Kennisi left the submission point, confirmed that no one was around, took a deep breath, and carefully activated the Voice Transmission Stone in her hand.
“Chairperson… Yes, it’s me, Kennisi. Things here are just about wrapped up, so I’m reporting to you.”
“Even though you probably already know everything, I still need to briefly summarize this year’s situation as per protocol.”
“As you expected, the quality of this batch of examinees is very high. Even setting aside the Saint Candidate’s record of hunting one Fifth-tier Magic Core and twelve Fourth-tier Magic Cores alone, the average score is still significantly higher than previous years.”
“Although there were still plenty of fools trying to cheat with petty tricks, with your help we caught them all.”
“Further, after careful investigation—both before the exam started and after it ended—we didn’t let a single magical beast escape from the Blood Burial Forest. There’s no impact on the surrounding ecosystem whatsoever.”
“Report complete. Thank you, Chairperson, for overseeing the entire process. This year’s entrance exam can be considered a success.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Kennisi couldn’t resist speaking again.
“However… I still have one question I’d like to ask you.”
“You want to ask about what happened in that cave deep inside the examination hall today, right?”
From the other end of the Voice Transmission Stone came a youthful yet precocious girl’s voice.
Kennisi was long accustomed to it.
“As expected, I can’t hide anything from you. I just want to request guidance on how to ultimately categorize and handle this incident.”
Even though casualties were inevitable each year under the supervision of examiners, losing more than a dozen examinees in one go was a first since she had been presiding over the entrance exam.
The reason she hadn’t gone to preside over the final Magic Core verification earlier was precisely because she had rushed to the scene of the incident to clean up the mess.
She couldn’t bother the Chairperson with every big and small matter—otherwise, what was the point of having a Chief Examiner?
However, the severity of the situation inside the cave far exceeded her expectations.
The originally damp cavern had been reduced to nothing but ash by the fierce flames.
Even when she personally investigated, she could barely identify the remains of two Fourth-tier Cave Venom Spiders.
As for the missing examinees… most of them were inside one of the demon spiders’ stomachs, burned to ash along with it.
Based on the remaining clues at the scene, the general inference was that a group of arrogant examinees discovered the cave and tried to surround and kill the demon spider inside, but carelessly overlooked another demon spider lurking in the shadows, resulting in total annihilation.
The single survivor who hadn’t been eaten on the spot had desperately fought back using a large number of Magic Scrolls.
Although they successfully killed the demon spider, they ended up playing with fire and perishing themselves.
But there were far too many suspicious points about this incident.
First, why was there a random Magic Barrier blocking perception outside the cave? Surely those fools couldn’t have set it up in advance just to prevent others from stealing their prey?
In comparison, Kennisi felt another possibility was more likely:
This group of examinees deliberately set up a trap here, waiting for other examinees to enter and fight the demon spider to mutual exhaustion, then swoop in for the spoils.
This would perfectly explain the existence of the barrier. But the fact was that this group of examinees failed.
Not only did their plan backfire, but the carefully laid barrier actually caused their deaths.
Precisely because of that damned barrier, the nearby Patrol Examiner had been completely unaware of what was happening inside.
Kennisi had already given that negligent examiner appropriate punishment, but she felt that as Chief Examiner, she was equally at fault.
As for who set that final fire to destroy the evidence, she had a vague guess.
After all, deep inside the cave there were also ashes of a batch of first-tier baby spiders…
However, all of this was pure speculation. Trying to reconstruct the truth when all the victims had been wiped out was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Of course, that was under the premise of not bothering the Chairperson to intervene…
“Don’t worry about this matter. Leave it to me.”
“But no matter what, one of the deceased is a prince of the duchy. If the royal family of that nation decides to pursue responsibility…”
“Do I really need to teach you how to handle that?”
The voice on the other end carried a lazy smile.
“Alright, since no one can hear our conversation, don’t beat around the bush with me. You’re just eager to test my attitude—how I plan to handle that troublesome little girl, aren’t you? It’s only because you cherish talent.”
“The problem is, she signed up for a branch school that isn’t under your management. Even if you have your eye on her, it won’t do you any good. I really don’t know what you’re hoping for, girl.”
“Ahem!” Kennisi coughed awkwardly. “I’m just handling matters impartially. I don’t understand who you’re talking about.”
After all, as the current Chief Examiner of the entrance exam, even if she had her own thoughts, she couldn’t openly show favoritism toward anyone.
Every time she had to report to this “Master of the Academy,” she felt immense pressure. Her inner thoughts could never escape the old lady’s eyes.
“Relax.” The voice from the Voice Transmission Stone spoke slowly. “Although this matter is indeed inextricably linked to that little girl, in the end, those guys brought it upon themselves.”
“Then your meaning is…”
“Do I have to spell it out for you? A mere prince of a small duchy that depends on other nations isn’t qualified to make Kantaier Academy bow down and offer explanations. Just tell them directly—their own useless trash went to serve as a snack for magical beasts because he was too weak. Unfortunately, he had so little meat he couldn’t even satisfy the beast’s appetite.”
Hearing this reply, Kennisi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That little black-haired girl had caused her no end of trouble during this exam.
First, she led people to jump off a cliff, then she was involved in this massacre, and even during the final Magic Core verification, she didn’t let Kennisi off easy.
Kennisi now seriously suspected that girl was a jinx specifically targeting her. Forget it—the more she thought about it, the more her stomach ached.
“Besides, she’s the heir personally announced by that brat Fred. He may only have lived a few decades, but he wouldn’t be so reckless as to gamble the entire future of the Adams Family on someone named…”
The voice paused for a moment, as if momentarily forgetting the name, then asked casually, “What’s that girl’s name again?”
“Sevi Adams.” Kennisi blurted out without thinking.
“Oh? So you admit the girl you have your eye on is her?” The girl’s teasing laughter immediately came through the Voice Transmission Stone.
“…”
“Alright, alright, just joking. This matter ends here. Just focus on finishing the cleanup.”
Kennisi broke out in a cold sweat. Had no one ever told the old lady that her way of joking was truly terrible?
Of course, Kennisi only dared to think that. If she actually said it, the old lady might overhear her thoughts. She wasn’t planning to apply for early retirement just yet.
“But speaking of which, I have to say…” The voice suddenly turned earnest.
“You’re a grown woman now, a young lady. Don’t just keep a straight face and work all day. Why not spend more time thinking about your own marriage prospects? That young male teacher at the registration office earlier seemed pretty good to me.”
“I deliberately arranged for you two to be responsible for registration together—wasn’t I trying to create an opportunity for you? But you just dumped him because he made a few wrong remarks.”
“Why can’t you give someone another chance with that temper of yours?”
“…”
Kennisi’s eye twitched. She reacted quickly, raising her voice and shouting into the Voice Transmission Stone:
“Hello? Hello hello? Chairperson? What did you say? Oh dear, is this Voice Transmission Stone broken? There’s no sound! I’ll get back to work now. Take care, Your Excellency!”
Without giving the other party another chance to speak, Kennisi hung up the Voice Transmission Stone.
…
Inside a dimly lit study, a petite girl with long gray hair that reached her waist was curled up in a large plush sofa, hugging a thick ancient book that was bigger than her body.
“…”
Looking at the disconnected Voice Transmission Stone in her hand, the girl muttered expressionlessly:
“These young people these days are really hard to manage. Just a few more words of nagging and they don’t want to listen.”
She helplessly set the Voice Transmission Stone aside, looked down at the book in her arms, and gently traced her slender fingers across the pages.
“Sevi Adams…”
“Detected that this was a trap set by Bauer, so turned the tables… after injuring the opponent, disappeared.”
Reading this, the girl frowned slightly, because all the pages after this sentence were blank. She pinched the somewhat rough pages and continued flipping.
“Then… it jumps straight to ‘led her companions out of the fire scene’?” A flicker of interest passed through the girl’s eyes. “What an interesting little one.”
The girl chuckled softly, and then the book automatically flipped backward.
“A girl who grew up in an orphanage on the border of the kingdom…” she read softly, then suddenly paused.
“Huh? Did I misread? I felt like the character for ‘female’ just flickered a moment ago?”
She rubbed her eyes with her small hand and looked again. The writing on the page was still clear, with no change.
“It really is the effect of staying up late reading under dim light every day.”
She continued reading, the amusement in her eyes growing stronger.
“But indeed interesting—in this girl’s record, even the content regarding her specific origins is blank?”
Looking further, the girl couldn’t help but click her tongue in wonder.
“This Saint Candidate named Eulalia isn’t simple either. On the surface, she seems harmless, but she could actually say such heartless words, deliberately attacking that little girl’s weak points. No wonder she’s been holding a grudge for so long.”
The girl shook her head helplessly and read on.
“Later, was favored by Fred Adams and adopted as family heir…”
“That Fred kid sure has guts—daring to push a girl of unknown origin straight into the position of Duke Heir. What hidden qualities does this little girl possess that made you choose her at first sight?”
“…On the way to the academy alone, was ambushed by a low-tier Blood Demon due to carelessness…”
Reading this, Sophia frowned again.
“What’s going on? This whole big section after that is blank again.”
She closed the book in frustration and sighed.
“Ah, I guess this book, like me, is getting old and useless.”
“Seems like I need to find time to personally check out this little one.”
“Every year the entrance exam goes smoothly, but this year so many issues pop up all at once. Has the era of chaos finally come…”
As she spoke, the girl casually closed the book and set it aside, ready to get up and stretch. Her bare little foot had just touched the cold floor—
“Ouch!”
Probably because she had stayed curled up in the same position on the sofa too long, her leg had gone numb.
The girl stumbled, cried out in surprise, and tumbled heavily back into the soft sofa pit.
After struggling a couple times and failing to get up, the girl decisively gave up.
“Forget it… going out is too much trouble. I’ll just keep reading.”
She straightened her long hair, curled up again, and skillfully pulled out a garishly covered book from under the pillow, reading it with relish.