Recently, I had been visiting the Temple quite often.
In the past, it was only natural since I often got injured. However, I hadn’t received any notable injuries lately.
Thanks to my skills improving rapidly over the past two months, the instances of getting hurt had significantly reduced.
Currently, there weren’t many skilled individuals in the Academy who could threaten me.
It would be another story if we were talking about the professors or the top students from each grade. But aside from them, finding someone who could overwhelm me in actual combat, despite the Academy gathering top talents from across the continent, was quite difficult.
That’s how formidable practical experience could be.
Nevertheless, the frequency of my visits to the Temple hadn’t changed much from before. I still found myself making the trip about once every two days.
The reason for that was simple.
The Lady Virgin Saint kept calling for me.
Sometimes she would pass on important information, but often when I visited, we would end up chatting about trivial things. It felt like a waste of effort to come all the way to the Temple for such conversations.
If it was just for small talk, I could have gone anywhere. There was no reason for me to endure the trouble of specifically coming to the Temple.
So one day, I outright asked the Lady Virgin Saint.
Wouldn’t it be better to set up our meetings at a tea house or somewhere else? Every time I suggested this, her response was always the same.
“…W-well, then you wouldn’t come, would you?”
She replied with a slightly flushed face, sounding somewhat disappointed with a playful tone.
Hearing that made me ponder for a moment.
Now that I thought about it, the Lady Virgin Saint had a tendency to show up wherever I went, almost sneakily.
Each time I was busy and ended up ignoring her, it seemed that the feelings of disappointment had transformed into a desire for revenge over time.
Unlike a tea house, the Temple was a secretive space where the Lady Virgin Saint had her private room.
Of course, important information could flow here too, not just trivial talk. That was one reason why I couldn’t simply ignore the Lady Virgin Saint’s requests.
If I were to complain about this to Yulen, he would only look at me with a gaze full of pity.
It was quite unfair.
It seemed that Yulen trusted the Lady Virgin Saint too much, thinking she would never resort to such petty revenge.
However, explaining the deep and broad misunderstandings surrounding this would take far too much effort. So I decided to let Yulen believe whatever he wanted.
After all, truth would eventually be revealed, even if obscured by mud.
This was a Temple where I felt like I had made at least one unnecessary trip out of every two visits, but today, my visit proved worthwhile.
The story that flowed from her lips appeared to be rather important information.
“Lady Lupeisia has requested a meeting of the disciplinary committee; since the Imperial Princess spurred her on, follow-up actions will naturally follow.”
Hmm, as soon as I heard that, I crossed my arms and sighed deeply.
I was in the Temple’s consultation room.
Originally, the Lady Virgin Saint was supposed to treat patients here, but lately, she had been calling me here whenever she had some spare time.
She might have considered me something akin to a diversion from her boredom.
Of course, it wasn’t a bad experience for me either.
As of now, the Lady Virgin Saint was holding one breast with an arm. This, in turn, accentuated the already prominent curves of her chest.
She seemed to have stiffness in her shoulders, as even the body trained in the Holy Kingdom’s vision martial arts struggled under that weight.
Visually, it was quite pleasing. The Lady Virgin Saint even wore a calm expression, as if this was merely a part of her daily routine.
With her remaining hand, she twirled and curled her side hair, appearing somewhat indifferent. There was even a hint of mischief in her tired gaze.
It was a sight that didn’t quite fit the symbol of compassion and diligence.
However, even after seeing such a Lady Virgin Saint, I merely shook my head a few times. After all, we had explored each other’s depths thoroughly.
To me, this was better than her putting on a facade.
After maintaining silence for a while, I finally spoke up.
“…This is serious.”
“It is serious; expulsion is more than half confirmed.”
The Lady Virgin Saint said as she sighed heavily. Her hand that had been curling her hair dropped with a thud.
“What on earth were you thinking? Even if she slapped you, you wouldn’t go as far as injuring her seriously!”
“Injuring her? At least I left a leg intact…”
“…Regardless!”
Ignoring my appeal for justice, the Lady Virgin Saint slammed her palms down on the table.
Each time her palm made contact, the tea splashed evenly, and yet not a single drop escaped the teacup. It was indeed a remarkable skill.
She truly had the skills of a master in the Holy Kingdom’s vision martial arts.
However, despite my admiration, the Lady Virgin Saint’s reproaches continued.
“Are you planning to stick an axe into the Imperial Princess’s shoulder next? Do you realize that even a wielder of bloodline symbols would be in serious trouble then?!”
There was a hint of genuine concern mixed in her voice as she chided me, which made me chuckle softly.
No way would I act that recklessly.
Soaking someone with water was already a serious crime, but drawing blood from someone of royal blood was an entirely different matter. It could escalate to ‘regicide.’
Indeed, even among royalty, people fell victim to power struggles without a trace. But no matter how blinded by power they may be, they wouldn’t dare to commonly commit regicide.
Royalty are blood heirs of the Emperor, and thus each of their lives was directly connected to the authority of the Imperial Court.
Dousing water doesn’t kill a person. But once blood starts to flow, the story takes a different turn.
To shed blood implies that the other party could very well die, depending on their mindset. Even the lenient Imperial Court of the Academy would not tolerate such a thing.
One of the reasons I hadn’t retaliated against the Imperial Princess’ provocations was also tied to this.
Of course, the biggest reason could be summarized as ‘I just didn’t want to.’
The sight of the Imperial Princess trying to implant fear in me in such a desperate manner was more pitiable than annoying. Every word seemed to plead for me to fear her.
To me, it looked merely like a childish tantrum.
Unless the Imperial Princess acted upon that plan, I figured the matter would resolve itself within a week anyway.
There was no reason for me to get entangled in her provocations.
As I was retracing my thoughts, my gaze briefly landed on the Lady Virgin Saint. Worry had manifested in her light pink eyes.
A bitter smile involuntarily crept onto my face.
It seemed I had developed quite an affection for her, despite it all. Just having looked into her eyes once warmed my heart.
“There’s nothing to worry about; it won’t happen. And about the disciplinary committee issue, honestly, I’m not too sure… But let’s think it over in a week. Please convey my apologies to Lady Lupeisia.”
“The apology might make things worse…”
The Lady Virgin Saint tilted her head at my words, muttering something unclear.
Then, she suddenly had a realization, her expression changing.
Soon, her suspicious gaze turned toward me.
“…Speaking of which, are you still beating up kids these days? I heard students have been coming in with broken bones lately, yet you’re not opening your mouth about the perpetrator.”
I shook my head at her words.
My principle was to only hit those who came at me. And recently, nobody had dared to approach me.
In fact, with such a notorious reputation, if someone dared to provoke me, that would be an astonishing feat in itself.
Who knows what the price of such courage might be—perhaps a limb lost or even a life?
Even the Lady Virgin Saint, who had initially looked at me with distrust, had no choice but to accept this explanation. She nodded as if to say it made sense.
“Well, yeah, if they heard that rumor and still approached you, they would certainly need treatment. Primarily for mental issues.”
Even so, wasn’t that a bit of an exaggerated evaluation? That thought made my expression sour. Regardless, the Lady Virgin Saint seemed relieved and smiled at me.
Her shoulders relaxed, reflecting her buoyant mood. Although her chest became even more appealing, she did not give any sign of being concerned.
In the end, I was the one who felt embarrassed first.
I cleared my throat and subtly redirected my gaze. The Lady Virgin Saint, with a perplexed expression, looked at me, then seemed to catch onto the direction in which my eyes were going.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
The Lady Virgin Saint lightly lifted her body, leaning her upper torso against the table, whispering in my ear.
“…Do you want to touch?”
“Yes.”
Naturally, my answer was immediate.
