The ruby pendant nestled in the snow-white valley of her chest suddenly grew warm, flashing red — the soul-damage pendant signaling another flare-up of her aftereffects.
She produced a white handkerchief and pressed it to her mouth, coughing softly. Bright-red blood bloomed against the white cloth.
Li Fei remained remarkably composed. After all, during the coming-of-age ceremony she had already experienced the distinguished honor of coughing up blood and pool water simultaneously — and had gotten it all over Qin Zhihua in the process. Not a serious problem, really, but the look of pure horror that had spread across Zhihua's face had been absolutely precious.
She dabbed the blood from the corner of her mouth, then lowered her gaze to the medal resting in her palm, turning it slowly back and forth.
The medal was bronze, shaped like a blossoming flower, with several green ribbons attached.
[Bronze Medal of Honor — Nature]
Equipment Rating: Firefly
Attributes: Command +1; grants +1 additional Command toward creatures of the Nature Alignment
Enchantment Effects: Cleanse (Lv1), Fear Dispel (Lv1), Heal (Lv1), Data Storage (Lv1)…
Asuna had delivered it on behalf of City Hall — a commendation for Li Fei's "moving deeds" in Viranean.
The rating was low, and the attributes weren't particularly useful to her personally — but the enchantment effects were quite solid. Beyond things like Data Storage and Mana Identification for verifying identity credentials, the daily-use Cleanse and Heal were genuinely practical.
On top of that, medal holders could collect a one-gold-coin stipend from City Hall each month, and would enjoy a certain tax exemption when running a business — though that last part was rather academic, since Li Fei had no intention of paying taxes anyway.
The most absurd part: the moment she received the medal, her Achievement Panel gained a new entry.
Achievements: Wolf Den Exterminator; Beautiful Soul (Command +1, more easily trusted by those of good alignment)
While the top courtesan sat lost in her thoughts, Teacher Melodia was lecturing at the front of the room.
Ten minutes ago, Li Fei had confirmed it conclusively: 1 point of Aptitude couldn't be called completely useless, but it was genuinely close. The portions of class dealing with Transcendent mysteries had gone from being one hundred percent incomprehensible to her now occasionally recognizing a symbol or two — and she was still hopelessly behind the teaching pace.
Worth noting: during the days Li Fei had been skipping class, the incoming cohort had undergone a dramatic transformation. More than half of her classmates had already crossed into Sequence 9 and entered the Transcendent realm. In the vast majority of cases, the Sequence 9 advancement ritual wasn't particularly difficult — with systematic instruction and the Academy's complimentary secret potions, the gifted young prodigies who had passed the entrance exams cleared the first threshold of the Transcendent path with relative ease.
While the Special Enrollment student was glancing idly around the room, the lecture portion finally drew to a close — but unlike her usual habit, Melodia didn't briskly announce the end of class. Instead she picked up her teacup and said, in an unhurried, deliberate tone:
"Everyone, pay attention — I have a few things to announce."
"First: in the middle of next month, our Academy will be hosting an exchange event with the War Academy…"
"I can tell you now — the team that comes out on top will receive a reward of at least one thousand credits."
The moment the words left her mouth, a ripple of excitement ran through the room. The newly minted Transcendents looked like they'd been hit with a vitality potion — bright-eyed, brimming with fighting spirit, practically vibrating.
The Transcendent path was a relentless current where the strong outpaced the weak — survival of the fittest was its eternal anthem. The young people seated here hadn't yet had reality beat that lesson into them particularly hard. Every last one of them still had dreams.
Melodia let the buzz settle for about half a minute, then clapped her hands lightly. Once she had their attention, she continued:
"To ensure you perform well in the exchange event, the Academy will be arranging practical combat classes beginning today. And the very first session will take place inside the Moonlight Wolf Den outside the city."
At that, the excitement doubled. Someone was already cheering aloud.
Naturally — compared to theoretical coursework in things like language and mathematics, "physical education" and "field exercises" were always far more capable of capturing the enthusiasm of energetic young people.
Amid the eruption of cheerful noise, Li Fei alone remained perfectly serene. She raised a hand to her lips, concealing the corner of her mouth as it curled upward.
The Moonlight Wolf Den?
A practical combat class?
Good luck to you all. Comb through it diligently enough and you might just find the few that slipped through the net. Heheh.
"Second — I'm sure everyone is by now well aware of the Special Enrollment student's rather eventful few days?"
Melodia's gaze drifted to Li Fei, a warm smile on her face. "I want everyone to understand: the Magic Academy has always stood for cultivating the 'Heroic Sequence,' not merely the 'Knowledge Sequence.' The difference between the two is not a matter of strength — it is a matter of courage and kindness."
"For exemplary moral character of the highest order — Li Fei, one hundred points!"
The classroom erupted. Her classmates turned to look at her with expressions of admiration and barely concealed envy — quite a few of them looked outright thrilled, since this gave them a perfectly legitimate excuse to openly admire the object of their secret affections.
"Good lord, a hundred points? I've only earned three since enrollment…"
"A model for us all!"
"Beautiful inside and out, and blessed with extraordinary talent — even the heroines of novels can't compare…"
Several of the class's most devoted admirers led the round of applause, their eyes looking liable to sprout little pink hearts at any moment.
Excellent. That's enough to redeem a decent piece of equipment — or stock up on a few more Spell Scrolls…
Li Fei arranged her face into the exact expression she had once worn when accepting a "Model Student" certificate back in her previous world — modest, gracious, composed. She gave Melodia a polite nod of acknowledgment.
"I only did what anyone should do… Thank you, Teacher Melodia."
Once the applause faded, Melodia's radiant smile finally gave way to something more pointed:
"And last — does everyone remember what I said a few days ago?"
"Please. Carry. Revealing Dust. On your person at all times."
"Now then — place your Revealing Dust on your desks so I can see it."
The festive atmosphere died in an instant. The classroom went dead silent.
Even future mages couldn't escape the primordial terror of a homeroom teacher's spot check.
Li Fei's expression didn't change in the slightest.
She was already carrying an absurd amount of things: flasks and vials, a waterskin, her coin purse, two sets of crossbow bolts, arrows, an enormous mage staff… and all the essentials a girl simply had to have on her at all times.
When the inventory was full, there was simply no room left for powder. That was hardly her fault, was it?
Of course, some people needed their equipment on their person at all times — and then there were those who carried an entire shop on their back.
Fortune Value: 5,742 → 5,741
Li Fei maintained the poised smile of an honor-roll student, posture impeccable, and set her Revealing Dust on the desk with quiet composure.
After about ten seconds of silence, only a handful of students in the entire room had produced any Revealing Dust at all — among them, Li Fei's neighbor Klein.
"Only six students brought Revealing Dust?"
Melodia, who normally seemed so easygoing, was a different creature entirely when she set her expression. A suffocating pressure radiated from her. She tapped one finger against the lectern and said, in a completely flat tone: "I am compelled to inform you — in all my years teaching incoming cohorts, this is the worst performance I have ever seen."
Beneath that quietly commanding air, even the students who had done nothing wrong felt their spines stiffen. Heads went down; no one dared meet Melodia's eyes — Li Fei included, who felt that deeply instinctual, animal anxiety every student experiences in the face of a homeroom teacher's disapproval.
It was difficult to reconcile this image with the golden-haired teacher who could be tidied up in a few offhand words by Dean Nicole, and who tended to look conspicuously evasive whenever the atmosphere between student and teacher grew just a little too warm.
"Students who failed to bring Revealing Dust will be docked one point. Students who brought Revealing Dust will receive two—"
The noble, imposing, utterly impartial teacher's voice paused for a beat — barely perceptible, but real — as her gaze swept past the Revealing Dust on Li Fei's desk. Then she finished her announcement:
"—five points."
...
Li Fei used her unrecovered injuries as an excuse to skip the afternoon's practical combat class.
As it happened, her neighbor Klein also submitted a leave request — the Magic Academy's administration was famously lenient, as evidenced by the fact that students were allowed to drink coffee during lectures.
Li Fei gathered her textbooks efficiently, then said to Klein in a conversational tone:
"Not bad with those Tentacles, Sherlock."
"A passing familiarity, nothing more," Klein said, spreading his hands. He showed no particular surprise at Li Fei seeing through his identity.
Before advancing to the mid-Sequences, even with an inherited legacy and the help of Uncle Joeson, he could only conceal his Sequence level — he was nowhere near skilled enough at disguise, and he certainly didn't have a best friend who casually handed out Blazing Sun-grade disguise items. The identity of Sherlock was, for Klein, nothing more than an experiment — a way to accumulate experience for more convincing cover in the future. Having it seen through was no real loss. As long as he didn't expose too much about his inherited legacy, it wouldn't interfere with his plans. Once his objectives were met, he would shed both "Klein" and "Sherlock" and pursue his goals under an entirely different face.
"Give my regards to Uncle Cowell."
Li Fei had no particular interest in digging into his secrets. She exchanged a few casual words, then picked up her staff, gave him a wave, and headed out.
She stepped out of the classroom into the bright noon sunlight, which was quite glaring — enough to make the severely drained Li Fei feel a little dizzy. She hesitated for a moment, then gave up on the lavish Dean's lunch and decided instead to head to Annie Teresa's for the meal.
"She must have been worried sick these past few days… a single day apart feels like three years!"
Li Fei was muttering to herself as she walked out through the school gates — when a flash of vivid crimson caught the corner of her eye.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Crimson heels struck the ground in a beautifully measured rhythm. A red-haired woman walked toward her with languid, unhurried grace, those bewitching red lips curving into a smile that hovered between approach and retreat:
"Miss Li Fei — every time I think I've grown accustomed to your beauty, you find a way to stun me all over again."
"Oh — Sister Leona."
Li Fei greeted the daughter of the Mercenary Guild's president with a politely demure tilt of her head. "You're here because…"
This woman — whose allure and combat ability went hand in hand, who apparently wore black stockings and red heels even into a melee — was today dressed in a striking, off-the-shoulder scarlet gown, its vivid red setting off the blinding white of her skin.
"I was waiting for you."
Leona's ten fingers, nails painted a lacquer red, laced together at her chest. Her jade-green eyes smiled. "Do you have time for lunch?"
"…"
Li Fei's gaze drifted down from the elegant swan-curve of her neck, and finally came to rest, helplessly, in the exquisite and dizzying depths of those snow-white collarbones. She nodded with great conviction:
"Absolutely!"
What? Annie Teresa?
If a love is meant to last, it need not be renewed every morning and every evening. She's waited a few days already — surely she can wait one more meal.
...
Soft, romantic instrumental music floated through the elegantly appointed dining room.
Li Fei held a rib bone shaped rather like a battle-axe — with roughly a kilogram of beef attached to it — and tore into the roasted meat with cheerful abandon, cheeks puffed out like a hamster's, eyes squeezed into contented crescents, radiating pure happiness.
The outer layer of the roast carried a rich, heady fragrance of black pepper; beneath it, the meat was still a tender rosy pink, and even the lightest bite released a rush of savory, glorious juice. For Li Fei — who had been fighting from the dead of night until dusk, too busy consuming a different kind of "meat" to eat any actual meat — this was a flavor bordering on the divine.
Leona sat with one leg crossed over the other, swirling her wine in a long-stemmed glass, watching the top courtesan's eating performance with keen, amused appreciation.
Li Fei ate with wholehearted, unguarded pleasure — not with the studied elegance of a noble lady, yet not quite the ravenous wolfing-down of most mercenaries either. Her hands were slicked with fat, yet not a drop had landed on her clothes. She bit into the roast in generous mouthfuls but didn't swallow without chewing — she closed her eyes and worked her jaw with genuine, focused enjoyment, savoring every texture and flavor. And aside from the occasional adorable little murmur of contentment, she made no particularly conspicuous eating sounds.
After demolishing an enormous slab of beef, Li Fei tipped her head back and gulped down an entire glass of freshly squeezed juice in one long, bubbling stream. Then she turned her bright, shining eyes on Leona — and Leona snapped her fingers. A servant appeared almost immediately with another platter of roasted meat.
"I… I'm alive again…"
One application of Cleanse later, the grease on her hands was gone. Li Fei sagged lazily back in her chair, patting her stomach with deep satisfaction. Her voice, at least, had shed some of its earlier wan fragility and gained a thread of genuine vitality.
She hummed contentedly to herself for a good while before finally — with some effort — pulling herself upright and turning a slightly shy gaze toward Leona:
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Somewhere along the way, the top courtesan's art had ripened to something close to mastery — every movement, every gesture, carrying a natural, effortless magnetism that required no conscious effort at all.
"I never imagined watching someone else eat could itself be a form of pleasure," Leona said, setting down her glass. She slid a thick stack of goldsmith's notes across the table toward Li Fei. "But then — Miss Li Fei possesses a miraculous sort of charm."
Ah… she's being remarkably direct.
Li Fei blinked, feeling a flicker of internal conflict — and a flicker of excitement.
She had planned, after the conclusion of the coming-of-age ceremony, to throw herself wholeheartedly back into the hospitality profession…
But this was a little fast, wasn't it? She hadn't even fully caught her breath yet.
Besides — Leona and Qin Zhihua were apparently close friends. She had only last night shared dreams and a vanity mirror with Zhihua, and now, barely a few hours later, the sun not yet set, she was already considering conducting this sort of business with Leona. Wasn't that just a bit too much stimulation in one go?
Maybe…
Wait a few days?
Li Fei hesitated, glancing down at the notes — and then quickly raised a hand to her lips.
Because going by the denomination and the thickness of the stack, those goldsmith's notes were worth at least ten thousand gold coins.
Well. Since Sister Leona is a woman of passionate spirit — this young lady supposes she… could make an exception.
Li Fei had barely reached for the button at the neckline of her dress when Leona's voice reached her:
"Sister Zhihua entrusted me with two Transcendent items she needed to liquidate. She asked me to pass the proceeds directly to you."
Ah.
Li Fei withdrew her hand from the first button she had already undone, gave the side of her face a small, casual fan as though she were simply warm from the meal, stretched languidly, and eased herself back against the chair with a composed little exhale, her previously straightened posture conveniently settling back into its relaxed slouch.
Right — she remembered now. After wiping out that Transcendent squad led by the spear-wielder who had apparently decided death was preferable to surrender, she had casually pocketed two pieces of loot with the intention of boosting her Fortune Value. Now that they were back in Loxibrook, it was perfectly natural for Qin Zhihua to commission Leona to handle the sale on her behalf.
"Thank you, Sister Leona… in that case, lunch is on me~"
Li Fei didn't make a show of it — she tucked the notes away close to her body without bothering to count them, and smiled pleasantly.
"There's no need for thanks. You did our Guild a kindness."
Leona said sincerely.
"Oh?"
Li Fei blinked in genuine curiosity.
"In the chaos at Viranean, there were several hundred survivors — they held out in the center of the island until the very last moment."
Leona explained: "Close to a hundred of them were our mercenaries."
And what does that have to do with me?
Li Fei put on an expression of earnest, wide-eyed curiosity.
"Miss Bai's… particular temperament is not exactly a secret to certain people," Leona said, holding Li Fei's gaze. "Kalida told me — if you hadn't been in Viranean, no one on that island would have survived. The people were ultimately saved by Miss Bai, yes — but there's no denying it: every single survivor owes you a debt."
As she spoke, she slid a document across the table toward Li Fei:
"This is the Mercenary Guild's way of repaying that debt."
"Oh — I couldn't possibly…"
Li Fei's pupils widened in apparent shock, her voice trembling slightly — while her pale, soft little hand clamped down firmly onto the "Secret Garden Unconditional Transfer Agreement" and did not let go.
____
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