Chapter 138 – Dual-Front Combat

Unlike her past life where exam halls were usually set in classrooms, the Coleman Academy's exam venues were not located in the Divine Child or Divine Princess classrooms. Instead, the academy had specially designated examination halls of its own.

Divine Children had their own hall, Divine Princesses another, Alchemists another, Mages yet another—and the content of each exam differed vastly by discipline.

The locations and facilities of these exam halls were top-notch, carefully designed to provide the most optimal conditions for students, minimizing any external interference to help them achieve results most reflective of their true abilities.

It was reminiscent of the university entrance exams from her past life—even a tiny defect like a small hole in your desk could get you a new desk on request.

On the examination desk, the sand in the hourglass had flowed halfway through—signaling that only half of the test time remained.

Tension hung lightly in the quiet hall. All the students were fully focused, answering with utmost concentration.

While the quicker students had only just turned to the second page, Teresa had already finished reviewing her paper for the third time.

The draft paper next to her had only a few simple numbers scrawled—no detailed working.

After confirming for the third time that she hadn’t missed a single question or made any careless mistakes, Teresa set her paper down and shifted her attention to the Divine Child exam hall.

At that moment, the test paper in front of the Dylin puppet was still completely blank.

Even for Teresa, it was difficult to think about two different sets of questions simultaneously without making mistakes—so she hadn't tried to do both papers at once.

Now that the Divine Princess exam was complete, it was time to tackle the Divine Child one.

The final score would be the average of the team’s members—so she needed to raise it as much as possible.

So hard. So very hard...

In stark contrast to Teresa was the pink-haired kitten girl, Wenfu, sitting in the same room, frowning and completely at a loss.

Despite receiving one-on-one tutoring from three master instructors before the exam, Wenfu’s learning aptitude really wasn’t great—and time had been far too short to make much progress.

After all, what others took years to learn, how could she master it overnight?

Teresa had only provided emergency help to boost Wenfu’s score as much as possible. Beyond that, there was nothing more she could do.

Take the question in front of Wenfu now—she felt like she could solve it... but also like she couldn’t. She’d been staring at it blankly for ages. Her draft paper was almost full, and just when she was about to reach a breakthrough, her brain would overload and forget the earlier steps.

She’d been stuck on this one question for over ten minutes now—with no progress.

If it were Teresa, what would she do...?

Looking up, Wenfu spotted Teresa, already relaxed, having set her paper aside.

She’s already done? And we’re only halfway through the test... no wonder she’s Teresa...

No! She couldn’t drag Teresa down!

Wenfu picked her pen back up, remembering what Teresa had told her before:

“If you don’t know a question, don’t dwell on it. Check the later ones—see if there are points you can still earn.”

With that, Wenfu gave up on overthinking and moved her eyes further down the paper.

***

“Hmm?” In the Divine Child exam hall, the proctor pacing between rows paused slightly as he walked past Dylin.

He even wondered if he’d seen it wrong.

Half the time had passed already, and this student’s paper still had only a name on it?

Trying not to interrupt Dylin’s thinking, the proctor pretended to pass by casually—but in reality, he kept his gaze fixed on the boy.

He noticed that the male student simply stared at the paper, motionless. If you weren’t paying close attention, it seemed normal. But once you did, it became unsettling—like the person sitting there didn’t even have conscious awareness. More like... a wooden dummy.

What was going on? He wasn’t sleeping... but he just kept staring at the paper, not moving at all?

Could it be that he didn't know a single answer? No way—the first question was easy enough even for someone not in the Divine Child track to answer...

Just as the proctor was thinking about whether to give the student a gentle nudge, Dylin’s blank eyes suddenly regained their spark—like a soul returning to its body. He picked up his pen and began to write rapidly.

The proctor was stunned.

What was going on? Even if you needed time to read the questions, wasn’t this way too long? And now he was answering at lightning speed?

Could it be that he thought half the test time was too easy for him, so he’d deliberately waited until the midpoint to even start—so as not to “bully” the other students?

Not only the proctor—John, who had been subtly watching Dylin, was also shocked.

Maybe it was fate, maybe just coincidence—but the two had been assigned to the same exam hall.

From the moment the test began, John had noticed something weird about Dylin.

He’d tried to greet him at the start, but the guy had walked past without even looking at him. Then, after sitting down, he just sat there like a statue, staring at his paper like a block of wood.

John couldn’t make heads or tails of it. What was going on with this guy today?

If not for this sudden burst of energy, John would’ve wondered if the guy had just been dumped by another girl.

Soon, only one-sixth of the time remained, and the proctor announced: fifteen minutes left.

Dylin finished the final question, set down his pen, and began reviewing his answers.

At the sound of the bell, the exam ended. Papers were collected.

There were more tests in the afternoon, and John kept watching Dylin—only to discover something bizarre: For each exam, Dylin repeated the exact same pattern.

First, he’d go silent and stare at the paper like a puppet. Then, halfway through the exam time—bam—he’d burst into life, write furiously, and finish with ease.

Has this guy developed some kind of strange strategy? Charge up for half the time, then explode in a flurry of answers? Or maybe he just thought his skills were so far above everyone else’s, he’d let them all get a half-hour head start?

John truly couldn’t figure him out.

***

The tense exams were finally over.

As the scores were calculated per team, the students chatted among themselves about the tests.

One benefit of mixed-discipline teams was that they didn’t mess with each other’s confidence by comparing answers—since the tests were all different anyway.

But Radiant Sun and Moon wasn’t like the other teams.

***

“We’re back!” Teresa and Dylin returned to the Crown Estate in the evening, only to find a certain cat-girl curled lifelessly on the sofa.

“Miss Wenfu?” After changing into indoor slippers, Teresa discreetly sent her puppet upstairs, then walked to Wenfu and gently poked her fluffy feline head with a finger.

“Grrrble...” Wenfu made a strange sound and looked up with teary, vacant eyes.

“Teresa.. I’m sorry... I think I dragged everyone down... meowwwuwuwu...”

“It’s okay. Just work harder next time. We’ll help you make a study plan to improve quickly.” Teresa stroked Wenfu’s fur like she would a real cat, gently comforting her.

“But... I really think my score this time might be super low...”

“How do you know that?”

“Just now... Miss Felicia and Miss Astrid were... checking answers here...”

Oh.

Teresa immediately understood.

Another victim of answer checking trauma.

After soothing Wenfu, Teresa went upstairs—just in time to run into Astrid coming down.

“Miss Astrid, did things go fairly well for you?” Teresa greeted her gracefully.

“More or less acceptable. And you, Miss Teresa?” Astrid nodded.

“Oh, I suppose I managed alright. I have no idea what my exact score is, though. As long as it’s above average, I’ll be happy.”

“.........”

Wenfu, still lying on the sofa, felt like dying.

Teresa had finished her paper halfway through the test and reviewed it three times. Astrid was probably even more efficient.

For the first time in her life, Wenfu experienced the soul-crushing pain of being “bullied” by top students.

She curled up into a ball, hugging a small pillow, her white-socked feet pinching the fabric, biting the corner of the cushion—utterly pitiful.

***

“By the way, Teresa,” Astrid hesitated.

“My sister said she wants to visit our dormitory this afternoon—would that be okay?”

“Oh? Miss Astrid’s little sister? I’m sure she’s an adorable child,” Teresa said knowingly.

“She’s sweet and obedient, for the most part... but in some ways...” Astrid trailed off. “If she says anything inappropriate, please forgive her.”

“It’s fine.” As long as the girl didn’t break any rules or act obnoxiously, Teresa believed her own patience was fairly high.

***

Despite feeling crushed from her own results, Wenfu still tied on her signature apron and cooked dinner herself to celebrate her teammates’ success.

After dinner, the doorbell rang.

Teresa, seated on the sofa with a book, looked up.

Wenfu was in the kitchen doing dishes, Felicia helping her. Astrid was in the second-floor library.

Teresa was the only one who could open the door.

“Coming. Who is it?” She swiped the identity card to unlock the gate, revealing a petite figure outside the metal door.

“Eh? Are you... Miss Sophia?” Teresa asked.

The silver-haired elf girl outside, dressed in knee-high white socks and summer sandals, seemed a bit startled to see Teresa. She double-checked the address on her card, then glanced at the house number, and finally looked up at Teresa’s smiling face.

“...Why is the champion here?”

“Miss Sophia, that’s a strange question. What’s a Crown Estate without its champions?” Teresa joked gently.

“This is the Crown Estate...?” She looked back at the central, luxurious mansion.

“Sorry... I must have come to the wrong place.”

“No, I don’t think so. You’re looking for Miss Astrid, aren’t you?”

“My sister... She's here?”

“Oh? She didn’t mention it?” Teresa bent down, hands neatly placed on her knees. “Your sister is my teammate now, you know?”

“Don’t—don’t get so close...” Faced with Teresa’s doll-like golden hair and emerald eyes, Sophia took a step back, a flicker of panic in her eyes.

“Come in.” Teresa stepped aside.

“Astrid told me earlier you’d be visiting.”

Still, Sophia hesitated to step inside.

Teresa tilted her head, noting the expression on the girl’s face—and understood.

Ah, this child must be especially shy with strangers.

“Come on,” Teresa extended her hand.

Sophia suddenly recalled the golden figure who had once saved her in the Coleman Forest a month ago.

A Gold Elf...

Her gaze drifted to Teresa’s clearly human ears, then dropped slightly.

Elves had strong instincts—and more than once, she had sensed a familiar aura in Teresa.

The same aura as the Gold Elf girl who had saved her.

But...

Teresa looked obviously human. And back then, the Gold Elf had been just a girl her own age—how could she grow up in a single month?

Even so... There was something about Teresa that felt inexplicably warm.

Putting aside her doubts, Sophia quietly reached out and took Teresa’s hand, stepping through the gate.

Feeling the warmth from Teresa’s palm, she looked up and noticed the smooth, golden hair right in front of her.

“Astrid, Miss Sophia is here,” Teresa called gently upstairs after handing Sophia a pair of slippers—identical to Astrid’s.

“Sophia...” As Astrid descended, she saw Sophia holding Teresa’s hand—and a trace of surprise flickered in her eyes.

“Miss Teresa, it looks like Sophia really likes you.”

“Hmm?”

“Mmh...”

“Sophia’s never been close to anyone besides me, not since she was little. This is the first time I’ve seen her let someone hold her hand right away. She must really like you.”

“Sis, stop saying that...” The silver-haired elf girl instantly let go of Teresa’s hand and turned her head away.

“Oh, is this Miss Astrid’s little sister?” Wenfu and Felicia came out of the kitchen and greeted the adorable elven girl.

“............”

Sophia ignored them completely.

The moment she saw unfamiliar faces, she darted behind Astrid—refusing to even look at them.

“Sophia, that’s a little rude.” Astrid sighed softly, helpless.

Indeed—just as Astrid had said, Sophia was incredibly shy around strangers.

Hiding behind her sister, she stared quietly at the golden-haired girl beside her, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

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