Chapter 176: Promise

Without a doubt, this was the most difficult question for Rollin to answer at present. If he could win the championship, there would still be room for maneuver, but weighed down by his low magician rank, it was simply too arduous for him to secure the title in this assessment.

Once he failed to win the championship, the alchemical materials for refining the Three-Color Poison-Resolving Potion would be won by Anthony. By then, if he asked his master, Thomas, to refine the potion for him, it would be as easy as taking something from his own pocket. In that case, Victoria would face a dilemma: to save her younger brother Bill, she would have to leave Rollin and associate with Anthony!

For Victoria, this was an even more excruciating choice.

Between her brother and Rollin, she had to choose one. If she wanted her brother to live, she had to give up Rollin; if she wanted to stay with Rollin forever, her brother's life would be forfeit!

To make her instantly let go of the hard-won romance between her and Rollin was something she could not do, and to make her watch with her own eyes as the younger brother she had cherished since childhood passed away was something she could do even less!

From Rollin's perspective, this question was just like the old joke back in his hometown of Porsan Town: If both your girlfriend and your mother fell into the river at the same time, which one would you save first?

In his mind, this was fundamentally an insoluble problem. No matter which one was chosen, there seemed to be a flaw. The only solution was to ensure that a mother and a girlfriend never fell into the water at the same time. Compared to the awkward predicament they were currently in, if Rollin drew an analogy from that answer, it seemed there was only one way out: win the championship of the Alchemy Convention to avoid the dead end of having to choose between himself and Bill!

Victoria leaned weakly against Rollin's shoulder. For a girl with an extremely strong personality, she displayed an unprecedented fragility in the face of this question.

Meeting her gaze, which was filled with a plea for help, Rollin's heart twitched violently. How could such a cruel choice be left for his beloved girl to bear? As a man, this was the moment he should step forward. For his brothers in the dormitory, and for his own happiness, he had an unshirkable duty!

A surging wave of heroic spirit rose within Rollin's body. With a steadfast gaze, he met that plea for help and said word by word, "Victoria, I will not let this happen. The championship of the Alchemy Convention—I, Rollin, am bound to win it!"

Feeling the incomparable confidence emanating from Rollin, Victoria's heart, which had been drifting helplessly like a lonely boat on a vast and boundless sea, seemed to find a calm and peaceful harbor. For some reason, an unparalled trust in Rollin welled up within her heart!

"Mm, I believe you!" Victoria said softly, meeting Rollin's firm gaze.

Looking at the trusting gaze of the girl before him, Rollin felt a heavy weight in his heart. He understood that anyone could utter grand words, but to make them a reality, he had to put in enough effort. Victoria's absolute trust in him made Rollin feel, for the very first time, the responsibility and accountability of being a man!

"It's getting late, let's head back," Rollin said, standing up. Victoria nodded obediently and rose along with him.

Little Black the donkey exerted force with its two hind hooves, shifting its posture from a 'sitting' position back to standing on all fours.

Immediately afterward, Rollin took Victoria's small hand, and together they walked toward the academy. When they reached the academy gates, fearing that they might be seen by others, Victoria hastily withdrew her hand from Rollin's grasp.

The two first returned to the academy infirmary, intending to carry Bill directly to the venue so that once the potion was refined, the antidote could be administered to him right on the spot. After all, the poison Bill had contracted was extremely potent, and being detoxified even a little earlier would be beneficial to his health.

When they returned to the infirmary, Malle, Gebaz, Teacher Monroe, and Simon were anxiously pacing back and forth at the entrance.

"Number Four, you brat, you're finally back! I couldn't trace your shadow all morning!" Malle let out a long breath of relief when he finally saw Rollin appear. However, when he saw Victoria walking shoulder to shoulder with Rollin, he was momentarily stunned. "You two are..."

Simon patted Malle on the shoulder and chuckled, "Malle, can't you even guess that? A single man and a single woman disappearing together early in the morning and now showing up together, hehe..."

"Maybe they didn't just disappear early in the morning, who knows, maybe last night..." Gebaz also chimed in, his sneaky eyes darting back and forth between Rollin and Victoria as he spoke.

Having gone through countless girlfriends over the past few years at the academy, Malle and Gebaz were very fond of Victoria, but given their personalities, they didn't care much about her dating Rollin now. After all, fondness was fondness, and that was just wishful thinking; now that she had chosen Rollin, the two of them chose to accept it, so they began to tease her and Rollin.

These remarks caused Victoria's cheeks to flush crimson. Although Rollin's skin was much thicker, he still felt his face growing warm at the moment, and he could not help but laugh awkwardly twice.

Seeing the two of them react this way only solidified the thoughts in everyone's minds, and they began to tease and banter all at once. After just a few remarks, Victoria ran off with a completely flushed face.

"Alright, alright, stop messing around. Rollin still has to participate in the assessment shortly, don't delay him!" Teacher Monroe's words finally put a stop to the teasing.

Following that, they entered Bill's ward, preparing to carry him to the venue. However, just as Malle, Gebaz, and the others were about to lift the bed board, Rollin suddenly stopped them.

Several of them looked at him in puzzlement. They saw Rollin gently wave his arm, and a low buzzing sound immediately echoed through the ward. To their astonishment, a dense swarm of hundreds of gigantic 'bees' appeared in midair. With a circle in the air, they flew right underneath Bill's bed, and then, before the astonished gazes of everyone, Bill along with the bed board beneath him 'floated' into the air in a bizarre manner, leaving everyone exclaiming in wonder.

It turned out that Rollin had summoned a portion of the green-winged bee swarm from his undead space. Although they were small in size, they were genuine magical beasts, so supporting a weight of several hundred pounds was no difficult task for these hundreds of green-winged bees.

Immediately, Rollin and the group walked toward the academy playground. Naturally, along the way, this 'floating' bed board caused no small amount of amazement among the others heading to the venue.

Just as they entered the entrance of the venue, a gentle male voice suddenly came from not far ahead: "Victoria, I hope you can agree to marry me today in front of all the spectators here, alright?"