While the battle at the foot of the mountain raged on, Lomio and his group finally reached the cliff and saw the stone platform marking the evacuation point.
“Authentication.”
Lomio inserted the King into the slot.
The pitch-black chess piece began to crumble, its outer shell flaking off to reveal the pure alchemical structure within.
As the stone platform gradually absorbed the chess piece, magical script manifested, forming the names of the party members.
Lomio, Kafnir, Annie, Ibuki Mio.
Click.
Authentication complete, the platform’s shape shifted, revealing four slots each just the size of a human palm.
The group stepped forward. Each pressed a palm into a slot, watching as the text changed.
[Please designate a team leader.]
“Anyone want the job?”
Familiar with the game’s mechanics, Lomio couldn’t have cared less:
“Just saying, it’s tiring. Basically a scapegoat position.”
This so-called captain, aside from having a flashier title, was absolutely useless.
For a villainous young master blessed with a charm aura, it was nothing but a negative label.
“If it’s business dealings, perhaps I have some experience,”
Ibuki Mio was the first to speak up:
“But managing a team, I’m really not suitable.”
A great noble, a schemer, and a walking time-bomb—whoever became captain was doomed.
She had no intention of taking on anything more than fulfilling her contract with Lomio.
Annie remained silent, glancing at “Kafnir,” clearly leaving the decision to her “master.”
“Crap, looks like I’ll have to take the fall!”
Lomio muttered inwardly, feeling things turn south.
One wasn’t interested, another lacked the ability.
In this operation, his buddy had tanked the beast tide, handled Annie, managed team relations, and was even of royal blood…
Lomio felt that if their positions were switched, he’d have cracked under the pressure.
Either way, he was certain he had no interest in this boring title, nor could he imagine himself as the type who liked to show off.
But he himself had spent the whole time worrying, and for the sake of this “King,” seemed rather power-hungry.
Yet, truly becoming captain meant showing his face before the other teams… not to mention the damned charm aura—just a basketful of trouble.
“I will take on this role.”
Unexpectedly, Kafnir simply nodded and moved his own name into the captain’s position.
Huh!?
Lomio froze, then felt a warm rush in his chest:
“Bro, are you really sure about this?”
Fight for authority?
No way!
Just look at how decisively he glared at Beatrice with utter disdain, and his ability to make the little maid cry—he clearly had no fondness for the wanton women of this world!
Already a bit misanthropic toward women, and yet still willing, for the team’s sake, to take the most attention-grabbing position?!
That’s a huge sacrifice!
Karenina shook her head. “I have some experience with social matters. Leave it to me.”
“Good, good, good.”
Seeing his determination, Lomio didn’t say more, just nodded slightly.
Is this what responsibility looks like?!
How great!
Lomio almost wanted to raise his hands and swear loyalty.
“Whew…”
Seeing Lomio nod, Karenina quietly exhaled.
That was the right answer.
The test was over.
By following Lomio’s challenge, she had fought for the best possible start for herself and the team.
And as the examiner, the significance of Lomio’s actions in this class assignment could only mean one thing—
A tutorial.
Only by actively taking responsibility, even as a man, by lifting the flag and not backing down, could he be tested in the days to come.
Judging by his current reaction… it hit the point of this test.
“I owe you, bro!”
That’s the spirit!
Lomio felt his fighting spirit blaze in his chest!
With such a powerful ally, the leech wins again!
This must be what friendship and bonds mean!
Kafnir, you are truly the queen among men!
No, this level of decisiveness, it’s already beyond ordinary women!
The King of All Women!
“Such courage…”
Ibuki Mio looked at “Kafnir,” raising an eyebrow:
“This really isn’t a great job. Are you sure?”
Lomio was unpredictable, an exception, but this man too had such decisiveness?
Is it because like attracts like?
A male captain, and the King, too—if things aren’t handled properly, given the current academy climate…
If he had wicked intentions, with looks not inferior to Lomio’s, the hungry she-wolves would break down his door!
Oh, but wait.
Ibuki Mio glanced at Annie.
There was a bombshell-crazy woman here; with her guarding the door, probably no one would survive stepping into Kafnir’s dorm…
So her role, besides being a team-discord generator, had a hidden watchdog function?
No way… is this part of the plan, too?
The more she thought about it, the more goosebumps rose. Ibuki Mio shook her head to dispel the nonsense.
As the authentication finished, the King chess piece dissipated, turning into a stream of magic that flowed into each person’s badge.
Click!
Snap!
Ibuki Mio’s damaged badge reassembled itself with the magic, restoring its original function.
“Whew, now I can relax.”
The last piece of worry dropped from her heart, and Ibuki Mio couldn’t help but marvel at this operation.
After being betrayed and ambushed by a teammate, having her academy badge smashed, she’d imagined all sorts of grim outcomes.
But she’d never imagined this—defying fate, claiming the King, becoming the strongest team’s member.
Is this also part of destiny?
Either way, whatever Lomio’s next plan, she was on board!
“Was it… my fault?”
A faint murmur reached Lomio’s ears. He looked over at Annie, standing dazed beside him.
The grace, the coldness, and the hint of loyal madness were gone, replaced by deep self-doubt.
She’d succeeded?
The two hundred points injected into her badge felt like an invisible slap, turning the joy Annie should have felt into a burning on her cheek.
She’d failed, completely, utterly.
Lomio had never cared for the title.
He wasn’t like that twisted noble in her memory, who, unable to find a sense of self in women, vented through underhanded means.
But what had she done?
Aside from facing the beast tide with His Highness and suffering minor wounds, what did this trial really have to do with her?
“Am I… a burden?”
“No, if this continues, His Highness will hate me. I must change…”
Annie’s breathing grew rapid, her mind swelling with chaos.
Change, but how?
Whoosh!
Suddenly, with a magical flare shooting skyward, the figures of the team began to fade.
“Finally, this is just the first step.”
Lomio looked up at the sky.
Boom!
A great noise thundered through the forest, magical script exploding across the sky in dazzling colors.
[The team led by Kafnir has successfully evacuated with the King!]
As his vision blurred, in just a blink, Lomio found himself and the four-person team inside a building.
Beneath the luxurious, magical-martial academy décor, the atmosphere was solemn. Dozens of instructors sat in a ring, high and imposing as if in a tribunal.
They looked down at the team, their expressions varied.
“Congratulations.”
Lomio looked up at the chief seat.
Atop it sat a tall half-elf woman, skin whiter than snow, with brilliant pale-gold hair woven into a thick, dangerous-looking braid resting lazily on her shoulder.
A gentle smile touched her lips, but her gaze seemed to pass through everyone, fixed on some distant void, not lingering on any of the victors.
“Good day, Headmistress Altemis.”
Lomio was the first to place a hand on his chest and salute.
The tallest mountain, the longest river, the longest-lasting woman in the academy…
This headmistress boasted countless resounding titles.
But her greatest fame was—being one of the only three Tenth-Rank powerhouses in the world, known as the “Empress of Elements.”
Whether in beauty, strength, or the collection of personal CGs that only top-tier whales could complete—she topped them all.
Rumor had it, even those who didn’t like yuri would spend money just for this character!
“Mm, such a well-mannered child.”
Altemis’s words betrayed little praise.
Every three years, a new “King” victor emerged. In her long life, it was just another drop in the river of time.
But a team with two men, winning the crown?
That was a first.
“Teachers, please score them.”
“…Understood!”
At the Headmistress’s order, the instructors began marking.
A female instructor with a monocle and stern face frowned:
“This team spent the whole trial gaming the system, then finished by strong-arming others—no knightly spirit whatsoever… Teamwork, three points!”
A female instructor in knight’s garb curled her lip: “Avoided all fights, sniped the prize at the end, not entertaining at all. Combat performance, five points max.”
As Lomio scanned the instructors’ faces, he met many eyes, keenly feeling their emotions.
They didn’t like him, and liked the two-man-two-woman team even less.
“That’s right, look down on me, treat me as a lucky waste!”
Lomio loved this atmosphere.
What’s a female-dominated world without prejudice?
At this moment, only one person was ticking full marks on every item!
The alchemy instructor, Ankatt!
Her hands trembled as she filled in the scores, eyes burning with “desire.”
Teamwork? Full marks!
Strategy? Full marks!
Potential? Full marks!
A sage’s disciple! A genius who could craft top-quality alchemy goods with her eyes closed!
But only she knew the true value of this student called Lomio!
Ankatt barely stopped herself from laughing aloud.
“Come on! Give them all bad marks!”
“You all don’t want him, right? This rule-breaker should be in my class, wreaking havoc on my atmosphere!”
“Hurry up!!”
“Hurry up!!”
Of course, her lightning-fast scoring also caught the attention of Altemis on the chief seat.
But only for a moment—the Headmistress simply nodded calmly, directly ignoring Ankatt’s scorecard of all full marks.
“She’s a drunk, that’s all.”
After a long life meeting countless eccentrics, Altemis just turned away.
In fact, if Ankatt had acted proper today and scored normally…
She might’ve asked out of duty if something was wrong with Ankatt’s health.
Considering Ankatt’s drinking habits…
“Hmm… the short-lived races are always anxious over things like age and spouses, such trivial matters.”
“Should I add a rule prohibiting improper teacher-student relationships…? Forget it.”
As an understanding, long-lived Headmistress, how could she not be considerate of her short-lived subordinates’ little desires?
This is the true cornerstone of the Headmistress’s long reign.