The crowd outside the forest had gone feverish celebrating this momentous occasion.

  Having three Ringbearers in a single generation marked the highest record in the Saint Freya Academy. In fact, it had been more than a hundred years since any generation had had three Ringbearers.

  The staff members in charge of the academy’s finances glance at one another worriedly. Having three Ringbearers at once meant that the academy would have to fork out a great sum of money in order to maintain their privileges, which equated to greater work for them.

  For the freshmen though, this was amazing news. It was as if they had suddenly found three huge umbrellas they could seek shelter under.

  As for the leaders of the Scholar Guilds and the academy’s teachers, what they saw was boundless potential. The massive spirit guide floating in the sky hinted that Roel had defeated an incredibly powerful enemy, and this was definitely something noteworthy for someone as young as he was.

  Even Chris appeared a little dazed by the sunlike spirit guide in the sky. If her memory failed her not, the record for the largest spirit guide was a diameter of three meters, but this white sun before her had unmistakably broken the record with a huge margin.

  He is an absolute prodigy with immeasurable potential! On top of that, he’s a fief noble, which means that it’s possible to win him over!

  This realization spurred the excitement of the leaders of the Scholar Guilds in the vicinity. All of a sudden, the chronic pain in their waists and hips vanished without a trace, and their hunched backs straightened right up. As if someone had fired the starting pistol, all of them suddenly charged straight toward Roel almost at the same time, trying to get as close to him as possible.

  However, there was another group of people who were even more anxious than them—the teachers. A student could graduate from the academy without joining a Scholar Guild, but he would definitely have to choose a teacher as his academic advisor. Roel was bound to become a powerhouse in the future given the capability he had displayed thus far, allowing them to rest on his laurels as his former teacher!

  It was almost like a frightening stampede rushing in his direction, but Roel was too immersed in the sweetness of success to pay it any heed.

  He had never been hailed with such great fanfare before, be it in the Ascart Fiefdom, the Holy Capital, or Rosa, and the fact that it was from the elites of the Saint Freya Academy made it even more significant. This was a highlight of his life, and he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t happy about this.

  But while he was enjoying the atmosphere, he didn’t forget about the two ladies who were waiting for him.

  He looked toward the center of the other two distinctive crowds, where Nora and Charlotte directed smiles toward him. Their followers also showed a warm attitude toward him due to his affiliation with the Ascart Fiefdom and the Saint Mesit Theocracy.

  Meanwhile, Paul also tried to squeeze his way forward through the crowd, hoping to congratulate his friend as soon as he could.

  Eyy, I never thought that a random person I bumped into on the street would actually be such an incredible person. Ahhh, I reckon that my life in the academy should be better than I expected!

  Paul soon found himself packed tightly with other freshmen who were attempting to squeeze their way through too, but he quickly noticed that something was very odd about the crowd.

  Why are there so many women here?

  It would be awkward for a man like him to continue shoving his way through a crowd of women, so he ended up being forced to retreat a little. At the same time, Nora and Charlotte also noticed the occurrence too, and their faces immediately darkened as they clenched their fists tightly.

  It’s happening again! It’s happening again!

  They knew that the huge exposure that Roel received from becoming a Ringbearer was bound to draw in many vixens, but they didn’t expect for there to be an army of them! Needless to say, there was no way they would allow matters to develop in this direction. So, they raised their hands grandly to order their followers to stop them.

  However, it turned out that there was no need to do so.

  Before any of the students could get to Roel’s side, a bunch of old men and women descended from the sky and encircled Roel tightly.

  “This student over here, I’m the representative of the Conversion Scholar Guild, Richardson Herman. If I may ask, have you heard of our guild before? If you’re curious, it would be my pleasure to bring you on a tour around our headquarters tomorrow. How does that sound?”


  “Don’t listen to his nonsense! I’m the representative of the Energy Guild, Powell. Only sissies would join the dumb Conversion Scholar Guild. A man’s romance lay in explosions!”


  “Utter nonsense! Only a bunch of simple-minded monkeys like you will rely on brute force for everything. Conversion is the path of a true intellect!”


  “Hey, those from the Scholar Guilds should step aside first. I’m an official teacher of the Saint Freya Academy. That student over there, what do you think of potions? I am a potion lecturer cum teacher, Pierra Oglet. I think that you have great aptitude in this field!”


  “Of course he has aptitude, just not in whatever potion you’re talking about. Roel, I’m a magic defense instructor, Frank. You should be aware that the best way to survive in any battle is to simply be sufficiently strong. As long as you’re able to hold your ground, what use do you have for potions?”


  “What foolishness is it that I am hearing here? Do you think that potions are only for recovery? There are plenty of potions that a man can use, and it’s not just limited to the battlefield!”


  Before Roel could even snap out of his daze, the elders from the various Scholar Guilds and departments in the academy had already started bickering with one another. They used all sorts of flowery words in hopes of winning him over to their side.

  As more and more elders arrived at the scene, it looked almost like the situation was going to run out of control. Most of the powerhouses present here had some kind of grudge against one another, such that it didn’t take much for the atmosphere to get really intense. All sorts of rebuke and criticisms were hurled at one another, and it seemed as if they were going to come to blows in order to prove themselves.

  Nora and Charlotte were utterly dumbfounded by the sight, and the students who were still rushing over a moment ago found themselves at a loss. Unless they were bold enough to cram their way in the midst of these old powerhouses of Brolne, there was pretty much no way for them to advance any further.

  Stuck with trying to turn down their requests and mediating the intense verbal fights going on, Roel felt that this was even more exhausting than fighting with Ro……

  Meanwhile, on the highest level of a tower that was temporarily occupied by the Enforcement Division, a black-haired young woman looked out of a big window and watched as the flustered young man on the field below tried to deal with the crowd around him.

  It looks like he’s still safe for now.

  For some reason, this thought calmed down the unease that had been panging at her heart all this while. She pondered over this bizarre occurrence, but she couldn’t figure any rational explanation for it. In the end, she could only shake her head and turn her attention back to the field beneath.

  Even though Lilian had anticipated that there would be three Ringbearers in this batch of freshmen, Roel’s performance still far exceeded her initial expectations.

  With the First Grade gaining three Ringbearers at once, they would be able to dominate half of the seats on the Rose Council once. In other words, their influence would begin growing swiftly.

  This meant that she could no longer fulfill the order from Lukas to not get close to the Ascarts. It would be impossible to avoid contact with Roel Ascart when their respective factions started clashing with one another.

  Lilian turned her attention upon the teachers fighting over Roel before glancing over to another tower in the vicinity, where a crimson-haired woman was leisurely sipping on a cup of red tea. The furrow sitting on her forehead finally loosened a little.

  I guess the only silver lining to this is that my teacher isn’t interested in him, or else things would really get troublesome……

  With her heart put at ease, Lilian took another deep look at the black-haired young man before turning around to walk away……

  “Only the Bluerose Ring? What a careful child he is.”


  Even after returning to his office, Antonio continued standing by the window with a cane in hand as he gazed upon the lively crowd on the field, focusing mainly on the black-haired young man standing at the center of the buzz. A smile crept on his lips.

  The freshmen of the academy were youths who had just come of age and were facing so many of their same-aged peers for the first time. It would be understandable if they wanted to flaunt a bit so as to win the respect and acknowledgment of their peers. Without a doubt, the ‘Night of the Demons’ was the ideal stage for them to make an impactful impression.

  If Roel had revealed that he was a Dual Ringbearer, it would have surely provoked a humongous commotion, especially when others learned that one of the rings was the legendary Blackrose Ring. It would require self-command far surpassing that of his age to keep his pride in check and conceal the matter.

  “It has been three hundred years, and it looks like Ro has finally found someone to entrust the ring to. Now that I look back on it, it seems like a really long time has passed us by. What do you think, Margaret?”


  The white-haired old man glanced at the wall as he spoke. A crystal ball hanging by the corner of the ceiling began spinning and emanated faint light.

  “The lifespan of an unharmed artificial spirit lifeform is nearly limitless. Three hundred years means nothing to me, Your Excellency.”


  “Is that so? How enviable.”


  Antonio responded to the revolving crystal ball with a helpless smile.

  The crystal ball named Margaret was an artificial spirit lifeform passed down as a relic from the ancient era. In a certain sense, she was also the true owner of the humongous Saint Freya Academy. With her powerful computational power, she regulated the operations of the magic tools in the academy, distribution of manpower, movement of supplies, and even a large portion of its defensive means.

  Even though Antonio was the principal, he needed to rely on Margaret on much of the management issues. On top of that, as the oldest intelligent lifeform in the academy, Margaret also grasped many old secrets that the current generation was oblivious to.

  “You were the one who harvested the data of the Ring Guardian when Ro became a Ring Guardian back then, so I presume you must have been aware of his intentions?”


  “Your Excellency, my job is to obey commands, not to speculate.”


  “I see…… Since that child is in possession of the Inception Ring, it would mean that he has top-level access right to you, though I reckon that the permissions will be slowly released to him?”


  “My apologies, but you only possess second-level access right. I’m unable to answer your question.”


  “.……”


  Antonio’s face stiffened for a moment upon hearing the cool response from the feminine voice. Left at a loss from the chain of rebuttals, an awkward silence seeped into the air. It continued for quite a while before he turned his head back to the field in the distance.

  Watching as Roel turned down the invitations from the Scholar Guilds and teachers, Antonio suddenly had an inexplicable feeling that he was looking at that person who used to be his student. However, he soon shook his head and sighed lamentably.

  “New inheritor of the Blackrose Ring, I pray that you’ll pave a path different from his. For your clan and yourself.”