"We need privacy," Talindra announced, giving Mildred a pointed look.

"What you need to do, Lady Talindra, is to ignore this bum," Mildred replied.

Talindra stood her ground in silence until the grumpy doula left the room.

As soon as the door closed, I felt a tension lifting from my shoulders. It was hard to tell if that weird sensation was a skill prodding my mana pool or just the weight of the woman's presence. Mildrad, after all, wasn't just any woman; she had helped give birth to Prince Adrien.

I sat on a small stool by the side of the bed. On the nightstand was a stack of manuscripts about teaching techniques Talindra was compiling to turn into a manual. She was in a good mood. She giggled as she stuffed the carrot muffin into her mouth.

"How was the exam?"

"Chaotic, but the kids are alright," I sighed.

The news had not reached the Academy yet.

"Most importantly," I added before Talindra could ask more questions, "I have changed my opinion about… you know. The father."

Talindra's mouth opened in surprise. Before departing for the exam, she had made me swear to keep the baby's paternity a secret from the father. I tried to convince her to reconsider. I've been adamant about the father having the right to know he had sired a kid. It felt wrong to keep the truth from him; after all, the baby was his blood. However, after the disaster at the exam, I wasn't sure anymore.

Rhovan had shown a disregard for the cadet's safety that I couldn't just overlook.

"He did something to you?!" Talindra gave me a suspicious look. "Tell me. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't handle the truth."

I couldn't tell if it was thanks to the doula, but Talindra looked way more confident than the last time we saw each other.

"The exam was a disaster. The cadets had to deliver four totems to four of the ten stations scattered across a mountainous area. The cherry on top was last year's dropouts trying to hunt them down."

Talindra's eyes widened.

I told her about Holst trying to stop the exam through a vote, Rhovan blocking him and siding with Astur, and the Cabbage class working together with Holst and Ghila to make things work. By the time I finished, Talindra was angrily biting a muffin like it was Rhovan's neck.

After the events of the past two days, I felt like I had been hit by a wrecking ball, but I didn't have time to be weak.

"I can't believe Astur allowed this… and Rhovan backed him up." Talindra gritted her teeth. A vein popped in her forehead. "I can't believe I used to like him."

"I mean, I knew you had bad taste in men, but damn girl, the situation is dire," I jokingly said to defuse the moment.

Talindra nudged my shoulder and rolled her eyes. Although she hadn't confirmed it, I was almost sure she liked older men. If one erased Rhovan's assholness, he was quite the looker. I even understood her attraction towards him. Before he found out about Talindra's alleged coattailing, Rhovan had been an attentive person. Then, he completely changed when Talindra told him about his early days as a Herbalist. The nicknames and the harassment started shortly after.

At least now Evelisse was treating Talindra very well.

"Something else happened," I said.

No matter if I hid it, the news would reach the Academy eventually.

"There were contaminated potions among the supplies. The exam wasn't stopped because of the fights between cadets and droppouts. Instead, it was because those who drank the potions turned into Red Corruption monsters. Our cabbages are doing well, but others aren't."

Talindra lowered her muffin with a grave expression.

I pulled the potion from my pouch.

"Do you think you can identify the ingredients? I have an idea to find out who brewed these."

"No. After this—" Talindra shook her head as she signaled her stomach. "I don't think I'm a good enough Herbalist anymore."

Like most Herbalists and Alchemists, Talindra had been drinking contraceptive potions during her relationship with Rhovan. That was one of the reasons the pregnancy came as a huge surprise. Given her level, Talindra's potions were as strong as an Alchemist's, but there was a small complication. Some potions, such as antiparasitics and flea ointments, were technically considered poisons by the System. As such, they had strange reactions with other potions and passives. One of them was Talindra's [Silvan Harmony], which nullified the effect of poisons. Her very skill had prevented the contraceptive potion from working.

However, Talindra thought that her failure to brew a simple contraceptive was proof of her coattailing.

"Come on, Tali. It wasn't your fault. It's the System's spaghetti code."

She gave me a quizzical glance.

"I don't know what spaghetti code is, but I'm being rational here. Send it to Elincia. It might take time, but you will get the best result. The anti-nobility movement isn't going to go into hiding overnight. If anything, this victory will embolden them."

I nodded. Ralgar and the Alchemists from Farcrest's Guild were my other options, but I didn't trust them to keep the recipe a secret.

"Well, I will not keep you any longer. You look and smell like shit," Talindra said, shooing me with one hand and capturing a muffin with the other. "Go have some rest and return to the exam area before someone starts getting suspicious."

"I'll be back soon. Try to stay away from handsome sociopaths."

Talindra gave me a tight hug, and I left the room.

Mildred eyed me with a discontent expression as I crossed the lounge.

* * *

I collapsed on my bed and slept for four hours before getting back on my feet again. Part of me wanted to jump into the shower, but I had no time. I sat at the desk and wrote two letters. Then, I threw the cloak over my head and exited the Academy. The fewer people who saw me, the better.

Stolen novel; please report.

The ramp leading to the Academy was as lively as ever, so it was easy to pass unnoticed. I walked back to the leisure district around the Library. There were still a few hours until noon, but I entered the same tavern I had visited with Firana weeks ago. As expected, on the furthest table, four novices from the Academic Circle were already drinking.

"Lord Clarke?" Lip asked as I pulled my cloak back. "You look… dirty?"

"Isn't it too early to be drinking?" I replied.

"We've been studying for about five hours now. We deserve a rest, don't you think?" Lip shrugged.

I sat in the only empty seat and channeled a [Silence Dome] around us. The novices knew I meant business because they instantly lowered their mugs.

"Is Firana alright?" Lena asked.

"She's fine, but news of the selection exam will arrive shortly."

Cass and Jax gravely nodded, seemingly picking up the hint.

"Your family has a merchant company, right, Lip? Do they have a branch in Cadria?" I asked, shifting my attention to the boy.

"What do you need, Lord Clarke?"

"Secrecy. More than the Farcrest Alchemists Guild can give me."

At the end of the day, the Marquis had almost full control of the Guild, regardless of what White Manor could offer in terms of potions and ingredients. Sending coded messages and vague letters to Elincia was one thing, but transporting a potion back to Farcrest without raising suspicions was quite another.

"Can do," Lip whispered with a serious tone.

"I need your fastest Courier to deliver something to Farcrest," I explained, pulling the letters from my cloak. "The Courier should stay in the city until I get both responses. If things go well, they should get a letter and a book. The contents of the letter should not be seen by anyone. The book is so valuable that if we lose it, I will be killed. Do you understand what would happen if I were killed?"

The Scholars exchanged a nervous look.

"Firana will kill us in return," Jax said, fixing his glasses.

"She wouldn't do it, Jack," Lenna interjected.

"Oh, she totally would, but it won't happen. The Greymarch Company has a fame to uphold," Lip added, closing his eyes and scratching his two-day beard. "I can arrange a high-level Courier with a Wind Fencer and a Wind Mage as escort. They are loyal, but such a crew will be expensive."

The answer pleased me.

"Isn't your father kinda angry at you, Lip? You know… for marrying that girl?" Cass asked.

Lip rolled his eyes.

"Yes, he is, but Father is always open to new business partners."

Expedited shipping was extremely expensive, so I put a coin purse on the table with the ten large gold pieces I had won from Rhovan. Lip grabbed it and looked inside.

"It's more than needed."

"Hire another hand, then," I replied, putting the two envelopes on the table. One envelope contained a letter to Elincia asking her to determine the ingredients of the contaminated potion and the potion itself. The other envelope contained a letter to Miss Nasiah asking her for the Scry Ledger.

As the anti-nobility movement had demonstrated their power to be extremely sneaky, I wanted to test an alternative method to get them. With the ingredient list and the Ledger, I might be able to trace the creator of the contaminated potions. The idea had come to me thanks to Ralgar. The difficulty in finding the last ingredient made me think it was a rare one, easier to track if someone bought it in bulk.

Lip pushed his double pint aside and put the envelopes inside his robe.

"Is this about the dangerous potions the Preceptors were warning us about a few months ago?" Lena asked.

"If things go well, I will tell you. For now, keep the secret," I replied, pulling a few silver coins from my pouch. "Next round is on me."

The Scholars bowed deeply while Lip prepared to leave.

"I will let you know through Firana when things are dealt with," he said.

We exchanged a handshake and parted ways. I threw the cloak over my head and exited the tavern. Now I just had to return to the exam grounds and act like I spent the last twenty-four hours looking for enemies. I took a deep breath and convinced myself to ignore the accumulated fatigue of the past few days.

[Mirage] and [Minor Aerokinesis] allowed me to travel fast.

While I was in the middle of the air, ten kilometers away from the city, I pulled the living Corrupted Crystal and used [Identify]. Millions of tiny mana particles danced within the crystalline structure. It resembled a System Shrine.

[???]

As expected, I got nothing useful. The System didn't seem to know what the opaque Corrupted Crystals of the first selection exam were, and it didn't recognize this one either.

The System Shrines were pure mana crystals that seemingly served no other purpose than to act as a medium between people and the System. So far, I had assumed they were a durable material with an incredibly high Enchantment Threshold developed by the original creator of the System.

As I wanted to avoid getting accidentally corrupted, I refrained from engraving runes on the Red Crystal.

"The crystal is either an accident or a feature," I muttered as I landed between the trees and shot up again. "If it is a feature, it has a reason to be."

My first hunch was terror. If there was something that terrified the people of Ebros, it was Corruption. If the anti-nobility movement wanted to create discontent between commoners and nobility, Corruption was the easiest way to achieve it. After all, in this world, royalty existed because of their ability to fight the dangers of the Farlands.

To win, the anti-nobility movement needed to paint the royals as incompetent.

My second theory was based on nothing but paranoia.

Byrne might want to use the crystals to code his own System.

I saw no other use for a [???] Crystal, but that theory had a huge weak spot. Byrne might have been able to tinker with the current System if he had continued to work with the System Avatar. With such a robust system already put in place, he didn't need to start from zero. Besides, there was no sign of Byrne and the anti-nobility movement being on the same team.

I thought about the Red Crystals for the rest of my trip back to the exam area, but nothing new came up.

I crossed the mountain range ten kilometers to the west of the main camp to arrive from inside. The stations had been evacuated, and only a handful of people remained in Station Six. I let out a sigh of relief. The lack of corrupted beasts told me the worst part was over.

Firana was sitting at the top of the monolith. Her face brightened when I landed just outside the Fortifier's barrier. She immediately gave me a hug and didn't even mention how dirty I was.

"How are things going?" I asked.

"All the first-year cadets have already been evacuated. They must be preparing to depart back to Cadria," she said, her expression suddenly turning dark. "The search for missing cadets has stopped already, and the bodies have been burned. The Zealots dealt with the corrupted ones."

I sighed.

"What a shitshow."

"There's a rumor that Wolf is getting a royal commendation," Firana quickly changed the subject. "Other than Lady Evelisse, he was the only healer present…"

My blood froze.

"What do you mean? What about the people helping at the field hospital that was there?" I asked, pointing at the spot where Wolf and others had been helping the wounded.

Firana stuttered and avoided my eyes.

"Those weren't healers. I mean, they were trying to heal people, but they weren't System healers, just aides… Mister Clarke?"

I zoned out, and my body turned around on its own.

To bring a few hundred kids into a potentially dangerous situation without a proper medic squad was beyond what I could excuse. Before I knew it, I was walking to the edge of the barrier with Firana trying to hold onto my cloak. Seeing the futility of her efforts, she circled around me, put both her hands on my chest, and planted her feet firmly on the ground.

"Let's not pick a fight with Astur," Firana said.

"I'm just going to talk to him," I coldly replied.

"Yeah, no. We are going to pretend we are really worried about the situation and put our differences aside for the good of the Academy."

That didn't sound like Firana at all. I gave her a confused look, but she put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me next to her face.

"Astur isn't dumb. Security during our first year was waaay tighter than this," she whispered. "Malkah should be reason enough to bring reinforcements. He's the son of a Duke, regardless of the importance of the Kigria Dukedom. There has to be a reason why he has been so lax with security... we believe Astur is part of the problem."

"We?"

"Ilya, Zaon, Wolf, and I. The Wolfpack thinks the same. Astur has to be part of the anti-nobility movement. There's no other explanation why the potions appeared out of thin air."

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