How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

The written exam ended quickly, and Vinny was even among the first few to submit his paper. After Isatia and Aesphyra handed in their papers, he followed suit.

Holding an almost fully answered exam paper, Vinny experienced the feeling of being admired by everyone, just like a top student.

This was a score he earned through his own abilities.

What? He passed the exam because of Vanessa’s learning ability? Wasn’t that also his own strength? Since it was achieved by himself, what’s the difference between that and cheating?

Next came the Monday interview.

The interview was much easier than Vinny had imagined. The student council interviewers only asked a few trivial questions, such as:

“Vinny, based on your current understanding of the structure and composition of the student council, please analyze whether adding another department would make it too excessive?”

“Well, I think for the current student council, adding a new department might not make it too excessive, but adding a new department without it becoming excessive seems unlikely.” Vinny crossed his legs, thought for a long time, and finally answered with a frown, as if he had come to a conclusion.

“Okay, your suggestion is quite good. Here’s my advice: next time, don’t suggest anything. Go back and wait for the results.” The senior student who interviewed him said with a smile.

Then Vinny left the interview room.

“Good afternoon, Vinny?”

As Vinny walked out of the interview room in high spirits, a charming voice greeted him.

Vinny glanced over and, sure enough, it was Aesphyra, who had just come out of another interview room.

Tsk, what a coincidence.

After the incident at the maid café last time, Vinny increasingly felt that Aesphyra was nothing but bad luck.

However, everything has two sides. Although Aesphyra wore many masks in front of and behind people, and was a promiscuous flirt, when it came to the current virtue reward rankings, her contribution was number one.

In this regard, Aesphyra was the MVP, while Shikondell was just a lucky dog.

But because her personality was too unpredictable, and for some reason, every time he made Aesphyra explode with virtue, it was always him who ended up suffering.

Vinny had begun to sense something was off.

Plus, the more a single female protagonist’s virtue exploded, the harder it became to trigger it later. He felt he couldn’t always focus on Aesphyra; he needed to spread his attention evenly.

“What’s up? You called me but then didn’t say anything.” Vinny glanced at Aesphyra. “Speak up if you have something to say.”

“Can’t I just call out to you without having something to say? Hmm, I just didn’t expect to see you here, Vinny.” Aesphyra placed one foot behind her, her hands behind her back, with a faint smile on her lips.

“Didn’t expect it? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. I’ll be joining the student council soon, and there’ll be more great achievements!” Vinny put his hands on his hips, looking as if he was incredibly proud of himself.

“Oh, is that so?”

“That’s right!” Vinny maintained this pose for two seconds, but when he didn’t get a response from Aesphyra, he frowned. “You, no other reaction?”

“Hmm? What reaction?” Aesphyra tilted her head.

“I just said I’m going to join the student council. Aren’t you curious how someone like me could get in?” Vinny’s original plan was to shock Aesphyra and harvest some virtue, but her calm response left him somewhat disappointed.

“That’s your own business, isn’t it?” Aesphyra looked puzzled. “If I may be so bold, what method you used and how you’re going to join the student council doesn’t seem to have much to do with me, does it?”

“Huh, huh??” Vinny was stunned. He thought Aesphyra, who had always been at odds with him in their past life, would surely mock or tease him a bit. He didn’t expect her to be completely indifferent.

“Tsk, I think you’re just scared, scared that my achievements will surpass yours!” Vinny continued to probe and provoke.

Since he was here, he might as well dig up some “virtue” before leaving.

“Pfft.” Aesphyra laughed without saying a word.

“What are you laughing at? You’ve got nothing to say, huh?” Vinny crossed his arms.

“Nothing much. By the way, Vinny, did you do the alchemy homework for this afternoon?”

“Hahaha, who do you think I am? Would I forget to do my homework??” Vinny laughed three times, then fell silent for a long time before finally speaking. “There’s alchemy homework?”

“Hmm, who knows~?” This time, it was Aesphyra’s turn to smile brightly as she turned and walked away, her silver hair swaying.

“Hey! Hey, come back, Aesphyra! Aesphyra, my dear classmate! What’s alchemy homework? Can you tell me?” Vinny immediately put on a flattering face and approached Aesphyra.

“Oh, I seem to have temporarily forgotten what the homework was, but I’m sure Vinny has his own unique way of finding out, right?” Aesphyra said as she prepared to leave.

“Lady Aesphyra, Miss Aesphyra! Don’t leave, have mercy and just tell me what the alchemy homework is!” If Aesphyra weren’t into women and prone to murderous rage when touched, Vinny would’ve dropped all pride and clung to her legs without hesitation.

A true man knows when to bend and when to stand tall; it’s not about winning or losing in the moment!

“But, Vinny, I really can’t remember. I’ll ask [N O V E L I G H T] some other classmates. Sorry, I have things to do, so I’ll take my leave now.” With that, Aesphyra brushed the hair by her ear and prepared to leave.

“No, no, don’t go! Lady, no, my dear mother! Please save me! If I don’t hand in the homework this afternoon, I’ll lose a lot of credits!”

“Pfft.”

“Virtue +30.”

“Current Virtue: 1434.”

Tsk, this wretched woman! Did I have to call her “mother” to get an emotional reaction out of her??

“Hmm~ Thanks to Vinny’s reminder, I seem to remember something. It’s probably the secondary invigorating potion, right? It’s a beginner potion for novice alchemists to practice with, and the materials are easy to get. Vinny, just go back and check the textbook.” With that, Aesphyra turned and left, as if she had gotten what she wanted and didn’t plan to stay any longer.

Tsk! Vinny pouted, feeling as if he had been reverse-exploited by Aesphyra. Could it be that she also had a virtue system??

No, Aesphyra was so lacking in virtue, how could she have a virtue system? If anything, it would be a “lack of virtue” system.

“Well, who could blame me? There’s been so much going on this week, I just forgot.” Vinny shook his head helplessly.

“Oh, by the way, Vinny, there’s good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

“Huh? What? Why are you back again? You scared me.” Looking at the silver-haired girl who had returned, Vinny raised an eyebrow.

“So, good news or bad news, which do you want to hear first~?” Aesphyra asked with a smile.

“I think there’s no good news coming from your mouth.” Vinny said grumpily.

“The good news is that the secondary invigorating potion is super~ simple. You don’t need to control the heat, and you don’t need much affinity with fire elements. Just follow the instructions, and even a three-year-old could make it.”

“So what’s the bad news?” Vinny felt that her words were somewhat insulting his intelligence.

“The bad news is that today’s alchemy class has been moved up. It’s the first class this afternoon~?”

“Huh, huh!?” Vinny’s eyes widened.

“That means...”

“Yes, yes, that means Vinny has no time to do the homework and will have to go to class empty-handed.” After saying this, Aesphyra disappeared like a carefree little imp.

“Ahhh!...”

So, in the afternoon alchemy class, Vinny had to go to the classroom empty-handed.

The result was quite awkward. Imagine everyone holding their textbooks and completed homework, while Vinny was the only one carrying his textbook, holding his own hand, and occasionally being glanced at curiously by other students.

Was this a potion only smart people could see?

“Vinny, can you tell me the reason?”

“Sorry, teacher, I’ve been too busy this week and forgot to do it.” To Vinny’s surprise, Teacher Seve already knew he hadn’t done the homework but didn’t call him out in front of the class. Instead, she approached him after class, giving him face.

Vinny was deeply moved but also somewhat ashamed.

“Alright, I won’t deduct your points this time, but don’t be so absent-minded next time, okay?” Teacher Seve’s gentle tone carried a hint of reproach.

“Okay, thank you, teacher!” Vinny said gratefully.

“But you still need to make up the homework. After your other classes tonight, come to my office.”

“Okay, I understand.” Vinny was already thankful for not losing points; he couldn’t ask for more.

After the academy, Vinny arrived at the location Seve had mentioned and followed the tall elf teacher to a cellar.

Following the teacher, Vinny felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had been called to the teacher’s office in his past life for not doing his homework.

It seemed... not much different?

“Teacher, is your office here?” Vinny was somewhat surprised, looking around at the various books on display, with a cauldron for alchemy and several empty glass bottles in the center.

“Yes, it’s very quiet here, so I won’t be disturbed while doing experiments.” Seve smiled.

Well, from her appearance, no one would guess that this beautiful elf teacher liked to hide in a cellar like a goblin. Indeed, those in academia tend to have a bit of a reclusive nature.

Vinny looked around curiously, and then his attention was drawn to a sculpture placed in the center of the alchemy lab.

It was simply too eye-catching.

It was a pitch-black monster, with the lower half of its body resembling a spider, its torso covered in folds, while the upper half stood upright, with many octopus-like tentacles.

The most horrifying part was the large face faintly visible on the upper half of its body, a face filled with extreme pain and malice, twisted and grotesque.

This monster had no head or face, or rather, its face was imprinted on the upper half of its body.

What would have been just a disgusting and strange creature became even more terrifying with this face, as it added a human-like quality to the monster.

The most incongruous part was that this bizarre and horrifying monster wore a human top hat on the top of its upper body.

The lower half of its body was supported by ten tentacles, while the upper half had countless tentacles flailing in the air.

What a peculiar little thing, huh?

Could this be the deity worshipped by the Ocean elves? Since the Ocean elves live by the ocean, does that mean there are creatures like this in the sea? Poor fish.

“Vinny, there’s a cauldron over there. Use it to complete the homework you didn’t submit... What are you looking at?” Seeing Vinny not responding, Teacher Seve looked over and noticed his attention was entirely on the sculpture in the center of the lab.

“What, are you interested in this sculpture, Vinny?”

“Ah, no, not really. I just didn’t expect the deity worshipped by the elves to look so... bizarre?” Vinny pondered.

“No, Vinny, this isn’t a deity worshipped by the elves.”

“Huh? It’s not? Then, Teacher Seve, why do you have such an ugly sculpture in your lab? Seeing something like this would give anyone nightmares, right??” Hearing that this wasn’t a local deity, Vinny didn’t bother being polite and asked directly.

“Vinny, don’t you know what this sculpture is?”

“No.” But surely no normal person would keep something so nightmarish in their home.

“This is Erunes.” Seve said, looking at the black sculpture.

“Erunes?” Vinny felt the name was somewhat familiar.

“He is the legendary demon pillar who governs blasphemy, sacrifice, assassination, rebellion, and secret potions.” Seve explained. “And his most common title is the ‘Blasphemous Demon.’”

“Demon pillar??”

“But at the same time, because he controls the ‘secret potions’ authority, the academic community generally believes that he founded the magical discipline of ‘alchemy.’ So, many alchemists have his statue in their homes.”

“But he’s still a demon pillar, right?” Seeing Seve’s calm demeanor, perhaps she was used to it, but Vinny felt differently. The more he looked at the sculpture, the more he felt the twisted face was staring at him.

“That’s true. In fact, many alchemists keep Erunes’ statue not out of respect for him, but as a superstitious way to increase their alchemy success rate.” Seve explained with a smile.

“Oh, by the way, Vinny, if I remember correctly, you’re from the Varelis family, the ‘Saintess’ family, right?”

“Yes, why?” Vinny asked.

“Nothing much. There are many legends about Erunes, but without exception, in these stories, he and the Goddess of Radiance, as well as the successive Saintesses, are mortal enemies.” Seve explained.

“...Is that so?”