Chapter 13: So Embarrassing

“What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? I actually agreed to that junior’s weird request!”

Inside the headmaster’s office of the Clergy Academy, after Truth left, Tia buried her face in a book, cheeks burning red.

Her mind was filled with Truth’s innocent, angelic face… and those extremely indecent techniques…

“Why did I even agree?!”

At first, she thought the junior was just insecure about her own body, which led to the desire to touch Tia’s.

Tia didn’t resist much— back during her school days, it was common for young clerics in the dorms to poke and prod each other out of curiosity.

So Tia agreed. But the junior grabbed her with both hands— not just a gentle touch, but a full-on grope, even weighing them in her hands, and somehow she could hit the exact spots that made Tia’s body react weirdly.

Tia was so shocked her mind went completely blank and her whole body trembled!

She looked so small and harmless, but her technique was absurdly skilled.

She even tried to stick her head into Tia’s collar, saying things like, “If my brother were here, we’d just turn this into a full-on H-game.”

The moment Tia remembered how she had accidentally let out a soft moan in front of the junior, she whimpered in shame.

She felt tainted now. How was she supposed to face the soon-to-awaken Lord of the Mist like this? So humiliating…

Near the underground labyrinth of Deya, the area was packed with people.

The Adventurers’ Guild and the Enforcement Bureau hadn’t arrived yet to maintain order, so people were crowding around the entrance.

This made it impossible for Suna and her fellow students to even get close.

“So annoying, these people. They’re too scared to go into the dungeon, yet they still block the entrance in groups. When’s the Guild getting here?”

Suna stood on a rooftop, looking out, with Truth and the others behind her.

Reig and Anderson were guarding Truth, politely telling every team trying to approach that this cleric was already taken— stop trying to recruit her.

Were Clerics really this popular now? Truth felt a bit shy. Back in the day, clerics barely had any presence.

After all, it was just a game— PVP players could just respawn after dying.

But now that the game had become reality, everyone wanted a cleric on their team to boost survival odds. It made sense.

“Ah, didn’t expect to run into you here, my dear Lady Suna!”

A bright voice rang out behind Truth.

It was a tall, muscular guy wearing dark green light armor and carrying two short blades on his back.

Unlike the other teams, his squad actually had their own cleric.

“Oooh, this’ll be good, little cleric. That’s Mailun— he’s super cocky at the academy. So cocky he thinks only a rich girl like Suna is good enough for him. He even convinced himself Suna secretly has a crush on him. She basically never gives him the time of day.”

Anderson whispered to Truth. On the way to the dungeon, the two of them had made a deal: he wouldn’t ask about her black market jobs, and she wouldn’t ask who “Mole” was.

As for why they hijacked a carriage, he said he’d explain that later tonight or when there were fewer people around.

“Is that so?” Truth replied, and the next second, she saw Suna slap Mailun across the face:

“I told you not to call my name!”

“Wow.” Truth perked up. So this was Suna’s real personality?

The surrounding students weren’t surprised at all—they just settled in for the show. Mailun didn’t seem embarrassed in the slightest. Instead, he looked at Suna with dreamy eyes:

“Interesting… woman.”

Ugh. Gross! Truth was getting secondhand embarrassment. Was this guy always this cringe? No wonder Suna slapped him. Even Reig and Anderson behind her were trying not to laugh.

Ignoring Suna’s disgusted glare and the red handprint on his cheek, Mailun turned and shouted to the crowd:

“Did you see that? Only a woman like her is worthy to be my fiancée! And now, I will conquer this dungeon, and personally offer the final reward to Suna!”

Slap! Suna hit him again, but Mailun didn’t seem to care. He strutted over to Truth and the others:

“Huh? You’ve got a cleric with you? Miss Cleric, are you really teaming up with these two losers? One can’t even use magic, and the other’s a black market regular who almost got expelled from the academy.”

“Tsk tsk. And your wand’s pretty lousy too. How about this: join our team, and I’ll give you a better wand.”

Truth thought Reig and Anderson would blow up at the insult, maybe even throw hands.

But to her surprise, they didn’t seem to care at all. So she pointed at Suna and said:

“The wand was a gift from my team leader.”

“Uh… what?”

Suna gave it to her? Who the heck was this little cleric?

Mailun’s expression darkened.

He avoided Suna’s murderous glare and casually flipped his pale-gold hair as he strolled back to his own team:

“See you in the dungeon.”

He left with what he clearly thought was a suave exit, but the surrounding crowd responded with awkward cricket chirps:

“So embarrassing…”

“Every time he tries to chat with Suna, her affection level just drops again.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t snatch the treasure again on this adventure…”

At the same time, deep within the tangled sewers of Deya City—

Norton’s once-pristine butler uniform was now filthy from the muck and sewage.

He looked exhausted, having narrowly escaped capture after an intense effort.

Now, he was wanted all over the city.

“Damn it… I’ve endured humiliation for over a decade and got nothing in return!”

Seething with rage, Norton slammed his fist against the damp wall.

Over the years, he had poured everything into building his network— murder, kidnapping, corruption— until he finally secured a smuggling route into the Suho estate. But today, it all came crashing down.

Why the hell did those idiots go joyriding in the middle of the night?! Were they high or something?!

Now Norton’s home had been raided, and even the stash of gold coins hidden beneath the floorboards had been confiscated.

Fortunately, he still had funds in an account outside Deya City— enough to start over somewhere else.

His top priority now was to evade the dragnet, escape the locked-down city, and disappear into the Mist.

There, a few underground factions he knew operated in secrecy— he often went to them to buy petite girls as offerings to the Prophet Klar…

“Hopefully they still value my business enough to give me shelter.”

As the Suho estate’s chief steward, Norton had watched goods worth dozens or even hundreds of gold coins pass by him daily.

He signed off on every high-priced transaction, yet none of it belonged to him.

Over time, resentment brewed. Why could Suho earn gold with just a few words, while he— Norton— got nothing?

What made Suho better than him? If Suho could do it, so could he. Why should he be stuck as a lowly servant, constantly ordered around like a dog?

“And that self-important young lady— I’ve had enough of her attitude! Just wait, all of you noble scum, and everyone out there who wants revenge on me. One day, you’re all going to regret it!”

Norton kept moving through the sewer tunnels, looking for a safe exit.

Above him, members of the Adventurers’ Guild and Deya’s Enforcement Bureau were dispersing the crowd near the underground labyrinth— while plastering Norton’s wanted posters all over the city…