The Foolish Mary

With a promising seedling like Lynn, the Wizard was in an excellent mood.

This recruitment had originally only been meant to gather some "consumables" to deal with those old fogeys at the Academy.

He hadn't expected to catch such a big fish!

As long as he could safely deliver Lynn to the Academy, the reward for this recruitment would certainly be substantial.

As Lynn walked toward the five Apprentices, the boys and girls immediately put on smiling faces and quietly congratulated him, their voices carrying obvious flattery and a desire to befriend him.

There were three boys and two girls. Other than one boy who appeared slightly older, the rest were all around eleven or twelve.

He could clearly sense that the way these Apprentices who had arrived earlier looked at him had completely changed.

Their former scrutiny, even faint disdain, had become curiosity, awe, and a hint of barely noticeable ingratiation.

As soon as he stopped, the oldest boy, around fourteen or fifteen, took the lead in stepping closer to Lynn.

He wore a well-tailored blue velvet coat and a decorative shortsword at his waist. With a smile as sincere and friendly as he could manage, he gave a slight bow.

"Congratulations, Lynn! Superior Soul Talent—truly astonishing!"

"I'm Carl Wilson. My father is Black Marsh City's finance officer."

When he introduced himself, there was a faint, almost imperceptible sense of superiority in his tone. However, before Lynn, he kept it well restrained.

The moment he finished speaking, a round-faced girl in a pink silk dress eagerly chimed in, her voice crisp.

"Exactly! The light from that crystal ball was so bright! I'm Lilian Rose. My father runs the largest Rose Merchant Guild in the city."

She blinked her large eyes as she curiously studied Lynn's handsome face.

Another girl, tall and slightly aloof in appearance, wore a simple white linen dress. Yet both its fabric and workmanship were exquisite.

She calmly added, "Eileen White. My father is the deputy commander of the city guard."

Her introduction was brief, but her gaze lingered on Lynn for several seconds longer. Clearly, she was not as calm inside as she appeared.

Seeing this, the remaining two boys hurriedly squeezed forward as well.

One was chubby and freckled, and he smiled honestly.

"My name is Thomas Iron Hammer. My family runs a blacksmith shop. Half the best weapons in the city come from our workshop!"

He patted his chest, looking rather proud.

The last boy was small and thin, and seemed somewhat shy. He said quietly, "I... I'm Benjamin. My father is... a clerk."

His voice was nearly inaudible. Clearly, both his family background and presence were a notch below the others, leaving him somewhat self-conscious.

These five clearly all came from families of some standing in Black Marsh City. They were either wealthy or noble.

By taking the initiative to reveal their family backgrounds, they were showing goodwill and hoping to use their status to earn some favor from this "genius."

Lynn took in all their expressions and understood.

These people were all those with "inferior talent" who had failed last year's test and only barely passed this year because the Mental Power standard had been lowered.

Before the talent test, every one of them would have been someone Lynn needed to curry favor with. Now, however, they were all trying to please him because of the gap in their talents.

Lynn was not a vain person, but he still felt a heartfelt sense of pleasure.

This feeling... was great!

A faint smile appeared on his face as he simply replied.

"Hello. I'm Lynn."

He did not mention his origins, and his tone remained flat.

Yet that simple response did not make the five feel slighted. Instead, they found it perfectly natural.

A genius had to have a bit of pride.

If I had Superior Talent, I'd be even more arrogant than him!

Carl immediately took over, his tone warm. "Brother Lynn, we'll be classmates from now on. Once we reach the Academy, please look after us!"

Lilian nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes! We're all from Black Marsh City, so we should help each other!"

Eileen gave a slight nod, indicating her agreement.

Thomas scratched his head and revealed an honest smile.

Benjamin simply looked at Lynn eagerly.

Keeping his smile, Lynn nodded with a measure of sincerity. "Of course. Helping each other is only right."

As for how much sincerity there truly was in his words, perhaps only he himself knew.

He did not reject their goodwill. After all, as children of noble families, they certainly knew more about Wizards than he, an "outsider," did.

He needed information, and these local noble children were his channel for quickly learning about the Wizard World and the Academy.

The Wizard was clearly extremely satisfied with this harvest. After quickly dismissing the few distracted test-takers behind them, he prepared to put away the crystal ball.

"Wait! Lord Wizard, please wait! I... I want to be tested too!"

An urgent, tearful voice came from the doorway.

A figure Lynn had never expected burst inside—it was Mary!

Mary limped in with disheveled hair, her face still flushed from running and filled with terror.

The black mist beneath the hood of the black-robed Wizard stirred, clearly showing his displeasure.

The test was about to end. This late arrival was showing him disrespect.

The air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Feeling that invisible pressure, Mary went pale with fright and collapsed onto the floor.

At that moment, she caught sight of Lynn standing among the Apprentices from the corner of her eye. Like someone grasping a lifeline, she shrieked.

"Lord Lynn!"

Lynn frowned deeply.

Idiot! An idiot who couldn't read the situation! An idiot so stupid she belonged in a museum!

If he had only possessed ordinary talent, that shout might have implicated him and displeased the Wizard.

The Wizard's gaze swept between Lynn and Mary, and he understood that the two knew each other.

Thinking of Lynn's Superior Talent, he suppressed his displeasure, took out the crystal ball again, and said coldly, "Put your hand on it."

This stupid bitch was quite lucky. That shout had earned her a bit of Lynn's favor.

Otherwise...

Mary's heart leaped with joy, and she shakily pressed her hand against it.

The crystal ball lit up faintly, carrying a trace of pink light.

"Lesser Charm Talent. Mental Power: 8."

The Wizard frowned. "Her Mental Power hasn't reached the required standard... forget it. Since she's here, count her in."

He had clearly given Lynn some face.

Mary wept with joy and nearly went limp on the floor.

Yet she still forced herself up and limped over to Lynn. Instinctively, she tried to grab his arm again.

Lynn frowned and sharply pulled his arm back, staring at her with icy eyes.

This stupid woman! She came after me so quickly. She definitely hadn't followed my instructions and delayed long enough!

What if Skinny Monkey discovered it early...

Frightened by his stare, Mary's face turned deathly pale. She hurriedly explained in a low voice.

"L-Lord Lynn, I... I snuck out too. I climbed through the window and twisted my ankle..."

"I didn't tell anyone! Really! The matrons don't know we came out!"

Lynn stared at her for several seconds. Only after confirming that she did not appear to be lying did his expression soften slightly.

This woman wasn't completely stupid after all!

Forget it. Things had already come to this. He was now a Wizard Apprentice; surely the Bloodhand Gang wouldn't dare do anything to him.