The Vessel of God, Eve Abraham (2)

Eve Abraham kept staring at me with a bright, beaming smile, as if I were some fascinating new toy. Of course it felt good to have her smiling at me, but… was I really that interesting? Her eyes held nothing but pure curiosity. Having spent my previous life scrambling through a dog-eat-dog reality, always reading the room, I knew that look all too well. Right now I might seem entertaining enough to watch, but the moment her interest faded, she’d probably toss me aside like yesterday’s plaything.

When I unconsciously shifted into a wary expression, Eve’s cheeks flushed pink and she let out an embarrassed little laugh.

“Sorry. I’ve always been terribly curious. It’s probably a disqualifying trait for a saintess.”

“Haha… No, it’s fine.”

She flinched when she noticed my guarded look, and even her apologetic face was beautiful. I flashed her a wide, reassuring smile and casually waved it off.

—Total bullshit. Don’t make me laugh.

That’s what I was really thinking as I shot Silph a glare before turning my gaze to the carriage that had safely passed through the academy gates. They’d barely glanced at my ID once they saw I was traveling with the saintess and waved us right through. Wasn’t this place supposed to be full of precious noble heirs? Seemed way too lax. Must be a gameplay allowance.

Thinking back on the game, plenty of incidents still happened inside the academy. Then again, Destin Academy literally occupied an entire massive island belonging to the empire, so maybe strict checkpoints weren’t all that necessary.

After passing through the inspection far more easily than expected, we got off the carriage to head to our respective areas. Naturally, since I had no luggage, I just hopped down empty-handed.

Once past the main gate, even the highest-ranking individuals were forbidden from bringing escorts. All statuses were equal before education. That was one of Destin Academy’s core educational philosophies. Here, saintesses, princes, princesses, and nobles were all treated the same.

Of course, that didn’t mean people stopped watching each other like hawks.

Eve Abraham, having left behind Isaac’s uncharacteristically teary and fierce protectiveness, finally stretched with a satisfied groan. The loose clothes that had hidden her voluptuous figure now proudly displayed every curve right in front of me.

Yeah. This is heaven.

But I deliberately turned my head away, pretending not to notice, and stared out the window instead.

Right. This is called manners.

Eventually we reached an area where even the carriage and driver couldn’t enter, so Eve and I had no choice but to get off, leaving our lingering reluctance behind.

“It’s always nice to stand on solid ground with your own two feet.”

“You were walking around on two feet just fine earlier.”

“I need something I can control directly if I want to satisfy my curiosity.”

The saintess, who had been spouting complete nonsense in that calm voice, turned to me with a benevolent smile.

“Cain, if I asked to follow you, you’d let me, right?”

“Uh… um? We literally just met outside, though…”

“I can see the purity of souls, you know~ Yours is incredibly kind and pure.”

That’s a lie.

Holy power wasn’t omnipotent. It could affect things that didn’t belong to this world and reveal hidden truths, but it absolutely couldn’t read the purity of someone’s soul. The game’s setting material even dedicated an entire page to explaining holy power because of how important it was. There was a lot of fancy talk, but in the end, holy power was simply a god’s strength—a divine authority. Its immense power let it influence the world. Of course, ordinary people—no, most people—believed it was a force that purified everything and worshipped it for that reason.

Purification. Well, they weren’t exactly wrong.

“By the way, Eve. Don’t we get assigned temporary lodging and then have to go through measurements and tests before the entrance ceremony?”

“Hmm~ I wonder~”

This girl had no idea. She’d gotten so excited about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going outside that she hadn’t listened to a single thing and just ran out. She was rolling her eyes and smiling like she knew something, but after playing this game countless times, I could tell she was bluffing. Besides, her test scores were rock bottom anyway.

That’s when it happened.

“Hey, you! Clear the way!”

What the hell was this overused cliché?

I raised one eyebrow and turned toward the voice. Slicked-back golden hair, a fancy green jacket clearly meant to scream “I’m from a noble house,” and a whole crowd of bootlickers orbiting him like he was some sacred relic. Yeah, this guy was the textbook definition of an arrogant noble.

I clicked my tongue once at the thought, then turned back to Eve.

“I don’t want to deal with unnecessary trouble. Should we move?”

“Hm? Why should we move aside?”

Ah. Right. This was exactly the kind of girl Eve was. The type who couldn’t control her curiosity and would run wild with it. Come to think of it, maybe the whole Vessel of God thing was…

“You mean to say you don’t know Preston Crypsto?”

What a terrible name.

When I just stared at him silently, Preston’s brow twitched and he pointed a finger at Eve.

“You dare say you don’t know Preston of the Crypsto ducal house, which has contributed so greatly to the academy’s continued existence?!”

He was literally using his father—who poured insane amounts of money into this academy—as a threat. I remembered now. Preston Crypsto. In the original story, he was a tutorial-level character who clashed with the commoner-born protagonist, Alex. Right now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he was spewing ignorant, arrogant, childish lines, but later in the storyline he actually played a pretty significant role.

He was supposed to meet the protagonist first, but because of the variable called me, it looked like he’d run into me and Eve instead. Well, it was just the tutorial anyway.

Preston strode arrogantly up to us and began looking me and Eve Abraham up and down. Eve’s face was exceptionally pretty, so I could clearly see greed flicker across his expression.

So transparent. Fucking asshole.

“Ahem… In consideration of your appearance, I’ll specially forgive your rudeness. Provided, of course, that you attend to me from now on.”

“Attend to you?”

The saintess tilted her head in confusion. I quietly watched her reaction. She wasn’t actually ignorant. She was pretending. Curiosity was one of Eve’s main driving forces, which was why she had read every single book in Chantinopple, the capital of the Holy Kingdom she grew up in—from ancient tomes to the erotic picture books that were strictly forbidden there. She was a glutton for knowledge. She was just acting.

And when she subtly turned her head and winked at me with one eye, it was clearly a request for help.

“Yes, attend to me. Well… I’d be even more grateful if you came to me at night!”

Wow. Did these guys seriously not know she was the saintess?

I was actually impressed by their boldness and almost felt like clapping. Ash-gray hair and pink eyes were an extremely rare combination. And if that was the signature look of the saintess, then even more so. Saintess Eve Abraham had been famous from the moment she was born. When she was chosen as the saintess, a white light had shone across the entire world, and people praised the appearance of a guardian for the era.

If this guy was just that ignorant, I had nothing more to say.

“Ah…! I’m so scared! Cain…! Please defeat that wicked, evil man for me!”

“???”

“Hurry.”

What the hell was this girl doing?

She grabbed my sleeve where no one could see and tugged on it gently. It looked like she’d found something new to be curious about. Preston—or was it Yellowstone?—and his gang were already walking toward us.

I frowned and tried to step back slightly, but for some reason the sleeve Eve was holding wouldn’t budge, leaving me frozen in place.

Hey, how are you this strong? Why are you doing this to me?

Eve forcibly dragged me in front of the group.

“Kyaa~ Cain! Please clear these people out of my sight right now~!”

“Fuck.”

At least put some effort into the acting.

I let out a deep sigh and signaled Silph, who was whistling and flying around me.

-Yeah. Cain.

“Hoo… Please help me just enough that I don’t die.”

-That’s… too hard. Cain. You’re… too weak.

Like I didn’t already know that, damn it.

I let out another sigh that seemed to drain the life out of me, then began directing Silph with hand gestures. Of course she could fight perfectly on her own, but since I assumed I was the only person here who could handle spirits, I had to at least look like I was casting magic.

Silph created gusts of wind exactly as I imagined and hurled them at the group. Sharp blades of wind left cuts on their bodies, and small whirlwinds blocked their advance.

-Sending wind.

-Sending wind.

Of course, reality was always more pathetic than fantasy. I pretended to draw magic circles while giving Silph commands, and although she clearly found my pathetic shouting annoying, she still played along. Feeling my life force rapidly draining wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, though.

Something wet trickled down, and when I wiped it, my hand came away with blood. So it started with a nosebleed this time? Last time I’d coughed up blood right away. Guess I’d gotten a little stronger.

I gave a faint smile and ordered Silph to return.

“Th-this bastard… He’s using magic before he’s even enrolled?”

Apparently even the tutorial let you use basic magic. I wiped the flowing blood without stopping and grinned.

“Stop talking shit and get lost. The tutorial’s over.”

The moment I turned my back after saying that, a surprised gasp came from Eve, and a burning heat surged up my spine.

Huh…?

It’s hot……

…Wait?

The pain I felt now was like being burned alive. It was an agony I had never experienced even in my previous world. I clenched my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠teeth and let out a groan I couldn’t hold back. Then came a loud bang, and an unbearable pain engulfed my back. My vision shot upward before slamming back down to the ground in an instant.

BAM!

I was pathetically launched into the air by the impact and crashed back down. Grimacing in pain, I looked forward. Preston had drawn a magic circle for a fire spell and was pointing his hand at me.

Ah, right. That guy was still there. I thought Silph had swept them all away.

Even though I was burning through my life force to use power, I never expected to get hit during the tutorial. A little flustered, I reached out toward Preston. At this point, even if it exhausted my body, I had to take him down.

That was when a figure naturally stepped in front of me.

“Ah~ I was just a little curious, but I guess I went too far. Sorry~ Cain.”

“……It’s very saintess-like of you to apologize after nearly killing someone.”

I let out a small chuckle as I took the hand Eve offered. The holy power that flooded into my body instantly began healing the damaged parts.

Even this kind of buff gets nullified? What a worthless body!

I cursed inwardly while touching my back to check if the burn had disappeared. Eve looked at me with a slightly guilty expression and spoke.

“Shall we stop playing around here?”

Her words meant she was asking if she could finish ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off Preston herself. But since it had come to this, I wanted to clear the tutorial with my own strength.

“Your power really is incredible. But your real intention is just to test my strength, isn’t it?”

“Eep……”

Her shoulders flinched as I hit the nail on the head. But soon her cheeks and ears turned red with embarrassment, and she broke into a wide grin.

“Yeah! You looked fun! Cain, you really are interesting!”

“Haha……”

She wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore.

I steadied my stance again and ordered Silph to attack. Thanks to the saintess’s blessing, the drain on my life force had decreased dramatically, and the power of the wind Silph wielded had clearly grown stronger. I decided to start by tearing Preston’s clothes little by little.

“Y-you shameless bastard! If you hit me with my own magic one more time…!”

Realizing the situation had turned against him, Preston hurriedly drew another magic circle and summoned a fireball. If I got hit by that thing again, even if the saintess kept me from dying, it would be utterly humiliating. But who did he think I was? I might not have any real abilities, but I was a spirit contractor.

I shouted confidently at Silph.

“Silph! Use the wind to send his fireball right back at him!”

-Cain. Stop whispering. Speak a little louder. I can’t hear you well.

Preston watched in shock as the fireball he had launched with such confidence reversed course and flew back toward him. He swallowed hard without realizing it.

********