On an early morning in the royal capital of Hutton, Lanqi rose at dawn and arrived alone at Ikerite Academy.
Passing through the station at the school gate, he watched golden light crest the eastern horizon, bathing the entire campus and stirring in him a brisk sense of vitality.
Three days had passed since the entrance examination ended.
Today, his life on campus would officially begin.
As Teacher Teresa had instructed, he needed to head to the School of Magic Engineering first to exchange his pass for a student wristband before he could move into the academy.
During this time, Lanqi and Talia had been staying at a hotel near the grounds. With her room right next door to his, she had followed him whenever he stepped outside.
Lanqi had already told her that once he moved into the exceptionally safe Ikerite Academy, she would no longer need to protect him like that.
Her pay would continue as usual.
He would only trouble her when he had questions to ask.
As a result, Talia now enjoyed a freedom that felt almost like a rebirth.
No longer did she have to act as Lanqi's bodyguard every day.
She even had an alias under the Wilfort family name.
As long as she refrained from drawing unnecessary attention and stayed away from registering with major guilds, she was virtually impossible to expose.
In just a few short months, Talia had left behind a life of destitute wandering, and could now enjoy a life of leisure in the capital of Ikerite, living off a generous pension every day.
When Lanqi had breakfast with her this morning, she had even looked somewhat dazed.
It was as if she had truly retired.
Still, seeing her living well brought Lanqi a sense of relief.
Providing for an elderly master was, after all, his filial duty.
"Come to think of it... every time I think about her age, she seems to glance my way... Is it just my imagination?..."
Lanqi murmured to himself as he walked down the campus's main avenue.
Even if advancing her lie-detection innate magic another step might allow it to evolve toward mind-reading, Talia should still be far from touching the threshold of such an ability.
According to the canon Lanqi knew, she had not mastered any form of mind-reading even in the main storyline two years later.
"So there's nothing to worry about. Age isn't that big a deal anyway; she probably doesn't mind much."
Lanqi smiled in relief and continued toward the Old Liberal Arts Building of the School of Magic Engineering.
The plants on either side of the path were bathed in morning mist and sunlight, giving off a crisp fragrance. Along the roadside bloomed many flowers whose names Lanqi could not identify—some vivid, some understated, and some of peculiar shapes.
Accompanied by the singing of birds, the hum of bees, and the murmur of flowing water, he gradually left the end of the paved road and stepped onto a soft lawn dotted with blossoms. According to the signposts, all the buildings in this sector were set within gardens.
After a few minutes of walking, Lanqi finally spotted the Gothic Revival building standing at the edge of the School of Magic Engineering. Its aged red-brick facade was inlaid with statues and reliefs, marking it as one of the campus landmarks—the Old Liberal Arts Building.
This storied structure had once served as a workshop where magic artificers gave free rein to their ingenuity. Renovated several decades ago, it was now used to provide the School of Magic Engineering's technical services to students from other schools in need of assistance.
Lanqi glanced around, finding hardly any students in sight.
It seemed that only newly admitted first-years would bother coming here over these few days.
Because of the early hour, even the doors of the Old Liberal Arts Building remained shut.
"Ah, I came too early... I forgot people here work strictly nine to five—not a minute early, not a second late,"
Lanqi murmured regretfully.
He recalled that the relaxed, easygoing work habits of Ikerite's locals were vastly different from his own. Many shops closed promptly at five, refusing to work another minute even if it meant turning away profit, to say nothing of the school's service offices.
Lanqi was left standing on the lawn with his arms folded, waiting idly for the staff to arrive.
He decided to treat it as experiencing the leisure modern people deserved. Wasting time could be a sort of blessing in its own right.
"Actually, taking in the scenery isn't a bad idea either..."
Lanqi looked up to admire the antique, work-of-art building before him. The scents of flowers, grass, soil, and damp air enveloped him, making for quite a pleasant atmosphere.
Atop the Old Liberal Arts Building sat a towering spire, embedded with a sculpted Ikerite Academy crest.
The base of the emblem was a silver shield representing the Hutton Kingdom's steadfast resolve and faith. At the center of the shield was the Goddess of Fate, holding a laurel wreath and framed by a halo of holy light in the shape of a cross. The background featured the Southern Cross constellation, symbolizing the academy's location on the Southern Continent.
Across the white banner at the crest's top ran vigorous ancient magical script, reading: *We shall grow in the reverence of posterity.*
Just gazing upon it sent a surge of emotion through Lanqi's chest, sweeping away whatever faint drowsiness lingered from his early rise.
Before he realized it, he was thoroughly captivated, unaware that minutes had already ticked by.
"Craftsmanship like this... it must be the masterpiece of a true master sculptor..."
Lanqi stood motionless on the grass, his eyes fixed on the crest as he murmured aloud.
"Indeed it is. It was crafted two hundred years ago by Gela Zelte, a magic artificer who graduated from Ikerite Academy. If you look closely, you'll find quite a few of his works across the campus."
A familiar voice sounded from not far behind, interrupting his thoughts.
As if waking from a dream, Lanqi turned to see a young woman with pale-blonde hair standing gracefully in the garden.
He recognized her immediately—it was Princess Vivian, whom he had met briefly at the exam hall and who shared an uneasy relationship with his teammate Hyperion.
Lanqi had not expected the princess to arrive so early. Looking more closely, however, he noticed that following her appearance, several staff members from the School of Magic Engineering were already hurrying over to unlock the Old Liberal Arts Building and begin operations.
It seemed worldly courtesies existed everywhere, after all.
"Princess Vivian. My apologies, I was so engrossed that I didn't notice you arrive."
A faint smile appeared on Lanqi's face as he greeted the princess, who had evidently arrived to wait at some point.
"..."
Vivian paused in thought.
Truth be told, she hadn't intended to speak with Lanqi at first.
From their previous encounter, she had realized his temperament was somewhat difficult to handle.
He was nice to a fault, came off as a bit naive, yet possessed an extraordinarily sharp mind.
"In your view, how does this sculpted crest differ from an engineered piece?"
Dispensing with pleasantries, Vivian looked up toward the carved crest atop the tower and posed the question to Lanqi.
After their two encounters, Vivian was certain that this commoner youth named Lanqi Wilfort held none of the distance or reverence ordinary people showed toward nobility. He acted more like a traveler visiting from a land that possessed no concept of aristocracy at all.
Not that Vivian minded.
Lanqi was indeed a talent of immense promise within their kingdom, and his background was entirely clean.
Right now, she simply wanted to discuss this ancient masterpiece with him.
Lanqi carried a distinctive aura of a poet, painter, and artisan—one that felt entirely natural and impossible to imitate.
It was rare to encounter a peer who might truly discuss art with her.
Vivian decided to take advantage of this spare moment to test his depth.
Chapter 35