Viktor's Silence

Viktor skimmed through Lina's thesis outline at a glance and quickly finished reading it.

According to the review process, he needed to exchange "answer sheets" with Jayce. After each had read Lina and Kaya's thesis outlines, they would give their opinions together.

So Kaya brought her paper over to Viktor.

Meanwhile, Lina nervously walked over to Jayce and handed him her open notebook.

"Professor Jayce, this is my thesis proposal."

"Mm." Jayce took the notebook. Just like Viktor had done moments ago, he casually asked Lina:

"What is your name?"

"Lina."

"And your surname?"

"I do not have one." Lina secretly glanced at Viktor beside her, sounding much more confident. "My name is just Lina."

"Oh?" Jayce immediately understood. "You are a Zaunite?"

"Yes." Lina nodded openly.

"A real Zaunite." Jayce studied her delicate, frail-looking face and could not help praising her. "Student Lina, you do not look like one at all."

Lina: "..."

You do not look like a Zaunite—

In the past, she might have taken that as a compliment from a Piltovan.

But after reading Li Wei's article, hearing such praise again now only made her feel uncomfortable for some reason.

Jayce noticed none of it.

He merely followed the usual procedure, holding up the notebook and reviewing Lina's thesis proposal.

A moment later.

"Viktor, what do you think?" Jayce frowned slightly and turned to exchange opinions with Viktor.

The final result was about to come out. Both Lina and Kaya could not help holding their breaths nervously.

But Viktor's answer was, "They both have their problems. It is hard to say who is better."

"Mm." Jayce nodded. "That is what I think too."

"Their thesis outlines are roughly at the same level, and they were even completed at nearly the same time. It is truly difficult to decide which is better."

But there was only one opening in the research group.

"Then?" Miss Kaya asked anxiously.

She, Lina, and even Viktor all instinctively looked toward Jayce.

Because everyone knew Jayce was the head of the research group. The final decision rested with him.

"I think..."

Jayce's gaze swept over Lina and Kaya one after the other.

The room was so quiet that it seemed they could hear their own heartbeats.

Even the students who had already given up on the assessment looked over with concern.

Finally, Jayce gave his answer.

"I think Student Kaya is still more suited to our research group."

"If no other students can submit an outline proposal, then she will be the selected candidate this time."

The room fell silent. No one else stepped forward.

Clearly, the winner had been decided.

Lina's face instantly went pale.

Her lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but when she saw the high-spirited Kaya Ferros beside her, she finally shut her mouth unwillingly.

What was there to say?

If her thesis proposal had been clearly superior to Kaya's, there might still have been a sliver of hope.

But now that their performances were nearly identical, who Professor Jayce would choose was hardly something that needed thinking about.

A young lady from Piltover and a country girl from Zaun—anyone knew whom to choose.

Not only Lina, but everyone present, especially the overseas students from Zaun, seemed to have expected Kaya's victory long ago. None of them looked surprised.

Not a single person questioned Jayce's judgment.

Everyone accepted it naturally.

Only Viktor frowned slightly. But after hesitating for a long time, he ultimately said nothing.

Instead, Jayce took the initiative to explain his decision.

"I chose Student Kaya mainly because although her thesis proposal is difficult to distinguish from Student Lina's, if I must compare them, I believe Student Lina's design has more serious flaws."

"She only considered using the optimal braking fuel-consumption curve of the Steam Golem to determine the operating points of the engine and generator. But that operating point merely means the engine has the highest conversion efficiency from fuel to effective mechanical output power at that point. For the energy-boosting device discussed in this problem, however, we generally want the engine and generator to operate at the point with the highest fuel-to-electrical-energy conversion efficiency."

Jayce's clear and meticulous analysis thoroughly convinced the students present.

Without anyone noticing, those strange looks began to disappear.

The students listened seriously as though in class, and the subtle atmosphere changed along with them.

Even Lina herself could only accept this defeat helplessly, yet wholeheartedly.

She believed it was all because she was not capable enough that Professor Jayce had made such a judgment.

"Student Kaya. Congratulations."

Lina conceded to her rival in a daze.

As for how smug Kaya's smile was, or how spiritedly she followed behind Professor Jayce and left the classroom with her new teacher—

Lina no longer had the strength to look.

She merely sat dejectedly beneath the podium, endlessly reflecting on her earlier mistake.

If she had considered things more thoroughly and avoided the mistake Professor Jayce had pointed out, perhaps, perhaps she might still have had a chance. But why had she not thought of it?

"Do not blame yourself too much, Student Lina."

Suddenly, a low male voice sounded by her ear.

Lina looked up and saw Viktor leaning on his cane.

"Professor Viktor, you... you have not left yet?"

"I left, but then I came back." Viktor set down his cane and slowly sat before her. "To tell you something. I think you should know it."

"What is it?"

"This failure was not your fault." Viktor's tone was complicated. "Although the mistake Jayce pointed out in your work does indeed exist."

"But Kaya's thesis proposal has mistakes of the same severity as well."

"Her experimental design for the optimization strategy to reduce the engine's transient operating conditions could practically be called a disaster. If we must compare the flaws in their designs, I do not think yours is necessarily worse."

"This..." Lina's body trembled slightly.

Although Viktor had phrased it tactfully, she still understood.

Her thesis proposal was not worse than Kaya's!

She had not lost—at least not in terms of ability.

"Then why did Professor Jayce..." Lina trailed off. She still did not dare say it. Saying it would be useless anyway.

But Viktor pointedly said it for her.

"Jayce is a pure scientist, a fair and good man."

"But... he did grow up in Piltover."

Viktor sighed helplessly and stopped there.

The Jayce Talis he knew was certainly not the sort of person who would abandon his principles just to curry favor with the powerful.

At least, not yet.

Jayce definitely had not favored Kaya because of House Ferros's prestige, or because of his interests and dealings with the Ferros family.

But for some reason, he had instinctively excluded Lina.

And it was a reason Jayce himself could not recognize at all.

But Viktor could recognize it—over the years he had worked with Jayce, he had experienced it many times.

"Is it because..." Lina realized something unwillingly. "Because I am a Zaunite?"

"I am sorry." Viktor could not bear it.

After receiving that answer, Lina's face turned even paler.

She stood there in a daze for a long time before finally forcing herself to regain her spirits.

"Professor Viktor, you have nothing to apologize for. I should be thanking you."

"Thanking me..." Viktor fell silent.

What was there to thank him for?

He could have questioned Jayce's decision earlier, yet he had said nothing.

Why? In their usual scientific research, he and Jayce had disagreed plenty of times.

Why had he not dared to speak at a time like this?

Was it because...

"I am still that Zaunite. After all these years, I am still the same."

Zaunites had grown accustomed to silence.

Viktor's expression gradually changed.

His gaze quietly hardened. Both hands gripped his cane as he used it to support his frail body and slowly rose to his feet.

"Student Lina, give me your notebook."

"Mm?" Lina raised her head in surprise.

"I will take it back and discuss it with everyone in the research group." Viktor promised firmly. "If everyone acknowledges your ability, perhaps I can secure an additional opening for you."

Lina's eyes lit up at once.

She immediately fumbled for the notebook and solemnly handed it to Viktor.

"Professor Viktor, tha..." She was so excited that she could barely speak clearly. "Thank you!"

This time, Viktor calmly accepted Lina's gratitude.

He carefully tucked the notebook into his coat, then bade her farewell with his cane and turned to leave.

Lina watched his retreating figure gratefully as Viktor gradually disappeared into the distance.

"Ah, wait." But after the excitement faded, she finally realized something.

"That notebook!"

When she had handed the notebook to Viktor and Jayce for review earlier, she had always opened it beforehand to the page containing her thesis outline before giving it to them. So the two professors had only seen what she had written there.

But the notebook contained more than that thesis outline.

At the beginning of the notebook, she had also copied down Li Wei's article—"Zaun: Where Did It Come From?"

"If the professors see that article..."

Lina became anxious and conflicted again.

"Nothing will happen, right?"