Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

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"Lord Dan? What's going on with him? Have you been able to talk to him lately?" she asked.

Robert shook his head.

"That's just it. Lord Dan seems to be in a difficult situation recently, as it's practically impossible to get in touch with him. The last time I spoke to him was about three months ago. He was worried about various things that were happening. Recently... I think he's been losing power within the Lockward Family."

"Losing power?" Evergreen was stunned. "How is that possible? Someone as powerful as him, with the purest Lockward blood, is losing power there?"

"Well, it's just my guess, since recently it seems like the other Elders are the ones in charge of the family. I happened to see one of them meeting with Lady Loren, so maybe something is happening within the Lockward Family as well."

Evergreen had been trying to talk to Lord Dan for quite some time, but always thought it was complicated due to that person's identity.

Not only was he the most powerful person in the Empire, but he was also the leader of the Lockward Family, a pureblood who was said to be some kind of distant relative of a true Human God, most likely the most powerful God, the God of Thunder.

It didn't matter if he was just a distant nephew of that God of Thunder or a very, very distant cousin, he had the blood of that God!

That was more than enough to have an amazing status anywhere in the world, even in the Lands of the Gods.

But what if it wasn't because of that that he hadn't been able to do it, but because that legendary man is losing control of the Lockward Family?

"In that case, the Lockwards would be more dangerous than we imagine, since several of them have Lord Dan's level of strength," she thought.

She looked at Robert at that moment. "Because of Lord Dan's lack of inactivity, you think it's a good idea for us to take action, right?" she asked.

"Yes. We don't have many alternatives in this case. Besides, you know that the Academy is part of the territories historically dominated by Lord Dan, right?"

"I know."

"Being dominated by him, no one would enter here without his approval. The academy itself must respect Lord Dan for all he has done for it, so it would not allow this kind of entry without his presence. That makes me think that perhaps Lord Dan has lost more power than we think. Now, it is precisely for this reason that we must act."

Evergreen finally nodded, understanding the whole point of the matter.

"So you intend to create chaos to prevent those guys from eating us too much and thus prevent our downfall, but as a secondary and equally important thing, this will indirectly help Lord Dan regain his territory, in case he has lost it..." She nodded.

It was a good plan from any angle, given that it was something they needed to do anyway.

Evergreen had no choice but to nod and stared at the guys on the other side.

"Is it possible that the Evergreens and the Priestleys can do it again? I don't know if power alone is enough," she said and looked at the adjoining VIP room, where Robert Neville was.

The power once wielded by the Priestleys and the Evergreens had been greatly divided since then. Part of the lands are now ruled by the Neville nobles, who are numerous.

If two castles and the Nevilles joined forces, the situation would be much better. But it wasn't in Neville's best interest to join two castles at this point. It wouldn't be enough to just say so.

"I'll have to act at the right moment," she thought.

Just then, everyone's attention turned to the numerous students who entered the huge combat arena.

There were many, but a few attracted attention.

Of the top 10 in the rankings, 9 entered together, led by the Three Stars: the three most powerful students today.

"I heard that Neville has a new, quite outstanding wizard. The first of the Three Stars, right?" Evergreen said, looking at him.

"Neville, huh?" Rebecca smiled. That Neville was the same one who was seeking an alliance with that troublemaker.

Who would be stronger between the two?

"It should be Louis, even though he's too young," she thought.

"Aren't you impressed by this year's three stars?" Evergreen asked, glancing sideways at Rebecca.

"I've never been impressed by these so-called stars, so that question is a little strange when you ask me," she replied.

"Haha, I guess you're right. As one of the greatest magical talents the Academy has ever had, we must bow down to your great ability, right?" Evergreen said. "Although you must be careful. Laziness kills the greatest geniuses."

"When you're a top-tier genius that rarely finds equal in the world, it's too difficult not to improve, even if you sleep all day. So don't worry, I'll stay ahead of you."

Evergreen fell silent after shrugging her shoulders. She had never gotten along with her, and that wouldn't change just because they might be collaborating in the near future.

"Oh. It's him." Miss Evergreen was surprised to see a slightly recognizable face.

"Do you know him?" Rebecca asked, when she could track down who she was looking at.

"You too?"

Rebecca frowned and stared at her. "What kind of relationship do you have with him?" she asked.

"Uh..." She was stunned by that question, but smiled. "What is this? Has the First Pillar fallen in love?" she asked with a sarcastic smile on her lips.

"Hmph, answer the question and stop talking nonsense," said Rebecca.

Robert found the differences between them quite amusing, but when they got to this point, he couldn't help but look at the person they were referring to.

"Is that Louis?" Even though he already knew he was young, seeing him being so young still surprised him.

Evergreen smiled. "I don't know him, but I had the opportunity to have a glass of wine with him a while ago, thanks to Lord Adelbert, he bought his services then." She replied and then thought carefully. "Was his name Louis, I think?"

Rebecca nodded gently as she looked at her. If that was all there was to it, she immediately lost interest.

"Yes, his name is Louis," she said.

"He has the money to buy that, plus he stands up to nobles without caring about status. What family is he from? You don't see white hair around here, and it's not albinism."

"Heh, having money is not enough. He's the only one who can match my bets, no matter what I bet," she declared, somehow looking proud of this.

"Huh? How could he match the bets of the number one impulsive gambler on the continent?" Evergreen asked, clearly in shock.

Rebecca looked at her angrily. "Start calling me by my last name if you ever want me to consider you worthy of magic," she demanded firmly.

"Tsk, how stubborn. I guess I'll know what family she comes from just by looking." She looked at the arena once more.

The academic leaders were talking, welcoming many people, and little else. The people who were coming had already arrived, so the battles began to unfold.

Since it was only the first day (on which unnecessary players were eliminated), the leaders said practically nothing to kick things off. They considered that the tournament had not yet begun, even though it had officially already started.

The process of choosing an opponent was simple. Since there were so many participants, in order to avoid any hassle, they placed a huge bucket with many pieces of paper with the names of the participants written on them.

A person would go there and look for their piece of paper. They would fight whoever's name was on it.

When it was Louis's turn the first time, he was matched with a random student, whom he was able to easily defeat without even taking out his revolver.

"A martial artist?" Evergreen asked. "You're dressed strangely for one."

Rebecca smiled and had an idea.

"Since the first fights don't have good betting odds, how about we bet on Louis?" she said, staring at Evergreen. "We'll just say whether he'll win or lose one of his fights."

Evergreen gave her a blank stare. "Do I look like an idiot to bet with our impulsive gambler? You guys have infinite money, I'm not stupid enough to bet against that," she declared.

"Tsk, what a bitter woman. I only wanted bets of 100 million," said Rebecca and stood up. "Forget it, I'll go find Louis to bet with him," she said.

Finally, Robert spoke up. "Bring him here," he said.

The way he spoke revealed that he was genuinely interested in this person.

'Strange. Who exactly is this guy? In the early rounds, they don't announce the last names, so it's hard to know their identities,' Evergreen thought.

Rebecca shook her hand, as if to say, I know.

Then she left.

On the combat arena, he and Laura had ended up VERY far from each other. They were practically at opposite ends of the arena, so Louis was bored.

Since he could only choose once per occasion, he had to wait for someone else to choose him before he could choose again.

The problem with this is that the fights don't end as quickly as his. It takes people many minutes to choose a fight, and during that time he couldn't move from the arena he was assigned to, because that would be where he would play until the later stages.

It took him 30 minutes to be chosen by someone, and when he went into the fight, he was knocked out in one move!

"Damn, 30 minutes for only 10 seconds of fun." He sat lazily in the corner of the arena. The fights around him were all boring. Slow, with no power or destruction.

The powerful ones weren't in this area, that was for sure.

While he was so bored, a silhouette appeared in front of him.

"Louis. Want to bet?"

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