Chapter 112

Chapter 112

Tweeeet! Tweeeet! Tweeeet!

The instructor blew three long whistles and announced loudly, "Time's up."

The remaining dozen or so students from the Mecha Department, dragging their noodle-like legs, reluctantly walked up to the instructor and reported their names one by one.

"Considering it's your first time running such a distance, I'll only deduct five points from each of you. How about that?" Instructor Lin closed the roster and said with a smile.

The penalized students: "...No objections."

Though they said it, their expressions clearly showed they were visibly frustrated but afraid to speak up—what could they say when the points were already deducted?

"Alright, there's still half an hour left before class ends. Go rest up. Train hard later, and you can still earn your points back," the instructor raised her chin and gestured toward Eve, who had finished running first and was sitting resting, "Look at Eve—not only did she make up her points, but she even earned an extra five."

Caught off guard by the mention, Eve paused as she held her water bottle. Only after Instructor Lin Ke gave a meaningful "Hmm?" did she regain her composure and nod to the other dozen unfortunate classmates: "Keep it up, there will be plenty more opportunities."

Her extra five points were for finishing first. The next four students also received four, three, two, and one point respectively. The instructor didn’t penalize her for starting first, as it was obvious Eve had finished far ahead of the second-place runner.

But even as the instructor praised her, Eve couldn’t help feeling quite guilty. The reason was simple: though she hadn’t made any obvious moves while running, she was wearing items like her earrings, which were Alchemical Tools embedded with various Alchemical Formulas for speed and enhancement.

She always believed in preparing for the worst, and it wasn’t until she was on the track that she realized she had brought these Alchemical Tools with her. Feeling quite embarrassed, Eve silently cupped her water bottle with both hands, using its round base to hide her slightly apologetic expression.

To her surprise, Jessica had actually come in second. It seemed the little princess had some skills after all.

Though Jessica herself wasn’t satisfied with the result. After finishing, she limped over to Eve, her steps unsteady, and snapped fiercely, "Today... today was just because I wasn’t prepared... Just you wait, next time I will, I will definitely take first place..."

Eve replied mechanically, "Hang in there, you'll have more chances."

At worst, she could just not use her "extra help" next time. There was no need to fight tooth and nail over something like this.

Jessica was left speechless by her brush-off and glared at Eve.

"Alright, everyone, rest if you must, but circle up and face me."

Instructor Lin clapped her hands, signaling for everyone’s attention.

By now, the other two departments had also begun their formal training. Though not as extreme as the Mecha Department’s 50-kilometer timed run, their intensity wasn’t far off.

The Mecha Department students sat or lay sprawled across the artificial grass, leisurely watching their peers train for a while before turning their attention to their instructor.

"You should have all received the detailed notice from the school about the military training schedule, right? What I’m going to talk about now are the assessment criteria and grading."

Hearing this, the students perked up. Some who had been lying down struggled to sit up straight. Lin Ke scanned the group before continuing, "Our military training lasts twenty days in total. Nineteen of those are for daily training, and only the last day is for the final assessment. I’ll go into detail about the assessment day later. For now, let’s talk about the daily training requirements."

"Daily training lasts nineteen days and accounts for 80% of the total score, which translates to 80 points out of 100. Each person starts with 60 points. Being late or leaving early will deduct 10 points per occurrence, with no upper limit—unless you’ve requested leave and reported it to the academic office."

"Each day will include physical training like today’s. The top five finishers will receive decreasing bonus points: first place gets 5 points, second gets 4, third gets 3, fourth gets 2, and fifth gets 1. Those who fail to complete the training will lose 10 points."

"Daily sparring will follow a ranking system. The bottom five will get points deducted in descending order, with the last-place loser losing 5 points. The top five will gain points in descending order, with first place gaining 10 points, followed by 8, 6, 4, and 2. However, the total bonus points cannot exceed 80, while there’s no floor for deductions."

"Bonus points can be virtual points. For example, if a student accumulates 100 bonus points, I can only record 80 for her. That means she can leave early or skip training for the next two days by using up her virtual points to slack off."

Instructor Lin Ke delivered this long explanation in one breath, then raised her chin toward the students and asked, "These are the basic rules for daily training. Do you understand?"

"Understood—"

"Good. Next is the assessment day. The assessment day will be graded based on the overall performance of the department, with a maximum score of 20. As for the detailed content of the assessment," the young brown-haired instructor laughed brightly before shifting her tone, "—I don’t know either."

The students: "......"

"Alright, even if I knew, I wouldn’t just tell you," the instructor blew her whistle. "Time’s up, dismissed! Don’t be late this afternoon."

The students, who had been lying in the grass like sluggish worms, immediately scattered in every direction. Eve slowly packed her things and was about to leave when the instructor called out to her.

Without looking up, the instructor studied the teaching schedule and said casually, "Eve, stay behind."

Eve paused. Waiting until all the other students, including those from the other two departments, had left, she asked, "What did you need, Instructor?"

Another instructor, who seemed friendly with Lin Ke, walked over and patted her shoulder with a smile. "Not leaving? Let’s have lunch together. I’m kind of missing the First Empire’s cafeteria."

"You go ahead," Lin Ke gestured toward Eve. "I need to talk with this student for a bit."

The other instructor finally noticed the silver-haired girl standing nearby, her presence almost unnoticeable—or rather, her attention was drawn to the girl’s hair. "Medici?"

Lin Ke: "Yes, this is Eve."

The instructor’s expression turned strange. After exchanging a few brief words with Lin Ke, she hurried away.

"My colleague doesn’t like you," Lin Ke said quietly, lowering her voice once the other instructor was gone.

It was hard to imagine that even while saying something like this, she still wore a bright, cheerful smile.

Eve glanced at her, already forming some guesses in her mind. She dropped the pretense of respecting her teacher and asked directly, "Which Legion are you from?"

"The Fourth Legion."

No wonder. The Fourth Legion was considered the Cardew family’s direct lineage legion, traditionally led by members of the Cardew family serving as Legion Commander and Deputy Corps Commander.

Qin Mengde’s relationship with the Cardew family was strained, and as her close aide, Eve was naturally unwelcome.

"Then why are you suddenly telling me this?" she asked again.

"Alright, I know you’re probably thinking a lot right now, but the truth is, I just don’t like complicating things at my alma mater. Rather than letting you find out about our backgrounds through other channels, I’d rather set the record straight now," Lin Ke snorted softly. "I hope that during my short time here, we can maintain a relationship of keeping our distance. A teacher should act like a teacher, and a student should act like a student. Can you agree to this simple request?"

"......" Eve studied Lin Ke for a long moment. Her sapphire-blue eyes seemed capable of seeing right through to the core of all disguises and illusions. After what felt like an eternity, she finally nodded. "As it should be. I’m also glad you have such awareness, Instructor."

She extended her hand to Lin Ke and said amiably, "Let’s shake on our agreement."

The wind swirled between them, whistling in the space that separated the two.

Lin Ke stared at her outstretched hand before finally reaching out and shaking it.

"I hope you mean what you say," she said, putting a bit of force into her grip to emphasize her seriousness. "Alright, you can go now."

The moment she turned around, Eve’s expression shifted from a clear, sunny smile to one clouded with gloom.

There were many rules when dealing with people from the Capital Planet, but the most versatile one she had summarized so far was—never easily trust those who seemed too cheerful.

The moment their skin made contact, the ability of the Luna Butterfly activated. On contact, all thoughts and emotions were transmitted to her. Worried about alerting the other party, Eve didn’t dare fully read Lin Ke’s consciousness, but the emotional undertone she sensed in that moment was far from positive or uplifting—it was a deep, dark blue, like the night sea.

Lin Ke was not as friendly as she appeared.

Eve walked to the exit of the field, where a girl with shoulder-length hair was waiting idly, arms crossed. Beneath her silver hair, the faint trace of a golden ring could be seen on her earlobe.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Eve placed her hand on Grace’s shoulder, noticing the Alchemical Tool she wore in her ear. "You’re still wearing this?"

The Medici family was not short on money. Regardless of background, all children living in the main household received an independently managed account on their eighteenth birthday as their first adult gift. The account was linked to a medium resource star under the family’s name, with an annual output roughly equivalent to the annuity of a low-ranking noble.

Grace had already celebrated her eighteenth birthday back in April and gotten access to her trust fund, so she certainly wasn’t wearing this plain-looking ear accessory because she had no other accessories to choose from.

“You mean this?”

Grace touched her earlobe, fiddling with the alchemical comm device used for communication.

Ever since Eve returned, there was really no need to use this device for communication anymore. But considering the nature of Eve’s daily work, she kept it on her just in case of emergencies. “I’ve gotten used to wearing it, so I just kept it on.”

“When I made this, my skills were still pretty basic. It only has communication functions. If you still want to use it now, I can upgrade it for you—add some extra features or change its design.”

Hearing this, Grace widened her eyes slightly. “Really?”

“Who are we to each other? Of course!” Eve took the ear clip from her hand, smiled, and gave her a light punch. “Send me your requirements by tonight, and I’ll have the finished product ready for you in three days.”

Grace cheered and immediately wrapped herself around Eve like a koala, hugging her tightly.

“Wow, darling, you’re the best!”

Just as she was being hugged, Eve’s personal device buzzed. Still holding the slightly worn ear clip in her hand, she reluctantly glanced to see who was being so inconsiderate as to text her at a time like this.

When she saw that the sender was labeled “Grand Steward,” Eve already felt reluctant to check the content—the person behind this label was none other than Sophia. Because Sophia often relayed texts for Qin Mengde, assisted Eve with tasks, and managed the daily affairs of the princess’s estate, Eve had given her this fitting nickname.

...Of course, Sophia had no idea about this.

After staring heavenward in resignation for a moment, Eve had no choice but to pat Grace’s shoulder. “I need to check a text.”

“Oh... you’re really so busy.”

“Can’t be helped,” she muttered.

After all, she was still on the princess’s payroll and couldn’t just ignore everything. Besides, if Sophia was contacting her even though she knew Eve was at school, it probably wasn’t something trivial.

However, after opening the text, Eve was genuinely taken aback.

Sophia asked her to find an opportunity to sneak away, saying she had finally uncovered some intel about the First Empire's military training officers. She planned to report it along with other important matters from the princess’s estate.

Eve blinked slowly, she was momentarily stunned.

...Speaking of which, wasn't today already the second day of military training?