Beside the city river, light sparkled on the water, but the river running through Herrom was far from ordinary—it flowed with liquid mineral springs imbued with mana.
As a magic artificer, Lanqi couldn't help unconsciously drifting closer to the bank every time he passed by, staring into the water to analyze and ponder, only to nearly be dragged into the river by Side taking a sudden sharp turn.
"Don't tease a magic artificer," Lanqi protested with righteous indignation.
"Relax. Even if you were to fall in, I'd catch you."
Side gave a soft huff and smugly rested her hands on her hips, looking as though she was waiting for Lanqi to thank her.
Whenever she handled Lanqi, she always handled him with care, never once hurting him.
Familiar with the route, they had long known to bypass the old districts where space was distorted, but doing so naturally brought them along this riverbank.
The two chatted along the way, bickering occasionally, before cautiously steering clear of the Herrom Zoo.
That zoo was far too bizarre; without Sigrid at her peak, neither dared set foot inside. Next, the Endless Library and the Starry Sky Theater drifted past their sides and overhead, and straight ahead lay the gates of the Protos Royal Magic Academy.
When Lanqi had first arrived in the Imperial Capital of Herrom with Zestira, his deepest impression of the Protos Royal Magic Academy was that one could actually walk there from the train station.
Having been away from the academy for so long, the two saw that the spacious plaza outside was now covered with buds of Demon Realm flora, and standing in the center of the plaza was the academy's brand-new main gate.
Unlike Herrom's traditional classical architectural style, it bore the lost mystique of the ultra-ancient Demon Realm, combined with the divine wild fairylands and temple-building methods from the inner realm of an Original Slate, giving it a surreal, dreamlike quality reminiscent of a crossroads between heaven and the underworld.
Already, quite a few residents of the Imperial Capital had begun stopping by the gates of the Protos Royal Magic Academy to take pictures and commemorate their visits.
Walking briskly into the campus grounds with Lanqi, Sigrid only knew that the renovation plans for the new term had been personally spearheaded by the headmaster.
There was no telling what kind of impact this creation he had left in Herrom would produce.
The only certainty was that it was very likely to become one of Herrom's major landmarks in the future, featured in books and perhaps even spreading to the Southern Continent, bearing the name of the legendary artificer Luoqi McCarthy.
"Back in your homeland, were you really not a famous artist?"
Sigrid looked at the scenery, then turned to Lanqi with a hint of perplexity in her eyes.
"No. Aside from the prince being fond of me, hardly anyone else has seen my paintings."
Lanqi shook his head with a smile.
Back then, having just left home at Tier 2, he hadn't thought it wise to display his talents too openly, so he had kept a fairly low profile in the Hutton Kingdom.
Time had proven him right. Just like the owners of the slates—a man's wealth invites his ruin—once their deterrence dropped, anyone might try to kill them.
Only here on the Northern Continent, where he was thriving with a solid foundation for his career and a powerful backer covering for him, could he let loose to his heart's content.
Once he returned to the Southern Continent, Tata—that bargain-bin bodyguard of his—wasn't a ten-thousandth as reliable as Side. It would be best for him to keep a low profile until he stepped into the true Tier 7 domain of transcendence; if someone really targeted him, even someone as formidable as Duke Mikhail could disappear.
Sigrid furrowed her brows in bewilderment.
The prince liked not just her Holy Son's paintings, but even took a liking to him as a person?
"Painting is what you're best at?"
Sigrid already loved collecting art; her home was practically a gallery. As a collector, she believed the Holy Son's greatest talent lay in carving and incorporating it into card crafting, not to mention his remarkable landscaping and design skills.
In her impression, this boy did just about everything except seriously paint. As for pure painting... she had never even seen him put his mind to a paintbrush.
If he truly wanted to become a top-tier master painter, he should have been working hard around the clock at his age and passionately loving the craft.
"I know a bit. Just a casual hobby."
Whenever someone asked, that was all he ever said.
"Then how many paintings did you actually take seriously in the Southern Continent?" Sigrid pressed.
It wasn't that the boy had never painted, but he was far too careless about it, treating it like a chore. Back in the Snowfield Province, she had seen the drafts he showed the nobles.
"Just one, I think."
"..."
It seemed he really didn't like painting.
"Very well. I've figured out how to punish you," Sigrid said, the corners of her mouth curving into a slight smile.
"You don't mean making me paint, do you?" Lanqi turned to her in surprise.
He knew what she meant by "punish." Back when they had struck their deal to infiltrate the Extinction Branch, Sigrid had said that if she was forced to go all out and expose her identity, Lanqi would definitely have to face a punishment. Sure enough, she still remembered.
"Once everything is settled and I no longer need to hide your identity, I want you to paint a picture for me. We'll call it *A Gift from Luoqi McCarthy to Archbishop Sigrid*. Then I'll subject you to public humiliation so everyone can see that Headmaster Luoqi McCarthy has things he's terrible at, too."
Sigrid smiled slyly.
A proper punishment meant making someone do something they disliked the most; otherwise, it would just be a reward.
"I see. Understood."
Lanqi didn't resist much and simply nodded. Having agreed to the terms, he would naturally honor them.
The two crossed the academy's bustling main avenue and entered an area lined with courtyards and residences on both sides, where the atmosphere grew noticeably quieter.
"It's just up ahead."
Led by Sigrid, they quickly located Gloria's residence by the house numbers and rang the doorbell.
Right now, not only had Sigrid assumed the identity of a first-year student registered from Chinston City in the Snowfield Province, but Lanqi had also temporarily set aside his appearance as Luoqi McCarthy.
After all, if the headmaster returned from outside accompanied by a female student and walked all the way across campus with her, it was bound to attract attention or misunderstandings.
The chimes of the doorbell echoed through Gloria's residence for a moment. Then, accompanied by approaching footsteps, the front door swung open, revealing a young girl with an expression of distinct confusion.
Gloria blinked.
"Who are you two...?"
Gloria's voice carried a mix of wariness and curiosity as her gaze flicked between them.
"It's me," Sigrid said, meeting Gloria's eyes with a nod.
"!"
Though Gloria had looked bewildered moments before, in that very instant, she recognized who this man and woman standing before her were.
Chapter 365