Reincarnated as the Final Villain’s Vessel

After Emeris ordered everything her heart desired on my tab, we had dinner quietly... sort of.

And of course, it ended up with me paying. Well, it wasn’t really expensive. It barely reached three thousand points... I mean, it was just ordinary food, nothing magical or anything like that.

We left the restaurant and walked together, mingling with the other students and the sounds of conversations around us.

"That was a great dinner," Emeris said while clasping her hands behind her back as she walked at an unhurried pace.

"Anyway, where do you live?"

I put my hands in my pockets. "A building at the edge of the Axis."

"Hmm... That means you’ll be nearby in the coming days."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

Soon after, we left that street while the noise around us faded and fewer people remained.

Emeris took out her phone and glanced at it before muttering, "Wow... that’s a lot."

Then she turned it off and put it back in her pocket while looking at me.

"Anyway, it was fun spending time with you, but I have to go now."

I smiled.

"You say that as if I was the one who asked you to come with me."

She replied with a smile.

"Come on, when will you ever get the chance to have dinner with a beautiful girl like me?"

I laughed at that. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I get a lot of chances like that."

"Oh.,," She made a surprised sound before placing her hand under her chin in deep thought.

"Then I’ll have to work on that..."

I raised an eyebrow at her words, only for her to smile and wave goodbye. "Anyway, goodbye and good night."

She walked toward the students’ dormitory while looking back at me with a playful expression decorating her beautiful face.

"And don’t be shy about looking for me if you need someone to talk to... but it doesn’t really matter if you don’t."

"I’ll come to you myself."

With that, she walked away, while I stayed there for a while staring at that soul and feeling the night breeze strike my face.

"Emeris..."

This meeting was leaving a strange feeling inside me.

...

In the end, I wandered a little before returning to Alicia’s place.

I sat at the edge of the dining table while she sat on the other end.

The soft sound of the spoon tapping the plate echoed as she brought a bite of cake to her mouth.

I looked at that and asked, "So, what’s with that girl Emeris?"

She stared at me with her crimson eyes as she returned the spoon to the plate.

"Nothing."

With that short answer, she took another bite at a leisurely pace, while I frowned.

"Really, how can jumping in rank that quickly be nothing?"

Alicia blinked at me calmly. "Don’t worry, she’s not one of them. I already checked."

Well, as I expected... but does that mean Alicia is right?... That was another matter.

I leaned back in my chair and couldn’t hide the dissatisfaction in my voice.

"Her growth speed looks insane, just like you."

The moment I said that, Alicia stopped eating and looked at me with eyes I didn’t understand. "Your growth speed is excellent too."

"And I have something for you."

With those words, a small ring appeared on the surface of the table in front of me.

The moment I saw it, I knew it was a storage ring, so I reached out and took it. Then, with some essence, I activated it and sensed what was inside.

I frowned just from seeing it. "This is a lot..."

It was a lot of stones... high-level Essence Stones.

I didn’t know the exact number, but there were many of them, at least in the thousands... but not intermediate stones, high-level ones.

In short, it was a huge fortune.

My gaze moved to Alicia, who continued eating her dessert after dinner... cake.

"Are these the compensations you were talking about?"

She shook her head calmly. "No, Asterval is the one who will reward you for that."

"But they’ll use the occasion and make it political... so I think they’ll announce it at the next event in a few months."

Alicia took the last spoonful from the plate and enjoyed it for a while before continuing.

"I think they’ll give you something better than a handful of Essence Stones."

She said that as if it were just a pile of worthless rocks.

I rolled the ring between my fingers as I asked,

"So where did this come from?"

She pushed the plate away from her. "From me."

I couldn’t help being surprised. "Why are you giving me this?"

She answered calmly and indifferently. "It’ll be enough for you to reach Rank 4 in a short time."

I raised an eyebrow. "I know. I’m asking why you’re giving me this."

She blinked at me. "Because it’ll help you."

I looked at the small ring... Well, this feels suspicious, or maybe it’s just me who doesn’t feel at ease with it and stays suspicious all the time.

"If you don’t want it, give it back to me."

I shook my head. "You’re not going to make me work day and night to pay this back or anything like that?"

She raised an eyebrow. "We both know I don’t need to do that."

Well... she’s right.

After a few moments of thought, I put it in my pocket, while she showed a satisfied expression on her face.

At that moment, I couldn’t help thanking her.

"Thank you."

...

In the middle of the night, inside a certain room in the students’ dormitory.

Emeris sat at her desk, staring at the electronic tablet in front of her, which displayed summaries of the lessons she had to memorize.

She sighed as she quickly ran her finger through the file to see that it consisted of hundreds of pages.

"Damn... why is there a summary this long."

She leaned back against the chair.

"Haaa... I want to die."

’Maybe I’ll just put this off until tomorrow... Yeah, that’s a great idea.’

Even so, she turned off the electronic tablet and stood up from the chair. At the same time, memories of what had happened a few hours ago returned to her mind.

She couldn’t help smiling as she headed to bed.

Normally, she wouldn’t do something like this to escape studying or in any other situation... Even if that person was extremely handsome, that’s not a reason to do it.

But today, the moment she saw him, she wanted to try something new... and she was the kind of person who did what she wanted without hesitation.

Maybe her behavior was driven by familiarity or even curiosity, but she didn’t care... because it was fun.

Even though Caius Astroweild wasn’t fully friendly, that short time had been good.

Emeris threw herself onto the bed, her body bouncing slightly from the impact.

After a few moments, she adjusted herself and pulled the blanket over her while her head sank into the soft pillow.

’I really look forward to tomorrow.’

With that smile on her face, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

So, with her mind slipping away from reality, she began to dream again, those same dreams that had been visiting her recently.

Distorted and blurry, she couldn’t understand them, and only broken fragments remained when she woke up.

But more importantly, those dreams weren’t about her.

They were about someone else... another girl thrown into suffering.