July 1, 363 Hessian calendar.
After half a year, everyone in Rogge's team returned to Holk Academy.
Today is still the first day of school, and the airship parked at the college station, attracting onlookers from students.
Rogge and others got off the airship and looked at the young faces of the freshmen, as if they saw themselves when they first entered the academy a year ago.
The difference is that the students all have black ribbons on their arms.
The encounter of the team heading to the Soul-Calling Holy Kingdom was reported to Holk City at a speed faster than the royal airship.
Of the 100 outstanding students who went to the Soul-Calling Holy Kingdom, 33 were buried in the secret garden, two died in the attack by the monsters, and the remaining 65 finally returned to their homeland.
The students bowed silently. Seeing this scene, the joy of Rogge and others returning to the academy was replaced by sadness.
For Rogge's team, the experience in the Secret Garden of Spiritual Beasts is an opportunity, and the attack by the World of Warcraft is a challenge.
They seized the opportunity and overcame the challenges. Although there were many difficulties, they survived, their strength was greatly improved, and they made great progress.
For most of the students who went with them, the massacre of the vampires in the Secret Garden of Spiritual Beasts and the attack by the monsters on their return were both disasters. It was not easy for them to survive the disaster.
Everyone attended the opening ceremony with the new students. Dean Anderson's speech was similar to last year's speech. I think the dean's speech is the same every year.
At the end of the opening ceremony, Anderson led all the students to mourn the victims. The freshmen encountered such a scene when they first entered the college and were worried about their future.
After the ceremony, Rogge's team first went back to the villa dormitory, and then went straight to the dean's office.
"Dong dong."
"Please come in."
Roger pushed open the door and walked in. It seemed that the older Dean Anderson was still reading documents. He always seemed to have unfinished documents.
"Rogge, Filia, you are here." A smile broke out on Anderson's wrinkled face, and then he sighed with sadness on his face, "It would be great if you can come back."
For the dean of a top college who is committed to cultivating outstanding talents, the death of 35 outstanding students is a very painful blow.
This is the biggest accident that has happened since Anderson took office as dean. From the moment he received the news to now, Anderson has been in sorrow and self-blame all the time, even though the students' deaths had nothing to do with him.
"Oh, you have suffered." Anderson sighed.
Ofina raised her hand and cast a blessing spell, which made Anderson feel warm in her soul, "Uncle Dean, don't be sad, there are so many wrinkles on your face."
Filia also comforted him and said: "Uncle Anderson, the changes in the Secret Garden of Spiritual Beasts were not something you could have expected. Please stop blaming yourself."
"Oh, yes, who would have thought that the Secret Garden of Spiritual Beasts, which has never had any accidents, would be invaded by the Blood Queen herself. What a pity for these children, they died in the war before they even graduated from the academy."
"Dean Anderson, the departure of the students is sad, but the facts cannot be changed. We have more important things to do." Rogge told Anderson the information about the strange magic crystal and the strange demon in detail.
Anderson was a close friend of Philia's father, Lord Brandon, and one of the most trusted people of Emperor Charles. When Charles first paid attention to the abnormal monsters a few years ago, he asked Anderson and Brandon to investigate.
When Helena gave Roger a message, she told him to only tell his most trusted companions. As a mentor to everyone, Anderson is trustworthy.
And even if Rogge didn't say anything, Emperor Charles would inform Anderson of the whole thing and let him be responsible for the investigation.
After listening to Rogge's report, Anderson's reaction was relatively calm. In addition to his teaching work, he devoted all the remaining time to the investigation and research of strange magic crystals, so he has a strong ability to accept relevant information.
"Where did all this information come from?" Anderson asked.
Filia explained: "What Princess Helena of the Azure Sea Kingdom told us is also what Rogge made after the attack by the wave of monsters."
"You speculate that the monsters encountered in the Blue Sea are in the second and third stages. Do you have samples of their magic cores?"
"Yes, a lot."
In order to make money, Ofina purchased a large number of space items from Ursol, which came in handy when cleaning the battlefield. Rogge asked for a few space rings and stored those abnormal magic cores, just to show them to Anderson now.
Anderson took the space ring, his consciousness penetrated into it, and his back instantly straightened.
Demonic cores glowing with strange red light are almost crowded with these space rings. Demonic cores vary in size, there are many large ones, and the largest ones are even as tall as a person.
The size of the magic core is often directly proportional to the strength of the monster. These large magic cores must come from powerful monsters.
Anderson could tell with just a few glances that the largest magic cores belonged to Beast King-level monsters, which were terrifying creatures on the same level as him.
Seeing these magic cores, Anderson felt as if he was actually there, witnessing the hardship and tragedy of that battle.
"You... have worked hard." Anderson thought for a moment, as if no words could express his care and concern for these children, so he could only say the words "Thank you for your hard work."
"Uncle Anderson, Rogge, these are all from the second stage. I have one here that seems to be the third stage." Filia took out the magic core of the shark demon leader and handed it to Anderson.
Anderson was immediately attracted to the magic core of the Shark Demon leader because it looked almost identical to the alien magic crystal.
After holding it and looking at it for a long time, Anderson said: "With the sample, it will be much easier for me to study. You really gave me a surprise! But I don't need so many. About ten are enough. You can take the rest." Take care of it yourself.”
"Uncle Anderson, how was the situation in the northwest of the empire while we were away?" Filia asked.
"Three incidents of abnormal magical beasts have occurred, so it has calmed down. However, I discovered that someone has been acquiring these abnormal magic cores recently."
Rogge and Filia looked at each other, and Rogge asked: "Has the dean investigated the flow of the magic core?"
Anderson pointed to his feet and replied: "That's Holk City."
"Holk City?" Filia asked doubtfully.
Holk City is the territory of Duke Erwin of the Velociraptor family. Duke Erwin is a strong and upright man who never plays tricks on politics and puts all his energy into the war with the Orc Alliance.
As the ruler of the Kewei Territory, Duke Erwin led the army to stop the orc army from the defense line of the western fortress group. It can be said that without him, there would be no relatively stable environment in the empire today.
It is extremely unlikely that such a general who dedicated his life to the empire was the person behind the strange magic crystal incident.
Anderson heard something from Filia's unconcealed tone and asked: "Why, it doesn't match your speculation?"
"Uncle Anderson, we learned at Port Ipuni that someone was hiring people to acquire strange magic crystals in many places. The final destination was the northwest of the empire, but we didn't expect it to be Holk City." Filia replied.
"It's normal. It flows to Holk City. It doesn't mean that Duke Erwin has a problem. It may just be a transit point. Filia, who is the object of your suspicion?"
"Iron Wall City, Viscount Potter."
Filia told Anderson about the doubts about Truco's modification of his military exploits and the fact that Truco turned into a demon in front of them.
"Did you kill Truco?"
"I killed him." Rogge said.
"You really trust me."
"Uncle Anderson, you have watched me grow up, and I believe you." Anderson brought few warm memories to Filia in her childhood. Filia believed that she would not be wrong about his character.
"Okay, I will not betray your trust." Anderson stroked his beard and thought for a while, "The evidence is not strong enough. There is suspicion but it cannot be confirmed."
"We found an unsigned letter in Duruko's space ring. Do you remember the handwriting?"
Anderson looked at the letter twice, shook his head and said, "No, the handwriting can be hidden and cannot be used as conclusive evidence. However, I can write a letter to Viscount Porter and compare it when he replies."
"Will it alert the enemy?" Madeleine asked, trying to keep up with everyone's thinking.
Anderson explained: "No, it's just a daily letter, it won't cause alarm. And even if it's really him, he doesn't know that Duluco's letter is in our hands, so he won't pay attention to it."
Anderson put the Abnormal Magic Core away, wrote a few words on his memo, and said: "Okay, that's enough about the Abnormal Magic Crystal. Emperor Charles asked me to go to Odens after the opening ceremony. I guess that’s what I’m talking about. When I come back, I’ll research reliable information and let you know.”
"Okay, Uncle Anderson." Filia said.
"You went to the Secret Garden of Spiritual Beasts, did you gain anything?"
Anderson felt that everyone's temperament had changed, becoming more calm than during the Chinese New Year, like new recruits turning into battle-hardened warriors.
Just like what he taught everyone, fighting makes people grow rapidly. The rapid improvement of everyone's strength is not only their talent, but also accumulated and honed in those fierce battles.
Not only them, but the students who came back from the Holy Spirit Summoning Kingdom have all grown up and are already a level ahead of their classmates.
"Uncle Dean, we are all so powerful now!" When it comes to improving our strength, Ofina has the right to say, "They are all high-level now."
"Oh?" Anderson looked at everyone carefully one by one, and the slight sadness on his face was finally replaced by joy. "Yes, you are indeed the best children! Haha!"
Anderson finally smiled. For a teacher, nothing is more meaningful than witnessing the growth of his students.
"They are all advanced, you have to work hard." Anderson said to Ofina.
"I've been working hard, I'm almost going to become a mage!"
"Magister..." Anderson looked at Ofina in surprise. He still remembered that when she was first admitted to the hospital last year, Ofina's magic value was only more than 2,000 points. In just one year, she is now going to become a magister?
Anderson thought about it carefully. Everyone was very talented, but their growth rate was too fast. They must have seized some opportunity.
"How did you improve so quickly?" Anderson asked.
"Xiao Cai gave us a holy fruit. It's delicious. After eating it, the whole body is full of strength and improves very quickly." Ofina said.
"Xiao Cai is the Nine-Colored Divine Phoenix." Rogge added.
"Divine Phoenix...Holy Fruit...No wonder, it seems that what you have experienced is far more exciting than what I know! So, who of you has become a Spirit Summoner?"
Everyone present raised their hands except Sonia.
