https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-682-Even-if-it-s-just-a-dog-I-d-still-kick-Lanchi-Part-2-/12585073/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-683-Lanchi-Won-t-Date-Talia-Part-2-/12585075/
Chapter 683: Lanchi Won't Date Talia (Part 1)
Chapter 683: Lanchi Won't Date Talia (Part 1)
"Four days passed in a flash in the Flower Capital, Pariyer."
"You've been working diligently at the Baptiste household, and after buying materials, the meager savings you had went towards feeding her. However, it's unusual that she might consider your work arduous and begin making breakfast for you."
"Her cooking skills are surprisingly decent."
"Today is the second round of the Platinum Card Maker Exam in the Bosen Kingdom, and the Baptiste family has brought you to the Holy Silvervine Arena."
"As evening approaches, the exam is about to conclude."
Floating in the air, the little black cat gave a play-by-play account of Lanchi's day.
Perhaps because it couldn't come out while Lanchi was working at the Baptiste household, now that they were at the Holy Silvervine Arena, which was likely Lanchi's break time, it had emerged from the shadows.
The setting sun bathed the Holy Silvervine Arena in a radiant orange hue, transforming the entire oval-shaped venue into a dazzling spectacle.
Under the lofty open dome, the layered arching spectator seats, and the sandstone walls glowed with a warm tone, occasionally punctuated by the murmur of the audience and the instructions of the examiners.
In the Celestial Hall, within the seating area designated for the Baptiste family, a sleek black sprite cat began to circle the area behind the spacious sofa where the butler stood.
"Wow, this cat can talk," Christina exclaimed as she turned to look at the floating black cat.
The last time she saw this cat in the Bosen Demon Realm, she found it fascinating, but now that she realized it could speak, she was even more astonished.
"Meow, meow, meow," the cat boss meowed in response, giving the blonde young lady a look that clearly said, "Are you kidding me?"
Wasn't it obvious that an eighth-rank divine beast should be able to speak? Some fifth and sixth-rank magical beasts could already speak human language.
"Sorry, I instructed it to stay hidden until after 5:30 in the evening," Lanchi apologized to Christina as he stood behind the sofa.
"It's fine, it's fine," Christina assured, her curiosity piqued by the cat.
This ancient super-arena, once steeped in blood and gore, had taken on a new, ethereal ambiance after being integrated into the Flower Capital, Pariyer. It was hard to associate it with the brutal gladiatorial battles of the past, and it now resembled a serene, silver sanctuary, where even the cat seemed to exude an air of leisure.
Christina turned back and looked at Innoanne by her side.
"Hey, if it weren't for the dangerous Aquitanian territory in the south, I would have taken you to the Baptiste family's vineyard. But it looks like there will be an opportunity to do so soon."
Christina continued chatting with Innoanne.
In the southern border region of the Bosen Kingdom, the Aquitanian territory, the Baptiste family had extensive holdings, including agriculture, wine-making, and manufacturing. Moreover, the local lord was a relative of her mother's.
"You don't need to go there. That's an adult's job," Kel, the eldest son of the Baptiste family, emphasized to her.
"Okay, brother," Christina reluctantly lowered her head.
In the event of a conflict with the Krexe Empire in the south, such as if the frontline commander needed to requisition their family's inventory on the spot, but failed to discuss it with the capital, or if a war broke out suddenly and the caravan was stranded at the border, requiring negotiations with the local military, the Baptiste family would need someone with authority to go to the south and coordinate. In such a situation, Kel would definitely not allow her to go; instead, he would personally handle the matter, as he was already responsible for a portion of the family business.
"But I'm stronger than my brother," Christina muttered.
Her brother hadn't cultivated at all and was just an ordinary person of the zero-stage.
At the very least, she had reached the second stage and was an official first-year student at the Royal Academy of Yarlon.
"Really?" Kel muttered, exasperated, not wanting to indulge his carefree sister any further.
In situations like this, others would be eager to have someone take their place in a dangerous location.
Only the fearless Christina seemed unappreciative, having taken on the family responsibilities herself.
Christina stuck her tongue out at her brother behind his back and turned to look at Innoanne, only to find her brow furrowed, as if she were in pain, and she shook her head from time to time.
"What's wrong, Innoanne?" Christina asked with concern.
"I think... I might be from the Bosen Kingdom's southern border, Aquitane," Innoanne mumbled, her hand on her forehead.
Although she wasn't sure if her identity documents were genuine, the gray and white fragments in her mind suggested that she might have lived there when she was young.
"Isn't there... a mountain there that's covered in snow during the winter and connected to a mountain range...?" she asked uncertainly.
"Yes, the Aquitanian Mountains, they're quite famous in our Bosen Kingdom," Christina nodded vigorously.
"Hey, if I take you there, do you think it might help you recover your memories?" she suddenly realized.
Because, as she had heard from Butler Roche earlier, only by seeing something familiar or receiving a strong stimulus might there be a chance to recover one's memories.
Although Christina was a bit selfish and hoped that Innoanne would never regain her memories, she wanted Innoanne to stay by her side forever. However, if regaining her memories was important to Innoanne, she would definitely help her.
"No, at least wait until the situation calms down before going," Kel, the young master of the Baptiste Earl's family, ordered when he heard Christina's words.
"Okay..." Christina pouted.
"It's alright, Miss. I'm not in a hurry to recover my memories. Things are good as they are, so please don't make it difficult for Kel," Innoanne quickly said to Christina, shooting an apologetic glance at Kel.
"It looks like we can't go there for now, but I promise you that I will take you to the southern border to see the Aquitanian Mountains!" Christina declared with a smile, hugging Innoanne tightly.
"Um..." Innoanne felt a little awkward about the young lady's intimate behavior, but unable to break free from Christina's embrace, she could only look away, observing the reactions of the other nobles in the distance, and softly agreeing.
Lanchi watched the two of them, a faint smile on his face.
With Innoanne by her side, even if Christina fired him, he wouldn't have to worry too much about the Baptiste family.
Although it hadn't been long, he had enjoyed his time working for the Baptiste family and had a pleasant time in the Flower Capital, Pariyer.
Soon, he raised his head, once again turning his gaze towards the holographic screen in the Celestial Hall.
On the screen, a grand battle was taking place.
Within the simulated Broken Divine Shrine in the Artificial Shadow World, towering stone colonnades surrounded the shattered temple, with intricate carvings of primordial creatures and battle formations. In the central altar plaza, two heavily armored figures were engaged in a deadly duel.
One valiant warrior was enveloped in scorching red battle armor, resembling molten lava. He wore a flaming iron helmet with horns, and his right hand brandished a scarlet spear. His opponent, a three-headed and six-armed demon, was clad in a majestic battle armor, its entire body appearing to be forged from pure steel, each hand wielding a different weapon.
As the audience watched with bated breath, the scarlet-armored warrior brandished his spear, causing streams of dazzling molten lava to surge forth from its tip, hurling towards the demon. The demon's war axe whistled through the air, slicing through the molten waves and carving a path with countless sharp blades.
The warrior didn't stop there; the ground around them began to melt, and scorching molten lava gushed forth, quickly forming a crimson colossus that stood three men tall beneath the warrior's feet. The demon leaped into the air, its war axe slicing through the air towards the colossus's head, causing molten fragments to scatter!
The ongoing examination was the second round of the Platinum Card Maker Exam, the highlight of which was the Deck Testing.
Deck Testing was a direct assessment of the card maker's overall abilities. Given certain constraints, card makers were tasked with creating a strategy deck on the spot, which was then imbued into artificial projections in the Artificial Shadow World for a practical simulation.
"Rocky, who do you think will win?"
Christina looked up at the butler behind the sofa with a hint of anxiety.
"I don't know," Lanchi replied with a quality answer.
How would he know the outcome? He wasn't an examiner.
Or, if he were thrown into the exam himself, he could only make some weird stuff, and whether he could win or not was uncertain.
Just then.
"Hold on."
A voice rang out in the audio-visual feed, and the entire Artificial Shadow World seemed to freeze.
The figure on the split screen had called for a halt to the test.
A white-haired young noble, remotely connected to the examination, appeared on the screen.
He looked to be under thirty.
The primary examiner, Countess Rosalinda, and the co-examiner, Brunton, both remained silent, waiting for him to speak.
"Adjust the environment to include weather, increase the fire attribute affinity by five percent, balance the basic attributes of the demon and human war puppets, and enhance their basic attack attributes. Otherwise, we won't be able to test their limits."
He instructed.
"But choosing a demon war puppet inherently makes it more difficult to adapt to magic cards, and adjusting the values may affect its racial traits."
Countess Rosalinda hesitated slightly and said to the white-haired examiner on the other side of the screen.
"Do as I say."
The white-haired examiner did not engage in further argument or explanation; he simply commanded.
Countess Rosalinda sighed and began to make the adjustments as he requested.
As for Brunton, the Platinum Card Maker examiner, he remained silent, sitting by her side.
After all, the other party did have higher authority.
"Who does this guy think he is, showing off like that?"
The cat boss looked at the giant screen in the arena, puzzled.
"He's a Platinum Card Maker examiner from the headquarters of the Card Maker's Association in the Canberra Kingdom of the Western Hub Zone."
Christina turned to explain to the little black cat.
Despite her attempts to coax the cat boss, he still refused to let her hold him.
"So, Countess Rosalinda, as the main examiner, has to listen to him?"
The cat boss turned his gaze from the screen to Christina.
On the screen, the white-haired noble named Loggins had silver-white long curly hair, slightly tied back, with the ends curling slightly upward. His eyes were as clear as ice and snow, and a perpetual air of arrogance hung on his lips. Occasionally, he would make notes on a magical writing pad.
He had already directed several examinations, almost usurping all the authority of the main examiner, Countess Rosalinda.
Whenever Countess Rosalinda had doubts about a certain aspect of the examination, Loggins would impatiently click his tongue and start giving instructions for adjustments.
"That's right. As long as it complies with the rules and regulations, Loggins, as a headquarters reviewer, does have higher authority than the main examiner. But the reason he's so full of himself while directing the exam is mainly because he and Countess Rosalinda don't get along."
Christina continued.
"How dare he be so arrogant when he's so idle? How is he even involved in the Eastern Region's exams?"
The cat boss widened his eyes.
It felt that Countess Rosalinda was a nice person. Earlier, it and Lanchi had been graciously hosted by the Countess, so it didn't think she would offend anyone.
"Well, the Western Hub Zone has an abundance of Platinum Card Makers, so it's easy to gather three examiners. There's no need to trouble him."
Christina spread her hands, feeling helpless.
"He really hates Migaya."
The root cause of it all was Duke Migaya.
Countess Rosalinda hadn't offended Loggins, but she and Duke Migaya had always been on good terms.
So, naturally, Loggins came to dislike Countess Rosalinda as well.
It was said that the year Loggins became a Platinum Card Maker, he was the center of attention, but then the less developed Eastern Region produced Migaya, who seemed to always be one step ahead of him.
To this day, he still hadn't forgiven Migaya.
"Some of you viewers, stop your muttering. Don't think I can't hear you."
The cold voice from the screen seemed to be directed at the Baptiste family, and Christina was startled, only to have her mouth covered by Kel.
"Shh, Christina, he can hear you," Kel whispered.
His sister was indeed fearless when it came to speaking her mind.
There was obviously an audiovisual device in place that allowed Loggins, remotely connected from the Western Hub Zone, to hear even the slightest noises from the examination hall.
If they offended a Platinum Card Maker, their family might not be able to trade even Gold or Silver Card Makers in the future. A single word from Loggins could prompt Card Makers who didn't want to offend him to put the Baptiste family on their blacklists.
“Fcking idiot…”
Christina glared at the arrogant young noble on the screen, her eyes flashing with hostility, even as her brother Kel covered her mouth to prevent her from speaking further.
Even the audience present had to be mindful.
Was this the way of the Canberra family? Despite this Loggins, a Platinum Card Maker examiner from the headquarters of the Card Maker's Association in the Western Hub Zone, elicited disdain from those in the Eastern Region, there was always a group of fanatical young female fans, some even holding sparkling cheer signs, and they would scream whenever Loggins spoke.
And Loggins ignored them all, yet seemed to revel in the attention.
After a brief adjustment, the screen returned to the test.
The Crimson Magma Colossus seemed to ignore the wild ax swing, and with a backhand slap, sent the Steel Demon flying. The Steel Demon tumbled in the air several times before a shower of crimson magma meteorites smashed down with an ear-piercing roar.
The tide of the battle seemed to turn in favor of the Crimson Warrior.
But no one expected that within the Steel Demon's embrace, the obsidian began to bloom with pitch-black flames, and the entire altar area of the arena was suddenly rent with a deep trench several meters long as the power of curses returned the meteorite attack with full force.
Seeing his attack countered, the warrior glared furiously, his molten lava armor glowing with brilliant light as the fire within him burned even more fiercely. Just then, countless deep trenches appeared in the altar square, and magma surged from the depths, both combatants finally unleashing their full power in a mighty collision, the clash of their magics creating a terrifying wave of power as dazzling crimson and pitch-black intertwined, threatening to tear the very screen apart!
The audience could only witness a brilliant burst of light before they instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
When their blurry vision finally cleared, the giant screen slowly returned to the image of the shattered shrine, with the Crimson Warrior kneeling on the ground, while the Steel Demon still stood tall.
At that moment, the butler reached out from mid-air and grabbed the floating little black cat, placing it on his shoulder.
"Young Master Kel, I'm about to get off work."
Lanchi bowed slightly beside the young master.
"Oh, you can go ahead."
Kel replied.
Actually, Roche's work hours usually ended around 5 p.m., but he had stayed a bit longer, as if waiting for something.
...
When Lanchi and Tata, who had finished their exam, walked out of the Holy Silvervine Arena, the streets of Pariyer were bathed in the glow of the setting sun.
Strolling along the sidewalk of Pariyer's 6th District, they admired the distant horizon where the sun was setting.
"Well, after being interrupted by the reviewer, I was worried we might lose, but I didn't expect you to hold back so much."
Lanchi said to Talia beside him.
"Piece of cake."
Talia glanced at Lanchi with a hint of arrogance, clearly interpreting his words as praise.
Today's second round of the exam was relatively normal.
Usually, only about a quarter to a fifth of the candidates would pass each round of the Platinum Card Maker Exam.
After three rounds of selection, there were often no successful candidates for two or three terms.
This year's first round, the Magic Engineering Principles exam, saw most candidates passing, and many even scored high marks, which was a very unusual situation.
Hence, the South Bosen Kingdom's Card Maker's Association headquarters sent a reviewer to oversee the exams in the Eastern Region.
"It looks like your score for this round will be a little higher than Karen's, but in the third round, you'll have to beat her by a larger margin to have a higher average score."
Lanchi analyzed for Talia.
Talia might not have seen Karen's exam process in the waiting area, but Lanchi had been following the Baptiste family's viewing.
While the average score didn't really matter, only the grade points and whether one passed or failed were important.
But their bet was about who scored higher.
"What, is this Lanchi examiner's professional evaluation?"
Talia glanced at him meaningfully.
She seemed to be asking him to elaborate.
Today, after the exam, Talia was in a good mood from hearing Lanchi's words.
"Never mind."
Lanchi smiled at her and quickened his pace.
"..."
Talia clenched her fists subconsciously.
She felt that he was doing it on purpose.
"I'll be the examiner for the next round, so I can't have a subjective bias. I have to maintain an objective attitude towards your evaluation."
Lanchi explained, drawing a clear line between public and private matters.
"Then, what would you say if you added your subjective opinion?"
Talia was curious.
So, all this time, he had been giving objective evaluations, and he sincerely thought she was amazing.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough."
Lanchi suddenly seemed to have a sore throat and coughed several times.
"Are you okay? Do you want me to cook you some medicine when we get home tonight?"
Talia immediately placed her hand on his back and asked with her lips bitten.
Lanchi didn't say a word, but she understood him.
Perhaps this guy really needed some medicine to cure his bad habit of speaking carelessly.
"..."
Lanchi started to sweat on his head.
He suddenly remembered that this woman held the power of the kitchen, and if she put some poison in his food, he didn't think he could resist.
"Lanchi, are you okay?"
A male voice called out from a distance.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!"
Lanchi quickly replied to the voice, distracting Talia's attention.
The voice was familiar, and when they looked into the distance, they saw Nigel the Executioner walking towards them, apparently looking for them.
Nigel took off his military cap, his neat short hair and handsome face exuded a sense of authority in the setting sun, but he appeared quite amiable towards them.
"Sorry to disturb you."
Nigel said, looking at Lanchi, who was standing close to Talia.
Lanchi and Talia subconsciously stepped away from each other, pretending not to know each other.
"Can we talk at the cafe over there?"
Nigel pointed to the fashionable shop by the bank of the Serlina River tributary and asked.
At the same time, he kept an eye on their surroundings.
He knew that after the second round of the Card Maker exam, he could find Lanchi and Tata near the Holy Silvervine Arena.
At the moment, he hadn't detected anyone tracking or monitoring them.
(End of Chapter)
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