How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game-Chapter 345: Party 3

"…Senior Riley?"

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Emilia—stood in front of me, her blue eyes wide with shock.

Her stance was unsteady, as if she had just been jolted out of deep thought.

I kept my hand on her waist for a moment longer, making sure she had regained her balance before letting go.

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I had expected to meet her at some point today, but this fast? That was unexpected.

Is the goddess interfering in some way?

It wouldn’t be the first time.

Not that I particularly minded.

"Sorry about that," I said, steadying her before taking a step back.

Yet, even after regaining her footing, Enna kept staring at me as if she was still processing the situation.

She had yet to say anything, her expression flickering between recognition and uncertainty.

Before I could say anything else, another voice broke the silence.

"Enna, are you alright?"

Vanessa.

She approached quickly, concern evident in her sharp gaze as she reached Enna’s side.

"I’m alright, Vanessa…" Enna finally spoke, brushing off her skirt before turning back to me. "Ah, Senior, I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t looking where I was going."

"It’s fine," I replied easily. "I was the one who bumped into you, anyway."

I shifted my gaze between them, noting the pairing.

’Vanessa and Emilia, together, huh?’

I can’t say I wasn’t expecting them to be acquainted.

After all, Vanessa was among the people Emilia had trusted enough to reveal her true identity to—one of the few she planned to rely on to root out the evil lurking within the academy.

But something was off.

At this point in the storyline, shouldn’t Lucas or at least Janica be with her?

Had they not formed a bond yet?

No—that couldn’t be it.

Lucas is carrying the holy sword. That alone should’ve caught her attention.

The fact that she was here with Vanessa alone made me question whether they had actually developed any sort of connection yet. If not, that would be… problematic.

Although the goddess had already unlocked the full potential of the holy sword for Lucas, he still required the saintess’s blessing to wield its true power properly.

Lucas might possess an innate divine nature—his soul marked by a trace of the celestial—but at his core, he was still a mortal human.

And mortals, no matter how gifted, had limits.

Without the saintess’s blessing, attempting to fully utilize the holy sword’s abilities would be akin to handing a level-one novice a god-tier weapon meant for a battle-hardened champion.

His body, untempered by the necessary divine protection, might shatter under the sheer weight of its power—or worse, he could simply explode from the overload.

Lost in thought, I barely registered Enna shifting in place before she spoke, her tone carrying an almost musical warmth.

"It’s been a while since we last saw each other, senior. Hehe… I’m glad you’re back safely."

Her smile was small but sincere, and there was something about the way her blue eyes shimmered under the soft hallway light that made her gratitude feel even more genuine.

I blinked, momentarily pulled from my thoughts. "Ah… yes. Well, I was only suspended for a few weeks, so nothing too drastic happened."

It was an understatement, considering all the chaos that had unfolded both within and outside the academy during my absence. But there was no need to burden Enna with that.

"I see… Mm-hm, that makes sense," Enna nodded, though there was a hint of hesitation in her voice. "I was actually worried that you had gotten yourself into even bigger trouble after… well, after the incident you caused that day. You completely disappeared from the academy without a trace, so I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to you."

I raised an eyebrow. "My disappearance should’ve been kept a secret. Did you investigate me?"

"Ah—n-no! Not at all!" Enna stammered, her blue eyes widening as she frantically waved her hands. "It’s just that—uh—I mean, you know Anna and Amon, right? My personal guards? They can be a little… over-the-top when it comes to worrying about me."

I crossed my arms, silently urging her to continue.

"So… when they found out I was worried about you, they just—um—did their own thing! Yeah! And then one thing led to another, and I kind of… ended up finding out that you had completely disappeared from the academy," she admitted, shrinking slightly under my gaze. "B-but! I definitely did not order Anna and Amon to privately investigate you or anything like that!"

The way she hurried through her explanation only made her sound guiltier.

If anything, it had the exact opposite effect of what she was hoping for. I let out a quiet sigh, deciding to let it slide—for now.

Vanessa, who had been standing beside her this whole time, simply let out a small groan and placed a hand over her forehead, clearly exasperated.

’I’m glad, at least, that she’s still the same old Emilia I knew from the game… someone who can’t lie under pressure.’

Despite the heavy responsibilities placed on her shoulders, Emilia was still the same bubbly and clumsy person at heart.

She could act like an ordinary student when necessary, but it was clear that most of the time, she wasn’t really acting—just being herself.

"I’m sorry about that, Senior. Enna here didn’t have any bad intentions when she did that," Vanessa suddenly spoke up, turning to face me with a calm but firm expression.

Before I could respond, Emilia immediately chimed in, her voice slightly frantic. "I-I told you, right? I didn’t exactly investigate—S-Senior—O-Ouch!"

She let out a small yelp as Vanessa pinched her cheeks, tugging them with an almost sisterly scolding.

"Enna, there’s a limit to one’s shamelessness, you know," Vanessa sighed, her emerald eyes gleaming from underneath the hood of her dark blue robe.

"I-I’m very shorry!!!" Emilia blurted out through squished cheeks, her blue eyes watering as she hastily apologized.

Seeing the genuine regret on the young saintess’s face, Vanessa relented and let go, shaking her head with an exasperated sigh.

For a moment, I just watched the two interact, amusement flickering in the back of my mind.

Emilia’s puffed-up cheeks, her teary expression, the way she pouted at Vanessa’s scolding…

A part of me wanted to squeeze the other side of her cheek just to see how much cuter she’d look.

But I held myself back.

Instead, I reached out and gave her a light pat on the head.

Her body stiffened slightly, and she blinked up at me in surprise, her wide blue eyes staring as if she couldn’t believe what just happened.

"It’s fine, Miss Vanessa. I trust that this junior of mine had no ill intentions whatsoever," I reassured.

"S-Senior…!"

Emilia looked like she was about to burst into tears again—though this time, they were tears of happiness.

Vanessa let out a soft chuckle at Emilia’s reaction. Seeing that I wasn’t upset, she finally smiled, her earlier exasperation melting into amusement.

"Seeing as you’re heading toward the center of the hall, are you on your way to train, Senior?" Vanessa asked, her emerald eyes studying me with mild curiosity.

"Something like that. Are you two heading out?"

"Ah, yes. Since us first-years have a lot of free time right now, Enna and I decided to hang out for a bit," she replied casually.

"I see…"

That’s a total lie.

This was Emilia we were talking about—there was no way the two of them were just hanging out.

Knowing her, they were most likely investigating the explosion I caused yesterday.

I exhaled quietly, my thoughts shifting toward what to do next.

I had planned to tell Emilia a bit of what the goddess had revealed to me and lend her a hand with her personal struggles, but I couldn’t take on the main role of helping her right now.

I had my hands full—clearing Alice of her curse, dealing with the White Queen, and making sure things didn’t spiral too far out of the game’s intended course.

Still… if Emilia hadn’t met Lucas yet, maybe I could nudge things along.

I glanced at her thoughtfully.

If I invited her to the training grounds, she would inevitably run into him there.

It wasn’t a bad idea.

Their meeting had already been delayed far longer than it should have been, and though I was wary of interfering too much, accelerating their inevitable encounter didn’t seem like such a bad move.

Besides, if I didn’t intervene here and there, the timeline might skew even further off track.

"Since you two have some free time why don’t you join me with training instead... I;m sure it;;l be beneficial for you juniors"

"Fufu~ as much as I would love to accept such an offer, unfortunately, we can’t afford to do so right now, Senior Riley," Vanessa said with a soft chuckle, her emerald eyes glinting with amusement. "Besides, Enna can’t exactly fight, considering she’s from the General Department. Training would just be a bit of a hassle for her… And also," she added with a knowing smile, "we’re actually planning to do something significant while we’re out. Right, Enna?"

Despite Vanessa’s words, Emilia—no, Enna—wasn’t listening. She simply stood there, her red eyes locked onto my chest with an almost dazed expression.

"So bright…" she mumbled absentmindedly.

Vanessa sighed. "Enna?"

No response.

"Enna!"

"A-Ah, yes?" Emilia jolted slightly, snapping out of her trance.

"We’re busy right now, right~?" Vanessa asked, stretching the last word in a playful yet insistent tone.

"Y-Yes! We’re… very busy right now!" Emilia stammered, her voice a little too forced. "T-That’s right! We still need to investigate the—"

Before she could blurt out something incriminating, Vanessa swiftly pinched the bridge of her nose, then clamped a hand over Emilia’s mouth.

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Emilia awkwardly nod along, clearly not fully understanding what was happening but going with the flow anyway.