NOVPUBTwenty minutes later.
Fifth Floor of the Magic Engineering Institute Main Building.
With floor-to-ceiling windows allowing generous natural light to flood in, the hallway occasionally saw staff members of the Magic Engineering Institute passing by. The carpeting on the original wooden floor reduced the sound of footsteps and noise.
Dean Loren of Sage Academy, dressed in a classic black suit paired with a white shirt and gold tie, with diamond-shaped Cross Holy Radiance patterns at the buttons and collar, led Lanci up from the staircase to this floor.
Walking along the left corridor lined with glass curtain walls, they chatted amiably and clearly from time to time, like a young adult and a teenager with a mentor-student relationship.
They passed some other offices and classrooms, heading toward the dean’s office.
"Dean Loren, could I borrow your Original Tablet of Wind to take a look?"
Lanci asked with a smile.
The first tablet holder he encountered seemed to be the most gentle among the world’s power holders he knew, he couldn’t feel any sense of distance around Loren.
"Ah, you’re unstoppable. I have to rush to the church later, the Northern Continent seems to be quite tumultuous recently, and the affairs of the Church of the Goddess of Destiny have surged. Let someone notify you to come to my office when I get some spare time in a few days."
Loren sighed helplessly as if he knew Lanci would make such a request.
Typically, a gold-level card maker has no privilege to make such a request. Even though Lanci’s Platinum Level Card Maker status hasn’t fully arrived, Loren fully recognizes Lanci’s card maker qualifications and he would never embarrass his student.
To observe the tablet, a Magic Artisan will not finish in a short time, he might need to spare at least one or two hours for Lanci.
"Thank you, Dean!"
Lanci thanked him happily.
Soon.
They arrived at the door of the dean’s office.
Actually, Loren didn’t have to come in person today.
Simply letting a teacher from the Magic Engineering Institute take Lanci to meet Professor Bolao would have sufficed.
But Loren was particularly worried, fearing that Lanci would offend Professor Bolao further, so he decided to accompany Lanci personally.
Ever since the second round of admission exam, Loren rushed to the Magic Engineering Institute to ask Professor Bolao to repair the terminal of the Artificial Shadow World. Loren didn’t obtain special reimbursement approval and dared not come to see Professor Bolao for a long time.
This time, due to the Platinum Level Card Maker affair, which was caused by Lanci, Loren finally had to meet Professor Bolao. He felt another bout of scolding was unavoidable.
When Loren himself was still a student at Sage Academy, Professor Bolao was already the dean of the Magic Engineering Institute.
Even though he was the top freshman of Sage Academy at the time, he never imagined he could offend the dean of another faculty.
The more he recalled his law-abiding student days, the more outrageous Lanci seemed to Loren.
Interrupting his thoughts, Loren knocked lightly on Professor Bolao’s door.
Tap, tap.
"Come in."
After getting a response, Loren turned back to Lanci:
"Don’t enter the dean’s office until I call you."
Loren instructed Lanci, then steeled himself and entered the dean’s office.
Immediately.
Standing at the door of the dean’s office.
Lanci soon heard a round of scolding and apology from inside the office —
"The repair cost this time will be at least 8000 pounds! Who is going to cover this expense? You or us? If it is going to come from the budget of Magic Engineering Institute, I’ll have to flay that kid alive!"
"Rest assured, I am negotiating with the King for special funds, and if it doesn’t work out, I will pay out of my own pocket rather than let Magic Engineering Institute lose a penny of research funding."
"..."
It seemed that during the previous entrance exam, Dean Loren was scolded even more ruthlessly by Professor Bolao.
"Let me see that kid."
As this sentence was transmitted through the door, Lanci saw the office door suddenly open wide, a gentle wind carried him like a cloud and he floated into the dean’s office.
This avant-garde building design is also found in the dean’s office, where the space is filled with streamlined designs and geometric lines. The wide, clear windows allow sunlight to flood freely into the room, presenting a dynamic picture along with the bustling campus view outside.
In the core of the office, a surgical-table-like broad white work desk stood towering. The tidy and orderly desktop shone in the light along with the smooth silver metal legs.
Professor Bolao sat in front of the desk, scrutinizing Lanci with furrowed brows.
Standing to the side of the office, Loren hung his head in sorrow. He traced his finger through the air, having used wind magic to float Lanci into the room.
Lanci touched down, standing firm on the carpet in the dean’s office, his surprised gaze meeting Dean Loren’s smile.
He couldn’t help but marvel at how convenient Dean Loren’s magic was; if only he could keep himself suspended all the time.
Then, Lanci turned his attention to Professor Bolao, whose rage had not yet subsided.
He had a pretty good idea why the old man was angry.
Because he had overheard the whole conversation between the two men outside the door.
At this moment, the atmosphere inside the office of the Dean of the Magic Engineering College was unusually dry and oppressive, the air was almost palpably thick. 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
The rage close to erupting but forcefully suppressed filled the room like heatwaves, suffocating everyone in silence.
All Dean Loren hoped for now was for Lanci to keep quiet.
Not to infuriate Professor Bolao any further.
However, much to Dean Loren’s surprise.
Lanci was neither retracting nor backing down, instead, he advanced towards Professor Bolao.
He stopped at the desk, looked sincerely at the old magic artisan, and bowed to him:
"Professor Bolao, regarding the issue of research funding, I actually have a solution."
"What?"
Professor Bolao, his arms folded, asked somewhat sceptically.
An astronomical sum of 8000 pounds, even for Dean Loren, was no small amount. What could Lanci, a mere student, do to confidently solve this problem?
Lanci smiled with certainty, then said:
"Here is how I see it: let Dean Loren continue to apply for research funding from the King on your behalf. Instead of ’repairing the Shadow World terminal’, let’s say it’s ’further research on existing issues’. You then issue my father, Noe Wilford, an invoice for damages to the terminal, accompanied by my confession letter. Send it over. If the King refuses your application, you can take the 8000 pounds my father provides. If the King approves, you use the King’s 8000 pounds first, and we make a seventy-thirty split of my father’s 8000 pounds - you take seventy, and I’ll take thirty. The two funds are unrelated, so it won’t seem like you’re misleading the King."
After speaking, Lanci rubs his palms together as if the problem had already disappeared.
"Hiss--"
Upon hearing this, Professor Bolao drew a sharp breath as he took a closer look at Lanci.
With the most crucial issue of funding resolved, even potentially profiting from it, Professor Bolao is finding the young Lanci, who would soon become a Platinum Level Card Maker, increasingly pleasing to the eye.
The Magic Engineering College needed talents who could turn a profit like this!
"You are quite something, young man. It looks like we can invite you over more often to help us identify any safety issues with our new magic tools. There’s no doubt that you’re the ideal tester. I appreciate your out-of-the-box thinking."
Professor Bolao stood up, walked to Lanci, patted him on the shoulder, the edge of his voice softer.
Assuming that Lanci, who could come up with such outrageous ideas, his father - Mr. Noe Wilford, could be quite wealthy.
"Professor Bolao, I admire you greatly, have always been a huge fan of yours. I have read all your works during my time in Nanwantina, and plan to attend more of your classes. I’ll gladly help with safety checks."
Lanci rubbed the back of his head, grinning modestly as he complied.
Dad could consider it as tuition, and an investment in the great construction of Magical Engineering.
And once his father learned of his excellent academic achievements, he would undoubtedly be delighted!
"Apart from the affairs of the Card Maker’s Association, you can find me in my office on the second floor of the Old Literature Building most afternoons, just downstairs from the Student Council office. I’m usually there working on new magical engineering tools. You can stop by whenever you’re free to lend a hand. If there’s anything you don’t understand about magical engineering, feel free to ask me."
After many years, Professor Bolao finally met another young man who he considered promising.
Talent was one thing.
But being agreeable, that was the key issue.
In the far-off distance.
Almost forgotten due to the unexpected harmony and jovial atmosphere.
"..."
Dean Loren watched as Lanci naturally and effortlessly discussed money-making schemes with the notoriously moody Professor Bolao.
He was momentarily lost for words.
What had he been scolded for again?
Why had he been berated by Professor Bolao earlier for Lanci’s sake?
Dean Loren now felt that nothing was worth it.
He finally realized that whether it was during the entrance examination, in the Shadow World, or in the student council’s office.
When confronted with everyone’s conflicts, Lanci always effortlessly found a solution that made everyone uncomfortable yet definitively solved the problem, satisfying everyone’s demands as much as possible.
It was a miracle he had survived so far.
