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Lanci’s living room.
On this rainy afternoon, the world seemed to be covered by a thin layer of pale blue veil.
The sound of the rain outside was like a gentle lullaby, tapping against the windows and dripping from the eaves, the white noise distinct and calm.
Talia was reclining on the sofa, all the troubles of the world irrelevant to her.
Her gaze was fixed on the newspaper in her hands, intently reading today’s stories and news in the "Hutton Times".
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening echoed from the corridor, followed by Lanci coming out with a suitcase in tow.
Talia glanced at Lanci briefly.
Her figure was especially elegant under the light, her soft grey hair draping over her shoulders, exuding a homely composure.
"I’m ready, we can set off later."
Lanci placed the suitcase by the entrance and settled down on the other side of the sofa.
"I was ready a long time ago."
Talia said, her tone flat and unvarying.
She had very little luggage, which she had organized before coming to Lanci’s home.
Although Lanci said she could use the workshop originally occupied by the Great Love Poet, she thought it was unnecessary to clear out a room for her since she would only stay a few days at Lanci’s home, mostly reverting to a Magic Card to reduce power consumption.
After all, she wasn’t really going to settle down at Lanci’s home.
"Any news?"
Lanci asked, looking at the cover of the newspaper.
"It seems the Dimensional Bishop and the Bishop of Destruction are at it again."
Talia read the content she was looking at.
Upon hearing this, Lanci took a seat beside her, mildly interested, and glanced over the content on the newspaper.
"Did Toriyado finally win one?"
Lanci exclaimed in surprise.
Although the newspaper didn’t spell out the outcome, the Kingdom Association’s alarm had already begun searching for the Bishop of Destruction.
The first time was because the Dimensional Bishop had put a bounty on the Saint of Destruction, which enraged the Bishop of Destruction and led to him almost getting beaten to death.
The second time was when the Dimensional Bishop was on the run, chased down by the Bishop of Destruction to the seas and, forced into a desperate battle.
Later, the Dimensional Bishop disappeared in the Southern Continent for half a year to recover from his injuries, only reappearing after he had healed.
This should be the third time in recent years that the Dimensional Bishop and the Bishop of Destruction have fought.
"According to the experts’ analysis in the newspaper, it seems this time it was because all of the Destruction Branch’s elite disappeared, the Bishop of Destruction lost his intelligence network, and was ambushed by other bishops at a critical moment. Then, he was besieged by the Arolan Kingdom and the Church of the Goddess of Destiny, and finally, was intercepted by the Dimensional Bishop while heavily injured."
Talia flipped through the newspaper, reciting.
She had no fond feelings for either bishop.
If it hadn’t been for them causing a magic storm while going all out in their battle on the sea, Lanci and Hyperion wouldn’t have suffered a shipwreck.
Cat Boss: "..."
"That Dimensional Bishop really doesn’t play fair."
Lanci commented.
Even though Dimension Bishop Toriyado was trustworthy and would actually pay once he said he would, he indeed was a peculiar bishop who avoided head-on fights.
"You’re not that much better than him, meow."
Cat Boss retorted.
And why the Bishop of Destruction Ivanos had become so isolated was another story that started with Lanci.
If that woman ever found out the ’good deeds’ Lanci had done, Cat Boss dared not imagine how furious she would become.
"But how did the Bishop of Destruction survive? Betrayed, besieged, then intercepted by the Dimensional Bishop, yet still alive."
Talia felt that if it were herself, even several lives might not have been enough to escape.
But she could probably understand the strength of a bishop.
If she came across a Cardinal Bishop, she would run without hesitation.
Last time she realized just fighting Archbishop of Decay Fa Mo’s alchemical beast caused her scalp to tingle; facing a bishop himself, she wouldn’t have a chance to escape if she hesitated for even a moment.
"Before going to the Northern Continent, Dean Loren stressed to me that if I appear in a Cardinal Bishop’s field of vision even for a moment, I would be completely controlled by him instantly. Only an Eighth-order can defeat an Eighth-order, and to confront a Cardinal Bishop, you’d even need multiple Eighth-orders. At the time, I didn’t quite grasp that, but later, I truly understood."
Lanci said with a sense of understanding.
"You understand nothing, meow!"
Cat Boss thought that Loren’s intention was to warn Lanci to stay away from the Cardinal Bishops, not to teach him how to defeat them.
"Lausang is really strong, meow. If you let him carry the right cards and fight at full status, who could withstand his final Sealing Skill super move?"
Lanci and Cat Boss started arguing with reasoning.
Aside from strange bishops like the Dimensional Bishop, normal bishops conservatively estimated to have the strength of over three towers.
If possible, Lanci really didn’t want to fight a bishop again.
"Hmm?"
```
Talia frowned; although she didn’t know who "Lausang" was and had never heard of the unit "Ta," she vaguely understood what Lanci meant.
Murderous intent began to rise in the humid air of the summer rainy season.
Lanci suddenly seemed to realize something, abruptly stopped speaking, and slowly started to hold Cat Boss, sitting quietly.
Talia shook the newspaper and continued to read.
The living room was quiet for a long time, with only the clear sound of raindrops outside the window.
"That’s right, Tata, my Platinum Level identity is not public, known only to a few informed individuals like Dean Loren and Professor Bolao, and on the Poseen Kingdom side, only the heads of the Cardmaker’s Association and a few great nobles of The Senate are aware," Lanci casually mentioned, as if he remembered something, to the Talia sitting beside him.
"So this time, our journey was arranged a bit differently from other Platinum Level examiners, even though we are also staying in high-end hotels, it wasn’t booked under the official name of the Southern Continent Card Maker Association."
Since Lanci received his Platinum Level status, it has always been kept secret, even Carlen from the Arolan Kingdom has never discovered it.
Considering the recent instability in the South Continent and Poseen’s concerns about Lanci’s safety, they decided not to disclose Lanci’s identity during this exam.
He would wear a mask and act as a "mysterious Platinum Level Card Maker" proctor.
Unless necessary, the Poseen Kingdom side would not disclose his personal information.
They wouldn’t announce the new Platinum Level Card Maker’s information until Lanci was safely returned to Hutton Kingdom and proceed with the normal process.
"So strictly speaking, you are indeed going on a vacation, meow?"
Asked Cat Boss.
"Ostensibly, that’s the case. This is also why Professor Bolao wants us to keep a low profile this trip, so we wouldn’t get caught up in the major struggles due to the current undercurrents in Poseen Kingdom,"
Lanci admitted.
"Got it, I’m always low-key; it’s someone else who tends to cause trouble."
Talia said with a cold laugh.
Lanci was about to retort but saw Cat Boss looking straight at him.
As though it didn’t question at all whom Tata was referring to as "someone."
Eventually, Lanci swallowed his words.
"I’m a little worried about Hyperion,"
Talia said softly, putting down the newspaper and looking through the misty rain outside the window.
Especially as the weather was about to turn cold.
Sometimes when she woke up in the middle of a winter night, she’d find that Hyperion had kicked over the blanket or crawled out, and she had to cover Hyperion again.
"It’s okay, Sinola is with Hyperion every day now, and Teacher Almis has also come to Ichrite,"
Lanci said on the side.
Since the last time Hyperion and Sinola went to the Duke’s Mansion, they seemed very addicted to solving the mysteries of the mansion’s secret rooms. It is said that there is a Duke’s treasury that even Hyperion has never seen inside, and their goal is to open it.
Now Lanci was actually a bit worried for Duke Migaya.
If there was nothing valuable inside, the Duke might come back to a complete mess.
"Almis..."
Talia muttered to herself.
She hadn’t heard this name in a long time.
When Hyperion came back from the Northern Continent the last time, she mentioned receiving a lot of care from the Bingxue Witch, so Almis was now also in Hutton Kingdom.
"Right, Hyperion thinks Almis would also make a good mother; so, you don’t need to worry about her when you’re not around, she will be well taken care of,"
Lanci continued.
"..."
Talia suddenly felt sad.
This was the first time Lanci saw Talia like this.
"But Hyperion still likes you the most, more than Calila." He added.
"Really?"
Talia looked up at him.
"Of course,"
Lanci smiled helplessly, as if to say, I couldn’t fool you anyway.
"I’ll believe you this time."
The two chatted like this to pass the time.
"Let’s set off, we should get to the station a bit early,"
Lanci said, glancing at the wall clock and standing up.
Although he and Talia still had a complete lack of understanding and to make "Calila’s Shadow Weave Record" into a Magic Card seemed a distant dream, all they needed to know was—
Their brand-new journey to Poseen had already begun.
