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

　Pandora looked up at him, her gaze cold and stern, as if complaining that he hadn't seen her all day.

　Dark smiled slightly awkwardly, then walked over to Pandora's side under everyone's gaze, pulled out a chair and sat down.

　"What are they all talking about?" he asked.

　“Information on tomorrow’s contestants,” Pandora said.

　There were indeed stacks of documents on the dining table; it was unclear who had obtained them.

　However, considering that the people present included royalty, disciples of sages, and even genuine gods, it wouldn't be surprising if they acquired something. Dark took out the documents he had brought from his backpack, neatly placed them on the table, and said, "I brought some as well."

　"Let me see."

　Pandora simply took a document from in front of him and quickly flipped through it. The other students glanced at it and also reached out to take one.

　Information gathering is an essential part of dueling matches.

　The information they possessed came from the royal family and St. Mary's College, respectively, and was clearly different.

　The information from the royal family clearly focuses more on duelists who have shown "formidable potential," with the vast majority of the information revolving around those who ranked high in the preliminary rounds.

　The data from St. Mary's College, on the other hand, highlights the principle of "equality for all," meaning that data for every contestant is available, but there is no statistical analysis or organization.

　According to the professor who provided the materials, this is something the students have to do themselves.

　Even at this point, the college still places great emphasis on cultivating students' multifaceted abilities.

　However, there was only one day between the auditions and the preliminary rounds. The students who had just finished needed to rest fully, so where would they find the energy to compile and screen the data of more than one hundred contestants?

　So before Dak arrived, they were looking at information that they had obtained from the royal family.

　After entering the preliminary selection, Senior Eluri Clarissa became a special focus of the royal family's training program, and naturally, all sorts of information were offered to her.

　However, the word "special" in "specially key training targets" inevitably caused Eluri some trouble.

　Last night, her parents, who had come along with her, gave her another pep talk. They said that men should marry when they are of age and women should marry when they are of age, and that she should take the initiative and seize the opportunity when she sees a suitable person, otherwise she would regret it sooner or later.

　Eluri responded to her parents with a smile throughout, nodding in agreement to every request. Only after seeing her parents off did she turn around and curse.

　Are there no women of marriageable age in the royal family?

　But you know what? You really shouldn't say it.

　There are very few.

　Even just looking at age, besides her, only Anna, Angie, and Dark Dimon are within three years of each other.

　She was born in July, a few months shy of turning eighteen.

　The person in the entire royal family who is most likely to produce daughters is indeed the current King. The King's intelligence department conducted a detailed investigation into Dark Dimon and concluded that he has a thing for older women.

　What is annual control?

　I just prefer people who are older than me.

　Therefore, when faced with a choice between the two little princesses and Eluri, she was ultimately chosen because she also had a good relationship with Dark Dimon.

　This was actually an unexpected surprise for the king.

　He probably hadn't expected there to be such a suitable candidate. It wasn't that Elurly was indifferent to Dark Dimon; after all, any normal girl would...

　It's hard not to like a boy who is almost perfect inside and out.

　In particular, Darkdemon is the kind of boy who is very assertive to outsiders, but makes people want to bully him to some extent.

　Spending one's life with someone like that would surely bring happiness. But even though Eluri is nearly eighteen, she still harbors an extremely romantic childlike heart.

　Although she doesn't usually show it, how could someone who can be so close to fairies not have some fairy-like qualities? She doesn't yearn for this kind of transactional marriage.

　The king's orders and her parents' instructions would only provoke her rebellion. But these external matters can be discussed later.

　It's only right that we don't focus on preparing for tomorrow's match yet.

　Eluri was from Da's group of hands

　Not long after, the students were left with only Darkdemon's...

　The information is there.

　The so-called gap comes from comparison.

　You don't know until you compare; for true expertise, look to the Duke's Mansion. The sounds inside the restaurant quickly faded, leaving only the rustling of pages being flipped through rapidly.

　Everyone here is blessed by the god of wisdom; even if you don't have a photographic memory, you all have exceptional memories.

　In short, whether you understand it or not is secondary. First, read it all through to deepen your memory, and memorize everything you can.

　With this information, tomorrow's efforts will surely be twice as effective.

　However, we cannot completely trust the information.

　There must be quite a few players who hide their trump cards or even deliberately avoid using their usual decks.

　The information that Dak brought included some players who might fall into this category, but it certainly couldn't be comprehensive, and there was a possibility of errors.

　—We'll make adjustments when the time comes!

　Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

　The scheduled meal time had arrived, and the hotel staff had already prepared to serve the food and had been waiting outside for quite some time.

　Seeing their seriousness, the students outside delayed their visit a little. But now they couldn't delay any longer and finally knocked on the door. "Put it aside for now, put it aside for now."

　Senior student Gina Grant tapped her documents on the table as a reminder. Her birthday was in January, making her eighteen, the oldest person present. In fact, she was also the most mature student there.

　Of course, this excludes Darko.

　After being reminded by her, the students turned around and saw the two little princesses peering through the glass door and making faces at the inside. They were all stunned for a moment, then laughed and put away the materials on the table.

　The information is here and won't disappear, so let's continue after the dinner.

　As soon as the glass door opened, the students rushed into the living room and sat down at the dining table.

　This is a round dining table, but with a touch of a magic wand, the table extends from the center line to both sides, becoming a columnar shape.

　The waiters place plates filled with food on a track on the table, and the plates slowly rotate along the track, which is very novel to people in this world.

　"The food is finally served."

　Diana couldn't contain her excitement; she had been almost unable to resist ever since she smelled the fragrance.

　Compared to last night's lavish feast, tonight's dishes are of a lower standard overall.

　But actually, the rarer or more upscale the dish, the better it tastes. When Aurora was preparing for tonight's dinner party, she specifically chose more homely and palatable dishes.

　Some elaborate dishes that are not commonly seen can be daunting. More everyday dishes, on the other hand, can enhance the atmosphere and create a more comfortable environment.

　As the "host," she naturally took the seat of honor today. She originally wanted to invite Dakla to sit next to her, but in the end, she didn't say it.

　Dark remained in his original seat, with Pandora to his right and Diana and the others who had later taken his seat to his left.

　The two were quite far apart.

　Although there were some minor regrets, they didn't dampen the atmosphere of tonight's dinner.

　"It's already April, and in less than two months, our seniors will be graduating."

　Aurora spoke, her voice tinged with sadness.

　"I hope all the senior students will achieve excellent results in tomorrow's preliminary selection and leave us with more profound role models before graduation."

　Her words were quite sincere, and her expression was quite formal.

　The younger students instinctively chimed in, wishing their seniors great success in the World Cup.

　Of the seven students in this preliminary round, four are graduating sixth-grade students, making this truly their last dance before the Academy Cup.

　"Indeed, indeed." Senior Shrek nodded sincerely in agreement, but then he added, "However, graduating doesn't mean leaving school. I plan to stay on campus this year. What about you guys?"

　“The world is so big, I want to go out and see it,” Senior Elurly said, looking up at him with a glare.

　Shrek didn't seem to care and pressed Gina and Pandora for answers.

　Gina smiled and said, "I'm still thinking about it."

　Pandora looked at Dark, her brows furrowing slightly, and said, "I haven't decided yet either. It's a major life decision, so I need to think it over carefully." Shrek's tone was teasing.

　But Pandora had more to consider than just these things.

　“Speaking of graduation, I only have one year left,” Winnie said, resting her chin on her hand and pondering for a moment.

　The fifth-grade students realized that they didn't have much time left.

　"I always felt that the days at school went by too slowly, but when I looked back, five years had already passed. In the second half of the year, I started to worry about my graduation project."

　"The graduation project isn't the problem, but where should I go after graduation?"

　"Why don't you apply to stay on campus like Shrek senior?" "Speaking of staying on campus, it's said that since last year, the application process has become much simpler, and the success rate has increased significantly."

　"Indeed, if it were us, there's no way we would have failed to get accepted."

　The fifth-grade students looked at each other, and they all thought staying at school was a good idea.

　However, this kind of thinking is actually the same as that of those who choose to take the postgraduate entrance examination after graduating from university because they are afraid of finding a job; it is a manifestation of mental confusion.

　The argument that academic mages always fall into one trap is that they lack adaptability to society.

　The students are too dependent on the college and the professors.

　The sixth-grade graduation project was actually designed to help them "desensitize"—"Thinking too much now is useless; when the time comes, they might have completely different thoughts and choices."

　Gina, a senior student, said with a smile, picking up the communal utensils and reaching for the plate. "Since things have come to this, let's eat first!"

　...

　With someone taking the lead, the clinking of cutlery soon began. Dak very conscientiously piled his plate full of meat.

　From a certain moment on, the meat piled high on his plate began to decrease at an extremely rapid rate.

　He can't eat much, but there's a big eater sitting on his left and right.

　Pandora may appear to eat slowly and deliberately, but she actually eats very quickly.

　Diana initially tried to maintain her image in front of Sofia, but soon her mouth was greasy.

　If these two were to eat whatever they wanted, it would be a diet that most people couldn't afford.

　Dak kept adding meat to his plate at a steady pace, while he focused on the wide variety of vegetarian dishes.

　Don't get me wrong, he's a carnivore too, but sometimes he needs a balanced diet of meat and vegetables.

　Even the food at the Alliance Hotel wasn't entirely to his liking. The dishes were exquisite, but they always lacked a certain flavor. He thought for a moment and realized he was reminiscing about the past. "Now that we've entered the restaurant business, it's time to expand into Chinese restaurants as well." He liked sweet and sour flavors, as well as spicy ones, and had a particular fondness for fried noodles and fried rice cakes.

　With the continuous accumulation of knowledge, he now has enough ability to find and improve plants in order to quickly produce the ingredients he wants.

　Rice, rice noodles, rice cakes... these staple foods can gradually become more widespread. His Chinese restaurants, which he piloted in Traveler's Street and around the capital, haven't been universally praised, but they've certainly gained acceptance from many people.

　This shows that people in this world are still quite tolerant when it comes to food. He now has a small dream: no matter which city he goes to, he can eat authentic Chinese food.

　About an hour later, all the food on the table was gone.

　The waiter removed the plates and replaced them with fruit platters, desserts, and tea.

　The students continued chatting.

　But after chatting for a short while, the students who had advanced to the preliminary rounds couldn't help but take out their materials and continue to look through them.

　Then the other students all got up with smiles, each took one or two fruit platters and desserts, and carried them to the living room.

　Before long, only seven people remained in the restaurant.

　Dark restored the dining table to its original state and continued reading the documents for a while. At one point, he whispered something to Senior Pandora, and then they left the private room together.

　The two entered the cubicle and raised their hands to set up a protective barrier.

　Pandora crossed her arms, her brows furrowed in a stern expression, but after a moment her face relaxed, and she asked somewhat listlessly, "Is it business again?"

　Dark nodded and said, "It's important."

　“Hmm.” Pandora brought over two chairs, one for each of them. Dark sat down facing her and asked, “Did Galenoris come to see you today?”

　Pandora nodded slightly, somewhat helplessly, and said, "They came early this morning. They said that everything that happened before was the Church's fault, but it was Patrice who made those decisions. Now the Pope is old and frail and won't be sitting on that throne for much longer. After the Pope passes away, the Holy Church will no longer be Patrice's Holy Church... They really want to absolve themselves of all responsibility for what they did before."

　Dark didn't laugh. Instead, after listening patiently, he said, "I've found out why Galenoris insisted on finding you. Do you want to hear it?" He spoke formally and with a serious expression.

　But Pandora glared at him, then grabbed his cheeks and pulled them apart forcefully: "What do you think?"

　“Haha.” Darke chuckled dryly and said, “Then I’ll tell you, here’s what happened.”