Hutton Capital, Ikerite.

Under the afternoon sun at two or three o'clock, a roaring magic-powered railcar pulled into Ikerite Central Station.

This station, built with reddish-brown bricks, is also the transportation heart of the entire Kingdom of Hutton. The ancient architecture and modern-style renovations are perfectly integrated, creating a unique landscape.

When the mechanical behemoth came to a steady stop at the platform, the carriage doors slowly opened a few seconds after the announcement.

Stepping out of one of the carriages was a group of young people who appeared young but had a calm demeanor.

They walked with firm steps through the platform level to the bustling station concourse, bypassing the tourists who lingered indecisively in front of the Hutton Kingdom's specialty shops.

This group was particularly eye-catching in the station hall, attracting the attention of many passersby.

They wore well-tailored coats, and their ties were printed with the Aloran Royal Academy's emblem—a sword-shaped flame, a red and black checkered pattern, omitting the epaulets and cuffs of the military uniform. The edges of the cuffs and hems were sealed in different colors, representing their grade and branch.

"Loren..."

The woman leading the team murmured a name in a voice that was barely audible.

Unlike the students, the tall woman was wearing a dark brown Aloran Kingdom knight's uniform. Even without armor, her aura made it clear that she was a general, her eyes as noble as if she had just walked out of the palace.

Many travelers stopped to look at her.

Her simple half-updo and cascading golden hair amazed those in the station with her unaffected, natural beauty.

She looked up at the station sign.

A year ago, the Aloran Royal Academy's academic visiting team had also come here.

Every year, both schools conduct reciprocal visits in accordance with the fine tradition of friendly exchange.

Among them, there were students from the Aloran Kingdom who would request to observe Loren's original slate-style activities, and of course, there were also students from the Ikerite Academy of the Hutton Kingdom who would request to observe Juliana's original slate regeneration.

As the most famous powerhouse in the Southern Continent, there seemed to be some inexplicable rumors between the two of them in Ikerite, which even Juliana, who was in the Aloran Kingdom, had heard about.

But Juliana didn't care.

What she cared about was Loren's own attitude towards these rumors.

Originally, Juliana thought last year would just be an ordinary exchange.

Unexpectedly, nearly half of the Aloran Kingdom's academic visiting team failed to return from Ikerite.

Among them were those who suffered serious injuries, were imprisoned, transferred schools, or suffered severe mental trauma.

Juliana contacted Loren several times, and even planned to arrange a trip to Ikerite to find him in person. In the end, Loren guaranteed her that he would not allow any more accidents to happen to the students of the Aloran Kingdom's academic visiting team, so Juliana temporarily canceled her trip to the Hutton Kingdom.

As a result...

The Ikerite Academy held a martial arts competition.

It was said to be a major accident that went down in Ikerite's safety history, and was criticized by the city hall.

In the end, the Ikerite Academy won the martial arts competition with a score of five to zero, and the Ikerite Health Center had five more new patients.

The Aloran Kingdom's martial artist team, led by Kusei, a third-year student, spent nearly half a year recuperating and receiving psychological counseling before successfully returning to the Aloran Kingdom.

After that, Juliana knew that she was definitely coming.

The date that Loren and she had set because of the bet between Loren's students should also be honored.

It was just that later, due to the arrest of Phoenix, a direct soldier of the Rebirth Church hidden in the Aloran Kingdom's academic visiting team, and the chain reaction caused by the battle between the Destruction Bishop and the Dimension Bishop, the Rebirth Church's activities in the Aloran Kingdom became extremely active for a period of time. Juliana, the captain of the knights, could not leave her post in the Aloran Kingdom without authorization, so she had not been able to come to the Hutton Kingdom to see Loren.

But she had already said that after the Rebirth Church's problems in the Aloran Kingdom were resolved, she would definitely come to Ikerite to find Loren in person, and told him to wait for her.

Now, she was here.

This year's routine academic visiting team was led directly by her, Juliana, the captain of the knights. It wasn't exactly a vacation for her, as she was taking advantage of her official duties to see Loren.

She also wanted to see if the women around Loren had really increased as rumored.

At least she was willing to believe in Loren. He was upright, honest, and proper, and even kept a clear line with the paladin captain of his own church, not to mention the legendary saintess chosen by God with her unparalleled beauty.

This year's Aloran academic visiting team arrived earlier than in previous years. The strength of some of the students was rare even in Hutton Capital. In addition to a few new second-year students, there were also some familiar faces.

"Ikerite, I'm back."

Besides Juliana, the captain of the knights, another young man leading the academic visiting team had neat and tidy hair. He walked out of the station hall, and the afternoon sun shone on the top of his head, but his eyes seemed to be covered with a trace of mist, like a wounded lion, having long lost the youthful enthusiasm and naivety.

"Teacher Adams, I heard that the student council of Ikerite Academy are a bunch of unimaginable beasts who are capable of anything. Is that true?"

A freshman behind him asked.

The students all knew that Adams, who had now graduated and was teaching at the Aloran Royal Academy, had visited Ikerite last year as the chief third-year representative of the Aloran Kingdom.

It was said that he defeated Lanqi, the ultimate weapon cultivated by Loren, in the artificial shadow world with overwhelming advantage, but he also paid a considerable price. After returning to the Aloran Kingdom, he seemed to have become a different person.

Adams shook his head.

In essence, he had a good impression of the people at Ikerite Academy, except for Loren, the player who played with people's feelings, whom he was skeptical of.

"In any case, at least the president of the student council, Monastyr, is a very upright person. He has played a positive guiding and mediating role in various occasions."

Adams said in a deep voice.

"Then why did the outcome of every single thing he authorized turn into an accident?"

A student behind him tilted his head in confusion.

Adams: "..."

The sudden silence at this moment made the other students realize that this president was also a newbie, and the one who hid the deepest.

"Alas, Senior Adams back then was not like this at all. I remember his eyes were clear and bright, like stars. The first thing he said when he walked out of the station was, 'As Lady Juliana's sword, I will go and learn from the most outstanding student under Dean Loren.'"

Walking in the middle of the student team, a fair-haired, green-eyed, pleasant-tempered girl held the back of her head and said leisurely.

She was a genius magical artificer who became a Gold-level card maker in her second year at the Aloran Royal Academy, and was now a third-year senior.

"Junior Karen..."

Adams turned his head and muttered to himself in a deep voice.

"If possible, I still prefer the confident Senior Adams. Although you have become calmer now, you don't smile anymore."

Karen said with a regretful shrug.

Everyone could see that Senior Karen was not mocking Teacher Adams, but trying to encourage him.

She was really too gentle and kind.

"Hehe..."

Seeing everyone's admiring eyes.

Karen still smiled innocently.

But she was mocking in her heart:

Trash, you have to lose half your life to barely win against Lanqi, I really don't understand you hotheads who like to fight and kill all day long.

Because the Aloran Royal Academy was very short of magical artificers, excellent magical artificers were very popular.

Now that she was about to go to the Boson Kingdom to take the Platinum-level card maker exam, her status among the students was even higher than anyone else's.

She enjoyed being treated like a queen.

And Adams, the idiot, was the stepping stone to highlight her superiority.

The front row of the team were all praising Karen, and the students in the back of the team had been silent for a long time.

A second-year noble girl walked alone at the back.

Her domineering aura and deep red eyes were full of coldness, as if she could see through people's hearts.

In addition to the family crest intertwined with black and white on the standard school uniform, the eye-catching inverted cross hair accessory made of red ribbons and gold metal lining showed her unique priestess status in the Church of the Goddess of Fate.

Although she and Loren belonged to the same Church of the Goddess of Fate, this visit was undoubtedly out of respect for the high priest, but the surrounding students knew that this was not the case.

Her brother, Kusei Pakas, the eldest son of Earl Pakas, a nobleman of the Aloran Kingdom, the leader of the martial artist team, and also the most powerful martial artist in the third year of the Aloran Royal Academy, had encountered an unfortunate accident when he came to Ikerite last year.

Until now, Kusei was hiding at home, afraid to go out. Not to mention fighting, he would even be frightened when the servants at home approached him, afraid that someone would beat him.

The culprit of that accident was Loren's student, Lanqi Wilford, who was also the coach of the Ikerite Academy team in the competition.

But if you want to ask who taught Lanqi, who was instructing him, and who was the referee presiding over that competition, there was only one answer!

"Loren Crantel, you hypocritical villain, I must expose you..."

Kukulka clenched her hands and swore in her heart.

(End of this chapter)