OHNIR – Chapter 75
Chapter 75: Review
Lewis, knowing he had misspoken and angered Gloria, didn’t dare linger in the shop under her gaze, which felt like it was carving him with a blade of ice. He hastily pulled a bewildered Tina along, bid the two a quick farewell, and hurried away.
Gloria watched Lewis’s retreating figure with a cold stare and let out a soft huff, finally retracting the icy aura that had enveloped her.
“The young master of the Hippol family is exactly as he was in his childhood,” Madam Mary, who had been observing for some time, said with a sigh. “Far too outspoken.”
Hearing such a tactful assessment, Gloria curled her lip in disdain and offered a humorless smile. “You’re too kind, Madam… If you ask me, all these years, he’s only grown in height, not in intellect.”
Kelusta: “…”
An apt description. That Lewis fellow did seem a bit dim-witted.
Interrupted by the Hippol siblings, the argument between Kelusta and Gloria over the formal dress was dropped. They tacitly bid farewell to the confused Madam Mary, each understanding the other without another word on the matter.
But since they were out and neither was truly angry, they certainly weren’t going to let the opportunity go to waste.
Thus, Gloria fulfilled her earlier promise to let Kelusta “see the sights,” guiding her on a thorough tour of Queen Avenue from one end to the other.
Kelusta was thoroughly intrigued, as she had rarely ever gone shopping. To be precise, the most this little girl from a remote coastal town had ever done was wander through the seafood market in Seaside Town.
Furthermore, to attract commoner customers, Newlinya Queen Avenue often had traveling merchants selling novel trinkets by the roadside—things like specimens of northern snow lotuses or wishing branches from the Eastern Great Forest. They were cheap and interesting, and Kelusta found herself unable to tear herself away.
Gloria even laughed, saying, “Your tastes are exactly like Aunt Ricana’s.”
Kevit’s father was a traveling merchant. Because his profession allowed him to wander far and wide and stop wherever he pleased, the goods at the mobile stalls along Queen Avenue changed almost daily. Over the years, both commoners and nobles alike had grown fond of patronizing these stalls.
Gradually, this became a distinctive feature of this shopping paradise.
“I heard from a friend that everything on Newlinya Queen Avenue is ridiculously expensive luxury goods. If you don’t have at least a bag of gold coins in your pocket, you can forget about getting any decent service from the shopkeepers.”
Kelusta fiddled with a small, clay-fired owl in her hand, remarking with a sigh, “It’s true what they say—seeing is believing. You really have to witness things for yourself to know the truth.”
But Gloria shook her head. Meeting Kelusta’s puzzled gaze, she explained, “Actually, if this were a few years ago, your friend’s description would have been quite accurate…”
“However, several successive generations of the Nobili royalty have advocated for being closer to the common people. Naturally, Queen Avenue couldn’t maintain its high-and-mighty attitude. After all, even Brilliant Plaza right in front of the Royal Palace has become a dance floor, so this street couldn’t remain an exception.”
So, the current bustling, market-like atmosphere on a street that once opened its doors only to the nobility was a result of the changing attitudes of those in power in recent years.
Hmm… alright.
After hearing the professional analysis from a noble’s perspective, Kelusta tapped her chin and thought that Doris’s intelligence database needed an update. She would have to give her a good ribbing when she got back.
But these matters of politics and public welfare were just amusing tidbits for an ordinary citizen like her; she had no intention of wasting any mental energy on them.
Therefore, Kelusta simply pulled Gloria along and, without a shred of guilt, bought a huge pile of things from the small stalls. There were handicrafts and some fascinating mechanical toys. The trip was certainly not in vain.
Gloria let her dart about, accompanying her through all three streets without a single complaint. It was only when the evening lamps were lit that they returned to the academy together.
“If there were no classes tomorrow, I’d love to keep browsing the night market all night,” Kelusta said, still not having had her fill, even as they stood before her tower back on campus. “I heard there are fireworks displays on the avenue every weekend.”
Gloria, who had personally escorted her to the first-year tower, smiled indulgently. “When we have time during the holidays, we’ll set aside a day to go see them.”
Her mentioning it was one thing, but it immediately made Kelusta’s shoulders slump. She pouted, dejected. “But we have exams before the holidays. Nothing to look forward to… Ugh, and I haven’t reviewed a single subject yet.”
“Well, we did talk about that last night, didn’t we?” Gloria calmly stroked her hair, reminding her, “Starting Wednesday, remember to report directly to the second-year tower after class every day. I will personally supervise your review sessions—right up until the exams begin in two weeks.”
Kelusta: “…”
She had been so high on shopping that she had completely forgotten about this dreadful news.
Under the other girl’s intrigued gaze, Kelusta, well aware of her high risk of scoring poorly, didn’t dare to resist. The System could only help her so much. Getting a B by some fluke would already be a sign that the heavens were turning a blind eye because she was the savior.
But to meet the standards of a grade-obsessed maniac like Gloria, who only accepted S or A…
She might as well go to sleep. She could have anything she wanted in her dreams.
“Lux…” The brown-haired girl blinked, putting on a pitiful expression in a last-ditch effort. “I really think a C is good enough! A pass is all you need, anything higher is a waste.”
“A C?” Gloria’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Are you joking? What’s the difference between that and turning in a blank paper?”
Kelusta, whose shock was no less than hers: “…”
“So, this is the world of the strong?” she said, her voice world-weary. “Wake up, a C is a passing grade!”
“…No. I have never received such a terrifying score,” Gloria said, shaking her head resolutely. “Even if your foundation is weak, the lowest I can tolerate is a ‘B’ in Potions. That is the absolute bottom line.”
The bottom line was a B in Potions?
A B meant ‘Good’!
As if struck by a precise bolt of lightning, Kelusta said blankly, “Then you might as well just give me a new brain—a B in Potions is impossible. I’ll never get a B in my life…”
Her highest achievement in Potions was successfully bringing the liquid in the cauldron to a boil. She knew nothing else.
Oh, right. She didn’t even mix the potion ingredients herself.
But Gloria would not let her back down.
The academy legend, who had held the top spot for two consecutive years, clearly had an extraordinary obsession with grades. She offered a gentle, breathtakingly beautiful smile, but the words that came from her mouth were as ruthless as a mountain of books and a sea of exam questions, instantly pinning Kelusta down.
“Don’t worry, getting a B in Potions isn’t that difficult. As long as you’re willing to try and review properly with me for two weeks, even getting an A isn’t out of the question.”
Kelusta: …Her pupils quaked.
Did she think Kelusta didn’t know the saying, “try it and die”?
But Gloria’s heart was as hard as iron, her expression clearly saying, “you’ll try it even if you die.” Despite Kelusta’s pleading and begging for a while, she remained firm, refusing to relax her standards one bit.
Kelusta made one last, futile attempt. “I can get an S in History! I’ll trade that for a C in Potions!”
Gloria simply smiled, turning a deaf ear. She gracefully raised a hand to smooth her hair and made a promise of her own. “See you on Wednesday, my dear. I look forward to a fine performance from you.”
With that, the silver-haired girl gave her a little wave, turned elegantly, and completely ignored Kelusta’s desperately outstretched arm. She walked away, her figure floating on the moonlit ground until she disappeared from sight.
Kelusta was left standing alone in the night wind, surrounded by a bleak and desolate air, looking like a gray stone statue on the verge of collapse.
“Old Sy, help me,” she said mournfully. “I am bearing knowledge and a mission that no one my age should have to bear—”
“Ahem, I think this is great, temporary host,” said the System, who was overjoyed at being spared a great deal of trouble but still had to maintain a benevolent facade. It offered a sincere consolation, “You must understand, ‘good grades’ are a part of the self-cultivation a protagonist must possess.”
“Does a protagonist have to have good grades? Where did that stereotype come from?” Kelusta sobbed. “How blind—I’d rather not be the protagonist at all!”
“…Honestly, temporary host,” the System said earnestly, “if you could put the energy you spend on making memes into studying, Gloria’s position as number one in the year would have been yours long ago.”
Her rebellion having failed, Kelusta had no choice but to obediently comply. As soon as classes ended, she would report to Gloria’s dormitory on time.
Teacher Lux expressed her tentative satisfaction with Kelusta’s attitude toward learning, but as for her test-taking abilities…
Well, the teacher made no comment, because she was already stunned by Kelusta’s academic level, which included “not even knowing how to spell ‘soothing potion.’”
“Heavens, this is unbelievable,” Gloria said, staring at the audacious blank spaces on the other girl’s diagnostic test paper, utterly amazed. “Tell me honestly, Ruth, is this just your level, or is it the level of everyone in your year?”
Kelusta recalled the usual cluelessness of Doris and Pascal in class and answered timidly, “It’s probably… the level of most people?”
“…If that’s the case, then I think you all should be very grateful to Professor Noah for his mercy,” Gloria said, pressing a hand to her forehead, a headache coming on.
Kelusta blinked blankly. If you don’t know, just ask. “Who’s Professor Noah?”
“The Potions professor,” Gloria replied, glancing at her without much surprise. “We didn’t learn his name until our second year either. I heard Professor Noah believes that allowing the ignorant to speak his name is an insult to him.”
“…” Kelusta suppressed a laugh. “It seems everyone was ‘ignorant’ in their first year, then.”
Detecting the faint mockery in the brown-haired girl’s tone, Gloria raised an eyebrow, feeling personally offended.
She rolled up the test paper and lightly tapped Kelusta on the head, retorting with a smile, “But I heard the professor told Wend his name long ago.”
“Well… you can’t compare ordinary people to a genius!” Kelusta rubbed her head where she’d been tapped, speaking with righteous indignation. “Besides, allow me to make a bold guess—when it comes to Potions, there are very few people even in the second year who are better than Mr. Wend, right?”
If she were even bolder, she’d say there were probably none at all!
…Although it sounded cheeky, from an objective standpoint, the statement was almost entirely correct.
When it came to Potions, at least, Gloria knew she was no match for Wend.
So, the older sister, unwilling to admit she was inferior to her younger brother, cleverly chose to avoid the question. Instead, her eyes curved into a smile as she slapped an Herbology test paper down in front of Kelusta, her voice exceedingly amiable. “Alright, our pleasant little chat is over. Please continue with the next set of questions, my dear Little Ruth.”
Kelusta: “…”
She would never run her mouth praising Wend again.
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