Although Liyakade’s blunder unintentionally caused Alice’s attack to hit the bullseye, the damage Alice dealt was so minimal that her score wasn’t particularly high—roughly just average for the entire grade. Combined with the earlier Crystal Ball magic test, her overall result was slightly below average.
“All right, everyone, that concludes today’s test. Tomorrow will be the final test, the practical combat test. Make sure to rest well and prepare yourselves,” the Grade Director clapped his hands, drawing the students’ attention before giving the final instructions and signaling for them to dismiss.
“Miss Liyakade?”
Liyakade sat on the ground, looking listless and dazed, a state that caught Alice’s attention. Concerned, she approached her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just want to be alone,” Liyakade said with difficulty, propping herself up on her knees and standing up, looking utterly exhausted. “I guess the test wore me out. I’ll head back to the dormitory now. Goodbye, Alice, Princess Field.”
“Princess Field, what do you make of this?”
Alice watched Liyakade’s unsteady retreat with suspicion, sensing something off.
“There’s definitely something fishy,” Field agreed with Alice’s doubt. This kind of fatigue didn’t seem consistent with the test’s difficulty.
No one knew what strange schemes Liyakade was up to this time.
In reality, Liyakade wasn’t physically tired but mentally drained. She hadn’t completed a single one of the tasks Irina Zi had assigned her. And tonight, as usual, Irina Zi would interrogate her again. If Liyakade told the truth, she would be finished.
But if she lied, once the results were out and Irina Zi saw Alice’s scores, she would know Liyakade was deceiving her—and then Liyakade would be doomed for sure.
Liyakade never imagined that despite all her thorough preparations, she would fail so utterly. She still had PLAN B for the written exam, but for this test, the results were immediate and final.
She no longer remembered how she got back to the dormitory. She lay quietly on her bed, staring at the empty ceiling, waiting for the verdict to descend moment by moment.
As expected, when night fell, Irina Zi burst into Liyakade’s dormitory door without ceremony, as if it were her own home.
“How did today’s mission go? Report your results,” Irina Zi said bluntly as she sat on the bed, cutting straight to the point.
“Uh… today…”
“Sit up.” Irina Zi scolded Liyakade for lying sprawled out on the bed in a lazy manner.
“Who told you to speak to your Mistress so rudely? That’s very impolite, you know?”
If anyone was impolite here, it was definitely her!
Reluctantly, Liyakade sat properly at the edge of the bed.
“During the written exam, I planned to take advantage of the chaos when collecting the papers to directly alter Alice’s answers…”
“Oh? You didn’t just drug that bitch?”
Irina Zi interrupted.
“Mistress, didn’t you say yesterday that any method is acceptable?”
Liyakade answered. “So I originally planned to tamper with Alice’s answers while collecting the papers, since drugging might leave traces. Besides, Alice might be able to heal herself, so drugs might not work.”
“Hm.” Irina Zi nodded rarely in approval, acknowledging Liyakade’s thoughtfulness.
“Not bad. So, what was the result?”
“Uh…” At the mention of the result, Liyakade hesitated. Freezing up was clearly unwise.
“Actually… the proctor was too vigilant. I didn’t get a chance to change the answers…”
“Oh?”
Irina Zi tilted her head slightly, her gaze turning dangerous.
“You mean… you failed?”
“Although I failed!”
Liyakade quickly waved her hand, sensing trouble, and hurriedly added, “I still have other plans!”
“Do tell.”
“I intend to sneak into the Sealed Chamber where the exam papers are stored after tomorrow’s practical combat test, break the enchantments, alter Alice’s answers, and then reseal the papers,” Liyakade explained in detail.
The exam papers in the academy, like the ones Liyakade had encountered in her previous life, were sealed immediately after collection—not just physically but magically.
“Can you break the sealing enchantments? And you know how to reseal them too?”
Irina Zi frowned, doubting the feasibility of Liyakade’s plan.
“Yes, I can. I learned these spells from the memories of the original owner,” Liyakade nodded.
“Fine.”
Irina Zi remained skeptical but had no other choice and let Liyakade proceed. She continued, “What about the magic power test afterward?”
“Ahem… that part was too difficult to interfere with, and its weight on the total score was low, so I didn’t bother.”
“What about the shooting test?”
Irina Zi pressed.
“Well… I tried my best to sabotage it, but Alice was stronger than I thought. She wasn’t affected by my interference,” Liyakade stammered out a lie.
“Hm, good…” Irina Zi nodded and smiled slightly, but in the next moment, her smile twisted into something ferocious. Her eyes turned icy as she grabbed Liyakade by the collar and pulled her close.
“You might as well just admit you did nothing!”
“Mi-mistress! It’s not like that! It’s just…”
“Just what!?”
Irina Zi shook Liyakade violently and slammed her against the wall.
“Cough, cough… sorry, Mistress,” Liyakade gave up and submitted on the spot. In this state, arguing was useless and would only bring harsher punishment.
But she had nothing to argue anyway—her own words revealed she had accomplished nothing today.
“What a useless waste…” Irina Zi looked at Liyakade with utter disdain, as if she were an insect. “With your superior magical talent and power, you can’t even interfere with someone? No, you can’t do anything at all!”
Irina Zi took a step forward and grabbed Liyakade’s chin, lifting her head.
“Tell me, why do I even keep such a waste? I thought maybe you had some better plan for not drugging her. Now it seems, you just need a serious lesson.”