Chapter 30: The Final Exams

Lin Qi didn’t take Haulin’s threat seriously. Though he became a bit more cautious in his actions, he truly didn’t place any importance on Haulin’s threat.

Would the Bavell Family stake everything and mobilize their family power against him over Black Horse Haus? Lin Qi didn’t think the Bavell Family would do that. A military nobility family’s power wasn’t something to be deployed lightly. As for personal revenge from Black Horse Haus? If it was just Black Horse Haus acting alone, what did Lin Qi have to be nervous about?

The matter just blew over like that. The tavern fire incident that had startled the empire’s highest levels passed without further consequences.

Black Horse Haus and several core members of the Round Table Knight Society remained safely at the Army Academy. They merely received stern warnings from certain quarters. But over eighty members of the Round Table Knight Society, those knocked out by the dizzying agent in the tavern that night, faced heavy punishment. They were forced to leave school early and join the empire’s toughest, deadliest force—the Northern Sea Border Defense Army.

The Northern Sea Border Defense Army, stationed primarily at the ‘Norman Fortress’—the main battlefield of the Continent-Island War—was tasked with defending against invasions by beastfolk, giants, and other malevolent beings from the Five Great Archipelagos. This was the very front line of battle.

Originally, as students of the Imperial Army Academy, if those eighty-some students had finished their studies, they would have joined the Northern Sea Border Defense Army with at least the rank of junior officer. But having been forced out prematurely, they became common soldiers within its ranks. Furthermore, a significant disciplinary mark was noted in heavy ink in their records.

In this world, Lin Qi gained yet another batch of enemies who hated him to the bone. But Lin Qi still didn’t care. Why should he worry about a bunch of unlucky souls likely to get chopped into mincemeat by frenzied beastfolk battle axes at any moment?

“Oh, the Northern Sea Border Defense Army? With ten gold coins to buy off the right middlemen, those bastards would get themselves killed during a beastfolk raid! No need to worry about them. They’ll die fast!” That was Yulian’s immediate reaction upon hearing the news. Enzo thought the same; the routine forty percent casualty rate in the Northern Sea Border Defense Army was no joke.

So, the whole matter simply faded away. Lin Qi remained watchful for revenge from Black Horse Haus, but he never felt particularly nervous about it.

Days passed. Two weeks later, final exams began for Borelly’s many universities.

Exams at the Army Academy included practical drills alongside strategic theory. Enzo, along with the Blood-robed Seven Blades, formed a small team. Under the supervision of a dedicated instructor, they left Borelly for the mandatory week-long wilderness survival training required for finals. Monitored by the instructor, they had to survive seven days in randomly chosen wild terrain, hunting at least ten standard beasts and one exceptionally powerful magical beast amidst ice and snow.

As a third-year student in Fifth University’s Finance and Accounting Program, even though Lin Qi and his gang of troublemakers secured a private promise of straight A’s from Mr. Gron due to their excellent personal relationship with him, they still had to go through the motions.

Lying on his desk, Lin Qi stared blankly at the exquisitely printed exam paper. The final exam paper was at least ten times better quality than the Indulgence Scrolls peddled by Father Barin – not only was the paper supple and smooth, but the printed characters were also exceptionally clear. Lin Qi held a quill, its tip gently tapping on the paper as he slowly sketched a small, strange beast head.

The beast’s head was serpentine, but its mouth was filled with sharp fangs, identical to the peculiar creature Lin Qi had seen embroidered on Jiang Yong and the others’ robes. Lin Qi felt a vague familiarity, as if he’d seen this creature somewhere before, knowing it held a special place in the East, representing some form of unique power or authority.

But just what was this beast called?

Beside him, classmates scribbled busily. The exam paper didn’t have many questions—just five. But each one was a deadly comprehensive essay question. For example, the first question: ‘The destruction the Hundred-Year Continent-Island War wrought upon the Continent’s economy, and the resulting changes to the empire’s post-war tax law.’

Faced with such headache-inducing topics, Lin Qi felt the question-setter had real issues. They were Finance and Accounting students. They only needed to know how to earn gold coins, how to earn more gold coins, and how to prevent anyone from taking a single coin from them – that was enough! Why did a Finance and Accounting student need to know about problems during the Continent-Island War?

The Hundred-Year Continent-Island War ended thirty years ago! Gods, strike that professor setting the questions down with lightning! What did the economic damage caused by the Continent-Island War have to do with Lin Qi? Lin Qi only knew that during the Hundred-Year Continent-Island War, under the leadership of his grandfather, his grandfather’s father, his grandfather’s grandfather, and earlier ancestors, his family’s wealth grew thirty-five times!

Had the Continent-Island War really damaged the Continent’s economy? Lin Qi simply didn’t have that awareness.

On the contrary, Lin Qi clearly remembered his father Blackbeard complaining in front of him as a child– “A hundred-year war? Ah, that was a fine age for a real man to strike it rich! Near the end, a single loaf of black bread could fetch five silver coins! My dear Lin Qi, five silver coins for a loaf of black bread! There was never an easier time to make a fortune than during the Continent-Island War.”

And that was just black bread! Imagine the profits from humans sold into slavery via the family-controlled Dornick Port to the Five Great Archipelagos, and the beastfolk and giant slaves brought back from the islands!

It truly was a raging, glorious age where real men got rich easily.

But now? Thirty years after the war ended? Lin Qi’s father even worried about surplus wheat rotting in the warehouses!

“The Continent-Island War…” Lin Qi sighed softly. Such a beautiful word. When would the next hundred-year Continent-Island War break out? Would he, in his lifetime, still catch that glorious epoch belonging to real men?

Pushing aside the sudden swirl of thoughts in his head, Lin Qi carefully, following his memory, drew onto the paper the long, snake-like strange creature from Jiang Yong’s robe. He frowned, sighing through clenched teeth. That damned Jiang Yong, he was actually a Celestial Knight.

Such rotten luck. He was actually a Celestial Knight. Well, if Jiang Yong was a Celestial Knight, and those attendants around him were Earth Knights… then this tiny Iron Fist Brotherhood of Lin Qi’s stood no chance. The Iron Fist Brotherhood’s strongest fighters were Lin Qi, Yulian, Enzo, plus the Blood-robed Seven Blades. The outer muscle was good enough for bullying ordinary folks and common students. But against a Celestial Knight? That was just suicide.

It seemed they had to give up this fat sheep.

He was so unwilling! Such a plump and juicy sheep.

Amidst Lin Qi’s continuous sighs lasting a full week, Fifth University’s Finance and Accounting Program final exams ended.