7. The Despicable Outsider

The purpose of Kefir and me coming to the Rosia Empire was mainly to help her get through the final exams at Rublyanka Academy and to find an opportunity to negotiate with the Thunder Fairy, not to let Kefir get entangled with some little villain that suddenly appeared as soon as she arrived at the academy, wasting time and unnecessary energy!

So, when I realized from the script that the girl with pink curly hair we just passed might very well set her sights on Kefir, looking for trouble for various reasons, I immediately pulled Leiti around, wanting to find her and stop it in advance. It’s always fine to coax the midget, but if Kefir gets entangled with the “little villain,” it’s her own leveling time that will be wasted!

At this moment, I was almost ready to scoop up Letty and chase after her! But Letty didn’t seem too concerned; rather, she was more focused on my “affectionate” gestures towards her.

“Big brother, that girl is an acquaintance of mine; she usually wouldn’t go looking for trouble.”

As she spoke, she puffed out her little lips, her voice tinged with dissatisfaction towards Kephir. “And besides, we from the Rosia Empire don’t just talk—we act! There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

This kind of thing really isn’t something to be proud of, Emperor Letty.

I felt a bit anxious: Kephir and I weren’t afraid of any “little villains” showing up, but if that were the case…

“Letty, if something happens to Kephir at the academy, I’ll be in trouble too. And that girl you mentioned is a noble from Rosia, right? If this escalates and targets us ‘international students’ at the academy, it’ll be hard for us to stay here.”

That was what I was truly worried about.

Letty finally became a bit more serious: “The report for the final test is in the principal’s office. Big brother, let’s hurry!”

As soon as it involved me, Letty became unusually proactive.

The principal’s office at Rublyanka Academy wasn’t hard to find. The open window, despite the heavy snow outside, allowed me and Letty to catch a glimpse of what was happening inside before we even entered.

I realized too late that the situation was going south. At that moment, Kephir was already in conversation with the principal, and just then… the girl named Reia, whom Letty had mentioned, walked in. I quickly noticed: it wasn’t that I was biased towards my wife, but this student had clearly held a grudge against Kephir from the start.

The anxious script I feared was unfolding!

[Reia holds a grudge against Kephir and wants to provoke her!]

It seemed that during the project testing at Rublyanka Academy, Kephir and I hadn’t managed to keep a low profile, and had attracted the attention of other students who didn’t like us. Phew… this was standard plot material in a place like the academy. More importantly, the girl targeting Kephir…

[Reia, president of the student council at Rublyanka Academy, is one of the few remaining oligarch daughters of the Rosia Empire and is acquainted with Letty.]

She wasn’t just some reckless blonde looking to provoke Kephir out of sheer curiosity; she was a noble girl. This eased my mind a bit, but in reality… things had just gotten a lot more complicated, because what Kephir was about to face wasn’t some “extra,” but a “little villain.”

[Reia possesses ice attribute magic at the sixth tier and wields swordsmanship at the fifth tier, placing her at the top of Rublyanka Academy. Due to Kephir’s earlier performance and Letty’s comments about her, Reia harbors hostility towards Kephir!]

As expected, it seemed Letty had shared some dissatisfaction about Kephir with this girl, leading to Reia’s animosity. That said, this girl was indeed strong enough to give me chills, but… Letty, your intel is a bit outdated; Kephir is now on par with a dragon-slaying hero.

The next moment, my worries came to fruition!

“Principal, I’m here to report in and would like to choose the level for the upcoming final test.”

Kephir treated Reia like a passerby, completely uninterested, but her next words ignited the flames.

“If possible, I’d like to graduate with an S-level test.”

This statement immediately triggered a new script!

[Reia’s attitude towards Kephir is hostile!]

Everyone’s here to take exams; why suddenly hold a grudge? I hurriedly asked Letty beside me, “Letty, what’s this S-level all about?”

“It’s the level we prepare for third-year students at Rublyanka Academy when they graduate.”

From a short distance away, everything happening in the principal’s office made Letty instinctively stop in her tracks, frowning. “From S to D, the higher the level you pass the corresponding final test, the better prospects you can secure in the Rosia Empire. If you fail, you get nothing. S-level is the highest difficulty, and everyone knows their own limits, so the spots are very few. It’s ridiculous for her to aim for that—she’s really overestimating herself! A woman with just brute strength can’t possibly pass!”

After saying this, Letty pouted. Emperor, are you underestimating Kephir a bit too much…?

As for Kephir choosing S, she probably didn’t have any ulterior motives; it was likely just her personality pushing her to choose the “highest difficulty.” But… Reia, who was also in the principal’s office, probably didn’t think that way.

[Reia is dissatisfied with Kephir’s choice of the S-level final test!]

[Kefir Rublyanka Academy’s Final Exam, Delayed by Leif!]

This is a problem!

Just as I was reading these scripts, Leif, who had been merely “staring blankly” beside Kefir, could no longer contain her opinions and began to take action! It was the end of the term, and the surrounding area felt somewhat desolate, allowing me and Letty, close to the principal’s office, to hear the girl’s words clearly!

“The S-level final exam is meant for the few most outstanding third-year students at Rublyanka Academy, not for a foreign exchange student who barely shows up at the academy even a few times a semester.”

Kefir’s gaze turned towards her, but… this was likely just what Leif wanted; she had been waiting for this moment of “confrontation.”

“The test content is all related to the Russian Empire, and it is an incredibly rigorous assessment for the vast majority of the Russian military. Foreigners shouldn’t even consider the S-level; they won’t pass anyway, and it serves no purpose, not to mention wasting such a precious spot.”

Even though her words seemed very “reasonable,” the girl’s intent was clearly to obstruct and provoke Kefir, purely because of her identity!

“If you fail, you’ll have nothing left. If you have any self-awareness, just switch to a C/D level and get a diploma to take back to your own territory, you opportunistic foreigner.”