NOVPUB"Lord Francis, Miss Zestira."
With a bow, Lanci took his usual spot next to Viscount Francis.
"Mr. Rocky, I hear that you take strolls around town each afternoon. How do you find our town?"
The Viscount posed the question with a smile.
"It’s a prime spot for travel and lifelong settlement, with enormous development potential. With efforts spent on tourism, prosperity is within our reach."
Lanci responded earnestly.
He soon realized that the Viscount’s question might not have meant that.
This left Viscount Francis in momentary silence as well.
All he had wanted to get was Lanci’s impression of living in the town.
Instead, it sounded as though a provincial leader was giving his observations.
However, considering Lanci’s profession as a scholar, it did not seem too far-fetched.
"I gathered you here today mainly to hear your thoughts."
Clearing his throat, Viscount Francis gave the orders for dinner to be served now that Lanci had arrived.
"Zestira, I am considering employing Mr. Rocky as your tutor. He would accompany you to Protoss Royal Magic Academy as your attendant. Would you be okay with that?"
Truth be told, Viscount Francis was quite nervous.
At times, he was unsure if his words would upset Zestira or hurt her feelings, so he approached her in caution.
If Zestira agrees, he would risk his jurisdiction to formalize Lanci’s identity in Lilom City to facilitate his trip to the imperial capital.
Sitting beside Viscount Francis, Lanci noticed a hint of reluctance on Zestira’s face.
However, she was considering it and did not immediately turn down the proposal.
Although Zestira never actively asked Lanci about his knowledge of the Magic Family Tree and Magical Engineering, she diligently followed along with the daily annotations that Lanci left on his books. After finishing her lessons on the Magic Family Tree, she would exchange the books for those on Magical Engineering, before returning them for Lanci to annotate the Magic Family Tree materials.
She preferred this style of independent study.
The teachers at the Protoss Royal Magic Academy would not possess Lanci’s patience, nor his unique cognition of Magical Engineering, which is rare in the Northern Continent. n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
The discussion and proposal by Viscount Francis resulted in the dinner table falling into a silence, so much so that their servants sensed the change in atmosphere and hastily left after delivering the meals.
Having learned about the school these past few days, Lanci had an idea of what was bothering Zestira.
The Protoss Royal Magic Academy fell somewhere between Ichrite Academy and the Purgatory Corridor Academy in terms of style. However, it was distinguished by two characteristics.
Firstly, birth and status were of utmost importance. Upon enrollment, students were immediately divided into upper and lower houses, with vastly different provisions and benefits, and noble students had inherent privileges from the start.
Secondly, students often formed cliques, making it rare to find sincere friendships amongst them.
In conversations with the Silver-armored Priest, Lanci had unintentionally gleaned related information. Protoss Royal Magic Academy was reportedly a dark place, hidden beneath its rules, where student conflicts could escalate into not just skirmishes, but humiliation, threats, and control – but also, a place where one could rapidly gain strength.
The Bishop of Nirvana, for instance, disguised the Saint of Nirvana and sent him to study at the academy. The Saint graduated with excellent grades that pleased the bishop greatly.
The Saint of Nirvana even had the Saintness of Hegemony killed later on.
With the school’s rigorous selection process, aristocratic students, who excel, would have various privileges and courtesies, grander than those of the ordinary faculty members.
These student weren’t only allowed to upgrade their class with school scores but also had much optional powers that could be shared with their attendants to provide more convenience to themselves at school and serve them better.
The Empire citizens jokingly referred to these privileges of nobles to carry attendants as "Summoning of Followers" – a measure of the profoundness of their family background.
Having a handy or powerful follower could make a noble’s school life significantly easier.
However, followers could not exceed the Sixth-order – the limit of a third-year student.
In school, many high-ranking students and even professors derived pleasure from grading the followers of the new class of nobles, deeming followers as summons, they would determine their value by tiers and grades.
Zestira had initially rejected the attendant that Viscount Francis had arranged for her. Even the Viscount himself felt helpless, he had no choice but to respect her wishes since that was her nature.
But now, the Viscount had unexpectedly drawn a Magical Engineer of unknown grade from the Southern Continent.
The most crucial factor lied in Zestira’s willingness to coexist with him – indicating the possibility of persuading her into bringing him along as her knowledgeable attendant since she needed a tutor who could discuss subjects with her.
"..."
Zestira remained quiet for a long while.
She didn’t fancy the idea of an attendant, preferring to do things on her own.
The key point was that, in a prison where power and status were everything, if she failed to hold her ground, having a Half-Demon like her as an attendant would be far from pleasant. He might be implicated in prejudice, discrimination, catastrophe and injustice.
"Zestira..."
Just as Viscount Francis was about to ask her about her mastery of the Magic Family Tree and Magical Engineering, intending to persuade her with this,...
"It’s best not to, Lord Viscount."
Lanci gently interrupted Viscount Francis, seemingly not wishing to put Zestira on the spot,
"Bad luck seems to have followed me since my childhood. Even my family’s firm almost fell into bankruptcy because of me... If I were to follow Miss to the imperial capital, I fear not only would I be of no help... I may even become a burden."
As he spoke, Lanci seemed to be reminded of something sorrowful.
The room fell silent.
Such grave talk did not appear to be pretense.
It’s hard to imagine a considerate, gentle could have placed a curse that would lead to the bankruptcy of his own family’s firm.
Finally,
"I don’t mind the trouble, I’m good at taking care of people."
Zestira lifted her head to look at Lanci, she said.
"So, this means "
Lanci hesitated to finish his question.
"Consider it as me asking you to keep teaching me about the Magic Family Tree and Magical Engineering in the imperial capital. I don’t want to attend the other teachers’ lessons."
Zestira completed her sentence and proceeded to focus on her meal.
"Thank you, Miss Zestira."
The conversation had ended, leaving the dining table in tranquillity once again. The only sounds that occasionally echoed across the dining hall were the soft clinks of spoons against the porcelain plates.
Viscount Francis: "???"
