“I… I still want to go to school…”
Kexiya could only wish for tears but had none left after running into such a mess.
“My family’s just a minor lord, and now we’ve been struck off the rolls. I can’t even keep our ancestral title!”
“Please, have mercy! I don’t care about credits or whatever, just give me a way to survive!”
“I don’t want to eat potatoes every day!”
“Ah, now that’s hitting the mark. How could I possibly drive a classmate home so easily?”
Lomio smiled and took out a magic scroll he had prepared long ago from the system space. With a thought, he let his mana inscribe a contract upon it.
“If you’re interested, you can join our talent cultivation program. Naturally, your safe withdrawal this time will also be guaranteed.”
“Talent cultivation program?”
The name tickled Kexiya’s curiosity. She reluctantly reached out and looked at the scroll.
“Let me see it!”
“Talent cultivation…?”
Ibuki Mio had already seen what Lomio wrote on the scroll.
This was a loan contract!
“Initial fund: 25 credits. Repay 5 credits monthly, with 1 credit monthly interest, so 6 credits due every month… What use do these credits have?”
Kexiya vaguely sensed these so-called credits were important, but had never heard of their exact use.
“Hmm…”
Kalenina, on the other hand, figured out what Lomio was up to.
He had already found his first “client” and was practically forcing the deal!
“If you sign, you can stay in school. Of course, if you don’t, that’s fine too.”
Lomio didn’t answer her question.
“It’s just that you’ll have to go home. The king piece still belongs to us.”
“No, no, no! But this is twenty-five credits! It says here it’s funding, so how will you give it to me?”
“Sorry for the trouble, Ibuki.”
“…Understood.” Ibuki Mio took out her knight piece. “With this as exchange.”
“So you already got your pieces…”
Now, Kexiya had to reassess the situation.
A man who looked like a Russell noble, a clearly Eastern-style strong woman, and this unbelievably beautiful… bandit?
Her hunter’s senses stretched outward, faintly sensing murderous intent lurking behind the group!
In this situation, forget escaping—even a moment’s hesitation might get her chopped to bits!
Besides…
The contract terms seemed rather favorable?
Withdraw with the knight piece and exchange it for 25 credits. Although she hated parting with it, the monthly interest was just 1 credit, so with principal, only 6 credits to pay monthly!
She could get twenty-five credits from just this entrance exam. There would surely be more chances to earn credits later. Paying back 6 a month wasn’t hard at all!
“Classmate, you might not yet understand why this is called a cultivation program.”
Seeing the change in her eyes, Lomio pressed on.
“We don’t just provide loans; we offer a growth platform as well.”
“Every month, tasks matched to the borrower’s suitability will be filtered out. Credits will be awarded for completing them, creating collaboration and mutual progress.”
“There are tasks to do as well?”
Realizing she might need to operate solo and was likely to become a lone wolf in her future academy life, Kexiya’s breathing quickened!
In other words, as long as she stayed in the talent program, whenever there was a risk of expulsion, there would be someone to rely on!
This wasn’t just a cultivation program—it was practically recruiting extra teammates!
And the protection of such an organization was exactly what she needed for her future life!
“You have to guarantee my withdrawal!” Kexiya finally voiced her greatest concern.
“Of course. We wouldn’t let a promising talent like you leave with a piece and risk expulsion on her own.”
As Lomio spoke, a loud explosion echoed from the distance behind him.
“Boom!”
The earlier trap had been triggered again.
“You see, time is tight. If you keep hesitating, this could be our last goodbye…”
“No! I agree!”
Pressing her palm onto the contract, muttering the incantation along with the words, Kexiya finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
With the knight piece in hand, as long as she managed her credits well and didn’t spend recklessly, she’d only need to pay back five extra credits!
Not only was withdrawal guaranteed, but future team pressure would be lifted as well!
Was there really such a good deal?!
“Thank you for your patronage.”
Lomio rolled up the scroll.
“Here.”
Kexiya pulled out her king piece and traded it briskly with Ibuki Mio.
“Received.”
Taking the piece and feeling its texture, Ibuki Mio felt a surge of fighting spirit that she hadn’t felt since coming to this foreign land.
A meticulous plan, gradual probing, and in the end, a nearly overwhelming negotiation!
Such resolve—there was even a faint shadow of her grandmother, the founder of the Other Shore Chamber of Commerce!
But this was a man!
No matter where he went, men were seen as mere ornaments, as playthings, yet this one could do things many women, even Ibuki Mio herself, could not!
The heavy king piece, carrying the chill and damp of the swamp, reminded Ibuki Mio that this was no dream.
“Unbelievable…”
Whether in combat, means, or looks, Lomio’s excellence far surpassed Ibuki Mio’s expectations!
Then again…
Wasn’t this still a robbery?
“He really managed to pull it off!”
At this point, Annie could only scowl and sheath the dagger she’d spent so long sharpening.
She’d picked a spot with nothing to do with anything, just waited, and somehow someone ran out carrying the king piece!
Was that even reasonable!?
As a professional information gatherer, Annie was sure Lomio had used some other means!
Even if she did it herself, it would be impossible to, in the mere ten minutes since leaving, recruit a new teammate, gather main battlefield intel, and even estimate the battle’s outcome!
Yet in the end…
Even with a face black as mourning, Annie could only sullenly slide her sharpened dagger back into its sheath.
Lie down somewhere random and unrelated, and someone would just hand-deliver the “king” to her door?!
Was that reasonable?!
“…This is absurd.” Annie pursed her lips, sinking into deep self-doubt.
“Hmm… The final task, escort duty.”
Without needing Lomio to speak, Kalenina had already reached her conclusion.
After these “exams,” she felt herself keeping up with Lomio’s train of thought more and more.
But the closer she followed, the more she sensed that bottomless terror.
How did he know the battlefield situation?
How did he know where to lay traps and mark the end?
Could it be that every withered stump, every rotting leaf in this swamp, bore his eyes?
Countless questions circled in her mind, but Kalenina understood that what mattered most now was accepting reality.
Rather than speculating about this mysterious “examiner,” it would be better to learn from his actions and thinking until she too could master this near-“omniscient” view of the bigger picture…
That was what she, as a royal descendant, ought to do most!
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