Ch 75: Top Secret

“The exam results were quite good overall.” Director Pa Hua Luo Di pondered the released scores.

Especially Lan Bao, Jian Ni, and Rui Bu Si, their performances were beyond his expectations.

Although the overall class performance wasn’t excellent, considering their usual performance, well… compared to that, it could be considered quite good.

“It seems necessary to give the students a good talking-to.” He looked at the owl on his shoulder, “Ying Zai, don’t you think so?”

Ying Zai didn’t react.

A sound came from the doorway. He looked up, raised an eyebrow, a little surprised but also a little smug: “Teacher A Lu Ai Ta, what brings you to Meng Academy so late at night?”

“It’s all thanks to Director Pa.” A tired voice, tinged with irritation.

Sending ten urgent notices a day for her to come to Meng Academy to grade papers, that’s quite something.

“Oh dear, all the teachers’ papers have been graded for two days now, only the History of Magic papers haven’t been touched yet. I’m worried about keeping up with the teaching schedule.”

He’d better be.

She replied that she had sent the papers to Bei Meng. Pa Hua Luo Di argued that the papers were a Meng Academy secret and couldn’t be sent just anywhere.

“But I’m curious,” he moved his office chair next to A Lu Ai Ta’s, “There’s no History of Magic in Bei Meng’s curriculum, why do you keep going there?”

“I have a few students in the Higher Division.” She glanced to the side, seemingly oblivious to his prying. “But my frequent trips to Bei Meng aren’t because of those students.”

Pa Hua Luo Di adopted a posture of eager listening.

However, the person who had begun speaking didn’t continue, only focusing on the papers in their hand.

“Hey! That’s what I hate about people like you, why do you always only say half of what you mean?”

“It’s a Bei Meng secret, after all,” she said, her grading not slowing down, “You can’t just casually talk about it.”

“Don’t you agree, Senior Pa?”

Pa Hua Luo Di: …

A secret.

What secret?

Can’t tell him, is it related to Meng Academy?

“What kind of secret is it related to?”

A Lu Ai Ta didn’t speak; only the sound of a pen scratching across paper filled the air.

“Look, it’s just the two of us. If you don’t say it, and I don’t say it, nobody will know, right?”

“Director Pa,” she stopped writing, “I still have papers to grade.”

“Oh, it’s just papers,” grading papers with standard answers is simple, he had seen the questions, there were no subjective open-ended questions, “Let me grade them for you!”

“Okay,” her agreement was so fast he hadn’t even reacted, the papers were already organized and stuffed into his arms, “Then I’ll trouble Senior Pa.”

Just as he thought he might be tricked, his attention was snatched by the term “Senior,” his mouth twitching: “No trouble, but let’s skip the ‘Senior’ title.”

He felt uncomfortable hearing that title.

A Lu Ai Ta didn’t directly mention any Bei Meng secrets, changing the subject: “Was it Elder Ous and the Old Soldier who solved Meng Academy’s crisis this time?”

Why the sudden change of topic?

Although he was more curious about the secret, since this topic came up, he still wanted to clarify: “Originally, we Meng Knights could have quickly dealt with that useless Dark Legion…”

Meaning Ousgaida was just a scavenger, accomplishing nothing.

But that implication wasn’t convenient to say.

“Is that so?” An emotionless question, making it impossible to tell if she believed him or not.

“From Elder Ous’s location at the time, he wouldn’t have arrived until that night at the earliest.” She didn’t mention whether she believed him or not.

The conversation seemed to jump from one topic to another, Pa Hua Luo Di couldn’t understand what she wanted to say.

Or whether all this could be related to the Bei Meng secret.

“The Council of Elders’ reply said the same,” he recalled, noticing something amiss, “Yes, he wouldn’t arrive until the night at the earliest.”

But that day, Ousgaida arrived in the morning, followed by Fei Si Te.

“You mean…” Ousgaida had already set off before receiving the notice from the Council of Elders?

A Lu Ai Ta nodded, confirming his unspoken guess.

“Oh~” Pa Hua Luo Di suddenly understood, “I mean, why did Elder Ous seem so agitated that day.”

Thinking back, given Ousgaida’s personality, he must have been furious.

Acting without the Council’s notice, rushing to Meng Academy… Pa Hua Luo Di wasn’t sure if he had adequately expressed his gratitude.

He probably had… right?

Didn’t Fei Si Te say something that day, whether knowingly or unknowingly?

—?Elder Ous, I heard you wouldn’t be able to reach Meng Academy until tonight at the earliest, I was worried about Meng Academy’s safety, I’ve already reported this to the Council of Elders, and I believe we’ll get a reply soon.?

He said that because Ousgaida mentioned Fei Si Te’s unauthorized actions.

Oh, whether he knew beforehand or not, that statement definitely had a deliberate element.

“Wait, how did Elder Ous know Meng Academy was in crisis?” He only sent a letter to the Council of Elders.

“Elder Tao Ge from Quark had something to find you that day. Since he couldn’t contact you, nor Head Nurse Da Tiantian, he guessed something had happened to Meng Academy.”

Quark is the gateway between the Quark Clan and the human world, and it frequently interacts with Meng Academy. Da Tiantian also responds to messages almost instantly, so it’s normal for Tao Ge to be worried.

“Just because a message was delayed, he immediately set off…” He must have properly expressed his gratitude to Meng Academy that day, right?

He must have, right?

He wiped the sweat from his forehead: “Let’s talk about Bei Meng’s secret.”

“Oh, that,” A Lu Ai Ta took a sip of water from her new thermos cup, “A student in Dong Meng has Shi Juan Shi Failure Syndrome.”