Iris's Measures

After Fran finished her first Magic Duel, Iris was already waiting for her at her house that evening.

Fran didn't want to come back, after all, there was a lot going on at the Mana Communication System, and she wanted to continue working. But having done such a big thing, she knew that Iris would come looking for her.

So, she spent some time working on the Mana Communication System before returning to her house in the evening.

"Fran, you've been quite busy lately, but it seems like you haven't been focusing your energy on the things I asked you to do."

Iris's tone was very unpleasant; she felt that Fran was being extremely disobedient.

She had Fran spread her reputation, intending for Fran to gradually build her own reputation within the social circles of mages through her knowledge.

But what did Fran do? She participated in an academic competition specifically for young mages.

Before the competition, she asked Iris for a mage identity from the Northern Lands Society, and Iris, wanting to make it easier for Fran to carry out her operations in the Floating City, stamped it for her.

Participating in a competition and winning an award is one thing; no one would say that winning an award in a competition is a bad thing.

However, Fran chose a very sensitive surname as a co-author of the Paper.

Fran had previously shown Iris her stubbornness, so Iris gave up trying to persuade her and instead tried to minimize Fran's negative impact.

At that time, Iris was persuaded purely because she believed that at most only one Paper had a chance of winning the Golden Hourglass Award. If it were two, she would disagree no matter what, and...

"Forget about math-related Paper. I know your Paper have a market in the Elemental School, and Philly might be able to inspire you in that area..."

"But how do you explain that theory about alchemical experiments? I didn't see any extensive mathematical research process in it, and it only discusses one theory throughout. How is Philly supposed to inspire you? Why did you even add her name?"

"Well..."

Iris's question hit the nail on the head. In any case, Philly's name should not have been included in that Paper on the law of conservation of energy.

There's only one theory: if it was Philly who proposed it, then Fran should put Philly first; if it was Fran proposed it, then Philly's contributions during her few days of doing odd jobs are clearly not enough to warrant a place on the list.

However, Fran wanted to be on the safe side; she wanted to use Philly's name in the Champion Mage Preliminary Tournament, so she had to have Philly's name engraved as the second one.

However, Fran couldn't say that, so she hesitated for a moment and then told a little lie.

"I accidentally wrote her name down... I saw there was only a little time left before the deadline for the competition..."

That was all she could say. Logically speaking, no matter the reason, she shouldn't have put Philly's name on that Paper, unless she really wanted to cooperate with the Felistin Family.

"Wasn't this supposed to be a pledge of allegiance to the Felistin Family?"

"It really isn't."

Iris looked at Fran expressionlessly, then continued:

"Actually, you can be honest with me about what you want to do. I know you might be above the Territory Mage and have some common ground with Felistin."

Iris directly stated what she believed to be the underlying reason, while Fran immediately retorted:

"No, that's not true. I don't have much in common with Felistin."

Fran knew that the Felistin Family had never been a good partner, not to mention that they were currently in a very bad situation within the Alliance.

The other party exists as a force within the Alliance, bound by family ties. If Fran wants to further cooperate, she will inevitably have to resort to a method of winning over allies that her family relies on for survival—marriage.

Moreover, even if they were to form a marriage alliance, what could they possibly cooperate on? Fran's focus had never been on being Territory Mage; she merely viewed it as a Profession, a Profession that could provide her with assistance.

This Profession seems promising; it could help her advance to rank three, and with more effort, she could reach Fourth Order.

Furthermore, how will the profits of those family members be distributed? After she joins, will she have to share her own gains? And what kind of support can the family provide her?

These are all irreconcilable conflicts. Fran doesn't need Felistin's help now, and Felistin can't help Fran at this moment either.

Therefore, her stance has always been consistent with Iris's: she will definitely not cooperate with the Felistin Family.

"Perhaps, but given your current actions, it's hard not to suspect that you have some connection with the Felistin Family."

Iris said meaningfully, not going into further detail about that, but instead bringing up something else.

"There's one more little thing I need to remind you: if you hadn't pulled all these stunts, winning the Gold Alchemy Award would have been a sure thing for you."

"Hmm?" Fran looked up, blinked, and then asked:

"What does this have to do with the Gold Alchemy Award?"

Iris smiled and then answered slowly:

"The nominees for the Gold Alchemy Award are not easily changed. The final nomination list will be finalized six months before this year's award ceremony, and will be subject to review by the final Alchemy School committee."

"Mages who miss this cycle can only wait and see if they have a chance to be selected in the next cycle."

"However, even if your Paper cannot be changed after it is selected, the committee will still take into account your existing academic achievements, rather than just referring to that one Paper."

"After all, once the current cycle is over, it's difficult to win an award in the next cycle, so the committee will take into account all your academic achievements in this cycle."

"The two Paper you presented are quite valuable in my opinion; they are far better than those Paper that only modify spells."

"These two Paper are of very high quality, far exceeding the level of Paper that Hourglass usually receives. This is why you were able to get the Gold Hourglass with that Philly."

"You could gain more supporters with these two Paper if you didn't include Philly's name."

After hearing this, Fran showed neither disappointment nor remorse; she simply nodded, her expression unreadable.

Iris glanced at Fran a couple more times before continuing:

"The Felistin Family is currently disliked by many High-Order Mage, and targeting the Felistin Family at this moment is the right choice. Therefore, these two Paper do not increase your chances of winning the Gold Alchemy Award."

"It's just that the quality of those two Paper conveniently offset the impact you caused this time."

Iris was reminding Fran that the Gold Alchemy Award was being used; if Fran didn't include Philly's name, then she would definitely win the Gold Alchemy Award.

It seems that Iris genuinely wants Fran to stop going after the Felistin Family, and she even explained the potential consequences to Fran.

Fran could only nod again to indicate that she understood.

She has now basically achieved her goal of gaining the right to participate in the Champion Mage Preliminary Tournament. If nothing unexpected happens, she will simply maintain a superficially close but actually distant relationship with the Felistin Family.

"There's one last thing. You need to prepare yourself soon; I'm taking you to Alchemy School -High-Order Mage conference."

"I hadn't originally planned to take you to this meeting, but given the impact you've had recently, I feel it's necessary to introduce you to the High-Order Mage of the Alchemy School."

The meetings of High-Order Mage within this School generally have only one purpose: socializing and discussing matters.

Iris didn't want to go, because her status was awkward within the School, but Fran's influence was too great.

"By the way, your Paper on the laws of alchemical experiments has caught the eye of a Legendary within the School..."

"Legendary?!"

"That's right, he's a Legendary, but he hasn't held an important position within the Alchemy School for a long time."

This was precisely Iris's main reason for bringing Fran to the banquet; she had heard that this Legendary would be making an appearance, and if possible, she wanted to take Fran to meet Legendary.

"He wrote comments at the end of the Paper, praising you highly. It will probably be published along with a special issue on the Hourglass Cup."

Fran just imagined that when other mages were flipping through the Paper for this Hourglass Cup competition, wanting to see what kind of work Fran had written to win the Golden Hourglass Award twice, they would see a Legendary comment left at the back of the book.

The impact of this scene could be no less than her winning the Golden Hourglass Award with Philly's name on it.

As the Alliance's highest combat power, even Fourth Order Mage can only look up to the back of a Legendary. For such an existence to write a review of a young mage's work is undoubtedly a very significant matter.

"Besides that, I need to take you to those High-Order Mage so they can get to know you, and also make it clear to you that you will no longer get any closer to the Felistin Family."

It's hard for other High-Order Mage not to make connections when a Legendary writes a comment about a young mage who appears to be collaborating with the Felistin Family.

Did this Legendary intend to support the Felistin Family? Or was it just a misunderstanding, and the Legendary simply valued the Paper's findings?

Fran could obscure this point and mislead others, which would make many mages hesitant to act against the Felistin Family.

However, if Fran joins the banquet and speaks frankly to the mages, she can dispel this misunderstanding to the greatest extent possible.

"Alright." Fran sighed deeply. She knew that this was also Iris's way of forcing her to take a stand in order to curb her growing closer and closer relationship with the Felistin Family.

Iris simply couldn't take it anymore. After all, Fran had made a solemn promise to her, but her actions betrayed that promise, so Iris had no choice but to take some tough measures.

There was nothing she couldn't do; after all, she didn't need to get any closer to the Felistin Family.