Chapter 266 (1): Teacher, You Smell Good!

Power and Faith Bodybuilding Center.

All followers of the Church of Sun were muscleheads; even a cute girl like Vera was no exception. Judging by the form she turned into after being cursed, it was obvious that she had the heart of a burly man.

Unlike the Church of Nature, which had been developing in Londan for years, and the Church of Moonlight, which had been expanding aggressively recently, the Church of Sun had never been allowed more power by the royal family. Its development was limited, and the gym was its largest establishment.

Head Coach Dick, a Gold-ranked mage, was the Church of Sun’s top dog in the Windsor district. Standing at two meters and two centimeters tall with a bald head, scarred face, broad shoulders, and powerful build, he was a wrestling fanatic whose pectoral muscles could tap dance.

Yes, when he flexed his pecs, the sheer force could make audible sounds by striking the air.

Wayne dubbed him Londan’s top muscleman, and out of respect, he never came to the gym, whether it was necessary or not. He had never even used his free membership card once.

Just in case!

This was Windsor after all, which didn’t follow the mainstream way of things. What if the muscleheads ambushed him and made him develop a bad habit?

The black sedan slowly came to a stop. As soon as Wayne stepped out, Dick came up to welcome him in all his bald glory.

“You’re late, Wayne.”

“Can’t help it. You know how women are. They always need more time before going out.” Wayne shrugged. It wasn’t his fault.

Dick glanced through the car window and only saw the birdcage in the passenger seat and the large suitcase in the back. There was not a single person in sight, let alone a woman.

“Valkyrie is a woman.”

Wayne blamed the knight's armor since she didn’t talk much and wouldn’t defend herself even when framed. Dick didn’t believe the excuse, but didn’t press. With a wave of his large hand, he ordered two subordinates to bring Valkyrie out.

“Leave her in the car. I’ll drive her there.” Wayne shook his head. “Didn’t Valkyrie tell you? I’m going with you.”

Dick frowned, quickly grasping Wayne’s intention. He warned, “The knight didn’t mention it. I hope you think it through. The church has sent people to the Ocean of Mist multiple times, never seeing any success. It’s dan—”

“Cut it,” Wayne interrupted, raising his hand. “I’m going precisely because it’s dangerous.”

“Kid, you don’t have to risk your life to pursue Vera, though I do admire the commitment.” Dick exposed Wayne bluntly, his expression turning cold after the praise. “Vera has been in a bad mood lately. She pretends to be happy like nothing happened, but I can tell that you’re the reason.”

“It won’t happen again.”

The scars on Dick’s face twitched as he stared at Wayne. After a long moment, he signaled everyone to get into another car with a wave.

Given how dangerous the mission was, Dick didn’t bring many people; he chose two well-built trainers, both bald. When the three of them stood together, even gangsters would think twice before speaking to them.

In Wayne’s car, he had moved the birdcage to the back seat, leaving the passenger seat for Vera. It wasn’t until the car started and headed straight for Route 114 that Vera showed a reaction.

“Wayne, you...” she said, tilting her head. “Maybe you should turn back. It’s too dangerous.”

Although the man was greedy and lecherous, using despicable tricks to deceive her good friends, he was genuinely likable sometimes. Guessing that Wayne was taking the risk for her sake, she couldn’t be happier. She fidgeted in the passenger seat, struggling to stop herself from giving herself away.

But she couldn’t do that. She had promised no more freebies, and a promise should be kept.

She looked forward to being wooed, but also worried about how her two friends had already made it to the home base. Looking out of the window with her head tilted, she decided to make Wayne withdraw from the mission.

There was no reason for him to take such a big risk.

“I’ve thought about it carefully, Wayne. There’s no future for us. I really like Veronica and Senior. The relationship between the four of us is too complicated, and I just want to be friends with you.”

She had made up her mind and was trying to drive him away by friend-zoning him. “Regardless of whether Veronica or Senior ends up with you, I’ll give the person my blessings.”

“You’re a good girl, Vera. Compared to you, Veronica and Kristen are much worse.”

Gripping the steering wheel, Wayne glanced at the blonde girl from the corner of his eye, smothering a smile. “Last night, Kristen warned me not to give you a chance, and this morning, Veronica did the same. They didn’t mention each other at all, only telling me to keep my distance from you. It seems like once you’re gone, they’ll accept each other’s existence.”

Did those wenches say that? Don’t they know who actually came first? Stealing a friend’s man and then teaming up to kick said friend out—bah, how shameless!

Vera was furious. She wanted to confront them at this instant. But turning around, she questioned her first reaction and huffed, “I don’t believe you. Veronica and Senior Kristen aren’t like that. You must be lying.”

Wayne’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? They’ve divided the man you fell for at first sight, and you’re defending them?”

Vera felt cheated. She turned to glare out of the window while grinding her teeth.

Although Wayne had most likely been stirring things up and reaping the benefits, the logic was sound. She had called dibs, and she was the biggest victim. She shouldn’t be defending Veronica and Kristen.

Feeling wronged, Vera realized that this mindset would lead to trouble and compel her to keep him around. She gritted her teeth and reached for a justification to kick him out.

“Where did you spend the night, Wayne?”

“At home. Where else?” Wayne thought for a moment. “I was in bed with Kristen last night and left the Lando Estate this morning. Don’t you know? Once it happens, it’ll happen countless times. It’s like a broken car with the brakes removed, leaving only the gas pedal and the transmission.”

They forgave you so quickly? That’s not what they said they would do!

Vera’s chest tightened with fury, imagining her beloved man being humiliated by her best friends while she could only stand outside the door in tears. Due to the lack of practical experience to back her theoretical knowledge up, her imagination failed to come up with that many variations. The mental image turned into a relay race.

As was common knowledge, there were three baton-passing methods in relay races: the upward grip, the downward grip, and the mixed grip.

Since the receiver wouldn’t be stationary when receiving the baton, the process would test their understanding of rules and their grasp of techniques, such as the passing zone and angle. And experience gained from long-term training would allow for the prediction of each other’s next move and the stable transfer of the baton.

Vera shook her head frantically, her blonde twin-tails swishing back and forth. No, she couldn’t think about this anymore!

She wanted to find a reason to kick Wayne out, but she had overestimated herself. The thought only gave her a reason to keep him around, for nothing if not to prove a point.

Vera wasn’t trying to prove how amazing she was, but to tell her friends that she would personally reclaim what she had lost.

She hated Wayne so much at that moment. Sullenly, she said, “You’re pleased with yourself, aren’t you, Wayne?”

“What do you mean?”

“You provoked me deliberately so that I’ll keep you around. You’re pleased that your plan works, aren’t you?”

“What plan? I’ve been telling the truth the whole time!”

Wayne gave her an innocent look as pure as Auston's.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

ε=(´ο`*)))

Vera sighed. Life was hard. She gave up. Wayne was both lovable and hateful, and it was inevitable that Veronica and Kristen would have fallen for him. In that case...

Her struggling was pointless anyway. Wayne was too good at deceiving girls. It was only a matter of time before she surrendered, and reciprocating now would at least make her happier.

If she could make her friends unhappy, it would be double her happiness—no, triple. It was perfect!

“What are you thinking about, Vera? You haven’t said anything for a while.”

“I’m thinking about how dangerous the Ocean of Mist is. If we can’t get out, we may die together.” Vera turned to Wayne. “That’s fine, though. Then you’ll belong only to me, and Veronica and Senior Kristen will have nothing.”

“Don’t say that. You’re being unkind.” Wayne smiled. “Think about it. Although they warned me not to give you a chance, they still let me come with you. Are you really going to abandon them when they care about you so much?”

Oh, you’re doing it again!

The term ‘gaslighting’ didn’t exist yet, but it didn’t stop Vera from seeing through Wayne’s shameless manipulation. He was using their friendship to nudge them into accepting reality. In fact, the bastard might be trying to put all three of them in one bed!

Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad. Veronica and Senior smell nice. If we all snuggle...

Damn it, why do I have such a good imagination?!

Vera shook her head to drive the intrusive thoughts from her head, her twintails swishing around. Seeing the way Wayne struggled to smother his smile, she pressed her fingers together like a sword and poked him in the face.

“Devil, take this!”

“Stop it. I’m driving!”