Chapter 201: The Beginning of a Plan (10)

The Promotion Exam, one of the most notable tests that took place at the Hebrion Academy, had begun.

The competition was the first test that the first-years would face. It was also a chance for new students to experience a Shadow World for the first time, albeit virtually.

For the first-years, it was undoubtedly their most important test, so every year, the students would enter this test full of vigor. However, until now, this had only been the case for the Alpha Class.

This year, due to Desir’s influence, the Beta Class was also filled with enthusiasm.

Romantica sighed as she spoke.

“I’m worried if they’re doing well.”

The Starling Party’s new students had been guided personally by Desir. As a result, they weren’t lacking in terms of skill, but as their senior, she couldn’t help but worry nonetheless.

Desir let out a chuckle.

“They’ll do fine, just like we did.”

“True… … they did go through such strict training.”

Romantica shrugged proudly. At the same time, a magic spell was arranged in front of her.

*Bang*

Following the gunshot, a scream rang out from afar.

[-One person has been eliminated. There are twenty-four people remaining. ]

The second years were also in the middle of a Promotion Exam like the first-grades.

The contents of their exam differed though.

Each party was assigned a fortress without knowing who was assigned to each one.

To occupy the opponent’s fortress, each party required fierce psychological warfare and a high level of skill in strategy.

But not a single member of the Starling Party showed signs of nervousness.

“I hope this ends quickly.”

Having taken care of one person, Romantica stretched exaggeratedly. She was beyond the point of being relaxed and closer to being outright bored.

That wasn’t a surprise since the Starling Party’s opponents were second-year students from the Hebrion Academy. Although the school was populated with the continent’s most promising young talents, they were still no more than diamonds in the rough.

They were no match for the Starling Party, who had gone through numerous real life or death battles.

“Ah, more are coming.”

As someone was caught in Romantica’s detection spell, Desir stood up.

“How many of them?”

“Three.”

*Zooom*

A spell once again was arranged in front of her.

Spells were invoked and shot relentlessly, without even giving the opponent a chance to react.

*Bang*

*Bang*

[-Two people have been eliminated. There are twenty-two people remaining.]

Left alone in the open after losing all of his colleagues, the remaining intruder turned deathly pale.

Sniping magic that had been invoked rapidly without leaving a trace behind. There was only one person in the Hebrion Academy who could dish out this kind of magic.

“W-Was this the Starling Party’s fortress… … ?”

The moment he realized that the fortress he had reckless approached belonged to the Starling Party, his eyes filled with despair.

“Dammit.”

*Bang*

Another gunshot rang out.

[-One person has been eliminated. There are twenty-one people remaining.]

And they were completely crushed.

Anyone who approached the Starling Party’s fortress were forced to their knees, unable to stand before the overwhelming power in front of them.

There was no one there that could handle Romantica’s rapid-fire, long-distance sniping.

The Starling Party’s main party members planned to remain at the top of the single rankers this year as well.

* * *

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In a peaceful corner of the Imperial Palace was an elegant building that seemed somewhat out of place.

It was a space reserved for the Royal Guards, who were known as the Empire’s strongest army. Even with a standing force of just four people, their power was not to be underestimated.

Considering the place was built to accommodate just four people, to call it luxurious might be an understatement.

In there, Desir and Alfred were talking while basking in the perfectly warm sunlight that shone through the window.

“Congratulations on your good results during the Promotion Exam, Sir Desir.”

The Promotion Exam, starting with a tournament that lasted several days, had been particularly exciting this year.

This was due to the fierce competition between the three parties; the Blue Moon Party and the Red Dragon Party who had always been regarded as the most prestigious, and the Starling Party that had suddenly appeared last year to snatch first place in the rankings.

They maintained a close relationship as they trained together, but that just increased their desire to beat each other.

“The results just reflect how much work we put in.”

“How humble, Sir Desir. Not only did all of your main party members become single rankers this year, but didn’t five of your first-years also get promoted to the Alpha Class?”

The Starling Party’s achievements were admirable enough for Alfred to be impressed.

Amongst the Starling Party’s top thirty rankers after the tournament, five were first-years from the Beta Class. As a result of the exam, all of them were promoted to the Alpha Class.

It was an event that completely overrode the perception that their party was only strong due to the freakish nature of the main party members.

“People especially couldn’t hide their admiration for that student who led the first-years.”

The person Alfred referred to was Ronde Fizzlebang.

Ronde, who had always been excellent, was able to overcome his weaknesses and improve on his strengths under Desir’s guidance. He had become an outstanding magician, far stronger than others at his age.

He had proven that by ranking first within the first-years with his excellent performance during the Promotion Exam.

“He’ll soon be joining the main party. Next time we act, he’ll be amongst our ranks.”

With the end of the Promotion Exam, Desir had finished taking care of his urgent matters at the Hebrion Academy.

Desir drew up several guidelines to allow the party to continue functioning, so that the party would not be affected even if he was not present.

And he then set off to take care of his next problem.

He took a sip of his tea before raising the next topic.

“I’ll end our small talk here and get right to the point. Please take a look at this.”

Alfred examined the documents Desir laid out on the table.

“This is… … ”

“Recently, the atmosphere in the Kingdom of Divide has been quite unusual.”

The documents that Desir presented were various documents provided to him by Vang Zarr.

Daily protests and countless rumors that came and went.

The documents explicitly revealed the sentiment of Divide’s citizens towards the Hebrion Empire.

“Their hostility towards the Empire is concerning, to say the least.”

Alfred put down the documents as he spoke.

“They’ve always been like that Sir Desir. It’s nothing special. They wouldn’t dare to stand up to the Empire anyway.”

Alfred’s opinion was what the majority of Hebrion Empire’s citizens generally thought as well.

Who would dare to defy the Empire?

It seemed as though no matter how educated one was, nothing could be done about the deep-rooted ideology that had been taught to them since birth.

“Just because they’ve been silent until now doesn’t mean that they’ll stay that way in the future.”

Desir had a slightly different perspective. Something impossible happened in the history he knew.

‘Aaron had been exiled.’

Aaron was a loyal sword that served the King of Divide across multiple generations. Not only that, but he was also skilled enough to be one of the few King Class swordsmen on the continent.

It was beyond common sense to exile such a man.

“If you check the documents, there’ll be a list. It’s a list of Divide’s merchantants that have been in contact with the Empire’s nobles recently.”

It was additional data that had arrived after Vang had identified Divide’s unusual signs of activity.

“The funny thing is that all of the people here harbor hostility towards the Empire and have been leading protests as well as spreading malicious rumors.”

Hearing that, Alfred seemed to have realized they could no longer just let this go.

It was clear that there was something more sinister underfoot.

“If this is true, then we’ll need to carry out some investigations.”

As he carefully examined the documents again, Alfred asked Desir in a solemn voice.

“May I ask for the source of this information?”

“Aylus News.”

“… … If this came from Aylus News, then it must be pretty accurate.”

There was a momentary silence between the two. Alfred, who had been lost in his thoughts with his head down, was the first to break the silence.

“What is the reason you brought this up, Sir Desir?”

“As a Royal Guard, I plan to investigate this situation.”

Alfred stared at Desir in admiration.

“You’ve discovered something very important, Sir Desir. His Majesty will most definitely be pleased by this. If there is anything you need, please feel free to tell me.”

Desir smiled in satisfaction.

Improving the relations between the Kingdom of Divide and the Hebrion Empire, who were on bad terms, had been one of Des1r’s goals.

But by downplaying it as a Royal Guard’s task, he was able to proceed with his plans with the Emperor’s support.

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