When the plot-skips players into the game world

When Mia gradually woke up, she heard whispering conversations from outside the bedroom.

"...How long did I sleep?"

Mia's voice was hoarse.

As she became fully awake, the memories of the Dreamland were quickly fading. She only vaguely remembered dreaming about her old school... she was back in the classroom, and Arsene had become her classmate.

Afterwards...

...what else came afterward?

It seemed she dreamt about Abigail. She was a transfer student, who had transferred from somewhere unknown, and then Arsene kept staring at her...

The rest became a blur.

Mia shook her head, feeling a severe headache. It was as if water sloshed around in her head.

She sat up from the bed, drinking some hot water placed at her bedside, feeling slightly better.

"...Where's Arsene? Is he outside?"

When she walked out the door, she saw several people in the living room tidying up something.

Before Aiwass was a rectangular box made of rainbow-colored ice. Beneath it was some ashes, and he was neatly placing chunks of fresh meat inside it, looking as though he was rolling steak bits in salt grains. Arsene stood beside him, watching the meat chunks, with an expression that seemed somewhat strained.

"Darling..."

Mia immediately became much gentler: "I have a bit of a headache."

She walked over to Arsene, reaching out for a hug. Arsene also reached back to embrace her, touching her forehead with his own, his voice low and gentle: "You've had a tough time, darling."

As he spoke, Arsene glanced at Aiwass: "This headache..."

"—It's normal."

Aiwass casually replied: "The consumption of mental energy is too high. After all, she's still a Mortal, and maintaining a coherent Dreamland is quite hard. For Mortals, dreams are actually mostly a few dream segments linked together. Only after becoming a Transcendent can one have relatively complete dreams."

"Then in this case..."

Before Arsene could finish asking, Aiwass extended his blood-stained finger, gesturing vaguely at Mia.

—Illumination·Serenity Blessing!

—Radiance!

With just a gesture, Aiwass placed the Radiant Spell, evolved from the simplest Blessing and Illumination Art, onto Mia.

In just an instant, Mia felt rejuvenated, and all the minor ailments on her body were healed.

"What an amazing Priest!"

Mia's eyes widened, her tone becoming more respectful, and even her posture became more dignified: "You didn't even have to touch me... Are you an Archbishop, Your Excellency?"

Upon hearing this, Arsene's expression became slightly nuanced.

Speaking of it... Mia still didn't know Aiwass's real identity.

But that's normal. He himself only found out after entering the dream. Considering she is just a Mortal, some secrets would be too heavy for her. So neither Aiwass nor Arsene elaborated on them.

"Yes."

Aiwass simply smiled, responding in a gentle tone: "I am indeed a bishop, just not the Archbishop of the Iris Flower."

"I knew it!"

Mia's spirits instantly lifted: "Someone with such powerful Healing Abilities as you... must surely be a distinguished Archbishop, Your Excellency!"

—After all, this is Theological Seminary.

Although the students here are generally quite open-minded, more or less, those who can study here have a sense of Dedication. They all potentially could become Priests in the future, so they mostly see themselves as "novice Priests."

For the Iris Flower, which has few Priests, even being just a formal Priest is considered quite remarkable. Its worth is equivalent to becoming a Legal Mage in Avalon... a ticket straight to upper society. Although being a regular Priest might not mean much, becoming a Priest already indicates the chance to become a bishop.

And for a bishop—even when the Duke falls ill or gets injured, they must invite a bishop to complete the healing!

And that is just "inviting."

Mia instantly held a few more degrees of reverence towards Aiwass.

It is precisely for this reason that she became more curious about what Aiwass was doing.

After asking, Aiwass cheerfully answered: "Processing... some materials."

"...Materials?"

Mia was slightly curious: "What kind of materials? Some sort of Phantom Demon's meat?"

She leaned closer, focusing on the meat in the box, analyzing seriously: "It looks like beef. The fat distribution is so even... it really is a good piece of meat."

"Ah, something like that. A very rare material."

As he spoke, Aiwass placed the lid on what looked like an "ice coffin."

He stroked the seams of the ice blocks with his hand, freezing them effortlessly into one entity that couldn't be easily pried apart by hand. He even partitioned the meat inside with a grid, roughly dividing it into two parts, with a ratio of about two to one. And in the slightly larger part, it was further divided into two to one.

"—If processed, they can be used to create rejuvenation ointment."

Aiwass spoke warmly: "As the name suggests, it is a salve that can bring rejuvenation. For example, if someone ages and starts to suffer from back pain... that's due to the aging of the body, and there's little meaning in treating it. But as long as you apply the ointment, that part of the tissue can become youthful again. Or, say, if there's a problem with your internal organs, you just need to apply this ointment to your body surface, and its healing Effect can permeate into the body."

"Is it really that effective!" Mia's eyes widened in amazement.

Unlike her best friend and roommate, Mia's character wasn't so outgoing—or rather, bold.

She was relatively more introverted. Apart from playing with Zula and Arsene together, she had never participated in any multi-player game.

This level of morality was considered pure love among the Iris Flower. Previously, the Iris Flower's news agency conducted a sampling survey, intercepting people at the gates of sixteen universities, asking each how many lovers they had simultaneously—the average number here was 4.6.

This is, after all, a country saturated with the Path of Love, so it's to be expected.

But the reason Mia could earn Arsene's affection was because she was quite obedient and also loved to compliment others.

No one dislikes praise from others.

Even if it is genuine criticism, as long as there is one percent falsity or error in it, the person criticized would think at least half of the criticism is wrong; conversely, even the most fraudulent flattery, even if entirely false, could at least make someone feel pleasant.

And no matter how unreal the praise is, the person praised will tend to believe that over half of it is true. This kind of flattery can also heal psychological wounds; the principle behind a priest's confession is similar.

Those skilled in flattery often receive the love of others. And if the praise is sincere, it is enough to center them in a crowd.

—Besides that, no need to know anything else. The ability to sincerely compliment others is enough to gather a hoard of people.

Even Aiwass was enthusiastically explaining features that Mia might care about: "Of course, its best use is actually in wrinkle removal. Wrinkles at the age of sixty or seventy, after applying the ointment, can be smoothed out to look like they're in their forties or fifties, and those in their forties or fifties can become youthful in their twenties or thirties.

"—Besides, they can also be used for virility enhancement. The Effect is long-lasting and very restorative to the body."

While saying this, Aiwass smiled as he looked at Arsene: "Do you want me to reserve two parts for you? The slices Lily cut are pretty even; perhaps you could take them to stir-fry a couple dishes? Friendly tip, direct consumption is also effective."

"Ah, that's not necessary."

Arsene quickly replied.

"...Hmm, no need..."

Mia also hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Perhaps out of giving face to Arsene, or perhaps they indeed didn't need it.

Aiwass chuckled, saying no more.

He simply admired the "Moon Child Fragment" pieces placed into the Star Ice box by himself.

Finally collected enough character fragments to redeem the SSS rank Son of the Moon.

He'd been wanting to "capture alive" the Son of the Moon for a very, very long time...

Now he finally achieved this goal.