[Quest Accepted!]

[New objective added: Gather information about suspicious activities at Lerastad Royal Academy]

[System suggests Host start by observing faculty members and noble students with Legion connections.]

"Any hints on who to watch?" Lucas asked.

[System cannot provide specific information Host doesn't already know. However, System notes that the Vice Headmaster's daughter conveniently avoided the forest exam due to 'illness.']

Lucas remembered the nurses mentioning that earlier. At the time, he'd thought nothing of it. But now...

"You think the Vice Headmaster might be involved?"

[System thinks Host should investigate before jumping to conclusions. Correlation does not equal causation. However, it is a logical starting point.]

Lucas resumed walking, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. Tomorrow, exam results would be posted. After that, he'd have some free time before regular classes resumed.

Time he could use to start digging into this conspiracy.

But first, he really did need to sleep. His body was desperate for rest, and he couldn't investigate anything if he collapsed from exhaustion.

He reached his dorm and climbed the stairs to his room.

Inside, he carefully placed Henrik's satchel in his storage space, making sure it was secure. The book and potions were too valuable to leave lying around.

Lucas stripped off his filthy clothes and collapsed onto his bed without bothering to change into sleepwear. Within moments, he was asleep.

---

He woke to sunlight streaming through his window and someone pounding on his door.

"Lucas! Get up! Exam results are posted!"

Damion's voice.

Lucas groaned and dragged himself out of bed. His body ached from the forest ordeal, but the healing salve had done its job. His scratches had closed, and the bruising had faded to a dull yellow.

He quickly dressed in clean clothes and opened the door.

Damion stood there, grinning. "Come on! Everyone's gathering at the announcement board. Zacard thinks we might have placed in the top ten!"

"Give me a minute to wash my face."

"Hurry up!"

Lucas splashed water on his face and ran his fingers through his hair. Good enough.

They joined the stream of students heading toward the central courtyard where exam results were traditionally posted. A large crowd had already gathered around the announcement board.

Lucas spotted his team near the middle of the crowd. Zacard was tall enough to see over most heads, and he was staring at the board with a strange expression.

"Well?" Lucas called out as they approached. "How did we do?"

Zacard turned to face them, and a slow smile spread across his face.

"See for yourselves."

The crowd parted slightly, and Lucas finally got a clear view of the results board.

[ARVSEN FOREST SURVIVAL EXAM - FINAL RANKINGS]

[1st Place: Team Damion - 1,847 points]

Lucas's eyes widened. First place. They'd actually taken first place.

The crowd around the announcement board erupted into excited chatter as students processed the results. Lucas stared at their team name at the top of the list, barely believing it.

"How?" Damion said, his voice full of wonder. "We almost died multiple times!"

"The Starlight Ore," Zacard said. "One hundred points for that alone, plus all the rare herbs, the Crystal Spider materials, and the sheer number of monster components we collected. We hit nearly every high-value target in the exam."

Lucas looked at the rest of the rankings:

2nd Place: Team Victoria - 1,654 points

3rd Place: Team Alexander - 1,521 points

4th Place: Team Iris - 1,489 points

*5th Place: Team Marcus - 1,402 points

"We beat Victoria's team by almost two hundred points," Lydia said, appearing beside Lucas. "She's not going to be happy about that."

"Where is Victoria anyway?" Lucas asked, looking around the crowd.

"Probably sulking somewhere," Garrett said cheerfully. "Can't say I'm too broken up about it."

"Don't get cocky," Damion said. "After all, Class Placements haven't been announced yet."

"Way to kill the mood, Damion," Zacard muttered.

Damion was right. Thankfully, Lucas believed he'd be promoted to a higher class after this.

"We should celebrate anyway," Celeste said from behind them.

"Celebrate how?" Zacard asked.

"The dining hall is serving a special dinner tonight for all students who completed the exam," Celeste said. " We should go together."

"I'm in," Garrett, who had spawned out of nowhere, said immediately. "After two days of eating dried meat, I'd kill for real food."

The others agreed, and plans were made to meet at the dining hall that evening.

As the crowd began to disperse, Lucas felt someone's eyes on him.

He turned and caught a glimpse of a figure watching from the edge of the courtyard: a girl with soft honey-blonde hair that was cut into a blunt bob that just touched her shoulders, with little waves at the ends.

Princess Leyla.

It had been a while since Lucas saw her and they hadn't talked since the marriage proposal for Marie.

Their eyes met for just a moment before she turned and walked away.

"That's going to be a problem," Lucas thought.

But him remembering his last conversation with Leyla reminded him of something else. It had been a while since he last saw Marie. Or Raymond for that matter.

"Hey guys, it's been a while since I saw Marie or Raymond. Have you seen them?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, them." Lydia said. "They're good. Raymond got chosen to be the student of some alchemy guy and was taken to begin studying with him as soon as the exams ended."

"And Marie?"

"She left in the middle of the night saying there was some emergency or another in her family." Lydia said.

"And you just let her go!?" Lucas asked, shocked.

"You're acting like I could have in anyway stopped her or would I have any reason to and besides there is nothing to worry about. It's Marie we are talking about, after all."

Lucas wasn't so sure. He remembered what Leyla said about the marriage involving Marie that the king was negotiating.

He just hoped Marie's situation had nothing to do with that. In fact, he'd go check on her himself since Marie's family's land and Asmir's Keep were somewhat close.

At least according to the game.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.