It took Vlad more than a moment to pull himself together. As he climbed the stairs of the stage, the crowd of freshers below erupted into a chorus of bitter boos and aggressive murmurs. He paid them no mind. There were more pressing matters that held his undivided attention.

"Congratulations on becoming the Crownbearer of the first years, Vlad Lumberjack," Sophia said, extending her hand which carried the palm-sized device and the small book. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Vlad did not accept the reward. He leaned closer to Sophia and asked in a low voice, "Senior, I think there is a misunderstanding. I only possessed eleven books. I couldn’t even retrieve my uniform. How could I have reached first place?"

"Oh, you must be confused, Vlad," Sophia said, stepping down from the stool. "The criteria for the top three places is calculated on the basis of the credits each student earned, which includes the credits from the contract as well."

Vlad pressed his temples between his fingers and thumb. "But why wasn’t this made clear from the beginning?" he asked, his voice nearly on the verge of breaking.

"Ah, that?" She bumped her head with her fist, stuck her tongue out and said, "I forgot, hehe..."

Words failed Vlad. He had no one but himself to blame for not accounting for the contract earnings. He silently received the book and the device, his eyes cast down to the ground.

’Damn it! What have I done to deserve this? I have always lived an honest life, and this is how the gods choose to treat me?’ he muttered inwardly.

While he was contemplating how to survive this crisis, another figure arrived on the stage.

"Well, well, well," Seraphina’s voice echoed through the amplified magic gem embedded in the microphone she held. "Quite a lot of unexpected things happened at this year’s Orientation."

The colorful lighting poles cast a dramatic glow over her long, waist-length red braids as she moved forward. In her other hand, she carried a beautifully crafted, velvet-lined box containing a glittering silver crown badge.

"Nonetheless, I was thoroughly entertained." She looked at Vlad with a warm gaze and continued, "I hope you serve as a role model for your peers as their Crownbearer."

Had it not been for the absolute respect the freshers carried for Seraphina, her words would have been met with retorts and anger. Even so, though they could not openly disagree with her, they did not agree either. They had already made their decision not to accept Vlad as their Crownbearer.

Seraphina placed the mic in Sophia’s hand, took out the badge from the box, and passed the box to Sophia as well.

She leaned in incredibly close to pin the badge onto Vlad’s jacket, the scent of sweet but wild embers drifting past his nose. He remained completely stiff as stone, his eyes fixed straight ahead with an unreadable expression as she inserted the pin into his jacket.

She had pinned it too deep. The sharp point passed through his shirt, its tip piercing his skin.

"Oopsies~ Did I hurt you?" she asked, looking up at Vlad’s face. Her head only reached up to his chin. There was no reaction on his face, as though he were not even a living being at this point.

She pulled the pin back, properly fixed it to his jacket, then whispered in his ear, "I look forward to our date."

’Please, someone save me from this tigress!’ Vlad screamed inwardly, his eyebrow twitching.

As Seraphina stepped back, a translucent blue hologram of the System flickered right in his line of sight:

Ding...

[You have finished the Side Quest: The Crownbearer {Claim the Reward}]

’Screw the reward,’ he muttered inwardly, his eyebrow twitching even harder. He had no capacity to celebrate any reward at the moment. If it were up to him, he would gladly trade it away if it meant avoiding a private meeting with Seraphina.

"Would you like to say a few words to your peers as their Crownbearer?" Seraphina asked, extending the microphone forward. From her gaze alone, Vlad understood it was not a request.

’I need to find a way to get her off my back,’ he resolved inwardly as he grabbed the mic.

He turned his sharp crimson gaze down at the freshers below and announced, "If anyone needs help with credits, feel free to approach your Crownbearer. I will provide them at a reasonable rate."

His mood was ruined, so he had decided to offend them in return. The boos and thoroughly outraged reactions he received from the freshers made him feel marginally better. At least he was not the only one suffering.

When he descended the stairs of the stage, he noticed his group was not the only one that had received the strange palm-sized device. The seniors were distributing similar devices to the other students as well.

Once everyone had one in hand, Sophia explained from the podium, "The artifact you have all received is called a Manaphone. It can provide you with any details you need about the academy. It stores your credits, your timetable, the classes you have enrolled in, and the latest announcements."

Everyone, including Vlad, now had their eyes fixed on the mysterious artifact. Max appeared the most excited among them, his instincts as a mechanics enthusiast immediately triggered.

"I have only ever heard about it, and now I actually have a Manaphone in hand," he murmured, his eyes sparkling. "Master Bram and the principal of the Arcane Academy worked together to develop it, an evolutionary invention that paved the way for several new applications of mana."

He was barely restraining himself from pulling out a screwdriver and disassembling every last component to inspect its inner workings.

Vlad pressed the button on the side of the device. Its black display began to glow, and the same translucent blue interface appeared on the screen, nearly identical to that of the Legacy System.

His suspicion deepened. Master Bram had something to do with the mysterious System, he was now more certain of it than ever.

On the screen, bold white letters materialised:

Welcome to the Arcane Academy, Crownbearer Vlad Lumberjack.

A moment later, a message appeared at the top of the screen:

Your account has been credited with 4,255 credits. Current balance: 4,305 credits.

"Awesome," Vlad murmured, a satisfied smile forming on his face. Every last trace of the stress Seraphina had caused him vanished at the sight of that message.

Chloe, who had been unusually silent until now, muttered while glaring at Seraphina on the stage, "I remember her now. She is Spanky Girl."