Chapter 11: Alchemy Access Pass! The Imminent Class Division Exam!

“I understand the situation.”

Ankat looked at Lomio, unsure what kind of expression she should show.

Outstanding.

No, it was too outstanding!

Even if he’d been taught by that Luminous Sage, to be able to complete material refinement and craft a card of exceptional quality in just a month of study!

Unless something went wrong, he might even have grasped the secret usage of the Alchemy Table!

With this kind of talent, he got assigned Assassin?!

Ankat silently cursed that damn Class Card.

Why wasn’t he assigned Alchemist?!

Did the Assassin Class, sneaking around and living like a rat in the sewers, really have a brighter future than Alchemist?

What a joke!

“I’ve only scratched the surface.”

Observing Ankat’s reaction, Lomio maintained his humble stance, pocketing that card of exceptional quality.

“Professor, if there’s nothing else, may the two of us take our leave?”

The dust had settled, the persona established, and his presence thoroughly impressed upon the professor.

Lomio calculated that it was time to quit while he was ahead.

Next time they met, it would be better to bring that ring—he might even gain something unexpected.

“Wait a moment.”

Ankat slowly turned around.

Her eyes, usually clouded by alcohol, were now frighteningly clear.

Her gaze was like an icy probe, precisely stabbing toward Beatrice Cromwell.

“Little lady of the Cromwell family.”

Ankat’s voice was not loud.

Yet the temperature in the whole workshop dropped instantly.

The smile on Beatrice’s face froze and shattered in a second. She forced out a sentence: “Professor, you…”

“As an Alchemist, you don’t even recognize the creator of the Alchemy Table.”

“And yet you have the leisure to make trouble for a boy whose alchemical skill far surpasses your own.”

Ankat’s words were sharp, not a trace of kindness:

“As a noble, where is your pride?”

Her gaze swept across each member of the little group behind Beatrice.

“Following her, you’re all sure to have bright futures ahead.”

This “praise” made those girls’ faces turn even paler than the waste on the Alchemy Table.

Beatrice opened her mouth, but her throat felt blocked—she couldn’t force out a single word.

Ankat paid them no further attention.

To look even once more at this bunch of trash was an insult to the alchemy she so loved.

She turned back to Lomio, reached into her coat, and pulled out an unremarkable-looking brass badge.

Engraved on it was simply a flask.

“Lomio.”

Ankat tossed the badge to him.

“This is the access pass to my private alchemy chamber, top floor of Academy Building Three.”

“If you’re interested, you can visit anytime and tell me about what you’ve learned.”

“Of course, as a teacher, I won’t have you come for nothing… I look forward to your arrival.”

A private alchemy chamber!

And it belonged to Professor Ankat herself!

The rare materials and precision instruments stored there—ordinary students didn’t even dare to dream of such an alchemical sanctuary!

“Professor!?”

Beatrice’s scream didn’t escape her throat; she forced it down, making only a hoarse rasp.

Why?!

Just because he made up some “Luminous Sage” lie?!

If the one who invented the Alchemy Table really existed, how could he possibly be related to an outsider like that?!

No, it had to be a lie!

Watching Lomio’s departing back, Beatrice clenched her fists.

“Lomio Arkady… sooner or later you’ll fall at my feet!”

Although she didn’t yet know how, as the youngest daughter of the Cromwell family, Beatrice had one sure-fire plan.

“As long as I tell my dear brother…”

Just like her past twenty years—no matter what happened, as long as she told her brother, everything would work out!

“This is too valuable, Professor.”

Lomio put on an honored yet uneasy look, trying to refuse.

“I’m just an amateur. That card was sheer luck. Among real Alchemist class students, I hardly deserve such a reward.”

“Take it!”

Ankat would not allow refusal, her tone filled with admiration and resolve:

“Do you intend to keep an alchemy professor up all night, unable to drink or sleep from curiosity?”

“Yes, Professor.”

At this, Lomio could only “reluctantly” reach out and firmly grasp the still-warm badge.

Don’t laugh.

Absolutely don’t laugh.

He warned himself.

If he laughed now, his academy life might end on the spot!

“Thank you for the professor’s recognition.”

Bowing slightly to Ankat, Lomio quickly shot a glance to Karenina at his side.

“Sorry for the wait, buddy. Let’s hurry up and get something to eat.”

“Mm.”

Karenina nodded, following at his side as the two walked toward the door.

As they passed the ashen-faced Beatrice, Lomio’s stride never faltered for a moment.

Ignored.

Utterly, completely ignored as always.

Only after the two vanished from the doorway did Ankat look again at the girls left behind in stunned silence:

“As for you.”

Helplessness at reality, anger at laziness, and a little shame for not seeing clearly from the start—all these feelings tangled in Ankat’s heart, making her voice colder than ever:

“Tomorrow is the class division exam.”

“I’ll also be appearing as an examiner. I very much look forward to your performance.”

*****

“Ah… come to think of it, this is going to be a bit of a hassle.”

Badge in hand, Lomio stopped and let out a long sigh.

“Cromwell, a marquis family from the capital region of the principality, right? In their domain, the major tax revenue comes from waterway transport and trade guilds.”

Karenina’s words made Lomio look at “him” in surprise.

“Aren’t you a Rossian? Even you know that?!”

Unless you’d grown up in the academy, the Crown Prince’s circle should have been dukes, princes, and fellow royalty.

Why would she know about a marquis’s territory?!

“I prefer to gather intel beforehand—it keeps things from getting messy.”

Karenina answered humbly.

By now, she’d fully understood how to get along with Lomio—

First, don’t believe any appearance of naivety or cluelessness he puts on.

Because every one of those actions and words is definitely part of a test.

Second, try to grasp the true meaning behind his actions and respond accordingly.

Like just now, Karenina was sure if she’d asked why he was sighing and troubled, she would have lost points or even been labeled unqualified.

Luckily, her cautious approach so far seemed to fit his standards perfectly.

“I’ve heard the Cromwell family has a rather domineering eldest son. Maybe that’s why the younger sister Beatrice is so spoiled.”

“Most likely.” Lomio nodded.

Wait, could this guy be a transmigrator too?

Beatrice’s clique looked like a rabble, but what about the overall game plot?

A marquis’s daughter leading a group of count-level heiresses, forming a self-made organization in the academy—and all female.

In a matriarchal world, that’s not a mere clique, that’s an organization!

Even scarier, their group was tightly filtered, accepting only nobles from around the royal capital!

For example, the game’s heroine was also from a titled family in the capital, but she couldn’t get in—her fate was just to be excluded and oppressed!

And behind it all… it’s said the shadow of the Cromwell family’s eldest son looms!

Even now, Lomio couldn’t say for sure.

After all, when the great luck brought him here, the game still had a mountain of unfinished plot holes!

It was like opening the “Heaven’s Eye” and getting eight hundred degrees of astigmatism—everything was a blur, hard to make out.

Anyway, being wary of these people could only be right!

Back to the point.

Lomio patted the card in his pocket, full of confidence.

“With this card charged, I’ll be the first in the entire year to reach Class Rank 2!”

“Fighting up, crushing idiots.

Two-on-one, father and son.

And I even have a brother!”

“So looking forward to the class division exam!”

Tonight, I’ve got to fuse cards right away and make a battle plan!