Anime Magic Card Era

Chapter 140: Chapter 139: Little Devil, Lilith

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"Pfft." The water Victor had just drunk sprayed straight out of his mouth, catching the steward full in the face.

Are you serious? Showered with spray, the steward very nearly let a backhand fly on reflex, but remembering that the man in front of him was his direct superior, he forced the impulse down at the last second.

One swing like that, and however highly Victor thought of him, he’d be packed off into retirement the very next moment.

No, hold on. Damn it, I know far too many of his secrets. Getting silenced for good is more likely than retirement. At the thought, a chill of pure indignation ran through the steward.

"Ahem. I’ll pretend I never heard what you just said." Victor wiped his mouth. "Tell those people not to indulge in wild speculation or loose talk, or I won’t mind transferring them to guard the frontier."

It was precisely because he knew the woman was Lilith that Victor hadn’t let his thoughts wander in that direction at all. A couples’ room, so what? Perhaps the two of them had simply wanted a quieter environment to eat in. Can these brats not let me have a moment’s peace? Do your jobs properly, stop dreaming up nonsense. Is that so much to ask?

It had to be said, Victor hadn’t earned the title of a city’s lord for nothing. He’d arrived at the correct answer in a single leap.

"I’ll see to it at once." Wiping his face, the steward turned and left. For crying out loud. If not for those brats, I’d never have gotten a faceful of water.

Sprayed by Victor, who was also his direct superior, the steward couldn’t very well vent his temper. But the little brats who’d been assigned to watch the pair? They had nothing of the sort protecting them.

"Master, you’re leaving?" Several days later, Luke, who had been mulling over the reconstruction of Red-Eyes Black Dragon along with the background and design of the Swords of Revealing Light, was thrown by Lilith’s abrupt farewell.

These past days had been perfectly fine, so why was she suddenly running off today? Not that it wasn’t excellent news for the City Lord.

"Beyond your own affairs, I actually came to Ashenvale for another reason." Faced with Luke’s bewildered expression, Lilith’s playful streak flared, and she reached out to pinch his cheek. "I had a premonition I’d find inspiration here for crafting a new card."

"What I didn’t expect was to complete that goal so quickly. So I intend to seize the opportunity and finish refining the new card’s conception as soon as possible." Inspiration was, in the end, only inspiration. Left unconverted into a concrete concept, it would eventually slip away, and the new card Lilith was preparing to craft was of no ordinary strength besides.

"Master, you’ve got inspiration for a new card?" This was the first Luke was hearing of it, and he couldn’t help marveling inwardly. As expected of an Undying Realm boss, inspiration arrived just like that.

As for her cavalier liberties with him, after these few days Luke had more or less grown accustomed to them and simply let her do as she pleased. It deepened the bond between them, after all. And the main point, of course, was that he still couldn’t beat her. If he could have, well, hmph, that would have been a different scenario entirely.

"My inspiration came from our conversation that night." Seeing his confusion, Lilith understood that Luke had no idea how great a gain his words had brought her. Her scallion-white jade finger shifted lightly and tapped his forehead. "I’d originally planned to offer you some advice on card crafting. I never imagined the outcome would end up reversed."

At that, Lilith laughed despite herself. But she didn’t mind in the least. If anything, she welcomed it.

Whether in her capacity as Region Governor or as his teacher, Lilith hoped Luke would grow into a top-tier Card Master, and better still, surpass the indigo from which he came and outstrip her own achievements.

"That was just a perfectly ordinary conversation." Now Luke was even more bewildered. His ideas diverged from the Magic Card Civilization’s mainstream, and it had never occurred to him that they might bring an Undying Realm boss like Lilith inspiration for crafting cards.

Suddenly I feel rather impressive.

"To you, perhaps, it was an ordinary conversation. But to other Card Masters, and even to me, it was a wholly new realization." Turning her finger into an open palm, Lilith pinched his cheek once more. "Remember to be careful exploring the Eternal Night Plane. If you run into a danger you can’t withstand, activate the Night Palace teleport directly. With me here, no one will be able to harm a hair on your head."

"On top of that, Selene has already gone to Celestial Academy to make arrangements for you. If you encounter any difficulties or trouble there, you can have Selene step in to resolve them."

"Master, I’m hardly the sort who goes around courting trouble." Feeling the pleasant coolness against his cheek, Luke couldn’t help rolling his eyes. He’d absolutely just been toyed with again.

"You’re the Eastern Region’s exam champion this year. There are no shortage of people with designs on you." Seeing Luke’s eye-roll, Lilith pinched his cheek yet again, only withdrawing her hand once she was satisfied, before continuing her reminder. "When Selene took first place in her exam, plenty of people fixed their eyes on her too."

A tree that stands taller than the forest is the one the wind takes first. The Magic Card Civilization had no lack of Card Masters hungry for renown, and for a university student, what could be faster or more convenient than defeating the exam champion?

At university, what Luke faced wouldn’t only be the targeting of his own cohort, but targeting from the older students a year or more ahead as well. That, too, was standard university practice. The newcomers always had to be shown their place.

"In that case, they’re likely to be disappointed." Luke didn’t fear trouble. But if someone came looking to make trouble for him, he wouldn’t mind beating them into a thorough fright, once and for all.

"Confidence is a good thing. That’s exactly the attitude my student ought to have. I’ll look forward to your performance, then." As the words fell, Lilith slowly receded, her figure growing indistinct until at last it vanished altogether.

Luke wasn’t especially surprised by the sight. He knew Lilith had returned to the Night Palace.

It was just that, recalling her hands-on teasing a moment ago, Luke felt a distinct exasperation. Why did this teacher of his possess not the slightest shred of a mentor’s dignity? You’re making it genuinely impossible for me NOT to drift in the forbidden teacher-student direction.

"The Eternal Night Plane, the Land of Finality, a machine civilization. I wonder what I’ll run into when the time comes." Shaking his head, Luke set the thought aside and returned to his room to keep working on the backgrounds and designs of his cards.

"Child, the sun’s risen in the west today. I can’t believe you’ve come looking for this old man." At Celestial Academy, one of the Ancient Kingdom’s Four Great Academies, Tobias Wren regarded Selene Dawnford in front of him with open amusement.

A set of old, worn fishing gear was laid out beside Tobias, while the man himself reclined lazily across a bamboo chair, the very picture of indolence.

Going by appearance alone, Tobias looked like nothing more than an ordinary old man, without a single distinguishing trait to speak of. But this was the deep interior of Celestial Academy, and no one capable of appearing here was an ordinary person.

Tobias Wren’s true identity was Head of this very academy, an Immortal Realm boss on the same level as Aldric Ashford and Edmund Hargrove.

"Head, please stop making fun of me." At Tobias’s words, a flicker of embarrassment crossed Selene’s face. She was, after all, a Celestial Academy instructor, however nominal the title, and across all these years she’d never once taken on a student. It was, admittedly, a touch derelict of her.

Hm. Maybe I should just drag Coralie Quinn over here. She’s one of us, and conversations go a good deal more smoothly with her. Selene mused quietly to herself.

She’d originally set her sights on Luke. But his performance had already vaulted clear past the limits of her own ability, and on top of that, Luke was now her junior brother. Selene’s remaining target was therefore down to her niece, Iris Dawnford, which would at least give the family a satisfactory account of things.