That evening, as the lights came on, the academy's old assembly hall was decorated with classical elegance and lavish splendor.
An enormous crystal chandelier hung high above the hall, while the tables, chairs, goblets, windowsills, and glass below gleamed in the light of the Magic Lamp.
Everything at the party reflected meticulous care, from the gemstones set into the streamers and the finely patterned tableware to the courteous attendants and maids, the Magic Lamp candles, and the Runes emblems.
Wisps of mistlike radiance shimmered with color, drifting through the spacious hall to music as gentle as a breeze.
They were special effects created by modifying the light spell.
A scarlet carpet stretched into a long path, like a stairway to heaven earned through ten years of arduous study, leading people step by step into a world of luxury and refinement.
Atrelin, the Arcane Empire, revered knowledge and respected all scholars and people of wisdom, especially mages who drew power from it. Falando Academy was one of the institutions that trained mage apprentices, supplying students who would become the mages of the future.
Thus, the empire provided these future members of the ruling class with generous support.
Everything here made people feel that ten years of thankless, grueling study had been worthwhile.
Students wearing Apprentice Student robes and mage badges filed in, gathering in small groups to seek out old friends, reminisce, and speak of their impending parting.
Roland came alone. He had no interest in wandering around with a wineglass and making small talk with old acquaintances. Instead, he first looked for Atali and Cynthia.
Suddenly, mocking laughter sounded beside him.
"Well, if it isn't Roland. It's only been a few days. How did you get so pathetic?"
"What are you looking around for? Checking whether there are any dishes to wash?"
Someone chimed in, "What's this joke about dishes, guys? Did I go away for a few days and come back behind the times already?"
"Yeah, explain it to us."
"You haven't heard? Roland's fallen so far that he's washing dishes at a restaurant now. What a disgrace to Falando Academy!"
"Exactly. This is a party for graduates, yet a dropout has the nerve to show up..."
"You don't get it. He can eat and drink for free here, and this is his last chance to mingle with high society. Once he's done, he can even stay behind and earn some wages washing dishes. What a clever fellow."
"What?"
"A dropout..."
"Working for wages..."
"Isn't that just too degrading?"
The students were rather shocked.
Falando Academy was an ivory tower in the truest sense.
Apprentice Students who passed the entrance examination never had to worry about food or clothing, enjoying imperial stipends and the attentive guidance of excellent teachers.
Once they graduated successfully, they truly rose into another social class, becoming esteemed mage lords.
Even if they failed to gain admission to a mage tower, as long as they graduated, their qualifications as tenth-year Apprentice Students made it easy to find satisfying jobs and maintain a standard of living at least as comfortable as that of prosperous citizens.
They had long heard that Roland was a farmer's son from a small town, but surely he could not have fallen so far that he had to earn money through manual labor?
Yet from what these people said, it did not seem to be a lie.
Some involuntarily moved a few steps away, putting distance between themselves and him.
Others, who had previously felt nothing in particular about Roland, suddenly found him repulsive and could not help showing their contempt.
As someone who had successfully gained admission to the Wendis Mage Tower, Ramsey did not personally step forward to mock him. That would have been too petty.
Instead, he stood to one side with a wineglass, watching with a smile, immensely pleased with himself.
Naturally, he had put these disreputable friends up to it.
He was not causing trouble for no reason. He was deliberately suppressing Roland, tarnishing his image and reputation.
Who would believe a mercenary, vulgar dropout who had fallen so low that he worked in a restaurant when he shouted that an esteemed, successful man had plagiarized his paper?
Most people would only think that poverty had turned him malicious, leading him to sling mud and make baseless accusations.
They would see it as furious retaliation after his shameful circumstances had been exposed.
He might even provoke Roland into revealing the plagiarism before he had sufficient evidence, ensuring that his accusation inevitably failed.
After that, it would be difficult to pursue the matter any further.
"Ramsey, I told you, we've all been through ten years as Apprentice Students. Do you really think these petty tricks will work?
"Do you think trampling me into the mud will keep everyone from ever finding out that you plagiarized my paper?"
Roland snorted and spoke with disdain.
"Plagiarized?"
"What's going on?"
An uproar broke out.
When Ramsey heard Roland's words, he was delighted rather than alarmed.
He took the bait!
The brat really couldn't keep his cool and brought it up in public!
What an idiot!
From the very beginning, Ramsey had never intended to silence Roland, nor could he have done so.
But the problem was that when certain things were said, someone had to believe them.
The situation now clearly looked like a dropout who could not even gain admission to the lowest-ranked mage tower-no, who could not even graduate normally-lashing out in humiliation and slinging mud at someone else.
Who would believe him?
Sure enough, the other students reacted exactly as Ramsey had expected.
Most of them thought Roland had gone far too far and was being terribly foolish.
He had fallen so low that he could not graduate, yet instead of reflecting on himself, he was slandering someone else.
What good would that do?
Some students thought of another possibility and moved even farther away.
An excessively heavy academic workload could put some people under so much pressure that they developed mental illnesses.
Never mind accusations of plagiarism; it would not have been surprising even if he started shouting that someone was coming to kill him with a knife.
That was called persecutory delusion.
There was no shortage of such cases in a place as ruthlessly competitive as the Arcane Empire.
"Roland, you have to take responsibility for what you say. We're only letting this slide because we were classmates. Outside the academy, a commoner slandering a mage lord is a very serious crime."
"That's right, Roland. You're an adult now. You can't throw tantrums like a child."
"Let me say something fair: Roland, you've gone too far."
Several of his classmates looked at Roland sternly.
Ramsey's gaze shifted as he considered what he should do next.
Should he seize this opportunity to finish Roland off in one blow, or ease off for now to avoid driving him into desperate action and find another chance to deal with him later?
After looking at the classmates around him, he gradually came up with a good idea.
"Roland, I understand that you're upset because you recently failed to gain admission. I'll treat this as an unintentional mistake."
Ramsey shook his head as he spoke, putting on an air of generous tolerance.
"I won't hold it against you. Just apologize to me, and we can put this behind us."
Sure enough, his behavior won unanimous praise and respect from his classmates.
Just look at that.
They had come from the same school and the same class, so how could their characters be worlds apart?
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