To escape the crowd's pursuit, Blake, who had slipped out of the chapel, had no choice but to hide in Professor Cremor's office. During the remaining time, he learned a lot of secrets from the upper circles from this living fossil of the History Department.
It turned out that Dean Silvia was the granddaughter of Hilder Christie, who was the renowned father of Guidance Force studies. Meanwhile, the Christie family was a member of the Free City-States' Joint Council, controlling the political and economic lifelines of Coblenz.
As for the position of dean's assistant, Blake had never heard of it. Because many deans of colleges were unwilling to recruit assistants, in such a large campus, scholars with this title were extremely few.
Perhaps precisely because of this scarcity, the privileges of a dean's assistant were comparable to those of a vice dean. Its academic status could even be on a par with that of an associate professor, and at the same time, this position would allow Blake to receive a monthly salary three times that of a regular faculty member.
After a series of intensive catch-up classes from Professor Cremor, Blake returned to his rented apartment before the sun set. He wasn't required to make a decision immediately, after all, there was still some time left until the Night Festival.
At the moment he pushed open the door, the light of the kerosene lamp caught Blake's attention, and then that familiar figure came into his eyes, so that a knowing smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Blake! How long has it been since you cleaned this place! Your bed is about to grow fleas!" A girl with a ponytail and a slightly childish face picked up the dusty bedding and gave Blake an annoyed glare.
"Aelia! Why are you here? Libra Vocational High School is way too lenient! What about your evening self-study?" Although Blake relentlessly retorted with words, he looked at his younger sister with a doting gaze.
"The evening self-study tonight is canceled, and it should be said that the self-study for this whole week is canceled! It seems that the teachers are all preparing for this year's Night Festival!" Looking at this old slicker who had never lost a quarrel, Aelia's face instantly turned red with anger.
After giving Aelia an innocent grimace, Blake lay leisurely on the sofa. He casually picked up the black bread his sister had brought, paired it with the leftover hummus from this morning, and wolfed it down.
While enjoying the food, Blake couldn't help but recall the past events related to the Night Festival. Perhaps to commemorate the appearance of the black curtain, or perhaps to commemorate the victory of the century-long war, humans designated the last Sunday of June as the most special festival of the year.
This festival would bring a one-week holiday to working people, and students would thus enter a long summer vacation. So the Night Festival was the most popular festival in human society, even the New Year couldn't compare to it.
"I've changed the new bed sheets! I'll take the old ones to the laundry room downstairs! Remember from now on, the kitchen garbage can't stay at home overnight! And that... hey hey! Are you even listening!" When Blake was still daydreaming, Aelia raised the garbage bag in her hand and was about to throw it at the sofa.
" No, no, no! I'm sorry, I'm listening! My dear sister, I'll take out the garbage on time in the future!" Blake subconsciously stretched out his arms to block in front of him, fearing that the garbage bag emitting the smell of rotten eggs would hit his only formal suit.
"Hmph! You're so old and still not worrying! Do you still think you're a kid in the orphanage?" Under Blake's repeated nods and pleas for mercy, Aelia left the apartment with resentment.
Looking at his sister's leaving back, an inexplicable sense of guilt arose in Blake's heart. Since his parents passed away twelve years ago, he had been devoting himself to his studies, wanting to get rid of the fate of being an orphan, so much so that he had neglected his only relative.
As the elder brother, Blake should have taken care of his younger sister, but in the end, he became the one being taken care of. He once secretly vowed in his heart to give his sister a better future, and becoming a university faculty member was the first step to achieve class leap.
As Blake relaxed his tense nerves, he unknowingly fell asleep. But this time, he didn't have that strange dream, but dreamed of Aelia's bright smiling face when she was young.
When the sun once again shone through the black curtain onto the earth, Blake had a rare good night's sleep. However, he still had no idea about his own belonging, and he planned to ask Professor Cremor for advice again. But before he could enter the campus, he was blocked by Alex, who had ambushed at the door in advance.
"Blake! You must not enter the college building! The news that Dean Silvia came to our department to poach people has spread like wildfire in the school, and you are quite a celebrity now! All the entrances and exits of the college building are being watched by paparazzi from the Journalism Department, who are eager to get a big story! You will definitely be caught once you appear!"
"The Guidance Force Academy has poached a lot of people over the years, but I've never heard of such a big commotion!" Blake, who was pulled into the shade by Alex, could only spread his hands helplessly.
"This time, it's Dean Silvia who personally made a move. Don't you know she's the dream girl of many people! Her love life has always been the hottest topic in the Journalism Department! You, a newly promoted faculty member with no background, have been favored by her for no reason. How can people not think more about it!"
Alex's analysis quickly made Blake recognize the situation. Although he couldn't help cursing the paparazzi of the Journalism Department in his heart, he had to choose to avoid the limelight temporarily.
With nowhere to go, Blake first thought of the library, and he also had many questions about Guidance Force studies to solve. After all, he was still a little confused about the sudden olive branch thrown by Dean Silvia, and as a cautious person, he always felt a little unease about such unfamiliar overtures.
However, the library at 9 o'clock in the morning was already packed with students. This landmark building on campus was not only an excellent tutoring place for students before exams, but also a masterpiece of the Guidance Force system. Guidance Force products that rarely appeared outside were everywhere here.
Guidance Force lighting equipment could provide more than ten times the brightness of kerosene lamps, which greatly extended the time students could study, and also made the library the only building on campus that was brightly lit until night.
Guidance Force air coolers could automatically blow air and also had a cooling effect. So in this sweltering summer, the library had transformed into a summer resort on the entire campus. Even students who didn't plan to study by themselves would run to the library from time to time, just to feel the rare coolness in the intense heat.
Of course, these Guidance Force products were all experimental products of the Guidance Force Academy, each with extremely high cost, and even most of the upper class in the Free City-States couldn't afford them. At the same time, because most of these experimental products were not very stable, their working conditions were good or bad, and the working effects of different individuals of the same type of experimental products also had great differences.
So although the Guidance Force system has been developed for more than 30 years, the research data is basically still in the experimental stage. In addition, the high price of raw materials has finally made Guidance Force products not widely available, and the existing experimental results are basically only serving the powerful families and large organizations.
After selecting books, Blake came to the far end of the west side of the third floor of the library. There was a small area specially provided for school faculty and staff to rest. Now he finally didn't have to fight with students for seats like in previous years.
The book Blake chose was "Advanced Principles of Guidance Force Studies", which was knowledge that senior students of the Guidance Force Academy would come into contact with. The book detailed the whole process of how the Guidance Force system transformed from theory to practice.
In short, the Guidance Force system is a system device that conducts energy from one state to another through precision instruments made of certain special materials. In this system, Guidance Force runes determine the direction of energy transformation.
The complexity of the Guidance Force system made the Guidance Force Academy divide it into more than a dozen different departments when teaching it by dismantling. Each department specializes in one aspect, and only when all departments are integrated can the experimental results of the Guidance Force system be witnessed. Therefore, the Guidance Force Academy has become the one with the latest establishment time but the most departments among the many colleges of Liberty University of Libra.
When Blake was immersed in the 精妙 of Guidance Force studies, a slender figure suddenly sat opposite him. Blake looked up subconsciously, and then a familiar face came into his eyes.
"Senior Violet, long time no see! Why do you have time to come to the library? Didn't you go to prepare for the graduation ceremony of the Guidance Force Academy? I heard that the Guidance Force Academy will release new experimental products at the graduation ceremony this year!"
The woman in front of him, with a few freckles on her face, wearing black-rimmed glasses on her nose, and her hair tied up in a high bun, was a young faculty member of the Guidance Force Academy. During the summer vacation a year ago, Blake met her by chance when he was studying Guidance Force runes in the library.
Blake's unique insights into Guidance Force runes attracted this new faculty member from the Rune Department, and this faculty member was also generous in teaching, often answering Blake's difficult questions in Guidance Force studies. It can be said that Professor Violet was half of Blake's teacher in the field of Guidance Force.
"You are now a big shot in the History Department! How can you still have the mood to loaf around in the library! Professor Blake!" Violet stretched out her finger teasingly towards the "Advanced Principles of Guidance Force Studies" in front of Blake.
"It really seems that nothing can be hidden from you! I had no choice but to hide in the library! Coincidentally, I have some questions about the principles of Guidance Force, I wonder if you can help me solve them!" After saying that, Blake was about to pick up the book and hand it to Violet.
Professor Violet just smiled and didn't take the "Advanced Principles of Guidance Force Studies". Instead, she moved forward and put her face close to Blake's.
"Don't you have more important things to do than studying the principles of Guidance Force here?"
Faced with this sudden oppression, the panicked Blake instinctively wanted to lean back to avoid it, but as a result, he fell to the ground with his chair.
"Professor Violet, we haven't seen each other for two months! We haven't made any agreement between us!" Blake, sitting on the ground, frowned, with a look of grievance all over his face.
"It seems that your eyesight is really not good. We're so close, and you didn't even notice!" Violet first took off her black-rimmed glasses, then untied her hair bun. As she wiped her face with a wet tissue, the visible freckles all disappeared.
"Sh... Dean Silvia!"
Just as Violet finished changing her appearance, Blake recognized at a glance that the familiar young faculty member in front of him was the culprit who messed up the inaugural speech.
"Shh! Be quiet, you don't want to attract those brats from the Journalism Department, do you?" Silvia put her index finger on her lips to signal silence.
Blake patted his butt and stood up from the ground. Now he was as fidgety as a student caught cheating by the invigilator, and his legs were shaking slightly because of nervousness.
"Have you thought about the answer I want? Although there is still some time until the Night Festival, I don't like to wait!"
Dean Silvia put her hands on her hips, restoring her usual domineering posture. Her sharp eyes seemed to tell Blake to answer carefully, otherwise, she might get angry in the next moment.
"I've almost thought about it, but can I ask you a question first?" Blake couldn't help swallowing, as if he wanted to relieve his inner tension.
"Okay! But this is not the place to talk, come with me!"
Dean Silvia's hands seemed to have magic. She restored Professor Violet's makeup in an instant, then turned around and walked towards the stairs.