Even after adopting the full surrender posture of “belly up, total submission,” the cow demon girl ultimately couldn’t escape the clutches of the evil loli.
“Boo hoo hoo…”
“It hurts so much. How can you bully a girl like this?”
The cow demon girl collapsed to the ground clutching her chest, her cow ears drooping pitifully as tears streamed down her face without stopping.
While wiping her tears, she muttered委屈ly under her breath: “Mom was right. Narrow-minded people definitely have underdeveloped… parts too…”
Sevitis flicked her wrist, shaking the longsword in her hand, then turned back and gave a sickly sweet smile as she stared at the girl:
“What did your mom say exactly?”
Su Ling jolted, instantly holding back her tears.
“I-I mean, my mom said that eating only black bread can lead to malnutrition, so you need to eat more meat… But not beef!”
Watching the cow demon girl tighten her grip on her own plump flesh, Sevitis let out a cold snort.
Back then, she had really wanted to slice off those two annoyingly bulging lumps and just feed them to the monsters. But since they were still in the middle of the exam, she didn’t want to be disqualified because of this stupid cow’s antics, so she eventually settled for whacking them hard with the sword hilt to vent her frustration.
“Alright, enough. Let’s talk business.” Sevitis sheathed her longsword. “I need you to team up with me for this exam. Only then can we go deeper into the forest and get more high-grade magic cores.”
“Of course, I won’t make you work for free. We’ll split the magic cores we get evenly.”
“If that’s fine with you, get up and get ready. You’ve already wasted a lot of our time.”
“One more thing: you don’t have a choice. You’ve already eaten my rations. If you refuse to team up, then fork over a gold coin right now to pay off your debt!”
Sevitis stopped pretending to be a saint and just threatened her outright in a fierce tone.
“Ugh… fine.” Su Ling bit her lip and agreed reluctantly, “But you absolutely cannot feed me to the monsters.”
“Relax. Feeding you to the monsters wouldn’t do me any good.”
‘If I were a monster, I’d never want to eat an idiot. What if it messes with my IQ?’
“Before we officially cooperate, let’s disclose our ranks and abilities to each other.”
Although Sevitis had already seen through the girl’s every secret thanks to her [Seven Sins Eye], she still had to go through the motions.
“Oh, oh, okay! I’m currently at third rank late stage. My lightning element affinity is pretty high, but I’m not good at using magic.”
Afraid that Sevitis wouldn’t believe her, Su Ling deliberately activated her mana.
With a crackling sound, a few faint purple lightning arcs danced in her palm.
Sevitis nodded. The fact that she couldn’t use magic was exactly what she had expected.
She just hadn’t thought that this girl would tell the truth without a single lie, revealing everything about herself.
‘Truly a big-chested, brainless cow.’
But what surprised her even more was yet to come.
Su Ling had no intention of stopping and continued enthusiastically:
“My soul vein is called [Thunderclap Rhythm]. Its ability is roughly…”
“Stop, stop, stop! Why would you even reveal your soul vein?” Sevitis’s eyelid twitched as she quickly interrupted her.
She hadn’t asked the girl to go that far!
Unlike magic and martial arts, which anyone can learn and use, a soul vein is a unique ability—basically everyone’s secret weapon.
If you reveal your soul vein’s information prematurely, you’re often targeted in battle and end up at a disadvantage.
Normal people would guard such information with their lives, hiding their trump card until the very end.
Who on earth would just casually tell a stranger they’ve known for less than half an hour?
“Can’t I say it?” Su Ling looked confused.
“But aren’t we about to fight together as comrades? Wouldn’t knowing each other’s soul veins make it easier to coordinate when we run into monsters later?”
“It’s not about coordination at all…” Sevitis rubbed her forehead wearily. How was she supposed to explain this to this silly girl?
“What I mean is, you can never be too careful. How can you just blab such important information? What if someone takes advantage of it?”
Su Ling blinked her big watery eyes and instantly wore an expression of “I understand now.”
She immediately glanced around warily, then bent down and whispered in Sevitis’s ear like a thief:
“You mean… there might be someone else nearby eavesdropping, right? Don’t worry, I’ll keep my voice down from now on.”
“…”
Sevitis sighed in exasperation and completely gave up trying to reason with her.
“Forget it. Pretend I said nothing. I’m also third rank late stage, just like you. But I have no elemental affinity and can’t use any magic, so I’m purely a basic-attack swordsman.”
As she spoke, Sevitis casually twirled the sword she had used earlier to hit the cow’s milk into a neat flourish, and Su Ling applauded from the side.
“As for my soul vein, it’s called [True Sight Eye]. It has no offensive power—it just lets me roughly see a target’s basic information.”
“Huh? Is it okay to say that out loud? Isn’t there someone nearby who might be listening?” Su Ling whispered nervously, her voice low.
Even though Sevitis had given a fake name and only revealed the most basic function of her status panel, which was harmless to share, still…
She had indeed blurted it all out. She had sworn before that she would never trust anyone easily again.
Yet why had she let her guard down so easily in front of this cow demon she’d known for less than half an hour?
Sevitis’s eyes flickered.
Whatever.
If she had to say, at least when she was with this adorably stupid simpleton, she didn’t have to constantly scheme and be on guard.
Thinking about it that way, this stupid cow wasn’t entirely useless—way better than that scheming blonde!
Sevitis chuckled inwardly. Ignoring the cow, who was still cluelessly searching through the grass for eavesdroppers, she turned and strode deeper into the forest on her own.
“Hurry up, or I’ll leave you here as a midnight snack for the monsters!” Sevitis’s clear voice came from the dark woods ahead.
The cow demon girl finally gave up looking for the nonexistent third party and quickly caught up.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!”
“Boss, wait for me!”
“Who’s your boss?!”
The bickering voices of the two girls gradually faded into the night forest.
…
All the way deeper into the forest, Su Ling’s mouth never stopped.
“That black bread actually gets tastier the more you chew. Could you spare me a little more later?”
“To be honest, though, it’s not as good as the grass cake my mom makes…”
“Oh, by the way, boss, this is my first time making friends with a human! Back in the tribe, I didn’t know much about your world.”
Listening to the constant chatter, Sevitis took back her earlier thought.
‘This girl talks way too much! What if she didn’t come all the way to Kantaier Academy for free room and board, but because her mom kicked her out for being too annoying?’
“Hey, do you know that saint candidate from the Theocratic Nation? She’s in the same exam group as us! Before the exam started, she was causing some kind of commotion at the forest entrance. A bunch of people crowded around to watch.”
“I only heard about her today for the first time. Everyone says she’s the most promising candidate to become the next Bright Saint. I think her name was… U… something like… Squid?”
“Eulalia Olive.” Sevitis corrected her expressionlessly.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s the name! Wow, little Sevi, you really know her well.”
“What if I told you… I was the one involved in that commotion at the entrance just now? Would you believe me?” Sevitis turned around, raising an eyebrow with a half-smile.
“Huh?! Really?! No way?!” Su Ling’s eyes widened in disbelief.
After all, the brutal behavior this black-haired little loli had just displayed didn’t seem to have any connection with that holy and elegant saint candidate.
But then again, maybe they had some secret, scandalous relationship behind the scenes? Like… that… and that…
“Just kidding.”
Before the stupid cow could cook up any R-rated fantasies, Sevitis ruthlessly burst her bubble.
“Ugh, you’re so mean. How can you lie with a straight face?” Su Ling complained, puffing out her cheeks.
“If you want the truth so badly, I’ll tell you a classified piece of gossip from the Theocratic Nation.” Sevitis mysteriously beckoned for Su Ling to come closer.
“What gossip? Tell me, tell me!” The drama-loving cow instantly switched moods and eagerly leaned in.
“That saint candidate you all look up to so much… actually…” Sevitis lowered her voice and said slowly, word by word,
“Is a country girl who grew up in the boonies.”
“Huh? No way?! Little Sevi must be trying to fool me again!” Having been burned once, Su Ling wasn’t about to fall for it.
But Sevitis blinked her clear blue-violet eyes with utmost sincerity and nodded vigorously.
‘Heh. For revenge against that scheming woman, it’s not too much to expose a little of her past, right?’
It was the truth. But the Theocratic Nation cared deeply about its image and wouldn’t broadcast it far and wide.
If she said these words to those fanatical followers, she’d probably be burned at the stake as a heretic on the spot.
However, the cow demon girl in front of her was clearly a naive sweetheart who had just left home.
She only had a rough understanding of human society, so it was safe to tell her.
Dumping that woman’s dirt to an outsider gave Sevitis a rare sense of satisfaction.
She felt the night breeze was particularly refreshing, and even the moonlight overhead seemed to shine with a faint golden glow.
‘I’ve got plenty of her black history stored in my head! Since I can’t beat her head-on, I’ll just stab her in the back!’
Maybe these dirt pieces would spread through the gossipy cow’s mouth.
By then, that woman’s carefully cultivated reputation would be completely ruined.
Thinking this, the smile on Sevitis’s face grew brighter.
‘Tonight, I’ll spill all her secrets and strike back hard at that evil woman!’