The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

In stark contrast to the conflicts they faced that night, the next day was remarkably peaceful. 

The rest of the students seemed to mind their own business, Rufus was locked up in a storage container somewhere, and Prince Craig didn't come to look for them either. It couldn't get any better, could it?

Although the peace was slightly broken by Vivian's groans about herself being bored. She had been alright for a day, but expecting the hyperactive little girl to just remain on the sofa for the entire trip was obviously too tall an order.

Of course, Evelyn had stored plenty of small games in her inventory. She knew it was going to be a long trip without much to do, after all. But she decided that she might as well use this as an excuse to visit Eula first.

It was more productive to establish a connection with a powerful senior who had plentiful connections than it was to sit here and play games. 

Besides, Evelyn believed in striking the iron while it was hot. Eula should still have some impression of her, but if she waited too long, approaching her would appear more and more deliberate.

The worst thing was that the girl seemed to be under some sort of false impression, and Evelyn felt that if she went and said 'I just wanted to see you' then it would just complicate things further.

'She probably thinks I'm a scared little girl who got attached to her because she 'rescued' me. Which I will definitely have to fix later.'

Although Eula had definitely helped her out. Rufus was truly an idiot for trying to lie in front of her when she had just exposed the flaws in Cecilia's words moments before. Even Prince Craig couldn't side with him after that. 

Even if Eula hadn't stepped up to defend her from Craig later, she would still have been grateful just for that. And since she did go one step further, Evelyn felt it was too much of a pity to not befriend her.

Although getting her enhancement would be great as well, Evelyn did not have high expectations after not getting even Vivian and Amara's enhancements after so long.

Since she was leaving, Evelyn couldn't very well leave Bree alone after the scare last night. And once Ruru saw her master nestle the puppy in her arms, how could she be willing to stay behind? 

The little fox swiftly jumped onto her master's left shoulder, her new favorite spot. It wasn't as fluffy as the previous nest, but it allowed easy access to master's nape, which elicited very funny reactions when licked.

When she had been a little smaller, Ruru often liked to climb right on top of her head and treat her hair like her own personal nest. However, now she was a little bigger, and her head was no longer big enough to remain a comfortable resting spot.

Evelyn worried what she would do once Ruru grew even bigger. Perhaps it was time to start training her to not be so clingy all the time.

Well, she was still small. Previously, she was so tiny that she could comfortably fit inside an adult's palm. Now, if she lay flat on a regular sized palm, all of her limbs would dangle out.

Despite being disobedient in small matters like this, Ruru actually had a very deep tacit understanding with her. 

Unlike a normal 'pet' who would have instantly growled at or jumped anyone their master treated violently, Ruru had understood her thoughts at that crucial moment and remained hidden, ready to use the 'Lotus Throne's Nirvana' whenever Evelyn needed. 

Thankfully, she had refrained in the end, because that skill had the potential to become a double-edged sword. Especially if the opponent's stats were unknown. 

The higher the difference between the combined soul power of the master beast duo and that of their opponent, the greater the backlash Ruru will have to suffer.

Of course, both herself and little Ruru had a ridiculously high amount of soul power, which was the foundation of her confidence even while facing an opponent many levels higher than herself.

"I'll come too!"

"Me too, me too!"

The pink haired girl could only nod helplessly, but as Vivian tried to glomp onto her legs, she was 'ruthlessly' denied and pushed away.

"I think I'm carrying enough passengers already, Vivi. Have some mercy, please?"

"Awww… That's not fair! Why am I always the one left out?!"

Cecilia chuckled as she poked the little redhead's cheek, making her growl threateningly. 

"Because the puppy and fox are cute and obedient, but little hamster is all 'I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll bite your face off!'—yikes! Almost got me. See, that's what I was saying!"

Evelyn rolled her eyes and ignored the two of them as Vivian tried to jump around and bite into Cecilia arms again. 

Since everyone else was coming with her, Evelyn couldn't leave just Amara behind all alone either. Thankfully, they didn't have any luggage to protect, as everything was already safely stored in her inventory. 

Seeing Evelyn nod, Amara shrugged and got off the sofa. Evelyn was glad to see her not look as lethargic as she had been since last night. The older redhead pulled Vivian away from Cecilia by her ears, ignoring her indignant screeching as the civilian students watched them in terror.

Cecilia scratched her head. "Ugh, looks like our impression among the juniors keeps getting worse and worse."

Evelyn was of course aware of it as well, but she didn't think it mattered anyway. This was a world where strength mattered more than anything else. Riches and status came second. And reputation was a distant third, if that.

"Leave them be, as long as they don't bother us."

Compartment twelve was surprisingly sparse, with only a few students on each table. And they soon found out why.

The next 'room' was jam-packed with students, each table surrounded by over twenty of them as they played all kinds of games. Clearly, the students had made this compartment into some sort of game room.

The green-haired girl was obviously far more diligent than the other three prefects Evelyn had met. Despite being stationed in compartment ten, she was standing in a corner on compartment eleven, since most of the students from the nearby compartments had ended up gathering here to play games.

Eula blinked in surprise as she saw the colorful group of girls approaching her. "It's you… I didn't think you would come to see me so soon."

Evelyn smiled, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. "My friend was getting a little restless just sitting in her place, so we decided to take a walk."

The green-haired girl's smile was playful, clearly not believing her excuse. "You could have gone the other way too, you know? It's okay to admit you came to meet me."

Evelyn scoffed. "The other way is contaminated by a toad. I'd rather stay away."

"Ah. Makes sense… I guess.".

Despite her surface attitude, Eula was actually quite welcoming and generous, and even shared some delicacies she had brought with her from her home. Of course, seeing how the place was already so crowded, they had to move to Eula's compartment before they could even talk.

Vivian blinked curiously as she chewed on the blueish purple 'cookies' that Eula had shared with them. "These taste quite similar to that parfait I had earlier, I mean, in terms of flavor… what was it called again?"

"Ah, you must mean the Karpesian Parfait. Of course it tastes similar, since it contains the same fish scales as these cookies." 

The green-haired girl puffed out her chest, her tone filled with pride. "They come from a school of fish found in the deep waters of the great ocean, and we're the only ones who had managed to commercially hunt them for years. If you've ever eaten anything containing Karpesian scales, it was almost certainly supplied by the Aquans."

Evelyn couldn't help but smile. Compared to the way Rufus showed his 'pride', which was by demeaning others, she much preferred Eula's method.

Looking at the pink haired girl smile while looking at her, Eula smirked. 'Hmph. Who're you fooling? I knew she had a crush on me. Ahh, but I can't blame the poor girl. She's so young, and prone to puppy love. And I ended up rescuing her too. Too bad, her love can never be fulfilled. How sad, ahhh, she's so pitiful.'