Chapter 3

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Volume 2 + Chapter 3: Easy To Coax

‘Virtue +100.’

 

‘Current Virtue: 8804.’

 

“The dish got burnt? It’s fine, it’s just a few leaves. We’re not short on money. I’m the least short on money. Alright, don’t be so upset.” Thinking that Shikondell was sad because she had messed up cooking, Winnie stepped forward to comfort her.

 

Shikondell didn’t speak. Her toes, encased in white socks, curled slightly as she stood motionless in place.

 

“Tsk, why are you so stubborn? I said don’t worry about it, so don’t worry about it. Why are you just standing there? Come on, open the window to let the smoke out, and let’s go out to eat at a restaurant.” Winnie said, opening the window and beckoning Shikondell to go out with him.

 

Shikondell still didn’t speak, standing in place with her head down, like a scarecrow.

 

What’s going on today??

 

Shikondell observer Winnie, having observed for half a semester, still couldn’t figure out the habits of this pointy-eared creature.

 

Could it be that she’s also on her period??

 

Winnie felt a bit frustrated, as it seemed all the girls around him were on their periods. Aesphyra seemed to be, Mirexia seemed to be, and now even Shikondell was.

 

Did their cycles just happen to align??

 

“Winnie, I’m sorry…”

 

“? What are you sorry for? What are you even talking about? No wonder it hasn’t rained these past few days, it’s because you’ve left me speechless.” Winnie was genuinely confused. Where was this sudden apology coming from??

 

He hadn’t been back for long, and his recent interactions with Shikondell had been fine. Why was her attitude changing so abruptly, getting all emotional??

 

Shikondell’s mental resilience was too weak.

 

In other words, her ability to handle pressure was too weak.

 

It seemed like all elves had weak mental resilience. Milian was the same, easily provoked with just a few mental attacks.

 

The difference was that when Milian broke down, she attacked him, while Shikondell attacked herself, tormenting herself, and internalizing her struggles.

 

You elves are really something, huh?

 

“Can you tell me what you’re sorry about? Where is this even coming from??” Winnie asked with a strange expression.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“So what’s wrong with you? Did someone bully you again? Did those tribesmen from last time come after you? If something like that happens, just tell me. Didn’t I already tell you that??”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Can you stop saying sorry?? What’s going on? Say something! If you don’t explain, how am I supposed to know what’s happening? Didn’t I tell you to stop saying sorry all the time? Why don’t you listen?”

 

“I’m sorry, really sorry!” Every time Winnie spoke, Shikondell’s head drooped lower, as if the number of times Winnie spoke was inversely proportional to the distance between Shikondell’s head and the ground. The more he spoke, the closer her head got to the ground.

 

“………” Winnie fell silent.

 

Shikondell had truly left him at a loss.

 

Usually, it was him, the mental mage, who attacked others mentally. But today, Shikondell had launched a mental attack on him, leaving him with a herd of alpacas stampeding through his mind.

 

“Winnie, I’m really useless, aren’t I?”

 

Winnie remained silent. He didn’t even know what had plunged her into this dark mood, making it hard for him to find the right words to comfort her.

 

Is this why people always say women are complicated? He couldn’t understand her thought process at all.

 

“You’ve always thought so too, haven’t you??” Shikondell pursed her delicate lips.

 

“Yeah, I do think so.” Winnie crossed his arms. “You get bullied wherever you go. When something happens, you can’t solve it yourself, and you don’t even want to talk to others about it. You just keep it all bottled up, internalizing it until you have a mental breakdown.”

 

“It’s hard to imagine how you’ve survived until now. If I were as twisted and prone to mental self-destruction as you, I’d probably be dead by now.” Winnie didn’t mince words.

 

“Wuwu!” Not expecting Winnie to be so blunt, Shikondell’s head drooped even lower, like a quail.

 

‘Virtue +50.’

 

‘Current Virtue: 8854.’

 

“I… I don’t want to trouble Winnie…”

 

“You’re already troubling me, okay??” Winnie said impatiently. “This attitude of yours isn’t about not troubling others. It’s about making people worry.”

 

“If you speak up, you’re just troubling me. If you don’t, you’re troubling me while making me guess what’s bothering you. Come on, Dell, I’m not a mind reader. How am I supposed to know what you’re thinking? Can we not do this? Can you just speak your mind?”

 

“…Winnie, you… you get along really well with other students, don’t you?” After much hesitation, Shikondell seemed to finally be persuaded and let out a bit of what was on her mind.

 

But Winnie knew that with her evasive personality, she probably hadn’t said everything and was still beating around the bush.

 

“Who? Who do I get along well with? You mean those card-playing friends?” Winnie frowned, not understanding why his good relationship with friends was an issue. He wasn’t like Shikondell, a twisted little girl who didn’t dare make friends, afraid others would bully her.

 

“No, not that. I mean… some friends who are… different from you.” Shikondell said softly.

 

“Different from me?? What does that mean??” Winnie’s frown deepened, but with half a semester’s worth of ‘Shikondell language’ training, he managed to piece some of it together.

 

“You mean, I get along well with the opposite sex??”

 

Shikondell didn’t speak, which was as good as a confirmation.

 

“Who? I didn’t even know I was so popular with women. So who are you talking about??” Winnie rolled his eyes.

 

Come on, if he were that popular with women, why hadn’t he found a girlfriend yet??

 

He was still hoping to find some random NPC girl to settle down with.

 

Was the Winnie Shikondell was talking about some alternate dimension version of him??

 

As for the opposite sex he got along well with, there was only Mirexia. And that was just as friends.

 

“But, Winnie, you’ve…”

 

“I’ve what? Speak clearly, or I can’t explain.” Winnie said directly.

 

“You’ve… brought someone… back to the dorm…” Shikondell’s face turned red as she spoke, her voice getting quieter and quieter.

 

“….” Damn, I brought a girl back to the dorm? Does that mean I’m in a relationship??

 

That’s pretty explosive.

 

Wait, did that even happen?? How come I don’t know about it??

 

“Wait, did you see that with your own eyes??”

 

“…No.”

 

“Then how can you say something so baseless?? Every girl in the academy avoids me like I’m some kind of filth. It’s hard for me to even strike up a conversation. Who could I possibly bring back??” Winnie was exasperated.

 

“You’re lying. There’s definitely a girl’s scent and shampoo smell in the bathroom…”

 

“…” Well, so that’s where the problem lies.

 

Case solved.

 

Winnie could only silently facepalm.

 

He probably knew who that girl was.

 

Ah, why do elves have such a keen sense of smell? The scent of him transforming into Vanessa lingered for days if he didn’t deliberately get rid of it.

 

Although the truth wasn’t that he had brought a girl back to the dorm, explaining it was quite difficult.

 

“That shampoo you smelled was mine.” After some thought, realizing that brushing Shikondell off with a ‘I didn’t do it, don’t ask’ would only lead her to endless speculation, Winnie decided to explain.

 

Sometimes he felt really helpless. Even though he was telling the truth, why did it sound so unbelievable, even to himself?

 

Ah well, believe it or not, it’s the truth.

 

These days, lies might be believed, while the truth is often doubted.

 

“But, that’s clearly a woman’s…”

 

“Who says men can’t use women’s perfume, shampoo, or body wash??” Winnie snorted. “I thought it was interesting, so I tried it. What’s wrong with that? Does it make me any less of a man??”

 

“But, Winnie, why would you?” Why would you use women’s perfume for no reason??

 

Shikondell was at a loss for words, unsure how to respond.

 

“You’re too hung up on appearances, that’s why you can’t become a real man. Let me ask you, does a man’s charm need to rely on external things? Of course not! It’s an inner quality that radiates outward. Do you understand?”

 

“I’m not trying to criticize you, but look at yourself. You look so feminine, but does that make you any less of a man? What’s so strange about that??” Winnie shifted the topic to Shikondell herself.

 

Hearing this, Shikondell was momentarily speechless.

 

But she wasn’t really a man, was she??

 

Yet she couldn’t say that, so she could only remain silent.

 

“You were upset all morning over this? That’s pretty funny. I may be dashingly handsome, the epitome of charm in the academy, but unfortunately, too few people in Carillian appreciate my elegance. So the kind of thing you’re thinking of is impossible, okay??” Winnie crossed his arms.

 

“Is… that so?” Shikondell still seemed a bit doubtful, but seeing Winnie’s confident and unshaken demeanor, she was mostly convinced.

 

Indeed, this princess raised in a greenhouse with little life experience was so easy to fool.

 

Although Winnie wasn’t lying to Shikondell, he couldn’t imagine how badly she’d be deceived if she encountered those smooth-talking, scheming men.

 

This elf girl was just too naive. She’d probably be taken advantage of and left penniless, still counting money for the scammer.

 

“Dell, if any guy tries to get close to you in various ways, talking to you and trying to win your trust, remember to tell me. I’ll have a good talk with him.” Winnie narrowed his eyes.

 

“Especially be wary of those who try to gain your trust and sympathy through subtle means. Don’t hesitate, tell me.”

 

Damn, those kinds of people are either desperate or just plain weird.

 

After all, Shikondell’s identity in the academy was that of a boy. If there really were such people, Winnie felt he had to take serious action.

 

Honestly, after living with Shikondell for a while, Winnie was genuinely worried about this naive girl.

 

How does this sheltered girl think she can restore her kingdom??

 

In the original story, if it weren’t for Aesphyra, this pointy-eared girl would have probably fallen for scams like “I’m the reincarnation of the ancient emperor of Terraria. Send me 10 silver coins, and I’ll retrieve my scepter and revive my army to help you restore your kingdom” multiple times.

 

Well, why should he worry about that?

 

He wasn’t some saint, just a ruthless virtue-grinding machine. Helping Shikondell was just a way to extract more virtue from her.

 

In a way, he was no different from those scammers.

 

But what could he do? He was the notorious playboy of the capital.

 

“Huh? Why?” Shikondell, with her clueless expression, clearly didn’t understand.

 

“No reason. Just know that those guys don’t have good intentions. They’re as bad as those tribal thugs you encountered.”

 

“Oh, I see.” Shikondell didn’t really understand, but since Winnie said so, it must be true. So she nodded, indicating she’d remember.

 

True, he was using Shikondell to grind virtue. But since he was doing that, Winnie had to show some backbone and let those who tried to approach her know that this girl was already taken, so they should back off.

 

Was Winnie worried about her?

 

Hehe, so Winnie did care about her after all.

 

‘Virtue +50.’

 

‘Current Virtue: 8904.’

 

Shikondell secretly rejoiced.

 

Just a confident, unwavering explanation, even if it wasn’t very convincing, was enough for Shikondell to believe and snap out of her earlier mood.

 

It was truly remarkable how easy she was to cheer up.

 

After having lunch together, Winnie glanced at the clock hanging in the restaurant and realized it was getting late.

 

“Shikondell, it’s getting late. I need to head back to the student council. You head back to the dorm first.” With that, Winnie left before Shikondell could respond.

 

Today wasn’t his shift at the student council, but he had a reason to go there.

 

“Sorry to disturb you, President. It’s our turn to clean the president’s office today. Will we be bothering you?” Two girls entered the office with cleaning tools, looking at Mirexia, who was busy working at her desk.

 

“No, it’s fine. Please go ahead.” Mirexia gave them a polite smile.

 

“Then, please excuse us.” The two girls began cleaning.

 

One girl, though a bit nervous, worked meticulously, while the other, a short-haired girl, seemed somewhat distracted, using the cleaning as an excuse to sneak glances at the golden-haired girl working at the desk.