Chapter 1303: 61. Good Student

"So no matter how you look at it, this dose of strong medicine is necessary."

After saying that, Mela crossed her arms over her chest and drifted lazily back and forth through the air. With a slight movement of her little hand, all the ruined flowers covering the ground withered away, while new flowers sprouted, grew branches, and bloomed once again.

A sea of vivid red surrounded Hamreign at its center, making even her head of fiery-red hair seem considerably dimmer by comparison.

"Strong medicine..."

Her golden pupils flickered, brightening and dimming uncertainly.

The words Mela had just whispered into her ear instinctively made her hesitate and feel somewhat disgusted, because the contents of those words really were...

But while she felt disgust, those very words were also like a devil's whisper, constantly teasing at her heart.

Domir was right... no matter what, she had to understand her own emotions and completely unravel the tangled mess inside her heart. Otherwise, she understood that sooner or later, it would become something akin to a heart demon.

For someone like her, who frequently had to face all kinds of Pollution, something like that was an absolute taboo.

Once her heart became twisted, even the Love God she had casually crushed before could become her most dangerous enemy.

"If it's only to test it... I'll accept this bet."

It's only treatment...

It's only treatment...

It's only treatment...

Hamreign silently repeated it three times in her heart, then opened her eyes and looked at Mela. "But before that, I need to use your database... or a human library."

"Hm? What do you need those for?"

"To study and understand."

Hamreign said, "I've been away from the human world for too long. There are many things in which I've already become disconnected from this society. I need to understand this knowledge again so I can make sure that the choice I make is the correct one."

"Oh my, you're still struggling?"

Mela smiled ambiguously. "Interesting. I'd almost forgotten that you're actually the research type... Fine. You can freely browse both my database and this academy's Grand Library. You have the qualifications for that, after all. Even now, a considerable portion of humanity's magical system still comes from your contributions."

"Then we'll do that."

Hamreign had no desire to remain in this irritating fellow's territory for even another moment. She turned and left.

"If you're certain you want to accept the bet, then the wager will be one unconditional request from the other person. That works, right?" Mela called loudly from behind.

"Fine."

Her thorn-covered dress swayed lightly. The Calamity, still not cured of her "illness" and still unable to find the true source of her problem, hurriedly departed just like that.

The vast sea of flowers was once again left with Mela alone, swinging her little feet in carefree leisure.

"I never imagined that after a thousand years, there would actually come a day when I'd get to see that fellow looking like this. So even she can have her heart stirred by spring? Tsk, tsk. Some Calamity. Some Dragon of Death and Doom. Some strongest creature beneath the heavens. And yet she actually fell into the hands of a yellow-haired brat. How pitiful."

Mela took out another lollipop and put it into her little mouth**, then casually waved her hand, causing an enormous screen of light to appear above the sea of flowers.

She snapped her fingers, and juice, a lounge chair, and a parasol—the complete three-piece set for watching drama—instantly appeared.

She even stopped working on the unfinished tasks from earlier. She simply lay back comfortably, and regardless of how this bet ultimately turned out, she was already beginning to look forward to what would happen next:

"Oh my, wonderful. There's something entertaining to watch again..."

......

......

"Hm? The underground lockdown seems to have been lifted?"

At the core of the Grand Ritual, Headmaster Hathaway pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. Although she was often a hands-off administrator, she was still the genuine headmaster of the academy and possessed the highest authority over the Grand Ritual, so she was also the first to notice the change in the underground restricted area.

Professor Prang reacted a step later as well:

"It seems so. The sea of flowers has been unsealed, and nothing dangerous has emerged from it either. Everything throughout the academy is normal."

Hearing this, all the professors gathered there let out sighs of relief.

Although in the outside world, every one of them stood at the pinnacle of their respective fields, when facing the changes that might occur within that underground area, every single one of them still felt their own insignificance.

After all... that place belonged to that person.

If even she had needed to seal off the sea of flowers and prepare herself for battle, what could little shrimps like them possibly do besides silently pray?

Fortunately, nothing had happened.

"Should we observe for a while longer? Although the sea of flowers has been unsealed, we still can't rule out the possibility that the danger hasn't actually been resolved yet."

Someone suddenly said:

"After all, we don't know what happened down there at all."

Everyone's expressions immediately turned solemn again.

Right. They seemed to have celebrated too early.

They had not even figured out what had happened, yet they had already relaxed their vigilance on their own. Put into some kind of story, that was practically the sort of omen that meant they would immediately receive their boxed lunch on the very next page.

"If that's the case, then we'll remain here for a while longer... Hm?"

Hathaway had just been about to say something when she suddenly reached out and grasped at the empty air before her.

There had originally been nothing there, but as her fingers closed, a brilliant rose had somehow appeared in her palm.

Letters were carved into the rose's delicate, fresh petals.

"I see. I understand."

Hathaway pushed up her glasses and said to everyone, "That person has sent an order. She says the lockdown just now was merely caused by a minor problem and that we shouldn't be overly nervous. We are to restore normal order."

"Is that truly... an order personally sent by that person?"

"To silently send this flower directly into the core of the Grand Ritual... aside from that person, I can't think of anyone else capable of doing it."

"Understood."

The enormous weight hanging over everyone's hearts finally dropped away completely.

Since that person had personally spoken, there naturally could not be any problem left.

With that, Professor Prang hurriedly issued orders for everyone to disperse, calm the students, and restore order. At the same time, Hathaway also lifted the Grand Ritual's highest-alert status.

A sudden incident that had looked almost like a farce, yet which no one had dared treat casually, came to an end just like that.

Everyone left.

Professor Prang was also preparing to deal with his own matters when Hathaway suddenly stopped him.

"Professor Prang."

"Headmaster?"

Professor Prang raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. He had assumed that this elusive, hands-off headmaster of theirs would immediately bury herself in her laboratory again.

"What's with that strange look on your face? Do I look like a completely irresponsible headmaster like Pink Bear?"

"You're overthinking it, Headmaster. I'm merely worried about your health. If you remain immersed in research every single day like this, even your body will eventually be unable to endure it."

"Almost there, almost there. My research is about to produce results. This concerns the academy's finan... concerns important research related to the Empire's future. I can't afford to slack off."

Her gold-rimmed glasses reflected the faint light outside the window. Those originally incomparably alluring **beautiful eyes were currently filled with bloodshot veins, utterly exhausted.

And yet her pupils gleamed with an astonishing light, as if she had swallowed far too many of some mysterious little pills. It was rather frightening.

"Having a headmaster like you is the academy's good fortune."

Professor Prang sighed.

An older unmarried woman who had failed thirty-seven blind dates and therefore simply given up and thrown herself completely into work... truly was a little frightening.

"Let's talk about business."

Professor Prang tapped his cane:

"Why did you stop me, Headmaster?"

"Nothing much. I only wanted to ask what you think about this anomaly."

"What could I possibly think? The things that person does have always exceeded our imagination. Recklessly speculating about them won't produce any result."

"But are you truly not going to think any further about it?" Hathaway looked at him.

"......" Prang fell silent.

The last time the academy had been locked down because of that person had been thirty-three years ago, but even now, he still vividly remembered that terrifying surge of magical power that had shaken the entire academy.

So it was not only him. Anyone who had stayed at this academy long enough was probably unable to keep themselves from thinking more about it now.

"Feeling uneasy is normal, but thinking too much about it is useless. If that person refuses to say anything, can we somehow speculate the truth out of thin air?" Professor Prang shook his head.

"The truth... really can't be known. But I believe that although this anomaly didn't cause any serious consequences, the mystery hidden within it may be even more terrifying than what happened thirty-three years ago."

Hathaway crossed her arms and looked out the window.

Outside was the peaceful academy, but who could know what kind of surging waves were buried beneath that tranquility?

"Oh?"

Professor Prang narrowed his eyes. "You mean..."

"I just checked the records of the Grand Ritual and discovered that not long ago... or rather, a few minutes before the underground restricted area was sealed, there seem to have been traces of someone breaking into the academy!"

"Impossible!"

Professor Prang immediately blurted out, "Although the Grand Ritual was still dormant at the time, it definitely isn't something just anyone can break into. Besides, I didn't notice any of these signs of intrusion you mentioned at all!"

"......"

Hathaway silently turned her head back. "But that's precisely the problem, isn't it?"

"......"

......

The students had not yet completely returned, so the academy's paths seemed somewhat quiet.

Professor Prang walked along the road, his mind filled with the conversation he had just had with the headmaster.

"An intruder? Impossible... The academy's Grand Ritual was also created by that person. Aside from that person herself, who else in this world could silently and effortlessly break in?"

Professor Prang still could not understand it. He even wanted to believe it had simply been a misunderstanding.

But he also understood that aside from liking to be a hands-off administrator, disappearing for months at a time, using academy funds to do strange things, and going through thirty-seven consecutive blind dates until every high-quality bachelor in Belrand lived in fear, Headmaster Hathaway really was a qualified headmaster.

At least compared to Pink Bear, she was extremely qualified.

She probably would not make a baseless claim.

Could the lockdown just now have been caused by that person facing an enemy whom even the Grand Ritual had been unable to stop?

Just thinking about it... sent a chill down his spine.

"Forget it. I won't think about these things for now."

Professor Prang took a deep breath. Once he understood that letting his imagination run wild was useless, he threw those thoughts out of his mind.

Without realizing it, he had arrived at the academy's Grand Library.

For the sake of his later lessons, there were a few materials he needed to look up... this was one of the basic virtues of an outstanding educator.

Ever since Muen Campbell stopped attending classes, he had once again become a towering authority in the field of magical education, so naturally he had to be somewhat rigorous about such matters.

"Hm?"

Upon entering the library, he found it frighteningly quiet. But at a glance, he still noticed a figure sitting silently in a seat on the left side of the library, reading a book.

"Back so quickly? And the moment this student returned, they came straight to the library to read? This student actually loves studying this much?"

At the sight, Professor Prang felt quite gratified.

See? In this world, students like Muen Campbell who added stains to his record were ultimately only a minority.

"Not bad."

As a teacher, whenever he saw a student who loved studying, he could never resist offering a few words of praise.

So he walked over.

And on his second glance, he saw the book in the other person's hands—《The Domineering Evil Dragon Falls in Love with Me: The Golden-Haired Princess's Rose Rhapsody》.

"???"

Wait?

Since when did the academy library have books like this?

And she wasn't studying after all?

Immediately, a surge of anger rose in Professor Prang's heart.

"Final examinations are just around the corner, and yet you're still neglecting your proper duties and reading this kind of vulgar book?"

Professor Prang snatched away the book that, in his eyes, was simply unfit to be seen and angrily scolded:

"Not even the slightest desire to improve yourself. This book is confis... ca... ted... Huh?"

At that instant, it was as if time itself had stagnated.

Professor Prang still had many questions in his mind, questions related to everything the headmaster had brought up just now.

But the instant his eyes met those incomparably cold golden pupils, many things immediately became clear to him.

Yet there were still many things he simply could not understand.

It was just like when he had once watched a certain person take an entire year just to learn a single illumination spell.

He did not even have time to feel fear before he was first overwhelmed by enormous shock.

"No... you are..."

Professor Prang looked at that face, beautiful to an extreme and terrifying to an extreme, then looked at the book in his own hands. He went back and forth three times before finally confirming that what he held was not some ancient text, but really was a romance novel with a revealing cover... and quite possibly one containing explicit content?

"I'm studying."

The golden pupils blazed brightly as draconic pressure crashed toward him like a tsunami:

"Is there a problem?"