Wednesday, evening, Room 3 for self-study.
Hilia disguised herself and arrived outside the study room.
At this moment, she was wearing a gray robe that could hide her figure, her hair was tied up with a wig on, her face painted with an ugly makeup, adding some lines, and even wore glasses, looking like an ordinary little boy.
However, due to her natural beauty, even with such a disguise, a careful look could reveal her extraordinary looks.
"The High Priestess told me before that I was too beautiful, and had to be careful of being targeted by evil people when going out. She bought me boy's clothes and taught me a way to disguise as a boy, turning me into an ugly boy.
"I asked her why, even when pretending to be a boy, I still had to put on ugly makeup. She said cute boys are even more dangerous than girls, and I still don't understand why boys are dangerous?"
Hilia was quite perplexed, hoping to find answers from Rose.
Rose thought for a while, "Bad people will target not just girls, but also cute little boys, not only ordinary street thugs but even nobles and priests, who want to instill 'positive energy' in little boys."
"Positive energy? Isn't that a good thing?"
"The 'positive energy' here is just a euphemism used by nobles; in reality, it's blasphemy. The type of dangers little boys and girls face is the same; whatever danger you face as a girl is the same boys face."
Such an indirect explanation left Hilia stunned for a while before she realized, her cheeks immediately turned rosy, but luckily she was wearing makeup, so it didn't show.
"Are those nobles really that scary?" Hilia was somewhat doubtful.
"You'll understand soon." Rose implied, "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, their wickedness won't have a chance to be unleashed."
"Oh..."
Hilia didn't quite understand, but seeing Rose not elaborating, she didn't push further.
She walked into the study room, noticing quite a few people already seated inside, some meditating, some reading, and others fiddling with unknown gadgets.
Hilia noticed that although these people were engaged in their activities, their attention remained on one spot — the student at the last table by the window.
Many people were walking around there, and as Hilia entered, one person stood up next to him, only for another to rise and walk towards that student.
"Go to the second row from the door, third seat," Rose instructed.
"Okay." Hilia obediently sat down as told. In this row, all seats from the fourth one onward were occupied, while the first three were empty.
Apart from that, the first row had only two people seated, while almost every other row was full.
Hilia took out the "Holy Word" and pretended to read, actually observing the situation in the classroom.
After a short while, she roughly understood the situation: most of the students in the study room came to participate in the flight competition, and the student seated in the last row by the window was the organizer, or the one responsible for registration and collecting money.
The students were paying to sign up according to their seating order, using the desks for cover to complete transactions underneath.
There was no communication throughout, but one could see that student writing something in a notebook.
"Why does it feel like an underground transaction?"
"Such competitions often involve gambling which is prohibited by the school. Of course, this sort of event without school consent would obviously be disallowed, not to mention charging a fee."
This kind of match is like enthusiasts crowdfunding their own competition. The difference from gambling is that it's skill-based; anyone attempting to fix a match for a gamble would likely face a beating.
"Should I really participate in such a competition...?"
To this day, Hilia still had some concerns.
Considering her identity as the Holy Court's candidate for Holy Daughter, encountering such rule-violating events clinched not only enforcement issues but also potential participation.
If she got caught participating in this sort of competition...
Hilia dared not think further.
Rose's voice, tempting like a devil, said: "There's nothing to be afraid of. These contests are held anonymously, most people wouldn't know each other. These are senior students that don't know you; as long as you keep silent, no one will find out."
Do they really not recognize me? Hilia felt this reassurance wasn't very reliable.
"But..." The girl glanced around discreetly, deducing from their demeanor that they were second or even third-year seniors: "They're all older than me, a lot of them may soon advance from Tier One Mage to Tier Two, maybe even there are Tier Two Mages... I've just become a Tier One Mage, can I really fly better than them?"
Rose countered, "Did you find yesterday's training fast?"
Hilia recalled the incredible speed and maneuverability when Rose controlled the flying device with Spiritual Power; indeed, it was a fearful speed, but she could just let Rose control everything.
Hilia relaxed.
Right, what was I even worried about? This is divine intervention! Parenthesis, even an Evil God is still a God, parenthesis.
As the registrations continued, it soon reached Hilia's turn.
She mimicked others, stood up, quickly approached the senior, sat down, and reluctantly placed her only gold coin in the desk drawer.
The senior picked it up, looked at it, and handed over a wooden tag and blindfold with the number 27 written on them.
"Newcomer? Friday, flight class, Modest Tower."
Hilia didn't respond verbally, merely put away the items, nodded, and left.
Only after did she wonder in her mind: "He knew I was new here, why didn't he verify?"
"As long as you're not a teacher and pay honestly, they'll surely welcome you and hope for more participants," Rose answered.
"But, what if the newcomers are spies for the teachers?"
"This competition has clearly been held multiple times already; anything you can think of, they must have already considered. If not, at most, they'll get caught and lectured by the teachers."
"Oh, learned something new."
Hilia knocked on her forehead.
There's still a lot to learn, indeed.
Like the others, she pretended to read for a while before leaving with her book.
She planned to remove her disguise first, then go eat as it was still mealtime.
Not long after she left the study room, Rose suddenly said, "You're being followed."
"What?"
Hilia's heart skipped a beat, her body halted briefly, but she quickly composed herself, feigning ignorance as she continued towards her dorm.
"Is it the people from the competition?"
Only the competition organizers or participants would probably follow someone, right?
Hilia suspected the organizers might superficially act nonchalant towards newcomers but might secretly investigate participants' identities to ensure they wouldn't inform the teachers.
However, Rose's unexpected reply was, "No, it's someone you know."
"Someone I know? Who?"
If it's not someone from the flight competition, then who else could it be?
Could it be...
Mier? Doris?
"Your good friend..."
"Anarce."