Hutton royal capital, Ikerite.
Under the afternoon sun around two or three o'clock, a rumbling mana rail train pulled into Ikerite Central Station.
Built of russet-red brick and stone, this station was also the transportation heart of the entire Hutton Kingdom. Its antique architecture blended seamlessly with modern renovations, creating a unique and striking sight.
As the mechanical behemoth came to a steady stop at the platform, the chime of an announcement sounded for a few seconds before the carriage doors slowly slid open.
Stepping out of one of the cars was a group of young people who, despite their youthful appearances, wore calm, composed expressions.
With steady strides, they walked through the platform level into the bustling concourse, bypassing tourists lingering indecisively in front of shops selling Hutton Kingdom specialties.
This procession stood out conspicuously in the station concourse, drawing the eyes of numerous passersby.
They wore neatly tailored coats, and their neckties bore the academy crest of Aloran Royal Academy—a flame shaped like a sharp sword atop a red and black checkerboard pattern. Omitting the epaulets and sleeve embellishments of military dress uniforms, their coats had cuffs and hems trimmed in different colors to denote their grades and branches.
"Loren..."
The woman leading the group murmured a name in a voice so faint it was barely audible.
Unlike the students, her tall frame was dressed in a dark brown Aloran Kingdom knight uniform. Even without armor, her commanding aura left no doubt that she was a general, her gaze possessing an aristocratic nobility as though she had just stepped out of a royal palace.
Many travelers stopped in their tracks just to stare at her.
Her golden hair, arranged in a simple half-up hairstyle, cascaded down like a waterfall, leaving onlookers stunned by her completely unforced, natural beauty.
She looked up toward the station sign.
One year ago, an academic exchange delegation from Aloran Royal Academy had also visited this place.
Once each year, following a fine tradition of friendly relations, both schools conducted an exchange visit with each other.
Among them, students from the Aloran Kingdom would often ask to observe Loren's activities with the [Original Slate - Wind], while students from Hutton Kingdom's Ikerite Academy would naturally request to observe Juliana's [Original Slate - Regeneration].
As renowned powerhouses of the Southern Continent, inexplicable romantic rumors about the two of them always seemed to circulate in Ikerite—scandals so pervasive that even Juliana, all the way in the Aloran Kingdom, had heard them.
Yet Juliana did not care.
What she cared about was only Loren's own attitude toward those rumors.
Originally, Juliana had thought last year would be nothing more than an ordinary exchange.
She had never expected that nearly half of the students in the Aloran Kingdom exchange delegation failed to return from Ikerite.
Among them were cases of severe injury, arrest and imprisonment, school transfers, severe psychological trauma, and more.
Juliana had contacted Loren several times and even intended to arrange a trip to Ikerite to confront him in person. Only after Loren gave her his ironclad guarantee that no further mishaps would befall the students of the Aloran Kingdom exchange delegation did she temporarily cancel her trip to the Hutton Kingdom.
And what happened?
Ikerite Academy hosted a combat tournament.
It was said to be a massive catastrophe that went down in Ikerite's safety annals, earning a public reprimand from the City Hall.
In the end, Ikerite Academy swept the tournament with an emphatic five-to-zero victory, while the Ikerite Health Center gained five new patients.
The Aloran Kingdom brawler team, led by third-year student Kuse, had to undergo convalescence and psychological counseling for nearly half a year before they could finally return to the Aloran Kingdom.
From that point on, Juliana knew she had to come.
The date agreed upon between her and Loren—stemming from a wager made by Loren's student—was also overdue to be fulfilled.
However, because of the subsequent arrest of Phoenix, a Resurrection Church direct retainer hiding within the Aloran Kingdom delegation, and the chain reaction triggered by the clash between the Bishop of Destruction and the Cardinal of Dimensions, the Resurrection Church had become exceptionally active in the Aloran Kingdom for a period. Knight Commander Juliana had been unable to leave her post, and thus had not been able to visit the Hutton Kingdom to see Loren.
Still, she had made it clear: once the Resurrection Church situation in the Aloran Kingdom was resolved, she would personally come to Ikerite to find Loren, and he had better be ready.
Now, she was here.
This year's routine exchange delegation was led directly by Knight Commander Juliana herself. It wasn't officially a vacation, but it allowed her to use official business as an opportunity to see Loren.
She also wanted to see whether the women around Loren had truly multiplied as rumors claimed.
At the very least, she was willing to trust Loren. He was straightforward, incorruptible, and upright; he kept a clear and proper distance even from the Holy Knight Commander of his own church, let alone that peerlessly beautiful God-chosen Saintess of legend.
This year's Aloran exchange delegation had arrived earlier than usual. Several of the students possessed strength rarely seen even in the Hutton royal capital; alongside a few newly promoted second-years, there were also some familiar faces.
"Ikerite, I have returned."
Besides Knight Commander Juliana, the other young man co-leading the exchange delegation had neatly trimmed hair. As he walked out of the station concourse, the afternoon sunlight bathed his head, but a veil of gloom seemed to hang over his eyes. Like a wounded lion, the impassioned fervor and naivety of youth had long since drained from him.
"Teacher Adams, I heard that the student council at Ikerite Academy is a bunch of unimaginable scoundrels who would do anything. Is that true?" a junior student behind him asked.
The students all knew that Adams, who had now graduated and was teaching at Aloran Royal Academy, had visited Ikerite last year as the top third-year student representing the Aloran Kingdom.
Rumor had it that he had defeated Loren's ultimate weapon, Lanqi, in an artificial Shadow World with overwhelming dominance, but at a tremendously heavy cost. Ever since returning to the Aloran Kingdom, he had seemed like a completely different person.
"..."
Adams shook his head.
Fundamentally speaking, he had a favorable impression of everyone at Ikerite Academy—his only reservations lay with that emotional manipulator and playboy, Loren.
"Whatever the case, at least the student council president, Monaster, is an exceptionally upright man. On various occasions, he provided positive guidance and mediation," Adams said in a low, solemn voice.
"Then why did every single thing undertaken with his approval end up turning into a disaster?" A student behind him tilted his head in confusion.
Adams: "..."
The sudden silence in the air made the other students realize that this council president was apparently a scoundrel too—and the deepest-hidden of them all.
"Sigh, Senior Adams back then was nothing like he is now. I remember his eyes were clear and bright, like the stars, and the first thing he said stepping out of the station was, 'As Lady Juliana's sword, I will properly consult and test the finest student under Dean Loren.'"
Walking in the middle of the student group, an agreeable young woman with light hair and green eyes rested her hands behind her head, speaking lazily.
She was a prodigy magic artificer who had achieved Gold-rank card maker status during her second year at Aloran Royal Academy, and was now a third-year senior.
"Junior Karen..." Adams looked back, muttering under his breath.
"If I could choose, I still prefer the confident Senior Adams. Even though you're more composed now, you don't smile anymore," Karen said with a regretful shrug.
Everyone could see that Senior Karen wasn't mocking Teacher Adams, but trying to encourage him.
She was truly so gentle and kind.
"Heh heh..."
Seeing everyone's affectionate looks, Karen maintained her innocent smile.
Yet inside, she sneered:
*Useless trash. It took half your life just to scrape a narrow win against Lanqi. I really don't understand you hotheads who love fighting and killing all day.*
Because magic artificers were in short supply at Aloran Royal Academy, talented artificers were deeply sought-after.
Now about to travel to the Posen Kingdom to take the Platinum-rank card maker exam, her status among the students was higher than anyone else's.
She thoroughly enjoyed this feeling of being idolized like a diva.
And that idiot Adams was merely a stepping stone to highlight her superiority.
While the front of the procession praised Karen, in the rear of the group, a student had remained silent for a long time.
A noble girl from the second year walked alone at the back.
Overbearing in demeanor, her deep red eyes were cold and penetrating, as though capable of seeing straight through the human heart.
Beyond the black-and-white family crest on her standard uniform, the conspicuous inverted cross hair ornament made of red ribbon and gold metallic lining accentuated her unique status as a priest of the Church of the Goddess of Fate.
Although she and Loren belonged to the same Church of the Goddess of Fate, and this visit was ostensibly undertaken out of reverence for the Great Cleric, her classmates around her knew the truth was quite the opposite.
Her older brother, Kuse Parkas—eldest son of the Aloran Kingdom nobleman Earl Parkas, leader of the brawler team, and likewise the strongest third-year brawler at Aloran Royal Academy—had met with an unfortunate disaster when he visited Ikerite last year.
Even now, Kuse hid at home, too terrified to step outside. Forget combat—even a servant approaching him would frighten him out of his wits, fearing that someone was about to beat him.
The culprit behind that disaster was Loren's student, Lanqi Wilfort, who had also served as the coach for Ikerite Academy's team in the tournament.
Yet when it came to who taught Lanqi, who gave the orders, and who presided over the tournament as referee, there was only one answer!
"Loren Crantel, you sanctimonious hypocrite, I will definitely expose you..."
Kukurca clenched her fists, swearing in her heart.
Chapter 611