The next morning’s sunrise brought with it a wave of shock throughout all of Deya City, all because of the changes that had occurred within the Mist— especially with the two BOSSes that had already been discovered: the Thornflower Sprite and the Corrupt Tree Demon.
Some Adventurer teams even claimed to have found a third BOSS, though that still needed confirmation.
For a while, most of the Adventurers in Deya City flocked into the Mist, especially the Second Tier Adventurers, who relied on their higher rank and arrogantly thought they could roam the Mist as they pleased.
But up to now, not a single one of these Second Tier Adventurers had managed to defeat even a First Rank BOSS.
Every time they’d just finished clearing out the smaller monsters, the time for the BOSS battle would end.
Some of them even failed miserably out of sheer carelessness— after all, the monsters in the Mist were just too well-hidden and devious.
“Jie jie, it’s only going to get more devious in the future.”
At the entrance to the Academy, Truth looked at the display in front of her— [Mist Energy: 48 points]— and nodded in satisfaction.
She had to admit, the allure of BOSSes and treasure chests was indeed irresistible for Adventurers.
Right now, there was a group of Adventurers in the Mist who loved to wander around searching for treasure chests.
They’d discovered a pattern: the more chests they opened, the better the loot they got.
Even if the loot wasn’t always that great, they just couldn’t stop opening them.
At this rate, that bird-brain would be out of prison in just a few days— pretty quick, actually.
And Tia’s mission to transport the Dragon Egg had already been issued, so she’d probably act today.
“Truth!”
Suddenly, Suna’s voice came from behind, sounding a bit urgent.
Having rushed from home to the Academy, Suna blocked Truth’s path, drawing the attention of the other students. Two young Priests whispered:
“Look, Suna’s about to bully Truth again.”
“She’s so annoying, always picking on the Priests.”
“Let’s hurry and tell Dean Tia so she can come sort this out.” ……
Ignoring the gossip swirling around them, Suna placed both hands on Truth’s shoulders and spoke earnestly:
“I’m really sorry for leaving so suddenly last night, but I just couldn’t explain what was happening to me.”
“Something bad… Did your father have a difficult delivery?” Truth tilted her head.
“No… not that. It’s just that last night, I didn’t want you to check… that.” Suna was much more confident now, since compared to yesterday, she was now wearing safety shorts underneath.
She lifted her chin a little proudly, even telling Truth that she could check however she wanted now. Truth happily agreed:
“Alright, then let’s go behind the classroom building to check.”
“Mm, mm… huh?” Suna had only nodded a few times before she froze.
Wait, you’re really going to check? Shouldn’t you be saying something like, ‘I know you’ve already healed at home, there’s no need to check again’? Why are you actually going to check?
“I’m worried your family’s potion might not heal your injuries completely. Besides, I felt useless for not being able to help you last night, and you were so against it…”
Truth explained with an aggrieved look, which only made Suna feel guiltier. Really, Truth cared so much about her, yet she’d treated her like a thief to be guarded against.
No, she couldn’t let her good friend down again. After struggling in her mind for a few seconds, Suna finally replied, a little embarrassed:
“You… you want to check behind the classroom building, right? Th-that’s fine.”
Behind the classroom building was a vacant lot piled with construction materials; almost no one ever went there. It was perfect for doing things one didn’t want seen.
Two minutes later, Truth stood leisurely with her hands behind her back, leaning against the classroom wall.
In front of her stood Suna, her cheeks flushed, looking nervous and unable to meet Truth’s gaze.
“Go… go ahead and check.”
It’s fine, it’s just letting Truth touch her thigh. Besides, there were no students passing by here…
Looking at Suna in her black-and-white student skirt, Truth’s lips curled up in a playful smile.
“But your thighs are all covered. How am I supposed to check?”
“Eh? You mean t-t-take off…” Suna stammered, unable to say the final words, ‘take off my skirt.’
Even with safety shorts, taking off her skirt in front of someone else was still way too embarrassing!
“Take off? You mean your skirt? No need for that, just lift it up a little.” Truth helpfully reminded her.
“R-right, that’s true.”
Wuhu, she took the bait! The Bait Effect is working!
When you want someone to accept a bad condition, you can often propose an even worse one first, making the original seem not so bad in comparison. That’s the Bait Effect.
For Suna, lifting her skirt a little was obviously much better than taking it off entirely, so she’d be much more willing to accept it.
“It’s just checking your thigh, nothing to worry about…” Truth added.
Under Truth’s gaze, Suna pinched the hem of her skirt and slowly lifted it upward. Her trembling, pale thighs gradually came into view before Truth’s eyes— how wonderful.
What could be better than a girl willingly letting you look under her skirt? Of course, it’s when she shyly and proactively lifts it herself!
“Is… is this enough…” Suna still looked away, her face bright red. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being lured into doing something strange, but she had no proof.
“I still can’t see. A little higher.”
“Higher?!” ……
At the Academy entrance, Tia yawned as a few of her students dragged her out of the office, saying Suna was bullying Truth again.
Seriously, why was this rumor still going around?
“Dean, we just saw Suna take Truth behind the classroom building!”
The young Priests kept leading the way. Tia, dark circles under her eyes, followed behind, a bit speechless— after all, she’d only gotten back from the Mist very late last night.
She’d originally planned to sleep in until noon and then deal with the little errand Hermit had given her.
But by the looks of things, that wasn’t happening; all she could do was go check on Truth.
“Dean, look over there!”
Behind the classroom building, Tia squinted in the direction one of the young Priests was pointing.
“Huh?”
Not quite believing what she was seeing, Tia rubbed her eyes.
Once she confirmed the scene before her, her pupils shrank, and the young Priests beside her were equally stunned.
From their perspective, it looked like a domineering young lady was lifting her skirt, cornering the pitiful Truth against the wall and doing something completely incomprehensible.
The young Priests even imagined the words Suna must be saying to Truth:
“Look, just look!”
What was under the skirt? Because of their angle, Tia and the others couldn’t tell—was it panties, safety shorts, or… something else?
At the same time, Suna and Truth also noticed Tia and the others.
Truth still smiled and waved at them, while Suna only glanced at them out of the corner of her eye before turning instantly to stone.
What was going through Suna’s mind as she stood there petrified? No one at the scene could say— maybe she was desperately thinking of an explanation?
Even though she was wearing safety shorts, no matter what she said, the young Priests hiding behind Tia had already drawn their own conclusions:
“Pervert!”
“Deviant!”
“Exhibitionist!” ……