The Freshman Teaching Building’s registration office was on the third floor, in a room tucked away at the end of a corridor.
Leo strolled over unhurriedly and pushed open the wooden door with the sign “Freshman Registration Office” hanging on it.
The room was small, with several huge bookcases filled with files lining the walls.
The air was thick with the scent of old paper and dust.
Behind a wide desk sat a middle-aged man with a goat beard. He was bent over, writing something on a document with a quill pen, and didn’t even lift his head when he heard the door open.
“Put your enrollment documents on the desk and wait over there.”
What an attitude, Leo thought to himself with a hint of sarcasm, but followed instructions and placed the file that Alfred had prepared at the corner of the desk.
The Goat-beard Teacher finally finished writing, then reluctantly picked up Leo’s documents and slowly opened them.
“Name, Leo…”
When he read the name, his hand froze.
He looked up and gave Leo a once-over, his murky eyes clearly spelling out, “So it’s you, the unlucky one.”
As expected, textbook-level disdain and impatience.
“Ahem.”
The Goat-beard Teacher cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, beginning his performance.
“There are a lot of issues with your documents.”
He tapped the recommendation letter.
“Duke Raphael’s recommendation? The format isn’t right. The margin of a duke’s private letter should be three finger-widths wide, but yours is only two and a half. Not up to standard.”
Seriously, you can tell that?
Did you carry a ruler with you?
The Goat-beard Teacher gave him no chance to retort, instead pointing at the stamp on the paperwork.
“And this, the seal of the Lord of Blackwood Town? Why is it so blurry? Things from border territories are always rough. What if it’s forged? I can’t take responsibility for that.”
He pushed the papers aside, putting on an official front.
“Materials are not up to standard. Go back and prepare them again. Come back when everything’s in order.”
He was clearly trying to keep him from enrolling.
Leo felt no waves of emotion, and even found it a little funny.
Getting angry with this kind of small fry would be beneath him.
He didn’t get mad.
Instead, he calmly took back the documents and spread them out before the other man.
“Teacher, you’d better take a closer look.”
His voice was steady.
“This recommendation letter is personally written by Duke Raphael. The wax seal bears his family’s crest—it can’t be faked. As for the format, maybe the Duke was in a casual mood when he wrote it.”
“And this seal is the official stamp, filed and recorded by the Order of the Imperial Military Affairs. If you think it’s blurry, perhaps it got a little dusty on the journey. If you doubt its authenticity, you’re welcome to send someone right now, or use magical communication to verify it with the Order of the Imperial Military Affairs in the Royal Capital.”
Leo paused, then added another line.
“Of course, verification takes time. If it delays my enrollment, or makes the Order of the Imperial Military Affairs and Duke Raphael question the academy’s efficiency… Will you be taking responsibility for that?”
Goat-beard Teacher’s face froze.
He hadn’t expected the so-called useless prince to keep his composure, clearly and methodically kicking the ball right back to him.
As an ordinary teacher, he didn’t have the guts to question the Duke or the Order of the Imperial Military Affairs.
For a moment, he was speechless, his face turning liver-red, unsure how to get out of this situation.
Just then, the office door swung open.
“What’s all this noise about?”
A voice came—old, but strong.
An elder in a fine mage’s robe entered, his hair white but his eyes bright and lively.
He wore an insignia of the academy’s leadership on his chest.
At the sight of him, Goat-beard Teacher shot to his feet and bowed respectfully.
“V-Vice Dean, sir!”
Vice Dean?
Leo looked up.
He had some impression of this old man—the Vice Dean in the game, a neutral and slightly benevolent NPC of great power, usually uninvolved in daily affairs.
The Vice Dean ignored the trembling Goat-beard Teacher and strode to the desk, picking up Leo’s documents.
He glanced over them, then looked up at Leo, his deep eyes full of scrutiny.
“You’re Leo?”
“Yes.”
The Vice Dean studied him for several seconds, then waved his hand and said to the Goat-beard Teacher, “There’s nothing for you here. Leave.”
“Yes, sir!”
Goat-beard Teacher acted as if he’d been pardoned and scurried out of the office.
Now only two people remained.
The Vice Dean sat down behind the desk, took a new form and a blank student card from the drawer, and began handling Leo’s enrollment himself.
“The Black Forest frontier—hardly a peaceful place,” the Vice Dean remarked as he filled in the information, seemingly offhanded.
“Did you… get used to living out there?”
A probe?
Leo remained composed and recited his prepared answer: “It was fine. I did a little farming, some hunting—life was quite ordinary.”
“Ordinary?”
The Vice Dean’s quill paused.
He glanced up, as if amused that such a word would come from a former prince.
“Ordinariness is a blessing,” Leo replied with an impeccable smile.
The Vice Dean asked nothing more and soon finished all the procedures.
He pushed a metal student card engraved with Leo’s name and student number, along with a brass key, across the desk.
“This is your student card and Dormitory Key. With these, you’re officially a member of the Royal Capital Magic Academy.”
“Thank you, Vice Dean.”
Leo accepted the items and turned to leave.
Once his enrollment was finished, he exited the office.
Rounding a corridor, he overheard a group of upperclassmen talking excitedly.
“Did you hear? Tomorrow’s the Freshman Magic Evaluation Test!”
“Of course! It’s the highlight every year. It decides how much resources they’ll get for the whole year.”
“I wonder if there are any prodigies this time. Last year, that Christine stunned everyone with a Third-level Evocation Spell!”
“Hope there’s a few decent ones—not just a bunch of newbies who can barely conjure a little fireball.”
Evaluation Test?
Leo paused.
Oh, right, there was that.
The test would sort freshmen into classes of varying ranks and provide different resources accordingly.
Perfect.
A plan formed instantly in his mind.
Why not aim for the bottom?
That way, no one would pay him any attention.
He could spend his days peacefully slacking off in the lowest class, commuting to and from school—a life of bliss.
That settled it.
Leo decided to coast through tomorrow’s test and become a completely unremarkable “poor student.”
He found a random bench in the academy grounds, basked in the sun, and waited for Irina to finish class.
Before long, the bell rang.
Irina soon appeared in his line of sight, dragging her feet as she came over, radiating exhaustion like her battery was about to run out.
“I feel like I’m going to die,” she sighed, collapsing next to Leo and resting her head on his shoulder.
“Combat Practice Class—the Head Instructor is a lunatic. He made us spar with a real Raging Wild Boar! A real, actual Raging Wild Boar!”
Leo idly played with a strand of her hair, smiling.
“Tough day, Miss Protagonist.”
“Oh, right, I have news.”
Leo shared what he’d just overheard.
“Tomorrow’s the Freshman Evaluation Test.”
“Huh?”
Irina shot upright.
“I was just about to tell you that!”
Her expression flipped from exhaustion to exasperation in a heartbeat.
“My system just popped up a quest! It says, [Main Quest: Make a Splash. Mission Requirement: Place in the top three of the Freshman Evaluation.]”
Irina’s face fell completely.
“Top three! This academy’s full of monsters. Christine aside, there are several heirs from major families. How am I supposed to compete with them?!”
She stopped mid-sentence.
The next moment, she latched onto Leo’s arm, shaking him wildly, all her tiredness gone.
“Mr. Villain! Gaming God! My dear brother!”
Her voice dripped with sweetness, amber eyes shining with pleading.
“Carry me! You have to carry me!”
“Crash course before the test! Aren’t you best at this sort of thing? Help me think of something!”
Seeing her like this—pitiful as a hungry kitten—Leo sighed helplessly.
He reached out and lightly flicked her nose.
“Got it.”
“It’s just an evaluation test. No big deal.”
Leo stood up, dragging Irina, who was still hanging onto his arm.
“Let’s go home. I’ll give you some extra coaching, summon a few things for you to practice against—it’ll be fine.”
Irina’s eyes sparkled instantly, filled with worship.
“Boss! You’re my god!”
She followed Leo happily, trotting after him as they headed for the Royal Capital’s city gates.
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