...
The smile on Greg's face froze instantly, and the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch almost imperceptibly.
He raised a hand to support his forehead and let out a long sigh.
“Sigh... I now deeply understand that prejudice in people's hearts is truly a mountain hard to move...”
It seemed that if he didn't present some hard, undeniable evidence, his suspicious mentor with her bizarre train of thought would never believe him.
Greg wiped the smile from his face and straightened his expression slightly.
“Alright, I'm not joking. Seriously, I was indeed pre-selected as a representative. The reason is the Undead incident that caused such a stir a while ago. You should have heard of it, right?”
Alice nodded subconsciously, a trace of understanding flashing in her ice-purple eyes.
That incident had also caused a stir within the academy. After all, it involved the appearance of High-tier Undead creatures near the city, causing a considerable amount of panic.
She recalled that the incident had ultimately been resolved single-handedly by a student. But as for who exactly it was... since she had been busy with her own research and avoiding Greg, she hadn't paid much attention to it.
“The person who resolved that incident alone was me,” Greg said, casually pointing at himself with his thumb.
“You...?!”
Alice's eyes instantly went wide and round, her small mouth parting slightly in shock, revealing a glimpse of her pearly white teeth.
She stared blankly at Greg, as if seeing him for the first time.
The student who had single-handedly defeated the Undead Knight was Greg Sass?
The very same guy standing in front of her who, over the past year, had forced her to ghostwrite even his most basic papers on stable mana configuration?
Although she still found it hard to believe, Alice also realized that Greg couldn't possibly be lying about this. If he hadn't been the one to solve it, she could easily expose his lie just by asking anyone.
“How... how on earth did you do it...” she murmured unconsciously.
This completely shattered her established perception of Greg.
“Nothing in this world is absolutely impossible, especially when you don't truly know a person.”
Greg interrupted Alice's unconscious whispering. He raised his chin slightly, casting his gaze toward the bustling crowd in the distance as if reminiscing about something.
“In the past, due to some... well, rather complicated reasons, I had to choose to hide my true strength and talent, deliberately acting... mediocre.”
He paused, giving Alice a moment to process the information, before turning back to look at her small face, which was filled with shock and uncertainty. A confident smile curved his lips.
“But now, things are different. I don't think there's any need to keep hiding.”
He leaned forward slightly, closing the distance, and spoke word by word as he watched Alice's pupils suddenly contract.
“So, the cards are on the table, Alice-chan. Honestly, I'm an absolute genius too!”
Hiding his strength? Deliberately acting incompetent?
Alice's chaotic mind began to turn slowly, like rusty gears grinding together.
Reason told her this was absurd, but emotionally, a faint voice whispered: Is it... not entirely impossible?
After all, he was the eldest son of the House of Sass.
How could a direct descendant of such a deeply established, ancient noble family truly know nothing about magic and be an absolute waste?
Perhaps he really did have a very important reason to hide his abilities?
Greg carefully observed the shifting expressions on Alice's face, knowing his words were beginning to take effect.
After all, she was his chosen academic workhorse, so correcting his image in her mind was absolutely necessary.
Alice looked up at Greg, who was two heads taller than her. “Then what you said earlier about being pre-selected as a representative for the exchange is also true?”
Greg nodded. “Of course! I, Greg, never lie! I was indeed pre-selected as one of the Second-year Representatives, so you can join me this time!”
“!”
This news was like a bolt of lightning, crashing heavily into the lake of Alice's heart, which had been filled with disappointment.
If what Greg said was true, didn't that mean she finally had a chance to escape her current struggle?
The massive shock and the almost surreal hope made Alice's petite body tremble uncontrollably with excitement.
In her eyes, the original suspicion and aloofness were being replaced by a complex light mixed with shock, ecstasy, and disbelief.
She even had to bite her lower lip slightly to suppress the gasp that was about to escape.
Greg watched her reaction with great satisfaction.
Her fear of me has completely vanished, replaced by expectation.
That's more like it. When the time comes, she'll obediently follow my arrangements.
“Ahem.”
He shifted the topic at the right moment, his gaze casually sweeping over the surrounding mentors who were already chatting happily with their new disciples, and asked in a conversational tone:
“By the way, Alice-chan, you came here today because you're participating in the freshman mentor selection, right? So, who is your newly recruited student? Won't you introduce them to your senior brother? That way, I can get to know our upcoming workhorse... oh, I mean, junior brother or sister.”
Alice was still immersed in the massive impact of the information and the joy of her hopes seemingly coming true, her expression somewhat dazed.
Hearing Greg's question, she blinked subconsciously, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings before she slowly snapped out of it.
Right, her main business today was to meet with the commoner freshman who had been assigned to her.
She parted her lips slightly, preparing to describe the student to Greg based on the name and general characteristics she had seen on the bulletin board.
However, just as her red lips parted and before she could utter a single syllable—
A pleasant yet cold female voice, laced with a hint of disgust, abruptly cut in between them, shattering the brief and delicate atmosphere:
“Disgusting... Greg, why are you standing with my mentor?”
This voice...
The relaxed smile on Greg's face froze instantly.
He whipped his head around.
The first thing that caught his eye was a head of long hair with a dull gray sheen, like winter morning mist, flowing with a cold luster under the Arena's light.
Then came that familiar face, as delicate as a doll's, which was currently filled with undisguised displeasure and deep wariness.
“Your mentor?!”
Greg was stunned, his brain seemingly seizing up for a second.
He looked at the familiar disgust directed at him in the gray-haired girl's eyes, then whipped his head back to look at his petite mentor, Alice, who was still in a daze of excitement and hadn't fully grasped the situation.
An utterly absurd thought flashed through his mind like lightning, forcing him to blurt out in disbelief:
“Holy crap! Little Gray, are you my junior sister?!”
Almost at the exact moment the words left his mouth, a cold notification tone rang directly in his mind without warning:
［Redemption of the Villainous Noble: Phase Three (Unlocked)］
［Quest Requirement: Successfully conquer the third layer of the dungeon before the end of Act Three.］
Rate on N.U.
