Karina sighed. “Is this a problem with the school?”

Jorgus clarified, “This map mistake is actually a question from the school. We can’t ask for a refund because it was intentionally made.”

Karina was dumbfounded. “The school is involved in this?”

Aresia interjected.

Jorgus continued explaining, “We asked the teacher, and it’s confirmed that it was a deliberate mistake.”

Having the support of a teacher, they were more willing to trust the other party. After all, the person had fooled them.

Rony naively said, “Originally, we wanted to beat him up, but it’s a shame.”

Jorgus turned to Aresia and Karina. “Let’s keep this to ourselves as the teacher suggested.”

The two nodded, understanding that it was a tradition of the school. They didn’t want to tell anyone else.

The matter quieted down for now, and it seemed that no one else had encountered problems with their maps.

Soon, it was time for the trial.

Before 5 a.m., the new students from the magic and warrior departments were called to assemble on the field.

The warrior students were used to training, so the early assembly time didn’t bother them much. However, the magic students rarely woke up this early, and they arrived at the assembly point looking sleepy and complaining.

Yawning and covering her mouth, Karina asked with confusion, “Weren’t you in the laboratory until late last night? How are you so energetic?”

Aresia knew that she couldn’t return to the dormitory during curfew hours, and even when she did come back, she wouldn’t immediately go to sleep. She often stayed up late, and there were a few occasions when the dormitory supervisor had to knock on her door to remind her to turn off the lights and rest. But despite staying up late, she always appeared refreshed and alert.

“I drank a tonic potion. Do you want a bottle?”

Aresia’s abilities allowed her to stay energetic even after a week without sleep, but she didn’t feel it was appropriate to tell Karina that. Instead, she provided a more plausible reason.

Karina made a face of disgust. “No, thanks. I’ll wait until my brain wakes up.”

“Let me know when you need it.”

After everyone gathered, a group of teachers led by the heads of the two departments took them on a carriage and headed to the trial site. 

The trial ground of the Royal Academy is in an enclosed mountain forest on the outskirts. There are people there who are responsible for maintenance all year round.

The most powerful beast on the site are only level three, and the new students have to survive. The active area is dominated by first- and second – level beast , and third-level beast are rarely seen. 

The carriage prepared by the school is a large carriage that can carry about twenty people.

The freshmen ride not according to class, but according to trial team. One carriage will basically make three to four teams. 

In this carriage made by Aresia and the others, in addition to the two of them who are from the magic department, there is also another student from the magic department, and that person is also very familiar to them. It is Wendy from the second class. Seeing her, Aresia could n’t help but secretly sigh that she really could meet everywhere these days. But on the surface, she didn’t show any displeasure.     

“Chief Rogest, can I sit here?” The commoner girl asked gently and softly, with a slight uneasiness between her brows, which seemed to be because there were only two of them who she knows in the carriage. 

Aresia nodded. ” Of course, you are free to do it. ” After Wendy sat down, she breathed a sigh of relief. The position she chose was next to Aresia, and it was the innermost corner of the carriage. There was no one else around except Aresia, and Karina is seated next to the other side of Aresia.     

Karina looked at her through Aresia, feeling a little strange and said, “Miss Wendy, why didn’t you seat with your teammates? You can discuss the trial with them if you did, right?”

Wendy showed a hint of embarrassment, glanced at her teammates, and then said in a very low voice. “We don’t know each other very well, so I don’t dare to talk to them.” 

Later, Aresia and Karina found out that Wendy and her teammates were randomly formed into a team. The two looked at each other. This was the first time they heard that students from the magic department were not invited but had to accept random teammates. What’s more, Wendy was the second in the magic department, and her magic level was also at the top.

It shouldn’t be difficult for her to be invited by someone.

However, Wendy seemed reluctant to bring up the topic, and Karina didn’t pursue it further, quickly changing the subject.

Aresia, on the other hand, had a rough idea of what had happened.

The Duke’s daughter from her memories had always targeted Wendy. One incident was during a freshmen student trial, where she openly declared that anyone who teamed up with Wendy would be ostracized.

Other students didn’t want to get involved with the Duke’s daughter, so they refrained from inviting Wendy to their teams. Even though Wendy was the top student, it didn’t matter because there were no invitations besides random teammates.

She never intervened in this life yet Wendy had encountered the same situation.

Aresia couldn’t help but wonder who was behind all this. Besides Alice Howard, Wendy shouldn’t have any enemies.

“Chief Rogest.”

Aresia, who was lost in thought, snapped back to reality and turned to Wendy. It seemed that she thought about the bad things she had done before and she felt guilty, so she softed a bit. “You can call me Aresia.”

Wendy’s eyes brightened, and she immediately changed her address. “Aresia, please call me Wendy.”

“Wendy, what’s the matter?”

“It’s about the magic book. I’ve finished reading it. Can I deliver it to your dormitory after the trial ends?”

Aresia thought for a moment, considering Wendy’s floor. “You don’t need to. I’ll just come and get it.”

Wendy became even happier. Testing the waters, she asked, “Oh, can we go back together after the trial ends?”

Aresia reminded her. “We were supposed to ride on the same carriage, so we’ll return together.”

Karina, with a hint of suspicion, glanced at Wendy, examining her. She seemed to have noticed Wendy’s attempt to get closer to Aresia.

I will not let Aresia be taken away!

Feeling a sense of crisis, Karina immediately joined the conversation and even took control of the topic, not giving Wendy a chance to speak to Aresia.

Wendy, originally unhappy about the situation, suddenly became more cooperative. She listened attentively to Karina’s words and was willing to answer any questions. It seemed that she was genuinely interested in the conversation and didn’t leave any room for Aresia to interject.

Unbeknownst to them, Karina and Wendy chatted away, almost forgetting about Aresia. Aresia started to doubt whether her previous speculations about the situation were wrong. Perhaps Wendy’s actions were not influenced by the Imperial family who supported her, but rather her own way of dealing with loneliness.

In this school, if she wasn’t influenced by Alice Howard, maybe Wendy had finally found someone to talk to.

—and be friends.

Aresia smiled to herself.

The carriage arrived at its destination, and the passengers felt like their bones were about to fall apart. The carriage, originally designed for transporting goods, offered no comfort at all. Even the carriage that Aresia and the others were riding in wasn’t any better. Throughout the journey, they had been vomiting.

The heads of the magic and warrior departments stood among the crowd, while other teachers helped maintain order.

“Quiet! Line up quickly. You will draw lots to determine the tasks. Each team will send one person to draw!”

The lottery box was prepared for drawing the tasks. Each team took turns approaching the box to draw a piece of paper with their assigned task.

When it was Aresia’s team’s turn, due to the others’ perceived bad luck, they unanimously decided to let Aresia draw.

Aresia, who had been sent back to the previous life first life after a magical accident, thought to herself, “Considering luck, there should be someone worse off than me, right?”

Aresia stepped forward, knowing that it was just a trial and it shouldn’t be too bad, no matter how unfortunate.

Approaching the lottery box, she reached in to draw a piece of paper. However, as she reached in, she felt a very faint magical reaction coming from the box.

Then, her fingertips touched something.