In the spacious garden beneath the Magic Engineering Institute Old Liberal Arts Building, the plants basked in the morning mist and sunlight, filling the air with a fresh fragrance amid the songs of canaries, the buzzing of bees, and the gentle murmur of a stream.
On the open grassland dotted with flowers, two figures stood chatting.
"Why did you suspect that you had been scammed?"
Little Reporter Lu Weixier asked.
"I received a Penalty Ticket. The amount was so large, and the whole thing was so absurd, that I had to come and verify it personally."
Noe sighed.
The more Noe thought about it, the more he felt that Lanchi, that good-for-nothing brat, had tried to be clever and caused some kind of blunder, resulting in the wrong party issuing the fine.
Then again, if Lanchi truly possessed such an ability to forge documents, he would never have to worry about making a living for the rest of his life.
Either he would become fabulously wealthy, or the kingdom's prison would take good care of him.
Noe also recalled the last time he had seen Lanchi, when the boy had been completely absorbed in studying the law.
That might very well have been when the brat first set foot on the wrong path.
For now, the most urgent matter was to go to the Magic Engineering Institute and verify everything before the Penalty Ticket's deadline.
If the Penalty Ticket was fake, Noe would punish the boy severely and pull him back onto the right track.
If it turned out to be real, Noe's feelings were actually rather complicated.
Because that would mean—the brat had truly succeeded in entering the Sage Institute.
"Could you let me take a look at the Penalty Ticket? Perhaps I can help you identify whether it's