Chapter 294
Chapter 294
Chapter 294
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 294: Principal Lan Qi’s Steadfast Courage
Zestira froze for a moment.
Although Lan Qi’s declaration sounded wildly arrogant—
When paired with the bounty hanging over his head, it felt every bit like something a real principal would say.
It didn’t sound like a joke at all.
After Lan Qi had already proven his strength, nearly everyone believed that those hundreds of thousands of credits would naturally fall into his hands.
So this promise of his wasn’t actually unreasonable.
Once a teacher took action, it meant standing with Lan Qi’s side.
Or rather, anyone would choose to stand with Lan Qi—because protecting him meant ensuring he passed the assessment, and afterward, he would return this mountain of credits to benefit all teachers!
Although in name he wasn’t the principal—
In terms of actual authority and prestige, he had already become the true leader!
“Like this, this academy should soon be filled with friendship and harmony.”
Lan Qi gently set down the microphone, walked to the window, and pulled open the curtains. Light spilled into the room, flooding it in brightness. With a gratified look in his eyes, he gazed into the distance and sighed.
At this point, his work as a tutor was essentially complete.
Or perhaps, a new task was just beginning.
“……”
Zestira was silent for a moment, then thought carefully.
“Yes.”
She said softly.
She felt her teacher was completely right.
Trash belonged in the trash can.
Strict management like this was the only correct way to rule.
“As expected of an ambitious demon girl. Congratulations—you’ve learned well.”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
Hearing their teacher-disciple exchange, Cat Boss felt words clogging in his throat.
It wasn’t exactly that Zestira was being led astray…
After all, she never wanted to be human in the first place…
But today Cat Boss finally realized—
This kid was a pure, heavy-case delusional.
The most normal-looking madman in the world!
If you didn’t stay by his side and watch carefully, you’d really be fooled by him!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the assessment area, in the central buildings of the Royal Protos Academy—
The giant council hall of the senior third-year student leaders had fallen into dead silence.
The agitation from earlier had vanished.
The top-ranked students sat with mouths agape, unable to utter a sound, as if a hammer had just smashed their minds.
Their eyes flickered with unwillingness, resentment, and even a hint of helpless panic.
Lan Qi’s simple words had already decided the outcome.
And they had no means to counter it.
“……”
Several students’ faces turned ashen.
At this point, their power and interference were laughably meaningless.
Moments ago, they had been piling deadly debuffs onto Zestira, waiting to knock her out of the competition.
Yet in the blink of an eye, it was they who had been pushed to the edge of a cliff.
The air in the council hall grew heavy, suffocating, as though even space itself had frozen.
Faced with the shocking changes on the screen, no one dared to make casual comments.
No one could predict what would happen next.
And no one knew what the academy would look like after today.
But one thing was certain: whatever the outcome, this assessment would be recorded as one of the heaviest marks in the history of the Royal Protos Academy.
And furthermore—
The glory days of the senior student leaders were about to end.
The council chamber remained sunk in dead silence.
On the screens—
Lan Qi and Zestira had already left the broadcast room and begun patrolling the corridors.
Every so often, their bounty amount ticked higher again.
Some teachers, knowing the score, directly seized students who had violated rules in the first assessment. They didn’t fight, but instead dragged the offenders before Lan Qi to be dealt with.
The captured students looked vacant-eyed, sobbing desperately for mercy.
Yet the teachers only cracked their knuckles with a grim smile—and executed punishment on the spot.
Amid the rapid weakening screams, Lan Qi only shook his head lightly, then raised his gaze toward the classroom ceiling, locking eyes with the camera.
It was as though he could pierce through time and distance, directly meeting the gazes of the senior students behind the scenes, and hear their voices.
At that instant, even the sound of breathing disappeared from the council chamber.
Lan Qi gave only the faintest smile before turning his gaze away, like smoke vanishing in the wind.
“……”
That single glance—though casual—gave them the uncanny illusion that they weren’t watching Lan Qi from outside the play, but that Lan Qi was the one watching them from outside.
Lan Qi patted the teacher’s shoulder and continued his inspection of the academy.
“Is this really our Royal Protos Academy?”
A scene fit only for nightmares had become reality.
The once-complacent senior students suddenly found their breathing erratic and irregular.
What kind of academy was this?
Even though they were still in their supposedly “absolutely safe” observation seats, it only made their fear worse.
As if they were being used as the “chickens” to warn the “monkeys.”
“…Doesn’t he fear retaliation?”
Finally—
One senior spoke.
His hands clenched into fists, nails digging deep into his palms, with a hint of venom in his tone.
Since he had already made so many enemies, better to resist to the end than submit.
Daring to offend this many people—surely there would be ways to make him vanish from the imperial capital Helrom!
“……”
The others only looked at him, saying nothing.
“…Do you think you’re harsher than the Annihilation Branch of the Resurrection Church?”
“……”
Think about it.
If you wanted someone erased, the top-tier service was to hire the Annihilation Branch of the Resurrection Church.
But reality proved—
Even the Annihilation Branch refused to touch this man!
There had been people who’d made them suffer losses before, but most ended up terribly.
Yet for someone to make those terrorists willingly eat such a loss without daring to retaliate—Rocky McCarthy was truly the first.
At those words, the senior’s face went pitch black.
“Chloris, doesn’t this disgust you?”
The arrogant second-seat tried once more to draw in someone who might stand against Rocky McCarthy.
This “once-in-a-century prodigy,” a duke’s daughter, was on a completely different level from them.
And her losses, undeniably, were the greatest.
“Do you know why, even though I always found monthly exam days boring, I never once skipped them?”
Chloris asked softly, almost teasingly.
A silence followed.
To her, exam-day credits were nothing of value.
“Why?”
The second-seat pressed.
“Because unlike you, I have never belittled the school rules.”
At last, Chloris stood up, as though her work here was finished. Sitting in the shadowy corner of the council hall, light finally touched her simple hunting-style dress.
She walked alone toward the exit, a smile tugging at her lips.
It was time to speak with Associate Professor Sido about cooperating with Rocky.
This youth should display his talents on a much greater stage.