Warm natural light streamed into the classroom from the giant scenic windows, showering down the tiered seating like a waterfall of pale gold.

In the back row, Hyperion pursed her lips, looking at Lan Qi with an indescribable expression in her eyes.

The oppressive mood that had weighed heavily on her heart seemed to melt away, like the cold loneliness that had enveloped her, after hearing Lan Qi's "arrogant" words.

Her complexion softened in the sunlight.

"If I could get your father back, I'd have a strong backer."

Lan Qi grinned, as if he was determined to help her find her father.

"Lan Qi, it's not as simple as you think..."

Hyperion said softly.

Her gaze was like the warm sun of spring, yet, deep within that emotion and gratitude, hid a trace of melancholic shadow, a deep worry about dragging Lan Qi into the mess.

Precisely because Lan Qi had been helping her all along, because he was an irreplaceable and important friend, she was even more convinced that she couldn't drag him down with her.

There were too many mysteries surrounding the Duke's disappearance.

But they all pointed to the Krete Empire in the south and the Resurrection Church.

It was a path that might lead to certain death.

Hyperion knew that Lan Qi was joking when he said he wanted to find Duke Mikaiah.

Because a talented youth like him could thrive in the Hutton Kingdom even without a backer.

He only needed a few years, and he himself could become a great figure rising out of nowhere.

There was no need to rush to find a backer in the next year or two.

"Hyperion, if I could leech off the Duke and live a life of leisure, I would never strive to work hard."

Lan Qi said earnestly, as if he had found the greatest goal in his life.

"..."

Hyperion looked at Lan Qi, who was speaking so seriously about such unambitious things, and felt as if all the sounds were stuck in her throat.

She didn't know how to respond to him.

Precisely because she understood Lan Qi, she knew that he wasn't joking.

Lan Qi was uniquely lacking in ambition.

Hyperion didn't know how someone with such terrifying talent could also have such a zen-like mentality.

But on closer thought, this extraordinary disposition was indeed inseparable from his power.

"Thank you, Lan Qi, my friend."

Hyperion finally said, word by word.

Her words were not clumsy or awkward, but like a gentle stream, tender and intense.

Clear and transparent, able to reflect the sincerity of the heart.

"Don't worry, don't worry, we can also ask Frey at that time."

After becoming familiar with Frey these past few days, Lan Qi discovered that this guy was all about pursuing efficiency and excitement.

Frey might not be willing to do small things.

But he might actually be willing to do something big.

After all, high risk and high reward were exactly what Frey desired.

After agreeing with Hyperion, Lan Qi continued to focus on listening to the lecture.

These magic engineering courses contained content that he needed to learn and take seriously.

The reason why he wanted to earn as many real credits as possible to offset the compulsory courses was so that he could freely choose more magic engineering courses starting next semester.

However, there were actually many compulsory courses in the entire Magic Engineering Academy that Lan Qi didn't need. He was more interested in some of the new magic engineering courses offered by Professor Polao.

As for now, Lan Qi didn't plan to tell Hyperion too much of the inside story.

Telling her directly that "the Duke's whereabouts are likely in the Krete Empire, and there's a little over a year to rescue him" might scare her.

Moreover, the source and credibility of the information couldn't be explained.

Lan Qi was worried that Hyperion wouldn't be able to understand the current situation of the Krete Empire for the time being, and would rush to the vampire stronghold early because of her eagerness to save her father.

Vampire Marquises were all Eighth Order, and powerhouses who completely crushed other races of the same level. There might even be Vampire Archdukes or Vampire Princes of the Ninth Order who had unlocked their seals.

This map was definitely not something they could touch right now.

But they really had a way to deal with vampires.

As long as they fought in the Shadow World first, became stronger, and found some methods to deal with vampires from the history of [Blood Moon Shattered World], it would be more stable to go to the Krete Empire.

Perhaps they wouldn't even need to go to the last step of [Blood Moon Shattered World] before they could set off.

Because Lan Qi himself possessed a huge amount of map information about the vampires' lair as a supplement!

Lan Qi was sure that he was probably the only person in the world who could save Duke Mikaiah.

This would also be a shortcut for him to solve the [Wilford Massacre] once and for all!

Lan Qi's only goal in life was to work hard for two years and then retire!

Duke Mikaiah Alanzal was definitely the super backer he was looking for.

At that time, he would become the Duke's benefactor, be financially free, and have no more studies! Money and power, how dreamy!

The only thing that Lan Qi regretted was that, even he couldn't think of any trading conditions that could allow the great demon Talia to go with him on his future trip to the Krete Empire.

She was a bodyguard, not a thug. She would only be responsible for protecting Lan Qi from being killed by assassins, and not responsible for stopping Lan Qi from going to his death.

And even though Talia and Hyperion were both demons, there was no demon-friendly agreement that would allow Talia to help Hyperion regardless of danger.

He could only see if he could get a bargaining chip that he could try to negotiate with Talia in the future.

So before that...

Most of the next year or so would be spent waiting for the Shadow World to cool down.

These days spent in the real world also had an important path to becoming stronger—

"Teacher Theresa, I have a question."

Lan Qi, who was sitting in the back row, raised his hand high.

The purpose of this course was to be able to ask questions at any time and communicate with the teacher.

"Student Lan Qi, please speak."

Theresa's expression was slightly surprised. She didn't seem to expect Lan Qi to be so actively engaged.

She had heard from other teachers at the Sage Academy that Lan Qi's main focus in class was to keep people company.

He was always looking sickly throughout the whole process. When she called on him to answer questions, he didn't know anything, but he never skipped class for no reason, and he wouldn't be distracted or sleep in class.

He was the kind of student whose attitude was touching.

She didn't know why Lan Qi gave her face alone.

"May I ask, who has the [Primal Tablet - Spirit], the [Primal Tablet - Healing], and the [Primal Tablet - Seal]?"

Lan Qi asked the question he was concerned about with a very serious expression.

The current timeline was different from the main story he knew.

There might be deviations in the holders.

Moreover, because the [Primal Tablet]'s function had not been implemented in the company, he only knew some of the holders' information.

But the awesome thing about this school was that if you wanted to know anything, you could directly ask the teacher!

And then the teacher would tell you all the information they knew!

(End of this chapter)