Chapter 103: I've been afraid of everything, but I've never been afraid of exams!

Sumeru Cheng.

Luo De, after a long separation, returned here again.

Like the students who had gathered from other regions, he too had come specially to take the Academy's examination.

Unconsciously.

He had already been in Teyvat for almost a year.

Except for that one time he came to play at the Flower God Festival, he spent almost all his time staying in A Ru Cun.

The first thing after arriving in Sumeru Cheng was:

Luo De went to the Huma Yi residence.

Visiting Dina Ze Dai was secondary.

The point was to inform Dixiya that he had arrived.

Not long after the large-scale development in A Ru Cun, Dixiya returned to Sumeru Cheng and resumed her bodyguard duties.

The reason was that Dina Ze Dai had almost been kidnapped by bandits during a private outing.

That's right.

In Sumeru Cheng, in broad daylight,

Someone actually tried to kidnap the eldest daughter of the Huma Yi family.

If it weren't for the other bodyguards in the household arriving in time, Dina Ze Dai would likely have come to harm.

After this incident,

Shazaman immediately had Dixiya recalled, asking her to stay by Dina Ze Dai's side day and night to protect her safety and prevent such incidents from happening again.

Therefore,

Luo De, busy with his studies and affairs in A Ru Cun, and Dixiya had not seen each other for several months.

"The security in Sumeru Cheng is still no good."

On the way to the Huma Yi residence, Luo De was still complaining.

He didn't even know how many times he had said this.

Every time he thought of how Dixiya, who had finally gotten a vacation, had been tied up at the Huma Yi residence, he would nag Nadixa about it.

You say the security in Kawanyi is just barely enough.

After all, that place is the junction of desert and rainforest, where all kinds of people mix, and even strengthening controls cannot eliminate those criminal acts.

But Sumeru Cheng is the capital of a nation.

It actually produced bandits daring enough to kidnap in broad daylight.

Isn't this a bit too outrageous?

"Hey, are you listening?"

"I'm telling you, outsourcing military force is not acceptable."

Finding Nadixa ignoring him, Luo De raised his voice and told her about this again.

This time she responded.

"The sages believe that using precious resources to train troops is wasteful; it would be better to save those resources for research."

Nadixa's voice sounded a little hollow.

It seems she herself isn't really convinced by this reason.

Likewise.

Luo De also scoffed at this reason.

"What kind of twisted logic is this?"

"Can a country's safety be entirely outsourced to unreliable mercenaries?"

"Hey, do you still remember how the notice board outside the city was written?"

Luo De said.

It was a new notice posted by the Academy, which he and Nadixa saw together when he entered the city.

On this Academy notice was the notice of the Thirty-Person Group, stating that the entire mercenary industry of Sumeru Cheng was contracted solely to the Thirty-Person Group, with no other party.

Following that were the details of the undertaken business, including hiring bodyguards and guard work, etc.

This is a notice flaunting their own strength and showing off their military might.

At the same time, this is also a notice representing the publisher as highly irregular.

What is the Thirty-Person Group?

The Thirty-Person Group is a gilded travel group hired by the Academy to maintain city defenses and public order.

But now, besides their regular patrols and order-keeping work, they surprisingly also take on private jobs.

This is like a country's army accepting private employment.

Luo De could hardly imagine what the Mondstadt West Wind Knights or the Liyue Thousand Rock Army would become if they accepted private employment.

Moreover, beneath this notice is the Academy's notice specifically meant to slap them in the face.

【Please do not carry excessive amounts of money in crowded places in the city to prevent theft.】

【If theft occurs, please also do not seek help from the nearby patrolling Gilded Travel Group, for they may very well be the ones who took your money.】

To be honest.

After reading these two notices, Luo De laughed.

It was a genuine out-loud laugh.

Before, he had only heard from Dixiya that the Thirty-Person Group was unreliable, but he and the Thirty-Person Group hardly ever had any contact in daily life, so he hadn't given it much special thought.

However, after Dina Ze Dai's near-abduction on the street and seeing the Academy's notice directly slapping the Thirty-Person Group in the face,

Although they were only a few fragmented words.

But Luo De truly saw through the nature of these mercenaries.

One can only say that the Academy clearly knew the Thirty-Person Squad was unreliable, yet still chose to entrust them with all tasks such as city defense safety and maintaining order—what a big heart they have.

"Fortunately there is no Black Disaster now."

"Otherwise, just relying on these Thirty-Person Squads, Sumeru Cheng would completely fall in a few days."

Black Disaster.

This was a terrifying disaster that swept across the entire Teyvat continent five hundred years ago.

In this disaster.

The seven nations of Teyvat suffered heavy losses, and five of the seven gods who ruled them fell; the previous Dendro Archon of Sumeru Cheng, the Great Merciful Tree King, perished in that disaster, leaving only a faint remnant of consciousness on the World Tree, exhausting his last strength to prevent the pollution on the World Tree from spreading further.

Luo De didn't know whether Sumeru Cheng used to be like this.

But as for Sumeru Cheng's current system,

The only direct military force under the Academy's command is actually the Discipline Officers led by Cyno, and the Discipline Officers' team and the Thirty-Person Squad have a division of authority where they do not interfere with each other.

Just like last time when they sealed the Archon's remnants for Ke Lai in A Ru Cun, Cyno clearly said that with his authority, he couldn't manage the Thirty-Person Squad.

Such a division of authority.

If the Thirty-Person Squad had some outstanding ability to stand on its own, that would be acceptable.

But this troop is purely a mercenary group recruited by the Academy; they are not particularly strong in combat, and their work efficiency is extremely unreliable.

Given the Thirty-Person Squad's usual behavior, Luo De's impression of them is basically a gang of bandits wearing the skin of official soldiers.

If they were to fight another war as brutal as the Black Disaster.

Luo De had no doubt.

These mercenaries would not only fail to help Sumeru Cheng resist the disaster, but would turn back to their old ways, directly start looting and plundering, adding more fuel to the already chaotic world.

Fortunately, the seven nations of Teyvat have always been harmonious.

Even if they have minor maneuvers against each other, those are carried out covertly, and there has never been a large-scale war between nations.

Otherwise.

Unless the Academy has some hidden trump card that can protect Sumeru Cheng, Luo De really cannot imagine what Sumeru Cheng could use to oppose the surrounding militarily powerful nations.

As for Luo De's pile of complaints, Nadixa had nothing to say.

What the Thirty-Person Squad is really like, she, who often wanders the void, knows far better than Luo De.

But given her current state,

Even knowing these, she is truly powerless.

Everything must wait until she walks out of the cage before she can begin to resolve it.

After staying two days at Shazaman's home,

Luo De came to the upper city of Sumeru Cheng for the first time, and also saw the Sumeru Cheng Academy for the first time.

Judging by appearance,

The Academy may not be extravagant, but under the construction of generation after generation of Wonderful Discourse Faction students, this palace that looks rather simple and dignified on the outside exudes a sacred aura from inside to out; no matter how reckless a person is, upon first seeing the Academy, they will unconsciously restrain their temperament and offer the highest respect to this academy where deities reside.

Today is the day the Academy holds open admissions.

Any Sumeru Cheng resident who has received education can come to apply, provided they have a recommendation letter from somewhere.

What Luo De holds in his hand is the recommendation letter from A Ru Cun.

Looking around,

Among the students who came to take the exam, over ninety percent were rainforest people, the rest were basically foreign students, and besides Luo De himself, he only saw a few people wearing desert folk attire.

Such a rare appearance naturally drew attention from those around.

Some pointed at Luo De, their faces showing either disdain, surprise, or a hint of curiosity.

Some glanced at him briefly, then turned their heads away.

As for those few desert folk who looked lacking confidence, upon hearing those voices they did not say anything about fellow villagers meeting, but continued to stand silently in place, waiting for the exam hall to open.

"Looks like I'm quite popular."

After this period of tempering, Luo De's ears became extremely sharp, and he could hear all the various comments about him clearly.

The most common among them was

naturally the mockery directed at him.

"Even vulgar desert folk dare to dream of entering the Academy, and some say the Academy shouldn't allow desert folk to take the exam, wasting resources, etc."

Anyway, most people had nothing good to say.

The remaining small minority, a few of them were betting on how many subjects Luo De would pass; the one who spoke the most merely said symbolically, "Passing two subjects would count as their family's Red King manifesting its spirit."

On the other hand, some people disliked those who considered themselves superior, reminding them that the Great Sage's assistant scholar Setalei is of desert origin, telling them not to underestimate Luo De—what if he were a gifted desert folk like Setalei?

However, such a feeble voice could hardly make a wave, and was quickly drowned out by the tide of mockery aimed at Luo De.

"You've got guts; if someone said that to me, I couldn't help but go up and beat them."

Dixiya, who came to see him off for the exam, also heard those voices.

She heard less than Luo De did, but her face had already flushed with displeasure.

The rainforest people's arrogance toward desert folk is not innate, but within the Academy's territory it seems to have become an unspoken rule.

Even the Setalei spoken of by those students, even though she holds the position of the Great Sage's assistant, this does not prevent her situation in the Academy from being just as uncomfortable.

"Hahaha——"

Compared to Dixiya, who was annoyed at looking at those students, Luo De laughed indifferently and said, "I'm thinking, if my grades were better than theirs, wouldn't they be angry to death?"

"Pfft——"

Dixiya, who had been angry, couldn't help but burst out laughing with a 'pfft' sound when he said that.

Thinking again of that letter of recommendation Ti Nali wrote for the sage, her laughter grew louder.

Fortunately Dixiya wasn't so childish as to use Luo De's words to provoke the many students around; she merely patted his shoulder to cheer him on, saying, "I'm waiting for you to slap them in the face with your report card, but if you don't get the score you want, don't lose heart—after all, you've only studied for less than a year, and you'll have another chance next year."

"Hmm."

"Thanks."

Luo De gave a hehe laugh.

In the midst of a shout of "The door is open!", he lifted his head to look at the exam hall doors slowly being pushed open, and a confident smile appeared on his face.

From childhood onward, he had feared everything, except he had never feared exams!

(End of chapter)