Chapter 3

“The water is dirty, I’ll go fetch some from outside.” Seeing the water in the bucket completely soiled, the short-haired girl seized the opportunity to propose this to the other girl.

“Alright, Zoe, you go ahead.” The other girl, seeing Zoe take the initiative, dismissed her own thoughts of changing the water and leaned against the wall in the president’s office.

Zoe carried the bucket out of the president’s office, careful not to disturb Mirexia working inside, and closed the door behind her.

She looked around, ensuring no one was in the hallway, then made her way to the corner near the staircase. Her hand slipped into the pleats of her student skirt, fingers seemingly clutching something.

“President?!” Just then, a startled cry came from the president’s office not far away, suggesting something had happened to Mirexia.

Seeing this, Zoe’s brow relaxed slightly. Just as she was about to pull her hand out of her skirt pocket, she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder from behind.

“?!” Zoe was startled and quickly turned around.

“Hey hey, Zoe, don’t be nervous, it’s me, don’t you recognize me?”

“You??” Zoe, overly tense, looked at the somewhat familiar blue-haired young man behind her, her teeth clenched.

“It’s me, Zoe, we met outside the student council president’s office the other day, remember? Like today, you were all flustered for some reason, and I happened to run into you bringing tea to the president, remember?” Winnie said with a grin.

“…Not really.” Seeing Winnie’s cheeky smile, Zoe felt inexplicably nervous, especially since he seemed to deliberately bring up that day’s events, making her feel guilty, yet she had to feign calmness.

“Yo, still pretending not to know me, you have forgotten your old buddy after making it big, huh?” Winnie, hands in his pockets, casually leaned in.

“I don’t know you.” Zoe tried to maintain a cold demeanor to keep her distance, hoping to deter him.

This blue-haired young man, a fellow student student whom she’d rarely seen, was suddenly acting so familiar today that made her instinctively uneasy.

Right now, she just wanted to quickly change the water, finish today’s work, and return to her dorm as if nothing had happened.

“How can you not know me? We’re old buddies from the same year in the student council, we should look out for each other, not pretend not to know each other, right?” Winnie pouted, not backing down despite Zoe’s obvious resistance.

“Don’t come closer, we’re not close.” Seeing Winnie step forward, Zoe felt increasingly nervous.

“Hey hey, don’t be like that, Zoe. Speaking of which, it’s your turn to clean the president’s office today, right? You’re going to change the water, aren’t you? Who else would carry a dirty water bucket around?” Winnie crossed his arms, looking curious.

“But then again, this doesn’t seem like the way to the bathroom, does it? The bathroom is down the hall, why are you heading towards the staircase? Going the long way, huh? Zoe, do you like to exercise this way? Interesting hobby, I must say.”

“By the way, I saw you putting your hand in your pocket earlier, as if you were grabbing something, but you didn’t pull it out, what’s that about?”

“That’s none of your business.” Zoe’s brow furrowed. “Student, I’m not familiar with you, and this is the student council, if you continue like this, I’ll have to…”

“What will you do?” Winnie’s smile turned colder. “If you want to make this known to everyone, I don’t mind.”

“What do you mean, known to everyone? I don’t understand what you’re saying.” With that, Zoe turned to leave.

“You can’t leave.” Winnie stepped in front of her.

“What do you want?”

“Zoe, can you explain what’s happening in the president’s office right now, does it have anything to do with you?” Winnie asked meaningfully, hands in his pockets.

“What does it have to do with me? I have no idea what’s happening in the president’s office.”

“Really? Why was your reaction so calm then? It’s as if you knew exactly what was happening in the president’s office, or even that it was happening because of you.”

“You say you don’t know what’s happening in the president’s office, but hearing that other girl’s cry, any normal person’s first reaction would be to rush to the president’s office to see what’s going on, but you’re completely different, as if you already knew, thinking no one would notice you, so you didn’t even bother to pretend?” Winnie smirked sarcastically.

“Honestly, your acting is terrible, you don’t even have the basic actor’s discipline of committing to the role, you’re really not cut out to be a ‘mole’.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, if you continue to harass me verbally, I’ll report your behavior to the disciplinary committee.” Zoe tried to stay composed, but her face was already pale.

“Don’t rush, Zoe, I’m just curious, your behavior is really unusual, including the tea incident last time, at first glance it seems like it’s just your personality, but the more I think about it, the more questions arise.” Winnie raised an eyebrow.

For example, as a transmigrator, or someone who has awakened memories of a past life, he knows about another worldline that others are unaware of, recalling a key character from the original worldline that he replaced, Byran.

His affinity with water elements was quite high. If the current worldline is the same as the original, why didn’t the subsequent events of Mirexia being ambushed by the [Bronze Blood] and falling into a desperate situation happen when he encountered Zoe??

Winnie pondered and thought it was highly likely that Byran had uncovered Zoe’s poisoning plot.

Why?

Because Byran’s water element affinity was extremely high; an enchanted teacup couldn’t detect poison in the tea, but Byran could clearly sense if there was anything extra in the pure water.

Therefore, in the original story, Byran probably uncovered Zoe’s poisoning, and then the [Bronze Blood] who attacked Mirexia hit a wall, being completely wiped out by Mirexia in her healthy state; they probably didn’t even have time to introduce themselves before being instantly killed, let alone summoning Sharag.

To Mirexia, this might not have been a big deal at all, just a trivial matter, those reckless followers of the Demon God Pillar probably just stumbled in here, with no plan at all.

So, this event was glossed over in the original plot, not even mentioned, because it didn’t cause any impact, and the demon extermination event didn’t happen.

But now, the original worldline has changed, and Winnie, with his mediocre water element affinity, replaced Byran. He just found it strange, completely unaware of any foreign substance in the water, leading to Mirexia’s poisoning.

Looking at it this way, this mess is actually his fault??

“What do you want?”

“Hey, no need to be so defensive, we’re classmates, you’re making me look like a follower or spy of the Demon God Pillar.” Winnie laughed. “I’m just very interested in what you have in your pocket, Zoe, would you be willing to share it with me?”

“That’s my thing, why should I show it to you?” Zoe retorted sharply. “Do you have the right to make me show it to you?”

“Well, I don’t, but someone does.” Winnie smiled towards Zoe’s back. “Mirexia, isn’t that right?”

“?!” Zoe was stunned, quickly turning around to see the striking, beautiful, and spirited blonde girl who had appeared behind her without notice.

“Pre… President?! Aren’t you supposed to be unconscious…”

“Unconscious??” Winnie seemed to catch onto a key word, frowning. “Who said anything about unconsciousness? President Mirexia is perfectly fine, we didn’t mention anything happening in the president’s office, how do you know President Mirexia is unconscious?”

“Oh, I get it, you must be clairvoyant??” Winnie pondered for a moment, then acted as if he had an epiphany.

“I…” Zoe was speechless, her gaze at Mirexia filled with shock, confusion, and disbelief.

“So, are you perhaps wondering why President Mirexia didn’t pass out as you expected? Want to know why? If you want to know, then take out what’s in your pocket and let me see, Mirexia has allowed me to do so.” Seeing Zoe still trying to struggle, Winnie immediately posed a choice, making it impossible for Zoe to think straight.

At this moment, her thoughts were in turmoil, emotions chaotic and contradictory, instinctively fearing the consequences yet rationally telling herself to stay calm, in short, she felt everything, but only a little of each.

“Sigh, being so contradictory and indecisive, it’s really hard to imagine you being a spy for the [Bronze Blood], Zoe.” Winnie sighed lightly.

“You… what are you talking about?? Who’s the Bronze Blood?? I have no idea what you’re saying!”

“Oh, then take out what’s in your pocket, let’s have a look.” Winnie glanced at Mirexia.

“Zoe, please.” Seeing Zoe still trying to argue, Mirexia spoke word by word, her gem-like blue eyes calmly scrutinizing the girl before her. “This is my wish, if I’ve misunderstood you, then the blame is mine alone to bear.”

Mirexia deliberately said the blame was hers alone, excluding Winnie from any responsibility.

“…” At this point, Zoe knew she had no choice.

“Zoe, I hope you can make the wisest choice, I’ve said before, we haven’t informed the academy authorities yet, of course, if you feel we’ve wronged you and are aggrieved, you can inform the academy authorities right now, don’t worry, we’ll relay it for you.” Winnie spread his hands.

“…” Zoe lowered her head, after a moment, her hand in her pocket for a long time, finally pulled out the tightly clenched stone.

“This, it’s just an ordinary stone.” Zoe added.

“Whether it’s ordinary or not isn’t for you to decide, Zoe.” Winnie walked over, glanced at the familiar stone.

Just as he thought, it was the same type of stone the [Bronze Blood] used to activate the toxin in Mirexia’s body.

If he remembered correctly, this was a medium used by Erunes to extend his magic.

Mirexia also recognized the stone, shook her head, looked at Zoe, and extended her hand towards her.

Zoe had no choice but to hand the stone over to Mirexia.

“Zoe, do you really know what you’re doing??” Mirexia asked solemnly.

“I…”

“Conspiring with the enemy of humanity, do you know what the consequences of such actions are? Do you know how dangerous this is for those around you, for yourself??”

“Those around me??” Zoe laughed dryly, her gaze empty. “Those people, what does it matter if they die??”

“After all, they all look down on me, scorn my background.” Zoe knew she couldn’t bluff her way out, so she resigned herself to saying.

“I’m just returning the injustices I’ve suffered back to them!”

“And what about the nuns who took you in? Do they deserve to die too??” Before Mirexia could speak, Winnie coldly interjected.

“Is it their fault for being kind to you, letting you live to harm them, harm the people in this world who have been the best to you??”

“Think about it, would they be happy to see you in this fallen state??” Winnie questioned.

“I… you, you high and mighty nobles only know how to spout empty words, you don’t understand anything!”

“What the hell are you talking about??” Winnie’s face darkened. “Winnie Varelis, that’s my name, you’ve heard it, haven’t you??”

“All you’ve suffered are some scornful glances, some disdain and contempt, but the scorn and slander I’ve endured in a single day as a child surpasses what you’ve experienced in your entire life!”

“Do you even qualify to talk about misanthropy??” Winnie scolded. “No matter what you’ve been through, President Mirexia owes you nothing, she has never wronged you, yet you conspire with the followers of the Demon God Pillar to harm her.”

“No matter what you’ve experienced before, it cannot justify harming the innocent!” Winnie declared with righteous indignation.

Mirexia looked at Winnie with slight surprise, the usually frivolous young man now seemed so majestic and full of righteous spirit, just like when he protected her in the demon realm without regard for his own safety.

Her childhood friend, despite enduring many injustices and cruelties, had not changed his essential nature.

‘Virtue +100.’

‘Current Virtue: 9004.’

“Do you know that continuing down this path of delusion will cost many lives? Among them will be many civilian students just like you.”

“No matter how much betrayal and hardship you’ve endured, you should maintain that kernel of goodness in your heart, it’s proof that you’re still human.” After a moment, Winnie’s tone softened, speaking deeply.

“……Thud.” Zoe knelt on the ground with a dazed look in her eyes, without saying a word.