After lunch, Dekan and Cornelia went to the library as usual.
They sat at the little round table where they often spent time.
Cornelia buried herself in her homework.
Dekan, meanwhile, had a book in his hands: Common Mistakes in the Making of Third-Tier Magic Cards.
He leisurely sipped his coffee as he flipped through it.
Now that Dekan had reached the third tier, he had plenty of new questions to research.
Although he had studied a lot about making third-tier Magic Cards back when he was still in the second tier,
he had discovered over the past couple of days that putting his knowledge into practice still led to unexpected snags.
Master spent most of the time asleep, so Dekan often had to teach himself.
Since he had the afternoon free, he might as well stay in the library and look through the books he needed.
Besides, Cornelia needed him around.
Nobody was forcing Cornelia to study, but she never slacked off. She was just too diligent.
Dekan couldn't bear to see her gritting her teeth over her books.
Besides, being with Cornelia gave him a peculiar sense of comfort.
Like a pilot standing beside a Gundam.
"So I was overthinking third-tier Magic Cards..."
Dekan finished the book in his hands, closed it, and stood up with it.
He wanted to return it to the shelf and find something more stimulating to read.
The school library was no Royal Capital Library, but it still housed hundreds of thousands of books.
Dekan found the section that interested him. Like a boy admiring merchandise in a display window, he gazed at the shelves with bright, sparkling eyes, running a finger along the spines one by one.
He was looking for something.
[Poison Refining ①] [Poison Refining ②] [Poison Refining ④]
Who had borrowed [Poison Refining ③]?
Dekan had wanted to borrow all four of these classics at once.
He hadn't expected anyone at this school to share his interests.
With a sigh of regret, Dekan pulled out ① and ②.
He'd take these two for now.
Taking ④ might leave the other person with nothing to read after they finished ③.
There was no need to make things difficult for each other. He could be considerate.
Maybe they'd meet someday.
Kindhearted people were drawn to one another.
When he returned to Cornelia, Dekan set the two books down on the table.
Before opening one, he seemed to remember something.
"By the way, Cornelia, there's one more thing I need to ask you to do."
Dekan suddenly turned to Cornelia beside him.
"What?"
Cornelia leaned closer, waiting for him to continue.
"To earn our credits, there's one last step: we need to submit a report. How about you write it this time?"
Dekan asked in a gentle voice.
"Hmm..."
Cornelia swallowed audibly.
She seemed a little reluctant.
"It's fine. Just write whatever you like. I'm sure you'll do a better job than me."
After returning to the dorm yesterday, Dekan had planned to write the report himself.
After all, he was an administrative worker.
Sitting at his desk with a pen in hand, he somehow found himself writing, "In the middle of the Taiyuan era, there lived a man from Wuling who made his living by fishing..."
He hurriedly crossed it out and started over.
But after he finished,
he reread it from every angle and realized it sounded just like The Peach Blossom Spring.
That didn't seem to fit the report's requirements.
Then Dekan tried a different approach and wrote it like a factual account.
The result sounded like a criminal's confession!
Dekan could have made up a perfectly normal report without blinking.
But as an administrative worker who believed in striving for perfection, he still wanted to produce something rigorous and impartial.
Maybe Cornelia's perspective would lead to a decent piece of writing.
It could even give Dekan some ideas for how to write a report that was both truthful and professional in the future.
"Sure."
Cornelia nodded and took the report form from Dekan.
Then she picked up a Norton Kingdom dictionary, one she often used.
She began flipping through it as she wrote her summary.
Dekan shifted his chair a little closer and watched her write.
Cornelia put pen to paper:
"That day, Dekan was brought to the Demon Realm, where the demons put him to the test."
"The demons asked him, 'Do you know where you are?'"
"Dekan looked around."
"He answered, 'This is heaven.'"
"When the demons told Dekan that this was the Demon Realm, he was deeply shaken."
"If things go on like this, the Demon Realm will be ruined!"
"The demons need a savior."
"If Dekan doesn't step forward, what will become of the Demon Realm?!"
By this point, Dekan was beginning to feel that something was off.
But Cornelia was writing with such enthusiasm that he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her.
"During his inspection of Demon High School, Dekan emphasized the need to standardize selection procedures and strengthen process management, ensuring that teaching was carried out thoroughly and effectively."
"He also personally took part in the undercover investigation, providing a series of instructions to the faculty, staff, and students."
"First was Goat, who had committed the sin of envy."
"As a Proctor, he failed to get Cornelia's exam paper first. His jealousy of Lion took root, eventually leading to an irreversible tragedy. Envy is a spark that can ignite an uncontrollable blaze at any moment."
"Next was Lion, who had committed the sin of wrath."
"As a demon, he failed to remain rational. Dekan punished him, and he was destroyed by his own uncontrollable fury."
"Then there was the Demon Student, who had committed the sin of sloth."
"You're in the prime of your youth. You mustn't fear the present. Lying around is out of the question. Dekan taught him to shine and make a difference."
"Baron Batchelor had committed the sin of gluttony."
"His appetite was so enormous that sooner or later, he'd burst his stomach. Dekan taught him to exercise restraint and, more importantly, to read the situation."
"Then there was the Demon School Doctor, who had committed the sin of greed."
"While coveting others, you may end up sacrificing yourself. The greedy usually end up with nothing."
"And there was the Demon Choir, who had committed the sin of pride."
"Just when you think you've won, you may already have lost."
"Finally, there was Miss Olive, who had committed the sin of lust."
"After pursuing excessive thrills, all that remains is an unbearable emptiness, and a fall into the endless void."
"Dekan punished the demons one by one, teaching the survivors to learn from their mistakes and embrace tolerance, gentleness, diligence, restraint, generosity, humility, and chastity."
Cornelia handed Dekan the report she had written.
Then she looked at him, blinking.
She was eagerly awaiting his feedback, her eyes seeming to sparkle.
Dekan read Cornelia's masterpiece and found himself at a loss for words.
In a way, he couldn't tell whether Cornelia had some kind of special literary talent or whether she still had a serious problem with Norton Kingdom's language...
"Nicely written."
Meeting Cornelia's innocent gaze, Dekan gave her a helpless smile.
They'd submit this one. If it got rejected, he'd rewrite it himself.
Dekan thought.
The next day.
Professor Arnold sat in his office, reading the report submitted by Dekan and Cornelia. For a long time, he couldn't calm the storm of emotions inside him.
Every so often, he put the report down, then picked it up to read again.
He seemed to be checking whether he had misread anything.
Finally, he pressed the report onto his desk, covered his face with his hands, and rubbed his temples.
After a long bout of thought, Professor Arnold finally took out his seal and stamped the report, approving the credits for the two of them.
By rights, he should have sent the report back for a rewrite.
But he didn't want to review another new work from the two of them.
That would do.
Before you continue