Viktor's Silence

Viktor skimmed through Lina's thesis outline in no time.

Following the review process, he needed to swap "answer sheets" with Jayce, each reading through Lina's and Kaya's thesis outlines before giving their joint opinion.

So Kaya brought her thesis over to Viktor.

Lina nervously walked up to Jayce and handed him her open notebook:

"Professor Jayce, this is my thesis design."

"Mm." Jayce took the notebook. Like Viktor just had, he casually asked Lina:

"What's your name?"

"Lina."

"Last name?"

"No last name." Lina stole a glance at Viktor nearby, her tone gaining confidence: "I'm just Lina."

"Oh?" Jayce caught on too: "You're a Zaunite?"

"Yes." Lina nodded openly.

"A real Zaunite." Jayce studied her delicate, refined face and couldn't help praising: "Student Lina, you don't look like one at all."

Lina: "..."

You don't look like a Zaunite—

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

But after reading Li Wei's article, hearing that kind of praise now somehow just made her feel uncomfortable.

Jayce, oblivious to this, simply picked up the notebook and began reviewing Lina's thesis design as routine.

A moment later—

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

The final result was about to come out, and Lina and Kaya both held their breath in tension.

But Viktor's answer was: "Both have issues. Hard to tell them apart."

"Mm." Jayce nodded. "I think so too."

"Their thesis outlines are on roughly the same level, and they finished at almost the same time. It's really tough to pick a winner."

But there was only one spot left in the research group.

"So?" Miss Kaya asked, her tone expectant.

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

Because everyone knew Jayce was the group leader—the final decision was his.

"I think—" Jayce's gaze swept over Lina and Kaya one by one.

The room fell so quiet you could hear heartbeats.

Even the students who'd given up on the assessment watched intently.

Finally, Jayce gave his answer:

"I think Student Kaya is a better fit for our research group."

"If no other student can submit an outline design, then she's the chosen one."

The room went silent. No one stepped forward.

Clearly, the winner was decided.

Lina's face turned pale in an instant.

Her lips moved as if to say something, but glancing at the triumphant Kaya Ferros, she reluctantly shut her mouth.

What was there to say?

If her thesis design had clearly outshone Kaya's, maybe there'd be a sliver of hope.

But with their performances so close, who needed to think about which way Professor Jayce would lean?

A Piltover young lady versus a Zaunite country girl—anyone knew how that would go.

Not just Lina, but everyone else present, especially the Zaunite exchange students, seemed to have expected Kaya's victory all along, showing no surprise at all.

No one questioned Jayce's judgment.

Everyone accepted it naturally.

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

It was Jayce who proactively explained his decision:

"I chose Student Kaya mainly because, even though her and Student Lina's thesis designs are hard to separate, if I had to compare, I think Lina's design has bigger flaws."

"She only considered determining the engine and generator's operating point based on the Steam Golem's optimal braking fuel consumption rate curve, but that operating point merely means the engine achieves its highest fuel-to-effective mechanical power conversion efficiency there. For the energy augmentation device discussed in this problem, however, it's generally desirable for the engine and generator to operate at the point with the highest fuel-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency."

Professor Jayce's clear and meticulous analysis won the heartfelt admiration of all the students present.

Imperceptibly, those strange looks began to fade.

The students were all listening attentively, and the subtle atmosphere shifted along with it.

Even Lina herself, though helpless, had to accept this defeat with genuine respect.

She believed it was entirely due to her own lack of skill that Professor Jayce had made that judgment.

"Classmate Caitlyn. Congratulations."

Lina conceded defeat to her archrival, utterly crestfallen.

As for how smug Caitlyn's smile was, or how triumphantly she followed behind Professor Jayce, leaving the classroom with her new teacher—

Lina had no energy left to watch.

She just slumped down beneath the lectern, endlessly reflecting on her earlier mistake.

If only she had thought things through more thoroughly and avoided the error Professor Jayce had pointed out. Maybe, just maybe, she would have had a chance—but why hadn't she considered it!

"Don't blame yourself too much, classmate Lina."

Suddenly, a low male voice sounded in her ear.

Lina looked up and saw Viktor, leaning on his cane:

"Professor Viktor—you, you haven't left yet?"

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

"What is it?"

"This failure isn't your fault." Viktor's tone was complicated: "Though the error Jayce pointed out in your work does exist."

"But a mistake of the same magnitude isn't absent from classmate Caitlyn's paper design either."

"Her experimental design for optimizing strategies to reduce transient engine conditions is practically a disaster. If we're comparing design flaws, I don't think yours is necessarily worse."

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

Though Viktor spoke euphemistically, she understood:

Her paper design wasn't inferior to Caitlyn's!

She hadn't lost—at least, not in terms of skill.

"Then why did Professor Jayce..." Lina trailed off. She still didn't dare say it. Saying it wouldn't help anyway.

But Viktor, with a meaningful look, said it for her:

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

"But... he was ultimately raised in Piltover."

Viktor sighed helplessly, stopping there with that hint.

The Jayce Talis he knew wasn't the kind of person who would abandon his principles to curry favor with the powerful.

At least, not yet.

Jayce certainly hadn't favored Caitlyn because of House Ferros's prestige or his own dealings with the Ferros family.

But for some reason, he had subconsciously excluded Lina.

And that reason was something Jayce himself couldn't recognize.

But Viktor could—in the years of working with Jayce, he had experienced it many times.

"Is it because..." Lina grasped the bitter truth: "I'm a Zaunite?"

"I'm sorry." Viktor couldn't bear it.

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

She sat there dazed for a long time, but eventually mustered her spirits:

"Professor Viktor, you have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one who should thank you."

"Thank me..." Viktor fell silent.

What was there to thank him for?

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

Why? In their usual scientific research, he had often disagreed with Jayce.

Why had he dared not speak up this time?

Because...

"I'm still that Zaunite. After more than a decade, it's still the same."

Zaunites were used to staying silent.

Viktor's expression gradually changed.

His gaze quietly hardened. Gripping his cane with both hands, he slowly pushed his frail body upright.

"Miss Lina, hand me your notebook."

"Huh?" Lina looked up in surprise.

"I'll take it back and discuss it with the research group." Professor Viktor promised with a firm tone. "If everyone recognizes your abilities, perhaps I can fight for an extra spot for you."

Lina's eyes lit up at once.

She fumbled hurriedly for the notebook and solemnly placed it in Viktor's hands.

"Professor Viktor, thank—" she stammered, "Thank you!"

This time, Viktor accepted her gratitude without hesitation.

He carefully tucked the notebook into his chest, bid her farewell with his cane, and turned to leave.

Lina watched his retreating back with gratitude, her eyes following him as he grew distant.

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

"That notebook!"

When she had handed it to Viktor and Jayce for review before, she had always flipped it open to the thesis outline page first, ready to pass it over. So the two professors had only seen what she'd written.

But that notebook contained more than just the thesis outline.

At the very beginning, there was Li Wei's article—"Zaun: Where It All Began."

"If the professors see that article..."

Lina began to fret anxiously again.

"It shouldn't be a problem, right?"