To be honest, if there were no one around, Aya would even suspect that Aya and Tiran, who hadn't seen each other for a long time, would just kiss right away, after all, there are still students here...

Fortunately, that's not possible.

"Prince Irizer? What are you doing!"

With a cry of surprise, another figure flew up directly from below to the school gate tower. It was a young male Elf, dressed in a slim moon white uniform, looking like an official from the Elf Kingdom.

"Heh heh heh, it doesn't matter. I haven't seen Sister for so long. This time, don't try to control me anymore. We agreed that I can do whatever I want when I arrive in Milte Land."

But Coco had no intention of letting go of Tiran at all. Her arms were tightly wrapped around Tiran's neck and she even stuck out her tongue towards the Elf who had just arrived, as if to show off.

"But after all, your father entrusted me to take care of you... and your constitution easily attracts the attention of the dark Elves. What if something unexpected happens..."

The latter's face showed a worried expression, trying to advise the prince.

"Hmph, didn't you see Sister? She will definitely protect me!" Keke said arrogantly.

In the next moment, Tiran felt that the male Elf across from him started to look at him with unfriendly eyes. Hey, dude, don't make it seem like I hooked up with you.

To be honest, Princess Iris didn't want to be resented for no reason.

"Silver War Maiden? She's indeed a very strong swordsman..." If it was before, he might not have heard of Tiran's reputation, but the fact that Tiran protected Keke from the premeditated attacks of the dark Elves in Alda, the Elf capital, was enough to demonstrate his strength, not to mention his record of killing a Holy Rank afterwards.

The Elf's expression changed several times in an instant, from anger to regret, and then to helplessness. Aya wanted to applaud his fantastic acting skills. What a pity that he didn't become an opera actor.

"If that's the case... then I have to admit it. Prince Tiran, please protect Princess Iris and take care of her." He shook Tiran's hand with a serious tone, and then he simply returned to the carriage of the Galolan Academy. What's up with this cannon fodder-like attitude that seems like a guy who was kicked away by a goddess!

"Who is this guy...?"

After a while, Tiran asked.

"His name is Sylverson. My father sent him to be the leader of the Galolan Academy's representative team together with me." Keke blinked her eyes, and suddenly became embarrassed, "Well... although he has another identity, sister, please don't get mad at me for what I'm going to say."

"Huh?"

"If I hadn't met Sister, I might have married him. Sylverson belongs to one of the four bloodlines of the Moonlight Temple's priests. In terms of the purity of magic power, there is no difference between him and the royal bloodline. He himself is also a very famous ranger. Under normal circumstances, the two of us getting together would be the best choice to continue the Elf royal bloodline, so..."

Hey, hey, the way you say it makes me feel sorry for that guy. Aya couldn't help but cover her face and consider whether or not to go find that guy for a drink after the welcome ceremony.

"Don't worry, your sister is not that petty." Tiran lovingly rubbed Keke's little head, and the latter narrowed her eyes, showing a satisfied expression like a cat being petted.

Ah, what a heartwarming scene... wait a minute! Aya looked at Keke, who was hanging on the princess like a koala, and her resentment was about to reach the sky. Why am I even angry in the first place?

However, even though her mind was still thinking, Aya's body reacted faster than her thoughts. She directly leaped forward to forcibly separate the two people stuck together, completing the actions that Sylvie had wanted to do but didn't.

"What kind of decorum is this! Tiran, you are at least the acting headmaster of the academy, and there are so many students and teachers watching! And Coco too! People from your academy are here too!"

...

According to the scheduled time, the four invited academies should have arrived by noon today. However, after a long time from the arrival of the three academies in the western continent, the Gāixià Academy from the eastern continent still hadn't appeared.

Seeing that the sun in the sky had passed its zenith, Tiran became impatient. "Hey, what's the deal with the last one, huh? Making everyone wait for so long."

"It's become customary, after all, they have to rush over from across the sea, the journey is long, and as outsiders, they might encounter various inconveniences along the way. We are all used to it," Lúxiūs pushed his glasses and sighed.

"Used to it? Are you sure?" Aya leaned over the railing, looking down with some suspicion, "The teachers are all gone, huh?"

Tiran also glanced down and saw that the more than ten teachers who were supposed to be waiting at the end of the bridge to greet Mìĕrtè had all disappeared. They either ran to the front courtyard to chat with teachers and students from other academies or went straight to the city district to play and disappeared.

"That's right, because we are used to it, so basically no one cares anymore. As a result, every year I am the only one left waiting until the end," the headmaster smiled bitterly.

"...You have worked hard." Aya didn't know how to comfort him, so she changed the subject, "By the way, this is a college from the eastern continent, I haven't been there much before."

The eastern continent is one of the two known continents in this world, facing the western continent where Mìĕrtè Academy is located across the sea. However, until hundreds of years ago, when the Kingdom of Sainz developed and applied the magitech technology of the mythological era to oceanic shipbuilding and successfully opened stable sea routes, the communication between the two continents was actually limited.

In terms of territory alone, the total area of the eastern continent is slightly smaller than that of the western continent. But according to the known information, there is only one country on the vast eastern continent, a powerful country that spans the entire continent.

An army expert from a country that had nothing to do analyzed in detail who would win if the East and the West went to war one day and came to the conclusion that unless they formed a coalition like the one during the mythical era to resist the Devildom, it would be basically hopeless.

"Gāixià Academy is the largest academy on the eastern continent, and as a national institution of higher learning, its status in the eastern continent is even higher than that of Mìĕrtè. The champion of every Martial Festival is basically from either them or us. Moreover, Gāixià not only teaches combat skills like us, but most of the top scholars and researchers in the eastern continent also come from Gāixià. Oh right, using their own term, Gāixià Academy is called 'The Great School'."

When Tiran heard Lúxiūs utter the last two words in stiff Chinese—or Eastern Continent's language, he raised an eyebrow.

Interesting, ummm, I remember that "The Great School" seems to be the term used before the Han Dynasty, and the script used there is also a transition from seal script to clerical script. Could it be that this world has such a similar timeline?

When Tiran first crossed over, he didn't think so much about it, thinking that it was purely a sword and magic fantasy world. But later on, he discovered many things in this world that were similar to Earth... mainly various manga and novels, and sometimes he felt it was a bit of a coincidence.

And now, there is such a familiar existence in the Eastern Continent, it is simply reminding Tiran that something fishy is going on.

"Lucius, Lucius, could you give me some more introduction? I haven't really understood much about the Eastern Continent."

Tiran leaned over, looking at Lucius with eyes that seemed to be searching for answers, as if he were a search engine that could answer any question. As the head of the Academy, he must have known a lot about the rival academy. Who else could she ask?

"I would be happy to help, but our final guest has arrived. Shall we find another time?"

Lucius smiled and pointed to the long bridge. Indeed, a convoy of carriages with a completely different style from the Western Continent was slowly approaching along the bridge.

"Indeed, such a familiar scene."

Tiran praised and sighed, the ancient carriages of the Celestial Dynasty. There were hardly any other carriages with such magnificent carvings on the walls and windows. And almost all of the carriages were pulled by three horses side by side, so grand.

"'The Emperor rides six, the feudal lords ride five, officials ride four, scholars ride three, commoners ride two, and peasants ride one...' Something like that, I believe." Tiran tried to recall the bits and pieces of historical knowledge she had. The princess pursed her lips. So each of these students could use the carriages for officials?

"Your Highness, all the academies have arrived. It's time to go meet them."

Lucius reminded her.

"Oh, right. Let's go, let's go." Tiran nodded repeatedly and ran down the stairs.

Aya didn't really care about this matter. To be honest, he had only come along with Tiran to seek refuge. As long as he wasn't discovered by Princess Shiera, who he had taken the academy treasure from, there wouldn't be any problems.

However, as they slowly descended the stairs, there seemed to be some commotion at the entrance.

"Aya, Aya, pay attention. It seems like there's an important person."

The contract suddenly spoke in his mind. Tiran, who was almost at the bottom of the stairs, turned around and made a face at him, while pointing in the direction of the entrance.

The convoy from Gaidan Academy did not directly come to the designated area like the other academies. Instead, they parked on both sides of the gate, waiting for something.

They didn't have to wait long this time, as the last carriage from Gaidan Academy soon appeared in front of the gate.

"...Wow, it's so ugly."

It was quite unexpected for the carriage that Gaidan Academy had put on such a grand display to be so ugly, with a plain black carriage without any decoration. A coffin?

But even so, Tiran couldn't help but suppress his laughter. Because... this carriage was pulled by five horses?

Are the nobles from the Eastern Continent running here?

Alright, Tiran didn't really have a concept of the nobles from the Eastern Continent. Although she herself was a princess in a real kingdom, influenced by various anime and novels, she felt that Western nobles were not very imposing, and she didn't really take them seriously. But when it came to the nobles from the Celestial Dynasty, it felt different.

On the other hand, the other students and teachers who had been waiting in the courtyard for a long time were starting to look annoyed at the people from Gaidan Academy. Clearly, they were the guests, yet they arrived late and put on such an arrogant attitude.

Tiran and Aya were still on the stairs, planning to watch the show, while Lucius gracefully walked towards them, greeting a young girl who was getting off the first carriage on the right side.

"Hmm? Isn't Mr. Moyu the leader of your prestigious academy this time?"

When she saw the girl, Lucius seemed a bit surprised.

"Mr. Moyu is busy, so he didn't come. Furthermore, I am not the leader this time. I am just a student, nothing more."

The girl had delicate features, with a touch of heroism that was more than the gentle and elegant beauty in the traditional aesthetics of the Eastern Continent. Her extraordinary temperament was set off by the silver cloud-patterned armor she was wearing. Unfortunately, there was no extra expression on her face, nor any hint of respect when facing Lucius, as if she were just announcing it as a matter of course.

Lucius frowned slightly. Although the people he had encountered in previous battles had indeed shown some arrogance, overall there was still mutual respect. But today's events were truly disrespectful.

The girl seemed to have finally noticed Lucius' displeasure and showed a hint of realization. "Ah, if you need to see the leader, you can go directly to the carriage."

...

"What's the deal with that guy?"

Aya tugged at the corner of her mouth, sighing. Even Princess Irene didn't dismiss Lucius so casually. After all, Milte is practically under his management now.

"They were like this during last year's martial arts festival too... Or rather, people from the Eastern Continent always have a sense of superiority when facing us."

Petra glanced at the angry expressions of the younger students in the courtyard, and compared to that, she remained much calmer. "And they have the right to. After all, they are the highest institution supported by the strongest empire that spans the entire Eastern Continent."