The living room of Lanqi's dormitory.
On this rain-shrouded afternoon, the world seemed veiled beneath a faint blue tulle.
The sound of the rain outside resembled a gentle lullaby, pattering against the windowpane and dripping from the eaves—a clear, tranquil white noise.
On the sofa, Talia leaned back comfortably, as if all the worries of the world had nothing to do with her.
Her eyes rested on the newspaper in her hands, engrossed in today's stories and news from the Hutton Times.
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening came from the corridor, followed by Lanqi emerging with a suitcase in hand.
Talia cast a fleeting glance at him.
Her posture looked remarkably graceful under the lamplight, her smooth, gray locks cascading over her shoulders with an air of casual, homely ease.
"I'm all packed. We can head out a bit later," Lanqi said.
Setting his suitcase by the entryway, he walked over and settled onto the other side of the sofa.
"I've been ready for a while," Talia said, her tone devoid of inflection.
She traveled light, having packed everything before coming to Lanqi's home.
Although Lanqi had offered her the workshop where the Poet of Great Love usually stayed, she felt that since she was only staying at his place for a few days, reverting to a magic card most of the time to reduce mana consumption would suffice; there was no need to clear out a dedicated room for her.
After all, she wasn't actually moving in.
"Any news?" Lanqi asked, glancing at the front page of the newspaper.
"Looks like the Cardinal of Dimensions and the Bishop of Destruction got into a fight again," Talia read aloud from the article.
Curious, Lanqi slid a little closer and peered at the paper.
"Toliado actually won for once?" Lanqi remarked in surprise.
Although the paper didn't explicitly name a victor, the Kingdom Coalition's alerts were already mobilizing searches for the Bishop of Destruction.
The first clash had occurred when the Cardinal of Dimensions placed a bounty on the Son of Destruction, infuriating the Bishop of Destruction into hunting him down and beating him within an inch of his life.
The second time, the Cardinal of Dimensions was on the run until the Bishop of Destruction chased him out to sea, forcing him into another desperate showdown.
Afterward, the Cardinal of Dimensions had vanished from the Southern Continent for over half a year, showing himself again only after his wounds healed.
This had to be their third clash in recent years.
"According to the expert analysis in the paper, it seems the Destruction Branch lost all its elites, depriving the Bishop of Destruction of her intelligence network. She was ambushed by other cardinals at a critical juncture, hunted down in a joint encirclement by the Kingdom of Aloran and the Church of the Goddess of Fate, and finally intercepted by the Cardinal of Dimensions while severely wounded," Talia recited, turning the page.
She had no fond feelings toward either of them.
If the two hadn't unleashed their full power in that battle at sea back then and triggered a mana storm, Lanqi and Hyperion wouldn't have been shipwrecked in the first place.
Boss Cat: "..."
"That Cardinal of Dimensions really has no sense of martial honor," Lanqi commented.
While Cardinal of Dimensions Toliado was a man of his word—paying promptly whenever he promised—he truly was an eccentric cardinal who avoided direct combat at all costs.
"You're not much better than him, meow," Boss Cat retorted.
Besides, as for why Bishop of Destruction Ivanos had been left completely isolated, that all traced back to Lanqi.
If that woman ever learned of Lanqi's handiwork, Boss Cat shuddered to imagine just how berserk she would become.
"Still, how is the Bishop of Destruction so terrifying? Ambushed, besieged, intercepted by the Cardinal of Dimensions, and she still survived." Talia figured that in Ivanos's shoes, even nine lives wouldn't have been enough to make it out alive.
Yet she could broadly understand the sheer might of a cardinal.
If she ever crossed paths with a cardinal, she would turn and run without hesitation.
Last time, merely clashing with Decay Cardinal Farmer's alchemical beast had made her skin crawl. If an actual cardinal showed up in the flesh, a single moment of hesitation would seal her doom.
"Back before we headed to the Northern Continent, Dean Loren stressed to me that the instant I entered a cardinal's field of view, they could seize absolute control over me in a heartbeat. Only an eighth-tier can defeat an eighth-tier, and confronting a cardinal takes multiple eighth-tiers working together. I didn't fully appreciate it back then, but later, I truly understood," Lanqi said, thoroughly at peace with the reality.
"You didn't understand squat, meow!" Boss Cat figured Loren had been warning Lanqi to steer clear of cardinals, not coaching him on how to bring one down.
"Old Sang was genuinely terrifying, alright? If he brought the right deck and fought at full power, who could possibly withstand that ultimate status-locking sealing spell of his?" Lanqi argued back vehemently against Boss Cat.
Putting aside oddities like the Cardinal of Dimensions, a normal cardinal conservatively possessed the combat strength of at least three Tas.
If possible, Lanqi really never wanted to fight another cardinal again.
"Hm?"
Talia's brows knit slightly. She had no idea who "Old Sang" was, nor had she ever heard of a measurement unit called a "Ta."
Even so, she could faintly deduce what Lanqi was getting at.
Killing intent began to simmer in the humid air of the rainy summer day.
Suddenly realizing what he had just implied, Lanqi choked back his words, carefully scooped up Boss Cat into his arms, and sat straight up in prim silence.
Talia gave her newspaper a light snap and continued reading.
The living room remained quiet for a long time, save for the steady, crisp patter of raindrops outside.
"Right, Tata, my Platinum-rank status isn't public knowledge. Aside from a handful of people like Dean Loren and Professor Borao, over in the Kingdom of Posen only the branch head of the Card Makers Association and several high nobles in the kingdom's Senate are aware," Lanqi mentioned to Talia beside him, as if suddenly recalling the detail.
"Because of that, our itinerary was arranged a bit differently from other Platinum-rank examiners. While we're still staying in high-end hotels, the reservations weren't made under the official name of the Southern Continent Card Makers Association."
Ever since Lanqi earned his Platinum rank, it had been kept under wraps; even Karen back in the Kingdom of Aloran had never caught wind of it.
Considering the recent instability across the Southern Continent, along with Posen's concerns for Lanqi's safety, they had decided not to reveal his identity during this examination.
Instead, he would wear a mask and invigilate as a "mysterious Platinum-rank card maker."
Unless strictly necessary, the Kingdom of Posen would not disclose his personal details.
Only after Lanqi was escorted safely back to the Kingdom of Hutton would they follow the standard procedure to formally announce the newly minted Platinum-rank card maker.
"So strictly speaking, you really are just going on vacation, meow?" Boss Cat asked.
"On the surface, yes. That's also why Professor Borao wanted us to keep a low profile on this trip, to avoid getting swept up into the free-for-all between the various factions brewing in the Kingdom of Posen," Lanqi admitted.
"Understood. I have always been low-key. It's a certain someone who tends to stir up trouble," Talia remarked with a cold scoff.
Just as Lanqi opened his mouth to protest, he found Boss Cat staring straight at him.
The look in the cat's eyes left zero doubt about whom Tata meant by "a certain someone."
In the end, Lanqi swallowed his words.
"I'm a little worried about Hyperion," Talia murmured, setting down the newspaper and gazing out at the misty rain through the window.
Especially with the weather soon turning cold.
Sometimes, waking up in the dead of winter nights, she would find that Hyperion had kicked off her blankets or squirmed out of them, leaving Talia to tuck her in all over again.
"She'll be fine. Sinora is keeping Hyperion company every day now, and Hyperion's teacher, Almis, has come to Ikerite as well."
Ever since Hyperion and Sinora visited the duke's estate last time, the pair had grown thoroughly obsessed with cracking the secret chambers in the ducal manor. Word had it there was a ducal treasury whose contents even Hyperion had never seen, and the two had made it their personal mission to unlock it.
Lanqi was actually starting to feel a bit concerned for Duke Mikhail.
If whatever was inside turned out to be anything other than treasure, the duke might return home only to be completely traumatized on the spot.
"Almis, is it..." Talia whispered.
She hadn't heard that name in quite some time.
When Hyperion returned from the Northern Continent, she had spoken of how warmly the Ice Snow Witch looked after her; it turned out Almis had now arrived in the Kingdom of Hutton as well.
"Yup. Hyperion even mentioned that having Almis as a mother wouldn't be half bad, so she'll be well cared for while you're away," Lanqi chimed in from the side.
"..."
Talia's expression instantly darkened with dejection.
It was the first time Lanqi had ever seen such a look on her face.
"Though Hyperion still likes you the most. Even Caliera can't compete with you," he added hastily.
"Really?" Talia lifted her eyes to look at him.
"Of course." Lanqi's helpless smile seemed to say, *It's not like I could ever fool you anyway.*
"I'll believe you this once."
The two lingered there, whiling away the hours in easy conversation.
"Let's head out. Better to get to the station a bit early,"
Lanqi finally stood up after checking the clock on the wall.
Even though the synergy between him and Talia remained an utter mess, and turning Caliera's Shadow Loom into a magic card still seemed distantly out of reach, all that mattered right now was—
Their brand-new journey to Posen had begun.
Chapter 656