Chapter 137: Variable

“Yes, Noah. He is an orphan who was admitted through the academy’s entrance tests for commoners. Currently ranked second in the entire first year, his strength is unmatched.”

Ashlyn didn’t reply, as she kept staring at the name.

“Also, he has shown no affiliation with any of the factions, so maybe there is some hope to recruit him.”

Though Ana wanted to sound confident, she couldn’t simply lie before Ashlyn.

Recruiting an individual of Noah’s calibre in the current situation was a difficult task to accomplish.

“Ranked second? So who had ranked first?”

As a fourth year, Ashlyn was sent on practicals, which made her unable to keep up with the latest events in the academy.

“That…”

Even Ana couldn’t answer it, as she knew about Noah only because it was mentioned in the list before her, that had all the information about the individuals wanting to join the council.

Being ignorant about the rankings, both of them turned to look at the third-year student who was standing in his place, waiting for their instructions.

Feeling the two gazes on him, the poor guy stumbled back a bit before quickly composing himself.

“Kael Frost was the one who had ranked first in the academy, securing a thousand points in the entrance test.”

“Huh?!”

Ana was the first one to react.

“A thousand points?! Are you sure the result wasn’t rigged?”

Though she asked such a question, Ana knew that the possibility of someone cheating in the test was impossible—nor could any of the staff manipulate the results, as the process was thoroughly monitored by the Headmaster himself.

“Frost?”

Ashlyn’s voice made the third-year student look at her.

Ana too, hearing the name again, got to her senses, as another realization hit her.

“Umm… yes. He is indeed a Frost—the previous heir to the Frost Dukedom.”

“What?! You are saying this guy is that kid!”

Ana was dumbfounded.

Being a noble herself, she knew about the general affairs in the Veltran Empire.

And the story of the failed heir was far too spicy for her to miss. Not only that, but no one could possibly forget the banquet in which a huge commotion was made by the same kid.

Calling the royals filth before them, and even speaking of kissing the First Princess—there was no way Ana could forget that boy, who was later slapped hard by his father.

And now the same guy was here, ranking first in the entire academy.

“Is he strong?”

Though a weakling wouldn’t rank first, Ashlyn still asked the question for clarification.

The third-year guy paused for a moment, trying to articulate his words.

“His exact strength is still not known, but he is believed to be a Silver 3 ranker, though I personally was not able to sense his core.”

Ashlyn just nodded at his words.

It was common for many people to not be able to sense the ranks of individuals who were gifted in their strength.

These monsters could easily hide their rank from everyone’s eyes, and only someone an entire rank above them would be able to sense their actual strength.

Achieving Silver 3, even before being admitted to the academy, was something unheard of.

Even Ashlyn was just at Silver 1 when she was in her first year—and that too was considered a monstrous talent by the world.

So…

Kael was someone on a level never seen before.

But Ashlyn recalled her memories about him. As a Levaith, she knew about all the Frosts, though her encounters with Kael had been rare.

Also, she too had attended the royal banquet, so she had personally witnessed all the events.

And if she remembered correctly, at that time Kael might have been a mere Iron 1—that too without any progress.

From the rumours, he had never trained in his life, so even his iron core was underdeveloped.

So for him to achieve Silver 3 in such a short amount of time was—

Ashlyn couldn’t even fathom the level of talent and hard work required behind that.

Ana too had frozen in her seat, her brain replaying a famous phrase—

Never judge a book by its cover.

She had assumed Kael to be some spoiled brat who just happened to be born in one of the strongest noble houses, getting everything in his lap without earning any of it on his own.

But now—

She felt her inadequacy to even comment about him.

She herself was just a peak Bronze before getting admitted to the academy. And it was only at the end of her first year that she had ranked up to become a Silver core.

So she knew how difficult it was to increase tiers in the Silver rank at such an early age.

“Has he joined the council?”

Ashlyn asked, as a variable like Kael was too—

“No. Though he had visited the council to help his friend in filling the application form.”

“Friend?”

“Yes, someone named John… Umm, he was a decent guy too.”

Ashlyn raised her brow.

“I—I mean I had seen him, and he looked good. Not too strong, but above average.”

The junior blushed as he tried to cough up the words.

“Didn’t Victoria recruit her brother? Tsk, with someone like him on her side, her faction would grow even stronger.”

Ana’s words had brought the three of them back to reality.

Leaving aside their curiosity, the chance of Kael joining Victoria increased the latter’s chances of success by huge margins.

“She didn’t.”

“…”

“Actually, the relations between them don’t seem to be that great. I mean, they didn’t even greet each other when Victoria had entered the council room. At that time, I was staring at Kael, as his friend had submitted the form, and both of them were just leaving the room.”

“Is it that bad?”

Ana’s voice echoed through the room.

“Bad might be an understatement, as they didn’t even acknowledge each other’s presence.”

On hearing the junior’s words, Ana smirked as she looked in Ashlyn’s direction.

“I was thinking the same.”

Ashlyn replied, sensing Ana’s gaze on her.

Maybe…

This was the variable that they needed the most at the moment.

And if there was even the slightest chance of recruiting Kael, Ashlyn was ready to do whatever it took to make him join their side.

The cards were out, and… It was time to recruit—

The Joker.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep