After leaving the dungeon and temporarily parting ways with Allie, Greg had practically run all the way back, not even pausing when he heard girls complaining behind him.
Only three days remained until Wendy's execution. He had to use this time wisely and make all necessary arrangements.
The first step he needed to take was to find a way to contact Wendy.
This plan was highly difficult because Wendy was currently locked away in a dungeon cell within the Imperial Prison, heavily guarded and completely inaccessible to ordinary people.
While he could have Allie, full of martial vigor, attempt to infiltrate, Greg was genuinely worried she would turn a stealth mission into a scorched-earth operation, immediately putting the as-yet-unidentified enemies on high alert. That would be too great a loss.
So, Greg had already thought of a safer and more reliable method: contacting Wendy through Sarah, the Third Imperial Princess and one of the representatives from Trench Altar Magic Academy.
In her related storyline during Act Three of the original game, it was revealed that she didn't particularly like the Crown Prince either, making her a potential ally.
Furthermore, given her status, she could reasonably visit Wendy in the dungeon. That's why Greg chose to contact Wendy through her.
Of course, Greg wouldn't go directly to Sarah right now.
They weren't close, and a sudden approach might easily arouse her suspicion.
So he needed an intermediary to help him contact Sarah, and the ideal candidate for this important role was the Little Dragon Girl, Juno.
She and Sarah were friends, and Juno admired him, so she shouldn't refuse such a small favor.
“Now, I just hope she’s staying put in her dormitory and not running around like me.”
Upon arriving at the Magic Tower's girls' dormitory area, Greg quickly found the room with Juno’s name on it and raised his hand to knock on the door.
Creak—
The door opened quickly from the inside, but the process was very quiet, so the person who opened it was probably not Juno, but her roommate.
“Hello, may I ask—Holy crap!?”
Greg's words died in his throat, and he froze.
“What’s wrong, Senior Greg? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost when you see me?”
The black-haired girl who opened the door was indeed Melina.
When Greg had just scanned the nameplate on the door, he hadn't noticed that she was Juno's roommate, and he truly had been startled.
Though in her disguise, she looked like an ordinary, quiet girl, with smooth black hair falling over her shoulders, wearing a simple white shirt and a dark long skirt, appearing no different from other female students.
But Greg knew that even seeing a ghost would be much safer than seeing her.
To avoid revealing any unnecessary information, Greg quickly composed his expression:
“My apologies, Melina. I was just wondering if Juno was in the dormitory.”
Melina didn't answer immediately.
She first tilted her head slightly, gently tapping her chin with a finger, feigning contemplation. Yet, her black eyes remained fixed on Greg's face, as if appreciating an amusing performance.
After a few seconds, she slowly spoke.
“Senior Juno isn't in the dormitory right now. It seems she went to the training room to spar with Senior Vivian.”
Her tone was light and natural, carrying the clear crispness unique to a young girl, but Greg always felt that the faint, elusive smile at the corner of her lips hid something else when she spoke.
“Oh, I see. Thank you for letting me know. I'll be going now. I won't disturb your preparations for the final defense.”
After saying this, Greg immediately made to leave.
But Melina suddenly took a small step forward and reached out, grabbing his sleeve.
Melina looked up, gazing slightly upwards at Greg, her black eyes holding a perfectly measured earnestness:
“Senior Greg, there are actually some parts of the final defense topics that I don't quite understand, so could you please come in and teach me?”
She lowered her voice slightly, a hint of a coaxing softness making it hard to refuse.
Then she subtly rose onto her tiptoes, leaned close to Greg’s ear, and whispered in a volume only they could hear:
“There’s no one else in the dormitory besides me right now, so you don’t have to worry about being seen.”
Her breath brushed against Greg’s earlobe, carrying a faint floral scent that tickled his heart.
After speaking, Melina stepped back, tilting her head and looking at him with that impish grin, like a little fox that had successfully set a trap, waiting for its prey to walk into the cage.
If it had been any other boy, they probably would have dizzily followed her into the dormitory by now, but Greg knew that he absolutely couldn't let his 'little head' dictate his 'big head' right now.
Greg immediately reached out and pried away the hand that was gripping his sleeve, then took a step back, putting at least an arm's length of distance between them.
He straightened his back and spoke in a righteous tone:
“I believe you’ve misunderstood my character, Melina. Since I already have a girl I like, I must uphold my male virtue. This has nothing to do with whether others see me; it's a rule I've set for myself. Finally, thank you for the information, goodbye.”
After saying this, Greg immediately turned and left, his steps swift and without hesitation, as if some monstrous flood was chasing him.
Melina stood in the doorway, one hand still in the position it had been in when he pried it away, watching Greg’s retreating figure quickly disappear around the stairwell corner.
She slowly withdrew her hand, her fingertips gently caressing the fingers that had just gripped his sleeve. The smile at the corner of her lips deepened a few shades.
Just then, another roommate’s voice came from inside the dormitory: “Melina, who was just at our dorm? Was something wrong?”
Melina withdrew her gaze and replied calmly: “No, just a student who forgot her key and mistakenly knocked on the wrong door.”
“Oh, I see. That person must be quite absent-minded then.”
The other roommate asked no further questions.
Melina slowly closed the door. In the last sliver of space before it fully shut, her gaze remained fixed on the direction where Greg had disappeared.
“Interesting… We supposedly met for the first time at the preliminary defense’s opening ceremony, yet Greg Sass is clearly wary of me.”
Melina’s black eyes gleamed with intrigued light.
“But the warier he is, the more it proves he’s hiding some secret. I hope the process of digging it up doesn’t bore me too much.”
She softly hummed, then turned and walked back into the dormitory.
Rate on N.U.
