Seven days passed in a row.
Finally, Lomio experienced a long-lost joy —
Soaking in the martial arts arena during the day to earn Ibuki Rei’s credits, entering the consciousness space at night to clash blades with Tai Lan, and occasionally heading to the alchemy workshop to bring two bottles of Life Water to Ankat in exchange for some scattered alchemy materials.
The returns from the Human Resource Cultivation Project were also arriving one after another.
The credit loans he had issued back then were rolling in interest faster than Lomio could swing his blade!
‘What kind of god-tier user base is this? Not a single bad debt?!’
Even with the blessing of game precognition, Lomio never imagined his development would be this smooth.
He had originally planned to have Annie climb through windows at midnight to collect debts by the bedside…
Waking up in the middle of the night to find an expressionless maid standing ghost-like by the bed, the cold moonlight behind her… and a dagger in her hand!
What a pity!
These little creative ideas would have to be put aside for now.
“It’s more heartening than people defaulting on their debts.”
Lomio glanced at his account.
The balance had steadily broken 1,000, and he had accumulated nearly half a warehouse of low-tier alchemy materials along with it.
However, Lomio’s nerves didn’t relax in the slightest.
The incident of the Black Magician invading the exam site was like a thorn stuck in his brain that he couldn’t pull out.
Searching through all the game guides from his previous life, he couldn’t find a single shred of plot regarding an internal traitor in the Academy, let alone the intricate web of various factions —
The royal family of the Duchy, the great nobles of the border, spies from other nations, and even black magic organizations lurking in the shadows of the continent. Every one of them was like a fish hidden underwater, showing only the tip of a tail, making it impossible to grasp their true depths.
Lomio sat in the courtyard of the dormitory, rolling his eyes at the golden osmanthus trees filling the yard.
‘Is this still the game I played? Why is the background so complicated? Did the dev team change the plot because they had too much free time?’
‘If they knew to write more yuri and less lore, wouldn’t I be flying high by now?’
“Morning, Lomio.”
A clear male voice came from the courtyard entrance, carrying a hint of the refined elegance unique to nobility.
Lomio looked up and saw Cafnir walking into the courtyard.
He was wearing moon-white casual clothes with the collar buttoned tightly. His pure white, short hair was as flowing as ever, and he held a thick stack of parchment in his hand, looking much like a royal accountant coming to collect taxes.
“Morning, bro.”
Lomio sat up straight and poured red tea into the cup in front of him.
“I haven’t seen you much these past few days. What have you been busy with in your room?”
“Some plans,” Cafnir said as he took a seat and slapped the parchment onto the stone table. “Look at this.”
“Plans?”
Lomio raised an eyebrow and reached out to pick up the stack of paper.
The top page was titled “School Year Power Integration Plan.” The handwriting was elegant yet forceful, as if the ink had penetrated deep into the parchment.
…
‘Does this count as masculine energy or feminine energy?’
After making that internal quip, Lomio flipped through two more pages, and his expression gradually turned to one of surprise.
“Oh? How did you and I end up thinking the same thing?”
“If it wasn’t for the sake of uniting the scattered border nobles and the other students suppressed by the Capital’s circle…”
Karenina sipped her red tea.
“…then the Human Resource Cultivation Project we built would be far too cheap.”
“Of course. It’s not enough to just take their money; we have to make them work for us, too.”
Lomio could feel Cafnir’s gaze fixed on him, seemingly seeking an attitude.
But after scanning it several times, there was truly nothing to criticize about this plan.
First, activate the terms of the Human Resource Cultivation Project to issue binding tasks to all the lower-tier teams who had borrowed credits.
Unite the students from border noble backgrounds, talented commoners, and those lower-tier nobles marginalized by the core Capital noble circle. Provide them with credit tasks and martial arts guidance, binding everyone to the same boat.
Finally, using the advantage of sheer numbers, they would cut off the credit sources of the Capital noble group led by Beatrice.
They would stop their practice of collecting protection fees and selling “entry tickets” to small cliques, uniting everyone in the entire school year who could be united under the Top-Seat squad’s plan.
It was a set of combined maneuvers — pulling in one faction while striking another — playing the game of power politics with total clarity.
“Impressive,” Lomio said, slapping the plan back onto the table with a bright smile. “This saves me a lot of effort.”
Yes! Exactly!
This was exactly what he wanted!
A suitable leader, a powerful contender for the throne, should be exactly like this!
As for himself?
As long as he held the power of the entire school year in his hands, he could establish a firm foothold and ensure his bro obtained the key plot items.
In the strength-revering Russell, as long as one could get things done, even a man could easily take the throne.
After all, the founding Emperor of Russell was a powerful, muscular man.
In this yuri world, that was a unique background setting.
‘I must help my bro rise to power immediately!’
Lomio was determined to cling to this powerful ally.
As long as his own small border territory didn’t have to be affected by the flames of war, his small life would be incredibly comfortable.
“Naturally. I remember everything you said before regarding the Empress.”
Lomio was stunned for a moment but immediately understood that this referred to his advice for the other to seize power and ascend the throne.
“So, what do you think?”
What did he think?
Karenina’s heart was racing.
As expected!
He had intentionally said those treasonous words before to test her dissatisfaction with the Empress!
The words she said next had to be careful!
“This is not the ending I desire.”
As she spoke, Karenina continued to observe Lomio’s expression, temporarily burying the trace of hesitation in her heart.
The Frost Dragon Soul.
That thing could indeed save her mother, the Empress of Russell, who was approaching the end of her life.
But that also meant Russell would remain unable to complete its reforms, still forced to rely on that court system, falling further and further behind the new-age thinking and alchemy card systems of the Duchy.
Until the gap in national power could no longer be bridged by the quality of mages or by sacrificing the lives and property of the citizens to win.
Unless…
An Empress who could accept new ideas and was willing to make changes ascended the throne.
Karenina couldn’t think of anyone else besides herself who could achieve all this.
But right now.
Lomio’s attitude — as someone who knew her royal identity and was responsible for testing the heir — remained ambiguous…
No matter how cautious she was in front of him, it would never be too much.
“Then for the first step, we’ll do as you said and cut off Beatrice and the others from their credit sources first?” Lomio tapped the stone table, bringing the topic back.
“Correct.”
Karenina suppressed the excitement in her heart and put on a steady front. “Beatrice’s group has already incited public anger by relying on their status as Capital nobles.”
“The kindling is already in the hearts of every student; we just need to bring them together to make the fire burn brighter.”
Lomio nodded.
Well said!
Truly a member of the old royal family; using people like cattle and horses really came naturally to them.
Exactly.
Once Beatrice’s financial path was cut, his own Human Resource Project could monopolize the credits for the entire school year. By then, wouldn’t credits flow into his pocket like water?
Later, when Cafnir became Emperor, his own territory would be guaranteed. A win-win!
Seeing Lomio nod, Karenina also breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed the path was correct!
First, integrate the lower-tier forces and win over people’s hearts, then strike the power of the Capital nobles step by step!
Combined with their previous conversation, Lomio must have also planned up to this point!
The two people, each with their own hidden thoughts, looked at each other. Both saw the praise of a “kindred spirit” in the other’s eyes.
“Then it’s settled.”
Lomio picked up a pen and signed his name on the first page of the plan, his pen strokes fluent. “We’ll send out the new tasks tomorrow. We’ll cut off Beatrice’s money first and talk later.”
“Good.”
Karenina picked up the signed plan. Her fingertips brushed against the back of Lomio’s hand, and she quickly pulled back, turning around to walk toward the courtyard entrance.
“I’ll go arrange the manpower. I’ll give you news tomorrow morning.”
Watching Cafnir’s small movements, Lomio rubbed his chin.
‘That movement… why does it feel a bit gay?’
But in this game world, the men were all like little girls anyway, so slightly strange movements could be considered normal.
As for the credits currently in his pocket…
Exchange for materials, upgrade, and invest in the talent tree!