In the back row of the School of Sages' spacious first-year tiered lecture hall, as Lanqi's voice fell silent, the sudden clash seemed to freeze every sound in the air, leaving behind only a stifling, pervasive, unbreakable silence.
Even the afternoon sunlight filtering through the classroom windows seemed to have grown sluggish.
The other students sat frozen like statues with varied expressions—some stared out at the scenery while straining their ears, some kept their heads buried in their books pretending not to notice anything, and others turned straight around in their seats to watch.
No matter what, all of them were quietly eating up the drama in the back row.
And the onlookers finally realized just what a despicable fellow Lanqi was!
It turned out his very first remark had been a trap question all along!
Only after ensuring he had baited Modan into his habitual sneer did Lanqi follow up with the legal lecture.
Modan's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, completely speechless. He felt as if he had been played for a fool by Lanqi.
After a few seconds that felt both fleeting and interminable—
"How old are you this year?"
Lanqi finally spoke again, breaking the silence.
Not understanding why Lanqi was asking about his age, Modan didn't answer.
Or rather, Modan was no longer willing to answer Lanqi's questions lightly.
"He's nineteen," Hyperion told Lanqi from the side.
She roughly grasped what Lanqi was getting at. After several interactions, she had discovered that his thought process wasn't entirely incomprehensible—it was just that normal people could hardly keep up with it.
Counting on his fingers, Lanqi looked at Modan. "Then you'll be out by twenty-seven."
"?"
Modan froze, only then catching on to what Lanqi meant.
Lanqi didn't sound like he was using criminal underworld threats at all; he was genuinely calculating how many years—at least eight—he, as plaintiff's counsel, could secure for the defendant.
"Huuu-ah..."
Lanqi yawned, lazily slumping back onto the desk, and gave Modan a wink with his left eye, smiling.
As if he had merely played a little joke on Modan.
Yet, to Modan, this friendly, harmless display made his blood pressure skyrocket!
Modan's pupils trembled slightly, his gaze like a powder keg on the verge of detonation. Though his facial muscles remained still, his throat constricted tightly, as though straining to stop that surging impulse of rage from bursting into undignified words.
"You'd better wait and see if this little ducal lady can actually inherit House Aransal first. Otherwise, all of this is empty talk."
Modan managed to rein in the devilish fury and impulse after all.
"Lanqi Wilfort, if you don't want your family's Wilfort Chamber of Commerce dragged down, you'd best stop sticking your nose into her business," he glared coldly at the relaxed Lanqi, his voice low with a threat.
Hearing this, Lanqi's brow furrowed slightly.
"In other words... if I keep helping Hyperion, you'll find a way to ruin the Wilfort Chamber of Commerce?"
"That's right. Our House of Marquis Gaxiges has plenty of ways through legitimate business methods to swallow your entire enterprise at minimal cost."
Modan was acting exceedingly cautious with his words now.
He knew Lanqi's question just now was trying once again to bait him into blurting out "criminal evidence."
But pulling the same trick twice was utterly crude.
Modan sneered inwardly. He was certain that with his power and influence, he had countless ways to handle this clever border-town brat.
For example, there was no way he didn't care about his own family's Wilfort Chamber of Commerce!
Yet in the very next second, something Modan would never have dreamed of happened—
Lanqi looked right at him, staring as though he had laid eyes on a savior.
That look of genuine anticipation sent a chill straight down Modan's spine.
"?"
What kind of normal person, upon hearing his family business threatened, would react with such indescribable joy?
Just how badly did your father abuse you growing up to make you hate the Wilfort family this much?!
"Business warfare has always been winner takes all. If you can swallow it, go right ahead—no need to notify me," Lanqi shrugged, keeping his eyes closed with an air of complete indifference.
Modan took a deep breath, finally tasting sheer exasperation.
"Lanqi Wilfort, flapping your lips won't do you any good. Just how capable you really are will be laid bare soon enough in the Shadow World. Let's hope you don't embarrass yourself before the entire capital. A lot of eyes are on you."
Modan had finally realized it: Lanqi's utter disregard for his own kin made him practically like one of the demon race!
No wonder he got along with Hyperion.
"Hyperion, let your mud boat sink straight to the ocean floor along with your pipe dream."
Tossing out these parting words, Modan turned and walked away with a dark scowl.
Modan's words were brimming with certainty.
Because he knew that if Hyperion wanted to grow stronger and secure more chances of finding her father, she could only beg him and yield to him.
One day she would realize it and come crawling back.
...
After Modan left, a wave of subdued murmurs finally rippled through the classroom.
Some astute students realized that the accusation Lanqi had just leveled against Modan might very well be groundbreaking.
Throughout the many renowned academies of the Southern Continent, since their founding, there had never been a precedent of a student successfully suing a fellow classmate into prison.
If Lanqi set this bad precedent, and Hyperion hired him as her lawyer to threaten Modan,
then the ethos of Ikerite Magic Academy could very well be led completely astray by Lanqi.
In the past, whenever students had irreconcilable conflicts, they mostly resolved them by fighting it out in the arena or inside an artificial Shadow World equipped with life-preservation protections.
At worst, they played rough and put stakes on the line for a duel of dignity.
But with Lanqi's demonstration, students would gradually discover—
that for any campus dispute, finding a way to send your opponent straight to prison was the most effective and efficient method!
In the back row of the classroom.
"*Sigh*..."
Hyperion let out a sigh and finally gave a helpless laugh.
Ever since she met Lanqi, she felt that while he seemed so earnest, he was also utterly absurd.
As an opponent, he would surely be an absolute menace.
Yet as a teammate, he was undoubtedly the kind of reassuring, angelic newcomer anyone would want by their side.
"Lanqi, thank you."
"It's nothing. I've always hated conflict and only like encouraging peace. There's no need for meaningless quarreling between classmates," Lanqi mumbled, slumped against the desk now that Modan had gone.
He felt like he was about to turn into the Sleep Monarch again.
Looking at the clock with bleary eyes, every passing second felt like torture.
He didn't want to be in class.
Right now, he didn't even have the energy to read the judicial examination casebook he treasured so much.
Just like back in high school—whenever it was a subject he hated, the moment the teacher opened their mouth, he would collapse onto the desk.
Lanqi wondered if he should just go tackle a Shadow World today.
According to the school regulations, missing class due to challenging a Shadow World did not count as truancy, and after clearing one, a student was even granted a period of leave to recover and adjust.
What's more, when students took on Shadow World challenges, the academy awarded a small amount of genuine academic credits based on the difficulty and performance—which could not only serve as elective credits for any semester, but if accumulated in sufficient quantities, could even offset required course credits!
Therefore, plenty of boneheaded warriors from the School of Knights threw all their effort into raiding Shadow Worlds, doing everything they could to bypass required courses through this indirect route!
Lanqi felt like he might have to walk that same path now.
He couldn't help looking over at Hyperion.
Her studies today seemed effortless, nothing like the torment he was going through.
Furthermore, Hyperion seemed to have a rather cautious, steady temperament.
He wondered if she would agree to venture into a Shadow World with him.
Chapter 41