Approval

The Knight Princess entered a state of invisibility, but she knew full well that high-level professionals could still sense her presence. Ordinary people and even low-level professionals couldn't see her, though Alice's "abnormal" senses were an exception. It was only a feeling; she couldn't explain how she knew, any more than she could explain an instinct.

As she moved, keeping time with the rhythm of the "Wave," her steps felt lighter, and her speed increased noticeably. It took her only five minutes to reach the western wall of the Duke's Mansion. She couldn't go any farther: beyond it lay the alert perimeter of Aunt Kaydelin's Magic Tower. She planned to climb over the wall beside the tower at the mansion's southwest corner. At this hour, the guards wouldn't look down from the tower as long as they heard nothing—and even if they did, they wouldn't see anything.

Keeping the rhythm of her Battle Qi steady, she leaped up, caught the top of the wall, more than three meters high, with one hand, and flipped over. She landed without making the slightest sound. Even she was amazed. It seemed there was still much to discover about this sword.

Just as she was preparing to slip back to her bedroom through the shadows of the flower beds and shrubs in the front courtyard, she suddenly "saw" someone. She wasn't merely invisible; everything she "saw" in the dark of night was as bright as day, complete with all sorts of dazzling "special effects." The alert perimeter around the Magic Tower, for instance, was different from its surroundings, shimmering with a purple glow.

The figure was sneaking out of her aunt's Magic Tower. It was someone she knew better than anyone: her father, His Highness the Grand Duke. She covered her mouth in astonishment. Ever since her mother had died giving birth to her younger brother, her father had never remarried. A few years later, her aunt had returned from Middle Earth with Alice and had looked after her and her brother ever since. She had always thought of her aunt as a mother and Alice as her own little sister.

If her father married her aunt, no one would object, would they? But more than ten years had passed without anything happening between them, and everyone had grown used to it. Yet what Princess Andrea had witnessed tonight rekindled the flames of gossip in her heart...

She waited until her father's figure had disappeared into the distance, then sneaked back into her room through a window. After changing her clothes, she opened her bedroom door and gently patted the face of the maid sleeping on the little bed in the outer room. "Wake up, Lulu. It's time to get up. I need to go practice my sword."

Though she hadn't slept all night, the Princess, a Great Knight, was full of energy, ready to welcome the new day...

Meanwhile, in the Ayrland Empire, after the respected candidate Wilson had calmed down, he began to reflect. First of all, although that country bumpkin student from the New Continent had tricked him, the price he'd paid was negligible compared to what he'd gained. He had already gotten the better end of the deal last time. And under the addendum to their Magic Contract, all he had to do now was give the young man the Meditation Method for Full Alchemists and the corresponding spell knowledge, and the young man would hand over the Patent Technology for Concrete without complaint. If he could meet the military's needs this time, their support for his promotion to full committee member was all but assured. Then his Family would have a seat on both the Mage Committee and the Alchemist Committee, and becoming one of the country's leading Magic Clans would be only a matter of time.

But there was a problem. The Ayrland Empire had abolished the old system of passing down magical knowledge from master to apprentice. No one was allowed to teach magical knowledge privately. If the young man were still at school, he'd receive the knowledge he needed after becoming a Full Alchemist, without Wilson's help, and the Academy would give him extensive support. As things stood, giving him the knowledge was no problem—but Wilson was afraid it might come back to haunt him later. What should he do?

A few days later, an application made its way through multiple rounds of screening and landed on the desk of Sir Klein, president of the Ayrland Alchemist Committee and Secretary General of the Pan-Continent Alchemist Association.

He picked up the elegant Gold-Rimmed Crystal Glasses and settled them on the bridge of his nose. Then he took the document from the fine Mahogany Desk with its ornate carvings and began to read it carefully.

The title read: "Application to Establish a New Alchemist Association Branch in the White Hawk Duchy of the New Continent"

The contents were as follows:

Dear Secretary General,

We have learned that Mr. Edward Smith, a graduate of our school, has recently been promoted to Full Alchemist in the White Hawk Duchy on the New Continent.

He made his ambition clear when he left the Academy: to put down roots in the remote New Continent and expand the reach of the Alchemist profession. After careful consideration, the Mentors of our Alchemy Department have determined that he meets the Association's requirements for establishing an Alchemist Association Branch on the New Continent. These requirements stipulate that the territory must have a Mage Guild Branch and a Magic Tower, as well as one resident Full Alchemist.

With the whole of Middle Earth engulfed in war, we must ensure that the supply line from the White Hawk Duchy to the Ayrland Empire remains stable and uninterrupted. An experienced Alchemist is urgently needed across the ocean to maintain and repair the Magic Arrays of the steam engines aboard passing Cargo Ships.

We therefore request permission to establish an Alchemist Association Branch in the White Hawk Duchy and to provide it with the necessary supplies. We also request that Full Alchemist Mr. Edward Smith be appointed head of the Alchemist Association White Hawk Duchy Branch.

Respectfully,

Alchemy Department, Ailande Royal Magic Academy

Guarantor: Candidate member of the Royal Alchemist Committee of the Ayrland Empire—Derek Wilson.

Sir Klein's wrinkled old face broke into a faint smile. He removed his glasses and gave the document a little shake before turning to his assistant.

"Carter, have you read this document?"

The middle-aged man standing nearby gave a slight nod. "Yes, sir. I have."

"What do you think? Let's hear it." The old man watched his assistant through narrowed eyes.

"That candidate member certainly has the country's interests at heart. Thinking to protect our Shipping Route is a patriotic gesture indeed." The assistant offered a pompous remark he didn't mean.

"Hmph." The old man snorted in disdain.

"With such meager academic accomplishments, that fellow thinks he can join the Committee. What a pipe dream. He's clearly in a hurry—already thinking of building up his own influence in the Association.

"You should know that every Branch gets one vote when the Alchemist Association elects its committee members. And once someone becomes a member of the Alchemist Association Committee, he automatically becomes a member of the Royal Alchemist Committee. The Wilson family certainly has a big appetite!"

"But, sir, you have to consider that if young Mr. Wilson can meet the military's needs, the Empire's defenses at Marchburg will be secured. And then there's the military's opinion..." Mr. Carter leaned forward and lowered his voice.

"Looks like you've gotten quite a few benefits yourself. Otherwise, this document wouldn't have made its way to me so quickly." The old man smiled and lightly pointed his quill at his assistant.

"Still, I'll do old Wilson a favor this time. The war has started, after all, so that thing isn't in such short supply anymore. Opening a new Branch is no great matter."

With that, the president and Secretary General wrote the word "Approved" beneath the application in his quill pen and signed his name.

He watched his assistant leave with an armful of documents. Then the old man leaned back against the carved sofa chair. Sunlight slanted in through a window, casting half his face in shadow.

In a voice no one else could hear, he muttered to himself:

"When someone comes in, someone else has to leave. Young Mr. Wilson is in such a hurry to get in. Heh. He'll find out soon enough: being a candidate member for the rest of your life is the happiest fate of all..."