Chapter 103

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Chapter 103: The Troublemaker

That being said, money still had to be earned.

 

However, since the academy hadn’t officially started yet, the commission points on campus weren’t open, leaving Winnie, who wanted to make some extra cash, feeling quite frustrated.

 

What could he do? Most of the students here were from wealthy backgrounds, either nobles or the children of rich merchants.

 

Many commoners like him, who also worried about money, had accepted the olive branches offered by the nobles and were now living comfortably. Only he had to rely on himself for everything.

 

After playing cards with Fred until late at night, Winnie returned to his villa. Opening the door, he found the interior pitch black, with not a single light on.

 

Shikondell must have already gone to bed. Winnie tiptoed inside, took a shower in the first-floor bathroom, and then returned to his room, closing the door behind him.

 

Looking at the skincare products and cosmetics that filled his bag, Winnie felt a bit speechless.

 

What could he say? He had no choice but to bring these things back, but if he didn’t use them, wouldn’t that be a waste?

 

But leaving aside whether he wanted to use them or not, these were all women’s products, weren’t they?

 

Winnie walked over to the full-length mirror in his bedroom and stared at the overly delicate, moon-blue-haired boy in the reflection. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “When did I become like this?”

 

Ever since he awakened his Varelis bloodline, he felt that his appearance had become more and more refined and delicate.

 

Now, not only were the blemishes on his face gone, but even the small bumps and pimples had disappeared. His entire face looked clean and fair, more unique than handsome.

 

It had only been a few days, but he felt like his face had become even more attractive. Was it just his imagination?

 

Winnie couldn’t help but touch his face. In the past, touching his face felt like rubbing a rough, worn-out rag, but now it felt as smooth as porcelain.

 

He hadn’t used any of these skincare products these past few days, so why did his skin feel like it was getting better and better?

 

Could it be that as he transformed into Vanessa more often, his appearance was passively improving?

 

This was a good thing, but it seemed like the direction of the improvement wasn’t something he could control.

 

For a moment, he recalled what Fred had said to him earlier that evening, “If you have something unique but don’t use it, isn’t that a waste?”

 

Shaking off that thought, he took one last look at himself before returning to bed and falling asleep.

 

 

The villa at Carillian Academy was undoubtedly top-notch, and the bed was a luxurious velvet one, extremely comfortable to sleep on. Since no one woke him up, Winnie slept until the afternoon.

 

Rubbing his groggy head, Winnie yawned, got dressed, and got out of bed. Looking out the window, he saw the afternoon sunlight evenly spreading over the villa complex surrounded by trees.

 

The beautiful streets had a few pedestrians passing by, and the occasional cheerful chirping of birds made the scene picturesque.

 

Winnie stretched his slightly sore body and went downstairs, only to find that he was the only one in the villa. Shikondell was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Oh no,” Winnie slapped his forehead, remembering that he was supposed to submit his elemental report to the academic building today. It was already afternoon.

 

He quickly grabbed his report and headed to the academic building. Since it was late, most people had already submitted their reports, so there was no line. Winnie handed his report to the clerk and gave his name.

 

“Ah, finally found you! So you’re here?”

 

Hearing the familiar voice, Winnie turned around and saw Fred behind him.

 

“Winnie, you’re only submitting your report now? Did you just wake up?”

 

“Whose fault is that? You kept me up playing cards until late last night, and now you’re blaming me?”

 

“What? You were having fun too, weren’t you? Anyway, forget it. I finally found you,” Fred wiped the sweat from his forehead.

 

“Why are you in such a hurry? Don’t tell me you want to play cards again? Didn’t you get enough last night?”

 

“No, no. We finally passed the entrance exam, so everyone wants to celebrate and get to know each other. After all, we’re all classmates now, so we’re throwing a party, and almost all the new students are coming.”

 

“All of them?” Winnie frowned. The new students came from all over the world, from different countries with different cultures.

 

The Tyrell Empire and the Camella Kingdom were fine since their cultures were similar, but other countries were different, especially since there were quite a few non-humans among them.

 

Forcing everyone together into a big melting pot, was that really a good idea?

 

“Did you invite the new students from other countries too?”

 

“Don’t worry, everyone’s been notified, and they’re all willing to come. Young people can always find common ground, even if their cultures are different,” Fred didn’t see any problem with it.

 

“Who organized this? You?” Winnie asked.

 

“Don’t joke around. I don’t have that kind of influence. I’m just the messenger. If I went to invite people from other countries, they’d probably ask who I am.”

 

“Then who’s the organizer?”

 

“It’s Master Eric.”

 

“You mean the eldest son of the Ackerman family?”

 

“Yeah, who else could it be? He’s got the family background, the reputation, and he’s in the top five of the entrance exam. It had to be him.”

 

“Even the weird tribal people agreed?” Winnie’s question carried a bit of his own bias.

 

“You don’t understand. Those tribes respect strength above all else. Whoever has the biggest fists, they’ll respect them. It’s always been like that, hasn’t it?”

 

“In this entrance exam, none of the tribesmen made it into the top five, so they’re probably feeling pretty down. When the top five invite them to a meal, even if they’re not happy about it, they’ll still show up, right?”

 

“Anyway, are you coming or not?”

 

“Of course I’m coming.” If someone’s treating, why not? It’d be a waste not to go.

 

It’s just that Winnie didn’t have a very good impression of those tribesmen, so he asked a few more questions.

 

This wasn’t just his bias. In the original story, the tribesmen were a bunch of arrogant barbarians.

 

Among the various factions on the continent, aside from the demons, they had the most warmongers. Their fierce and combative nature had caused a lot of trouble.

 

As for how outrageous they were, one example was a tribesman who dared to provoke the imperial princess in a dungeon, a microcosm of the tribesmen’s audacity.

 

Don’t think that just because only one tribesman did something like that, it was an isolated incident. Aggressiveness and combativeness were part of their tribal culture. In the frozen lands where they lived, only the toughest could survive.

 

However, since not just the tribesmen but almost all the new students were coming, there shouldn’t be any problems.

 

“Besides, Master Eric is treating, so who could possibly complain?” Fred smiled. “Look at Master Eric, that’s what you call generosity. Treating almost five hundred people to a meal without batting an eye.”

 

Yeah, that was quite impressive.

 

After parting ways with Fred, Winnie left the academic building. Knowing that someone was treating him to dinner that night, Winnie deliberately didn’t eat anything, saving his appetite for the feast.

 

That evening, Winnie arrived at the tavern Fred had mentioned.

 

This tavern was probably one of the best on the Carillian Islands, decorated like a palace with luxurious interiors. As soon as he walked in, the place was bustling with energy.

 

It seemed Eric had booked the entire place for the night. There were no other patrons in sight, just new students who hadn’t yet received their uniforms, dressed in all sorts of outfits.

 

The tavern was huge, easily accommodating dozens of tables.

 

“Winnie, over here!” As soon as Winnie entered, he saw Fred’s mischievous face. He walked over and sat down in the seat Fred had saved for him.

 

After sitting down, Winnie took a look at the people at his table.

 

Hmm, they all looked familiar, basically the same group of card players he’d been with on the ship, all from minor noble families of various kingdoms.

 

These people were much less pretentious than the major nobles and didn’t have as many airs.

 

Winnie preferred hanging out with this kind of person. With just a few shared interests, they could easily get along. Under Fred’s lead, the atmosphere quickly warmed up.

 

“By the way, out of everyone at this table, Winnie has the highest ranking. Tsk tsk, no offense, but if I remember correctly, Winnie used a one-star soul armament, right? That’s really impressive.”

 

“Haha! I can’t beat Winnie in overall scores, but when it comes to card skills, I’m definitely not losing to him!”

 

“Here, Winnie, have a drink?”

 

“Thanks, but I’m not much of a drinker. I’ll just have this instead.” Winnie picked up a goblet and poured himself some juice.

 

Considering everyone’s preferences, Eric had thoughtfully prepared juice for those who didn’t drink.

 

While eating and chatting, Winnie occasionally glanced at the other tables, noticing that most people were sitting with their own small groups, all very familiar with each other and chatting happily.

 

Winnie couldn’t help but wonder where Aesphyra was sitting. She didn’t seem to have her own group, did she?

 

Speaking of which, did she even come today?

 

Well, never mind her.

 

Winnie exchanged card-playing tips and tricks with his tablemates, while the other tables were either chatting about everyday life or talking about their grand future plans.

 

Only this table was a card players’ gathering. If there hadn’t been so much food on the table, Winnie felt like they would’ve pulled out their decks and started a game right then and there.

 

At one point, Eric, as the host of the banquet, made an appearance, moving between the tables.

 

After eating and drinking for a while, Winnie suddenly felt the need to use the restroom. After excusing himself, he got up and left.

 

As he walked, Winnie glanced at the tables along the way. Perhaps because the tavern was so large, he didn’t see any familiar faces. Just as he was about to return to his table after using the restroom, he suddenly spotted a familiar girl sitting at a table in the very back.

 

Well, to the outside world, she was a boy.

 

Shikondell, whom Winnie hadn’t seen all day, was sitting awkwardly at the innermost seat of the table, her head lowered and her fingers intertwined on her lap.

 

Was Shikondell sitting with her friends?

 

But her reaction seemed a bit off.

 

Winnie looked at the people sitting at the same table and was surprised to find that there wasn’t a single elf among them. The entire table was occupied by Shikondell, the only elf, and a group of burly, muscular young men. Judging by their bold clothing, they were probably from the tribes.

 

What was going on?

 

Winnie’s expression turned a bit strange. A group of burly men sitting with a delicate elf girl, this scene gave him a strange sense of déjà vu.

 

What was up with Shikondell? It didn’t seem like she was here to enjoy the party but more like she was serving a prison sentence.

 

Her expression didn’t look right.

 

And would an elf’s close friends really be a group of tribesmen?

 

No way. It was obvious, elves were an exclusive race. How could they easily befriend outsiders?

 

Especially tribesmen, who had just destroyed the moon elves’ homeland. These were the descendants of the very people who had led the invasion.

 

And Shikondell’s hidden identity was the princess of the moon elves.

 

With that in mind, Winnie quietly moved closer,wanting to hear what they were saying.

 

“Tsk tsk, this wine is so bland it’s like water! Even asheep would find it tasteless! How can this be served with food? We should’ve brought our tribe’s ‘Thousand Man Downer’ and let these pampered foreign nobles taste what real liquor is like!” one of the tribal nobles complained, smacking his lips.

 

“Haha, it’s someone else’s treat, so just make do. But seriously, this wine really isn’t great. It doesn’t even burn your throat. Can this even be called wine?” the tallest and most muscular tribal youth said, grinning as he looked at the silver-haired elf “girl” sitting across from him, who was too scared to even breathe.

 

“Hey, what do you think, beautiful elf girl? You agree, don’t you?”

 

“…” Shikondell didn’t say a word. To be precise, she didn’t dare to speak or even look up at these tribal youths.

 

She was afraid that if she saw their rough faces, she’d be reminded of the despairing moment when her homeland was destroyed and her people were enslaved.

 

“Hey, hey, I thought this coward’s party would finally have some fun, but don’t tell me she’s mute?” the leader of the tribal youths frowned and slammed his fist on the table.

 

The wooden table trembled under the force of the tribal youth’s massive fist, and the sudden noise made Shikondell, who was trying to make herself as small as possible, jump in her seat. She squeezed her legs together even tighter, not daring to make a sound.

 

“Elf girl, say something! We’re not going to eat you, haha!”

 

“Yeah, yeah, even though back home, moon elves are just slaves, but this is Carillian Academy. We won’t get confused, hahaha!”