Mr. Death in the Steam World

Arthur placed the documents on the table; on top was an application form with the following words at the top:

Application Form for Correspondence Course Admission to St. Alice Magic Academy

Moen pulled up a chair and sat down, reading the terms on the form word by word.

In essence, the college provides knowledge to correspondence students, who in turn need to fulfill credit requirements through study, exams, and college assignments, somewhat resembling a special employment system.

He picked up a quill pen, dipped it in ink, and quickly filled in the forms for name, identity, address, and so on.

But when he filled in the last item, he couldn't help but twitch his lips:

"Tuition fee for first-year correspondence students: £50."

To be fair, the amount wasn't outrageous—Clara's tuition at the affiliated school was also twenty gold pounds a year.

Fifty gold pounds is a bargain for a ticket to the extraordinary world.

But for him now, this money is still a huge sum of money.

Arthur had been observing his expression discreetly, and seeing this, he spoke at the opportune moment:

"Mr. Marcus, if you're currently short on funds, I can temporarily—"

"No need." Moen raised his hand to interrupt him, took a deep breath, and took out the wallet he had prepared in advance from his pocket.

He counted out the gold pounds one by one and neatly stacked them on the table. When the last pound was placed down, only a few lonely pennies remained in his wallet.

From now on, we'll be living frugally again.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing in his gray-green eyes.

This young detective was more resourceful than he had imagined; there weren't many people in all of Kansas City who could come up with fifty gold pounds.

"Since the amount is correct," Arthur pointed to a blank space on the application form, "just put them on the contract."

Moen did as he was told, piling the gold pounds onto the form. The moment the last pound fell, the application form suddenly moved without wind, and a faint golden light shone on its surface.

Immediately afterwards, a cluster of silvery-white flames ignited from the center of the paper, engulfing the entire form along with the fifty gold pounds.

Moen instinctively leaned back.

"Relax." Arthur seemed to have anticipated his reaction, his tone slightly mischievous.

"This contract is part of a Level 3 containment device of the academy, specifically used to process remote enrollment procedures."

"The flames are just the surface; the essence is spatial teleportation."

A Level 3 containment object? To be used to collect tuition fees? Moen re-evaluated his understanding of the financial resources of "St. Alice Magic Academy".

A moment later, ripples appeared in the air again.

A brand new document floated down from the void and landed steadily on the desktop.

Moen looked closely, and his expression immediately became very strange.

It was a receipt and a piece of writing paper.

"Please briefly describe your views on good and evil, life and death, in no less than 800 words."

Phils peeked over from the side, saw the essay paper, and burst out laughing.

"I knew this would happen!" Her tone was full of schadenfreude. "Mr. Marcus, you have the exact same expression I had back then."

"Don't be nervous, this is just a basic test for new students."

"First, we'll check if you have normal literacy skills; second, we'll check if there are any major problems with your values."

"Relax and just write from the heart."

Moen pondered for a moment, then began to write.

At first, he was just answering the questions as if it were a routine task, but as the pen tip scratched on the paper, all the things he had accumulated since his transmigration suddenly found an outlet at this moment.

He became more and more engrossed in writing, and eventually he almost forgot that he was completing an entrance exam.

By the time he finally snapped out of his creative frenzy, the tip of his quill pen had been worn down to a small dent.

He looked down at the composition paper that was filled with dense handwriting, then turned it over to look at the appendix, which was also filled with writing, and remained silent for two seconds.

"It seems I've written a bit too much."

Arthur picked up the stack of essay papers, flipped through them casually, and his expression was quite complicated.

He handed it to Fils, who took it, looked at a few pages, widened her eyes, flipped through a few more pages, and finally silently put the composition paper back on the table.

"...It should be fine." Arthur carefully chose his words, "but it's rare to see someone who writes as diligently as you."

He paused, then added,

"I've been in the college for so many years, and this is the first time I've ever seen someone submit an entrance essay of more than six thousand words."

Phils nodded vigorously, her gaze towards Moen now carrying a hint of awe.

He placed the writing paper on the table. Just like before, the flame, which moved automatically without wind, reignited and engulfed the thick stack of papers.

The three stared at the lingering glimmer of light in the air, speechless for a moment.

The wait wasn't long; about five minutes later, an evaluation report floated onto the table.

"excellent."

Phils let out a long breath and patted her chest.

Arthur's smile faded, and he pushed the evaluation report in front of Moen, his expression becoming serious again.

"Then, Moen Marcus."

"To prove that your desire to join the academy is entirely of your own volition, without coercion, manipulation, or any external influence, I am making this final confirmation to you."

He looked directly into Moen's eyes and said, word by word:

"Are you willing to join St. Alice Magic Academy, to share in the academy's glory and its responsibilities?"

"Yes I do."

Arthur nodded slightly and pushed the evaluation report a few inches closer.

"Then, let's use blood as proof."

Without hesitation, Moen raised his right hand, brought his thumb to his lips, and bit down hard. He pressed the bead of blood that seeped out onto the signature section of the evaluation report.

The moment the bloodstain touched the paper, the evaluation report suddenly emitted a soft white light.

The light spread rapidly along the pre-printed patterns on the paper, instantly outlining a small teleportation array on the table.

The space in the center of the magic circle distorted for a moment, and when the light faded, several items had appeared on the table.

Three sealed glass tubes, a bottle of dark blue potion, and a palm-sized six-pointed star stone tablet.

"A large portion of your tuition fees has been spent on these things."

Arthur reached for the dark blue potion and handed it to Moen.

"This is an initiation potion. Drink it, and the dormant magical circuits within you will be activated. From that moment on, you will truly step into the realm of the extraordinary."

"The remaining few are auxiliary potions, which will be used in the awakening ceremony later."

Moen took the potion, uncorked it, and a cool, slightly bitter aroma wafted out.

Without hesitation, he tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

The moment the liquid slid down his throat, a warm current rose from his abdomen and spread throughout his body.