Chapter 144: ¹⁴⁴: unsolvable

Chapter 144: 1??: unsolvable

Just then, I saw Gamma Derek and Louis embracing each other with wide smiles before Louis finally moved away from the stage.

Another one of our classmates was immediately called forward to receive their assignment, taking Louis’s place in front of Gamma Derek.

I watched the exchange for a moment before letting out a quiet breath. "When is this going to end?" I whispered, watching as Louis made his way down from the stage. The moment he stepped off, I already knew where he was headed. Naturally, he was coming straight back toward his seat.

"After we all receive our assignments," Rose answered beside me. She finally broke her gaze away from the stage and looked toward me. There was a curious glint in her eyes as she glanced at the thick stack of papers resting in my hands.

"By the way, check the assignment and tell me what the premise is. I want to know what they’ve given us."

I glanced down at the papers. "Didn’t Gamma Derek already say it would be about solving problems as a kingdom’s advisor?" I reminded her, turning my head toward her.

By now, neither of us really needed to keep watching the stage. The assignments were being distributed one after another, and the process seemed likely to take some time.

"Yeah," Rose replied matter-of-factly. Then her expression became more curious. "But I’m wondering what the actual problems are going to be. And what exactly our position in the kingdom will be, how much authority we’re supposed to have, what kind of situation we’re starting with, and all that."

I couldn’t help but understand her curiosity. Gamma Derek had given us the basic premise, but that still left countless questions unanswered. Being told to act as a diplomatic advisor was one thing. Knowing the actual circumstances we were expected to handle was completely different.

"Okay, here. Check it yourself," I said as I handed my assignment to her.

Rose immediately took the thick stack from me and began flipping through the pages with barely contained excitement. Her eyes moved rapidly over the information, occasionally pausing as though something had caught her attention.

I watched her expression change several times. At first, she looked curious. Then interested,then increasingly confused finally, her eyebrows shot upward.

"God, there are more than a few kingdoms involved in all these problems," she exclaimed, sounding genuinely surprised. "This is quite complicated!" She quickly turned another page before stopping and placing the open assignment in front of me. "Look at this."

She pointed toward the second page. An imaginary map covered most of it. There were several kingdoms marked across the map, along with neighbouring territories and different regions connected by borders and routes. Even at a glance, it was obvious that this wasn’t going to be as simple as solving one isolated problem inside one kingdom.

My eyes immediately narrowed with interest. "Show it here." I leaned closer, preparing to study the map properly. I had just started moving toward Maria to get a better look when the seat beside me shifted.

Someone sat down, I didn’t need to look, Ialready knew it was Louis. I briefly felt his presence beside me, but I deliberately refused to acknowledge him. Instead, I kept my entire attention on the map spread out in front of Rose and me.

There were too many details to ignore. If this assignment involved several kingdoms, then our decisions would probably have consequences beyond the borders of the kingdom we were assigned to advise.

I was just beginning to examine the connections between the territories when Louis’s voice sounded beside me. "What are you two doing?"

Both Rose and I turned toward him simultaneously. I kept my expression completely neutral. There was no reason for me to give him any reaction. I simply looked at him with a calm, unreadable face, hoping my expression alone would tell him that I wasn’t interested in being disturbed.

Unfortunately, I knew my friend well enough to know that Maria wouldn’t understand that silent message nearly as quickly.

"We are discussing the assignment," she replied immediately, giving him a small chuckle.

I slowly turned my head toward her. My glare was enough to make her pause. Rose’s smile faltered as she finally seemed to realize what she had just done. I had deliberately avoided engaging with Louis, and she had just handed him an excuse to join our conversation. She gave me a tiny, almost apologetic look.

I sighed inwardly before turning back toward Louis. There was no point making the situation awkward. So, just as I had done earlier, I put on a polite smile.

"We won’t bother you more, Mr. Dreven," I said calmly. My tone was perfectly respectful, my smile was perfectly polite and hopefully, my meaning was perfectly obvious. Please leave us alone.

With that, I turned back toward Rose and gave her a pointed glare before pulling my assignment out of her hands. "Give it back."

She immediately handed it over, and I opened the thick stack again, turning back to the kingdom profiles we had been given.

I skimmed through the pages once more, trying to understand exactly what kind of situation we had been thrown into. "We are set as the advisors for the new king of Salen," I said, pointing toward the highlighted kingdom on the paper.

I turned another page, my eyes moving over the description of Salen and the circumstances we were expected to deal with as its diplomatic advisors.

The more I read, the more my eyebrows climbed. There wasn’t just one problem, there were several and somehow, they were all happening at the same time.

"There are so many issues in this kingdom!" I exclaimed, glancing up at Rose in disbelief as I tried to process everything written in front of me. I tapped the page with my finger, almost as if doing so would somehow make the situation seem less ridiculous.

"Is this even possible? For a kingdom to be dealing with a natural disaster while simultaneously being on bad terms with not one but all of the neighbouring countries it has connections with or countries that could potentially help it in this situation?"

I looked back down at the assignment. The more I thought about it, the more complicated it seemed. A natural disaster alone would have been difficult enough. But the kingdom’s diplomatic relationships were apparently in terrible shape too, meaning that even the countries that might have been able to provide assistance were unlikely to simply step forward and help.

We weren’t being asked to solve one problem. We were being asked to untangle an entire mess.

Rose shook her head as she continued reading through the description of Salen. Her earlier excitement had completely disappeared. "How are we supposed to come up with solutions to help such a failing kingdom?!" she asked, finally looking up at me with sheer panic written across her face.

She pointed at the pages as though they had personally offended her. "And that too using only diplomacy! We aren’t even allowed to use anything military-related." She dropped her hand into her lap with a defeated sigh. "I think this is completely designed to make all of us fail, because what the hell is all this?!"

I almost laughed at her dramatic expression, but I couldn’t completely blame her. The assignment really was difficult. I closed the papers for a moment and looked toward the stage.

By now, the third student among the first group had also received their assignment. Gamma Derek was preparing to leave the stage, while the academy staff began organizing everything for the remaining students. Our principal gestured politely for everyone to remain seated as the process continued.

"There will be a solution, Rose," I said, trying to calm her down. My gaze followed Gamma Derek as he stepped down from the stage, the principal walking behind him.

"This is definitely a challenge," I admitted, glancing back at the assignment in my hands, "but the academy won’t give us something that is completely impossible or detrimental to us." At least, I wanted to believe that. There had to be some kind of logic behind the situation they had created.

If the purpose of this exam was to test our ability to negotiate and solve problems through diplomacy, then there had to be a way forward. We simply hadn’t found it yet.

Rose, however, didn’t look convinced. "But what if our assignments are different and all of us get completely different problems to deal with?" she asked.

She suddenly grabbed my hand, her fingers tightening around mine as her worry grew. "I am getting too scared. What if we get one of the harder ones?"

I looked at her for a moment. Before I could answer, another voice came from beside us.

"Don’t worry about that." Louis. I slowly turned toward him.

He was sitting beside us with a surprisingly calm expression, as though the assignment that had nearly sent Rose into a panic hadn’t bothered him in the slightest.

"Everyone’s assignment is going to be based on the same problems," he explained.

Rose blinked at him."Really?"

Louis nodded. "It is to keep the challenge uniform for every student. Everyone will be dealing with the same set of problems."