Vol 4. Chapter 96: Naturally Black-Hearted?
“In history, there have indeed been times when, for many reasons and under many pressures, people were forced by the situation to make helpless choices. But I believe that no matter the era, no matter what unspeakable hardship, reason, or purpose lies behind it, humanity should never be guided by an organization colluding with Demon Pillar believers. If that continues for too long, great chaos will definitely erupt within humanity,” Mirexia said, expressing her view.
“If the organization wearing the signboard of the ‘Church of the Dawn’ is led by a group of utterly wicked people like that, it will be humanity’s greatest misfortune.”
“Of course, that is only my view. As for your attitude toward the Church, Vinny, what are you thinking now? You only need to tell me your truest feelings at this moment. No matter what, I will respect your thoughts.” After saying that, Mirexia looked at Vinny seriously.
“Mirexia.” Vinny looked at Mirexia for a while, without much hesitation.
Yes. At a time like this, what was there to hesitate about? Had he not already decided long ago?
“You want to confirm my thoughts? Then I’ll tell you. My thought is that a Church like this cannot be allowed to remain. It has to be hit hard,” Vinny said decisively. “I’m going to crush the current Church of the Dawn, and then become the Dawn Saintess if necessary.”
“No. It is very necessary. More necessary than ever.” Vinny paused, then added with unwavering firmness, “I will capture the Pope, that bastard loaded with evil, together with his followers, judge their crimes, and make them receive the punishment they deserve.”
“Beyond that, I want to question him. Question him to his face. Why did he persecute me so relentlessly?”
“Then, I will reshape the Church of the Dawn,” Vinny said with resounding force. “And return a bright, clear world to Tyrelis Continent.”
He was no longer lost. He was no longer like before, where even though he knew he would ultimately still be forced into resistance, he still held on to a hidden hope of enduring it.
Now, there was no such hope in his heart. This was exactly what he was going to do. There was nothing to hide anymore.
If even he, as the one they served, did not have a firm will and could not make up his mind, then would that not turn all those subordinates who followed him, and all those allies willing to support him, into a joke??
There was no longer a Vinny who still clung to wishful thinking and wanted to settle for the present.
Now, there was only the Dawn Saintess with unwavering resolve.
Mirexia also heard that meaning in Vinny’s tone.
Before, when she had hinted at Vinny, she had heard that Vinny still hesitated over this matter. Now, that hesitation was entirely gone, transformed into the resolve of someone with his back to the river.
At that, Mirexia felt very relieved.
The current Vinny really was like his ancestors, like the Dawn Saintesses of every generation. After experiencing so much, he had gone from someone who, at first, did not even know why he was fighting, had no resolve, and wavered in stance, into someone with a clear goal, someone who possessed courage and determination to move forward without turning back.
So long as they found their goal, nothing could stop their footsteps until death.
This was the creed of the Facilis Family.
[Virtue +200.]
[Current Virtue: 9559.]
“Do what you should do.” The corners of Mirexia’s mouth rose slightly. “If there is anything you need help with, come to me.”
“Thank you, Mirexia. Looks like you’re going to have to clean up my mess again this time.” Vinny gave a dry laugh. “Just like when we were little.”
“I am the one who should thank you, Your Eminence.” Mirexia revealed a gentle smile, like solid ice melting in spring. “Thank you for standing with righteousness, to seek justice for everyone in this world and for those victims.”
“Thank you for being willing to step forward when the continent is in peril.”
“No matter what, I still have to thank you. This time, because of my actions, you’ll be taking on risk again.”
This could only be called seeing true feelings in adversity.
“Have you forgotten?” Hearing that, Mirexia noticed the gift box on the table. There were several white candies inside.
Those were the flower candies Shicodale had made earlier. Vinny had not finished them, having only eaten one, leaving several behind.
“What?”
“We promised, didn’t we?” Mirexia picked up one flower candy from the gift box and pursed her lips. It was as if she was doing something that made her incomparably shy, and an alluring peach-red blush rose across her cheeks.
On this ice-mountain girl, who was so full of the temperament of a flower on a high peak, that expression carried a contrast that made the heart race.
Then, under Vinny’s confused gaze, Mirexia gently parted her lips and bit off half the flower candy. After that, she shifted her gaze away and handed the other half toward Vinny.
[Virtue +250.]
[Current Virtue: 9809.]
“When we were little, whatever you ate, you would share half with me. You said that whatever we did, we had to advance and retreat together.” Mirexia’s voice was somewhat halting, inexplicably a little adorable.
“Now, now.” Mirexia’s jade-scallion-like index finger seemed to tremble, but she still continued pushing the topic forward.
“It is the same. Half for you, half for me.”
“We will still advance and retreat together, face everything together, no matter what happens.” By the end, Mirexia’s voice was trembling so much it had almost changed pitch, but she still said it completely.
[Virtue +150.]
[Current Virtue: 9959.]
“...” To be honest, Mirexia’s reaction also stunned Vinny. He looked at the half-bitten candy Mirexia had handed over.
Mm. Because she had broken it with her hand, her lips had not directly touched the broken edge. But still.
He did not know if having one’s cheeks heat up was contagious, but Vinny was suddenly made so flustered that his own cheeks burned, and he was at a loss.
“Ah, ah, yes, that’s right, but.” Vinny wanted to speak, then stopped.
“But what? Is anything different?”
“No, nothing.” Vinny could only accept that half flower candy. Seeing that Mirexia had already eaten her half, he hesitated for a moment, then also tossed the candy into his mouth and chewed it.
[Virtue +200.]
[Current Virtue: 10159.]
“How is it?” Mirexia lowered her head and did not look at Vinny.
“Ah, mm. The taste is very good.” At this moment, the two of them displayed perfect childhood-friend tacit understanding. One lowered her head and refused to raise it even in death, while the other looked away and refused to turn back even in death. Even their voices were the same style of obvious cover-up, carrying a bit of youthful shyness.
“It’s very sweet, too.” For some reason, Vinny added that, then only after a moment did he ask himself in confusion, What did that mean?
Why had he added that sentence? What exactly had he been thinking just now??
“Very sweet?” Mirexia stared at the tabletop with her beautiful eyes, her cheeks covered in rosy embarrassment as she asked, though there was nothing on the tabletop worth her attention at all. If she lowered her gaze a little further, the only thing she would see was her own proudly full valley of abundance, wrapped in misty clouds, so prominent it could completely block her toes.
“Mm, very sweet.” Vinny raised his head and looked upward, acting like a poet gazing at the starry sky and speaking from inspiration. In reality, all he could see above was a monotonous ceiling. Other than that, there was nothing.
The two of them continued maintaining the situation with tacit understanding.
“Specifically, what is sweet?” Until Mirexia made a thunderous statement, breaking the current state.
[Virtue +200.]
[Current Virtue: 10359.]
“??” Vinny began bouncing his leg like mad. There was no need to look. Just looking at the Virtue was enough to know that Mirexia was probably wishing she could bury her head into her body like an ostrich right now.
But he was not doing any better either, okay??
No, why would she ask that?!
Could that be a question Mirexia would ask?!
Vinny almost could not believe his own ears. He suspected there was something wrong with his hearing, or that he had misheard something.
This was way too?!
“Cough, well.” To prevent the other party from feeling awkward, Vinny could not avoid answering, but he also did not know how to answer.
Mirexia’s sudden attack this time had caught Vinny completely off guard. He had never expected that someone with Mirexia’s personality could say something like that.
And so, at a loss, Vinny’s brain overloaded, and he subconsciously said, “Both are... pretty sweet.”
“...” Mirexia fell into silence.
[Virtue +250.]
[Current Virtue: 10609.]
Aaaaaaaaaah!
Only after blurting it out did Vinny react and realize what exactly he had said.
No, what exactly had he just said??
Ah, it, it was not that bad, right? He had only said both were pretty sweet. He had not specifically pointed to anything.
The things that entered his mouth were all pretty sweet anyway. Was that not the absolute truth? Wasn’t it very common to blurt out the truth in an emergency? And besides, the only thing he had eaten was the candy, right? What else could it be??
But how could he fail to see it? Judging by this growth in Virtue, Mirexia definitely was not thinking that way.
“Cough. Yes! That’s exactly how it is! We’ve been like that since we were little, doing everything together.” Seeing that things were going badly, Vinny stiffly changed the topic. “Haha, right?”
“Mm. Right.” At this moment, Mirexia seemed to have used up all her courage and burned herself out, only able to speak these fragmented few words.
The two of them chatted as if they were forcing an awkward conversation, their eyes not looking at each other, their answers not matching the questions.
“Mm, this does remind me, though. We... are in this together.” Vinny clasped his hands together and looked at the ceiling, pretending to be calm. In reality, his heart could not calm down at all. His mouth was usually so eloquent, but at this time, it could only make awkward conversation.
Mirexia pinched and toyed with the hem of her pleated skirt with both hands. Her long, slender, beautiful legs turned inward, and her gaze wandered without focus.
And then, well, even Vinny could not find anything to say. The scene sank into an extremely awkward silence, like a windless lake.
“Um, you—” x2
No one knew how much time had passed, nor whether one really should praise these two childhood friends for their perfect understanding. The two of them once again spoke at the same time with great tacit harmony, then turned to look at each other at the same time as if making up their minds, froze at the same time, and again instantly turned their heads back at the same time.
“What did you want to say?” x2
Another perfectly synchronized statement, not a single word different.
After realizing that they had once again said the same thing as each other, both of them froze, then spoke at the same time again.
“You go first.” x2
This godlike tacit understanding made both of them fall into silence.
“Cough. What I wanted to say earlier was...” After a moment of silence, Vinny still felt that as a boy, he could not stay silent and play dead like a little girl.
But the moment he opened his mouth, his brain short-circuited.
“I... seem to have forgotten.” Vinny scratched his head. “Uh, I forgot what I wanted to say earlier.”
“Did you have something you wanted to tell me, or something you wanted to ask me?” Mirexia asked without turning back.
“Oh, right, something. Yes, there was indeed something I wanted to ask you.” Vinny also did not dare look at Mirexia.
It could only be said that the atmosphere had reached that point, so the two of them were both tacitly aware of certain things. Whatever the other person said, they felt the other was hinting at something.
“What is it?”
“It’s...” Vinny’s mouth opened and closed, closed and opened. Finally, just as he made up his mind and wanted to ask something—
Click, click.
Before he could ask, the door opened, accompanied by the sound of footsteps entering.
Vinny and Mirexia were both startled stiff by this sudden movement.
“Eh? Vinny, you’re already awake? I left food for you on the dining table.” Shicodale, who had returned from buying groceries, saw Vinny sitting on the sofa in an unusually proper posture the moment she entered. Then, in the very next second, she naturally also saw the blond girl sitting beside Vinny in the same proper posture, her whole body stretched straight.
“President Mirexia??” Shicodale murmured to herself. “Why are you here? When did you come?”
“Did you not return to Camella Kingdom?”
“I.” Mirexia was left somewhat at a loss by this barrage of questions. Although Shicodale’s tone was not intense and was very calm, most likely with no particular meaning, Mirexia somehow felt as if the other girl were questioning why she was here.
For some reason, she felt an intense embarrassment inside, as if she had been caught doing something shameful. Beyond that, there was also an indescribable, faint sense of immorality. Even she did not know why she felt that way.
“Cough! It’s like this. Mirexia is going to become a third-year, and as Student Council President, she is very busy. She can’t even go home during the holiday, so she stayed at Carillian Academy. She happened to run into a few tricky problems, and I happened to be good at those problems, so she came to discuss them with me,” Vinny said with a dry cough, explaining on behalf of Mirexia, who could not speak.
“Oh, so that’s how it is!” Shicodale had an expression of sudden realization and nodded in understanding. “President Mirexia really is very busy. So busy with work that she even came all the way here.”
“”
For some reason, Mirexia kept feeling that this excessively pretty and delicate natural-airhead Moon Elf in front of her was being sarcastic, but she had no proof. And from the other girl’s tone, she could not hear that meaning either.
To be honest, Shicodale’s tone was simply far too pure and innocent. If even this could be an act, then if she were cut open, everything inside would probably be black—an outright sesame-filled one.