NOVPUB"Cough, cough."
Countess Rosalinda had no choice but to clear her throat audibly.
In reality, even without such interaction, many audience members outside the stage could guess that the two of them already knew each other.
Because during the Platinum Level Card Maker examination, it was not uncommon for the examiners and the examinees to be acquainted, let alone the fact that both of them were from Hutton Kingdom. It was evident from the first round of the exam that this Tata treated the examiner very well, preferring to score less for herself than to grill the examiner.
Lanci snapped back to reality and shifted his gaze from Talia to her painting.
To tell the truth, it was the first time he had ever seen Talia’s artwork.
She chose a very unique perspective, capturing her own silhouette on the canvas.
In the painting, her face appeared somewhat pale as she looked back, with clean, strong lines on her cheeks. Her gray hair fell loosely behind her, and those gold eyes that were barely visible seemed to be scrutinizing everything in this world, as if bidding farewell.
No one knew what she saw, perhaps it was her hometown or perhaps old friends, perhaps obsessions or perhaps letting go.
[Portrait: Looking Back]
[Type: Artwork]
[Tier: Sacred]
[Level: 1]
[Those who appreciate this painting will recover a small amount of Mana and have a chance to permanently increase a tiny amount of their Spirit attribute, only once.]
"Still as beautiful as ever." 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
The moment Lanci saw the painting, a relieved smile appeared on his face, and he scored her the same 97 as Countess Rosalinda on the scoring board.
Outside the stage.
"Dare to give such a score? Aren’t you afraid that Lockins will transfer all his resentment towards Migaya onto him?"
"Although it really looks good, I can’t quite understand the difference between these Sacred-level paintings."
"Maybe it really depends on his mood? As long as it’s not detected as a violation, it’s fine."
If the chief examiner truly didn’t understand art, even the integrity registration system of the Artificial Shadow World couldn’t detect any issue.
"Enough, chief examiner. Get down from there, let me do the scoring."
Lockins eventually spoke without leaving any room for sentiment.
"Wait, Mr. Lockins..."
Just as Countess Rosalinda was about to smooth things over, she was stopped by a gesture from Lanci.
Talia sighed.
She felt there was no need for Lanci to give a score above 95—a 93 would have been enough for her to beat Carlen.
However, she was still quite pleased that Lanci was willing to express his fondness for her painting, even at the risk of offending people from the headquarters of the Cardmaker’s Association. She decided she would make him breakfast for a few more days.
"Hey, brother, is there a problem with my scoring?"
Lanci looked towards the direction of the voice that came from outside the stage area.
"Artistic examinations are not a place for you to indulge in subjective tastes and play around. It should be handled by someone more professional. From now on, you need not oversee the Platinum Level Card Making exams anymore, or rather, you might even lose your status as a Platinum Level Card Maker,"
Lockins declared coldly.
"I, subjectively, wanted to give a 100, as she is indeed incredibly beautiful, but out of an examiner’s absolute objective standpoint, I only gave a technical score of 97. Am I not objective enough?"
This time, Lanci stood his ground without compromising, unwilling to adjust the score and looked towards Lockins’ video connection, inquiring.
This straightforward compliment instantly stirred a buzzing noise among the audience in the Sacred Silvervine Arena.
Talia turned her head uncomfortably.
She didn’t know if Lanci was genuinely complimenting her or if he was intentionally embarrassing her in such a setting, finding it amusing to tease her.
But when she locked eyes with Lanci, she knew the answer—
It was both.
"Are you blatantly exposing your ignorance and fraud to the public?"
Lockins questioned.
"Then what do you think is knowledgeable and truthful? I can give you face, lie to you saying that compared to your 95 score, this painting is only a 90, or I can be honest, telling you the truth about your real level."
Lanci didn’t want to indulge this pampered individual who grew up in the most comfortable conditions within the Canberra Kingdom; others feared to reprimand him, but he was realistic and spoke his mind.
Just as the chief examiner and the reviewer were locking horns, making the entire Sacred Silvervine Arena audience thrilled with the drama.
Suddenly, reviewer Lockins, chief examiner Lanci, and deputy examiner Countess Rosalinda all seemed to have received a message.
The projected screen also displayed the information swiftly.
There was a complaint filed against an examiner by an examinee, initiating an examiner challenge.
Even though it was anonymous, Lanci and Tata knew who it was.
It had to be Carlen.
Although Carlen would pass, she could not win the bet with Tata, and she would undoubtedly not accept losing to Tata.
It was no surprise that raising a complaint against the chief examiner now would naturally help Lockins, and if he could take down the chief examiner and score Tata lower, she could turn a defeat into victory.
At this moment.
In a rest room within the Sacred Silvervine Arena.
Carlen, with a smile, manipulated the examinee’s magic device and reported the chief examiner to the Cardmaker’s Association.
As soon as she came out, her face suddenly darkened considerably.
"Stupid chief examiner, I thought you were a good person,"
she muttered to herself, her lips quivering.
On one hand, she hadn’t expected Tata to be that formidable, and on the other hand, she hadn’t expected the mysteriously-identity chief examiner to also know Tata and to take such good care of this gray-haired woman.
But it didn’t matter.
With Lockins there, whether the gray-haired woman could pass was still a question.
Just the thought of it made her cheeks bloom with a smile, until it gradually subsided, returning to her ever-pleasant grin as she walked back to her own spectator seat.
