Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

Zack's expression froze, and he stopped talking.

The side door of the conference room was pushed open, and Fingel followed Vice Principal Flamel in like a lapdog.

He actually washed his hair today, which is unusual, and even sprayed on cologne, although it smelled like cheap stuff bought from a street stall.

“The jury looked utterly stupid,” Fingel said in a low voice, “not even a fraction as impressive as you, Vice Principal, and the Principal.”

Flamel sighed, casually pulled a bottle of whiskey from his pocket, and took a swig: "What can we do? They're the ones who built the foundation of Kassel College. The Equipment Department, the Execution Department, the Alchemy Department—they trained them all. Without them, there would be no Kassel."

“The Gattuso family is really something,” Fingel clicked his tongue. “They dug out all these old fogies and managed to fool them so easily.”

“Fooling them?” Flamel raised an eyebrow. “Do you know how much it costs to get these old guys involved? The Gattuso family really went all out this time.”

Fingel's eyes lit up: "If the Gattuso family can be fooled, why can't we?"

Flamel turned to the side, looked Fingel up and down, and clicked his tongue in amazement: "Why did you choose Guderian as your mentor? You should have chosen me directly, and I would have taught you the shameless art of Machiavellianism."

Is it too late to become an apprentice now?

"Tuition fee is equivalent to a 40-year-old bottle of Macallan."

"okay!"

Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion.

The entire investigation team entered, with Andrew Gattuso, who was in charge, looking grim.

"Hey, Andrew!" Flamel raised his voice and waved enthusiastically at Andrew. "Why do you look so unhappy? Smile!"

Andrew's face twitched, he snorted coldly, turned his head, and walked straight to the investigation team's seats.

"Tch," Flamel scoffed, his voice just loud enough for those around him to hear, "youngster, you think you can mess with me?"

Fingel asked obsequiously, "Vice Principal, how old are you this year?"

Flamel blinked. "Good question. I'm seventeen."

Fingel was stunned. He knew that the vice-principal and the principal were of the same generation, and Angers was already over 130 years old.

"What? You don't believe me?" Flamel straightened his back and smoothed his non-existent bangs. "I'm a handsome seventeen-year-old forever."

He shouted to Manstein in the audience, "Son! Dad's here!"

Manstein's bald head instantly turned bright red. He pretended not to hear and frantically flipped through the documents in his hands. Several suppressed laughs rang out around him.

Student representatives entered the venue one after another.

The Lionheart Club occupied a third of the seats on the left side, all dressed in identical red school uniforms with white scarves, so neatly arranged it looked as if they had been measured with a ruler.

Susie, as the vice president, stood in the front row, her gaze never leaving Chu Zihang behind the fence.

In contrast, the student council occupied the seats on the right, all dressed in black school uniforms; they never wore clothes the same color as the Lionheart.

Cesare Gattuso, wearing white headphones and humming Italian opera tunes, slowly walked in, as if he were there not to attend a hearing, but to enjoy a boring concert.

The female dancers behind him were all dressed in long black dresses, their expressions as aloof as Valkyries.

"Pretending," someone in the Lionheart Society muttered under their breath.

Caesar heard this, turned his head and gave the source of the voice a charming smile: "Red suits you very well, like a lovely lobster."

The person muttering to himself blushed deeply.

As the new student Xia Mi squeezed into the Lionheart Club's seats, carrying a large bouquet of lilies, she caused a small commotion.

This girl, widely regarded as the most beautiful among the freshmen, dressed up specially for today, wearing a white dress and a light blue headband, standing out among the students in uniform red and black.

"Is that for Chu Zihang?" someone asked in a low voice.

"Otherwise what? It can't possibly be given to that bald Andrew," someone nearby replied.

Xia Mi paid no attention to the surrounding discussions, focusing on arranging the bouquet, occasionally glancing up at Chu Zihang.

The seat in the very center of the conference hall was occupied by Lu Mingfei and his guild, the "Mage Guild".

This club, composed of eccentric freshmen, rarely makes an appearance, but today almost all members were present. Except for Horus, who was on duty in the executive department and therefore didn't come.

Lu Mingfei sat in the middle, with the silver-haired Frillie on his left and the hypnotist Lin Xia with thick glasses on his right.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya sat behind them.

"S-class is here too?" someone asked in a low voice.

"Yes, I heard that Lu Mingfei and the president have a good relationship."

The 'Mage Guild', founded by Lu Mingfei and Frilian, has now become the third largest force at Kassel College.

"Senior brother," Lu Mingfei mouthed to Chu Zihang, "Keep it up."

Chu Zihang nodded slightly.

Chapter 110 Hearing (Part 1)

Vice Principal Flamel squinted as he scanned the student council seats.

The beautiful dancers behind Caesar bloomed like black roses, each with exquisite makeup and elegant posture.

“The student council is not to be underestimated,” Flamel frowned deeply, his face scrunched up. “That Caesar kid is too strong.”

Fingel approached like a loyal dog, "What makes you say that, Vice Principal?"

"To give an analogy, the hearing is like a football match, and we and the investigation team are like a football team. The match is not only about the teams, but also about the level of the cheerleaders on both sides."

“I feel like there are a lot more pretty girls from the student council on the other side, and our Lionheart Society and the Mage Guild.” Flamel paused, his gaze sweeping over the group of murderous girls from the Lionheart Society and Frilian from Lu Mingfei’s club. “They’re all killers and weirdos, I can’t say for sure.”

Fingel stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, "I see, but we have our trump card, Xia Mi."

He gestured towards the Lionheart Club's seats, "Xia Mi alone can take on ten beautiful girls on the other side."

Xia Mi sensed their discussion, turned her head and blinked.

Flamel's eyes lit up. "Not bad, not bad."

He revealed a sly smile, "Xia Mi is indeed quite good. I look forward to her performance in the swimming assessment."

"Silence!" King Solomon struck his gavel.

The tenured professor who presided over the hearing had lived for over a century, with a silver beard that reached his chest and wearing crescent-shaped glasses.

"I declare the hearing to be in session now," King Solomon announced in a loud voice.

"This hearing involves a special investigation team dispatched by the Board of Trustees and the management of Kassel College. The two sides have a dispute over the lineage of Chu Zihang, an 'A' level student. Therefore, we held this hearing to provide both sides with a fair, just, and open opportunity for debate."

Andrew Gattuso stood up abruptly, “The Board of Trustees condemns the Kassel College administration for negligence and serious errors on a critical issue!”

Flamel lazily raised his hand: "The school countered that everything the investigation team did was correct."

He deliberately dragged out his words, his eyes darting around, "Uh, a frog sitting in a deep well, looking up at the sky—that's just nonsense."

He spread his hands, "This is a Chinese idiom. I don't know if Mr. Andrew can understand it."

The audience burst into laughter. Several students from the Lionheart Club laughed so hard they were doubled over, and Susie couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

Even the usually serious Professor Schneider coughed to cover the twitching at the corner of his mouth.

King Solomon adjusted his glasses. "Vice Principal, could you explain this metaphor?"

“Oh dear, this is a Chinese idiom, called ‘sitting in a well and looking at the sky,’” Flamel said, shaking his head like an old scholar. “It means having a narrow perspective and limited knowledge, like a frog at the bottom of a well who thinks the sky is only as big as the well opening.”

King Solomon nodded thoughtfully. "I see. That's a good word."

Andrew's face flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead. Paci Gattuso gently tugged at his sleeve, but Andrew rudely shook him off.

"Let each side of the debate present their arguments," King Solomon struck the gavel again, "The final decision rests with the tenured professor."

Andrew suddenly stood up, almost knocking over the chair.

He grabbed a thick stack of documents and slammed them heavily onto the table with a loud "thud".

"The Board of Trustees has ample evidence and proof of the college's management's dereliction of duty!" The voice trembled with anger. "Over the past decade or so, the campus atmosphere has deteriorated, students have acted as they pleased, and teachers have been unable to effectively supervise students' studies! The annual 'Freedom Day' activity, which wastes a lot of money, the academic pressure is too light, and the evaluation of lineage is too arbitrary!"

He slammed his hand on the table with each sentence he spoke, making the water glasses on the table shake.

Percy quietly moved the glass away to prevent it from being knocked over.

“The most outrageous thing is,” Andrew practically roared, “that the Executive Department has become Angers’ henchman department, a department of utter violence!”

A cold snort came from the audience.

Executive Director Schneider slowly stood up, the mist on his oxygen mask appearing and disappearing with his breathing.

“The executive department has always been a violent department,” Schneider’s voice was like sandpaper rubbing against the floor. “When has the Board of Trustees ever had the illusion that we are peaceful?”

The elites in the executive department erupted in enthusiastic applause and whistles.

Several executives in black trench coats stood up and shouted, "Well said!" "Violence is our glory!" "Not being violent enough is a disgrace!"

When it comes to violence, they still have a lot to learn from the Equipment Department!

King Solomon had to strike his gavel repeatedly, shouting, "Silence! Please refrain from loud noise!"

Andrew was trembling with rage. He pulled a document marked with a red confidential seal from the folder. "The Board of Trustees' first piece of evidence: Chu Zihang's file in the Executive Department!"

He threw the document onto the table, and it slid a distance before stopping in front of King Solomon.

The old man slowly began to flip through the pages.

Flamel leaned back in his chair with an air of nonchalance, even crossing his legs: "Zihang, he's a good student, he even won the 'Three Good Student Award'."

He winked at the audience, "As everyone knows, he loves helping old ladies cross the street, don't you all agree?"

"Yes!" the Lionheart Club members shouted in unison, with a few mischievous ones adding, "They even helped kids retrieve balloons!" "Last week they rescued a cat stuck in a tree!"

Chu Zihang stood inside the fence, expressionless.

Xia Mi laughed heartily in the audience, the lilies in her hand swaying back and forth in her arms.

Andrew's face went from red to green, then from green to white, looking just like a human color palette.

He looked at King Solomon and said, “This is contempt of hearing! I demand…”

“Commander Andrew, according to the information provided, Chu Zihang does not appear to have committed any wrongdoing.” King Solomon continued to review the documents. “Records show that Chu Zihang has completed 27 high-risk missions in the past two years, with a 100% success rate and a 0% mortality rate.”

He looked up. "This seems to be a rather excellent file?"

“But what was the price?” Andrew gritted his teeth. “According to our investigation, he used the high-risk Word of Power ‘King’s Flame’ multiple times during his missions, causing damage equivalent to a magnitude 3 earthquake in Chicago, triggering a massive power outage in Tokyo, and in Paris.”