Return to one hour ago.
Greg was certainly not unprepared for the events that might occur tonight.
On the contrary, he had planned for this long ago. He had left the dungeon camp early and quietly slipped into the vicinity of the girls' dormitory area. He hunkered down in a corner with relatively dense vegetation—a spot where he could observe a specific area of the dormitory building without being easily discovered.
The night wind was slightly cool, carrying the fresh scent of greenery from the academy gardens.
The lights of the distant dormitory building were sparse. Most of the windows had gone dark, with only a few still glowing. The faint sounds of laughter or conversation from students staying up late drifted on the night breeze.
Greg leaned against a thick ornamental tree, his figure almost completely merging into the shadows of the trunk. His amber eyes were sharply locked on his target, like a nocturnal hunter waiting for the perfect moment.
While he didn't know exactly where Associate Professor Audrey was hiding or what final preparations she was making before the event officially began, he knew her behavioral patterns for tonight based on the script:
After Silvia was sound asleep, Audrey would use low-tier wind magic to slip through the dormitory window from the outside. Then, she would use drugs to make Silvia lose consciousness before taking her away.
As for why Greg would rather go through the trouble of lying in wait now instead of taking a more efficient approach...
For instance, why not just find Associate Professor Audrey during the day and subdue her directly, forcing her to abandon the plan?
There was a reason Greg didn't implement such a plan.
Attacking an academy Associate Professor without cause, even if they harbored ill intentions, would change everything if the crime hadn't been committed yet and there was no hard evidence. If Greg struck first, the nature of the situation would flip entirely.
He would go from an intervener preventing a crime to a violent criminal who maliciously attacked a faculty member.
Given his already notorious reputation, who would believe him if he said an Associate Professor was planning to kidnap a student?
Hardly anyone would believe it. Instead, it would only confirm the accusations that he was insane and attempting to slander a teacher.
This would only worsen his living conditions in this world, inviting pursuit from both the academy and the kingdom's laws.
Therefore, to justify his intervention, he had to wait for Professor Audrey to act.
Only when the crime was in progress would his interference be beyond reproach.
According to Greg's reasoning, the best time to strike was the exact moment Professor Audrey stepped onto Silvia's dormitory windowsill and prepared to carry out the kidnapping.
At that point, Audrey's criminal intent and actions would be clear, yet Silvia would not have suffered any substantial harm.
Greg could strike quickly, neutralize Audrey, and then hand her directly over to the academy's Enforcement Squad.
This way, the incident could be resolved within a limited scope—Silvia wouldn't experience the terror and unknown risks of being kidnapped, the situation wouldn't blow up, and the disturbance to the plot's direction would be kept to a minimum.
The plan was logical, the steps were clear, and the risks were controlled.
Now, he just needed to wait in this hidden corner for the target to appear, then cut in at the right time like a precise clockwork gear to finish the job.
However...
"My other half."
An ethereal voice suddenly rang out in Greg's mind, carrying a hint of bored curiosity:
"Thou seemest to have been in... a less than wonderful mood since this morning? Thy brow hath been furrowed, and thy aura is somewhat restless. Could it be... that today is one of those... special times of the month that thy male kind experiences?"
Greg was focused intently on the dormitory building, but his mouth twitched upon hearing this, nearly breaking his concentration.
"What the hell! Men don't have a special time of the month! That's a physiological phenomenon for women, okay?! You uneducated cat!"
"Oh? Thou dost not?"
Nightmare's voice carried a trace of genuine confusion. A black cat's head slowly emerged from the shadows at Greg's feet, its emerald eyes shimmering in the darkness. It tilted its head, seemingly recalling something seriously:
"But I remember, long ago, eavesdropping on some believers chatting in private. It seemed that if a male creature does not engage in... well, that harmonious exchange of life and release for a long time, pressure will accumulate in the body. In severe cases, it might even cause the lower body to... go 'pop' and explode?"
"...Oh, so that's what you're talking about."
Greg finally understood.
But he felt that this explanation wasn't quite right either. For seasoned pilots, there was no such thing as a special day; they could take off whenever and wherever they felt like it.
But just as he was about to explain, Greg suddenly realized something.
He snapped his head down to look at the black cat gracefully licking its paws at his feet. A hint of playfulness and mischief flashed in his amber eyes.
"Wait... eavesdropping on believers' private chats?"
Greg deliberately drew out his words, a subtle 'I get it' smile appearing on his face:
"So all that rich knowledge of yours was gained through eavesdropping? I thought that as the Goddess of Night, you already knew these mysteries of life like the back of your hand. After all this time, it turns out you're just a zero-experience amateur whose theoretical knowledge is based entirely on hearsay?"
He emphasized the words "zero-experience amateur" with a bit of mischievous anticipation, wanting to see if this usually high-and-mighty Goddess would show any signs of embarrassment or irritation.
However, Greg had clearly underestimated the thickness of a certain Goddess's skin.
Nightmare stopped licking her paws and looked up. Her emerald eyes met Greg's teasing gaze calmly. She even symbolically puffed out her furry cat chest, responding in that ethereal and righteous voice:
"To learn and explore fields and knowledge one does not yet know, through whatever legitimate means, is never something to be ashamed of. This is true for mortals, and it is true for us deities. Curiosity is one of the driving forces of all things."
Greg was speechless.
To talk about lewd matters with such refined elegance... I'm impressed!
He felt like he had thrown a punch into a pile of cotton—no, into titanium armor!
"Do you simply have no concept of a sense of shame?!"
"A sense of shame?"
Nightmare flicked her tail, her tone casual:
"That thing can neither fill one's belly nor increase one's power. Sometimes, it even becomes a shackle to action. What use have I for it?"
Greg's eyes widened. That actually makes a lot of damn sense!
Rate on N.U.
