Chapter 814: Time For The Reports (3)
Chapter 814: Time For The Reports (3)
Kaine’s cold gaze remained on the screen. "Useful target. Correct principles. Strong understanding of overlooked access. But the report is too controlled. Too neat. It presents conclusions without enough visible strain in the method. Either Hunter gathered more than he wrote, or he is hiding the route he used to gather it."The room became even quieter.
Liam looked forward.
Seraphina’s smile deepened. "A fair concern."
Kaine continued, voice flat. "In this field, an overly perfect report can mean several things. Fabrication. Method concealment. External assistance. Magical advantage. Or deliberate omission. If the superior officer cannot tell which it is, the report becomes useful and suspicious at once."
Charlotte’s eyes moved toward Liam with obvious interest.
Liam still did not react.
Seraphina resumed walking, her steps soft against the floor. "Professor Kaine is correct, irritatingly enough." She approached the back of Liam’s chair. "Your report is good, Mr. Hunter. Very good. The target selection is thoughtful, the conclusions are clean, and the restraint is... almost admirable."
Liam felt her presence behind him before she leaned closer.
Her voice lowered until only he could hear it, soft enough to brush the edge of his ear without reaching the other students. "But I would appreciate it if you brought me your original report. This one is far too boring to grade you on."
Liam said nothing.
Seraphina lingered there for one breath longer than necessary, then straightened and walked away as if nothing private had been said. By the time she reached the front of the room again, her expression had returned to its public amusement.
"Forty-five out of fifty," she announced.
Charlotte’s brows lifted.
A few students reacted with quiet surprise, especially since Charlotte’s score had been the highest until that moment. Liam did not care about the number. Seraphina did not either, not fully. He understood the score for what it was: something for the class to hear, a public grade attached to the public version of his work. The real evaluation would come later, once she had the untrimmed material she already knew existed.
Seraphina turned the screen off with a graceful flick of her fingers, and the blue light dissolved into faint sparks that vanished before reaching the floor.
"Well," she said, facing the class with her hands folded lightly before her, "you all survived the first true review of your observation work. Some of you even managed not to insult the concept of intelligence while doing so."
Several students looked exhausted.
Charlotte looked entertained.
Liam looked like he wanted the class to end.
Seraphina continued, "Having done this much, you should be better prepared for next week’s theory paper. You may mark Professor Kaine’s words, it will not be pleasant. Tactical Espionage theory is not memorizing pretty definitions and hoping your handwriting earns mercy. You will be expected to apply principles, assess risk, identify weaknesses in method, and explain what can be exploited without embarrassing yourselves."