NOVPUBA month passed by in the blink of an eye.
The Ichrite campus in the winter morning was covered by a thin layer of frost. Bare branches trembled in the chilly wind, and the botanical garden exuded a fresh, cold fragrance.
Large clouds roamed across the sky, with only occasional strands of blue making an appearance through small gaps.
Students, wrapped in thick coats and holding cups of steaming coffee or tea, hurried by. Their breath formed thin trails of white smoke in the cold air.
"Enter Little Hyperion."
Hyperion, with a light smile on her face, walked out of the Main Building of Sage Academy.
With the completion of the final examination of this semester’s course, the winter break had officially begun.
Just as she stepped out, she saw Talia waiting for her on a bench in the distance.
Talia occasionally rubbed her hands together, then took in a deep breath of cold air, savoring the unique clarity that winter brought.
On the wooden bench next to her were two boxes of packed pastries. It seemed that if not for waiting for Hyperion, she would have given into temptation and devoured both portions.
Looking from a distance at Talia trying her best to contain her restless anticipation, Hyperion couldn’t help but laugh.
She wished she could use the entire wealth of the Duke’s house to pamper Tata, keeping her well-fed and content every day.
Currently, Hyperion was residing at Talia’s house, and Talia neither evicted her nor stopped teaching her magic day after day.
Eventually, their promised two-week cohabitation period passed, and they continued living together without ever broaching the subject, with their morning and night greetings remaining unchanged.
However, Hyperion was set to travel to the Northern Continent soon, which meant she would be separated from Tata for a while.
The research project previously planned by Lanci was finally about to commence.
After she and Lanci completed the paperwork with Dean Loren regarding their research project, if they couldn’t return on time before the start of the next semester, they could still extend their deadline.
During the upcoming three-and-a-half-month winter break, Frey’s Knight College had no equivalent to the "Visiting Tablet Holder" capstone project. Thus, Frey could not obtain extra leave over the winter break, and Dean Sphintos of the Knight College demanded that he stayed in the college to practice during the break. With Dean Sphintos personally instructing him during the break, Lanci and Hyperion had no choice but to temporarily part ways with Frey.
But if they didn’t see each other for a few months, given Frey’s monstrous talent, he would likely have greatly improved by the time they met again.
Thinking this, Hyperion jogged over to Talia’s side.
"Tata, I’m on break now."
"Yeah."
Talia stood up, took Hyperion’s hand, and started walking towards the Boss Cat Restaurant to the east of the school.
"Why doesn’t Lanci need to take finals?"
After they had taken a few steps on the cold campus grounds, Talia seemed to be baffled and voiced her confusion.
"He... spends all his time handling various campus disputes, he’s earned enough credits... plus, he’s gotten a scholarship..."
Hyperion shook her head, her sigh trailing a thin fog in the cold air.
Lanci had withdrawn from all exams this semester except for "General Knowledge of Magic Series".
High credits obtained from the Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order Shadow World, coupled with the bonus credits for handling intense Student Union affairs, were more than enough for Lanci to offset the compulsory courses and even leave some extra credits.
After Hyperion and Lanci had advanced to registered Silver-level Challengers of the South Continent Shadow World Management Association in the aftermath of the [Sacred Hall Villains Banquet] in Shadow World, they earned a huge reward of £4500 for killing the Goddess of Destruction.
Hyperion didn’t take the reward, so Lanci and Frey divided it between themselves.
"They’re all mine."
Talia said matter-of-factly.
Lanci still owed her a huge sum of money. In her view, Lanci’s property was hers until the debt was fully repaid.
"Right, he’s due to pay you over eight thousand pounds in about half a year according to the contract."
Hyperion had heard that Lanci owed Tata a lot of money and was aware of the odd past relationship between the two of them before she met Tata.
It was hard to imagine how these two people with completely opposite personalities could get along. Lanci didn’t immediately piss off Tata every time they met, only to get punished by her.
"Lanci still needs to work hard."
Hyperion sighed.
Some people just seemed to be wealthy on the surface, but in reality, they were heavily indebted.
However, Lanci was now a man of established value.
Although Hyperion didn’t know what her bounty was in the Rebirth Church, she knew that the Bishop branch in the South Continent that had now released the news publicly—
The Destruction Bishop Branch had put a bounty on Lanci for £10,000.
The Archbishop of Decay’s offer was a price of £16,000, wanting Lanci alive.
The Dimensional Bishop said that if Lanci could also kill the Saint of Destruction, satisfying his obsession, he would donate £20,000 to the Ichrite Academy charity fund.
The news report said that some time ago, the Destruction Bishop had a fight with the Dimensional Bishop. Now the Dimensional Bishop was half-dead from the fight and was on the run.
"Now that both of you are on vacation, the Dean of the Sage Academy should finally have some respite."
Talia said.
She never expected to find a tablet holder living in this city and willing to work in the school at the outset. She saw Loren sitting at the judge’s bench from afar during the academic exchange visit closing event - the team fighting contest held at Ichrite Academy last time.
Even from a great distance, she could sense how terrifying this man was.
But why, according to Hyperion, can their dean always get riled up by Lanci?
If it were Talia, she would have used some strong measures to correct Lanci’s behavior early on.
"..."
Hyperion choked up.
On the day of the match between Ichrite Academy and Royal Arolan Academy, the final score was 5-0. At that moment, when she saw Loren sobbing uncontrollably in his chair, she knew that if there were another opportunity, she would stop Lanci.
Knight Juliana was determined to intervene.
Nearly half of the members of the Royal Arolan Academy Academic Visiting Team failed to return.
Especially the last five fighters, not only did their physical injuries require several months of treatment in Ichrite, but their psychological and spirit wounds might take a lifetime to heal.
Perhaps because of Phoenix’s arrest, the Battle between the Bishop of Destruction and the Dimensional Bishop had resulted in considerable activity by the Rebirth Church in the Arolan Kingdom recently. Juliana, the Knight Commander, couldn’t leave Arolan Kingdom at her pleasure.
However, she had already said that, once the issues with the Rebirth Church in Arolan Kingdom had been handled, she would personally come to Ichrite to find Loren and let him prepare for that.
After learning of this news, Senior Sister Lavisseir of the student union was so excited that she opened a bottle of champagne on that very day. Their newspaper’s performance next year was not a concern anymore.
