This hunting game is popular among the upper-year students, while the prey itself is naturally unaware. Frey instinctively felt that more mysterious people had started to gather around her, making the girl from Buqi feel an innate tension and unease. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but take another look at the blond-haired boy who answered her question.

He seemed to know something.

"It's a kind of magic reaction, but this strong... Never heard of it before." The second son of Count Bekeberg promptly put on his best demeanor and responded with a faint smile.

"Magic reaction?"

Frey's heart skipped a beat, her mind inexplicably drifting to a certain night in the Golden Tree Canyon. She wondered how that guy was doing. But she quickly turned around to prevent the blush spreading on her face from being seen by others. The girl from Buqi countryside raised her head and stared at the silver beam of light — it was gradually weakening. She took a deep breath and, trying to calm her inner turmoil, asked, "There — what place is that?"

"If it's in that direction, it should be Jandener."

"Jandener."

Frey couldn't help but gently press a hand against her chest, feeling her heart pounding robustly: "Brand, is that you? I miss you all so much..."

The girl's uneasy and shy expression was seen by the young man as a sign that his advances were working. "A country bumpkin who hasn't seen the world," he thought inwardly, but maintained a gentle smile on his face, intending to say something else. Just at that moment, a rapid bell chime echoed across the entire playground, interrupting the sweet words the young man was still brewing — everyone on the playground had no choice but to reluctantly tear their gaze away from the anomaly in the southern sky and turn their attention to another direction on the playground.

The silver bell of Basta Academy hung in the bell tower atop the administrative hall, rung only during celebrations or the most urgent situations. So everyone couldn't help but wonder, what happened? Is it related to the earlier anomaly?

Meanwhile, a squad of cavalry had already entered the playground from the other side. As soon as they entered, they divided the people in the playground into separate groups. Leading the riders was a girl wearing a purple swallowtail military uniform. She rode her horse in a circle in front of everyone, then turned around and stopped — slightly lifting her chin to look at everyone, "Everyone in all grades, from the moment you hear this order, return to your respective positions. I'll give you three minutes to prepare for battle — "

The girl's voice was somewhat low and slightly hoarse, but it swept through everyone's heart like a cold wind, causing everyone's breath to catch.

Battle preparation? What battle? A mock battle? But it doesn't seem like it's time for the test yet —

"Preparatory-grade students..."

"What?" Frey stared in a daze at the female knight with black hair hanging down to her waist, standing straight on her horse like a javelin. She heard the young man behind her mutter subconsciously and turned back to look at the second son of Count Bekeberg.

"That woman is a student of the preparatory grade. Being in the preparatory grade is actually akin to being a reserve for the Black Cavalry or the Imperial Guard. So even though they are students, they are also soldiers. That woman is called Nemesia, she is Lady Miller's daughter — or to put it in a way you might understand better, Lady Miller is Duke Lune's sister. She married a knight years ago, and when her husband died in the Ten Years' War, she remained a widow at home. This daughter is her only child." The second son of Count Bekeberg replied with a serious expression, "That woman is a genius of Basta Academy, but then again, those who enter the preparatory grade are naturally not to be compared with us useless wastes."

Nemesia, Frey remembered the name. She also gave the young man a grateful glance and a faint smile, "Don't say that. I think you're pretty amazing, knowing so much."

The second son of Count Bekeberg was stunned, seeing the earnest and sincere look in the girl's eyes, his heart couldn't help but throb slightly.

But the feeling of being moved only lasted for a moment.

The young man sneered inwardly, thinking wickedly, "Once you've tasted me, you'll understand my true prowess, hehe—"

*********

The silver armor-clad elves stood silently in the forest, quietly confronting Duke Lune's dark private army on the other side. There wasn't the slightest breeze in the forest, and the black and silver swallowtail banners drooped listlessly in their respective camps; after the clouds dispersed, the afternoon sun spilled unreservedly over the forest, creating seemingly tangible beams of light at the treetops — these beams fell on the drooping flags adorned with lily or bear-wolf emblems. Apart from the occasional sneeze or the snorting of warhorses, the entire forest was devoid of a single sound.

It was an awkward silence.

Macaro, Liwu, Bujia, and an ominously scowling Count Bali glared silently at each other and the apathetic Namenis across the way, whose expression was concealed by a long, pointed helmet, leading the silver-elf knights.

Only Brand sat nonchalantly in the center, knowing that Alorz was right next to him, keeping him from worrying too much about being troubled. With Namenis here, plus this underdeveloped dragon girl, Count Violet probably couldn't come up with a way to cause him trouble for the time being. As he watched the rows of elves seemingly shrouded in silver light amidst the eerie silence, he speculated on their intentions — the Silver Elves adhered to an ancient prophecy and hadn't returned to the continent for several centuries, so why now — even breaking their oath.

...

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