Lanchi Can't Forget His Legal Awareness

As the first ray of morning light gradually dispelled the chill of the night, it sprinkled upon the streets, buildings, and benches along the roadside.

The light gradually stretched longer.

This city named Ikelite seemed to be awakened by the benevolent love of the gods.

Not long after.

Shops on both sides of the street opened for business one after another, with enthusiastic shopkeepers greeting their neighbors.

Under the awnings of the cafes, wisps of light coffee aroma drifted in the air, accompanied by light and vibrant jazz music that permeated the bustling streets.

More and more people who woke up early for work began to appear, hurrying through the crowds in the center of Ikelite.

In the morning breeze that still carried the fragrance of fruits and flowers.

Lanchi walked along the streets of Ikelite with a faint smile on his face, accompanied by Talia.

Bathed in the morning sun, his face was peaceful, and his whole body exuded a sunny disposition.

Lanchi seemed to be in a good mood.

He now found the school exams and the Shadow World quite interesting.

Talia, on the other hand, was in a state of dreading going to work as if going to a grave.

She was very reluctant to accompany Lanchi to Iketerite Academy again.

The last time she walked out of the academy with Lanchi, she was stared at several times, which made her scalp tingle.

Fortunately, the third round of exams would not be publicly broadcast live.

It would only be watched by the academy teachers in the background.

Otherwise, Talia would have taken a sick leave today rather than follow Lanchi again.

"Tata, are you in a bad mood?"

Lanchi felt that Talia had said much less in the past two days.

Today, she was even more obviously resistant to being with him.

"..."

Talia ignored him.

She just looked straight ahead.

And walked straight forward.

So Lanchi slightly quickened his pace, jogged a little, and turned his head to secretly glance at Talia's face.

Her expression was cold, and she still didn't pay attention to Lanchi.

But in that instant just now, Lanchi unintentionally noticed Talia's eyes.

It made Lanchi feel as if Talia hated him very much...

He couldn't help but freeze in his steps, standing there in a daze, scratching his head.

I felt like I had gotten a little closer to her during this time.

Why does it feel like her attitude took a sharp turn for the worse again?

Demon Race minds are truly hard to understand.

Especially when it's an old woman who's been single for hundreds of years.

Lanchi thought to himself.

"..."

Talia happened to walk up beside Lanchi.

She turned her face and stared at Lanchi.

For some reason, she felt an inexplicable urge to kill Lanchi in her heart.

But he hadn't even opened his mouth just now, and his expression looked normal...

"What's wrong, Tata?"

Lanchi asked gently.

It was impossible to tell what impolite things he was thinking in his heart.

"Nothing."

As soon as she finished speaking.

Talia ignored Lanchi and walked forward.

"Chasing the cloud away~"

Lanchi also hummed a little tune happily, stepped forward, and followed.

Half an hour later.

Iketerite Academy, Learning and Education Building, seventh-floor atrium.

Sunlight passed through the huge glass dome and refracted indoors, turning into soft arcs of light, bringing a bit of tranquility to the entire atrium.

As the light and shadow danced on the ground, Lanchi, who was walking, could see the faculty and staff coming and going in the surrounding corridors.

He walked into this examination hall again according to the examination time, and couldn't help but marvel at the architect's skill.

Looking from afar.

The huge magical machinery artificial Shadow World startup terminal seemed to have been repaired.

However, a conspicuous sign that read [Forced Restart Strictly Prohibited] had been added to it.

From the font, it was clear that the person who added this warning was quite angry.

Unlike the second round of exams.

Not many students and faculty were waiting here today.

The third round of exams was scheduled by the teachers of the Sage Institute, and the chief examiner for the corresponding session would appear directly in the Shadow World.

Dean Loren was also absent.

It was said that he also held responsibilities within the Goddess of Fate Church and often left the Royal Capital, Iketerite.

Slightly bypassing the marble threshold and entering the waiting area, he saw two figures looking towards him.

One was Teacher Theresa, who was holding a tablet-like magic instrument and was responsible for guiding students in the examination hall.

She and Lanchi had met during the attribute test for admission.

Teacher Theresa was very gentle and smiled slightly at Lanchi upon seeing him.

The other person also wore a candidate bracelet similar to Lanchi's on their hand, clearly his teammate for the third round of exams.

In the exam notification received yesterday, Lanchi had seen the explanation—

The theme of the third round of exams was "Practical Combat and Survival."

In this mode of examination, healing mages and support mages were often difficult to fight alone.

Therefore, the academy adopted a team assessment model, pairing output mages with healer/support mages.

In most cases, it was a team of three.

This also allowed for the assessment of students' teamwork and coordination.

After all, in the real Shadow World, a team often rose or fell together.

If an accident occurred, it was highly likely to be a team wipe, with no room for "what ifs."

However.

When Lanchi clearly saw his teammate—that noble young lady with an extraordinary demeanor—

Both sides seemed a little surprised.

At the end of the second round of exams two days ago, she had asked Lanchi how long it took him to clear it.

And Lanchi had very conservatively answered less than 50 minutes.

"Less than 50 minutes?"

Hughberlian seemed to find it a bit amusing, asking Lanchi with a hint of absurdity in her words.

She had heard after leaving the examination hall the day before yesterday.

Someone with black hair and green eyes had cleared it in only 10 minutes.

At the time, she was still wondering if it could possibly be the person next to her who told her "less than 50 minutes to clear."

Now, she was certain.

It was this sly old fox.

Lanchi awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

He hadn't expected the third round of assessment to have such a team assignment method at the time.

"Do you two know each other?"

Seeing their subtle reactions, Teacher Theresa couldn't help but ask curiously.

Both of them shook their heads.

Then.

"My name is Lanchi Wilford. I'm a White Mage, but compared to healing, I'm more focused on utility."

Lanchi was the first to introduce himself frankly.

Honesty is key between teammates; there's nothing to hide.

After a brief silence.

"...Hughberlian Alansar."

The Duchess hesitated slightly before giving her name.

"You can think of me as having an assassin-like role."

Her words stopped abruptly, her introduction quite brief.

Clearly, she didn't trust Lanchi much.

Lanchi nodded.

He didn't intend to press further.

He looked towards the entrance of the examination hall, seemingly waiting for their third teammate.

"No need to wait. He's most likely not coming."

Hughberlian said.

Her sudden cold words immediately drew confused looks from Lanchi and Theresa.

"Why?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, we'll receive news when the exam starts that this guy can't participate for some reason. As for the specific reason, it depends on whether they used coercion or enticement."

Hughberlian spread her hands, her eyes cold as she spoke.

Although her tone was mostly helpless, the violent anger in her heart was hard to conceal in her pupils.

She understood too well what those noble lords who liked to manipulate situations would do.

"Uh... Student Hughberlian, this, this is just your speculation, right?"

Hughberlian's demeanor was completely opposite to Lanchi's, making Theresa feel a slight chill down her spine.

If Lanchi was like the pure white, flawless warm sun in spring, then Hughberlian was like an ominous entity in the depths of a cold, dirty pool of blood, unable to find salvation.

Theresa looked at Lanchi.

Lanchi remained unperturbed and calm, his emotions as unchanging as ever.

Since Lanchi didn't say anything, she, as a teacher, couldn't offer any more opinions either.

Not long after.

As the exam time approached.

The magic device in Teacher Theresa's hand predictably sounded a notification—

Their teammate had decided to transfer to another academy and had voluntarily withdrawn from the exam.

"This..."

Teacher Theresa also became a little troubled.

She probably knew in her heart that this seemingly accidental situation might not be entirely accidental.

After all, even Hughberlian had guessed it in advance.

"Do you need me to ask the Dean or Vice Dean for instructions?"

Theresa asked hesitantly.

She knew that the practical assessment later, conducted by Ferrat, would definitely not be easy.

Moreover, Ferrat himself was one of those who "didn't want Hughberlian to enroll."

With just Hughberlian and the White Mage Lanchi, who had weak magic, the two of them had no chance of passing...

Hughberlian shook her head.

Her cold eyes softened slightly when she looked at Theresa.

Although she had never really felt kindness, having grown up only amidst mutual malice.

But to some extent, she could still distinguish a little good from bad in others.

"These noble lords just like to create flawless accidents, leaving no opportunity for anyone to catch them."

Hughberlian sneered,

"Even if this exam isn't broadcast externally today, there are probably many pairs of eyes secretly watching this stage."

Although it would be even more excessive to have Hughberlian's last teammate participate in the exam normally first, then act as an actor, or even directly backstab Hughberlian.

But if it was too obvious and Dean Loren discovered any clues, Loren might investigate the fairness of the exam.

So the manipulators preferred to create an accident.

"Then why didn't those people come to me?"

Lanchi frowned, propping his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

Hughberlian was slightly silent.

She didn't know if Lanchi genuinely didn't understand or was pretending not to.

"Those guys also like to save face. If they directly bribed two examinees, it wouldn't look like an accident at all."

Hughberlian explained simply.

Of course, she believed that someone as intelligent as Lanchi could easily understand the real reason—

Those important figures didn't think Lanchi had much practical combat ability.

Not only that, but Lanchi could also allow the exam to continue normally, becoming a tool to drag down Hughberlian.

If Hughberlian were truly the only examinee left, the academy wouldn't be cruel enough to make her continue to solo the main examiner. Instead, they would be more likely to put her into other teams and slightly increase the overall difficulty of the exam.

"Is that so? That's truly a shame..."

Lanchi nodded slightly and sighed.

His expression looked as if he had missed a great opportunity to make a fortune.

"You really want to be bribed by them?"

Hughberlian stared at Lanchi's undisguised look of regret, finding it utterly ridiculous.

What had she done to make him so disrespectful, not even bothering to pretend anymore?

Even if this guy had some unique talent, in the end, he was no different from those scoundrels full of malicious intent.

"Of course."

Lanchi sneered and nodded in affirmation.

"Heh, if they dare to obstruct my exam, I'll make sure to collect evidence on the spot, then donate the ill-gotten gains to the Goddess of Fate Church, and report this group for bribery and disrupting the normal order of a national exam. At the same time, I'll apply for the divine intervention clause on page 675 of the Hutton Codex, requesting the temple to trace the source of this erroneous account through divine magic and conduct a thorough investigation. The priests of the Goddess of Fate will determine that I had no subjective intention of extortion, but merely sought to collect evidence. Afterward, I will receive commendation and protection from the church, perhaps even becoming a probationary priest in one fell swoop..."

He spoke with such righteous indignation that if he had a Codex in hand, he would probably have opened it on the spot to explain it to Hughberlian.

Hughberlian: "..."

Theresa, standing nearby, heard Lanchi's words and her lips parted slightly, unable to utter a sound for a long time.

Hughberlian realized she had misunderstood.

She decided to retract her previous statement.

Compared to those unscrupulous individuals, this Lanchi was the real Sword Tomb!