Vol 5. Chapter 34: Directly Attacking the Player

“Oh? Answering it on someone else’s behalf?” Aesphyra raised an eyebrow.

“What else? You think this young master can actually receive love letters?” Vinny glanced at Aesphyra. “Look how petty you are. Two days ago you were still saying you weren’t petty.”

Aesphyra fell silent.

If the target of this love letter was not Vinny, then who had given it to Vinny to handle was obvious.

Within Vinny’s social network, only Shicodale was close enough to Vinny to entrust him with handling love letters sent to oneself.

Of course, Aesphyra automatically ignored Ferdi and the others. Although it was a little rude to say this, if Ferdi and the others could receive love letters, they would probably be dying to display those letters so the whole school knew, then frame them like medals of honor. Why would they ever hand them to someone else to handle?

One mishandled reply, and after finally having a chance to get out of singlehood, they would lose the relationship on the spot. Afterward, each and every one of them would probably cry until their heads swelled like pigs’ heads.

That kind of matter definitely could not be left to one’s own brothers. If one’s own brother said afterward, “Buddy, I thought you were devoted to card games, so I helped you reject that girl. Hey, don’t thank me. We’re brothers. It’s what I should do!” there was no guarantee they would not start real-life Mortal Kombat offline right then and there.

“Well, since I saw that you seemed quite struck by it earlier, Vinny, I came over to see whether you were dropping little pearls.” Hearing that, Aesphyra was relieved, and very quickly adjusted both her mindset and her wording.

“Tch. What a clumsy change of topic, little nut ball. Dropping little pearls? Can you not act weird? Every hair on this young master’s body exudes masculinity. You think I’d lose one mere training match and hide in a corner dropping little pearls??” Vinny rolled his eyes at Aesphyra, then lifted his chin and puffed out his chest, launching into a boast without even drafting it first.

“This young master went easy on you in that match. I didn’t want to see you hiding in a corner after the match, crying and sniffling, and have other people say I was bullying a nut ball. That’s why I held back. Do you understand?”

“Oh~? Is that so?” Aesphyra had always found Vinny’s stubbornness very cute, and did not expose him.

“Tch! What’s with that look? Isn’t that obvious??” Vinny pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

That reaction from Vinny made Aesphyra subconsciously hallucinate the way he had looked when dressed in women’s clothing. To be honest, it had truly left a deep impression on her.

“Eh, I don’t have any doubts about your strength, Vinny. But there’s only one month left, you know? Your goal can’t possibly be second place or third place, can it?” Aesphyra’s amethyst-like eyes curved into a beautiful crescent.

“Of course not. Who do you think this young master is? Whatever I do, I naturally have to be the strongest. How could I possibly remain beneath someone else? Second place? Third place? This young master has to be the champion!” Although he did not have much confidence, in front of Aesphyra, Vinny simply refused to admit defeat. He had to act as if he were very confident.

“But since your goal is first place, Vinny, are you really not nervous? You don’t feel even a little pressure?” Aesphyra put on a thoughtful expression.

“What’s there to be nervous about? Pressure or whatever, this young master is a man who does not eat pressure.” Vinny snorted. “Just watch. During the Chosen One Granted by God Tournament, you’d better not hold back like you did today. Go all out the moment you come up. Otherwise, when you lose, don’t blame this young master for not giving you a chance, then cry your eyes out as soon as you step off the stage!”

“Oh? Since that’s the case, wouldn’t you like to be a little more certain, Vinny?” Aesphyra asked with a smiling expression. “People never dislike having a higher chance of victory, do they? Don’t you want to increase your odds of winning as much as possible?”

“What are you trying to say?” Looking at Aesphyra like this, Vinny had a bad premonition. “You white-haired nut ball. Don’t tell me you’re upset because you suffered a setback just now, so you want to win your ground back?”

“I mean, seriously, are you childish or not? How old are you already? You look like a baby, and even the person inside is like a baby.” As the saying went, a wise man did not court immediate disaster. Although Vinny’s mouth was asking how childish she was, what he was thinking was hit and run—he had finally regained a bit of face with great difficulty and won against Aesphyra once, so he needed to stop while he was ahead. Otherwise, if Aesphyra found an opportunity, wouldn’t he explode??

“Ah, honestly, can’t I be purely thinking of you, Vinny? Don’t you want to understand more of my tactics, improve your strength, and increase your chances of winning?”

“So what exactly do you mean??” Vinny frowned. “Let’s just open the window and speak plainly.”

“The arena is so popular now. Do you really have no thoughts about it at all, Vinny?” Aesphyra tilted her head.

“You mean you want to help me train? And you’re even taking the initiative to let me understand your tactics and habits??” Vinny’s expression changed.

“Bingo~”

“Oh? Could it be that I wrongly blamed you, and you’re actually a good nut?” Vinny stared at Aesphyra with a strange expression.

“Sigh. Since you don’t need my special training, Vinny, then forget it.” Aesphyra shook her head, her face full of regret, wearing an expression that said, “If you distrust me this much, then forget it. Suit yourself.”

“Hey, hey, wait. Who said I didn’t want it?” Just as Aesphyra expected, before she had taken more than a few steps, Vinny called out to stop her.

“Fine, fine. Since you, a black-hearted nut ball, already put it like that, it would make this young master look petty if I refused. Sigh, sigh. No choice, then. This young master will reluctantly agree. Does it start tonight, or tomorrow night?” Vinny asked.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, Vinny. I haven’t finished speaking yet.” Aesphyra had a smile on her lips.

“Huh? Is there something else you want to add?”

“Vinny, that expression of yours looks a little like those people in restaurants who eat and run, then pretend to leave, and after the server stops them, still look at the server strangely and ask if there’s anything they need from them,” Aesphyra teased. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch, you know?~”

“Ah! Tuition? How much do you want?” Hearing that, Vinny immediately put on a fawning posture. “Hehe, how about you give me the friendship price?”

“Don’t worry, Vinny. I won’t make things difficult for you. You can definitely afford the tuition.”

“Oh? Really?” Looking at Aesphyra’s expression, Vinny kept feeling that she did not have good intentions, and a chill crept over his back. “I’ll trust you for now.”

“So, what is it?”

“Sigh, it’s nothing major. Just remember to call Vinnia over too, Vinny.” Aesphyra blinked those beautiful eyes.

“See! I knew you were holding in bad water!” Vinny rolled his eyes at Aesphyra. “You really are unhappy because you suffered a setback earlier, so you want to get it back from me hard, aren’t you??”

“How are you this wicked, you moldy nut ball??”

“What are you talking about, Vinny? Isn’t this what you requested yourself?” Aesphyra immediately wore a strange expression.

“I requested it? When??”

“In the carriage, remember? Have you forgotten that quickly, Vinny?” Aesphyra reminded him.

Ah!

Vinny remembered.

It seemed, indeed, probably, maybe, there had been such a thing??

In order to repay Aesphyra’s life-saving grace, he had promised her some things.

No, it could even be said that he had taken the initiative to bring it up.

“How strange. If I remember correctly, that matter seems to have been something you brought up yourself, Vinny.” Aesphyra lightly tapped her soft finger against her chin, wearing a thoughtful expression. “I thought it was because you liked that sort of thing, so you found an excuse and brought it up yourself. Was that not the case?”

“Who likes that sort of thing?!” Vinny did not know whether he had been thrown into overheating or had become unbearably embarrassed, but his voice slipped out a little too loudly, causing some people not far away to look toward them in unison.

“Ah, ahh, sorry, everyone. Haha, it’s nothing, nothing. I just stepped on my right foot with my left foot. Keep playing the music, keep dancing.” Seeing this, Vinny could only laugh awkwardly and wave at the students looking over, expressing his apology.

This was still a public setting. For him to suddenly shout that loudly was honestly far too strange.

“Then, Vinny, you don’t like it? In that case, forget it.” Aesphyra shook her head. “I don’t like forcing you to do things you dislike, Vinny. As for what happened in the carriage last time, I’ll just take it as me having misheard.”

Wait, what??

Although Aesphyra said that, this latter sentence was practically subtext for “So you really were only saying it casually, then.”

“Y-you wait a second!” Vinny’s face was full of embarrassment. “Who said this young master doesn’t keep his word? This young master’s word is always worth nine cauldrons!”

“Huh? Really? Maybe we should just forget it, Vinny. If you don’t want to, then don’t. I won’t force you~” Aesphyra chuckled.

Tsk!

All one could say was that Aesphyra’s method was truly brilliant. She gave him the choice, but in reality, he had no choice at all.

Tch. Wasn’t it just women’s clothing? What did that count for?

Aesphyra had saved him so many times. As a dignified man, was he afraid of even this??

It was still the same saying. Although he had dressed as a girl, at that moment, he had been incomparably masculine, damn it!

Think about it. He did something other boys did not dare to do as naturally and easily as eating and drinking. Did that not mean he had even more courage and masculinity than them??

“Tch! Don’t look down on this young master. What does this count for? This young master does what he says!” Vinny pouted.

“Really? Why don’t we just forget it after all, Vinny? If you don’t like it, then let it go. Don’t morally blackmail yourself. There’s no need to force yourself.” For some reason, Aesphyra’s smile grew increasingly intense.

No, what, you’re really pushing your luck and pressing your advantage now??

“Tsk! Enough. This young master said I want it, so I want it!” Vinny looked as if he had slammed down the final decision.

“If you don’t like it, then forget it. If you’re unhappy, Vinny, I’ll be unhappy too~?” Aesphyra leaned forward, close enough that Vinny could smell the cold fragrance of roses entwined with wild roses on her body.

“Coo-coo, ga-ga!” Those words charged straight into Vinny’s skull, making his brain overheat for a while.

“Y-you, how many times have I told you already? Don’t say embarrassing things like that. What even is this??” Vinny’s entire face was bright red.

“Not even if it’s the truth?” Aesphyra continued asking.

“Not even if it’s the truth—coo-coo, ga-ga!”

“Forget it, Vinny. Since you don’t truly like it, and you’re this embarrassed, then let’s leave it at that.” After saying this, Aesphyra turned around as if to leave. “Then, see you tonight?”

“Wait. I—who said I don’t like it? I, I like it a lot! As long as you like it, I like it...”

Seeing this, Vinny felt that if he did not say some things now, he would not make it in time.

For some reason, the current him cared a great deal about many of Aesphyra’s feelings toward him. He also kept overthinking things far too easily—whether she would feel dissatisfied with him because of some action of his, even if, to an outsider, it was merely an action so small it could not be any smaller, and would not cause anything at all, let alone with Aesphyra.

On top of that, Aesphyra had directly attacked the player earlier. His brain was in chaos, his mouth moved faster than his mind, and the words in his heart came out before passing through his brain.

“Gulp!” By the time Vinny said it and realized what exactly he had said, it was already too late.

Alongside that mortifying sense of embarrassment rose a change in [Virtue].

[Virtue +200.]

[Current Virtue: 12399.]

“Ah, I understand~ Then, see you tonight, Vinny.” At this point, Aesphyra had already walked to the edge of the Training Field. Before leaving, she even looked back, glancing at Vinny with boundless charm, and said, “I’m looking forward to it~”

Vinny fell into an extremely eerie silence.

It was not until Aesphyra stepped out of the Training Field that the bell rang, and along with that bell, a noisy sound rang through his head as well.

Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!

[Virtue] had increased. It had even increased by two hundred.

That was two hundred. Aesphyra, that stingy ghost, very rarely burst out that much [Virtue] for him. Logically speaking, he should have won.

But Vinny could not feel happy at all.

“Vinny, class is over. We should go home for lunch.” So when class ended, Shicodale walked down from the platform, saw Vinny sitting blankly on a bench in the rest area, and came over to try waking him up, only to completely fail.

“Vinny?” Shicodale did not understand what it meant.

But come to think of it, in the past, once class ended, Miss Aesphyra would always come find Vinny.

Today was quite unusual. As soon as class ended, Vinny was seen spacing out in the rest area, while Aesphyra was nowhere to be found. Not even a shadow of her could be seen. Who knew where she had gone?

Could it be that the two of them had quarreled again?

Shicodale did not understand.

“Vinny, Vinny?” Shicodale called several more times before finally waking Vinny up.