Chapter 9: The Clique Is in Chaos, Seriously!

“Oh, he actually pulled it off?”

From among the onlookers, a woman with golden wavy hair stepped forward, concealing her chin with a folding fan and a gentle smile.

Her emerald eyes shimmered with a playful hint of admiration.

“You two, what’s with all the hostility?”

“It’s rare for a man to adapt to the card system. We’re all just concerned for classmate Lomio’s safety.”

Her tone shifted, turning to Lomio’s recent behavior:

“Classmate Lomio, your eyes were closed during the refining process. That hardly shows you care about everyone’s safety.”

“If an accident happened, getting yourself hurt is one thing, but what if you injured someone next to you?”

“Who are you?”

Karyenina looked at her indifferently.

The woman’s figure was voluptuous, her features lovely. Among those around her, she actually carried a bit of noble air, but the arrogance in her bones was plain for all to see.

A mere stray dares to boss around an examiner of royal blood?

“……”

Lomio recognized her, of course.

Beatrice Clunwell.

A classic female antagonist in the game, the ringleader of her little clique, a master at pulling strings and stirring up trouble.

Lomio was certain that if she were gender-swapped, her in-game death count might even surpass “Lomio Arkadi’s.”

How dull.

He’d grown accustomed to the pace of this female-dominated world, and women who came knocking like this just felt off-putting now.

According to the game’s plot, Beatrice’s first target for trouble was the heroine in alchemy class—now she’d set her sights on him.

Well, it made sense. She was an alchemist too, after all.

“Oh my?”

Beatrice’s gaze roamed over Lomio.

His face was smudged with soot, his hands in cheap work gloves, dirt staining his pant cuffs—he looked like he’d crawled out of a trash heap.

But that face…

Now, the girl’s legs instinctively squeezed together.

“Your methods might be a little dangerous, but you’ve got a real knack for alchemy, Lomio. Why not join my group?”

She made her invitation, voice dropping low with a note of ambiguous intimacy.

“As a full-fledged alchemist, I’ll make sure to ‘guide’ you well.”

Beatrice’s breathing turned unsteady.

The more she looked, the more appealing he seemed… There had to be firm abs hidden under those clothes!

How enticing was that!?

She wanted to tie him up so badly…

“Hey, man, you hungry?”

This wasn’t directed at Beatrice.

Turning away without a care, Lomio stuffed his card into his pocket and looked at Karyenina:

“Thanks for earlier. Let me treat you to a meal.”

“Mm, let’s go.”

Karyenina couldn’t be bothered with the likes of Beatrice either.

Someone like that thinks she’s worthy of pestering my examiner?

“Stop right there!”

“Wait! You’re just going to let the scare we got slide?!”

Seeing Beatrice get ignored, her clique burst into an uproar:

“He did alchemy with his eyes closed! He didn’t care about our lives at all!”

“Oh now, don’t get so worked up, everyone.”

Beatrice picked up the act, feigning reasonableness.

“Boys tend to be a bit careless, that’s normal… But there should be an explanation, right, Your Highness Kafnir?”

“The flies are really loud lately. Hey, do you hear that buzzing?”

Lomio didn’t even look back.

“No. I’m just hungry.”

Catching his drift, Karyenina followed him toward the door.

Clack!

Before they could reach the entrance, the workshop doors were flung open.

A red-haired woman stormed in, clutching a wine bottle, her hair in a tangled mess—her face the very picture of “seriousness”!

“What’s this about alchemy with your eyes closed?!”

“Where’s the professor?! Which professor was making cards here just now?!”

At the words “alchemy with eyes closed,” Ankat’s skin broke out in goosebumps!

She loved her liquor, but when it came to experiments, she was as meticulous as a surgeon!

Alchemy with your eyes closed?

Was this alchemy or a death wish?!

“Professor! Lomio really succeeded! If his eyes were closed, he must have been totally confident!”

Someone from the clique called out in a mocking tone.

Ankat’s sharp gaze locked onto Lomio and Karyenina.

“Which one of you is Lomio?”

“Good morning, Professor.”

Lomio met her eyes calmly and saluted.

What wind brought this drunken genius here?

According to the game, shouldn’t she be busy searching for her ring at this time?

He knew a lot of the story, but reality really did play by its own rules…

“Greetings, Professor.”

Karyenina greeted her cautiously, the barest furrow in her brow.

Was this part of the plan too?

How did he manage to draw even the professor over—at just the right moment?!

“Oh ho? Who’s your advisor?!”

Ankat was nearly hopping with rage, her voice rising as her gaze swept the workshop.

“I need to have a serious word with them!!”

Where are they?

That energy fluctuation just now, so pure it reached the level of “excellent”—it had to be the work of a professor!

How could a student be allowed to pull off some nonsense like “alchemy with eyes closed”? Absurd!

“There’s no professor present today.”

Lomio pointed to the safety monitoring array in the corner.

“The alarm didn’t sound, which proves my operation posed no danger, nor were there any mistakes.”

“Oh?”

Ankat nearly laughed in disbelief at his breezy attitude:

“So you’re saying, a non-specialist student like yourself made a card with his eyes closed?”

She’d already reviewed the list of this year’s alchemy students this morning—there was no one named Lomio!

An outsider!

Barely even able to sense the most basic materials!

And now he claimed to have refined a card with his eyes closed?!

“How could there not be a professor present?!”

Ankat felt her expertise and intelligence both being insulted at once:

“Kid, there’s a limit to boasting—want to see what I can do with this wine bottle—”

Ankat stopped mid-threat, stuck.

She was only one and a half meters tall, and had to tilt her head up to see Lomio’s face.

Even if she jumped, her wine bottle would barely reach his shoulder.

Damn it!

All the more infuriating!

“Indeed.”

Meeting her near-fuming glare, Lomio took the card from his pocket.

“But no matter what, rationally speaking, my actions were perfectly proper.”

He handed over the card.

“Would you like to inspect it, Professor? See what the quality’s like.”

“This…?”

At the sight of the card, Ankat was left speechless.

Even at a distance, she could sense its pristine quality.

Its magic seemed to breathe.

With every beat of its holder’s heart, it pulsed in and out.

A card like this, once integrated, would lose almost no energy at all—proof of “excellent” quality!

“This card…”

Ankat looked toward the alchemy bench.

The automaton was sweeping Lomio’s leftover materials into the trash.

She could tell at a glance—they were all scraps.

“You’re telling me you used that waste, without an advisor present, and succeeded?”

“Materials can be refined. As long as you have enough, improving quality is just a matter of steps.”

Lomio thought for a moment, then borrowed one of Ankat’s own famous lines from the game.

“If we’re bound by endless restrictions, how will we ever progress?”

“Alchemy isn’t meant to be shackled.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing these words, Karyenina studied Lomio’s profile, the last of her doubts vanishing.

Now she understood.

Why the Empress had sent an examiner who was also a master assassin, and had personally created the lowest-grade experience card.

Now, the answer was clear.

Making cards was only the dazzling beginning.

His true target, from the very start, was this alchemy professor!

Perhaps, even in the entire academy, few knew—

Ankat Zelisky.

This genius soaked in alcohol was once the top scholar of the Russel Principality in the North, who chose to seek new horizons only because the Empire’s alchemy environment was no longer viable.

The academy’s advanced automaton field owed much to her hand!

If she could be brought back to the North and given a new lab environment…

Just imagining it made Karyenina’s heart race!

So that’s it!

These connections are both a test of my judgment, and, once I pass, the reward he’ll bestow upon me…