The moment Monaster stepped through the doorway, his eyes immediately turned to the sofa in the lounge area.
"Splendid, both of you are in the student council room."
Seeing Lanqi and Hyperion, Monaster offered a steady smile.
"Is there something you need our help with?"
Lanqi closed the book in his hands, set it on the table, and looked attentively at the council president.
Only a single month remained in this semester. Although Lanqi's mind had lately been occupied with planning and preparing for their trip to the Northern Continent over the winter break, he remained deeply attentive to matters concerning the academy.
"I just went to the School of Knights to coordinate a few matters."
With his customary elegance, Monaster took a seat across from them, while Frey followed the president in and sat beside him.
The dark wood coffee table rested quietly on the carpet, its edges gently rounded.
Asna soon brought over two cups of coffee. Rich aromas wafted from the hot brew, diffusing throughout the warm room and dispelling the chill that had slipped in behind the newcomers.
"Do you remember the 'Soul of the Fighter' team from the School of Knights?"
After thanking her, Monaster took a gentle sip of his coffee with a weary expression, set the porcelain cup down, and looked at Lanqi and Hyperion.
"Mm, of course."
Both nodded in unison.
When they had first joined the student council, their very first assignment had been helping negotiate the demolition of an unsafe, dilapidated building used by the Soul of the Fighter club.
It was precisely during that task that the three of them had been chased across several streets by a group of furious brawlers. That shared brush with danger had quickly bonded them.
"Here is the situation—"
Monaster let out a sigh and began explaining the circumstances.
"First of all, ever since that demolition incident, Cervini, the leader of Soul of the Fighter, underwent a shift in mindset. She transferred to the School of Alchemy to study law. Cervini is currently devoted entirely to her studies and has completely abandoned the spirit of martial combat. She hasn't set foot in a Shadow World or the arena since."
"..."
Hearing this, Hyperion could not help but glance at Lanqi.
The chief culprit was sitting right beside her.
"Quite reasonable, isn't it? It seems perfectly reasonable to me. But the fighters from Aloran Royal Academy don't see it that way. They think it's absurd—that our academy's fighters are simply cowards dodging a fight, having fabricated an excuse that insults their intelligence."
Monaster continued his explanation.
The fighters from Aloran Royal Academy had come here with the explicit purpose of clashing fists and wagering their martial souls in a thrilling contest against Ikerite Academy's finest. But with Cervini, the strongest among them, absent, their entire trip felt stripped of meaning.
Consequently, the Aloran fighters came up with a scheme: during the scheduled match, they would mercilessly brutalize the remaining members of the Soul of the Fighter team.
Their reasoning was that if her subordinates were beaten badly enough, Cervini would surely be unable to contain her fury and step up to accept their challenge.
Her underlings, however, knew very well how hard their boss had been working. Day and night, neglecting sleep and meals, she poured herself into studying for the upcoming judicial examination.
They had fought tooth and nail, desperate to end the match through their own strength so that their boss wouldn't be troubled or have her exam compromised.
Ultimately, the fight turned into what Hyperion had just witnessed on the magic screen. Because it had become too brutal, it had to be halted midway.
"Mr. Sphintos, Dean of the School of Knights, awarded the victory directly to Aloran Royal Academy. However, their fighters adamantly refused to accept it. They insisted the match be carried through to the very end, claiming that stopping it with outside intervention clearly violated the spirit of a duel.
"Personally, I believe Dean Sphintos made the proper call. But given that my duty is to properly host the academic visiting delegation from Aloran Royal Academy, I hoped to accommodate those students' feelings as best as possible. So I went to negotiate with the Aloran fighters and agreed upon a condition."
At this point, Monaster finally breathed a sigh of relief, having largely recounted what he and Frey had just dealt with at the School of Knights.
"What condition, exactly?" Hyperion asked curiously.
She was confident in Monaster's exceptional communication and negotiation skills. Even when dealing with unreasonable brawlers, he could surely broker a convincing agreement.
"The match will resume the day after tomorrow. If they win, I will communicate with the School of Alchemy and request that student Cervini step forward to accept their challenge. But if our side wins, they are forbidden from disturbing Cervini's law exam any further," Monaster answered.
"I see... So what are our chances of winning?" Lanqi asked with genuine interest.
Having heard what Hyperion had told him earlier, he seemed to have developed an interest in the concept of winning and losing.
"None," Monaster replied crisply and without hesitation.
Today's match had already laid bare the stark disparity in their strength; it had only been halted due to suspicions of intentional abuse.
If they fought again, our fighters, their hearts already gripped by terror and defeat, would have zero chance of victory.
"What I didn't anticipate, however... was that Aloran Royal Academy's academic delegation has, in a sense, been remarkably successful. At least from the results, they have defeated us three times in a row. So the professor leading their delegation simply proposed turning this team duel into the concluding event of the academic exchange between both academies."
As Monaster spoke, his brow furrowed again. This was the truly troublesome part.
Adams had defeated Lanqi, Karen had defeated Lanqi, and now their fighters had secured a crushing victory in the team battle.
"Furthermore, Dean Sphintos of the School of Knights has a very different temperament from Dean Loren. While he occasionally exercises restraint, whenever the other side tries to take an inch and push for a mile, he will see it through to the bitter end. Thus, he directly agreed to this official duel. There will be a massive warm-up event beforehand, and virtually all of Ikerite City is expected to pay attention to this fight. On my way back, I even ran into your father, Lanqi. Even he is very interested in the match and wants to watch it in person."
Monaster appeared to have quite a headache over the subsequent chain of events.
"President, do you plan to simply ask Cervini to fight?"
Hyperion thought it over and felt that surrendering outright might be the best option to prevent things from escalating further.
If it degenerated into another bloody, savage brawl, it would reflect poorly on both Aloran Royal Academy and Ikerite Academy, and might even result in a catastrophic broadcast incident.
Without realizing it, she found that Lanqi's defeatist approach actually had its merits.
Peace was paramount in all things.
Monaster was currently a third-year in the School of Alchemy alongside Cervini, so speaking with her shouldn't be difficult. With his eloquence, persuading Cervini wouldn't be too hard.
"If we do that, all the efforts of the Soul of the Fighter members will have been in vain. While I must accommodate our visitors' feelings as much as possible, my primary duty remains supporting our own students. In principle, I believe we ought to help them. After all, that previous demolition was indirectly the root cause of this entire predicament," Monaster sighed.
In terms of cause and effect, the student council was the real culprit.
"..."
Hyperion's face instantly went dark with deadpan resignation.
Naturally, she knew that the true culprits behind everything were the two sitting right next to her.
"Of course, the other side set conditions as well—for instance, no powerful external ringers from the academy may substitute in. It must be the original roster of the Soul of the Fighter team. That means having Frey step in isn't an option either."
Monaster took another sip of his coffee and looked at Lanqi and Hyperion.
"Yet whenever I see how hard they fought for Cervini's sake, my heart aches for them. So, if at all possible, I hope you two can help them realize this earnest wish and bring Aloran Royal Academy's academic visit to a satisfying close."
Monaster knew Lanqi had some experience in the education sector and might excel at short-term intensive crash courses. At this point, they had nothing to lose by treating a dead horse as a live one.
Alarmed by Monaster's plea, Hyperion hurriedly interjected, "President, please think twice..."
Before Hyperion could finish, Lanqi abruptly sprang to his feet and adjusted his tie.
"This is my duty, and I shall not shirk it! I will make sure Father sees our academy's true brilliance!"
"Secretary Hyperion, Director Frey, let us make our move!"
Lanqi looked at the two sitting on the sofa and announced.
His enthusiasm surged to a terrifying height—so high that he momentarily addressed Hyperion and Frey by their titles from the Shadow World.
Chapter 219