Chapter 5: A Rest Stop and Another Heroine

As a knight, Tuze was already different from ordinary people, and he also bore the responsibility of looking after Seleste.

The carriage didn’t stop for a whole night.

When Seleste opened her eyes, she found that the carriage was still moving, though at a slower pace.

Tuze noticed the movement inside the carriage.

“Miss, you’re awake?”

“Mm. Did you travel all night? Thank you for your hard work.”

“Not at all, not at all. This is all my duty! It’s just… after a whole night, the horses probably have no strength left.”

Seleste nodded, looking around.

She didn’t know where this was—everything seemed unfamiliar…

“Where are we?”

“We’ve just left the Kerrit Kingdom. By my estimate, we’re about to reach the border of the Fireo Kingdom.”

“Oh, I see.”

Seleste nodded.

Once out of the Kerrit Kingdom, things would be easier.

Fireo was just a small country, and after passing through, Aurora Academy would be close.

“Let’s rest in a city within Fireo first. Although the horses aren’t ordinary, they look exhausted.”

“If that’s what you wish, Miss.”

Tuze hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

As Seleste said, both the horses and himself were utterly worn out, but there was still a distance to Aurora.

If anything went wrong along the way, it would be truly fatal.

Besides, the overnight rush was just to avoid pursuit.

By now, they were far enough.

***

“So noisy…”

“Eliane, pull the curtains.”

The endless shouts outside finally made Vilan open his eyes.

He rubbed them with irritation, not fully aware of his surroundings, just feeling a stiffness in his neck.

No one replied for a while.

Feeling the carriage shaking and seeing Seleste, Vilan suddenly snapped back to reality.

“Ahem.”

Vilan coughed lightly, trying to act casual.

After sleeping the whole night, why did he feel so much better?

The painful memories remained, but somehow they didn’t weigh as much, leaving only the obsession for revenge for his mother and Eliane.

Remembering made his head ache, so he decided to not dwell on last night.

Feeling better was a good thing.

“We plan to rest here for a while, let Tuze and the horses recover.”

“No problem.”

Vilan agreed.

He knew the plot, and naturally understood that because of her sister, Seleste also had to escape overnight.

This knight had driven all night and deserved to rest.

“Then, where is this?”

“Kendo Town, in Fireo.”

“Kendo Town…”

Vilan had no impression of it, but he knew Fireo—a kingdom near Aurora.

Did that mean the carriage had really crossed a whole country in one night?

He was thinking about what to do after getting off, only to realize he had no money and was wearing a dress.

Damn, the situation was bad.

After hesitating, Vilan thought he could only ask Seleste for help.

After all, they would be classmates in the future, and he could pay her back.

“Um, Seleste-sister, can you do me a favor?”

“What kind of favor?”

Seleste’s tone was calm, showing no curiosity toward Vilan.

“It’s…”

Vilan bit his lip, finding it hard to ask.

After all, as a grown man, needing a woman to prepare men’s clothes for him was embarrassing.

“Could you prepare a set of men’s clothes for me, and lend me some money? We’ll be classmates, so I’ll pay you back.”

“……”

Seleste was unusually silent, because she had just fled the country with little money.

Forget it, if she couldn’t even handle such a small matter, it would damage her image.

“Alright.”

Seleste’s answer made Vilan sigh in relief.

He hadn’t expected Seleste to be so kind and generous.

No matter what she felt inside, the important thing was that she agreed and even helped him get to school.

What Sea Empress? This was a good person, a truly good person.

“Thank you, sister! Thank you!”

Vilan was overjoyed.

Then, perhaps to repair his image in Seleste’s eyes, he hurriedly added,

“By the way, sister, don’t misunderstand. The clothes I’m wearing were for disguise during my escape, to help me avoid pursuit.”

“……”

Facing Seleste’s gaze, Vilan’s tone grew weaker.

He felt as if she could see through his lies with a glance.

So Seleste instructed Tuze to buy clothes for Vilan.

Of course, Tuze didn’t spoil him and bought a classic set of gray commoner clothes.

Seleste stepped out to give Vilan space to change.

At least now, Vilan regained some sense of security as a man.

Afterward, they left the carriage at an inn, handed the horses to the staff, and Tuze went to a room to rest.

After borrowing money, Vilan went to a nearby hot spring.

The steaming water soothed him, and his rain-soaked body felt much better.

Soaking in the hot spring, Vilan began to think about his next goals.

First, to become stronger, then avenge his mother and Eliane.

If that wasn’t achieved, nothing else mattered.

Which meant he needed to focus on training.

He had always studied Arcana Magic, but although Aurora had deep foundations, it couldn’t compare to the Banshee Clan in Arcana studies.

On the other hand, he could learn more ordinary Magic.

After all, the academy was founded by human Great Mages, and Elemental Magic was the top course.

Vilan thought perhaps he should shift his focus—mainly Elemental, with Arcana as support.

Succubi certainly had strong Arcana talent, but their greatest strength was their Arcana heritage.

Even if the academy’s library was vast, its Arcana knowledge couldn’t match half that of the Banshee Clan.

In this case, developing Elemental Magic was necessary.

In the past, he’d always stayed in the Banshee Clan, where Elemental Magic’s training methods lagged far behind Arcana.

Now in Aurora, it was the opposite.

With his goals set, all that remained was to study hard and avenge his mother and Eliane.

***

Not long after, Vilan emerged, his already outstanding appearance made even more striking after donning men’s clothes and cleaning up.

The important thing was that Vilan didn’t look very old.

The young girls in town had stars in their eyes when they saw him, and even a few older ladies gave him special looks.

Realizing this, Vilan sensed danger and hurried back to the tavern.

He rushed inside, catching his breath and scanning the area.

He remembered Seleste had been sitting inside before he left.

He searched with his eyes… and finally spotted Seleste.

At that moment, she was sitting in a corner, chatting with a girl.

Vilan could only marvel—truly worthy of being the heroine, already starting to flirt.

He looked more closely, curious about the type of person Seleste was interested in, and was shocked to find that her companion was also a heroine.

What?

Seleste was cheating—this didn’t even happen in the game plot!

She was actually chatting with the hardest-to-capture Blood Princess?

Even as a player, he couldn’t do that.

Vilan realized he had underestimated Seleste, and this ridiculous luck was unmatched.

Just on the journey, he’d met two heroines.

Without realizing, Vilan sat down, thinking of this heroine, “Gloria Kastain”.

In the whole country, people worshipped the Blood God.

As royalty, they were direct descendants of the Blood God, bearing the deepest Bloodline Curse, and needed to drink blood just to survive daily life.

So players usually treated Gloria as a vampire.

But Vilan, knowing everything, held deep awe for Gloria.

Because though she now looked like a beautiful Blood Princess, as her power grew, so would her curse, eventually transforming her into a blood-soaked monster.

He even wondered if Seleste would still accept Gloria then.