Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe it wasn't.

Precisely because the whole square was so quiet now, lacking the usual noisy hustle and bustle, I could vaguely hear a girl's shrill voice coming from the lakeside across from the Adventurers' Guild.

What was going on here? Could some girl have had an accident? And that voice sounded a little familiar too.

"Ahhhhh!"

I hurried towards where the voice was coming from, and sure enough, in front of a bench by the lake, I saw a tall, shapely girl screaming at the lake surface all by herself.

"Nicola?"

I wasn't quite sure, so I slowly approached her while calling out her name, trying to get a clear look at her face in the dim light around us.

"Hmm...who are you?"

The other party had been drinking from an enormous wine bottle. Hearing my voice, she gave a start, hastily putting down the bottle in her hand and turning to look in my direction.

"Looking for me...what's up?"

It was her. I'd been looking for her all evening but hadn't been able to find her, yet here by chance, I'd run into her.

A huge weight instantly lifted from my chest. I hurried over to her side.

"How come you ran over here to drink alcohol? Do you know how long I was looking for you?"

The moment she saw it was me, she immediately went back to normal, not saying a word and just continuing to pour wine down her throat.

Only when I got close did I see that what she held in her hand was a very expensive red wine.

I'd gone to the town's tavern once before. That enormous bottle on the wine cabinet had been particularly eye-catching, and it even had an arrogant-sounding name:

"Ray of Light from Saint."

Of course the price was nothing to sneeze at either, a full 300 silvers.

"It hasn't even been that long, and you're randomly spending money again! And buying such expensive alcohol too,"

Seeing that she was still stuck in her old habits of being a prodigal young master, it looked like she just couldn't change the lifestyle she was used to. I really had no choice but to let it go.

"Just what is going on here? I went to the arcade to look for you, and they told me you left in the afternoon already. And you didn't even eat dinner?"

"......"

She ignored me, but I couldn't just leave like this. I could only sit down beside her first, and the two of us stared out at the royal castle erected in the center of the lake without saying a word to each other for the longest time.

"I...I got rejected."

Putting down the wine bottle, Nicola's first sentence gave me a huge shock.

"Huh? Rejected? Did you try confessing your love to some girl again?"

A series of confused questions in succession. Although she was a girl now, I certainly didn't believe she would have gone to confess to a guy. That lecherous attitude of hers from the beginning made it obvious.

"Not a confession of love! Just...just an ordinary chat-up attempt. But I got...got rejected..."

"A chat-up?"

I seemed to understand something now. I immediately recalled what I'd overheard that girl say this evening. Rumour has it there's recently been a female pervert going around...

"Don't you know...I'd never gotten rejected before..."

Nicola suddenly turned towards me to pour out her troubles. I seemed to see many flickering specks of light in her eyes.

"Are you crying?"

This really startled me now.

From when we first met in high school until now, I'd never once seen her cry before. The impression Reilly the prodigal young master had left deeply engraved in my brain was that kind of carefree, profligate, moneyed playboy image, constantly wearing a smile on his face.

And even after crossing over to this world and turning into a girl called Nicola, she still hadn't changed one bit from before.

Although filthy rich had turned into less silvery, at the very least her combat prowess was still powerful, and adding that bug sword that had never tasted defeat, no matter what the circumstances, she had always stood before me in a position of strength.

Yet now, she had finally cried...

"It's fine, you'll get used to it slowly."

Seeing her in this state, all I could do was move next to her and gently pat her shoulder. To be honest, I didn't have much experience with chatting up girls myself either, so I wasn't sure what to say.

"But I've tried! I've been trying all this time, trying to get used to it..."

Unexpectedly, as soon as Nicola heard me she shouted in my direction. Her pretty face was nearly shoved right in my eyes because she was so worked up.

"But I just can't get used to it!"

I gently waved away the wine fumes she breathed at me.

"What have you been trying to get used to?"

Get used to being rejected? For a moment I didn't understand what she was trying to say.

All of a sudden Nicola grabbed my hand and pressed it against her chest.

"Can you feel it?"

"What are you doing?"

Caught completely off guard by her move, I was badly shocked. I wanted to withdraw my hand but she grasped it tightly so I couldn't pull it back no matter what.

To be honest, it felt pretty good - soft and warm, extremely comfortable.

But Nicola's condition was clearly very abnormal. It caused me to have no mind to focus on that.

"Can you feel it?"

She repeated her previous words.

"Feel...feel what?"

I still didn't understand. Was she asking me to feel her heartbeat?

"A guy in his twenties suddenly finds himself stuffed into a woman's body. Can you feel how disgusting that feels?"

There was a booming explosion in my head. I hadn't expected her to have borne such tremendous stress because of this.

Actually when I first crossed over I'd fretted over this issue too. To tell the truth, it was precisely because of that distress that I got tricked by Nicola into sleeping with her, leaving behind an indelible stain that I still regret to this day.

But afterwards, discovering that she had transformed just like me, that distress instantly lightened considerably. Perhaps by sharing it with someone else, and moreover seeing that Nicola was still as overbearing as she'd been before, I gradually came to feel that it wasn't that big a deal anymore.

What's more, many benefits came with becoming an angel. For example, being able to skip a meal and save more money, having a strong and hardy body, boundless energy during the day, etc...

Yet now on the contrary she was the one with issues.

"You seem to be enjoying it pretty well..."

Nicola suddenly spoke mockingly as she stared at me. Those golden eyes of hers seemed able to see through everything. The corners of her mouth lifted in a cold smile.

"Have you started liking men already?"

"Wha...what are you saying!"

This was absolutely slander! Even if I felt that turning into a girl wasn't a big deal, it didn't mean I necessarily had to start liking men!

"I can guarantee that I don't have one iota of interest in men whatsoever. Even if I starved to death, died outside, jumped from here into the lake, I still wouldn't like any man!"

In reality, I hadn't told her that deep in my heart, there remained an unforgettable shadow that caused me to be perpetually unable to forget that graceful girl.

But she didn't react at all to my solemn vow. Her scornful expression remained as she suddenly gripped my chin. She asked in an enchanting voice,

"Then what about now? Faced with me, this gorgeous beauty before your eyes, has your heart stirred? Do you like me?"

"This is..."

I gently pushed her hand away from my chin, afraid I might accidentally provoke her. As expected, she was not in her right mind after getting drunk.

"You were the one who just said you're a man..."

All I could do was chuckle weakly in response.

"Then why am I always getting rejected when I try chatting someone up? Why can't I get a single girl to go out with me?"

Nicola had already started going crazy, screaming shrilly at the top of her lungs. Her sharp voice echoed across the entire lakeside.

I was afraid someone passing by might overhear and misunderstand, making trouble for us.

"Alright alright, you're a girl, a beautiful girl..."

It looked like normal communication was no longer possible. I could only steady her emotions first by going along with her words.

"No! I'm a man, I'm a man god dammit. Even if I got rejected a full eight times, even if I don't even have the mood to play whack-a-mole anymore, I'm fucking still a man!"

"Waaah...waaah..."

Nicola's sobs grew smaller and smaller until she didn't make another peep. It looked like she had fallen asleep.

"Sigh."

I looked at her helplessly. It seemed all I could do was sigh lightly.

But the real headache was just beginning next. I had to bring her back, certainly couldn't leave her crashed by the lakeside.

Luckily it was already near dawn and there were barely any pedestrians out.

I spread my wings and hugged Nicola from behind, circling her belly. I tried testing whether I could carry her.

Sure enough, Nicola felt very light after becoming an angel. It probably had to do with my powerful strength. She felt like a paper cut-out, and I effortlessly lifted her in my arms. I took a look at the emptied wine bottle lying on the ground. It had been utterly drained.

At this time of night, the bookstore was already closed. Carrying Nicola, I flew directly to the front of the 2nd-floor doorway and opened the door to put her on the bed inside.

"Bluaagghh..."

I had just gone to shut the door when I turned around to see her retching. The blankets were all covered in the smell of alcohol. Luckily there was no food in her stomach, otherwise it would have been even more troublesome to clean up.

I shook my head. I lamented a bit that even angels could get dead drunk like this after drinking.

But there was no other way. I could only force my sleepy eyes open, yawning as I pushed her to the other side of the bed and wiped down the blankets with a wet towel.

It looked like I wouldn't be sleeping on the bed tonight. How nice for her.

After finishing up I couldn't find anywhere else I could sleep. There weren't even any extra blankets I could use as makeshift bedding. All I could do was pad a pillow that was still relatively clean and squeeze myself to sleep at the bedside.

The next morning when I awoke, Nicola had vanished again.

"How shameless!" I couldn't help but complain out loud when I saw the empty bed.

"Gets wasted all night, I bring her back, but first thing next morning she runs off again."

Did she know how tough it was for me to find her last night!

However, when I got up I discovered a jacket had been draped over my back. Looked like she had helped put it on me before leaving.

I walked over to the dining table and found, to my surprise, that the leftovers from yesterday's dinner had already been eaten. The bowls had even been nicely washed. A note was left on top:

"My game token points were drained dry so I went off to do guild missions."

Fine. I'd already guessed there would still be no money left as usual.

But at least she still retained some conscience. She helped wash my bowls when she knew I hated washing dishes the most.

I stretched leisurely, loosening up my body. I surveyed my house and mused I should probably change the bedsheets.

After finishing the housework I headed out per routine. Passing by the arcade's doorway, the landlord beamed and waved hello at me.

"Blackhearted store!"

Assessment complete. Without even turning my head back I made a beeline for the Adventurers' Guild.