Recaps

Lanchi and Sid raced to catch the Underground Mana Rail Train so they would not be late for the Nirvana Branch, and Sid explained why she had a Student Ticket. Sid said she would return to Protos Royal Magic Academy next week to watch Lanchi, leaving him to wonder about her popularity and the protection her presence offered.

• Lanchi and Sid rushed through the Bustling City Area and reached the station just in time to board the departing train.
• Lanchi noticed Sid had used a Student Ticket, and Sid admitted she had occasionally entered Protos Royal Magic Academy while posing as a younger student to search for talent.
• Sid told Lanchi she would return to school next week to watch his performance, and Lanchi accepted that he would take it seriously.
• Sid told Lanchi he no longer needed to practice running because she would protect him, and Lanchi asked whether she was popular before comparing her favorably with unpopular women.

Lanchi and Sid joined the Nirvana Branch and chose to travel north together to investigate Aetherland infiltrators, while Sander mistakenly assumed they planned to sabotage each other. After parting ways, Lanchi brought Cat Boss along and continued toward the Protos Royal Magic Academy.

• Lanchi and Sid arrived just before the meeting began at the Nirvana Knight Order Temple.
• Sander welcomed the new recruits, issued their certificates and rulebooks, and assigned them to investigate Aetherland infiltrators in the northern provinces.
• Lanchi and Sid immediately submitted an itinerary to travel north together, surprising the others and prompting Sander to assume they would betray each other.
• Sid and Lanchi agreed to speak naturally when they met at school the next day, then went their separate ways.
• Cat Boss protested being dragged into Lanchi's schemes, but Lanchi convinced it that staying with him was safer than remaining in the imperial capital.
• Lanchi teased Cat Boss about someone who disguised herself as a girl, and Cat Boss wondered who he meant.

Lanchi spent the morning at Protos Royal Magic Academy before attending a history class, where he met Gloria, a powerful Third Year Student who resented his selection as the Ba Tian Sect’s Holy Son. Gloria questioned why Lord Sid had chosen someone she considered weak and unsuitable for the Ba Tian Branch.

• Lanchi fed grain to the small birds gathered around him in the academy garden, and Zestira watched him before joining him.
• Zestira considered warning Lanchi about upper-year noble students but decided that he was steady enough to manage on his own.
• Lanchi told Zestira he planned to audit Associate Professor Sid’s history class and headed to the school building district.
• Lanchi sat in a second- and third-year history class, waiting for it to begin while reading a book from the library.
• Gloria, a renowned Third Year Student with a powerful physical-combat aura, watched Lanchi and muttered resentfully about Lord Sid choosing him as the Ba Tian Sect’s Holy Son.

At Protos Royal Academy, Lanchi and Gloria attended Sid Arendale’s lecture on modern imperial history, where Sid presented evidence linking the Demon King Army to recent massacres and an impending war. Lanchi suspected the recording’s demons were not what they seemed and worried that a future catastrophe would erase two northern provinces.

• Lanchi recognized Gloria as a Direct subordinate of the Ba Tian Sect and tried to show her goodwill, but Gloria grew more irritated with him.
• Sid Arendale began his Modern Imperial History lecture and explained that political tensions made open debate about the empire’s position dangerous.
• Sid showed a recording of demons massacring a northern town one year earlier and described evidence implicating the Aetherland Kingdom in the attacks.
• Sid explained that the Protos Empire’s conflict with Aetherland seemed likely to become a wider war, despite the uncertainty and political divisions behind it.
• Lanchi recalled that the empire would lose two northern provinces during the future war and wondered what catastrophe could cause such destruction.
• Lanchi told Gloria that the figures in the recording did not seem like demons.

Lanqi challenged the students’ assumptions about demons during a heated class debate and turned Anfeisi’s accusations back on her. The classroom fell quiet when his classmates recognized him as Luo Qi McCarthy, the student who had reported the Nirvana Branch.

• Lanqi argued that the demons shown in the footage might be disguised beings rather than true demons, provoking angry responses from the students.
• Xi Duo tried to calm the class by suggesting they settle the debate with their Demon Race Studies exam, but Anfeisi criticized his neutrality.
• Anfeisi accused Lanqi of pro-demon sympathies and tried to use his connection to Zestira against him.
• Lanqi accused Anfeisi of sowing division within the empire and questioned whether her family had ties to the Aetherland Kingdom.
• A student recognized Lanqi as Luo Qi McCarthy, who had reported the Nirvana Branch, and the students who had attacked him fell silent.

Lanchi became a teaching assistant in Protos Royal Academy’s Department of History and discussed the war with Associate Professor Xi Duo. He argued that, as Empire President, he would avert the war by making the northern countries pay for a wall, with the empire covering no more than thirty percent of its cost.

• Xi Duo defended the Campelt Family during class, then reassured the students that the discussion was only a lesson.
• After class, Xi Duo invited Lanchi to join the Department of History faculty as his teaching assistant, and Lanchi accepted.
• Xi Duo explained the role’s duties, benefits, and scheduling options, and agreed that Lanchi could take a month of leave if he treated the students for a week first.
• Xi Duo asked Lanchi what he thought of the war involving the Protos Empire.
• Lanchi said he would prevent the war by building a northern wall, charging the northern countries for most of it and having the empire cover at most thirty percent.

Lanchi learned from Xi Duo that Zestira might be targeted on Monthly Examination Day and spent the next two days preparing while helping manage the school. On the morning of the exam, Zestira discovered Lanchi had earned her ten credits each day, and he reassured her he had not been bullied by upper-year students.

• Xi Duo warned Lanchi that someone might try to harm Zestira on Monthly Examination Day, possibly to obtain samples for a demon-disguising spell experiment.
• Lanchi thanked Xi Duo and agreed to help manage classroom discipline for the next two days, hoping to protect Zestira and investigate the suspected plot.
• Two days passed, and Zestira woke on Helrom's late-February Monthly Examination Day with 172 credits, including ten credited to her by Lanchi.
• Zestira found Lanchi feeding birds in the garden and asked about the ten credits; he explained that he would earn her ten credits each day for three days by coming to school.
• Zestira asked whether upper-year students had bullied Lanchi, and he said they had not.

Lanchi and Zestira explored Protos Royal Magic Academy’s Examination Zone before Monthly Examination Day and discussed its rules and bounty system. As the exam was about to begin, Zestira discovered that an unprecedented bounty had been placed on her, leaving her stunned.

• Lanchi and Zestira toured the Examination Zone, and Zestira explained its classrooms, credit points, rest periods, and combat rules.
• Zestira described the anonymous bounty feature, while Lanchi wondered whether anyone had placed a bounty on him.
• Zestira asked whether Lanchi had offended any upperclassmen, and Lanchi promised to protect her if everyone turned against them.
• Every Notice Board displayed a record bounty of 135,655 credit points on Zestira Lilom, with an additional pink-divine-grade Magic Card reward.

Zestira and Lanchi saw that the students had placed a bounty of more than 130,000 credits on her, while Sigrid watched the examination from Gloria’s mansion and learned that the Holy Son had become the top-ranked target. Sigrid approved of his audacious start, leaving Gloria worried about what might happen to him.

• Zestira saw her bounty displayed across connected crystal screens and realized the upperclassmen had made the situation serious.
• Lanchi stayed calm and led Zestira toward a nearby classroom, seeming eager to begin.
• Gloria asked Sigrid whether she should bet her credits on Zestira, and Sigrid said she would bet all her own credits on the Holy Son if she could.
• Sigrid pointed out that the Holy Son had risen to first place on the examination screens with a bounty exceeding 130,000 credits.
• Sigrid praised the Holy Son’s status, while Gloria asked whether she was worried something would happen to him.

Gloria learned that the Ba Tian Holy Son had a 130,000-credit bounty and would face growing attacks during the examination, while Sigrid expected him only to protect Zestira and endure. In the southern Examination Zone, Lanchi reassured Zestira, then disguised a Difficulty Three Magical Beast Breeding classroom as a Difficulty One Cooking classroom before entering.

• Gloria realized the bounty on the Ba Tian Holy Son would tempt students to attack him, and that each student he incapacitated would raise the bounty further.
• Sigrid said she expected the Holy Son to protect Zestira and last until the examination ended, while Gloria doubted a Tier 4 student could endure twelve hours.
• With ten minutes remaining before the examination began, Lanchi and Zestira reached a Magical Beast Breeding classroom as unseen students followed them.
• Lanchi reassured Zestira that he was recovering his old instincts, then asked her to cover him as he altered the classroom nameplate.
• Lanchi changed the label from Magical Beast Breeding Department—Difficulty Three to Cooking Department—Difficulty One and entered the classroom.

Lanchi and Zestira arrived at the Magical Beast Breeding Department for a Difficulty Three examination, where the elderly teacher explained that they had to win a magical beast’s approval and get it to cooperate. As Zestira grew frightened by the beasts, Lanchi calmly approached them before the examination began.

• Lanchi and Zestira entered the classroom and met the elderly teacher caring for a magical beast.
• Lanchi told the teacher they wanted to take the examination, and the teacher confirmed that Zestira could have her retainer complete it for her.
• The teacher explained that they had to choose a magical beast, earn its approval, play with and feed it, then get it to cooperate with an assignment.
• Zestira grew afraid as the beasts sensed her tension and responded with wary, threatening displays.
• Lanchi reassured Zestira and walked toward the magical beasts, while the teacher held back from warning him.

The Chief Students watched Lanchi calm the magical beasts in the Examination Zone, while one of them exposed Zestira’s location to the other students. Lanchi encouraged Zestira to approach a rare Moon Shadow Fox, and she began overcoming her fear.

• The Chief Students mocked Lanchi as he approached the beasts, and the discussion turned to his 130,000 credits and the possibility he might survive the examination.
• Lanchi calmed the magical beasts, which gathered around him peacefully and bewildered the students watching from the Council Hall.
• A slicked-back Chief Student spent 300 credits to reveal Zestira’s location across the academy, hoping to prevent her and Lanchi from surviving the coming rush.
• An old teacher watched Lanchi’s gentle interaction with the beasts and praised his approach of earning their trust through understanding and love.
• Lanchi encouraged Zestira to approach the beasts, and she steadily walked toward the black Moon Shadow Fox she had feared and admired.

Lanchi and Zestira’s gentle encounter with the magical beasts was interrupted when armed students stormed the Cooking Classroom and attacked them. The old teacher was repeatedly caught in the violence as more students arrived, eager to kill the beasts and claim the 130,000-credit reward.

• Zestira touched the Great Fox for the first time while Lanchi and the old teacher watched.
• When the examination bell rang, hostile students burst into the classroom and attacked Lanchi, Zestira, and the magical beasts.
• The magical beasts fought back, and the old teacher was struck by a student’s Great Artery Rupture Fist while trying to stop the fighting.
• The old teacher recalled his kinder students from decades earlier as the classroom turned into a battlefield.
• More students smashed into the classroom, hit the old teacher with a flying cabinet, and shouted that they would kill the beasts for 130,000 credits.

Students attacked the magical beasts in the Cooking Classroom, prompting their teacher to take up a scythe and punish them. After the classroom was wrecked, Lanchi told Zestira that the lesson would teach the students to respect teachers and care for animals.

• Students flooded the Cooking Classroom and brutally attacked the magical beasts despite the old teacher's pleas to stop.
• The old teacher took a scythe from a cabinet and revealed a terrifying killing aura, causing the students to retreat.
• The teacher attacked the students, triggering the barrier's health-lock protection and leaving several badly injured.
• The teacher and students' battle demolished most of the classroom, while Zestira clung to Great Fox.
• Lanchi told Zestira that the students would remember to respect teachers and care for animals.

Lanchi and Zestira watched the aftermath of the classroom battle, where Magical Beasts had defeated a group of students and their teacher. Lanchi befriended the Moon Shadow Fox and prepared to continue through the examination zone with it as his companion.

• Sigrid guessed that Lanchi had altered the classroom entrance, and Gloria wondered how he and Sigrid had reached the same conclusion so quickly.
• Lanchi praised the Magical Beasts as they healed their companions, while Zestira worried about their bounty and the academy's response.
• Lanchi invited the black Great Fox to go with him, and it shrank, leaped into his arms, and transformed into a scarf around his shoulders.
• Lanchi reassured the Moon Shadow Fox that he was human and chatted with it about its ancestors, food, and a future glutton, leaving Zestira baffled by their apparent ability to understand each other.

Lanchi and Zestira spent the examination’s first class defeating dozens of students, while the Chief Students tried to interfere and Chloris watched Luo Qi McCarthy with interest. With four classes still remaining, Lanchi calmly told Zestira that the ordeal was about to end.

• Lanchi helped teachers load the defeated students into transport carriages as the examination footage showed the old man cutting down students across the corridors.
• The bounty on the Notice Board rose to 309,820 after more than eighty students fell within their judgment range.
• Several Chief Students activated interference to prevent Lanchi from clearing more classrooms, while Chloris encouraged them and continued observing him.
• Lanchi and Zestira spent nearly an hour and a half relaxing among the magical beasts in the cleared classroom.
• When Zestira asked how they would survive the remaining four classes, Lanchi smiled and said it was about to end.

Lanchi entered the Examination Zone’s Broadcast Room and announced a harsh plan to enforce discipline, promising to cover teachers’ punishments and reward students who captured rule-breakers. He left the examination’s students facing his threat of lethal force and unlimited rewards.

• Lanchi reassured Zestira that the students would see his rapidly growing bounty as a reason to flee rather than attack, and she resolved to stay close and avoid becoming a burden.
• Lanchi and Zestira reached the Broadcast Room during the first break and paid to use its broadcast function.
• Thinking about the academy’s growing corruption and the teachers’ tolerance of misconduct, Lanchi decided to change the school’s atmosphere.
• Lanchi announced that teachers could strike students lethally, that he would cancel their punishments, and that each captured student who served as a negative example would earn a month of paid leave.

Lanchi used his authority during the examination to reshape the school’s rules and win the teachers’ support, leaving the Chief Students powerless and frightened. Chloris accepted the upheaval and decided to discuss cooperating with Lanchi with Associate Professor Sid.

• Lanchi told the teachers that they would protect him and help him pass the examination, and he would repay them with his commission credits.
• Zestira agreed with Lanchi’s strict approach, while Cat Boss concluded that Lanchi was a dangerously deluded lunatic.
• The Chief Students watched Lanchi’s words and actions undermine their authority and feared what would happen to the academy after the examination.
• Lanchi and Zestira patrolled the school as teachers brought rule-breaking students to him, and his casual glance at the cameras unnerved the Chief Students.
• A Chief Student suggested making Lanchi disappear, but the others noted that even the Nirvana Branch of the Rebirth Church would not deal with him.
• Chloris said she had never looked down on the school rules and left to discuss cooperating with Luo Qi McCarthy with Associate Professor Sid.

Hughberlian trained with Teacher Almirs to improve her infiltration and escape skills before traveling to the Protos Empire next month. With news from the empire blocked, she worried about Lanchi and hoped to meet him again in the imperial capital.

• Hughberlian tried to touch the Ice Witch with a dagger but was frozen before she could reach her, and Teacher Almirs praised her progress.
• Teacher Almirs released and healed Hughberlian, then continued training her until nightfall.
• Teacher Almirs explained that Hughberlian would need to earn enough credits at the Protos Royal Magic Academy to qualify for a prison internship assignment.
• Hughberlian asked whether there was news from the Protos Empire, and Teacher Almirs said the Northern Border blockade had cut off communications.
• Hughberlian worried about Lanchi and hoped Cat Boss was watching him, while Teacher Almirs reassured her that Loren's students were upright.

Hughberlian reflected on her training under Almirs and her hopes of returning to Tata, while the story shifted to the Protos Empire, where students gathered to watch Luo Qi McCarthy face a massive bounty during the Monthly Examination. The broadcast was about to begin, leaving Luo Qi’s fate uncertain.

• Hughberlian finished dinner with the Ice Witch, then left the Great Hall after being told to rest before the next day’s lessons.
• Hughberlian thought about how Almirs and Tata cared for her differently and resolved to finish her mission so she could return to Tata with Lanchi.
• Hughberlian reflected on joining the Goddess of Fate Church, learning divine magic, and being respected as a Half-Demon in Aetherland Kingdom.
• More than a hundred people gathered at the Central Building in Helrom to watch the Monthly Examination, many hoping to see Luo Qi McCarthy hunted after they placed bounties on him.

Two Nirvana Branch High Priests arrived at Protos Royal Magic Academy to watch Luo Qi McCarthy, but the entrance examination broadcast revealed that he had gathered the teachers in an auditorium and delivered a rousing speech. The chapter left the students and visitors realizing that McCarthy had likely taken control of the missing examinees and the academy’s teachers.

• Two Nirvana Branch High Priests entered the academy grounds to observe Luo Qi McCarthy during the examination.
• At seven o’clock, the broadcast showed that no examinees had entered the final class and that nearly half the students had gone to the rest area.
• The camera switched to a Great Auditorium, where Luo Qi McCarthy delivered a speech that stirred the teachers into fervent applause and chants.
• The plaza fell silent as students and the High Priests watched the teachers acclaim McCarthy.
• The upper-year students concluded that McCarthy had likely taken control of the missing students and the teachers, making him the academy’s absolute ruler.

Zestira and Lanchi went to the Endless Library to claim her Pink Divine-level reward after Lanchi earned her a large bounty. They reached the library’s self-service collection room, where Zestira planned to choose her reward and watch Lanchi select Magic Cards.

• Zestira overheard Lanchi joking with the Great Fox about her being a lazy, food-loving member of the Great Demon Race, and briefly thought she saw red light above his head.
• Zestira reflected on the 249,535 credit points Lanchi had earned for her and decided to train in the Shadow World on her own.
• Zestira asked Lanchi to accompany her to claim the additional Pink Divine reward, and he agreed to visit the Endless Library with her.
• Lanchi and Zestira crossed Helrom’s Commercial District and entered the Endless Library, where they headed for the self-service collection room.

Lanchi and Zestira browsed the Endless Library’s catalog to choose a Pink Divine-grade reward, while Lanchi searched for a high-tier Magic Card suited to his system. After finding no suitable option, he switched the search to Wind, leaving Zestira suspecting someone was about to suffer.

• Lanchi and Zestira entered the Endless Library’s meeting room and used Zestira’s bracelet to access the exchange catalog.
• Lanchi focused on Spell Cards and examined the available Sealing cards, considering their effects and risks before passing them over.
• Lanchi explained to Zestira why high-tier Magic Cards were valuable and continued searching through several magical categories.
• After finding no Pink Divine cards above Tier 6 that suited him, Lanchi changed the catalog filter to Wind.

Lanchi chose the Tier 7 Pink Divine Spell Card Roar of the Storm Dragon from the Endless Library, while Zestira questioned his choice and tried to identify the card’s practical uses. As they left the library, Zestira said she had begun studying law and no longer believed in her childhood image of Talia.

• Lanchi sorted the catalog by tier, found Roar of the Storm Dragon, and immediately chose the Wind Attribute card.
• The Magic Puppet Miss retrieved the card from the vault and handed it to Lanchi, who thanked her and left with Zestira.
• Zestira asked why Lanchi chose the card, and he explained that it was because of its Wind Attribute.
• Lanchi asked Zestira what benefits the card had, and she suggested it could safely demolish buildings while limiting responsibility for property damage.
• Zestira said she had recently started reading law books and thought learning from Lanchi was more realistic than pursuing her imagined version of Talia.
• Zestira admitted she no longer expected Talia to Restore the Nation and joked that Talia might instead marry a man who could help her; Lanchi laughed.

After a long day managing changes at Protos Royal Magic Academy, Lanchi worried about Hughberlian’s journey in Aetherland and planned to prepare a surprise for her. Before bed, he gave Cat Boss a Tier 7 spell card and a card that enhanced Wind magic, leaving Cat Boss thrilled.

• Lanchi returned to his apartment after handling the school’s affairs and reflected on his unsuccessful search for Hughberlian’s disguise, Milian.
• Lanchi considered how to make Hughberlian’s future journey through the Northern Continent memorable when she reached the Protos Empire.
• Cat Boss warned Lanchi to sleep, anxious about his plans to travel north and the dangers there.
• Lanchi gave Cat Boss the Tier 7 Pink Divine Spell Card Roar of the Storm Dragon, which Cat Boss Soul Bound.
• Lanchi also gave Cat Boss Imitation Stone Slab - Wind and warned it not to use the card’s enhanced spell recklessly; Cat Boss happily accepted both gifts.