Yuan Qi pushed open the office door and walked straight to the wide desk.
A burly man sat behind it. Even seated, he radiated an imposing authority.
He was looking down at the documents in his hands, the pages rustling softly.
"Chief Instructor."
Yuan Qi stopped, lowering his voice.
Zhong Yue looked up, straightened the documents in his hands, and set them on the desk before rising to face Yuan Qi.
"Did you meet them?"
"Yes. Three were expected, but only two showed up."
Yuan Qi reported honestly.
However, Zhong Yue corrected him:
"No, there were only two. The other one isn't coming."
"She isn't coming?"
Yuan Qi froze for a moment.
He remembered that the notice he'd seen that morning had clearly stated:
Three survivors of the Incident of Train No. 7 would arrive today and enroll as usual.
"Didn't it say those three girls were together and would all be reporting as usual?"
Zhong Yue shook his head and gave Yuan Qi a meaningful look.
He sat back down, pulled a sheet of paper from the stack, and handed it over.
"She requested leave this morning. It only just reached me. Have a look."
Yuan Qi took it without thinking. When he saw what was written on it, he couldn't help drawing a sharp breath.
"Whew! A year's leave? How is that any different from dropping out?"
Zhong Yue gestured for him to keep reading. Emergency contact, guarantor... every name belonged to a renowned Seventh-tier Awakened?!
The guarantor was even the Seventh-tier peak who headed the Supervision Department?!
Yuan Qi fell silent.
"This..."
He read it over twice, making sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. After a long pause, he finally exclaimed:
"Jiang Mian... really has connections everywhere!"
Yet inwardly, he gave a scornful laugh.
It