Chapter 365 : Commendation
Chapter 365: Commendation
After this crisis, Turin’s Wizard Gathering Place finally welcomed a relatively long period of stability.
As for the damages to the buildings inside Turin’s Wizard Gathering Place caused by the invasion of Shadow Creatures, the costs were being gradually estimated, then uniformly reported to Dordogne for disaster relief and reconstruction funds.
Among them, the most severely damaged, White Coral Academy, had no choice but to suspend classes for a week due to the collapse of its Magic Tower.
During this week, under the guidance of the wizard appointed by Dordogne, along with the cooperation of many wizards and Wizard Apprentices, finally, with the reversal of the "Time Ritual," the collapsed Magic Tower was restored from a pile of ruins back to its former appearance.
"This time, I truly owe you a lot, Clororo."
"Anthony, you don’t have to be so polite with me. I only came because I accepted the White Tower’s mission to help you restore the Academy."
Beneath the Magic Tower, a figure wearing a white smiling mask, draped in a black cloak, with a massive wind-up mechanism inserted into its back—a giant Alchemical Golem—stood before Anthony-Rook, speaking with a voice filled with metallic graininess.
"To think that the White Tower would be so generous this time, not only sending you, but also letting you bring the Dust of Time."
Anthony-Rook’s original thought had been that it would already be quite fortunate if the White Tower approved White Coral Academy’s request for reconstruction funds. He had not expected them to also send help.
Yet this time, after receiving Anthony-Rook’s request, the White Tower not only dispatched Clororo-Kim, a First-Tier Wizard with the title of Puppet Master, but also brought along the 【Dust of Time】, a substance said to restore all "non-living" objects to their original state.
Because of this, under Puppet Master Clororo-Kim’s guidance, Anthony-Rook and the wizards of White Coral Academy had easily arranged a 【Time Ritual】 using the 【Dust of Time】, restoring the collapsed Magic Tower back to its original state.
This was also the main reason why White Coral Academy completed its post-disaster Magic Tower reconstruction in just one week.
"You all are truly the great contributors of Turin’s Wizard Gathering Place. If not for you holding off the pressure from the 【Bloodred Archduke】 in time, neither the 【Sealed Object】 nor the lives of Turin City’s residents could have been preserved."
Hearing Clororo-Kim’s words, Anthony-Rook shook his head.
"Even so, the 【Sealed Object】 was only half preserved, and even that half was heavily tainted by the Bloodred Archduke’s blood corruption."
As Anthony-Rook said, even after he, Grace Eva, Mary Margaret, Lilith-Mag, and Professor Uta jointly broke the seal on the 【Sealed Object】 and activated its power, they still failed to fully safeguard it from the Bloodred Archduke.
Half of the finger bone was seized by the Bloodred Archduke, while the remaining half was cursed by his blood corruption, leaving it gravely polluted.
If not for the Six-Winged Seraph casting the Purifying Power to suppress the curse on the spot, even that remaining half might have been lost…
"By the way, what about that little apprentice you mentioned? Why isn’t she here today?"
"At this time, she should be attending the commendation ceremony in Turin City."
The "little apprentice" Clororo-Kim referred to was naturally Janna-Roland.
Through this battle, not only did Anthony-Rook and the others gain much praise from Dordogne-White Tower, but Janna-Roland, as the Summoner of the Six-Winged Seraph 【Lucifer】, received even more overwhelming attention.
Especially with her identity as a "famous opera actress" combined with the renown of the Six-Winged Seraph in the 【Material Plane】, all the major wizard gathering places held their own speculations about Janna’s identity.
Turin City, Central Square.
Compared to the desolation of the previous days, Turin City had once again returned to its lively state. Particularly near the podium in the central square, the residents of Turin City gathered in a dense crowd.
"Hello everyone, I am Teresa-Mensa, the current president of the Turin Mercenary Corps, and also a forty-fifth graduate of White Coral Academy. Today, I am fortunate enough to stand here before you all.
After all, not long ago, Turin City had just endured a calamity that could be called apocalyptic. For us to survive that calamity, aside from thanking the tireless guardianship of White Coral Academy, Blackbone Grove Academy, and Mist Tower, we must also thank the many who silently gave their efforts behind the scenes—"
Watching the short-haired middle-aged woman speaking eloquently on the podium, Vivian Rose, seated below, nudged Janna-Roland lightly with her elbow and whispered,
"I heard the Mercenary Corps prepared for this commendation ceremony for several days. So, my dear Miss Janna, are you ready to become Turin’s great hero?"
Hearing Vivian’s playful teasing, Janna-Roland, seated beside her, only smiled silently without replying.
Seeing this, Bell Moonshadow, seated on Janna’s left, also glanced at her, amusement flickering in her eyes.
"I also heard the Mercenary Corps spared no expense this time. Aside from generous prizes, they’ll even gift the honorees a house…"
At that moment, Liji Silks, seated behind Janna, leaned forward and whispered gossip into her ear.
Hearing this, Janna, who had been maintaining her graceful smile, could not help but raise her brow.
"Well then, let us now invite the honorees onto the stage to receive their awards—"
"It’s finally starting."
Hearing Teresa-Mensa begin calling names, Liji Silks sat back in her seat and turned her eyes to the podium.
The first group to ascend the podium were, for the most part, Wizard Apprentices who had been responsible for escorting Turin City’s residents to the academies for shelter during the crisis.
"First, from White Coral Academy, we have the elites: Hugh-Stone, Vivian Rose, Marlowe-Haig, Bell Moonshadow, Andre Green."
"Great hero."
When Janna saw Vivian’s name among those first called, she silently mouthed the words "great hero" to her.
Vivian, puzzled, only shrugged, before following behind Bell Moonshadow up onto the podium.
"Let us give a round of applause to these selfless guardians!"
Clap, clap, clap, clap… as nearly forty to fifty people from the three academies ascended the podium one after another, the crowd below began to applaud enthusiastically.
Just as Teresa-Mensa had said, everyone who ascended the podium today, even if they were merely Wizard Apprentices, had nevertheless fulfilled the role of guardians during the outbreak of Turin’s crisis.
"Congratulations, how does it feel to be a hero?"
When Vivian descended from the podium, Janna immediately offered her congratulations.
"Not bad, though the prize money’s a bit small."