"You ask what's going on? That sounds really strange, young man. I should be more confused than you now. Why do your people from the Finance Court have the authority to check the Magical Affairs Institute's archives?"
"Hmm? What do you an I'm pretending to know nothing? Think about it a little. You violated the rules. How would I know how you violated them?"
"No, I can't tell you more, or rather, you're not entitled to question . This S rating file and the subsequent research work are confidential projects of our Research Institute. Once we obtain reliable and solid results, we'll naturally report them to Her Majesty. You don't need to worry about that."
"Sure, you can report to Her Majesty right now, but I need to correct you. I'm not trying to hide anything. Also, I must emphasize to you that the report you're seeing now is our internal version at the Research Institute, and all the contents are pending. As for this examinee's magic armor abilities, we haven't conducted more detailed tests and experints, so the results at this stage are unreliable. If you cite the data and contents from this internal report, but later we prove there was an error, please understand what's primary and what's secondary, and don't bla us."
"Hmm... I think it's fine, good luck to you."
In the exam hall of the Silver Corridor, the voice of Erald intermittently ca out of the doll, apparently having had a conversation with soone.
And when this conversation ended, she finally had the ti to manipulate the doll and look at the door, where Erald Sparrow asked, "How was it? What did she say?"
It had been forty minutes since she entered the exam room.
No matter what reasons one might find, Long Dan, as an examinee, had already stayed here for too long. If this continues, it might even interfere with the progress of other examinees, so Erald Sparrow could only thicken her face and contact Zhe Helan, going through the procedures of the Magical Affairs Institute to temporarily arrange the few examinees behind her to other exam rooms.
Indeed, she could also pretend to know nothing, leave here directly, and let Erald handle the negotiation with Purple Diamond. But since it involves Lin Xiaolu, if she couldn't know the result imdiately, she really wouldn't be at ease.
"She said our Research Institute has no right to keep such a significant discovery to ourselves. Even if we want to research it, we must first inform Her Majesty and then research it according to Her Majesty's opinion."
Hearing Erald Sparrow's question, the Fairy doll spread its paws: "Logically speaking, there's nothing wrong with what she said."
"Logically speaking, there's nothing wrong?" Erald Sparrow raised an eyebrow: "Then what's the problem in reality?"
"There are two points." The Fairy doll lifted its round paw and extended two short claws: "First, regardless of her intentions, the Gemstone Scepters theoretically shouldn't compete with each other for credit. If each Gemstone Scepter tries to please Her Majesty by seizing those eye-catching jobs, it would undoubtedly be a destructive blow to work efficiency. Her Majesty, along with the secretaries of the Royal Court, doesn't want to see this situation."
"And the second point?"
"Second, the most important duty of our Gemstone Scepters is to relieve Her Majesty of worries, so that Her Majesty doesn't have to labor over too many trivial matters."
Erald took a sip of tea, then slowly continued: "Bringing sothing that's not even halfway done in front of Her Majesty for her to decide is a waste of everyone's ti."
"I see."
Erald Sparrow nodded expressionlessly: "So that's why you seem so fearless."
"It's not called being fearless, it's just being confident." Erald corrected.
"It doesn't matter. Since you have your plan ready, I don't need to interfere with anything."
Erald Sparrow stood against the wall, arms crossed: "Then what about my kid? Is there any way to stop Purple Diamond, or change her mind?"
"No."
"... What did you say?"
"I said no." The Fairy doll sat there calmly: "Since she wants to report it, we can't stop her."
"So we're just going to ignore her?" Erald Sparrow found it hard to believe.
"Ignore her."
"Just let the Queen see that child's file?"
"Yes."
"She will know that the child is related to ." Erald Sparrow looked serious: "Even if she can't imdiately determine she's my child, she will know she's my junior."
"I'm sorry, but as it stands, we are powerless." Erald shook her head.
Erald Sparrow fell into silence.
She didn't speak, but anyone could sense the unrest in her heart from her aura. After a long silence, she let out a long sigh:
"How long do you think it would take from when the report is delivered to the Queen until she issues an order about it?"
Erald paused, probably not expecting her to ask such a question, so after a while, she replied, "We don't have the right to speculate on Her Majesty's actions, but based on past experience... since Purple Diamond is personally bringing it up, it would be within two days."
"So, by the ti the next exam starts, the entire Royal Court will know that there's an examinee with a magic armor rating of 'S ' in this exam." Erald Sparrow analyzed with lowered eyes.
"Pretty much, but I can manipulate things a bit over at the Exam Institute and slightly hide this S when announcing the results." Erald spoke in a muffled voice: "Do you need that?"
"Doing so is aningless, hiding it from the Royal Court is just self-deception." Erald Sparrow glanced at her.
"At least it won't make Black Ash Dawn and Claw Mark pay too much attention to your kid." Erald didn't comnt: "If they really know there's an S rating examinee in this exam, do you think they would do sothing during the assessnt?"
Erald Sparrow imdiately fell into hesitation.
Now she had a strange feeling, that is, the conspiracy between herself and others like Erald was destined to be a leaky jar, because the number of people involved was too large, so as ti progressed, more and more flaws were bound to be exposed. What she needed to do seed not to patch up this leaky jar, but to race against it.
— whether to complete the plan before the conspiracy is fully exposed, "making ands for cris" and appearing rightfully before the Queen, or to have everything fall apart before finishing, leaving the whole group in a disadvantageous position.
If she successfully attains the position of the Sapphire Wand, then Lin Xiaolu's issue would just be an added bargaining chip; if not, Lin Xiaolu's file would beco another shackle on her, an "exile." It's all just a difference in ti.
After pondering over many things internally, Erald Sparrow gradually ca to an answer.
She lifted the handbag slung over her shoulder, retrieved her phone from it, opened the contact list, and dialed a number.
It was Lin Xiaolu's phone.
After waiting quietly for a while, the call went through.
"... Ah, hello? Is this Erald Sparrow? What's up?"
"Yes, it's ." Erald Sparrow responded calmly, as if it was just casual small talk: "How did the exam go? No surprises, right? Any results yet?"
"Oh, you can rest assured, everything went smoothly, none of the worries ca true. And Xiao Xuan's results are out, it's B-."
"Oh? B-?" Erald Sparrow feigned a just-found-out tone: "That's really... great, just as excellent as I expected."
"Right? I heard other candidates say that the usual upper limit for a single Magic Armor rating is around C Level, so in a way, Xiao Xuan kind of broke the record."
"Hmm, we should celebrate for her when we get back." Erald Sparrow said softly, "So, how about you?"
"Ah, , I just finished the exam not long ago..."
"So you haven't received your results yet?"
"Well... um, haha, never mind, I was going to surprise you, but I couldn't hold it in. My rating is particularly high, can you guess what it is, Erald Sparrow?"
"Particularly high? Higher than Xiao Xuan's?"
"Though it's a bit unfair to her, it is indeed much higher."
"Much higher? A Level?" Erald Sparrow pretended disbelief.
"No, even higher."
"A ?" Erald Sparrow seed puzzled.
"You can guess more boldly, it's not just a little higher."
"S?"
"Haha, I can't believe it myself, they actually rated my Magic Armor as S !"
"S ? What's that? Are you sure you saw it correctly?"
"How could I be wrong? It's not a handwritten grade, the screen clearly showed a plus sign."
"I really haven't heard of that before." Erald Sparrow said with a tone still filled with surprise, "Did they just tell you this score? No other notice?"
"Hmm? No other notice, none at all. I guess I'll have to wait until the scores are officially announced? I asked around, and it seems there are no other S ratings, maybe I'm the highest score?"
"...I think it's possible."
"I'm keeping it a secret for now, haven't told anyone else about my score. It'll be such a shock when the scores are announced."
"You haven't told anyone else?"
"No, I've only ntioned it to you, Erald Sparrow."
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just thinking, I've never heard of an S rating before. While it's indeed excellent and surprised , to be honest, it also makes a bit worried."
"Worried, why?"
"You know, this exam might have so issues. If those bad guys find out about your score, they might target you as a special target... possibly, it could be dangerous."
"Ah, right, it seems so. What should I do?"
"Do you want to tell another examiner now or should I ask my colleagues here to find out more about this S rating? If it's really as special as we think, maybe we should... change it to an S, or A , just to avoid so trouble?"
Erald Sparrow seed calm, but spoke with a hint of caution.
"Eh—lower the grade? That's a bit... hmm, but if you really want to do that, Erald Sparrow, I suppose it's not impossible."
"No, I'm not trying to force you; I'm just curious about your thoughts. After all, I've thought a lot about this, and if I deprive you of the honor you deserve purely because of my worry, wouldn't that be a bit selfish?"
Erald Sparrow closed her eyes, focusing all her attention on the voice on the other end of the microphone.
Though she was still covering things up with this sentence, the sentints expressed were genuine.
Blocking Lin Xiaolu's score was her own idea, and now, after the failure, she indeed thought about many future matters, but also gained more insight into the positions of herself and her daughter in this affair.
Perhaps, it was precisely her insistence on this one-sided and sowhat arrogant "concern" that led to such difficulties.
Erald Sparrow thought to herself with a trace of self-deprecation.
"Not really, I understand, you're just worried about ... But if I really have to decide, I still hope to make the score public."
"Make it public?"
"Yes, give myself so credit, and..." Lin Xiaolu's voice suddenly paused.
"And?" Erald Sparrow asked curiously.
"And, you've told , Erald Sparrow, that I would beco a remarkable Magical Girl, right? I don't want to abandon the honor and expectations I should have just because I'm afraid of enemies or battles. I think wanting to beco a great Magical Girl should an carrying everyone's expectations and fighting on... right?" Lin Xiaolu explained a bit bashfully.
But Erald Sparrow understood what she ant.
——She doesn't want to hide under soone else's protection; she wants to beco soone who protects others.
"Ah, why no response? Hello, hello? Can you hear ? Was what I said too pretentious?" Seeing Erald Sparrow not responding for a long ti, Lin Xiaolu asked awkwardly.
"...No, I just thought of sothing." Erald Sparrow shook her head: "Bai i."
"I'm listening, what's up?"
"More than the S rating, what you just said makes prouder of you."
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