Chapter 51

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Volume 2 + Chapter 51: Can I Play Without Cutting?

Mirexia was stunned for a long time when she found Radiance’s residence empty. By the time the mentors and students arrived, Mirexia began searching other parts of the Holy Church but still couldn’t find Vanessa.

This made Mirexia panic at the time, with all sorts of speculations running through her mind.

Could it be that Vanessa successfully summoned the Goddess of Radiance but paid the price with her own life?

Could Vanessa have encountered some trouble and been kidnapped before everyone arrived?

Where is Vanessa now?

With no clue, Mirexia was distraught, though she didn’t show it outwardly. 

She knew that if Vanessa was still alive and well, this would be the time she needed her the most.

In normal times, the busiest after a disaster would be the higher-ups of the academy and various non-combat mentors, followed by the student council managing student order. 

This was undoubtedly the time the academy needed her the most.

But Mirexia had no intention of working overtime. Without any definite news about Vanessa’s condition, her mind was in turmoil, unable to think about other issues or handle any work.

Every strand of her thoughts was tied to that girl, unable to spare even a sliver of attention for anything else.

It was at this moment that Mirexia clearly realized just how important that girl was to her.

To this end, she sought out Winnie’s roommate, Shikondel.

“Huh? Winnie? Yeah, come to think of it, I didn’t see him in the shelter. After he handed me over to Milian, he went off somewhere, seemed like he had something urgent,” Shikondel said, looking at Mirexia who had come to her with a sense of urgency, and started to worry about Winnie’s safety.

She had thought Winnie was also in the shelter, just that there were too many people and she hadn’t seen him.

But according to the student council president, Winnie hadn’t gone to the shelter?

“What’s going on? President, Winnie didn’t come to the shelter?” Shikondel looked around, trying to find that familiar figure in the dispersing crowd, but of course, she found nothing.

Mirexia didn’t speak. She knew it was impossible to find Vanessa here. Asking Shikondel was just her clinging to a sliver of hope that Vanessa might have returned.

In fact, she knew this was almost certainly not the case.

“He’s fine. Take care of yourself,” Mirexia said, not wanting Shikondel to worry, and left after giving her instructions.

“Huh? Huh?” Shikondel watched Mirexia leave in a hurry. Even though Mirexia said Winnie was fine, she had a bad feeling.

Could something have happened to Winnie?

Shikondel was uneasy.

“Shikondel, don’t worry. That guy has such thick skin, he can definitely take a beating. He’ll be fine. Even if he ran into a fanatic, the fanatic couldn’t kill him,” Milian comforted Shikondel, seeing her worry.

Shikondel didn’t speak, just silently looked at the sky, her hands clasped together.

Although she was an elf, it didn’t stop her from praying to the Goddess of Radiance at this moment, hoping Winnie would be safe.

Several hours later, after intense fighting, Mirexia forced herself to go without food or drink, searching almost every corner of the academy’s important areas, but still didn’t see that familiar figure.

If, if she couldn’t find any trace of her in every corner of the academy, then, could it be…?

No, no, that couldn’t happen.

Mirexia firmly believes that Vanessa must be waiting for her help in some corners.

It was at this moment, for some reason, a memory from her childhood with Vanessa flashed through her mind.

“The park, right, the park…”

“Are you there?”

So, Mirexia headed to the abandoned old school building’s park, a place almost no one visited, especially at a time like this.

The golden-haired girl flew to the abandoned school building, lowered her altitude, gradually retracted her dragon wings, and landed in this deserted little park. 

She didn’t know why she chose this place, even though there were many small parks in the academy.

She just felt that if Vanessa was safe and had also remembered their childhood promise, she would choose the most secluded park.

But this possibility was too slim. Not to mention whether Vanessa was safe now, could she have coincidentally thought of this childhood promise like Mirexia did?

The probability was too low, unless she and Vanessa were truly in sync.

Just as she waited for a long time without seeing a single figure and was about to give up, she looked up and suddenly saw a cloak enter her vision, clearly belonging to a girl.

For a moment, she was thrilled. When the girl took off her hood and confirmed it was indeed Vanessa, Mirexia’s heart finally settled.

‘Virtue + 400.’

‘Current Virtue: 5704.’

“Vanessa, how did you find this place?…”

“Didn’t we promise when we were kids?” Vanessa smiled softly in response to Mirexia’s dazed question. 

“In times of crisis, if we can’t contact each other, we’ll wait for each other in the little park. So, I came to keep the promise.”

“Mirexia you came here for the same reason, didn’t you?”

“Vanessa…” Mirexia took three steps in two and hugged Vanessa.

‘Virtue + 100.’

‘Current Virtue: 5804.’

Vanessa was momentarily stunned by the warmth in her chest, seeing Mirexia actively hug her, knowing she had worried her for too long, her expression softened.

“Mirexia, you still love to act spoiled like when we were kids,” Vanessa gently patted Mirexia’s back, stroking her soft hair, her soothing voice like a mother comforting a child.

“…You’re fine, that’s what matters.” Realizing how proactive she had just been, Mirexia quickly let go of Vanessa, her cheeks flushed, took a step back, and coughed slightly. 

“Just now, I wanted to check if you were injured.”

“Huh? Why not continue the check?” Vanessa smiled and looked at Mirexia. “Such a short check, what can you find?”

“Being able to tease me like this proves you’re probably fine.” Mirexia’s arms encircled the fertile valley, averting her gaze. “And your soul armament is still [Saint Envoy].”

“What happened to you? You were silent for several hours.” After confirming Vanessa wasn’t injured, Mirexia sobbed in relief, then asked with some hesitation.

At this moment, she didn’t resemble the rational genius princess deciding the nation’s direction, but more like a pure-hearted girl in love, seeing her beloved, with a hint of awkwardness and resentment, adjusted, probing why her beloved had neglected her before.

“Well, there was a bit of trouble earlier. I wanted to come to you first,” Vanessa explained.

“Just saying that,” Mirexia affirmed softly.

Most people probably couldn’t imagine this usually calm and composed princess showing such a cute expression in private.

“Who else would I think of in a crisis besides my most trusted and beloved childhood friend?” Vanessa charmingly.

“Most beloved?…” Mirexia’s breath hitched.

“What, Mirexia doesn’t believe?~ Should I say it again? I, ah, love my childhood friend the most.”

‘Virtue + 300.’

‘Current Virtue: 6104.’

“…Really, from now on, don’t do such dangerous things alone.” With Vanessa’s words, Mirexia’s previous questions disappeared, leaving only the thought that she was glad Vanessa was okay.

She said so, and thankfully, nothing happened this time.

So, it’s all good.

However, before Mirexia could say anything else, she suddenly caught a scent from Vanessa that was somewhat familiar but clearly not Vanessa’s.

It was a cold fragrance of roses and roses.

“…Vanessa, where did you go just now?”

“I.” Vanessa instinctively wanted to simplify, but suddenly noticed Mirexia’s eyes had narrowed like a cat’s, eerily calm, and her sense of killing intent inexplicably flared.

…Forget it, trouble is trouble, better explained in detail.

“This is what happened.” So, Vanessa explained how Aesphyra had saved her, of course, omitting the part where Aesphyra used [Divine Blessing] and the trash talk, just saying she was saved by Aesphyra and taken to her home to recover.

“Aesphyra saved you?” Mirexia also remembered that the calming cold fragrance belongs to Aesphyra.

“Yes, at that moment, it was really a close call. Thanks to Aesphyra taking me away in time, solving my urgent need, otherwise, I would have really exposed my identity, the consequences would have been unimaginable.” Vanessa sobbed in relief.

“So that’s how it is.” Mirexia had wondered who could have taken Vanessa away under everyone’s watch. Thinking it was Aesphyra, she had a moment of clarity.

After all, in her eyes, Aesphyra had always been a mysterious genius with unprecedented talent. If it was her, it wasn’t surprising she could do things ordinary students couldn’t.

For a moment, Mirexia’s favorability towards Aesphyra increased significantly.

However, this increase was based entirely on the premise that Aesphyra had helped Vanessa.

But…

Mirexia looked at Vanessa, and for some reason, her intuition told her that Vanessa hadn’t told her everything.

Aesphyra took Vanessa home, and then?

According to Vanessa, she couldn’t move at all, and Aesphyra had to help her with everything.

This was a normal and reasonable thing, but for some reason, Mirexia felt something was off, though she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly.

This feeling was somewhat similar to how most boys could keenly sense which jerk had eyes on their girlfriend and wanted to steal her away.

But Mirexia didn’t understand the essence of this feeling. So far, she just felt a bit strange, nothing more.

She didn’t dwell on this thought for long.

Not to mention why Vanessa would hide things from her, Mirexia had a relatively high favorability towards Aesphyra. 

After all, Aesphyra had helped Mirexia a lot. In Mirexia’s eyes, Aesphyra was a girl of very high character and selfless dedication, and would never do anything immoral.

So she just had a hint of this thought and didn’t think much about it.

“By the way, Mirexia, there’s something else I need to ask of you.”

“What is it?” Mirexia was puzzled.

“Do you have something that can detect magic or enchanted items on a person? I want to see if I’ve been enchanted or had any enchanted items placed on me.” Vanessa said.

“I do, but why do you suspect this?” Mirexia asked, confused.

“Well~ The methods of [Bronze Blood] and Erunes are too dirty, as you know. I’m afraid after fighting them, I might have some curse or something on me.” Vanessa wasn’t entirely truthful. Most of the reason wasn’t to guard against [Bronze Blood]’s enchanted items, but against Aesphyra’s.

Vanessa hadn’t forgotten, she had been in contact with Aesphyra for so long, and couldn’t move at all. 

During this time, if Aesphyra wanted to place a tracking enchantment or magic on her without her noticing, it would have been too easy.

Although Aesphyra probably wouldn’t do such a thing, she still wanted to be cautious.

“Alright, but that item is at my home. Let’s go get it.” Mirexia modified at Vanessa and asked, “Vanessa, how much longer do you need?”

Naturally, she was asking how long it would take for Vanessa to turn back into Winnie.

“Well, there’s still some time before the twenty-four hours are up.”

“How about waiting at my place then?”

“Sure, that’s fine.” Vanessa agreed without hesitation, firstly because she trusted Mirexia enough, and secondly because with Mirexia’s personality, she wouldn’t pull any tricks.

“Then, I’ll rely on Mirexia to carry me.” With that, Vanessa put her hood back on, hid her face, and nestled into Mirexia’s arms.

Mirexia held Vanessa, suddenly recalling the time they were in the Demon God’s domain.

‘Virtue + 50.’

‘Current Virtue: 6154.’

Virtue from Mirexia is skyrocketing, isn’t it a bit unreasonable?