Along the flagstone paths of Ikerite Academy, early-rising students and faculty hurried past, while others walked in groups of three or four, chatting among themselves.
All this bustle and movement seemed separated by an invisible barrier from the figures standing in the distance.
Loren stood in place, silent for a long while.
He already felt like running away. He truly had no idea how he was supposed to face Juliana.
Even if the upright, proud Juliana would honor the absurd condition she had promised and go on a date with him, Loren could not imagine what kind of scene that would be.
He had no desire to spend an entire day with Juliana while she ground her teeth in fury!
Besides, if they really went on a date, the rumors in Ikerite City would probably spread like wildfire all over again!
Loren covered his eyes.
"Lanqi, I'm only begging you this: let the other students in the academic delegation return safe and sound, all right? Once Adams recovers, I'll personally take him back and offer my apologies, but as for the other twenty students, not one more can go missing."
His expression looked like a smile, yet it carried the bitter tinge of tears.
"..."
Lanqi fell silent.
Hyperion, meanwhile, could not help glancing at Phoenix, who had been standing beside them the whole time.
Loren's expression froze once more.
"...Phoenix, no matter how Lanqi threatened you, don't be afraid. Just tell me the truth, all right?"
Loren asked Phoenix with extreme tension in his eyes.
He knew there was something wrong with Lanqi walking around with a student from Aloran Royal Academy!
At least this student still appeared to have all his limbs intact and didn't look like he needed to be rushed to the infirmary.
Phoenix looked at Lanqi, then back at Loren, but did not say a word.
It seemed as if he had something of utmost importance to tell Loren.
With a light flick of his fingertip, Loren cast a spell to isolate their voices from the outside world.
"All right. Whatever you want to tell me, you can say it now," Loren said gently.
Even though he didn't think it could be anything too massive, he would still listen attentively to anything involving Lanqi at this point.
"I am a Resurrection Church cultist," Phoenix replied.
"..."
Loren fell silent for a moment.
"No, Phoenix, this joke isn't funny."
Loren gave an awkward smile.
He had never seen a Resurrection Church cultist calmly walk up to him of their own accord to turn themselves in, looking as though they had undergone a complete spiritual reform.
This was nothing short of bizarre.
"I am an elite sleeper agent directly subordinate to Ivanos, the Bishop of Destruction. I only self-awaken under special circumstances to carry out missions. The plan for coming to the Hutton Kingdom this time was to assassinate Lady Hyperion and orchestrate a major catastrophe. At the same time, other Resurrection Church cultists in the Aloran Kingdom would follow up. As soon as you launched an investigation, you would fall into our trap and ignite a fuse of conflict, utterly shattering the mutual trust between the Hutton Kingdom and the Aloran Kingdom in a way you would never anticipate."
Phoenix spoke to Loren with a cold, solemn expression. Only at this moment did he cease looking like a student and regain the aura of a Resurrection Church cultist.
"...?!"
Loren's smile gradually faded away.
It was replaced by a grim solemnity mixed with total cognitive overload.
"This is a proposal drafted from the intelligence I possess, along with my written confession and a list of personnel in key agencies of the Aloran Kingdom who may be Resurrection Church cultists. I will actively confess and cooperate fully with your work. I only hope you can look after my younger sister on my behalf to protect her from retaliation by the Resurrection Church. She is innocent."
Phoenix spoke with a calm demeanor, drawing a sheaf of notes containing the intelligence and confession he had written out the previous day from his coat pocket so that Loren could comprehend the situation as quickly as possible.
"..."
With slightly trembling hands, Loren took the pages and looked down at the alarming contents written upon them.
Then he looked back up at Phoenix.
If what Phoenix said was true, then this was undoubtedly a severe security crisis.
Phoenix's standing in the Resurrection Church was no mere pawn, either; he was an elite sleeper agent of significant stature.
"Dean Loren, there will be some matters requiring your attention moving forward, including keeping Phyllis safe. As for this intelligence, it would be best not to let it pass through kingdom official channels first. Instead, communicate directly with a trustworthy, influential figure in the Aloran Kingdom and ask her to assist in a joint investigation. You know who I'm talking about, don't you?"
Lanqi spoke earnestly to Loren.
He had even accounted for the official business that Loren and Juliana would need to handle together.
True romance required a steady stream of events to give the male and female leads more and more opportunities to interact, all arranged by fate without seeming forced on either side.
Loren would now have no choice but to seek out Juliana. Moreover, he and Juliana would inevitably have to maintain frequent contact over the coming days. Sparks were bound to fly between them!
"Lanqi... First of all, I must acknowledge your professional competence, and you won't be lacking in any of the credit or commendations you deserve afterward..."
Loren gazed at Lanqi with a complicated expression.
He could no longer decipher what Lanqi was made of.
It seemed like he was messing with him, yet it also seemed like he was helping him...
Loren had to admit it:
Lanqi was, without a doubt, the most professionally capable student he had ever encountered.
He was too capable—so much so that his drive and ambition were genuinely terrifying.
"But I'm worried that if barely any students from the academic delegation manage to return home in the end, Juliana will come to the Hutton Kingdom to confront me directly," Loren said with a look of utter misery.
Counting Phyllis in the hospital and Phoenix right here, out of the twenty-one students who had arrived, only eighteen were left who could return normally a week from now.
If they lost a few more, Juliana would definitely come storming over to find him.
When that time came, Loren dared not imagine what wild rumors would spread across Ikerite.
"Really?" Lanqi's eyes lit up.
Beside him, Hyperion's eyes went wide.
From the look of him, Lanqi seemed ready to personally organize the wedding for Dean Loren!
Yet the problem was, if Knight Commander Juliana actually came to the Hutton royal capital...
And the rumors in the city took an increasingly strange turn...
If Dean Loren's fiancées found out, they would never let the romance between Dean Loren and Knight Commander Juliana proceed smoothly!
In fact, his fiancées would likely step onto the stage in person.
If that happened, there was no doubt about it—an epic battlefield of jealous drama would unfold!
If only for the peace of Ikerite, Hyperion knew that the Aloran Kingdom's student delegation could not suffer any more casualties!
Loren dared not speak any further with Lanqi. A normal person could never fathom the logic of such a lunatic.
The more he said, the more likely he was to trigger Lanqi's motivation and drive him to do something unhinged.
With that, Loren vanished on the spot along with Phoenix like a gust of wind.
As the airflow dispersed, the sound-isolating spell barrier faded as well. The campus bustle, the laughter of other students, and the rustling of leaves in the breeze drifted once more into Lanqi's and Hyperion's ears.
"Lanqi, what are you planning to do today...?" Hyperion asked somewhat warily.
Now that they had delivered their person, the two of them strolled leisurely back along the path.
Lanqi looked at Hyperion's expression and paused in thought for a brief moment.
Beside the small path flowed the academy's artificial river. Its waters were crystal clear, with occasional fallen leaves drifting across the surface, reflecting the blue sky and green trees in picturesque serenity.
"Today I plan to take a rest day, head over to the Card Makers Association to buy some materials, and then practice card crafting a bit to make an alteration card for the Poet of Great Love," Lanqi replied after thinking it over.
If he didn't deliver on what he had promised the Poet of Great Love right away, she might refuse to listen the next time she came out.
Besides, while the Poet of Great Love was in high spirits, he could have her help him with card crafting wholeheartedly.
"Phew..."
Hyperion let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Lanqi did indeed have a rest-and-recovery break granted by the academy after completing the Shadow World: Banquet of Sanctuary Villains.
"By the way, Hyperion, could you lend me your Polymorph: Human for a couple of days to study?"
For the time being, if Lanqi wanted to create skins for the Poet of Great Love that altered her race, the spell mechanics would all be extensions based on polymorph magic. Using Polymorph: Demon as a foundation, he could turn her into other types of demons, while using Polymorph: Human as a base would allow him to transform her into a human.
Lanqi simply wasn't sure whether changing the Poet of Great Love's race would cause any unintended side effects. The final outcome of the skin would also incorporate Lanqi's own hand-painted work.
"No problem."
Hyperion readily took out Polymorph: Human and handed it to Lanqi, while maintaining her human form using the disguise magic she had originally relied on.
Even though helping Lanqi play dress-up with Miss Tata's appearance gave her a strong sense of guilt, Hyperion was also somewhat curious to see what the Poet of Great Love would look like. After all, Tata was remarkably gorgeous at her core. If possible, Hyperion even wanted to bring out a variety of outfits from the ducal manor to dress Tata up herself.
Chapter 202