Siman hadn’t slept a wink last night.

She was too busy stewing in anger to fall asleep.

She thought about it for a long time, over and over, trying to understand why Hale had turned into this.

Being a womanizer was one thing. But now, he clearly knew he was being used by a female spy, and he still didn’t care.

He really didn’t take noble honor or the safety of the nation seriously at all.

As descendants of one of the Empire’s six generals, Faxius and her family carried the heavy duty of defending the Papal Dominion’s borders.

But that guy Hale—didn’t he even have that much sense of crisis?

Before, Siman had thought Hale was just too careless. That was why he acted like this.

But after hearing what he said to Yafman yesterday, she started to feel otherwise.

If that female spy hadn’t taught Hale to answer like that, then he’d done it knowingly.

And if the female spy had taught him to answer that way, then Hale should’ve understood that woman had ulterior motives.

He wouldn’t listen to her, his older cousin, yet he’d listen to an outsider.

So she stayed awake the whole night.

She was one of the top students, and she would never skip university. So before heading out this morning, she put on a little makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes.

“Are you alright, Miss Siman?”

A blond young noble beside her suddenly asked with concern.

His name was Lenny. Compared to Siman and Faxius, whose families stood behind a general and a duke, his background was a bit lacking.

His father was only an earl.

Still, that was enough to place him above most people in the classroom.

“I’m fine, Lenny.”

Siman answered flatly.

Because of everything Hale had done in the past, she truly didn’t like men who tried to fawn over her. She felt that most men who approached her had ulterior motives.

Simply put, she had a bit of a misandrist streak.

Then she glanced at Hale again, certain that when he had entered the classroom and met her eyes, he had been thinking about something.

And yet now, he walked right past her as if nothing had happened.

That guy Hale...

Ever since he grew up, he had never once shown her concern the way men like Lenny did.

If he were ever willing to care about her sincerely, then it wasn’t like she couldn’t indulge his fetish a little.

After all, he’d already gotten his way before when they were kids.

“Hey, Hale.”

Seeing the young man in his tailored little suit about to sit down, Siman called out to stop him.

“What is it?”

Hale glanced at Siman indifferently.

He thought, This woman isn’t about to keep going on about yesterday again, is she...

“About yesterday. Have you thought it through?”

Siman had originally wanted to start with something else, but the moment she spoke, her tone turned stern and admonishing, and that was what came out.

“I have.”

Hale’s reply was quick and perfunctory.

That only made Siman angrier. She was worried about him. She was worried something would happen to his family.

Yet this guy didn’t appreciate it at all.

“Fine, Hale. I won’t bring this matter up again—”

Before she could finish, Hale nodded again.

“Alright.”

That did it. Siman was about to explode.

Worrying about this cousin of hers was completely unnecessary.

Fine then. Whether he lived or died had nothing to do with her.

If Hale wanted to ruin himself, then let him.

But from Hale’s point of view, this kind of pointless worrying really ought to happen less.

Concern built entirely on suspicion and imagination, with no trust at all, didn’t feel like concern.

...

At Sanctum University, the first class every morning was usually etiquette. Students were given free desserts and delicate light refreshments.

The instructors were usually personnel managers from various departments of the Papal Dominion.

It was all meant to pave the way for these future elites, who would one day serve the Papal Dominion directly.

Pretty boring.

Hale didn’t like reading etiquette textbooks, but having something to eat was nice enough.

As he ate, he recalled the extravagant setting of Sanctum University.

In the game, Sanctum University was the earliest university in the entire Western Continent.

Before that, schools were usually just called academies. Sword academies, magic academies, steam academies, royal academies, theological academies, and the like.

The reason Sanctum University became the world’s first true university was because it had gathered teaching resources from across the entire Papal Dominion, and even much of the Western Continent.

It couldn’t be helped. The Papal Dominion was the core of the Western Continent. The Holy Church spread across all five western nations, controlled vast faith-based influence, and was the closest to the Eastern Continent.

It was the center of the world.

Back in the day, even the palace of the Demon God that once ruled the Western Continent had stood here.

Its economy, politics, magic, swordsmanship, fashion, and theology were all top-tier. It even possessed technology like the Sacred Rail, something that practically crushed the rest of the world.

Anyone with ability and ambition would come to the Papal Dominion looking for opportunity, let alone its capital, Saint Louis.

That place was absolute chaos.

Players often said that if you thought the game wasn’t as hard or grindy as people claimed, then hurry up and unlock Saint Louis. The sea of red markers across the map would keep you from sleeping from Monday to Monday.

Back then, Hale had grinded there for quite a while too. Even now, he couldn’t remember the full picture of every quest.

But one thing was certain. In Saint Louis, aside from Siman, his younger sister, and his eldest sister, there were also several very important heroines.

They made up well over half of the game’s major female characters.

“I still need to find a way to slip out of here first.”

Everyone in the Western Continent dreamed of coming to Saint Louis to build a career.

But Hale’s current thought was the exact opposite. He wanted to get out of Saint Louis, find some second-tier city with more beauties and decent infrastructure, and retire there in peace.

So Hale picked up the class schedule.

Calling Sanctum University’s schedule a class schedule was putting it lightly. It was more like an encyclopedia students were expected to keep themselves.

After flipping through it, he found the information on the Black Knights Order, where he was currently attached.

“If I take a nominal post outside as a Black Knights Order captain-in-training, I can still earn credits and GPA and graduate smoothly.”

That was the best solution he could think of for now.

“Once today’s classes are over, I’ll report to the order and see if there are any long-term external assignments.”

Hale started using a pen to map out his plans for the near future in a notebook. In his previous life, he’d been an excellent game guide content creator, so planning resources and time was second nature to him.

At the same time, he tried to recall the game’s plot.

It was best to write down everything he could remember, just in case he forgot something later, missed an important event, and got himself killed.

And Siman was seated to Hale’s right.

She had been staring at Hale so long that she was starting to zone out.

At first, she had only been looking at him out of anger. She wanted to give him a few more cold looks.

But then she realized Hale was acting very differently today. He was unusually serious.

Reviewing his lessons?

She didn’t think so.

Hale simply wasn’t the type to study hard.

But today, when this cousin of hers picked up a quill pen, the way he wrote was so focused, so intent...

It even looked a little attractive.

His looks really were the kind girls would like. Otherwise, before his reputation had gone bad, Hale wouldn’t have been able to strike up conversations with so many noble ladies.

But Siman had always thought she was long used to that annoying face of his.

So why now...

Was that slight ripple in her heart just surprise?

Heh...

Don’t let him fool you.

He was definitely preparing a defense for the Inquisition Bureau’s future investigation.

And today, he had entered the classroom right on the bell.

For all she knew, he might have met that female spy before coming here.

That guy Hale.

He must have gotten instructions from that female spy. That had to be why he was suddenly taking notes so seriously, getting ready to deal with the coming investigation.

Damn it.

Back then, she had urged him again and again to study properly, act like a normal noble, and serve the Papal Dominion in the future, but this cousin of hers had never listened.

The more she thought about it, the higher Siman’s blood pressure climbed.

All of a sudden, she felt like her place in his heart wasn’t even one-tenth of that female agent’s.