NOVPUBThe bright autumn moon poured through the floor-length windows into the room, and outside, the red maples were faintly visible in the night.
Lanci closed his eyes for a moment of quiet repose in this tranquil evening.
The journey from the Poseen Kingdom had been long, and he had finally settled in a bit within the Cerryti Empire.
Tonight, there were no plans and no diversions.
The only task was to confirm some information to prepare for work in the next few days.
There was no need to speculate or worry about tomorrow just yet.
Predicting the outcome of his stay in the Cerryti Empire was difficult, perhaps even the Goddess of Destiny hadn’t written the script of destiny yet.
Only one thing was certain.
"From now on, I will take on the guise of Landry’s Great Priest, Loren, and someday I will surely frighten those bastards."
Lanci slowly got up, walked to the window, and drew back the curtain, relishing the warmth of the moonlight and the comforting night breeze.
Knowing that Loren had headed to the Poseen Kingdom to fetch him, only to unwittingly fall into a trap set by three military gods, Lanci felt particularly uneasy.
Whether it was the Third Military God, Tangle Agate Gayate, the Seventh Military God, Blood Jade Marrow Philip, or the Eleventh Military God, Emerald Simon Luo, Lanci felt they had won dishonorably. Had it not been three against one, how could Loren have lost?
Coo coo.
A golden canary perched on a branch outside the window, tilting its head curiously as it observed Lanci.
"Feel free to bring your friends to dine in my yard tomorrow."
Lanci flashed a slight smile at the bird, waved his hand, and then closed the curtain again.
No matter where he was, his animal friends would never leave his side.
"It’s time to start preparing."
He took a deep breath, turned, and headed to his study; his gaze grew determined.
There, a mountain of textbooks and materials awaited his scholarly attention.
Dinner, prepared by Talia and Cat Boss, would likely be ready in no less than half an hour.
The languid time before dinner had already slipped away; he stood on this unfamiliar land with a heavy task to write a new chapter.
He seated himself at his desk.
Lanci picked up a magic device tablet given to him by Nara’s secretary, browsing documents accessible through his professorial staff privileges.
It didn’t take long before his eyes stopped on a photograph and its accompanying personal information.
Indeed, among the first-year students at the Saint Kray Temple, there was a student with the surname Landry.
Her name was Elsa Washington.
She was born in an ancient castle on the border of Nixasende in the northwest of the Cerryti Empire, her family having once been illustrious nobility.
As times changed, the Washington family’s fortunes declined, but fortunately, she had received a good home education in the countryside as a child, mastering the family’s magic skills and magical engineering. At fourteen, she was sent to an all-girls boarding school for magic in the capital, Brilda.
From the photo, she and her brother definitely inherited the family’s traits; like her brother, her features were attractive and delicate, and her demeanor similar, only she was noticeably younger than her brother.
Elsa seemed to have lived in the capital, Brilda, for several years without returning to the border. Starting from secondary school, she studied in the capital and then managed to advance to Saint Kray Temple with her excellent grades.
From prior groupings and projects, it seemed she knew civilian students better; after all, with the Washington family’s economic status, their accommodations and other conditions were standard. Even the cost of traveling from the capital to their rural home was excessively high, a clear disparity from the true nobility of the capital.
The territorial expanse of the Cerryti Empire was not comparable to other kingdoms; even just traveling within the country might actually exceed the distance of international travel within the Kingdom Alliance.
Hence, Landry had never visited the Imperial Capital for so long.
At this point, Lanci put down the magic device, leaned back in his office chair, and pondered.
It had been too long since the Landry siblings had seen each other.
The Landry he was impersonating should not have too many discrepancies.
But he was not the real Landry, lacking Landry’s memories and unaware of his past and childhood in his hometown.
Thus, at Saint Kray Temple, it would be best to maintain a professional distance as a professor from Landry’s sister to avoid suspicion.
Of course, distancing himself too much might also arouse suspicions from Principal Violet.
Avoiding discussions of the past and steering clear of such topics should suffice, with the worst-case scenario being Talia stepping in to discern the truth of Landry’s sister’s words.
Just as Lanci was deliberating, the door to the study was lightly knocked upon twice.
"What, thinking about something concerning me?"
Talia’s voice resounded from the direction of the study entrance.
Lanci turned around to see Talia, holding a tray with a cup of juice, coming up to the second floor.
She approached and placed the juice beside Lanci’s desk.
"I was thinking that if I happen to meet Landry’s sister at the school in the next few days, I might need your help to discern the truth."
Lanci gazed at the juice, hesitating to reach for it, instead, he slightly averted his eyes to observe Talia.
Talia serving him a drink.
Why was he even dreaming of such things?
"Let’s skip coffee and tea tonight; I’ve made a mixed juice with fresh fruits and vegetables."
Talia said.
She had noticed Lanci’s dedication and hard work.
She felt, in the Cerryti Empire, aside from looking after his daily needs, she might not be much help most of the time. Only at crucial moments would Lanci likely rely on her eighth-order power.
