NOVPUBAt night, the streets of the North District of the Protoss Royal Magic Academy were enveloped in tranquility.
In the living room of Gloria’s mansion, the heavy curtains next to the floor-to-ceiling window remained closed, separating the night sky of the garden outside from the vibrant interior of the room.
"Let’s watch his program."
Sigrid, relaxing and looking forward to it, leaned back on the sofa and turned on the projection screen on the wall of Gloria’s living room.
"Mr. Bishop, has he done anything to you along the way?"
Gloria asked with concern and a hint of trepidation.
"What are you thinking?"
Sigrid looked at Gloria coldly, causing Gloria to shrink back, and stop asking such questions rashly.
Gloria always felt that the relationship between Mr. Bishop and the Saint Heir was somewhat different from before they left for the north, or it was the Bishop who had changed, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
Last time when the Bishop sat here watching the Saint Heir’s monthly assessment, he seemed indifferent as if he was watching a show.
Now, as she sat in front of the screen waiting for Saint Heir’s program, it seemed more like she simply wanted to watch.
Gloria also glanced at the screen, which was still showing previews for this period, as well as character introductions and pre-interview content about Rocky McCarthy, who was invited for a celebrity interview by the Herram Broadcasting Company.
In the scene, Rocky McCarthy talks about how he built his educational model at the Protoss Royal Magic Academy, which received a 100% approval rating, as well as his success in the education industry.
Then, in a brief interview, he expressed his views on the overall situation of the Protoss Empire as the Provincial Governor, particularly on the trade policy and foreign relations.
"Wait, how is he the Provincial Governor now?"
Gloria in the living room asked in surprise.
"...It’s a long story."
No matter what Lanci would talk about in the interview today, Sigrid would not be surprised. He is now a political figure in the empire, not just a headmaster.
The appointment of Rocky McCarthy was recommended and temporarily accepted by the Xue Yuan Province and all the official letters and procedures had been submitted from Xue Yuan Province to the imperial city. Just a few days ago, it was officially certified by the Protoss Empire’s royal family and the parliament, and the formal appointment letter is estimated to arrive in a few days.
As soon as Herram Broadcasting Company got the news, they immediately updated his personal information.
Gloria stared dumbly at the screen, feeling finished.
The man seemed to be completely hitting the bishop’s ideal domain. The Bishop of Hegemony’s many years’ wish to control the Protoss Empire, there seem to be real hopes for him to help complete it for the bishop.
The more Gloria thought about it, the more worried she became. The force of nature couldn’t be stopped, just as people couldn’t stop their plans. However, in the moment before the show started, Gloria had another even more pressing concern.
She sat down next to Sigrid, lowered her voice slightly, and asked,
"But what is he thinking about the prison break?"
Gloria was filled with worry about the current situation and couldn’t understand why the bishop could trust Saint Heir’s words so much.
She was so frightened by the outrageous conversation she had heard between the Saint Heir and the bishop when the Saint Heir left in the afternoon that she didn’t dare to make a sound.
Even if the headmaster could send a student into the Herram Prison by dint of the cooperation project between the Protoss Royal Magic Academy and the Herram Prison, there were almost no students in the school with enough strength to reach the deepest level of the prison.
It was a bottomless underground prison. In the hundred years since the founding of the Protoss Empire, there had been very few prison breaks. Each level was covered with ancient magic barriers and guarded by powerful wardens. The three members of the Great Demon Clan were likely to be imprisoned on the lowest three floors.
As a third-year student at the Protoss Royal Magic Academy, Gloria knew much more about optional topics at school than Sigrid did.
Students who chose the high-difficulty graduation topic "Herram Prison Guard Assessment" faced tremendous life-threatening risks every second of their stay in Herram Prison. They had to constantly conquer life-and-death challenges, facing increasingly dangerous prisoners and prison guards to descend deeper.
Moreover, the real challenge was not reaching the destination but communicating with the demons.
Almost no humans had experience dealing amicably with the Demon Race. If the school’s headmistress believed all true demons were as harmless as her student Zestira, she was gravely mistaken.
The minds and thought patterns of each demon were drastically different from humans. Attempting to interact with demons from a human perspective would only lead to a gruesome death.
Even the Protoss Empire couldn’t negotiate a cooperation deal with those three aloof Great Demons. Even if Lanci somehow managed to sway any one of them, extracting them from prison would be astronomically difficult.
"I don’t know either, but if he says we can, it must be possible."
Sigrid just stared at the screen as she responded to Gloria.
"My Lord, he doesn’t intend for you to infiltrate the prison in person, does he?"
Gloria looked at Sigrid’s composed demeanor and grew even more worried.
Given Sigrid’s condition, she was unfit for such dangerous territory, with a high risk of death. Even Sigrid at her peak might get permanently locked up due to a single misstep.
"Logically speaking, I’d be the best choice since he needs to keep the prison director busy at the academy."
Sigrid pondered before replying.
She remembered Lanci mentioning in Xue Yuan Province that he invited the director of Herram Prison to the Protoss Royal Magic Academy to discuss campus plans and collaborative projects with Xue Yuan Province Prison, so he could keep track of the director’s movements.
Gloria was taken aback.
"No, absolutely not. You cannot risk it. The demons certainly wouldn’t listen to you."
Gloria realized that if the Protoss Royal Magic Academy could secure the allegiance of three eighth-order Great Demons, regardless of their exact level within the eighth order, their influence would be equivalent to any branch of the Rebirth Church, even the worn-out Hegemony Branch. The Saint Heir would possess ample resources to counter Asksan.
However, the plan seemed impossible to succeed.
"Let’s see how he arranges it. I already have enough on my plate just following his lead."
Sigrid simply shrugged, giving up thinking in favor of the eased sensation provided by sharing a mental network with Lanci.
"Oh? The show has started."
Noticing the opening scene on television, Sigrid instantly forgot the weighty conversation she’d been having with Gloria, focusing solely on the show.
Gloria watched as a smile adorned Sigrid’s face. She exhaled in resignation.
If this man could do as he said and defeat Asksan, she would support the Bishop being with the Saint Heir and even try to persuade the Grand Priests of the Hegemony branch to push these two together.
The Saint Heir was a simple-minded individual whose complete focus was his work, with little to no interactions with women. The Bishop was the only one who got along with him. Even if they botched things up, it wouldn’t escalate into a complete farce, leaving the Bishop and Saint Heir unable to face each other.
