MTLNOVEL chapter 106 - Do You Like Men?
The next morning, Vinny, who rarely woke up early, got dressed and went downstairs to find a certain silver-haired elf already dressed, sitting upright on the sofa with her legs together and hands resting on her knees, waiting for him.
“How long have you been sitting here? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I… I was afraid of disturbing your sleep,” Shikodael lowered her head, her hands fidgeting.
“So, you just waited until now?” Vinny was speechless. “Have you had breakfast?”
“No, I was afraid you wouldn’t find me when you woke up, so I…”
“You’re really something,” Vinny gave her a disdainful look.
“If I couldn’t find you, wouldn’t I think you went to eat breakfast because you were hungry?”
“Wuwu…” Being called dumb again, Shikodael lowered her head even further, not daring to speak.
“Let’s go, we’ll grab something to eat first, then head to the student council.”
“O-okay,” Shikodael responded like a puppet, doing whatever Vinny said.
Vinny felt a bit troubled. This girl was a princess of a fallen kingdom, carrying the hope of the moon elves’ resurgence. But with her timid nature, how could she ever reclaim her homeland?
Without the help and support of the strong female lead, Isatia Lanteville, reclaiming their homeland would be nothing but a pipe dream.
But then again, she was the chosen heroine favored by fate. Despite her current low point, her potential was there, and she would surely encounter her own opportunities and benefactors in the future.
As for himself, worrying about the heroine’s fate as a mere cannon fodder character was quite laughable. Once she latched onto Isatia Lanteville’s coattails, someone would naturally help her reclaim her kingdom.
Vinny was a notorious playboy from the capital, and Shikodael was a moon elf princess. Neither of them had ever learned to cook, or rather, in Carillian Academy, students who could cook were few and far between.
The two left the villa and went to a breakfast shop. After having some bread and a glass of milk, Vinny realized a serious problem, he had no idea where the student council was.
“Damn, Shikodael, do you know where the Carillian Academy student council is?” Vinny was at a loss. The island was so big, and without directions, how was he supposed to find the student council?
“What does the student council do? Is it a place to report things?” Shikodael blinked her large eyes, her frost-like eyelashes fluttering, her expression pure and innocent.
Well, he was wrong to expect Shikodael, a moon elf princess raised in a greenhouse, to know. She was even more clueless about the world than he was. After all that, she still didn’t know what the student council was.
Vinny scratched the back of his head. He needed to ask someone, but it wasn’t even the official start of the semester yet. Most of the people on campus were freshmen. Would they know where the student council was?
“Are you two looking for the student council?” Just as Vinny was worrying, a cold, mechanical voice came from behind them.
“Ah, yes, do you know where the student council is?” Vinny turned around and saw a short-haired girl with glasses, her expression emotionless.
“What do you need the student council for?” The girl didn’t answer immediately but instead asked another question.
“Well, we’re this year’s freshmen. My roommate was bullied by a group of other freshmen last night, which has caused him a lot of distress and trauma. So, we want to report them.” Vinny pointed to Shikodael, who was standing timidly beside him.
“Look, my roommate used to be a very cheerful person, but now he’s too scared to even speak. Can you imagine the psychological trauma he’s suffered?” Vinny spoke with a serious and pained expression.
“Huh?” Shikodael tilted her head in confusion.
Was she ever that cheerful?
“Is that true, miss elf?”
“Ah, yes, it is.” After seeing Vinny’s frantic eye signals, Shikodael quickly nodded in agreement.
“She’s not calling you miss,” Vinny glanced at Shikodael, reminding her subtly.
“Ah, oh! Um, actually, I’m a boy,” Shikodael remembered her persona and quickly corrected herself.
“? You’re a boy?” The short-haired girl’s frown deepened as she scrutinized the silver-haired elf who didn’t look anything like a boy.
“He’s an elf, and elves have some physiological differences from humans,” Vinny quickly explained.
After noticing Shikodael’s flat chest and barely visible Adam’s apple, the short-haired girl reluctantly accepted the explanation.
True, there were some male characteristics, but her appearance was far too delicate and feminine. If she was an elf, maybe it made sense.
The short-haired girl didn’t know much about elves. There were few elves in the academy, and their culture was quite insular. Most elves didn’t interact deeply with humans.
“You said your roommate was bullied? Were there any witnesses, or did he sustain any injuries?”
“No injuries, but they verbally and racially insulted him and threatened him. There were a few witnesses, but I don’t think we need them to come forward.” With that, Vinny took out a recording stone from his pocket.
“I recorded the entire incident when they were bullying my roommate. This should be enough evidence, so we don’t need witnesses.”
“Racial insults? What did they say?” The short-haired girl frowned.
“As you can see, my roommate is a moon elf, and the ones who insulted him were a group of tribesmen. So, you get it, right?”
“I see.” The short-haired girl understood. The news of the moon elves’ land being invaded and destroyed by tribesmen had already spread across the continent.
“Follow me. This kind of matter is handled by the disciplinary committee, but the disciplinary committee is under the student council.” The short-haired girl led the way.
“Oh, so you’re from the student council?” Vinny realized that at this time, the only upperclassmen on campus would be student council members.
“Yes.” The short-haired girl was terse, speaking in a businesslike manner.
Vinny followed her, with Shikodael cautiously trailing behind him. She was like a little rabbit now, too scared to interact with anyone but Vinny.
The short-haired girl led them with ease. The three walked in silence, with only Shikodael growing increasingly nervous.
After about ten minutes, they arrived at a three-story tower with the words “Disciplinary Committee” engraved on it.
Inside the courtyard, there were noticeably more people. Vinny could feel Shikodael growing more timid, practically clinging to him, almost skin to skin.
“Over there, you can report the incident to the disciplinary committee at the front desk, and they’ll handle it,” the short-haired girl pointed to the reception area in the disciplinary committee hall.
“Thank you,” Vinny said.
“Mm.” The short-haired girl left, seemingly busy with other matters.
Since it wasn’t the official start of the semester yet, there were only a few people at the disciplinary committee’s front desk. Vinny explained the situation to the disciplinary committee member on duty.
“Another incident involving tribal students?” The disciplinary committee member sighed, not at all surprised. “Alright, I understand. Leave the recording stone here, and you can go.”
“Excuse me, sir, this incident has caused severe psychological trauma to my roommate. How will the academy handle those involved?” Vinny asked.
“They’ll receive a warning and be placed under close observation. If they cause trouble again, they’ll either be confined or expelled,” the committee member replied. It seemed this wasn’t the first incident involving tribal students they’d dealt with recently.
“But what if they retaliate in secret?” Vinny frowned.
Just as the committee member was about to respond, Vinny heard a familiar voice.
“Vinny?”
“Huh?” Vinny turned around and met a pair of sapphire-blue eyes.
“Princess Mirexia?” Vinny was surprised to see the tall girl with flowing golden twin tails behind him, but then again, Mirexia was the student council president, so her presence here wasn’t entirely unexpected.
“Why are you here?” Mirexia’s cool eyes held a hint of confusion.
“Are you asking why I’m at Carillian Academy?” Vinny smiled. “After all, you told me to wait for you here. It would be rude of me not to show up, right?”
At this, Mirexia’s eyes flickered slightly.
Virtue +50.
Current Virtue: 1884.
“You ranked twenty-third, congratulations,” Mirexia said calmly.
“So, you already knew.”
“I personally reviewed the admission list,” Mirexia replied without emotion.
“Are you here to handle something?” Mirexia had already noticed the elf girl beside Vinny and shifted her gaze to her.
Feeling the gaze of the tall, aloof golden-haired girl, Shikodael felt as if she was being scrutinized and shrank back, taking small steps to hide behind Vinny.
“It’s like this, Princess—”
“This is Carillian Academy. You don’t need to call me Princess. Just use my name,” Mirexia corrected.
“Alright, then, President Mirexia, here’s what happened.” Vinny recounted the events of the previous night to Mirexia.
As she listened, Mirexia’s frown deepened.
“Those tribal freshmen treated other students like that?”
“Yes, if you don’t believe me, I recorded the entire incident last night. You can watch it—”
“No, I believe you, Vinny.” Mirexia spoke earnestly.
“…Thank you.” Hearing Mirexia’s immediate trust, Vinny was momentarily stunned, feeling a warmth in his heart.
Mirexia actually trusted him? Trusted him, a notorious scoundrel in the eyes of others?
Vinny suddenly remembered the time when two wrathful dragon knights had harassed him, and Mirexia had also chosen to believe him.
Perhaps Mirexia was truly the heroine who trusted Vinny the most in the original story.
“There were several witnesses last night who can attest to this. Here’s the recording stone. Also, another witness is someone you know, Miss Isatia Lanteville, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ who you spoke with at the banquet.” Vinny handed the recording stone to Mirexia.
Handling this matter directly with the student council president would be far more effective than going through the regular disciplinary committee.
“Mm.” Mirexia nodded, then looked at Vinny and Shikodael. “Is it alright to play the recording here?”
“That depends on the person involved.” Vinny glanced at Shikodael. He had no objections, but he needed to check if Shikodael was okay with it.
“It’s… it’s fine.” Seeing both of them looking at her, Shikodael shook her head.
After all, there weren’t many people around.
Mirexia nodded and activated the recording stone.
The events of the previous night’s dinner unfolded before Mirexia’s eyes.
As she watched Vinny’s interaction with the tribal youths, a strange glint flashed in Mirexia’s eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
Virtue +60.
Current Virtue: 1944.
“I understand the situation.” Mirexia turned off the recording stone and nodded.
“We’re just worried that those shepherds, uh, I mean, those dear tribal classmates, might retaliate in secret,” Vinny caught himself just in time, realizing it wouldn’t be appropriate to use such terms in front of Mirexia.
“Leave this to me.” Mirexia stored the recording stone. “I’ll ensure those involved are properly punished and that they won’t dare to trouble this student afterward.”
“Don’t worry, student. You don’t need to live in fear. They won’t dare to do anything to you.” Mirexia offered a rare, gentle smile to Shikodael.
“Th-thank you, President.” Shikodael shrank back slightly and nodded.
“You handled this calmly and correctly, Vinny.” Mirexia’s tone carried a hint of praise, which was rare for her.
“It’s nothing. “He’s” my roommate, after all. I couldn’t just stand by.”
“…Roommate?” Mirexia’s gaze turned slightly odd.
Under Mirexia’s stare, Shikodael couldn’t help but lower her head.
“Ah, President Mirexia, you know, elves and humans have some physiological differences,” Vinny once again covered for Shikodael.
Mirexia hesitated for a moment before nodding.
After all, her knowledge of elves was limited, and the elf girl before her had just been racially and verbally insulted by tribal youths. Asking her about this now would be inappropriate.
Plus, she had noticed Shikodael’s Adam’s apple.
However…
Mirexia recalled the events she had just seen in the recording stone and turned her gaze back to Vinny, looking at him with a somewhat hesitant expression.
“President Mirexia, do you have something to say to me?” Vinny asked, unsure what Mirexia was struggling to say.
“Vinny, do you… like men?” Mirexia hesitated for a moment, carefully choosing her words, her brows slightly furrowed.