Chapter 275: Kulkan's Yearning
The first-place reward was an alchemical puppet.
That's right, one, because this alchemical puppet was a dog.
This dog represented the highest level of Castelobruxo's alchemy. It could complete thirty-six actions according to commands, and its body was reinforced with the finest materials and magic.
This alchemical puppet dog looked like a Doberman, tall and slender. When Sean saw this dog, he knew that all his hard preparation for this exam had been completely worthwhile.
Sister Ray delivered the items to Sean, told him how to use these things, then turned and left.
Sean studied these items in his room, confirmed there were no problems, then replaced his Undetectable Extension Bag and went to the library as usual to continue reading.
The next day, when grades were released, the Castelobruxo students looked at Sean, who had achieved second place, and everyone closed their mouths, grateful that first place belonged to one of their own. This was at least their final fig leaf.
However, Coria, who was in first place, wasn't as happy as one might imagine.
He stood before the grade announcement board, looking at his scores with a slight frown.
As the first place (excluding Sean), Coria actually knew very well how many points he could get in each subject. Looking at his Care of Magical Creatures score, which was obviously inflated, Coria vaguely felt there might be some problem with his grades. If the inflated points were removed, then...
Coria's gaze stopped on Sean's name and score, and he sighed softly.
"So you should be first place, right?"
Looking at Fleur, Sean felt she was really clever. From Sister Ray's multiple visits to his dormitory before the grades were announced to his inadvertent display of the alchemical puppet, Fleur had immediately connected the dots to the truth.
This was somewhat beyond Sean's expectations.
"Fleur, help me keep this secret."
Frowning slightly, Fleur looked at Sean seriously: "But the glory of first place should have belonged to you."
"But I don't care about that glory. I care more about whether I received substantial benefits. Moreover, Castelobruxo indeed has legitimate reasons for wanting the first-place title. They didn't rashly alter my grades but came to discuss compensation with me in advance. I like their attitude, so I think giving up a first-place spot is fine. Second place is enough to silence others."
"You're really magnanimous."
Seeing Fleur's expression, Sean knew she was still somewhat conflicted, so he actively changed the topic, which made Fleur temporarily forget those unpleasant matters.
Castelobruxo didn't have anything like an end-of-term feast. After receiving their grades, students gradually left the school, returning on September 1st to begin the new academic year.
Watching the campus gradually become empty, Sean also noticed the increasing activity of Castelobruxo professors and Brazilian Ministry Aurors. Obviously, they were preparing to thoroughly resolve the problems in the jungle near Castelobruxo after most students had left.
"Sean, unless necessary, please don't leave the campus. If you need anything, you can find me. I'll help you."
"I understand. Thank you, Professor Lehmann."
Watching Sister Ray hurry away, Sean felt that the problems in Castelobruxo's jungle seemed quite serious this time. Since the final grades were released and most students went home, Castelobruxo professors and Brazilian Ministry Aurors had been exploring the nearby jungle for a week.
During this time, injured people were occasionally brought to the school for temporary treatment.
Now there was complete martial law. The few remaining students in the school weren't allowed to leave at all, only able to continue activities within the school's teaching area. Obviously, the problems near Castelobruxo had become even more serious.
If Sean had truly only come here for exchange studies, he might have chosen to leave by now.
But Sean's purpose in coming here wasn't this. His goal was precisely in the jungle. Not only would he not leave, but he needed to enter the jungle to investigate.
"Rumble..."
Suddenly, above the jungle surrounding Castelobruxo, lightning flashed and thunder roared, fierce winds howled, and rain poured down.
Sean looked into the distance. With his keen vision inherited from werewolves, he vaguely saw the shadow of a massive bird appearing and disappearing in the distant clouds amid the lightning and thunder.
Sean vaguely felt that the large bird seemed to be anticipating something.
"Is that the Thunderbird in the clouds?"
As Sean muttered to himself, sudden rumbling sounds came from the jungle north of Castelobruxo. Sean opened his window and looked north, immediately seeing the greatly enlarged Occamy winding up into the air and drilling into the depths of the distant jungle.
Ministry Aurors tried to stop and capture the Occamy, but were swept away by its tail.
Seeing this scene, Sean suddenly remembered that Castelobruxo's captive Occamy was originally supposed to be transferred to Ministry custody, but later, when Castelobruxo professors and Brazilian Ministry Aurors acted together to investigate the jungle, this matter was temporarily shelved.
After all, there weren't many students left in the school, so safety could be guaranteed.
But they hadn't expected that before they could deal with the Occamy, it had already broken free from its restraints and rushed into the jungle itself. With the sky already darkening, finding traces of the Occamy wouldn't be easy.
Just as Sean was preparing to continue watching the excitement, Kulkan, who had been sleeping coiled on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes. She looked at Sean, then turned to look toward the distant jungle, murmuring: "The time has come..."
Hearing Kulkan's words, Sean immediately turned to look at her. Just as he was about to use Parseltongue to ask what was wrong and what time had come, he saw Kulkan spring up from the bed like a spring, slithering toward the window and raising her head to crash into it.
Seeing Kulkan's abnormal state, Sean quickly used his palm to block in front of her head.
"Kulkan, calm down!"
Using the panel's connection between himself and Kulkan, Sean awakened her rationality.
Kulkan, having regained her senses, looked at Sean somewhat painfully and said quietly: "Sean, take me to the depths of the jungle. There's something waiting for me there. I must go!"
Seeing Kulkan's condition, Sean nodded, then turned to look at the somewhat worried Aldrich and Jensen: "You wait here. I'll take Kulkan over to have a look."
"Young master, let me go with you."
"Aldrich, wait here. If you come, you'll actually be a burden to me."
With these words, Sean said no more. He tucked Kulkan into his embrace, cast a Disillusionment Charm, opened the window, and jumped out.