Zestira’s mind went completely blank for an instant.
Although Lanqi’s declaration sounded brazenly arrogant, paired with the bounty on his head, it felt remarkably headmaster-like.
It didn't seem in the least like a joke.
Now that Lanqi had proven his strength, almost anyone was convinced that the hundreds of thousands of credits from his cut would end up firmly in his pocket.
The promise he made was completely sound.
And once any teacher made a move, they would effectively be siding with Lanqi.
Or rather, any one of them would gladly stand on Lanqi’s side—protecting him just to ensure he passed the evaluation, waiting for him to feed those credits back into the entire faculty!
Though he was not the headmaster in name, in terms of practical prestige, he was already the true leader!
"This way, the school should become full of love and harmony."
Lanqi set down the microphone gently, walked over to the window, and drew back the curtains. Light instantly flooded the entire room. Looking out into the distance with a rather gratified gaze, he sighed.
With this, his job as a private tutor was more or less complete.
Or perhaps, a new job had only just begun.
"..."
Zestira fell silent for a moment, pondering.
"Yes," she said.
She felt her teacher was completely right.
Trash belonged in the trash bin.
Such strict management was truly the proper way to govern.
"As expected of an ambitious demon girl. Congratulations on mastering your lessons."
"Thank you, Teacher."
Listening to the exchange between master and disciple, Boss Cat felt his words catch in his throat.
It couldn't really be said that Zestira had been led astray by him...
She hadn't wanted to act like a decent person in the first place...
Yet today, Boss Cat was finally certain.
This kid suffered from severe, unadulterated cognitive impairment.
He was the most normal-looking lunatic in the entire world!
If one didn't stay close by his side and observe carefully, anyone would truly be fooled by him!
...
On the other side of the evaluation zone, within the architectural complex situated at the heart of the Protos Royal Magic Academy.
Inside the vast council chamber of the third-year top seats, the previously restless atmosphere vanished without a trace.
In the meeting hall, the top-seat students were so shocked that their mouths hung open, yet no sound came out; it felt as though heavy hammers were pounding against their brains at this very moment.
Their gazes were a tangle of indignation, resentment, and a faint hint of panic.
Lanqi’s simple words had already signaled the final outcome.
And they had no means left to counter him.
"..."
The faces of several students turned livid.
By now, their authority and any attempts at interference appeared pale and laughable.
Earlier, they had been relentlessly heaping lethal debuffs on Zestira and Lanqi, waiting to knock Zestira out in the next round.
Yet in the blink of an eye, the ones pushed to the edge of the cliff were actually themselves.
The air in the council chamber grew suffocating once more, almost choking them, as if the entire space had frozen solid.
Faced with the drastic upheaval on the screen, no one dared to casually voice any commentary or thoughts anymore.
Now, no one could predict what would happen in the next moment.
Nor did anyone know what the school would look like once today came to an end.
However, one thing was certain: no matter the outcome, today’s evaluation would become the most impactful chapter in the history of the Protos Royal Magic Academy since its founding.
Furthermore, the good days of the top-seat students were coming to an end.
The council chamber remained locked in dead silence.
In the footage that followed:
Lanqi and Zestira had already left the broadcast room and begun patrolling the corridors.
Every now and then, their bounty would abruptly leap upward again.
Some teachers were quite astute; having apprehended students who had violated rules during the first evaluation, they held back from punishing them directly and proactively dragged them before Lanqi to be dealt with.
The captured students’ eyes were glazed, tears streaming down as they begged for mercy.
Yet the teacher merely cracked their knuckles with a sinister grin, producing loud pops, before executing punishment upon them.
Amid the rapidly fading screams, Lanqi shook his head gently, then looked up above the classroom, locking eyes with the camera lens.
As though traversing the distance of time and space, he seemed to look through the screen at the faces of the top-seat students backstage and hear their voices.
Instantly, even the sound of breathing vanished from the council chamber for a second.
Lanqi merely smiled faintly before casually looking away as if it were all passing smoke.
"..."
Though that earlier look had been cast offhandedly, it gave them the illusion that they weren't sure whether they were watching Lanqi from outside the play, or Lanqi was watching them from outside theirs.
Lanqi patted the teacher on the shoulder and continued his inspection through the school.
"Is this really our Protos Royal Magic Academy?"
Scenes that seemed to belong only in nightmares had turned into reality.
The breathing of the previously carefree top seats grew ragged and erratic in an instant.
What kind of school had this become?
Even though they were still sitting in a completely safe viewing area, it only made them all the more terrified.
It was as if they had been seated here specifically to kill the chicken to warn the monkey.
"...Is this guy not afraid of retaliation?"
Finally, one of the top seats spoke up.
His hands clenched tightly into fists, fingernails digging deep into his palms with malice.
Since offense had already been given anyway, it was better to fight to the end than to submit.
Daring to cross so many people, there would always be a way to make him vanish in Herrom, the Imperial Capital!
"..."
The others looked at him without saying a word.
"...Can you be more ruthless than the folks from the Resurrection Church’s Extinction Branch?"
"..."
When one thought about it carefully:
If someone truly wanted to resort to underhanded methods to eliminate a target, the highest tier of service was to seek out the Resurrection Church’s Extinction Branch and commission them for the job.
Yet facts had proven—
Even the Extinction Branch was unwilling to mess with this guy!
While it wasn't unheard of for people to cause the Extinction Branch to suffer losses, most of them met miserable ends.
And to make that band of terrorists willingly swallow a bitter loss without enacting any retaliation whatsoever—Luoqi McCarthy was truly the first.
Hearing this, the student’s face turned as black as a pot.
"Cloris, aren't you disgusted?"
The most arrogant second seat was still attempting one last bid to sway someone who might be able to deal with Luoqi McCarthy.
This duke’s daughter, hailed as a once-in-a-century prodigy, was not on the same level as them.
And her losses were undoubtedly the greatest.
"Do you know why I’ve never missed a single Monthly Evaluation Day, even though I clearly find every one of them boring?" Cloris asked softly, a faint touch of playful mockery in her tone.
A wave of silence followed.
To her, the credits from Monthly Evaluation Day meant next to nothing anyway.
"Why?" the second seat asked after all.
"Because unlike you, I have never looked down on the academy rules."
Cloris stood up as if her work was finally done. As she did, the shadows draped over her in the backlit corner of the chamber receded, and natural light finally touched her simple hunting-style formal attire.
Walking alone toward the exit of the council chamber, there was only a smile at the corners of her mouth.
It was time to speak with Associate Professor Sido about cooperating with Luoqi. A young man like him belonged on an even greater stage to display his talents.
Chapter 293