Abnormal Situation

After lunch break, the written test in the afternoon was Arithmetic.

For most candidates, the exam period for this subject should be the least stressful time of the entire assessment. Therefore, compared to the serious atmosphere during Rune Studies, both candidates and invigilators were visibly much more relaxed in the afternoon exam room.

Almost effortlessly, Larkspur finished the afternoon's test. This time, because the questions were genuinely easy, she didn't leave any blanks; she simply deliberately got a few calculations wrong before handing in the paper.

After the exam, as promised, Larkspur took a few junior colleagues to a dessert restaurant.

The chosen location was the same one she and Ink Lotus had visited before. Although that meal was fraught with mishaps, the quality of the food and the service left a good impression on Larkspur. So when she decided to take her juniors out for snacks, the first place that came to mind was a shop called "Honey Etch".

Several magical girls sat around a round table in the restaurant, slowly savoring desserts and enjoying a moment of relaxation after the exams, while sharing their feelings about the first day of the written tests.

"Do you guys even understand? The feeling of my mind going completely blank back then?"

Lin Xiaolu held a spoon in one hand and waved it in the air. "My brain tells me that I've memorized the content of this question, and I can indeed recite it, but my subconscious tells me that I've memorized it incorrectly, in the wrong place."

"But here's the strange thing! I didn't feel this way when I was reviewing last night. To be honest, although I memorized all of this, my memory is pretty good, so how could the things I memorized be mixed up?"

Lin Xiaolu looked incredulous. "And the most crucial thing is, now that I've left the exam room, when I try to recall those questions, I feel like I've remembered them again!"

"You remembered it after leaving the exam room?"

Larkspur listened patiently to Lin Xiaolu's recap. When Lin Xiaolu got to this point, Cui Que subconsciously repeated, "Including now?"

"Of course, I feel perfectly clear-headed right now."

Lin Xiaolu nodded. "Larkspur, feel free to ask me a few questions."

"Good."

Without saying much, Larkspur directly asked a few questions from the test paper, and then found a few knowledge points from the book that hadn't been tested this time. In this series of questions and answers, although Lin Xiaolu stumbled over her memorization and made many mistakes in details, she surprisingly answered them all quite correctly.

You could say her understanding was superficial, but it certainly wasn't to the point of mixing up the contents of the book.

The group had been together since leaving the exam hall, so we can rule out the possibility that Lin Xiaolu was cramming at the last minute to save face. Therefore, the level that Lin Xiaolu is showing now should be her true level.

Not only was Larkspur surprised, but Bai Jingxuan and Xia Liang were also astonished. Lin Xiaolu's answer was basically the same as what they had in mind. In other words, Lin Xiaolu's grasp of the <Rune Studies> exam content was definitely not as poor as she had described in the chat group at noon.

"... If that's the case, then it's very likely the effect of the Spell Formula."

After a moment's thought, Larkspur offered a more reasonable explanation. "Props would be stopped at the security checkpoint outside the exam hall. To achieve this effect, only Spell Formula can be used."

"Are there really such Spell Formula?" Xia Liang asked curiously from the side.

"Yes, the Spell Formula that interfere with thinking, although relatively weak, only make people's memories a little blurry and their decision-making a little slower. They cannot play a decisive role in battle."

Larkspur's expression was serious. "But if it's in the examination room, this kind of Spell Formula consumes very little magic power, making it easy to fool the proctor. And if it's only used in a small area, it won't be exposed due to any disturbance."

"Huh? So, the reason I was in such a bad state during the exam was because someone was sabotaging me?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaolu immediately raised her eyebrows. "No wonder it felt so strange, so someone was trying to lower my score?"

Bai Jingxuan listened to the discussion with some confusion. After a while, she asked curiously, "If it really is Spell Formula, then why would that person do it?"

"It's either to reduce competition, or to lower the passing grade, or it's simply a matter of dark psychology."

Xia Liang took a sip of her milkshake and slowly analyzed, "To be precise, if you can lower other people's scores, you can indirectly lower the passing score and increase your own chances of passing... or something like that?"

"It's not impossible."

Larkspur nodded. "The proctors in the examination room usually focus on whether any candidates are cheating. In addition, there are many magical girls present, and the magical fluctuations are mixed. Therefore, this kind of Spell Formula, which is very well concealed and whose purpose is not to cheat, is easily overlooked."

"But if it only targets a few people, it's unlikely to lower the passing score, right?"

Xia Liang further pondered, "After all, there are so many candidates this year. Lowering the scores of a few candidates is simply a drop in the ocean; it's impossible for it to change the passing score. Unless..."

"Unless many people are doing this."

The Larkspur squinted. "But if I remember correctly, this kind of Spell Formula is quite obscure. There aren't many books that record it that have survived. Is it really possible for many people to learn and master this Spell Formula?"

"Yes, that's why I said it could also be simply a case of psychological darkness."

Xia Liang laughed and said, "There are people like that, who don't need any personal gain in doing things; they'll do anything to harm others."

"And then I just happened to become that victim and the unlucky one?"

Lin Xiaolu blinked and pointed to herself. "Could it really be such a coincidence?"

"It seems quite likely at the moment."

Xia Liang nodded. "After all, you've proven that you did memorize the text, and a magical girl's body shouldn't experience such a large fluctuation in condition due to emotions like 'nervousness.' So we can only consider whether it's due to external factors."

"Damn it! If I find out who did this, I'm definitely going to fight her tomorrow!"

Lin Xiaolu first gritted her teeth, and after venting her anger, she seemed to suddenly realize something, turned to Larkspur, and gave her a pitiful look. "Cui... ah, Gentian..."

"... What's wrong?" Seeing her expression, Larkspur's eyebrows twitched, but she still asked in return.

"So I really did memorize it, and I really did memorize it. I genuinely didn't want you to worry or be disappointed."

Lin Xiaolu pulled her chair closer to Larkspur: "I'm so sad, so wronged..."

Seeing her actions, Larkspur couldn't help but half-close her eyelids and slowly sigh.

She reached out and placed her hand on Lin Xiaolu's back, giving it a perfunctory pat and two light taps. "I never blamed you for anything. I believe in your efforts."

It has to be said that Lin Xiaolu has indeed become increasingly fond of acting coquettishly lately.

If when she first met Larkspur, she could at least be seen as a rebellious teenage girl, but now she's behaving like an elementary school student, just like Bai Jingxuan.

Unfortunately, Larkspur found it hard to resist her daughter's coquettish advances, so Lin Xiaolu gradually became more and more proactive, to the point that she now even dares to do so in public.

However, even under these circumstances, the fact that "someone secretly used Spell Formula in the examination room" still aroused Larkspur's vigilance.

Even though Xia Liang eventually revised her opinion, realizing that it might just be some candidates with "dark psychology," from Larkspur's perspective, she couldn't let go of such a risky matter.

If this situation is indeed not an isolated case, and many test takers are using this Spell Formula to disrupt others' concentration, then let's leave aside the two easy subjects today, but who knows how chaotic the two more difficult subjects will become tomorrow.

Even just in case, she couldn't stand idly by and watch something that could have such a large-scale impact on students' scores happen.

Later, I'll submit this suspicious case to the Magic Affairs Institute, and tomorrow I'll increase the intensity of the investigation.

While stroking her daughter's head to comfort her, Larkspur thought to herself.