The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Before she knew it, Emma had stepped off the contestant's platform, and Susan and Lucy immediately grabbed her hands, one on each side.

　Susan immediately yelled, "What's with this lousy competition? Sending a third-year student to bully people? Emma, ​​don't mind him, we'll get back at him in the next match!"

　Lucy chimed in, "Yes, our Emma can definitely do it!"

　Emma's eyes reddened slightly, but she held back her tears: "What are you worrying about? Do I look like such a fragile person?"

　Susan quickly replied, "Of course not, Emma is very strong."

　Lucy: "As strong as a balloon, rock hard."

　Emma: "Pfft! How can you talk like that?"

　Lucy: "Haha, let's go. Let's talk over there, it won't affect the next game."

　Emma: "Okay."

　As she walked out, she glanced cautiously at the bench over there, then immediately turned around and hurried away.

　But after walking only a few steps, two people appeared directly in front of them.

　"Little Emma."

　Helena waved to Emma.

　Emma paused for a moment, then said something to her two friends and walked towards Helena's direction.

　As soon as she got closer, she noticed Winnie next to Helena. This senior, who had danced with the princess at the Halloween ball, had left a fairly deep impression on her.

　But before she could ask a question, Helena put her arm around her shoulder, waved her fist, and said in a carefree manner, "Don't be sad. When I get back, I'll help you smash Angelia's little head in!"

　“Angelia…” Emma snapped out of her daze, “Is that the senior from earlier?”

　Helena smiled and nodded, saying, "Angelia Hudson, a third-year student at the Fools' House, and a member of our Literature Club."

　Emma frowned slightly: "From the Fools' House?"

　Helena said, "Reserved and low-key, accumulating strength before unleashing it—that's the Fool's House for you."

　She then introduced Winnie to Emma: "This is also a third-year student, but from the Magic Academy, Winnie Skadi."

　Emma nodded: "Yes, I know, hello senior."

　Winnie extended her hand to shake hers, and that was how they became acquainted.

　Helena then said, "We just watched your match, and your basic skills are pretty good. If you perform reasonably well in the next two matches, we can give you a spot in the literature club."

　"The Literature Club?" Emma asked in surprise. "Don't you have to wait until the second year to join other clubs?"

　Helena smiled brightly: "This is called pre-ordering tickets. The first year is a foundation-building period; only with a solid foundation can you soar to great heights, which is why the academy has this rule. After the second year, you'll understand how important a good team is, and our literary society is absolutely second to none in the entire castle. You should know that we only have four openings each year!"

　Emma's mind raced, and she asked, "Four branch schools, one in each?"

　Helena: "Mostly."

　Emma immediately understood and said, "I understand. I'll consider it when I'm in second year."

　Helena: "..."

　Winnie chuckled softly as she watched Winnie's discomfiture. "Actually, we're here to extend an olive branch to you. Helena recommended you. Regardless of your performance, this position will be reserved for you. Of course, the prerequisite is that you volunteer. Helena is right about one thing: having a good team is very important, and our literary society is by no means a disgrace."

　Helena said helplessly, "Anyway, I've passed on the message. You don't need to worry about it. You can give me an answer later."

　It's like a dream.

　She will certainly consider it carefully.

　She wouldn't make any promises lightly before truly understanding the literary society.

　But now, looking back, she suddenly understood what Angelia meant by "let's talk next time."

　"I see!"

　This made her feel much more at ease about her previous failure.

　At the same time, I also developed a real interest in the literary society.

　……

　"She seems to be in pretty good shape."

　Dark glanced at the literary society sign that Helena was casually carrying, then turned his head back.

　Diana used two fingers to pull down the corner of her eye, muttering, "If it were me, I would be like this by now."

　Luo bluntly exposed her lie: "You're kidding me! I'll just stuff a piece of candy in your mouth and you'll forget everything."

　Diana said with a grin, "It's because the candy is so delicious."

　The three continued to look at the arena.

　The second match quickly began, a contest between two second-year students.

　The first-year students also witnessed the average level of the second-year students at this time.

　Their usual summoning time is between 5 and 10 seconds.

　The sacrifice summoning speed exceeds 10 seconds.

　If we're talking about summoning speed alone, they're even slightly inferior to Dark.

　However, the foundation gained from an extra year of study was evident in the Magic Cards.

　Their magic cards are significantly more diverse, with each side having its own unique features, and each side possesses at least one second-tier magic spirit card.

　Why do we say at least one?

　Because they each only summoned one card during the duel.

　Dark is more inclined to believe that they had multiple Tier 2 Magical Spirit cards, but the battle was decided before they could even summon them.

　Although both students displayed second-tier magical spirits, their scores were not high.

　Professor Jones and that senior student only gave them a passing grade.

　Professor Fox's score was even lower.

　"It's probably because their summoning speed hasn't reached the second-year assessment standard yet. Plus, their other performances weren't particularly outstanding either."

　After thinking for a moment, Dak roughly guessed the reason.

　Diana, who was standing next to him, glanced at the elderly Professor Fox and whispered, "That white-haired grandpa always seems particularly strict. Does he dislike bears?"

　It took Dak a while to figure out her thought process, and he couldn't help but say, "Don't worry, he won't give you a low score just because he doesn't like bears."

　"Okay." Diana jumped to the ground, shaking her hands. "My turn!"

　Rose said, "Hopefully not a third-year student."

　Diana: "Same here, the scoring doesn't consider the winner or loser."

　As she spoke, she ran towards the red team's platform, looking very confident.

　……

　After a break from the duel, the first-year spectators finally caught their breath, while the students from the Noble Academy perked up, ready to unleash a few shouts once Diana gained the upper hand.

　But as Diana stepped onto the field, her opponent also emerged from the crowd—a second-year student!

　First grade vs. second grade!

　This is not uncommon in recruitment competitions.

　Because the skill gap is not large, the two sides can usually fight back and forth.

　Of course, the second-year students will definitely have a much higher winning rate.

　Having learned from the experience of the Knights Academy, the first-year students of the Noble Academy were much more restrained when cheering.

　On the contrary, the second-year student's friend was full of energy, and his eyes were full of disdain when he looked at the first-year students of the Noble Academy.

　Yes, they are clearly from the Knights' Academy!

　The two colleges have been at odds for a very long time, even though their personal relationship is relatively good. But once it comes to a conflict between the two colleges, they can turn on each other in an instant.

　All friendships should be settled after the outcome of the competition.

　However, circumstances were beyond their control. The first-year students of the Noble Academy gritted their teeth, but they had no confidence in winning, so they had no choice but to hold back.

　"Both players, please enter the arena as soon as possible!"

　Urged on by the referee, the second-year student from the Knights Academy finally stepped onto the blue team's platform.

　He casually activated the card table and said through the loudspeaker, "You're so young, how can you participate in a competition?"

　Diana, who had been cheerful, was suddenly taken aback by his question, looking completely bewildered: "What does Xiaohe have to do with participating in the competition?"

　The second-year student scratched his head and asked, "How can we play cards if we can't even reach the table?"

　Diana placed her hand on the card table, puzzled, and asked, "Can you reach it?"

　"puff."

　Dak almost lost his composure off the court.

　Rose asked curiously, "Is this the kind of trash talk Professor Jones used?"

　Dark shrugged. "Maybe."

　Rose suddenly realized, "The professor said that during the preparation phase of the conversation, you can use conversation techniques to influence the other person's mindset, which is also a tactic. But this is the first time I've seen real trash talk. Isn't he afraid of alienating people?"

　Dark: "Perhaps he was already unlikeable enough to begin with?"

　Rose: "That's true!"

　……

　The second-year student was indeed somewhat restrained; under the watchful eyes of the two professors, he dared not say too much.

　But such trash talk was completely ineffective for Diana – she didn't take it seriously at all!

　After placing the deck into the slot, Diana asked, "By the way, what's your name?"

　The second-year student then asked, "Marjorie Gresham, and you?"

　Diana shook her head: "I won't tell you."

　Marjorie was taken aback: "Then you're asking me my name?"

　Diana shook her head and said, "I, Diana, do not kill nameless people."

　After a long pause, Marjorie suddenly realized that this girl's name was Diana!

　"Beep——"

　The referee's whistle interrupted their Martian exchange.

　The competition has entered the second half of the preparation phase.

　……

　"Preparation Phase" [30 seconds]

　……

　Diana, looking quite energetic, pulled out five cards from the top of the shuffled deck.

　Immediately afterward, her eyes lit up as she spotted "Bear Spirit" among the cards in her hand!

　As a light-type immortal being with attack power exceeding that of a three-star standard special magical spirit card, this Bear Spirit can be considered Diana's trump card.

　Without any hesitation, she pulled out a corner of the "Bear Spirit" card.

　"Tick!"

　The 30-second countdown ended quickly.

　The duel has entered the "battle phase".

　Diana immediately began summoning the "Bear Spirit".

　Her normal summoning spell lasts less than ten seconds, which is not as good as Dark's and Emma's. However, the second-year student Marjorie on the other side is not a particularly outstanding student either, so the gap between the two is not too big.

　Sure enough, it took Marjorie a full eight seconds to summon the first magical sprite!

　Both sides completed their normal summoning spells almost simultaneously.

　"Come out, long-necked camel!"