Some bastard was out to get me.
That was Ansu's first reaction when he got hold of the newspaper.
But soon, he slowly came to his senses: Could it be that someone had impersonated Calvin?
Unfortunately, Ansu was not the only one who gradually picked up on the trick.
Who had come out first, who had come out second, and who had come out third.
Once they sorted out that order, they understood everything.
Fellow villagers from the borderlands could communicate without words.
Arthur took a long while to react, but his clever brain finally reached a sudden realization. He turned to Ansu with the expression of a deeply wronged housewife;
Meanwhile, Liszt fixed Arthur with an equally resentful glare—and Ansu looked at Liszt with mild disdain. You were even bullying a pregnant man?
What a despicable bastard, using the same move as me. They all thought.
The three of them stared at one another for quite some time. The air seemed to have frozen. Warm sunlight streamed in from outside the window, while the shadows of the trees on the balcony shifted with the light.
"How about," Ansu broke the silence, "we call this even?"
"Only your name wasn't impersonated."
Liszt pushed up his glasses, which flashed with a cold gleam. "What is there to call even?"
"Calvin and I are born and died together."
Ansu answered without changing expression. "Using his name was the same as using mine."
Born and died together: I was born, and you died.
Ansu was the one who was born, and Calvin was the one who died, so they were born and died together.
"Still not even."
Arthur stared at Ansu.
His handsome face was twisted like he was constipated, and he could no longer maintain that carefree, unruly smile. The thought of what awaited him at home made his whole body tremble.
All they had lost was face—Ansu had not even lost that much—while he was about to lose his life!
"You took the money. You took the money yesterday, Brother Ansu."
Arthur looked at Ansu with utter resentment. "Didn't you say you'd help me pass the exam?"
He would never trust a fellow villager again.
What did he mean, took the money? Barbarians from another world spoke so crudely. It was not money he had taken—it was the Progress Fund.
"So, you're sure you failed?" Ansu asked.
"I did answer the multiple-choice questions," Arthur replied.
Then he had definitely failed.
"And you?" Ansu shifted his gaze to Liszt.
"Hmph." Liszt elegantly pushed up his glasses and spoke with confidence and grace.
"The Goddess will watch over me."
This one was doomed too.
Ansu came to a conclusion about the two of them.
He paused and began to think.
According to the plot of the Original Work, Arthur was doomed as well.
The written test accounted for thirty percent of the total score. To pass, he would need extremely high scores on the remaining two tests. But Arthur had put all his talent into being a knight; a knight taking warlock exams would make the latter two tests a complete disaster.
But Arthur had the setup of an important character. Following the classic formula of suppressing someone before raising him up, this was precisely the suppression stage. After Arthur failed the exams, he would be thrown out of his home, but the misfortune would turn into a blessing. A year later, at his lowest point, he would encounter a fortuitous opportunity and ultimately make a comeback.
So if he passed the Saint test, that opportunity would not fall to Arthur.
It would belong to Ansu instead.
Ansu showed a thoughtful expression. He first glanced at Arthur and saw that he was a towering, muscular man, a natural martial prodigy brimming with martial strength.
Then he turned to Liszt. The man was calm, elegant, and incredibly thick-skinned. Even now, he refused to admit that he had bombed the exam. His shamelessness was impressively persistent.
Most importantly, neither of them had particularly high moral standards.
These two geniuses could help with Ansu's exam tomorrow.
No, they could be a tremendous help!
A preliminary plan gradually took shape in Ansu's mind, and a bright smile appeared at the corners of his lips. This sounded rather interesting.
"What are your candidate numbers?" Ansu asked.
"I'm number 59." Arthur had no idea why Ansu was asking.
"This humble person is number 60."
Ansu was number 61. It seemed the three of them from the borderlands had been assigned together.
Were the examiners planning to wipe them all out at once?
"I have a way."
Ansu smiled calmly. "A way to help everyone pass the Church's test."
He was the last to take the stage.
If the plan went smoothly, he might not even need to take the exam.
Arthur looked up abruptly. He looked at Ansu like a drowning man looking at a lifeline, his eyes full of eagerness and hope. But he quickly shook his head and asked suspiciously,
"Brother Ansu, you're not going to set me up, are you?"
"I never set people up." Ansu replied kindly, his pale blue eyes reflecting the pure white light.
All three of them had highly deceptive appearances. Arthur looked unruly and carefree, like a sunny, confident young nobleman. Liszt appeared calm and elegant, like a learned gentleman-scholar.
As for Ansu, he looked refined and clean. He tilted his head slightly, and his ash-white hair fell with the sunlight from outside the window, making him seem like an innocent boy next door.
Arthur decided to trust his fellow villager one more time.
"Fine. If Brother Ansu can save me this time,"
He seemed to have made up his mind. "I, Arthur Sonny, swear to the Goddess that from now on, I will truly acknowledge Brother Ansu as my boss!"
"And you?" Ansu turned to Liszt.
"I will not agree to that." Liszt replied calmly. He was a restrained and proud nobleman. "I will not acknowledge a noble whose resolve and will are both lacking."
Liszt was a nobleman of high class. His proud spirit would not allow him to engage in anything low-class.
For example, something as despicable as reading books to study.
"My plan,"
Ansu paused. With his elbows resting on the desk, his long fingers interlaced beneath his chin, he said, "is precisely a trial that can only be completed with resolve and will."
"Do you have that resolve?"
Sunlight streamed in, cut into shadows by the window lattice. Light and Darkness lay separated on either side of the desk.
Liszt could clearly feel that Ansu's aura had changed. The sunny, cheerful boy next door from before had vanished, replaced by an extremely frightening presence.
"Gentlemen, are you willing to hear my plan?"
Liszt had the distinct feeling that something terrifying was about to come out of Ansu's mouth.
Ten minutes later.
The way Liszt looked at Ansu had changed, utterly and completely. He clearly felt that the person before him far surpassed him in both taste and cultivation. That elegant gentlemanly spirit had deeply moved Liszt.
And just as Ansu had said,
—only the noblest spirit, the most unyielding perseverance, and the most elegant and proud soul could complete this grand plan.
Who else but me?
"Brother Ansu, this humble person is with you." Liszt said solemnly to Ansu. "For the sake of this great cause, this humble person has already made my resolve."
"Boss Ansu," Arthur clasped his fists. "Me too."
There will be another chapter after the refresh. Thank you all for your support.
Before you continue