Seven Sins System Chapter 457. Near, Yet Far

Resuming walking, my gaze dropped to the sandwich in my hand. The sticker on it caught my attention—50% off. It was a cheap sandwich. The chips I had picked up were on a buy-one-get-one sale, another bargain that appealed to the practicality I had adopted while living in this realm.

Yet, I found my steps halting once more. A sense of unease crept over me, the kind that I couldn’t easily shake off.

"Fuck," I hissed under my breath, the frustration boiling over. I gritted my teeth, annoyed at myself, at the situation, and most of all, at the persistent thought that wouldn’t leave me alone. With a resigned sigh, I turned around and walked back to the sandwich aisle. Without giving it much thought, I grabbed another on-sale sandwich.

With both sandwiches in hand, I made my way back to the cashier. The teenager behind the counter barely looked up as I placed the items on the conveyor belt. "That’ll be twenty five," he mumbled, his eyes fixed on the register screen.

I handed over the cash. The cashier handed me the receipt, along with the bag, and I nodded in thanks before heading out of the store.

My dorm was just a short walk away. But instead of heading there, I found my feet steering me in a different direction.

Puriel was standing near the store, watching me like a real stalker. She didn’t even try to hide it—her gaze was fixed on me, unwavering. It was the kind of attention that would have unnerved most, but I was long past the point of caring. I approached her without hesitation, my steps purposeful and direct.

“Here, for you,” I said without any preamble, holding out one of the sandwiches and a bag of chips. The words came out more brusquely than I intended, but I didn’t bother to soften them.

Puriel looked at the offering in my hand, and for a moment, I thought she would refuse it. But instead of the confusion or doubt I expected, she reached out and took the items, her movements hesitant and reluctant. It was as if she wasn’t sure whether to accept the gesture but did so out of some unspoken obligation.

"Thank you," she said, her voice quieter than usual. There was no sarcasm, no mocking tone, just a simple acknowledgment. The way she held the sandwich and chips was almost delicate, as though she were holding something far more fragile.

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I had expected... Well, I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but it wasn’t this subdued reaction. “It’s just a sandwich,” I muttered, more to fill the silence than anything else. “And chips. Got them on sale. Nothing special.”

She nodded, but her eyes never left mine. The food was an excuse. It was some kind of distraction from the deeper, more complicated emotions that neither of us wanted to confront.

I looked away first, focusing on the street beyond us. “I figured you might need something to eat,” I said, my voice deliberately casual. “Considering, you know, you’re not exactly flush with cash.”

She nodded in reply, and I wasn’t sure what it meant. Maybe it was an admission that she didn’t have money, or perhaps it was just a nod of appreciation. Either way, I didn’t push for clarity. I didn’t want to prolong the conversation or dive into the complexities of why I had bothered to buy her a sandwich in the first place. The last thing I wanted was to get tangled in more awkwardness.

So I turned and started walking, leaving the conversation behind. And like before, she simply followed me, silently trailing a few steps behind like a shadow. Or, more accurately, like a loyal but hesitant puppy. It was a strange and uncomfortable dynamic, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. I sipped my juice as I walked, not bothering to turn around to check if she was still there. I knew she was.

The bag with my sandwich and chips hung in my other hand. I know what I did had shifted something between us, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. It was as if an invisible thread had tightened between us, pulling us closer even as everything else pushed us apart.

A weird feeling settled in my chest, something between discomfort and resignation. We were near, but we were far away.

‘What am I doing?’

I thought, the question gnawing at me as we walked in silence. The academy was getting closer with every step, and I should have hurried my pace. But instead, I kept my stride steady, almost deliberately slow. It was as if I was waiting for something, though I couldn’t pinpoint what.

This wasn’t like me. Normally, I would have taken this opportunity to be bold, to throw out some cheeky or provocative comment just to see how she would react. I had teased Puriel countless times with lines like “Let’s bang” or “Wanna bang?”—not because I seriously expected her to agree.

She always refused, of course, with that exasperated look or an eye roll that had become so familiar. But it was a routine, a script we both knew by heart.

But tonight, I didn’t feel like playing that game. I didn’t want to ask her those bold, suggestive questions, even as a joke. Maybe it was the look she had given me earlier, that strange, unreadable expression that had thrown me off balance. Or maybe it was the simple act of buying her that dinner, a gesture that felt too... real.

I kept walking, the academy’s entrance now just a few seconds away. Yet… My thoughts were a tangled mess, as if someone had taken a spool of thread and knotted it beyond recognition. What was the point of all this? Puriel was a goddess, after all. Her answer to any real question I might ask would be as predictable as my teasing—an unequivocal no.

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