Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Not to mention Li Qingzhi's more pronounced and intimate gestures and postures in the depths of the night.

Last night, if not for the genuine appearance of Li Qingzhi's deep slumber, Ludwig would have found it hard not to suspect that it was all deliberate on his part.

But while Ludwig was lost in his tumultuous thoughts, the black-haired youth, who had been intently studying him, had already detected something amiss:

"Oh, Ludwig, you truly seem to have had a restless night."

As his words faded, Li Qingzhi seemed to realize something, his eyes widening slightly with a hint of guilt, "Did I sleep too restlessly and disturb your rest?"

Having lived alone in Albert's dormitory for so long, Li Qingzhi had even forgotten that his fellow disciples had teased him about his restless sleep at night.

At this moment, upon seeing the faint dark circles under Ludwig's eyes, Li Qingzhi instantly realized that it might all be his fault.

Feeling somewhat guilty, Li Qingzhi was about to say more when he noticed Ludwig quickly shake his head, "It's not because of you."

"I've merely had a restless night's sleep."

The blond youth was reluctant to admit that his current state was all because of Li Qingzhi; it would make him seem overly invested.

In that moment, Dr. Justice was already making his way towards them. Upon catching sight of Justice, Li Qingzhi knew he had to attend to matters at hand, and thus he handed over the cold remedy pills from his small gourd to the doctor.

Justus promptly began another thorough examination with his knowledge of medicinal magic. Upon Justus's nod of assurance that everything was in order, Li Qingzhi felt a slight relief.

"I'm relieved to hear that. Another dose today should suffice, I suppose."

As Ludwig conversed with Justus, something suddenly occurred to him, and he turned his gaze towards the study nearby.

Ultimately, deciding to take one more book with him before heading to Almont, Ludwig turned into the study, intending to retrieve the exchange student manual that Li Qingzhi had left for him the day before. After all, as Li Qingzhi had mentioned, with this handbook, he could decipher the essence of those previous letters.

However, upon entering the study, Ludwig found the manual absent from the desk.

He distinctly remembered Li Qingzhi placing it there the previous night, and neither of them had returned to the study since. Felix and the other servants would never dare to tamper with the items in the study without permission.

In Ludwig's moment of confusion, he suddenly detected a familiar scent of medicine within the room.

As he frowned slightly, Ludwig's mind gradually formed an image, realization dawning upon him.

Meanwhile, Li Qingzhi, on the other side, promptly observed as he handed the pill to Justice that, just like the day before, the young man meticulously wiped away any residue of the pill dust from his fingertips and carefully wrapped the pill in a clean handkerchief before turning to assist Beril with her medication.

Before long, Li Qingzhi noticed that Ludwig seemed to have gone to the study. Glancing in that direction, he found the blond youth emerging from there with a complicated expression on his face.

"Is something the matter?" Noticing Ludwig's apparent distress, Li Qingzhi asked instinctively.

The only thing that could be seen was the golden-haired youth glancing in his direction, and after a few seconds of contemplation, he simply shook his head with a light expression: "It's nothing."

Before identifying who had tampered with the study, Ludwig decided to proceed with caution and avoid alerting the culprit prematurely.

With the lesson swiftly approaching, the two were about to make a hasty departure. Yet, just before they left, Li Qingzhi felt an uncanny sense of foreboding as he watched Doctor Justice come to bid them farewell.

Justin mentioned that he had some business to attend to and needed to temporarily leave Leo Castle. After bidding a respectful farewell, he hurriedly turned away. However, Li Qingzhi quickly noticed the familiar red powder clinging to the tips of his fingers.

Li Qingzhi, who had initially found the situation merely peculiar, suddenly recalled the various details he had observed about Justice. The alchemist seemed to have an extreme aversion to dirt; besides his meticulously maintained robe, Justice would always wrap his concoctions in a clean handkerchief after preparing them, subsequently wiping his hands meticulously clean.

Yet now, Justice's fingers were once more tainted with the frost pill's powder. Unlike before, he didn't immediately wipe it clean to attend to other matters. Instead, he allowed the colored powder to remain on his fingertips, even staining his clothes. It seemed that he was in such a hurry and anxiety that he had no time for such trivial actions.

However, Justice hadn't received any voice scrolls earlier. He was calmly wiping his hands as he watched, but the moment he turned away, his fingers were suddenly dirtied again, and he hastily bid farewell and left.

The old butler, Felix, had already prepared the carriage. Li Qingzhi, after pondering carefully, grew increasingly suspicious.

Reflecting back, he realized that while conversing with Ludwig, he hadn't paid attention to Justice's actions. Now, it seemed as though Justice had seized the opportunity to snatch the pill meant for Beatrix while his guard was down.

Worried, Li Qingzhi glanced at Beatrix, only to find the little girl sipping water, with the handkerchief in front of her holding the painstakingly refined Wind-Cold Pill.

Upon realizing that the pill hadn't been taken, Li Qingzhi was startled:

Could I have overreacted?

Yet, in the next moment, still plagued by unease, he stepped forward and stopped Beatrix from taking the medicine: "Wait."

The little girl froze for a moment, halting her action but looking at Li Qingzhi with confusion: "What is it, Brother Qingzhi?"

Holding the pill before the girl, Li Qingzhi studied it more closely, feeling increasingly perplexed. Although its appearance and aroma were identical to the original, something felt off.

After a moment of intense recollection, Li Qingzhi remembered the sensation he'd experienced when he had finished refining the pill yesterday. He finally identified what was amiss:

Yesterday's medicine, despite the passage of time, still held a residual warmth when he held it in his palm. Even as he poured it into Justus's cup just now, he could sense the heat emanating from the flask at his waist.

This was all due to the presence of the Blackbird Feather he had brought from Mount Sanqing in the ingredients for this wind-chill remedy. The feather, even after a millennium, retained its warmth upon touch, imbuing the resulting medicine with the qualities of both cold dispersion and gentle heat.

Yet, the pill in his hand now was devoid of any warmth; it felt cold to the touch, completely unlike something that should have been derived from the Blackbird Feather.

Realizing this, Li Qingzhi's heart jolted with shock. He couldn't fathom why Justus, who had been Beril's physician for years, would engage in such deceit.

Meanwhile, Ludwig, having already noticed the unusual situation at Li Qingzhi's side, cast a predictive glance at the black-haired youth as the latter cautiously examined the crimson pill.

"Is there something amiss?"

With a turmoil of thoughts swirling in his heart, Li Qingzhi glanced at Ludwig with a nuanced expression. Although he was eager to share his discovery with Ludwig at once, he also realized that it was best for this matter not to be known by too many people.

Ultimately, as he retrieved the counterfeit pill, Li Qingzhi led Ludwig to a momentarily deserted corner where, in hushed but meticulous tones, he shared his conjectures and discoveries. This naturally encompassed Dr. Justus's recent act of stealthily swapping Beryl's medication when Qingzhi's attention was diverted.

Upon hearing Li Qingzhi's words, Ludwig also quickly recalled the vanished exchange student manual from his study. It was something Li Qingzhi had brought and given to him.

In a sense, the two missing items shared a common thread, and that was Li Qingzhi's involvement.

Of course, Ludwig didn't forget the familiar scent of medicine he had detected in his study just now.

With what Li Qingzhi had just told him, Ludwig's thoughts fell into place swiftly:

That medicinal odor wasn't the subtle, pleasant herbal fragrance that clung to Li Qingzhi, but rather a pungent mixture of various magical potions unique to Justus.

From the moment he left the study, he had almost confirmed that Justus was the one who took the manual. His silence then was merely to continue investigating the motive behind such an action.

To my surprise, Justus actually attempted to switch Beril's medicine. Fortunately, Li Qingzhi discovered it in time, preventing Beril from consuming the unknown counterfeit pill.

As thoughts swirled in his mind, Ludwig's gaze darkened significantly. "If it's true, regardless of his motives, I'll make him regret every action he's taken."

With that said, the blond youth promptly summoned Felix and issued several directives to his capable steward.

Justus had been gone for far too long; it was unrealistic to pursue the magic-wielding physician now. But Ludwig had a plan in mind.

By the time Li Qingzhi returned in the evening for the supplementary lesson, Butler Felix had already found a much older, yet seemingly energetic old physician to attend to Beril, in place of Justus.

When Li Qingzhi joined Ludwig in visiting Beril in her chamber, the old physician was squinting intently, meticulously preparing potions as if searching for the perfect formula to alleviate Beril's magic exhaustion.

Doctor Justinus, on the other hand, had vanished from Leo's castle vicinity, leaving no trace behind as if he had completely disappeared.

Though they failed to apprehend the suspicious doctor, Li Qingzhi's timely intervention allowed for a more experienced and reliable physician to take over the case, which brought some relief.

With a sense of reassurance, Li Qingzhi decided to continue crafting effective Wind-Cold pills for Beril.

As he worked on the Wind-Cold pills, he couldn't help but pick up the exclusive secret recipe that Senior Sister Qing Lian had given him, tailored to Beril's array of symptoms. He began to study it with intent.

However, Li Qingzhi soon discovered that the ingredients listed on the secret recipe were exceptionally rare and difficult to procure. Many of them were not only absent from his inventory but also completely unfamiliar to him. Faced with the daunting challenge of sourcing these components, Li Qingzhi decided to postpone his efforts until after the mid-term assessment.

In no time, the crucial mid-term examination, which determined the new echelons among the Elmonts after two weeks of intense and fulfilling revision, arrived promptly.

However, the contents of the first assessment left many students dumbfounded.

As the examiner in charge of the first assessment, the elderly teacher Ernest, who was usually meticulous to the point of being pedantic, surprisingly summed up the rules with a concise and straightforward statement:

The first trial consists of a race, with the unique allowance of employing your magical beasts at will throughout the course. Scores will be allocated based directly on the order in which you reach the finish line.

However, such an assessment raised questions among the students: "Why does this feel so unfair?"

They had expected Teacher Ernest, who had been busy for days, to devise a complex challenge, but this simple race seemed rather uninspired, with straightforward rules. This came as a surprise to the students.

More importantly, the rule that allowed the use of magic beasts stirred feelings of unfairness among many:

Some students' magic beasts were mount-type, capable of swift movement when ridden, while others had delicate sprites or cumbersome, combat-oriented creatures. Thus, a race purely based on speed was clearly unjust!

Faced with the students' murmurs and discontent, Teacher Ernest remained unperturbed, leaving no room for negotiation as he continued, "If everyone understands the rules, prepare for the start. It should be quite straightforward."

Tensions ran high among the crowd. Bruce locked eyes with his stubborn goblin, while Amelia's sprite seemed just as helpless. Beside them, Li Qingzhi, observing her two slow-moving stone lions, couldn't help but feel vexed:

What could they do?