Sylvia’s flustered figure as she fled became the most striking sight in the dessert shop.
Sympathetic, pitying, and gossipy glances burned as they converged on Luomiu.
“To actually talk back to a woman like that in person, and even make her leave in anger… what a uniquely charming man!”
“So this is what they call fearlessness in the face of authority, the spirit of a hero. I never thought I’d see it in a man!”
Luomiu slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the many young faces, filled with concern and righteous indignation.
“Fellow students.”
“Thank you for your attention.”
He bowed deeply to the crowd.
“If not for all of you here, giving me the courage to stand tall, I might have… been forced into a humiliating silence today.”
“Thank you for protecting my dignity!”
“You are the real heroes!”
These words instantly ignited everyone’s urge to protect and sense of justice.
“You’re too modest, Luomiu! None of us could just stand by and watch!”
“That’s right! Even the Valentine Family can’t do whatever they want in the academy!”
Luomiu straightened, the gratitude in his eyes gradually replaced by a heavy worry.
He sighed, his expression darkening.
“But the problem hasn’t been solved.”
“As you all saw, Senior Sylvia is monopolizing alchemy materials at all costs, creating panic on purpose.”
“Though it’s just a theory, this indefinite halt of the trading caravan is probably part of her plan too!”
“I’m worried that next, the price of materials will soar to the point where none of us can afford them.”
At this, everyone fell silent.
Yes, the excitement was over, but what about the real issue?
A girl from the frontier frowned and said, “She’s cutting off the path for all us freshmen! That’s just vicious!”
“Exactly, we just enrolled—how can we compete with her stash of credits?”
Fear and dissatisfaction began to spread through the crowd.
“Sigh…”
Seeing the girls’ expressions grow heavier, Luomiu’s gaze became more resolute. He let out a long sigh, as if making an extremely difficult decision.
“This happened because of me. I can’t just ignore it.”
Then, his tone shifted, now clear and powerful.
“So, I have good news!”
The entire dessert shop fell silent at once. Everyone held their breath, staring at him.
“As the top student, Kafnir has decided to oppose this chaos!”
“To that end, I’ve devised a ‘Talent Cultivation Program’—a batch of interest-free credits will be given first to those who wish to improve their abilities, to help them through this crisis!”
“Talent cultivation and interest-free loans?!”
“Is this… is this charity?!”
“The market’s already this crazy, and there’s still someone willing to burn themselves for others?!”
“What about the top squad next time? Can they still stay ahead?!”
An outburst of disbelief rippled through the crowd.
Luomiu raised his hand, signaling for quiet.
“The higher your ranking in the last class assessment, the more you can borrow!”
This additional note hit the mark for the strong and proud honor students.
“My power may be limited, but I hope all of you who refuse to give in, who want to improve before prices spike, seize this chance!”
“We can’t lose!”
“You’re all welcome to join the ‘Talent Cultivation Program’ led by Kafnir.”
“That’s amazing!”
At this call, some of the girls were already in tears.
“This is the true spirit of nobility!”
Looking at Luomiu’s clear and determined face, the girls’ eyes seemed to shine.
“If you’re interested, please go to the Eastern Dormitory area after noon tomorrow to find Ibuki Rei and sign up.”
Luomiu continued his performance:
“We’ll respond as soon as possible after evaluating you and your team’s potential!”
“If a loan really isn’t possible, I’ll also, in my own name, give out some alchemy materials in a blind box format as a token of my thanks!”
“Even giving away materials for free?!”
This time, the girls completely lost it!
In a situation like this, every bit of alchemy material was practically an irreplaceable resource!
It was said that the academy’s first-year elimination rate reached a shocking fifty percent!
Making an Alchemy Card was basically a lifeline!
Who knew when the next assessment would be!
“The details will be explained by Ibuki Rei tomorrow, so please be patient for today.”
Luomiu looked sincerely at the crowd, as if he saw… a flock of sheep.
Interest-free loans were, naturally, truly interest-free.
But these credits would eventually enter the market, used to snap up expensive materials—each transaction silently increasing the value of Luomiu’s own stock.
As for the blind boxes, they weren’t really acts of generosity.
They could, at extremely low cost, stir up public opinion, clear out alchemy scraps, and add a bit of fun and buzz.
When signing the loan contract, he could also select promising candidates, binding them with a “no attacking the creditor” clause…
So for the next assessment, wouldn’t he have a few more powerful “friends” who couldn’t become his enemies?
“I hope everyone can share this news with more friends who need it after you go back today.”
“Please!”
Luomiu’s smile was gentle and sincere.
As for why he chose tomorrow?
Because tomorrow was Monday—the day the academy would announce the second assessment plan, and also the moment the market’s tension would reach its peak.
Reliable Ibuki Rei…
Hopefully, the fine hardwood floors in her dorm could withstand the coming flood of people.
And.
The Charisma Halo was truly useful.
Thank you, Mom, for the gift.
*****
At the same time
Eastern Dormitory Area, Ibuki Rei’s Room
“Lord Kafnir.”
Ibuki Rei, immersed in the plan documents, suddenly paused, looking toward Kafnir, who was using a magitech device to contact her subordinates remotely.
“What is it?”
“I have a bad feeling.”
Ibuki Rei stated her intuition:
“I’m not sure what it is, but… I’m afraid it won’t be any simpler than this trial.”
“Then let’s focus on doing the task at hand well.”
Karenina gave a few more reminders and turned off the magitech device:
“No mentor likes a student who hands in their test late. Maybe that’s a kind of warning.”
In these days of working together, Karenina had come to understand Ibuki Rei much better.
Her strength and intelligence were exceptional, that went without saying.
Especially that intuition—rather than a human’s, it was more like some kind of animal’s…
This time, the plan to intercept the caravan had many steps, including predicting the trade route—all completed by her.
The result was that Karenina’s private troops, disguised as Russell’s current officials, temporarily detained the caravan under the guise of “cooperating with a smuggling investigation” and “blizzard conditions,” and cut off all communications.
It was so logical, not even a ripple was caused!
All of it was to, at the final curtain call, have the goods in Sylvia’s hands crash back down to their original price—or even become worthless.
“To utterly crush Sylvia… that must be what he’s hoping for.”
Karenina had no doubt about the information revealed by Luomiu’s actions.
But even now, there was one thing she still didn’t quite understand…
Why was Luomiu targeting Sylvia?
Was it really for the future of his team, or for… the long-standing feud between Russell and Valentine?
Or perhaps—
“Me?”