I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha.

Stepping out of the courtyard and through an art gallery, you reach the examination hall. People are queuing to enter the examination hall, and the line extends all the way to the art gallery.

Impatient people were queuing up, while those who were less impatient were admiring the paintings—most of them were newcomers. It was the first time they had seen these paintings, so they were very interested.

One new face caught Roland's attention.

The girl was wearing a white wizard's robe that looked somewhat like a monk's robe—Joan also had one, so Roland recognized it at a glance as the new style of wizard's robe from the White Chess Academy.

Those who came to Valeria stopped wearing wizard robes after staying for a while. So she still stood out in the crowd.

She looked two years younger than Roland, in the prime of her youth. Her azure eyes shone like twinkling morning stars.

This girl is as beautiful as a princess from a fairy tale, and also resembles the boy's beautiful classmate from his childhood.

She appeared very reserved, but her expressive, mischievous eyes revealed her inherent playfulness and liveliness.

She was curiously looking at the paintings in the gallery when Charlie, who seemed to know her very well, started talking to her like an older brother, proudly telling her about the origins of the paintings.

Seemingly sensing Roland's gaze, the girl glanced at him curiously.

Roland smiled and nodded at her. The girl looked a little confused, but out of politeness, she smiled and nodded back at Roland.

Then, their view of each other was blocked by the crowd.

There were too many people on the street, and Joan didn't notice the girl and Charlie; her attention was focused on the paintings in the corridor.

“Father is right, there are many great hermits in Valeria.” Joan was always moved whenever she saw these paintings. “These paintings all subtly reveal the path to truth, yet they are all just paintings.”

They were definitely made by a master.

Roland said nothing.

At that moment, Roland saw the girl with the white chess piece enter the examination room without queuing. Miss Brianna, who was standing at the entrance of the examination room smoking her pipe, didn't even check her body, but simply nodded and let her in.

Soon, it was Joan and Roland's turn in the line. Brianna nodded to Joan and let her in. But when it was Roland's turn, Miss Brianna laid her pipe down and gave Wallace a look.

Wallace picked up the crystal ball, tapped Roland all over with his wand, and then rolled up his sleeves and carefully touched him all over.

The examination of Roland was noticeably more thorough than that of others. Only after confirming that there were no problems did Brianna grunt and allow Roland to enter the examination room.

Sitting in his seat, Roland touched the large stack of notes that Wallace had secretly slipped to him, and felt much more at ease.

He glanced back at everyone's seats and then saw that the girl in the back seat was the same girl who had been looking at paintings in the gallery.

The girl looked at Roland curiously, then gave him a very reserved smile.

Roland smiled very politely.

Just as the two were about to exchange a few words, Brianna entered the examination room with the exam papers. Seeing the warning look in Miss Brianna's eyes, the two sat up straight and took the exam papers she handed them.

During the regular exam, Brianna stood next to Roland the whole time.

After Roland finished answering, Brianna immediately grabbed the exam paper and started checking it on the spot.

After watching it several times, Brianna's face was filled with confusion, and she left with great reluctance.

Seeing that his exam paper had already been collected, Roland simply left the exam room.

"Young Master, please don't leave yet," Wallace, who was guarding the door, said. "The exam papers will be graded soon, and Miss Brianna has some things to tell you."

“Hmm.” Roland nodded, giving Wallace a questioning look.

Wallace blinked and quietly gave Roland an OK sign.

'I finally got away with it.'

Relieved, Roland went to the small gallery to wait, admiring the masterpieces. Soon, some classmates began to emerge. These were mostly academic elites, chatting idly while looking at the paintings. They all seemed to find today's questions less difficult than they had imagined.

"Are all these paintings your masterpieces?" A curious voice came from beside me.

“Yes, I painted part of it.” After considering for a moment, Roland pointed to a portrait and said, “This one is ‘To Alice’.”

The girl's eyes lit up; it was her favorite painting.

Each painting in the gallery was very different in style, so she did not doubt Roland's words.

“Miss Brianna said you’ll be in trouble if you don’t get a perfect score. You just answered one question wrong,” the girl kindly reminded her.

“Then you must have answered incorrectly, Miss Helena.” Roland smiled and looked at the junior student beside him.

"You actually peeked at my exam paper?! But how did you do that?" Helena was very curious. "Brianna was standing right next to you watching you the whole time. I saw your exam paper because she picked it up. How did you manage to cheat right under her nose?"

“Of course I didn’t cheat,” Roland laughed. “I just saw the seating chart yesterday.”

"So, did you manage to steal the exam questions yesterday?" Helena was very clever and immediately guessed why Roland had seen the seating chart. She found what this senior had done very interesting, and her eyes lit up.

“I saw it, but the answer wasn’t written on it.” Roland sighed.

Noticing that Helena hadn't spoken for a while, Roland turned around with some confusion. He then found Brianna standing behind her with a dark expression.

Helena stuck out her tongue, gave Roland a 'good luck' look, and then slipped away.

"You brat. Keep pretending." Brianna muttered, "This history test was specially designed by Williams. With your preconceived notions about the past, there's no way you could have gotten a perfect score."

"So, I got full marks, right?" Roland asked, feigning surprise.

Brianna remained silent, her face dark.

“Miss Brianna, I really don’t understand,” Roland asked. “Why are you so convinced that I am some kind of great sage and forcing me to admit it?”

"Hehe, good, very good. Roland, let me tell you, Leonard is already considering whether or not to send you to Wilmick for treatment."

Brianna sneered, "If you keep being stubborn and pretending to have amnesia, then wait for Theresa and the others to deal with you."

“Miss Brianna, I really don’t understand what you’re saying. I believe you that His Majesty Leonard visited here four years ago. After all, Victor was inexplicably bestowed a title after that. So His Majesty must have been in our expedition team back then.”

But I got along very well with everyone in the adventurer's group, so I really don't know which one is His Majesty. And none of the members of the adventurer's group ever talked to me about the throne.

Besides, I just don't do well in history class; is it really necessary to send me to a mental hospital for treatment?

Looking at Roland, whose face was full of confusion, Brianna slowly took a drag of her cigarette.

"Roland, is being an emperor really that awful?" Brianna asked earnestly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m just a lowly knight’s squire from the countryside. I’m really not cut out for this.” Roland said helplessly.

Brianna puffed out a few smokes, then sighed, "Fine, I've wanted to retire for a while now. Since you're being so stubborn, don't give yourself away, or I'll have to go back to work with you."

"Want to grab a drink tonight?" Roland asked with a smile.

Seeing Roland's smile, Brianna recalled some things that happened after she drank with 'Adventurer, Wild Wizard Roland' last time. She couldn't help but glare at Roland with a slightly flushed face.

That one glance was so captivating that Roland's heart skipped a beat. If there hadn't been other people around, he would have boldly embraced Miss Brianna's slender waist.

“Don’t get too cocky, you brat,” Brianna said. “A lot of people have come from upstairs. The top three will have an interview later, at Holly Tower. Joan and Helena have already gone back to prepare, you should hurry up too.”

With that, Miss Brianna swayed away—she hadn't refused a drink, but only if Roland could make it.

'What the hell? Are they really going to turn Valeria into some kind of Aleya Academy?' (End of Chapter)