Chapter 23: The Venomous Fang

The planetary governor’s mansion of Casares and Almirus Academy, though located in the same city, were not particularly close to each other. If one were to take the most common means of transportation in Casares—the swift dragon-drawn carriage—it would take at least two to three hours to reach the destination.

However, after spending over half a year in the Empire, Zhang Wen had already learned that the most popular means of transportation throughout the Empire was not actually carriages, but rather a type of mechanical vehicle somewhat resembling Earth’s automobiles. In this Empire, where technological development had taken a completely different path from Earth’s, these “cars” did not run on gasoline. Instead, just like the rest of the Empire’s technology, their core energy source was none other than psychic energy—known as “Nen.”

At the spot where engines would be installed on Earth’s cars, these vehicles were instead equipped with a device for storing and converting psychic energy. Whenever these “cars” ran out of power, a few Nen users simply needed to channel their psychic energy into the vehicle, much like refueling, and it would be ready to go again. Thus, these psychic-powered cars also had a very vivid name in the Empire—”Nen-Driven Flyers.”

Of course, maintaining these Nen-Driven Flyers, which consumed psychic energy instead of gasoline, wasn’t easy either. The storage chamber for psychic energy could hold approximately the same amount of energy as the total Nen capacity of a sixth-stage psychic user. And even after a full charge, the vehicle could only travel about three to four hundred kilometers. Therefore, each Nen-Driven Flyer required at least three sixth-stage psychic users to accompany it to ensure its continuous operation. The cost of hiring three full-time sixth-stage psychic users was, for even mid-level nobles, a staggering expense!

It was no wonder, then, that on the remote planet of Casares, the streets were filled with primitive dragon-drawn carriages rather than the Empire’s most popular Nen-Driven Flyers.

That said, although there weren’t many nobles on Casares wealthy enough to afford private vehicles, there were still plenty of people willing to ride Nen-Driven Flyers when going out. Therefore, several families on Casares operated businesses similar to taxi services. Naturally, running such a business required the backing of hundreds of high-level psychic users, something nearly impossible to achieve without significant resources. And the only place on Casares where one could find such a large number of high-level psychic users was its sole metropolis—Temos City, the capital.

Since there were people running taxi businesses, it was only natural that someone would think to serve the nobles and wealthy elite gathered at Almirus Academy. Near the Academy, there were always several Nen-Driven Flyers parked, waiting for passengers. It didn’t take Zhang Wen and Amelice long to find one and hop inside. About forty minutes later, the two had already arrived outside the governor’s mansion.

When Zhang Wen and Amelice arrived, most of the guests invited to the governor’s banquet had already arrived. On the plaza next to the governor’s mansion, luxurious dragon-drawn carriages of all kinds were almost completely filling the space. In addition, several exquisitely decorated Nen-Driven Flyers, clearly the work of master craftsmen, were proudly parked in a large designated area specially reserved for them.

Those qualified to drive private Nen-Driven Flyers were almost exclusively high-level psychic users of sixth stage or above. They gathered together, casting condescending, arrogant glances at the carriage drivers around them. Even Zhang Wen and Amelice, who had stepped out of a “taxi,” received a few disdainful looks from them. Only when one of them recognized the Almirus Academy teacher’s uniform on Zhang Wen did they finally tone down their attitude.

“Pfft! They’re just showing off! What a bunch of nobodies!” the pretty young Amelice spat indignantly before following Zhang Wen toward the governor’s mansion.

“Please show your invitations.” At the entrance to the governor’s mansion, two fully armed guards blocked their path.

“Hmph!” Amelice, clearly annoyed, pulled out two cards and handed them to one of the guards.

“Hmm…” The guard, stationed at the governor’s mansion during such an important banquet, was naturally no fool. Upon seeing the uniforms of Zhang Wen and Amelice, and the invitations they presented, he immediately knew that the two were genuine guests.

Still, whether out of curiosity or something else, he casually glanced at the invitations. However, the moment his eyes landed on the titles written on the invitations, the guard couldn’t help but freeze.

“What? Is there a problem?” Zhang Wen敏锐ly noticed the change in the guard’s expression. The other few guests behind him also began to show signs of impatience due to the guard’s hesitation.

“No… No, there’s no problem.” The guard’s expression turned somewhat awkward. He hurriedly swiped the two invitations through the nearby psychic energy scanner.

“Beep! Welcome, Instructor Zhang Wen of the Physical Arts Department at Almirus Academy. Welcome, Student Amelice of the Physical Arts Department at Almirus Academy.” The psychic energy scanner announced their names and titles in a voice that, while not loud, was perfectly audible.

Normally, such a scanner’s voice would go unnoticed, but at this moment, the guests behind Zhang Wen happened to be paying attention to the guard’s strange expression. As a result, every word from the scanner was clearly heard by them.

Almost the moment they heard the titles, the guests behind Zhang Wen froze. Then, their gazes all turned to Zhang Wen and Amelice, their expressions suddenly becoming very strange.

“The representatives of the Physical Arts Department at Almirus Academy? How did they end up coming here?”

“This is ridiculous! Almirus Academy’s Physical Arts Department hasn’t attended the governor’s pre-match banquet for years! What are they doing here?”

“Exactly! Haven’t they embarrassed themselves enough already?”

“Hmph! I think these two are just desperate for attention! Tonight’s banquet is going to be interesting!”

Before long, the guests behind Zhang Wen and Amelice had begun whispering among themselves. And right in front of the two, they didn’t even bother to lower their voices. Zhang Wen, with his sharp senses, clearly heard their conversation, and even Amelice could catch the gist of their words from snippets.

Zhang Wen saw Amelice’s face suddenly turn pale. “Teacher Zhang,” the young beauty looked up at him helplessly. She clearly hadn’t expected that coming all this way to attend the governor’s banquet would result in such humiliation.

Zhang Wen didn’t say a word, but simply pulled Amelice into the governor’s mansion. As they walked along the garden corridor leading to the banquet hall, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Don’t be nervous. The more they underestimate us, the more fun it will be! If they don’t look down on us and think it’s only natural that we beat Thamis Academy, how can we be heroes? Every time we defeat Thamis Academy, it’ll be like slapping them in the face. I can’t wait to see their expressions then.”

“Ha!” Amelice couldn’t help but laugh at the image Zhang Wen painted. The young beauty chuckled, her charming expression making Zhang Wen unable to resist giving her a playful slap on the butt. She shot him a seductive glance, then ignored the surrounding gossip and walked beside him down the corridor.

At the end of the corridor stood the governor’s mansion—a grand building resembling a medieval castle. According to the information Zhang Wen had read at Almirus Academy, its design was the work of a renowned architect from three hundred years ago.

This castle mansion had three grand halls and twenty-seven rooms of varying sizes. Normally, only the side entrance and the rightmost third of the rooms were used by the governor for living and office purposes. Only during important meetings or events like tonight’s banquet would the castle open its most magnificent main hall for entertaining guests.

When Zhang Wen and Amelice entered the governor’s mansion, there were already forty to fifty guests inside. However, even with that many people, the grand banquet hall of the governor’s mansion still had plenty of space. Even if another forty or fifty guests arrived, the hall would still feel spacious.

“Teacher Zhang Wen?” The first person to spot and recognize Zhang Wen in the hall was none other than Linoah, who had only just parted ways with him at the arena. Upon seeing Zhang Wen and Amelice, she couldn’t help but show a look of astonishment.

As soon as Linoah displayed her surprise, the representatives of the Psychic Arts Department from Almirus Academy, who were standing with her, naturally turned their gazes in the direction she was looking. Thus, they too were shocked to see the two representatives from the Physical Arts Department.

“Zhang Wen?!” Although Zhang Wen’s invitation had been personally delivered by Karite, when she saw him actually appear at the banquet hall, she was just as surprised as everyone else.

After a moment of shock, Karite quickly excused herself from the Psychic Arts representatives and hurried over to Zhang Wen. In her haste, she tripped halfway and stumbled into Amelice.

“Ouch!” The two young beauties in Almirus Academy uniforms cried out as they fell together. Zhang Wen instinctively reached out to catch them. But after the three had steadied themselves, Zhang Wen realized that Karite and Amelice’s faces—one pure and elegant, the other flirtatiously charming—were now pressed tightly together, their lips only inches from his cheek. The situation was incredibly awkward.

Both girls noticed the situation almost simultaneously. Amelice grinned at Zhang Wen and winked playfully, while Karite’s normally serene face flushed bright red with embarrassment.

However, the proud Karite refused to admit her shyness. She quickly let go of Amelice and cleared her throat, straightening her clothes and deliberately putting on a serious expression as she asked Zhang Wen, “Teacher Zhang, how did you end up here?”

It had to be said that, in Zhang Wen’s life across two worlds, Karite was the girl with the most beautiful voice he had ever known. Even when she was angry or deliberately speaking in a stern tone, the calm and gentle timbre of her voice still touched the hearts of those who listened.

“Oh? Why wouldn’t I be here? You personally delivered the invitation to my home.” Zhang Wen replied with a teasing smile, looking at Karite.

“I did give you the invitation, but… but the governor’s banquet for Almirus Academy hasn’t seen the Physical Arts Department in many, many years! Don’t you know that?” Karite, forgetting all formalities, directly questioned Zhang Wen and Amelice.

“I’ve only been at the school for half a year. How would I know all that?” Zhang Wen shrugged nonchalantly. He had always looked down on the traditions of the Physical Arts Department at Almirus Academy. What significance could traditions set by a group of perpetual losers and fools possibly have?

“I… I didn’t know either.” Amelice said, her face slightly reddening. As a Psychic Arts student with not the best social connections at school, no one had bothered to tell her about the Physical Arts Department’s customs.

As for Zack and Cloud, seeing how excited Amelice had been that morning about attending the banquet, they probably wouldn’t have had the heart to stop her even if they wanted to.

“Anyway, no matter what, you two should leave right away!” Karite anxiously glanced toward the banquet hall’s entrance and tried to push the two out without hesitation.

However, just as Karite grabbed Zhang Wen’s arm, the main doors behind the three were pushed open. Then, from outside, came a cold male voice: “Oh! Miss Karite, how unexpected! I never thought the angelic governor’s daughter would stoop so low. But the banquet is about to begin—where do you plan to take your boyfriend?”

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Zhang Wen finally turned around. Standing before him was a man he had never seen before. He looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a fit physique and silver hair. He was dressed in a neat uniform. From its style, Zhang Wen could tell he was an Imperial soldier. However, the color of the uniform and the insignia on his chest were unfamiliar to Zhang Wen.

Moreover, what caught Zhang Wen’s attention most about this strange soldier was the smile perpetually plastered on his face. Though he was quite handsome, his smile gave Zhang Wen an uncomfortable feeling—and he was certain he wasn’t the only one. In fact, anyone seeing that smile would probably think of one phrase first—“a smiling tiger.”

“Captain Reimieu, you misunderstood. He’s one of my teachers at the academy. We’re not in the kind of relationship you’re implying.” Karite, clearly feeling the pressure from his smile, responded seriously, even managing to suppress the usual shyness that would accompany such a situation.

“Oh, I see. Then, in that case, where were you planning to take your teacher?” The smiling tiger, known as “Captain Reimieu,” asked again.

“Well… I wasn’t planning to take him anywhere. I just wanted to talk to him privately for a moment.” Facing the smiling tiger, Karite couldn’t very well say she was trying to get rid of Zhang Wen, so she awkwardly gave Reimieu a vague answer. However, lying to Zhang Wen and Amelice right in front of them, the usually strict and self-disciplined governor’s daughter still blushed with embarrassment.

“Hehe, I see. Then I won’t interrupt your private conversation.” Reimieu gave Zhang Wen a meaningful look, smiled, and walked away from the three.

“Who was that guy?” Once the smiling tiger was far enough away, the young beauty Amelice stuck out her tongue and curiously asked Karite, “I’ve never seen his uniform or insignia before.”

“Well, of course not,” Karite sighed, her normally composed expression now showing a rare mix of frustration and cuteness that made her look irresistibly adorable—very different from her usual demeanor as student council president.

“Wow!” Amelice was momentarily stunned by Karite’s sudden “cuteness overload.”

“…He’s a squad leader of the Imperial Hawks. You’ve heard of the Imperial Hawks, right?” Karite, unaware of Amelice’s reaction, continued explaining to the two.

“Of course! The Imperial Hawks are the Emperor’s personal secret forces. Even in books, they only mention their names and achievements, never giving any other details. No wonder we’ve never seen them before.” Amelice finally snapped out of it and nodded to Karite.

“Right. The one you just saw is Captain Reimieu, the leader of the second squad of the Imperial Hawks, known as the ‘Imperial Fang.'”

“I see! But speaking of which, why is a squad leader of the Imperial Hawks, who should be protecting the Emperor in the capital, coming all the way to Casares?” Amelice quickly got to the heart of the matter.

“Well… cough! Since we’re going to announce it at the banquet anyway, I might as well tell you now.” Karite hesitated briefly before clearing her throat and continuing, “The Imperial Hawks have come to Casares to help Princess Sophia choose a suitable academy to attend.”

“Princess Sophia?” Amelice raised her eyebrows in confusion.

“Exactly.” Karite nodded and quickly recounted to Amelice and Zhang Wen what Governor Temiso had told her.

“…So that’s the general situation. The outcome of our upcoming match against Thamis Academy will probably determine which academy Princess Sophia ends up attending. Also, Captain Reimieu isn’t the only Imperial Hawk sent from the capital. There’s another captain named Mura. I think he’ll be appearing at the banquet tonight too.”

“Oh! Two captains from the Imperial Hawks! Princess Sophia sure has clout!” Amelice murmured in awe.

“She is the Emperor’s favorite younger sister, after all!” Karite shrugged.

“Alright, I think we should take our seats now. Staying here won’t do us any good.” At this point, Zhang Wen smiled and interrupted the two girls’ conversation. “The Thamis Academy people are here,” he whispered to them.

Just then, Zhang Wen had caught sight of four people emerging from the maze-like garden corridor of the governor’s mansion. Although they weren’t wearing uniforms, Zhang Wen quickly recognized one of them as a Thamis Academy Physical Arts instructor he had seen earlier at the arena. It was clear that this group could only be the representatives of Thamis Academy—their bitter rivals from Almirus Academy.

“Eh?” Karite and Amelice quickly noticed the approaching Thamis Academy group.

“Ugh!” Seeing them arrive, Karite let out another cute sigh.

In fact, Karite’s insistence on getting Zhang Wen and Amelice to leave the banquet earlier was also for their own good. As the one who had issued the invitations, she had known all along that the representatives of Thamis Academy would be at the banquet. And banquets like this, held before a match, were often like a “preliminary battlefield” for the two sides.

It was easy to imagine that if the Thamis Academy representatives discovered that the Physical Arts Department of Almirus Academy had shown up at the banquet, they wouldn’t miss the chance to humiliate these easy targets. Deep down, Karite still didn’t want Zhang Wen and Amelice to embarrass themselves.

However, at this point, it was too late for Karite to get them to leave. Before the Thamis Academy group arrived, she could have sent Zhang Wen and Amelice away because it was a tradition for the Physical Arts Department not to attend pre-match banquets. Even back when the Physical Arts Department was strong, they had followed this tradition. Following tradition, the opposing side couldn’t say anything. But if she tried to send them away now, it would be seen as showing weakness in front of Thamis Academy. That would be even more humiliating than letting them be mocked at the banquet! Karite naturally couldn’t and wouldn’t do that.

“God, please don’t let them cause trouble tonight and embarrass Zhang Wen and Amelice,” Karite silently prayed.

As Zhang Wen and Amelice were about to return to the main hall, the four representatives from Thamis Academy had already entered through the main door. Upon entering, they happened to be heading in the same direction as Zhang Wen and Amelice’s group. As a result, the three from Almirus Academy and the four from Thamis Academy ended up face-to-face.

“Ahhh… the worst-case scenario.” Karite silently groaned in her heart.

However, to Karite’s complete surprise, perhaps her prayers had actually worked. As the Thamis Academy representatives passed by Zhang Wen and Amelice, their gazes merely glanced briefly at the two before they silently walked away. Even the girl in the middle of the four, who had rare silver-white hair, only left Zhang Wen and Amelice with a thought-provoking back view, without even letting them see her face.

“What? What’s going on?” Karite, though relieved, was even more confused. Thamis Academy and Almirus Academy had been bitter rivals for so many years. They certainly recognized the Physical Arts Department uniforms on Zhang Wen and Amelice. To pass up such a golden opportunity to humiliate Almirus Academy before the match was completely out of character for Thamis Academy!

“Plotting something! There must be a plot!” Karite muttered under her breath, but she still returned to the banquet hall with Zhang Wen and Amelice.

As the two young, beautiful girls entered the banquet hall, they were quickly pulled aside by several eager “young elites” for conversation. Zhang Wen’s gaze, however, was somewhat curiously fixed on the girl who had only left him with a back view.