“How will we know if we don’t try? If you think through every possible difficulty before you act, then you’ll never get anything done.” Vinny rose to his feet and started gathering up his dishes. “Dale, since you and Milian were childhood friends, have you ever met Milian’s sister? The Golden Elf Queen, Selivlin?”

“Queen Selivlin? I have.” Shicodale nodded.

“What kind of person is she? Can you tell me?”

“Mm... what kind of person?” Shicodale knitted his little brows and thought hard. “I... might not be able to explain it very well, because I was still very young when I met her.”

“In my impression... she was someone with a lot of presence as a leader. Very poised too. And...” Shicodale said sincerely, “she’s very, very beautiful.”

The standards of elven beauty were extremely high. After all, as a race, elves were full of handsome men and beautiful women to begin with, and they had their own distinct cultural traditions on top of that.

For even Shicodale—a Moon Elf prince—to describe her as very, very beautiful really was an unusually high compliment.

Vinny was starting to get a little curious about what Selivlin actually looked like.

“Dale, do you know anything about the other Golden Elf students at our Academy? Do you know where they live?” Vinny asked.

“I don’t,” Shicodale said, shaking his head.

Which made sense. Shicodale had never interacted with the Golden Elves. Even when they tried to speak to him, he would deliberately avoid them.

Maybe Mirexia would know.

After all, she was the Student Council President. She had seen a great many student rosters.

With that thought, Vinny and Shicodale cleaned up the dishes together, left the luggage at home, and then Vinny headed for the Student Council.

As soon as he entered the first-floor lobby, he happened to see someone he knew.

“Senior.”

“Mm? Vinny? You’re back? How’d it go? Did the practical assessment go smoothly?” Senior was sitting on a sofa in the first-floor lobby of the Student Council, reading some kind of document. Seeing that it was Vinny, she asked casually.

“Yeah, I’m back.” Vinny nodded. “It went... well enough, I guess.”

“Mm? You? No, that’s not right.” Senior lifted her head and glanced across Vinny’s face, then muttered to herself, “That can’t be right. With your abilities, you still ran into trouble?”

“I said it went well enough.”

“I know, I heard you. But your face is practically spelling out this absolutely did not go well, okay?”

Vinny fell silent and touched his cheek.

Was it really that obvious?

“Go on. What do you need from me?”

“Is President Mirexia in right now?”

“The President? Of course she is. She got back a while ago. Break hasn’t started yet, and it’s still working hours,” Senior said.

“Alright. Thanks, Senior.”

As she watched Vinny head up to the second floor, Senior raised a brow.

She could tell that Vinny’s mood and condition were both pretty bad right now, but since he clearly had no intention of talking to anyone about it, the best she could do was wish him luck.

Vinny made his way to the third floor, then, perfectly familiar with the route, stopped in front of the Student Council President’s office.

After hesitating for a moment, he lifted a hand and knocked lightly on the door three times.

“Come in.”

Mirexia’s voice came from inside. Without even entering, Vinny could already picture her bent over her desk at work.

Vinny straightened his appearance, pushed open the door, and entered the office.

“Mirexia.”

“Mm? Vinny?” Seeing that it was him, the blonde girl seated in the president’s chair, reviewing documents, looked surprised. “You finished your practical assessment and came back?”

“Did something happen? Are you alright?” The moment she saw the look on Vinny’s face, Mirexia naturally noticed at once that something was wrong with her childhood friend.

“I’m alright.” The way Vinny said it sounded very forced.

“Sit down first.” Mirexia pointed to the seat in front of her.

“Mm.” Vinny sat down across from her.

“Mirexia, did your assessment go smoothly?” Vinny asked.

“Yes. Very smoothly.” After answering, Mirexia looked at Vinny’s expression with concern and carefully chose her words. “Vinny... did something happen?”

There was no hidden meaning in her words.

Only pure concern for him.

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