Lily wasn’t quite sure whether the “bloodshot eyes staring at her” were real, an illusion caused by tricks of light and shadow, or mental interference from dark magic.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that the manuscript could be burned, the paint graffiti on the mirror could be erased, and the next day, an identical manuscript did not appear on her desk.
That put Lily at ease. She wasn’t very familiar with the supernatural forces of this world, but from what she could tell so far, it wasn’t as terrifying as she had imagined.
Would burning the manuscript also burn Lily’s last lifeline?
She had considered that question, but her conclusion remained the same: it had to be burned—no traces could be left behind!
Lily had no inheritance of dark magic, and the origin of this portion of the manuscript was highly questionable.
In her memory, a few days earlier, when she had returned to her dorm and opened the door, she saw a brown leather envelope lying there. Inside were the manuscript pages recording the dark magic ritual, likely slipped through the crack in the door.
At the time, Lily hadn’t asked anyone if they had seen who slipped the envelope in—she knew no one would tell her.
Ever since enrolling, she had been in a state of isolation. Everyone knew she had landed herself in big trouble, and she probably wouldn’t even pass the freshman assessment. Once the assessment was over, she’d have to leave—could they really consider her their classmate? Obviously not.
Lily knew the academy forbade dark magic, but with the assessment day drawing closer, she grew anxious and could only take the risk.
Maybe, as long as she cast the spell fast enough and covered her tracks well enough, she wouldn’t get caught? She had already thrown caution to the wind by getting involved in the gamble between the big shots—wasn’t this just another bet? She wasn’t afraid!
The old Lily, to some extent, had that “already drowning in debt, so what’s one more” mentality.
But this new Lily was different. She had been through the wringer in the corporate world, and when faced with this kind of situation, her instinctive reaction was to suspect a conspiracy.
Setting aside whether the traces of dark magic could actually fool the instructors during the assessment, the person who had delivered those manuscript pages probably wasn’t trying to help her.
If Lily used dark magic, she’d only be playing right into someone’s hands. Even if the instructor didn’t notice, the puppeteer behind the scenes would most likely expose her on the spot to maximize their own gain.
Prince Chris wouldn’t side with Lily—even though Lily was also a subject of the Kingdom of Leyne. He would gladly use Lily’s worthlessness to strike at Ray’s position.
If the sender was from Chris’s faction, they could turn the tables and frame Ray for teaching Lily dark magic, using it as a pretext: turning magic into a commoner’s tool as a smokescreen for recruiting cannon fodder—that was also Ray’s faction’s doing. They were simply people who would stop at nothing to win.
Ray wasn’t on Lily’s side either. If he wanted to help Lily win the bet, he had plenty of ways to do it—he wouldn’t need to resort to dark magic, a method so easily traced back to him.
If the sender was Ray, he could use the opportunity to shift the ideological dispute into a regional one: you Leyne people have done nothing but evil—first a traitor who forgot the grace of his upbringing, and now a newcomer trying to frame others…
From the very beginning, Ray hadn’t wanted to make a bet with Chris. You people forced him into it—fine then, you Leyne folks can go ahead and embarrass yourselves!
Of course, the possibility of a third party intervening couldn’t be ruled out. Lily knew too little about the magical academy and the circle of mages to be clear on who stood to profit from the sidelines and who wanted to fish in troubled waters.
No matter which possibility it was, Lily was nothing but a pawn.
Lily silently calculated in her mind.
Her timing for transmigrating here wasn’t great. If she had come a few days earlier, right after receiving the envelope, she would have flipped the chessboard and blown the whole thing wide open!
Within the academy, student safety was guaranteed—that had always been the rule.
Yet someone had actually delivered a dark magic ritual right into her dorm! That was attempted murder!
Although the mastermind’s intention was for Lily to learn dark magic, who would know that? She, the “victim,” could simply claim she had felt unwell after opening the envelope—headaches, fevers, mental fog…
No one would tell Lily who had slipped the envelope in, but if the academy conducted a thorough investigation, she didn’t believe they would come up with nothing.
Then, both the academy and the mastermind would have to compensate her, the physically and mentally traumatized victim, right?
Unfortunately, the manuscript had been in Lily’s hands for days by now. If she made a scene at this point, being powerless and friendless, she’d easily be counter-sued—well, she wasn’t exactly innocent either; she had indeed harbored selfish intentions of learning dark magic.
Destroying the evidence to avoid being set up again became her best option.
Getting rid of the dark magic manuscript was simple enough, but the assessment hurdle was still there—how was she going to get past that?
Lily’s first thought was to first scrape together ten gold coins.
Even if the assessment results weren’t ideal, having ten gold coins in hand meant at least one guaranteed credit.
But a new problem arose: how to make money?
To put it this way: in the past, Lily had done all sorts of odd jobs—laundry, errands, shopkeeping, delivering letters. All the money she had earned in her entire life, added together, didn’t amount to ten gold coins.
Working was out of the question. Even if she dropped dead from exhaustion again, there was no way she could earn ten gold coins through labor in such a short time.
If she wanted quick money…
Lily’s eyes flickered. A sudden thought struck her, and she got up and headed out of the dorm.
Today was the first Sunday after the new students enrolled. The classrooms were mostly empty, but the academy’s main avenue was bustling with activity.
“Magic Innovation Research Society recruiting! Explore the boundaries of magic and create more possibilities!”
“Ancient Magic Research Society recruiting. Join our club, and you’ll have an instructor’s name attached—join now!”
“First Adventure Team recruiting! Want to experience an exciting and thrilling adventure life? Want to search for lost treasures? Come join us!”
“…”
Amidst the flurry of shouts, all sorts of dreamy magical glows showered over the crowd, drawing gasps of amazement.
Take the First Adventure Team, for instance—a lifelike magical beast projection lunged at the crowd, its fierce, bared-teeth appearance giving everyone a start. But soon, the ferocious beast turned into an adorable one, even capable of interacting with people…
The First Academy had a liberal academic atmosphere, with a wide variety of clubs flourishing. The period right after new students enrolled was the perfect time for recruitment.
However, the ones shouting the loudest weren’t actually the best clubs in the academy. Organizations like the Student Council and the Magic Research Association never lacked members and didn’t recruit openly—they operated on an invitation-only basis.
Lily’s gaze swept across the clubs. When she spotted the Ancient Magic Research Society, her eyes lit up.
“Join and have an instructor’s name attached”? If she could get in, wouldn’t that take care of the “Mentorship” component of the freshman assessment?
But the senior in charge of recruitment, upon seeing Lily, immediately averted his gaze. Clearly, he knew who she was, and the Ancient Magic Research Society didn’t want to stir up that kind of trouble.
Lily shrugged—well, she wasn’t too surprised.
She wasn’t disappointed either; she had only been testing the waters. She hadn’t come out to join a club in the first place—she was looking for someone.
Lily had already locked onto her target.
Slightly to her left, a short-haired girl shook her coin purse with satisfaction, then called out a greeting to someone nearby, stuffed her hands in her pockets, and strolled off with an air of nonchalance.
Lily immediately followed.
Once the girl reached the back of the teaching building, where there were fewer passersby and it was relatively quiet, Lily quickened her pace and stepped forward. “Royle, can we have a chat?”
The girl paused, turned around, and upon seeing Lily, raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You? I thought it was some bastard trying to rob me.”
Avery Royle—the little princess of the Northern Empire, and also a freshman this year. It had to be said, this year’s incoming class at the First Academy was truly “packed with talent.”
She had noticed someone following her a while ago and had been planning to lure them to a secluded spot for a beating. But she hadn’t expected Lily to show herself voluntarily, nor had she anticipated that her follower would be Lily.
Avery asked suspiciously, “What do you want with me? We’re not exactly close, are we?”
The two knew each other by name but had never exchanged words before.
Lily said, “Lend me ten gold coins. No—let’s make a ten-gold-coin deal.”
Avery laughed. “Oh, so I was right—you’re the bastard trying to rob me.”
No wonder she was bold enough to get involved in the gamble between Ray and Chris—she had some nerve, daring to set her sights on her money!
Everyone in the academy knew of her illustrious reputation as the “Dragon Princess.” Why was she called that? Because she loved money as much as a dragon loved its hoard.
Since enrolling, Avery had been active in all sorts of circles within the academy. Whenever there was a money-making venture, you could find her involved.
Doing business with her was certainly possible—even borrowing money was fine. But Lily as a trading partner? No. One look at Lily, and Avery felt like the word “loss” was written all over her face.
Avery didn’t do losing business. Losing money, rounded up, was basically the same as someone robbing her!
As if oblivious to the dangerous undertone in her voice, Lily said calmly, “Royle, trust me—if we can strike a deal, you’ll definitely come out ahead.”
Avery didn’t believe her. But her ears twitched instinctively.
Since she had nothing better to do, she might as well hear what this girl had to say.
“If I remember correctly, you’ve set up a betting pool on whether I can survive the freshman assessment, haven’t you?” Lily had come to her precisely because of this.
The fact that Avery could run this betting pool meant she wasn’t afraid of Ray, Chris, or the forces behind them—and that was the foundation for cooperation.
Avery suddenly grew wary. “Yeah, so what? If you think that just because I opened a pool in your name, you’re entitled to a cut, I’d advise you to drop that idea right now.”
She could run this pool because of her own capabilities. Aside from Lily, she also opened pools on other topics of general interest. Did anyone dare come after her for it? No.
Lily said earnestly, “That’s not what I mean.”
“So you want to bet on yourself to win and make a killing?” Avery rubbed her chin. “But that won’t work either. You don’t have the stake money, and besides—you can’t win.”
That remark left Lily speechless for a moment: Stop telling such hurtful truths!
Avery shook her head and sighed. “I’ll tell you—I’ve already closed that pool, because everyone was piling their bets on one side. Any fool can see that Ray’s side isn’t going to give you much support—they’re just leaving you to sink or swim on your own.”
If things kept going that way, she, as the bookmaker, would end up losing money. So she cut her losses and shut it down.
Lily suddenly interjected, “You opened the pool because you thought it could make money. But closing it means you didn’t earn the money you could have—how is that any different from losing it?”
At first hearing, that actually made some sense! It struck right at the heart of a certain money-obsessed girl!
Avery felt dizzy and almost nodded in agreement—but then she caught herself. No, that’s not right! Not closing it would have lost even more—she couldn’t let Lily lead her astray!
Like a devil, Lily continued her seductive persuasion, “But closing the pool doesn’t solve your ‘losing money’ problem. Reopening it and turning losses into gains—that’s the real solution…”
Avery understood what she meant.
“You want me to give you ten gold coins, so that you’re guaranteed to win, and I’m guaranteed to profit, is that it?” Avery’s expression, however, turned cold. “Sorry, but I won’t directly meddle in the outcome of the bet, nor will I get involved in the dispute between Ray and Chris. You’ve come to the wrong person.”
Avery loved shiny gold coins, but she knew very well what money could be earned and what couldn’t.
Some money, though it seemed like a gain, actually cost you more in the long run. She had to remain an impartial “third party” to keep making money steadily over time. It wasn’t as if Chris and the others had never tried to drag her into the fray—they just hadn’t succeeded.
If Avery were short-sighted and only cared about immediate gains, Lily wouldn’t have even needed to come find her—she would have sought Lily out herself! Unfortunately, that wasn’t who she was.
Avery had initially thought this Lily was somewhat interesting. But in the end… that was it?