Although Greg had known from the start that Melina's current identity was not that of a student from one of the Five Great Academies, he didn't know which specific school she was from.
In the original game, other than the Five Great Academies, the other magic schools had very little presence, so he hadn't made any special effort to memorize their names.
He had thought he would just need to pay a bit more attention during the exchange.
But to his surprise, the current Melina actually happened to come from the same magic academy as his roommate, Corwin.
This cursed bad luck!
“Teehee.”
Melina was currently sizing up the young man before her with great interest.
She was very curious—why did an indescribable feeling of disgust well up in her heart the very first moment she saw him?
Clearly, based on his looks alone, it should have been impossible for him to leave a bad first impression.
Even across the entire continent, his handsome face was absolutely top-tier.
Besides, she wasn't that shallow of a person. As long as the other party wasn't undead, she would always find a way to make use of them.
Thus, she normally shouldn't feel disgust toward any living creature other than the undead. After all, a useful pawn didn't need to be likable; they only needed to be controllable.
Already interested in the young man, her curiosity grew even stronger when she realized he was the very “Greg Sass” she had heard about in her subordinates' reports.
According to the intelligence she received, this Greg Sass had risen rapidly in just a few short months from a useless failure exiled by his family. He had not only killed one of her close confidants and thwarted her plan to plant a seed inside Silvia, but he had also recently defeated an Undead Knight all by himself. Even Huang Quan's current mysterious disappearance was likely related to him.
Taken individually, these accomplishments might not seem too extraordinary, but when linked to the same person, they became incredibly intriguing.
Melina keenly sensed that Greg possessed a unique quality that set him apart from others.
These qualities felt foreign to her, yet they also excited her.
She even began to think that Greg might be even more special and worthy of attention than Victoria, the girl she had originally targeted.
That was why she had chosen to make contact first like this, rather than continuing to wait.
“Senior, why is your expression so strange? Did I cause some trouble for you~?”
Melina tilted her head slightly, a trace of cunning glinting in her eyes behind her plain mask.
Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying just the right amount of playfulness.
Although she had disguised her appearance, her every move—including her tone of voice and subtle body language—exuded a devilish charm.
It was something etched into her very bones, not something a simple disguise could hide.
“...”
Greg felt his scalp go numb.
In a fraction of a second, his brain completed the shift in thinking from ‘Holy crap, she's so seductive, what should I do?’ to letting his upper head take control over his lower half.
Making a split-second decision, he grabbed Corwin and dragged him over, lowering his voice to speak in a hurried tone:
“Corwin, what are you trying to do? Did you forget that I already have someone I like? Did you forget what I told you guys last night about wanting Victoria to bear me an entire soccer team's worth of children?”
Greg said with a solemn expression:
“Her saying she ‘just wants to get to know me’ is definitely an excuse! After all, since I'm so handsome, she must have some ulterior motive! So please, don't let her get any closer to me! I am a champion of pure love!”
Corwin was a bit dazed by Greg's sudden barrage of words.
He blinked, looking at Greg's face which practically screamed “long live pure love,” and then at the smiling Melina standing nearby. After his brain did a few mental gymnastics, he finally realized, in hindsight, that he might have done something incredibly stupid.
He scratched his head, a sheepish look appearing on his face. “I-I'm sorry, Greg. I really didn't think about that... I just wanted to introduce a junior to you...”
“It's fine. It's not too late now that you've realized it.”
Greg patted him on the shoulder, saying generously, “You just need to help me send her away now. I don't want the girl I like to misunderstand me because of this.”
Corwin nodded, took a deep breath, and turned to Melina, speaking with some embarrassment:
“Um, Melina... Sorry, I didn't quite understand the situation earlier. Greg actually already has someone he likes, so he's worried about others misunderstanding... Why don't you head back first?”
Melina narrowed her eyes slightly, but the smile on her face didn't fade in the slightest.
Instead of answering Corwin right away, she redirected her gaze to Greg, speaking in a somewhat playful tone:
“So Senior Greg already has someone he likes~ That's such a pity. But it's fine, I really just wanted to get to know you, Senior. I didn't mean anything else by it~”
She paused, then added:
“Besides, you don't have to worry about me spreading rumors, Senior. Because I have no interest in other people's love lives. I'm just...”
She tilted her head slightly, a meaningful glint flashing in her eyes:
“...simply curious about what kind of person Senior Greg really is.”
Greg's heart skipped a beat.
Curious? What is she curious about? This is only our first official meeting, isn't it?
Although he was extremely bewildered, he quickly composed himself and said in as calm a tone as possible:
“Haha, Junior Melina, you're just overthinking things because of my face. I'm just an ordinary student; there's nothing about me to be curious about.”
“Is that so~”
Melina dragged out her words, clearly not believing him.
She was about to say more when a crisp bell chimed from the front of the hall.
Soon after, a staff member's voice broadcasted through the speakers, reminding all participants to return to their seats and prepare to receive the test questions.
Hearing the bell, Melina finally withdrew her gaze.
She bowed slightly to Greg, her tone remaining light and polite:
“It seems time is up. I won't disrupt your preparations then, Senior. I wish you good results in the exchange.”
With that, she turned and blended into the crowd with light steps, quickly vanishing from sight.
Greg watched her departing back and let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he had just fought a grueling battle.
He turned to look at Corwin, who looked equally exhausted. The two exchanged a glance and let out a sigh of relief at the same time.
“My brother...”
Greg patted Corwin on the shoulder, his voice weak:
“Next time before you introduce a junior, can you first ask if she's a viper? That was way too terrifying.”
Corwin let out a bitter laugh and shook his head:
“I swear, I really didn't know she was like this... She's usually really quiet.”
“Whatever, forget it. You should hurry back to your seat too. The preliminary defense is about to start.”
Greg waved his hand, saying no more.
But he knew very well that Melina's appearance today was by no means a coincidence.
Her taking the initiative to approach, test, and observe him showed that she had already placed him on her high-priority watchlist.
However, Greg didn't have any spare time to overthink it now, as he had to focus all his attention on the upcoming preliminary defense.
Rate on N.U.
