"Good evening, Miss Principal, we apologise for the impertinence. We didn’t know that the massive door outside would lead us straight to your office," Vlad answered, keeping his voice steady and confident. He was already the one in need here. He must not appear timid. The person before him had lived for several centuries. Empty words or needless praise wouldn’t work on her. He needed to say what needed to be said with full confidence.

"At least you seem to have some basic manners," the principal said as the chair slowly rotated, revealing the person behind it.

Both Vlad and Chloe flinched as their eyes fell on the figure. Vlad’s earlier decision to appear confident instantly flew out the window as his lips parted.

Sitting on the office chair was a round plushie with white fur, small black dot-like eyes, and a finger-sized thin horizontal line as a mouth below them. Around its round body, a fluffy white tail was coiled, looking equally soft.

’Cute,’ Chloe murmured inwardly, her facial expression neutral as she looked at the plushie.

’So the rumours on the forums were true after all,’ Vlad gasped inwardly. While searching for a way to contact the principal, he had come across an old, famous post by a student from several years ago. It mentioned that they had met the principal. She wasn’t human but a duck.

The comments below it were flooded by other students who had seen the principal, each arguing she was a bird, a unicorn, or a literal mannequin.

What Vlad noticed was that they were all defending their own version of the principal, some claiming she was childish and easygoing while others insisted she was strict and frightening. No two students agreed on a single appearance. Vlad had assumed it was simply an inside joke among students to craft the principal’s mysterious persona.

But now, seeing her before his own eyes, he realised that every version of the principal witnessed by the students was true. She was simply taking different forms to meet each of them.

"What are you staring at?" Lirien, the plushie and the principal, muttered. "Never seen a beautiful lady before?"

Vlad gave a mild shake of his head and regained his composure.

"Miss Principal, I’m here to request a primordial mana stone of anemo affinity for Chloe, an S+ Rank." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"You do not need to stress her rank. I am already aware of it," Lirien retorted, her body bouncing on the chair like jelly. "As for your request, I cannot give it. If you have nothing else to say, leave."

Vlad’s eyebrow twitched slightly. "You said you cannot give it. That must mean you have it. May I know the reason for your refusal?"

"Because I have no obligation to," Lirien answered, her voice even. "Are you aware of why the Primordial mana stone is taught as a myth to students at this academy, even though it exists?"

Vlad’s fist clenched. He had his suspicions. There was no way the most prestigious academy in the world was unaware of the existence of the Primordial mana stone. Yet they were teaching students that it did not exist.

Lirien answered before Vlad could reply. "You seem to be somewhat aware of it. Still, I will say it plainly. Primordial power is dangerous. To the point that no being should ever possess it. What do you think would happen if Miss Chloe gained access to such power and decided to turn against us? We would have no means to stop her."

"She would never do that!" Vlad said, his voice rising slightly.

"Perhaps your words are true. But why would I take that risk in the first place?"

Vlad’s fist clenched tighter, his knuckles turning white. Lirien was right. Why would she risk creating something she might not be able to control in the future? But it didn’t matter to Vlad.

He was about to speak again when Chloe suddenly said, "What do you need from me?"

Lirien’s fluffy body jumped twice on the chair, her button-like eyes shifting toward Chloe.

"You wouldn’t have revealed that the Primordial mana stone exists, or that you possess it, if you had no intention of giving it," Chloe continued, answering the question Lirien was about to ask.

"Despite the way you present yourself, you are very sharp, Miss Chloe," Lirien said, amusement threading through her tone. "I won’t beat around the bush then. I need you to swear your loyalty to the Arcane Academy."

Chloe’s eyes narrowed, her composure cracking slightly. "Anything except that."

Her response was natural given the demand Lirien had stated. A knight swore loyalty only once in their life, to one person or house. Once they did, they followed their master like a shadow, always protecting them as their shield and fighting their enemies as their sword for the rest of their life. Their master’s command became their law.

"I do not need anything else. I cannot risk being bitten while feeding a stray dog," Lirien said, clearly annoyed. "Go now. Stop wasting my time."

"I already owe my loyalty to someone else," Chloe insisted. "You may ask for anything except that."

Chloe would never have pressed this hard for the core on her own. She was already content with a Celestial mana stone. But Vlad had sacrificed his precious opportunity of obtaining rare information for her sake. She didn’t want to let that go entirely to waste.

"You do realise that a knight cannot swear loyalty to another knight," Lirien said, stating the obvious. She was indirectly pointing out that Chloe could not swear her loyalty to Vlad if he too became a knight.

"I am aware. The person to whom my loyalty belongs is not a knight."

Vlad was completely caught off guard by the exchange between Chloe and Lirien. She was actually initiating a conversation with someone and saying things she would never have said even to Vlad under normal circumstances.

"I do not think we will reach a decision that satisfies both parties," Lirien announced. "Nevertheless, I will send a letter to Mystic Vault to provide you with the highest quality Celestial mana st—"

"Can’t we simply buy the stone from you?" Vlad said, rejoining the conversation.

"You cannot put a price on something as precious as a Primordial stone," Lirien replied in a sharp tone, as though offended by the absurdity of Vlad’s suggestion.

"If there is something you cannot buy at the Academy, it means you don’t possess enough Credits," Vlad said, keeping his tone neutral. "Those were your own words, were they not."

The tail coiled around Lirien snapped straight, clearly flustered. She had no argument against that.

"100,000 credits," she declared flatly.