Although Veronica, the current Saintess of the Church of Light, was already rushing to the Magic Tower where the exchange was being held as quickly as possible, her noble status dictated that every path she took had to be cleared in advance by a squad of knights and confirmed secure before she could pass.
Consequently, by the time she finally arrived at the Magic Tower, the preliminary defense phase had already officially concluded.
“We are deeply sorry for failing to ensure your timely arrival!”
Bernard, the Bishop in White, and Reinhardt, the Deputy Director of the Inquisition, bowed in apology at the same time, fine beads of sweat breaking out on their foreheads.
Veronica stood at the entrance of the Magic Tower. The afternoon sun filtered through the high windows, casting a soft, shimmering halo over her platinum-blonde hair.
She maintained her signature squinting smile as she spoke:
“There is no need to blame yourselves. This must be the arrangement of Lady Serafina. If I had appeared in the examination hall during the preliminary defense, it would have only caused chaos and affected the students' performance. That would be putting the cart before the horse.”
She paused, then continued:
“However, since the purpose of my visit is to learn, I plan to head to the grading room now. I would like to join the professors responsible for the preliminary defense and see if there are any students whose work is outstanding enough for me to learn from.”
Bernard and Reinhardt exchanged a glance, bowing their heads in assent simultaneously.
Without further delay, Veronica stepped lightly into the Magic Tower, accompanied by her two nun escorts.
Watching her figure disappear behind the doors, Bernard slowly straightened up and whispered to Reinhardt beside him:
“Do you think... there is truly any student excellent enough for Her Holiness to learn from?”
Reinhardt fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
“Although students from over a hundred magic academies have gathered in the Magic Tower this time, I believe the possibility is very slim. After all, before Lady Veronica became the Saintess, she herself was an exceptionally brilliant genius.”
Bernard sighed. “Well, I could sense that Her Holiness didn't seem to have high expectations to begin with. I just hope nothing goes wrong.”
The two did not pursue the topic any further, turning to leave the Magic Tower.
Since the preliminary defense had just ended, most of the students had headed to the dining hall on the middle floors of the Magic Tower to eat, leaving the corridors and lifts almost entirely empty.
Thus, Veronica reached her destination without any obstacles.
When she pushed open the door and stepped into the grading room, the busy professors stopped what they were doing one after another.
Upon recognizing her face, everyone immediately stood up and bowed to greet her in unison.
“Welcome, Your Holiness!”
Although their respective headmasters had warned them in advance that the Saintess would be attending the exchange to observe and learn, they still couldn't help but feel nervous upon seeing her in person.
After all, this was the current Saintess of the Church of Light, an existence second only to the Goddess of Light, Serafina, in the minds of countless believers.
Veronica was no stranger to such scenes.
Smiling gently, she clasped her hands in front of her and spoke in a warm, amiable tone:
“Please, do not stand on ceremony. Continue with your work. I merely wish to observe and see if there are any interesting insights. I will not disturb you.”
Her voice seemed to possess a natural, soothing power. The professors' tense nerves gradually relaxed, and they sat back down in their respective seats to resume their grading.
The topic of this preliminary defense was 'The Loss Mechanism of Mana during Transmission and Its Optimization Solutions'.
It was a classic, open-ended question that tested both the students' grasp of basic theory and their ability to propose novel insights.
The professors had to grade the students' answers based on four dimensions: clarity of argument, sufficiency of evidence, innovation, and logical rigor.
The grading room was quiet and orderly, filled only with the rustling of turning pages and the scratching of quill pens against paper.
Whenever a professor came across an interesting answer, they would call over their colleagues to review and confirm it, resulting in occasional low murmurs of discussion.
Throughout this process, Veronica stood quietly to the side, her gaze drifting over the papers along with the professors' discussions, neither offering opinions nor disrupting their work.
Before long, a professor from Glory Cael Magic Academy picked up an answer sheet. After reading it for a moment, he nodded slightly and said to his colleague nearby:
“The angle of this answer is very clear, the arguments are well-defined, and the evidence is solid. Although the proposed solution isn't particularly novel, it excels in logical completeness and a very firm foundation.”
Another professor leaned in to glance at the candidate's name. “Victoria Cecil... Ah, she seems to be Glory Cael's First-year Representative, right?”
“Yes.”
The first professor nodded, a hint of emotion in his tone:
“To think a student from a commoner background would possess such talent and insight. It is truly rare.”
Hearing this, Veronica's gaze lingered on the answer sheet for a brief moment, though she remained silent.
A while later, another professor picked up an answer sheet. After reading it for a moment, he couldn't help but praise:
“The logic in this answer is flawless; the proof process is practically impeccable. Furthermore, her understanding of the microscopic level of mana transmission already exceeds that of most second-year students.”
“This is Silvia Lorraine's answer sheet.”
A nearby professor glanced at the name and then raised his voice, intentionally or otherwise, as if speaking for Veronica's benefit:
“I heard she is highly proficient in using various light-attribute spells. A student like her would surely be considered exceptionally outstanding even within the Church of Light, wouldn't she?”
Veronica merely gave a faint nod and replied calmly with a single word, “Yes.”
And that was that.
The smile on the face of the professor, who had hoped to curry favor, froze for a fraction of a second, and a subtle awkwardness filled the air.
He cleared his throat, quickly lowering his head to examine the next answer sheet, not daring to say another word.
Soon, other professors brought up the answer sheets of Lilith and Vivian:
“These two are the Kingdom's First and Second Princesses, after all.”
“No wonder their foundations are so solid.”
Another professor agreed, “It seems they didn't slack off because of their status; on the contrary, they've been working quite hard.”
Veronica's gaze lingered on each of the two papers for a moment, yet she still offered no special evaluation.
After that, the professors went on to critique several other outstanding answer sheets from the other Four Great Academies—for instance, a niece of Aurora, the Headmistress of Ember-Eye Tower Magic Academy; the young mistress of the Gloom Wolf Tribe; a prince of the Elven Kingdom; and the Third Imperial Princess of the Empire.
What surprised them even more was that Melina, a first-year student from Frost Ring Magic Academy—which was outside the Five Great Academies—had actually reached the exact same level as these geniuses.
However, while these students' answers each had their own highlights, solid foundations, and clear logic—levels that would absolutely be considered top-tier even within the Five Great Academies—
...in Veronica's eyes, they still only fell within the category of excellent students. They were far from reaching a level that would truly amaze her.
Just as she thought this was the limit of what this batch of students could achieve, a professor sitting in the corner suddenly let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
“Hmm, the handwriting is quite beautiful—”
Her voice carried a trace of casual praise, but in the next second, her tone suddenly spiked:
“Wait—what, what is this?!”
Her unusual reaction instantly drew the attention of everyone around her.
Several professors put down their respective papers and gathered around to look at the answer sheet in her hand.
And when Veronica's gaze fell upon the writing on that sheet of paper, her previously relaxed expression instantly turned solemn.
It was a sensation that defied description.
The handwriting on the paper was neat and elegant, but what truly moved her was the content carried by those words.
Not only did this answer accurately pinpoint the core issue of mana transmission loss, but it also proposed a revolutionary theoretical framework—an optimization scheme that she had never seen in any literature before.
Even more terrifyingly, the logical chain of this proposal was complete and rigorous. Every inference was well-founded, and it had even preemptively anticipated and countered potential objections.
The entire answer spanned several thousand words, yet there was not a single line of filler, as if the author had been contemplating this issue for decades.
Veronica slowly opened her eyes, which were as beautiful as the stars, and let her gaze linger on the signature block of the answer sheet for a brief moment.
Greg Sass.
She softly repeated the name, then closed her eyes once more.
Only this time, the smile at the corner of her lips carried a slightly different meaning than before.
...
Meanwhile, in the dining hall of the Magic Tower's middle floors, Greg, having eaten and drunk his fill, leaned back against his chair and casually checked the time.
Calculating the progress, he thought to himself:
'According to the timeline of the original game, the Saintess of the Church of Light should already be in the grading room by now.'
'In that case... she should be about to see my answer sheet and become interested in me.'
Rate on N.U.
