Descending Into A Novel

Chapter 182:Mission Bonanza (2)

"..."

Ellen desperately shut her eyes. As if keeping them closed would erase the current situation.

The moment she opened just the slightest sliver however, she immediately was confronted face to face with...well, Raymond’s face.

How did things even end up like this?!

---

"...what are you sorry for?"

"I’m sorry for accidentally hitting my master."

Ellen nestled her stomach, which had suffered a serious blow from Raymond pouncing onto her. Probably the most serious injury she had suffered all year. With only Erin’s accidental bite being a close second place.

"It’s not fair. Why don’t I ever get anything good in my life?"

He grumbled under his breath, using the same complaint Ellen had heard over a hundred times.

She smiled, "If you’re so desperate. We could always just sleep together~"

She briefly stuck her tongue out at him.

It was just one of those things you said to act like you cared after all. A social pleasantry, like asking someone whether they wanted a bite of your food or asking whether someone needed any help. Unless they were close friends or desperate, no one would say yes. It was merely a way to look polite.

Except Raymond was currently in the latter half of that unless right now.

He glared at her. Normally, he would have snapped back at her tease. But he had lost the energy to even do so. Now, only a very dedicated passion burned within him. A passion to ruin her day (or night in this scenario).

So he simply smiled back at her, "Sure, why not?"

"Eh?"

---

So that was how she ended up in the current situation. Cursing and regretting her past actions. Her pattern recognition skills really needed some work.

This wasn’t the first time she had thrown out an offer like that, not expecting Raymond to accept. Yet she had still suffered the consequences again and again. At this point, it was beginning to form a pattern.

A really horrible pattern for her.

Ellen wished she could do just about anything else right now.

Walking around in circles, kicking her feet wildly, training, literally anything else but the current situation. She needed to do something to get rid of this extreme ticklish feeling in her chest.

But she couldn’t, because she felt like if she moved even the slightest inch. Then Raymond would wake up, and she would much rather prefer death then the awkward conversation which would ensue upon him doing so.

She couldn’t even turn the opposite direction away from him. Forced to silently stare at him as he peacefully slept, while she was every antonym of peaceful.

Especially with how close the two of them were. Sure they slept in the same bed normally in the academy. But that bed was massive, with the two of them sleeping on opposite sides. As well as a red barrier in the form of Erin in between them to block any potential encounters while sleeping. The two of them never actually even touched each other normally.

But now, she could see his chest slowly rising and falling, count every single strand of his white hair, and hear every soft exhale as he slept peacefully like a baby.

In fact, if she just moved slightly closer. She could-

A brief memory of last month replayed in her head. Just the mere thought of it had reminded her of the moment at the end of the academy play, while hiding behind the illusion magic. When she had decided to...

She could practically feel her face turning red. Blushing wildly at an imaginary scenario she had just conjured up in her head.

’Crazy...I must be going crazy...’

Ellen often thought of herself as someone composed. But for some reason, every time Raymond was involved. Her composure would shatter almost immediately, and he did so with barely any effort.

Raymond shifted over slightly, pushing Ellen further inside and squeezing her in between the wall and him and the pillow in his arms. Causing her to let out another internal scream of panic.

’Somebody free me!!’

***

"How was yesterday?"

"Pretty good actually. The bed was more comfortable then I thought it would be."

Raymond let out a brief yawn before responding to Lucy’s question.

She turned to Ellen, "How about you?"

"...huh?"

Ellen herself had barely gotten any sleep that night for an obvious reason. While awakened could go longer without sleep, that was only at the higher ranks. So Ellen was still unfortunately suffering from some of the effects of sleep deprivation.

"It was...fine."

"Really?"

Lucy’s eyes seemed to twinkle. As if knowing something, the way her eyes kept flicking between Raymond and Ellen as well was very weird. Although neither of them paid any attention to it.

Well, that was because she did know something very interesting.

Snakes have an execptional sense of smell, and according to the blue snake currently wrapped around her leg. As well as Ashfield who was sitting next to her struggling trying to use utensils. Right now, the two of them were practicically covered in the scent of the other. Something that could only happen if they spent a lot of time in extreme close proximity.

Such as...sleeping in the same cramped bed together.

"hehe."

Elsewhere, instructor Janet also let out a small giggle.

This whole plan was masterfully orchestrated by the two of them after all.

Because if there was one thing Lucy liked other then animals, it was drama.

And if there was one thing instructor Janet (her aunt) liked, it was drama.

Naturally, upon hearing of Raymond and Ellen’s ’circumstances’. She took it upon herself to just...nudge them along a little closer.

Like accidentally purchasing the wrong room, which coincidentally only had a single bed, and forcing them to stay in the same room together. She couldn’t actually do much in the academy, but now that she was their chaperone for this mission. It gave her the ability to make small changes.

Unfortunately, it was unknown which room they would pick. So she had to accidentally make the same mistake again to ensure either choice for the two lead to the same outcome. Forcing another two innocent bystanders to also have to share a room. She would have to apologize to Thomas and Audrina later. But Raymond and Ellen took precedence.

It all paid off in the end judging by Ellen’s zombie-like appearance as she trudged through her breakfast.

Although there seemed to be another zombie in the form of Audrina as well.

It was like Raymond and Ellen were being reflected in a mirror. Because the exact same situation was occurring on the oher side of the room. Her already pale skin was even whiter then usual, paired with her eyebags and slow movements. It was clear that Audrina also hadn’t received much shut-eye the night before.

For Audrina, who was used to the safeness and comfort of sleeping alone. The presence of another individual in the same room as her heavily disturbed her sleeping time. Even if it wasn’t the first time this happened, she doubted she could ever get used to such a thing.

What if he tried to attack her at night? What if he discovered she was a demon? What if he discovered that she didn’t shower in the mornings? What if he discovered that she only showered once a week?

With his annoyingly helpful personality, and that damn smile. It sent shivers down her spine just thinking of it.

Even though she had been the one to sleep on the bed, with him generously offering to sleep on the floor. She hadn’t gotten a single second of sleep at all. Busy monitoring him for the entire night to make sure he didn’t try anything.

It also didn’t help that she had to pretend to sleep like a human. Which meant laying down perfectly flat, and occasionally moving around. Unlike how she usually slept, which was just by curling up into a ball on her sides. Barely even moving or making a sound.

Her fork missed her mouth, sliding to the side as her head tilted. Fighting all her urges to fall asleep on the spot.

Every so often, her head would tilt forwards or backwards. Before snapping back into place, as if there were bricks attached to her head.

Whereas right in front of her, her roommate was happily chatting away without a single care in the world. His radiant appearance caught the attention of quite a lot of passersby. But to Audrina, his white hair was the most annoying light in the whole wide world right now, and his mouth was incessantly noisy.

Yet these two—who were barely even functional. Were expected to accompany the others during the mission, which was to catch a criminal and disrupt an illegal crime ring. Facing off against people who had been actively committing crimes and would pose a real dangerous threat to their lives.

Audrina missed her mouth again, before eventually giving up and tilting forward. Putting her head in her lap as she fell asleep.

The moment Thomas tried to wake her up however, she immediately snapped back awake again. Glaring at his extended hand.

"...don’t touch."