“It’s fine. In a few days, the truth will come to light. Whoever’s hiding something won’t be able to keep it buried,” Aesphyra said softly with a mysterious little smile.

“Huh? So you already have a plan?” Vinny asked.

“If there’s still no concrete plan by now, it’d have to be someone like you with an empty head, wouldn’t it, Vinny?” Aesphyra gave him a sweet, sidelong glance.

“Tch. What’s that supposed to mean? When did I ever space out? I’ve been thinking this whole time, okay? You’re the one who hasn’t given me a single clue,” Vinny muttered, lips pursed.

“It doesn’t matter. Vinny, you don’t need to think. Just play echo for me from here on,” Aesphyra said, all smiles.

“Echo? Can’t you come up with a better metaphor?” Vinny frowned.

“How about puppet on a string, then?”

“...Forget it. Suit yourself.”

With how confident Aesphyra sounded, Vinny couldn’t help feeling more at ease too. After all, on the continent of Tyrellis, was there anything the fate-favored protagonist Aesphyra couldn’t handle?

He was just here to coast along with the win anyway. Whatever she told him to do, he’d do. If he could cruise to victory by sticking with her, why sweat the details?

Sure, this round of the practical exam had gotten a little annoying, but it had only gone from zero difficulty to “a bit of a nuisance.” No matter how troublesome it got, it wasn’t like something would show up that even Aesphyra found tricky to deal with, right?

“Well then, since we lucked out with a place to stay, I guess all those tents I brought won’t be of any use.”

Aesphyra dispelled the Scroll Barrier and stretched out her supple waist with elegant grace.

“Wait a sec—those tents?” Vinny’s brow twitched as he caught a keyword. “You mean you didn’t actually bring more than one?”

“Oops~ Busted.”

Aesphyra stuck her tongue out playfully and tapped her temple with a knuckle.

“Tch! Seriously?! You were just gonna let me die out there?” Vinny complained, sounding betrayed.

“Ahhh, Vinny, it’s getting late, you know. I’m heading back to my room to tidy up a bit~” Aesphyra cut the topic off without missing a beat, batting her lashes at him and waving as she sauntered toward her room.

“You little white-haired bun...” Vinny’s mouth twitched.

“Oh, right, Vinny—I saw a water vat in the courtyard. There should still be water in it. Go fetch some, will you?”

Just a ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ few steps away, Aesphyra turned back and peeked her little head around the doorframe.

“Huh? What for?”

“Vinny, when I said you didn’t need to think, I didn’t mean you should completely stop thinking, okay? We’re about to go to bed. What do you think the water’s for?” she arched an eyebrow at him.

“We’re out in some random mountain village, and we don’t even know who’s watching us right now, and you want to bathe? Tsk tsk, Aesphyra—you sure are one for the finer things,” Vinny grumbled.

“Don’t worry. That thing spying on us won’t come back tonight. Think about it—if you were watching someone and almost got caught, made your target suspicious, maybe even got hit with a warning attack, would you go back and try again so soon?” she shot back.

“...Fair point,” Vinny admitted, thinking it over.

“So, Vinny—chop chop~ Making a lady wait is such a rude thing to do,” Aesphyra called out.

“But I’ve got to unpack and settle in, too! Why don’t you wait a bit? It’s not that urgent, right?”

Sure, Aesphyra was carrying him through this whole mission, so he had to follow her orders. She was the carry; he was just the tag-along. Doing a bit of grunt work was part of the deal.

But still—he was tired, so he tried to haggle a little.

“Well, if you don’t want a hot bath tonight, I suppose I don’t mind,” Aesphyra smiled slyly.

“Hot bath?? Wait, there’s enough for me too?” Vinny blinked.

“Ten minutes, Vinny,” she said, offering no further explanation as she turned and walked away, not wasting another second.

Before she left, she even tossed him two water buckets—who knew where she pulled those from?

She even brought buckets on the road? Her gear loadout was ridiculous.

Well, then again, this was Aesphyra, with her Shackleshatter-level fire affinity. Forget boiling a bucket—she could boil an entire vat in seconds. Her control over fire was so precise she could heat the water to the perfect bath temperature without breaking a sweat.

Vinny, by contrast, was hopeless. His fire affinity was garbage—he couldn’t even light a spark. If anything, he was better suited to freezing the whole vat solid.

He had already given up on the idea of a warm bath the moment he found out he didn’t even have a tent. But now, thanks to their lodging arrangement, getting to bathe at all—with hot water, no less—was honestly a luxury.

After moving his things to his room, Vinny headed to the backyard. He opened the water vat and filled both buckets. Then, using Frostfang, he carried them back to the front courtyard.

Oof, kinda heavy. For someone like him, hauling two full buckets of water was a bit of a struggle—but not too bad. He had been training lately, after all.

“Heh heh heh~ Water delivery!” Vinny called out.

Soon, Aesphyra emerged from her room after finishing her setup.

“Nice work, Vinny.”

She didn’t heat the buckets right away. Instead, she took out an alchemical potion and added a drop to each one.

“Whoa, that’s fancy. I’ve got some concentrated soap we can use, y’know?” Vinny said in awe.

“Pfft—Vinny, this isn’t some kind of fancy soap,” Aesphyra giggled. “It’s an alchemical reagent for detecting toxins.”

“Oi, shorty—don’t tell me you think I poisoned your water?” Vinny said half-jokingly.

“Mhm~ What do you think?” Aesphyra smiled in amusement.

“.........”

“Vinny, if I really didn’t trust you, do you think I’d have you fetch the water? Spill all those secrets to you? Say everything I’ve said?” she asked pointedly.

“So, it’s the old man you’re suspicious of?” Vinny lowered his voice.

“Not quite. It’s more about preventing the unintentional from being manipulated by the intentional—people doing things that might endanger us without realizing it.”

So basically, it was about not trusting people.

Vinny grumbled inwardly.

“Mm, no color change. Looks like the water’s clean. Safe to use.”

Aesphyra put the potion away, peeled off a pair of disposable gloves, and placed both hands on the buckets.

Heat waves shimmered around her, and in no time, the water began bubbling and steaming.

“Alright, I’m off to bathe, Vinny. See you tomorrow.”

She picked up a bucket and was about to leave—but then stopped, turning back to give Vinny a long, hard look.

“...What is it now?”

“Vinny, don’t you dare get any funny ideas about peeking.”

“Pfft—please. Who’d want to look at you? You’re so not my type. Even if I was gonna sneak a peek at someone, why would I pick you?” Vinny rolled his eyes.

“Besides, I do have some class and dignity, thank you very much. You think I’m the kind of guy who’d stoop to peeping on a girl while she bathes?”

“Huhu~” Aesphyra snorted softly and threw him a meaningful glance before turning and walking away.

“.........”

Vinny stood frozen for a moment, watching her silhouette disappear into the house. After a long pause, he finally picked up his own bucket and headed to the back courtyard.

Girls bathing had to be done in private—but he, as a grown man, had no such constraints.

Surveillance? Let it watch, whatever. As long as that creep in the shadows didn’t get embarrassed, he had no reason to be afraid. Let it stare all it wants—he didn’t care.

Vinny came out wearing nothing but pants, a towel over his shoulder, and a bucket of hot water in hand.

Moonlight shone down on his pale skin.

He looked down at his arm and frowned. Yeah, maybe he was getting a bit too pale.

That divine bloodline of his had its downsides too—like being so deeply nourished that his skin had lost any semblance of masculinity.

He crouched beside the bucket and began wiping himself down with the hot towel.

Ahh, so peaceful.

The quiet night sky filled only with the symphony of insects.

If it weren’t for the primitive conditions, he thought, living in a small village like this wouldn’t be so bad.

Someday, when he was rich, he’d definitely buy a villa out in the countryside.

Spend cool summer nights on the patio, lounging on a long chair with a glass of fine red wine. Sip chilled wine under the moonlight and enjoy the stillness of the evening.

Maybe pop a bottle of champagne and snack on a few puddings, too.

Ah yes—life’s true joys were often the simplest.

And if he had a beautiful woman by his side—well, that’d be even better.

Just as Vinny was bathing and daydreaming about the future...

A voice, soft and sweet enough to melt bone, called out from beyond the fence.

“Hey, handsome~ Over here. Yeah, you—look this way.”

“...Huh?”

Vinny tilted his head, frowning. Someone was calling him?

Had the bath water been too hot? Was he hallucinating?

A beautiful woman—actually appeared??

He stared in disbelief at the tall, red-haired woman sitting casually atop the wooden fence.

This woman, with her deep crimson curls, had a figure that blew shorty white-hair out of the water.

Dressed in tight black leather, black stockings, and heels, she perched on the fence in an overtly seductive pose.

She beckoned him with fingers painted to match her hair and blew him a teasing kiss.

“Handsome~ It’s a long night. Wanna come play with me?”

Late at night, a strange woman sitting on a high fence asking him to “come play”—a weird situation, no doubt.

But for some reason, it all felt weirdly normal to Vinny.

Before he knew it, he stood up and began walking toward her, his eyes dazed.

Heh. Easy prey.

The red-haired woman smirked as her charm settled in. Seduction was her greatest weapon. Even the golden boys of Carillian Academy were helpless against her.

And this boy—so young—would be no exception.

As soon as Vinny stepped into range, she tried to intensify the spell, invading his mind—

—but the moment she did, a flash of divine sakura-pink light seared through her consciousness, shocking her nerves.

As dizziness hit her, a loud shout echoed out:

“Cheap parlor tricks like that—what, you think I’m stupid? Sneaking around like that—you’re asking for it!”

The dazed, drooling blue-haired youth suddenly leapt to his feet, ice spear in hand, and slammed it down toward the woman on the fence.

Tch—what was that just now?!

The red-haired woman grit her teeth.

She’d taken a huge risk returning here, waiting until that dangerous silver-haired girl had gone to bed to find this boy alone.

She thought fortune favored the bold—

—but clearly, she’d been wrong.

Vinny’s strike missed.

When he looked again, the woman on the fence was gone.

She’d vanished into thin air.

Vinny froze.

Suddenly, he realized—he’d never left the bucket. He was still crouching there, drawing water.

What... just happened?

He looked around in a daze, then stared back at the fence where the red-haired woman had been.

No one there.

Logically, he should have been mid-strike with Frostfang, standing near the fence.

But now that he’d snapped out of it, he was still squatting in the same spot.

Frostfang was still an earring.

Which made it feel like none of it was real.

Like the red-haired woman never even appeared—never called out to him or tried to seduce him.

What the hell was that?

Couldn’t be hunger-induced hallucinations, could it?

Vinny frowned hard, thinking back.

His head had gone fuzzy—and then, all at once, clarity had slammed into him. His brain had gone full-alert, his instincts screamed danger, and he’d immediately struck out at the mysterious woman.

Yeah... that haze earlier didn’t feel entirely real.

But something had happened. That much he was sure of.

Could it be... he’d been hit with an illusion spell?

Then... who had cast it?

As he pondered this, one of the half-closed doors in the front courtyard silently shut after confirming he was unharmed.

Wrapped in a towel, Aesphyra leaned against the frame, arms crossed over her chest.

Her snowy white shoulders gleamed beneath the moonlight.

Nothing in the courtyard had escaped her senses.

The moment something went wrong, she’d noticed—and had pushed the door open, ready to act.

But...

Before she could make a move, Vinny had already broken free on his own.

That... was unexpected.