The next morning, Ansu arrived in the classroom yawning, sporting a pair of dark circles under his eyes.
"Ansu, why do you look like you haven't slept at all?"
A female classmate asked eagerly and curiously, "Did you stay up all night studying?"
"I guess so..." Ansu thought to himself that learning magic was still learning.
He had spent the entire previous night grinding his skills, first maxing out the progress for 【Meditation】 and then grinding 【Mage's Hand】 to a third of the way.
If even Celia saw this kind of learning speed, she would probably call him a genius.
Others would need a long time just to understand such profound and obscure magic texts, yet Ansu was diving straight into practice.
He had no choice; he was being forced into it.
Ansu now craved power just as much as his lies claimed he did. If he were strong enough to defeat Celia, would he really need to be this cautious?
Once class was over, he intended to find a hidden spot to continue grinding his skills...
Hearing Ansu's answer, his classmates couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
"He's already so good, yet he's still such an overachiever. How are the rest of us supposed to live?"
"Why don't you just work yourself to death!"
Ansu took his seat, where his desk mate, Kevin, looked at him with a face full of gloom.
"It's over, it's over... Things seem to have blown up!"
"I've been worried sick. Where did you run off to yesterday?"
Ansu told him to calm down and speak slowly, and then he learned what had happened after he left the day before.
After Archbishop Paul visited the school yesterday, the academy leadership assumed he had come to discuss something very important.
In the end, he stayed in the vice principal's office all afternoon and did absolutely nothing; it really was just a whole afternoon of small talk...
However, the academy leadership didn't dare think it was that simple.
A visit from an archbishop likely carried a powerful political signal.
How could someone of that level really just spend time chatting with them? It was highly probable that he was giving them a hint—the principal's handling of the academy's theology major must have drawn dissatisfaction from the high-ranking members of the Church...
Ansu hadn't expected his unintentional act of self-preservation to cause such a massive stir.
There weren't that many hidden layers to it...
Archbishop Paul had actually only come to provide cover for the Holy Maiden. She held a transcendent status within the Church but couldn't just travel as she pleased, so she visited the academy under the name of a bishop...
What made Kevin so nervous was something else entirely.
He had been called over by the Holy Maiden herself, and the reason, of course, was the note Ansu had given him.
"I really didn't expect that person dressed as a nun to be the Holy Maiden..."
"She's actually so young and so beautiful! She's almost as holy as light itself!!"
Ansu interrupted his beautiful memories and asked directly, "Did she ask you who wrote that note?"
"She did! That's exactly why she called me over." Kevin glanced left and right, then lowered his voice. "But I didn't sell you out! This is what I told her... some bad guy from outside the school gave me the note and threatened to kill me if I didn't deliver it to the Church! I was forced to do it..."
"And then?"
"There is no 'and then'," Kevin said with a puzzled expression. "After the Holy Maiden asked about that person's appearance, she let me go. Even though I made the Church come for nothing, she didn't report it to the Academic Affairs Office, and she didn't even notify my parents..."
"My man! Thanks a lot!" Ansu patted Kevin's shoulder gratefully. "I'll handle your final exams too. This semester, just wait for your dad to reward you!"
"Really?" Kevin's face lit up with a look of surprise.
His father's primary concern right now was his studies, and because of it, he had frequently belittled Kevin in front of his other brothers.
"Of course!"
"Then..." Kevin asked again, "What about the Holy Maiden? What if she realizes the truth later and investigates me again, or even uses the Church's power to trouble my family?"
"Don't worry, she won't dare." Based on Ansu's understanding of that Holy Maiden, she definitely wouldn't want more people knowing about her demihuman blood. She would only dare to investigate privately.
Even if she traced it back to him through Kevin, Ansu wasn't worried because... he understood her personality very well.
Ansu was the only one who could threaten her; there was no way she would turn it around and threaten him.
"Alright then..." Kevin didn't know what else to say. He felt like he had truly been blinded by the temptation of 'good grades'.
...
It was now afternoon.
The sun gradually sank in the west, casting golden light through the glass windows and onto the quiet library.
Since he was still a freshman, Ansu didn't have many major courses, so he spent the entire afternoon immersed in the academy library.
He tucked the student registry inside a book and flipped through it repeatedly, frowning as he read.
To outsiders, it looked like Ansu was studying hard, but in reality, he was racking his brain over the mission to find the Chosen One.
How could he manage to do it...
Without actually leading the search back to himself, but also without showing zero progress in the investigation?
Find a scapegoat?
Just hand over some poor soul's name and insist they were the Chosen One...
No! Ansu shook his head repeatedly in his mind. With his organization's capabilities, they could easily uncover that person's background.
Or perhaps, pin the identity of the Chosen One on some high-ranking figure? To mislead the investigation?
Ansu remembered that among the old Emperor's princes and princesses, some were studying at this school. As heirs to the throne of the Empire, they were surely surrounded by countless experts.
Even Echoes of Truth probably wouldn't dare move against them. The cultists were a bit crazy, but they weren't stupid.
Opposing a colossus like the Empire right now would be nothing short of seeking death.
This was a possible line of thought, though the risk was also quite high...
While he was constantly mulling it over, a set of footsteps suddenly approached from a distance.
"Ansu."
Ansu closed his book and turned around to find Ms. Mary.
"Ms. Mary? Haven't you already taken a leave of absence?"
He looked at Ms. Mary with a hint of confusion. She definitely hadn't come to talk about his studies; it had to be something related to the mission.
Ms. Mary asked in a low voice, "Has Lady Celia already given you the registry?"
Ansu nodded.
"It seems you already know about the Chosen One..." Ms. Mary glanced around. "It's not convenient to talk here. Follow me for a moment."
Ansu followed her to an office on the third floor of the teaching building.
When the door opened, he saw Kevin, who was looking at him with an awkward expression.
Ansu immediately looked toward Mary.
Ms. Mary no longer bothered to hide her expression, revealing a mocking smile.
Ansu's brow furrowed. Since Kevin was also here, there was only one possibility...
The matter of using the note to secretly contact the Church had been exposed.
"What are you still standing there for? Get in!"
Ms. Mary gave Ansu a cold smile as she shoved him through the door, then firmly shut the office door behind him.
"We're done for, brother. It's definitely about that note..." Kevin whispered nervously to Ansu. "What do we do?"
Ansu gave him a steady look, then asked Mary with a confused expression, "Ms. Mary, do you need something from the two of us?"
"Why are you playing dumb?" Mary's eyes fixed on Ansu with a dark intensity. "I heard that you had Kevin deliver a note to the Church? And then Archbishop Paul rushed over here?"
Her voice was incredibly cold. "Tell me, what did you write on that note? And why were you able to make an archbishop come here in person?"
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