Chapter 97: Huttons Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon Meet

Chapter 97: Hutton's Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon Meet

There was an Ikerite Renaissance-style building situated on the edge of the College of Magical Engineering. It was one of the campus landmarks, the old Liberal Arts Hall of the College of Magical Engineering.

Adorned with classical relief carvings, this historic red-brick structure once served as a workshop where magical artisans brought their imaginative ideas to life. Following renovations decades ago, it was repurposed into a public facility providing magical engineering technical services to students from various departments.

Lance had visited this building once before, shortly after enrollment, to collect his student wristband, though he had never ventured to the upper floors. The first floor housed the Public Magical Engineering Service Center. The second floor was home to the Innovative Magical Engineering Workshop. It was headed by Professor Boralo, a key researcher of the school. The third floor was the headquarters of the Student Management Council.

The wind was particularly boisterous today. After attending their only morning class, Lance and Hyperion made their way straight to the old Liberal Arts Hall and ascended the stairs to the third floor.

Upon stepping off the staircase, they were greeted by a spacious, brightly lit corridor. Delicate pendant lights hung from the ceiling, bathing the hallway in a soft glow. The reddish-brown carved wooden walls were accented with gilded patterns and gave the space an air of solemnity and profound tranquility.

They walked along the plush carpet that stretched to the far end of the corridor, right up to the entrance of the Student Management Council. When they looked through a row of massive windows, they could see the campus grounds: green lawns, rows of towering trees, and students moving about here and there.

Finally, they arrived at the crimson double doors located at the very end of the hall. Lance grinned. "Hyperion, are you ready?"

"Mm." As Hyperion nodded, Lance lightly rapped on the door twice.

Moments later, a gentle, calm, and steady male voice responded from within. "Please, come in."

Lance pushed open the heavy mahogany door, and the scents of coffee and candles greeted him. Before him lay a spacious meeting room spanning over a hundred square meters, yet there were only three people inside.

Seated upright behind a desk facing the entrance was a handsome man, holding himself with perfect posture. His eyes shone like stars, and he exuded the scholarly air of a learned researcher. The long wooden table before him was polished to a mirror-like sheen, while behind him, deep red curtains, draped beside a large, partially open window, gleamed in the sunlight.

Standing near the long table was a woman with a gentle expression, who glanced at Lance and his companion with a hint of curiosity. In her hands were a stack of documents. She was clearly in the middle of carrying them to the right side of the room to place them on the row of tall bookcases lining the wall.

To the left of the room lay what appeared to be a lounge area, furnished with a coffee table and luxurious leather sofas on either side. All were color-coordinated with the other furniture. Sitting on one of these invitingly comfortable sofas was a man with grayish-white hair and a pair of small sunglasses perched on his nose.

The student council president, seated in the main chair, looked toward the two visitors with a friendly, confident smile. "Have the two of you run into any trouble at school?"

He recognized Lance and Hyperion immediately, but it wasn't surprising, as they were freshmen who had stirred up quite a buzz immediately upon enrollment. Despite that, the president treated them no differently than anyone else, addressing them in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Hello. We'd like to ask if the Student Management Council is currently recruiting." Lance appreciated this upperclassman's attitude. It wasn't just because he showed no hostility toward Hyperion. In addition to that, his gaze toward Lance was calm and unruffled, lacking a hint of speculation or curiosity other students displayed when looking at him.

Just as Vivian had said, the student council president was a man of discernment. The young man nodded, understanding their purpose. He rose from his seat and gestured for them to join him in the seating area for a detailed discussion.

Moments later, he sat beside the youth with ash-gray hair, while Lance and Hyperion took the sofa opposite them. The woman who had been by the bookshelf set down the documents she was holding, then approached with a tray and porcelain cups to pour coffee for everyone.

The student council president thanked the woman who had poured the coffee and introduced his group to Lance and Hyperion. "I am Monaster, president of the Student Management Council, and this is Asina, the vice president."

He then gestured toward the gray-haired young man seated on the sofa. "This is Frey, a freshman from the Knights' College who has just joined the council."

Lance and Hyperion exchanged looks. They both had a vague recollection of this guy named Frey. The second round of the entrance exam was a joint test for the Knights' and Sages' College; the two tracks only separated in the third round.

This eccentric student from the Knights' College had actually cleared the second round of the entrance exam even faster than Lance. While Lance had used the law to arrest that villainous couple, Frey had chosen to secure a loan against his own body, relying on sheer physical resilience to endure the biting, freezing winds and snow.

Lance and Hyperion had previously wondered which team had recruited Frey. It turned out he had already joined the Student Management Council.

"To be honest, the council is currently severely understaffed. Following the graduation of our previous members, only one newcomer, Frey, has joined so far, upon the recommendation of the Dean of the Knights' College. I had anticipated that Vice President Asina and I would have to personally handle a great many matters this semester, even after wrapping up the handover with the school administration, so your arrival at this moment is a welcome surprise."

President Monaster took a small sip of coffee, looking slightly weary. He then slowly set down the porcelain cup and smiled at the two of them. The mere fact that they had come to express their interest in joining had already alleviated a significant amount of his work-related stress.

Lance nodded. It was obvious that the president was willing to accept them both.

"I have already heard of your capabilities. If you do not mind the hard work and troublesome tasks that come with being a member of the council, I would be delighted to invite both of you, Lance Wilford and Hyperion Aransar, to join."

A moment of silence descended. A gentle breeze drifted in through the window, stirring the curtains and bringing the fresh scent of the outdoors inside. It brushed softly across the tabletop, the sofa, and the pages of books, eliciting a faint rustling sound in the stillness of the room.

Both President Monaster and Vice President Asina were quite friendly. Although Frey's thoughts were not visible, the way he looked at the two of them was no different from how he would regard anyone else.

Lance and Hyperion exchanged a final glance and nodded in unison.

"I would be very happy to join the student council."

"Me too."

Monaster smiled. "Then, welcome aboard. Leave the registration formalities with the school to me. We also have someone in the secretary position. She's from the College of Alchemy, a second year student, but she is usually occupied with the school newspaper and rarely comes here. You'll likely meet her later at some point."

The two of them nodded solemnly. Judging by the president's serious expression, there was a troublesome matter he wanted to entrust to them right away.

"Actually, we already have an urgent task at hand. I was originally a bit uneasy about letting Frey handle it alone, and I intended to accompany him once I'd cleared the backlog of work on my desk. But if the three of you work together on this, I can rest easy and focus on my own duties."