Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

Luo Wei's heart raced at the prospect of regaining credit points by catching rule-breakers.

"Senior, do we get only one credit point regardless of how many people we catch, or is it one point per person?" she asked.

This was crucial - if it was one point per person, she needed to start setting traps right away.

Even if they weren't planning to steal the self-criticism letters, she would find ways to lure them out.

Veronica Malachi covered her mouth and laughed, "If you manage to catch more than one person, of course you'll get more than one point."

"So it's counted per person?" Luo Wei pressed for clarification.

Veronica winked, "That's right - you get one point for each person you catch!"

Satisfied with the answer, the smile returned to Luo Wei's face.

If she could find a way to catch forty people, wouldn't she recover all her points in one night?

After bidding farewell to Veronica, Luo Wei turned her steps toward the academy's notice wall.

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you'll win every battle - none of those people whose names were posted would escape her grasp.

Although her four dear friends were also on that wall, she apologized mentally - she was no longer just Luo Wei, she was now a merciless point-farming machine!

Outside the academy's main cathedral stood a dedicated notice wall, covered in various sizes of parchment nailed to its surface, looking from afar like a bad case of psoriasis.

Over thirty students had received disciplinary actions at the end of last semester, so there were over thirty self-criticism letters posted.

Luo Wei had thought that with so many letters posted together, hers wouldn't be too conspicuous. But to her surprise, she could spot her letter from a hundred feet away.

Her letter was the largest, had the most words, and was posted in the most prominent position.

Next to her letter was a chart listing the names of those disciplined and their deducted points.

Luo Wei glanced at it - her name topped the list with a full forty points deducted.

Theodore came second with twenty points deducted.

Gladys and Hol Felix tied for third place with ten points each.

Laura ranked fifth with five points deducted.

Further down, Luo Wei spotted two somewhat familiar names.

Hessel Calansis, Intermediate Alchemy Apprentice, lost four points for burning down a classroom in an alchemy accident.

Sebastian Noel, Advanced Spell Apprentice, lost three points for getting caught stealing water using water magic.

Stealing water?

Luo Wei was stunned - why would anyone steal water? It wasn't even worth much.

Curious, she found Sebastian's self-criticism letter among the dense parchments. After reading it, she was amazed.

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This brave senior lived above the men's bathroom. Since learning advanced water magic, he had been collecting water vapor through the floor every day, condensing it into his bucket for washing.

This ingenious method of water theft was normally hard to detect. However, in winter, the warm steam from the bathroom rose straight up, and no matter how much hot water was used, the walls remained dry. This aroused the suspicion of the old bathroom attendant.

The attendant called for the dormitory supervisor, who stormed upstairs and broke down the door, catching the brave senior in the act of stealing water with magic.

As a result, not only did the frugal senior have to pay six months' worth of water fees, but he was also punished with half a month of bathroom heating duty. His attempt to save money had backfired spectacularly.

Luo Wei memorized the name Sebastian - anyone who could persistently steal water for half a year was quite something.

She continued reading and spotted Vina's name on the list.

Vina had lost two points for violating the academy's no-fighting rule when she pushed Axina, nearly into the lake, in a fit of jealousy over her fiancé Egbert.

Most students only lost one or two points - there weren't many who had lost as many points as the "death squad."

As the sun was setting, noble ladies returning from their outings streamed back into the academy in groups.

Luo Wei strolled casually through the tree-lined path, made a few rounds in the garden, and finally "happened" to encounter Vina, who was returning with cream cakes, at the dormitory entrance.

"Good evening, Vina," Luo Wei said, lifting her skirts as she climbed the steps from the other side to reach Vina.

Vina whirled around, and upon seeing her, her face took on a horrified expression.

"What- what do you want?" she asked nervously. "I've already written the apology letter, I'll go get it from my room right now."

"Glad you haven't forgotten," Luo Wei chuckled softly. "I thought you might have."

"I haven't forgotten!" Vina quickly replied. "You just never asked for it!"

"Is that so?" Luo Wei smiled kindly. "Then let's go get it - I want to see if you really wrote it."

"If you don't believe me, you can come see for yourself - it's right on my desk!" Vina snapped angrily.

Her handwriting wasn't very good, and fearing Luo Wei would mock her, she had spent the month-long holiday writing over a hundred apology letters before selecting the most satisfactory one.

Each apology letter required writing "I'm sorry" a hundred times - she had written it over ten thousand times until her hand developed calluses.

Vina led Luo Wei to her bedroom and picked up the apology letter from the desk. "See for yourself, I wasn't lying!"

Luo Wei followed her in, quickly bolting the door behind them. She walked over and glanced at the letter in Vina's hand.

The neatly cut parchment was filled with elegant cursive writing without a single blemish, showing that the writer had indeed put in considerable effort.

However, she still found a flaw: "Here, the last letter in the second-to-last row has a pause in the stroke, the tail was added later. I don't like it. Write it again."

"What? It's hardly noticeable..." Vina stared at the letter for a long time before suddenly realizing what was happening. She glared furiously, "Luo Wei, you're playing with me!"

"What else?" Luo Wei's face darkened, her voice turning cold. "Did you think getting forgiveness for your mistakes would be so easy?"

"An apology letter?" She suddenly grabbed the letter from Vina's hand and threw it to the ground. "Hah, worthless."

"Ah! My letter!" Vina screamed. "You bitch, you're insane!"

"Bitch? Insane?" Luo Wei kicked the letter away and grabbed Vina's throat, her fingers suddenly tightening. "Vina, I remember warning you long ago about my temper."

"Cough, cough," Vina choked, her face turning red as she rasped, "I wrote the apology letter like you wanted, what more do you want?"

Her voice carried a sob: "It took me so long to write that!"

"Shh," Luo Wei whispered, "Not so loud. If anyone outside hears, I'll snap your neck."

Terror spread across Vina's face - Luo Wei was truly insane!

"Tsk, tsk," Luo Wei shook her head in disappointment. "I thought you were tougher than this. You dared to plot against me with Axina, but now you won't even fight back?"

"I didn't," Vina trembled in fear. "I didn't help her plot against you."

"No?" Luo Wei asked. "Those thugs in the alley - wasn't that your joint idea?"

"It wasn't me!" Vina quickly defended herself. "That was all Axina's idea. She tried to use me, but I listened to you and didn't fall for it!"

"Really, believe me, I even called the city guards then because I was worried you might actually get hurt. I also wanted to get back at her, to let her taste her own medicine!"

"No matter how bad I am, I would never think of such a dirty scheme. Besides, I'm a believer in the Goddess of Justice - I would face divine punishment if I went against justice!"

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