NOVPUBWherever her gaze fell, crystal screens glowing with light could be seen.
And on each of those connected screens was a bounty set by Zestira for herself.
Zestira stared at her photo, her mouth slightly open but no words came out for a long time.
"Teacher… you these past two days…"
She lifted her gaze to Lanci beside her, swallowed throatily, finally grasping the severity of the situation.
"I assisted Associate Professor Xido in managing class discipline, thinking they had turned over a new leaf. It appears they are still in their rebellious stage."
Lanci sighed and shook his head.
The system at the Protoss Royal Magic Academy was a far cry from that of Purgatory Corridor Academy. To tackle the issue of students’ mischief fundamentally, it needed to be addressed starting from the students themselves.
"...?"
Zestira could only feel everything had come to naught.
Just how did you torment the senior students to have a collective bounty of over a hundred and thirty thousand academic points?
She couldn’t understand it!
And yet,
"Let’s go, Zestira, there’s a pretty good classroom on the way here."
Lanci appeared calm without a trace of panic. In fact, he even seemed invigorated, as if ready for action, brimming with a desire to do battle.
His energy and laid-back aura served to revive the dispirited Zestira.
The coach was about to enter the field, giving her a vague sense of security.
But this left Zestira completely confused.
She couldn’t tell if it was his mental state or his temperament, but she felt something seemed off about Lanci from the very beginning…
...
The northern side of the Protoss Royal Magic Academy.
A mansion stood alongside the quiet streets, a whole district dedicated to this detached house. It boasted a flourishing garden with a decorative fountain, white moonlit pillars, and high-gloss wooden arches—all manifesting opulence.
Second and third-year students who chose not to participate in the monthly exams would not be penalized with deductions in academic points. But if they chose to participate, they could still earn academic points.
However, for many senior students, the academic points gained from participating in the monthly exams were no longer of any necessity.
Senior students of extremely high status preferred using their privileges to watch the live broadcast of the exam from behind-the-scenes and interfere if needed.
This was their game.
Randomly making a bet on the leader could yield far more academic points than any other student participating firsthand.
This mansion belonged to Sigloria, the tenth-ranking third grader. The elaborately decorated interior was complemented by dark brown wooden walls, intricate ceiling carvings, and the soft glow of wall lamps. A grand piano quietly occupied a corner, next to a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the garden, now obscured by curtains.
At the moment, Gloria was standing by the sofa like a silent attendant.
As a direct subordinate of the Hegemony Branch, she would only adopt this kind of meek posture for one person.
Sikder was sitting on the sofa, today she wore a white shirt and black long skirt, one hand supporting her chin. She was idly watching the large screen on the wall, appearing competent and cool.
"Ms. Sikder, do you need me to bet academic points on Zestira, who has been helped by the Saint?"
Gloria asked, her voice full of respect. Even within the academy, when Gloria was alone with the Bishop of Hegemony, she would still address her by her alias, Sikder.
"If you want to bet, you can."
Sigrid, who at the school behaves as a barely-passing student who gets deductions for absenteeism, did not have the authority nor enough academic points to bet for the lower-grade students like Gloria did.
"You’re not sure he can win, are you?"
After a brief hesitation, Gloria plucked up the courage to express what she was thinking.
She had always questioned and was unresigned about this Saint.
"I can only say that, if I could bet academic points, I would bet all of mine on him. What you do with your academic points is up to you,"
Sigrid said indifferently.
Upon hearing this, Gloria fell silent.
The meaning of Bishop was clear: no guarantee of winning, no analysis of the outcome, she simply favored her Saint.
Gloria was certain that if it were the previous Saintness of Hegemony, she would choose to bet all of her academic points on the Saintness, even without Sigrid’s suggestion.
For someone like the Saint of Nirvana, if he became a follower, the outcome of this exam would be quite clear.
The more she thought about it, the more indignant Gloria felt. Apart from accommodating the political situation of the empire, what qualifications does this green tea have to be the closest person by the Bishop of Hegemony’s side?
"I told him to bring me a surprise. I wonder if he heard me."
Sigrid said in a murmur to Gloria.
Although it was just a casual comment back then, she liked people who could take her words to heart and make her satisfied.
These days at school had been quite boring. Finally, it was the monthly exam day to evaluate the Saint. The time before the official start of the exam was too long, causing Sikder to feel somewhat sleepy.
"I hope the Saint could perform excellently in the exam."
Gloria stared at Sigrid while talking, she didn’t plan to bet academic points on the Saint.
To bring ’interesting’ performance to the Bishop of Hegemony, it seemed more than just winning the competition.
Gloria did not believe the saint, who was first adapting to the tricky monthly examination mode of the Protoss Royal Magic Academy, had much hope of achieving this.
"Look."
Seemingly noticing some changes on the screen, Sigder raised her finger satisfactorily, indicating Gloria to look over.
Gloria raised her head, looking at the screen in confusion.
The screen showed the bounty notice and its name in every corner of the exam area.
The number at the top was changing rapidly without any sign of stopping.
"?"
Gloria turned her head in confusion, staring at the screen right in front of her with her mouth agape. 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
In the blink of an eye, the number had surpassed ten thousand.
She had almost never seen anyone with such a high bounty.
Every time she thought the number was going to stop, it jumped higher!
Until the number stopped, she gawks for a moment when she saw the total bounty has over a hundred thirty thousand.
Since the foundation of the school.
Even the most defiant students.
There were only a handful who could have six figures of academic points by graduation!
And those capable of reaching the threshold of a hundred thousand academic points, without exception, had all become influential figures in the history of the Protoss Empire, or even the Northern Continent.
For all the students participating in the exam at the moment, a chance to create a legend was right in front of them.
Gloria didn’t dare to imagine how crazy this exam would become!
The very nature of it had changed!
"Ms. Sikder, the Saint, he…"
As a direct subordinate, Gloria stood by with wide eyes, wanted to say something but was unsure how to phrase it.
She seems to have realized the Saint’s talent.
At least in terms of mocking others, he had a talent that was incomprehensible!
"Interesting, only with such a price is he worthy of being my Saint."
Sikder leaned back on her chair, her expression seemingly more satisfied with her Saint.
"Aren’t you worried that something might happen to him?"
Gloria asked.
The saint might have taken this too far!
