Chapter 1880: Chapter 1880

"Simple, do you have more specific suspects in mind?"

Old Yao used tweezers to pick up a toad the size of a soybean, held it under the shadowless lamp, squinted, observed its still slowly pulsing translucent chin, and softly asked.

"Demons, or the Dark Council."

Professor Montreya offered two unsurprising answers: "Only those lunatics from the Land of Desolation would conduct such experiments of combining demon blood with ogres... As for the Dark Council, they have a poor record when it comes to violating alliance prohibitions."

"So we have no way to verify this with them." Professor Yao pursed his lips and tossed the toad onto the silver plate beside the lab bench.

The little toad spun around in the plate, legs skyward, continuing to play dead.

"There’s the Wandering Bar right in Beta Town, we can find an excuse to bring back the wandering wizard." Professor Montreya suggested his idea: "He’s an old hand of the Dark Council, surely he knows something."

"No, no, that’s not how we do things."

Professor Yao shook his head repeatedly: "The Black Prison battle just ended, we have no reason to restart a conflict between the school and the Dark Council, or the Land of Desolation, over a bit of suspicion. It’s no good for anyone. The alliance allows their existence, naturally, there’s a reason for their existence. As long as they show enough respect for the alliance."

"Oh, an extremely mutated ogre? That’s real respectful!" Professor Montreya mocked: "Just like the saying goes - the trouble with this world isn’t that people know too little, but that so much of what they do know is wrong."

"It’s easy to understand with a slight modification." Professor Montreya shrugged, taking off the silk gloves on his hands: "The trouble with this world isn’t whether people know what is right, but that so many blatantly know the right thing yet don’t do it."

"And what is the right thing?" The guest curiously pursued further.

"For example, arresting a well-known black wizard, or shutting down a notorious black market, or issuing a final ultimatum to the Land of Desolation demanding the handover of the culprits." Professor Montreya didn’t hesitate at all.

"It’s not that simple."

The president of Jiuyou Academy sighed long and hard, stuffed the pipe back into his mouth, took a deep puff: "Phew... this world will never be that simple."

The minor episode at the Institute of Applied Magic didn’t cause the slightest ripple in the vast First University. Perhaps only the young wizards directly connected to Astronomy Class 08-1 noticed anything. Read full story at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥

Of course, most of the students in the class sensed this ripple because Nicholas was late to class — when the afternoon Fu Lu class was nearly halfway, the ponytailed warlock hurried into the classroom.

"Very sorry, professor!"

Nicholas stood beneath the lecture platform, bowed ninety degrees to Zhang Huaigu who was seated behind the desk, hurriedly and quietly apologized: "Councilman Korma needed my assistance to complete an experiment..."

Neither the ’North District Great Sage’ nor any other titles are officially recognized by the alliance, so they aren’t appropriate to use in front of school teachers; Nicholas considered this for a long while on his way, finally remembering that Korma is now a member of the Mage Alliance’s Great Wizard Conference and has a formal title of councilman.

The Fu Lu class teacher raised a hand to stop the warlock from further explanations.

"’Jia Wa’ sent me an express message, it’s not your fault, no need to apologize."

Zhang Huaigu gently reassured in her usual Wu tone, surprisingly calm: "Quickly go back to your seat and answer the questions, there’s still an hour left until the exam ends, you should be able to earn a passing score with some effort... By the way, I’m still a ’lecturer’, not a ’professor’."

Nicholas scratched his head, showing an honest smile.

He naturally knew the teaching position of the Fu Lu class teacher, but that didn’t stop him from saying a few flattering words—no harm in it, so why not do it?

"What’s ’Jia Wa’?" The curious Li Meng in the first-row leaned forward, looked at the teacher behind the desk with an innocent face.

She had been restless ever since the warlock entered, listening intently to the conversation at the podium.

A cautious cough came from Jiang Yu beside her.

"Finished your test paper?"

Zhang Huaigu tried to maintain composure and looked toward the little witch: "No talking during the exam... and no questions either. Unless there’s a mistake on the test paper."

"This question has nothing to do with the test paper though!"

Li Meng claimed earnestly, even raising three fingers in a pledge-like manner: "Don’t worry, teacher, I won’t cheat... Ow!"

Jiang Yu silently withdrew her leg, continuing to lower her head and check her answers, no longer paying attention to the aggrieved little witch who retreated to her seat. Meanwhile, during this accidental occurrence, Nicholas turned his gaze toward the class.

Liu Fei Fei was cautiously gesturing at him.

Beside her was an already reserved empty seat, on the desk were neatly upside-down blank test papers, and nearby, a feather pen soaked with ink rested on a low stand, jittering anxiously as if eager to spill its ink onto the parchment.

After bowing again to the teacher, the warlock jogged over to his spot.

It seemed like there were a few discontented exhales behind him, and he could vaguely feel some piercing gazes on his back, prompting him to slow his pace immediately.

Just as he reached the desk, Liu Fei Fei’s voice whispered in his ear:

"Hurry up... it’s all last semester’s content, only the last twenty points cover the new book, which we all previewed recently, no need to worry."

As she spoke, the witch helped the warlock flip over the paper, carefully watching the podium while swiftly adding in almost a whisper:

"The first part’s basic runes and the third part’s common symbol gall structures are very simple, start with those... The second part requires completing broken talismans, because they have reversals, blurs, and errors, it’s time-consuming, do it last."

Nicholas slightly nodded to indicate he understood.

Finally, noticing that the teacher on the platform did not interrupt her little actions, Liu Fei Fei boldly asked a non-exam-related question: "So what exactly is ’Jia Wa’?"

She had caught Li Meng’s earlier query, intrigued by the term mentioned by Teacher Zhang.

"Jabir and Valentine Alchemy Magic Laboratory, where Korma Sage conducts experiments."

Nicholas’s lips moved slightly, his voice barely a murmur, yet he still felt uneasy, carefully glancing at the figure behind the desk, gently shaking his head: "... I’ll go into detail with you after class."

Liu Fei Fei obediently nodded, finally turning her attention back to her test paper.