My older sister is a villainous rich girl

"Consider it payment for exploiting my labor before."

Hearing this, Conley was speechless.

After disemboweling it, Wayne used his magic to carefully examine its internal structure and finally discovered a glimpse of its secret.

“So that’s how it is. It’s used to regulate the energy supply... but it has to store enough magic power beforehand, which is a big drawback…” he muttered to himself.

Not everyone has such a robust reserve of magic power as I do.

Moreover, how many high-level mages would be willing to waste their hard-earned magic power on such a thing?

Promoting its adoption in daily life remains a long and arduous task.

"So?" Seeing the thoughtful look on his face, Conley finally couldn't contain his smugness. "Aren't you impressed by your teacher's genius?"

“Indeed, I have to admit that you’re quite capable, teacher.” Wayne nodded.

Conley's mustache stood up even higher.

"But over the years, you've made countless inventions, many of which have been very successful. Why haven't you become rich?" He seemed genuinely puzzled.

Conley's face immediately fell.

"Well, that's because being at the forefront of magical research comes at a price. Don't be fooled by how profitable the final product may seem; the resources consumed behind the scenes are countless."

After a brief pause, he sighed, "Besides that, I was probably just unlucky."

His research lab often receives funding from many wealthy nobles, and his students and faculty occasionally take on private projects. But even now, Conley himself doesn't live a life of extreme wealth and luxury.

He doesn't date, doesn't get married, and doesn't make friends. He just buries himself in his research every day, and when he gets tired, he just sleeps in the lab.

His investment in various new research projects alone has almost depleted the money he has painstakingly saved each year.

If it weren't for the reliable head disciple Olive helping to set budgets and limit spending, Conley might have ended up begging at the academy gates before he could produce any useful results.

Wayne glanced at his slightly dejected expression and comforted him, "Actually, teacher, your luck isn't too bad."

"At least you still have me as your disciple~ I am the man destined to shake the entire continent in the future." He shamelessly patted himself on the back.

"Heh." Conley glanced at him sideways.

“Before that, I would be even more grateful if you were willing to go back and persuade Duke Elliott to increase the sponsorship fee a little more.”

"—Sorry, just pretend I didn't say anything."

……

Not long after that special lecture ended, a report written by Olive herself was quickly published.

Using students from three different classes as samples and different grouping methods for comparison, although the sample size is not large, it can indeed corroborate some facts.

When Wayne arrived at the bulletin board, Ge Li had already been standing there for a long time.

Noticing someone approaching from behind, she tilted her head slightly.

But as soon as she saw Wayne's face, she immediately turned her gaze away.

"..." Wayne didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only try to make conversation.

"Professor Olive's report is very detailed."

The entire bulletin board was almost completely covered with posters, and presumably the same content had also been placed on the desks of the school's leaders.

Wayne read through each and every one of them.

In the summary table, Class A's scores were mostly concentrated in the upper and lower positions, with very few in the middle, while Class B was generally one level lower than Class A.

In Class E, where Wayne was, although there weren't many groups that reached the top score, there were surprisingly many groups that scored in the middle to upper range.

Olive's final conclusion was simple: a combination of strong and weak groups was most conducive to improving overall performance, and she advised other classes to learn from this.

“I disagree,” Ge Li suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Wayne looked at her.

“I disagree. Other classes need to learn from your experience.” Ge Li stubbornly bit her lower lip. “If it weren’t for you, our class would be in first place.”

Wayne pondered for a moment, then asked softly, "But even if your group came in first place, our class still had the highest average score, didn't we?"

"It's just a little higher..."

"Even one point higher is still higher."

Knowing she would likely be unwilling to accept this, Wayne didn't care about her sophistry.

"In fact, this survey can also be relevant to real life. There is a theory called the 'barrel effect'..."

He was about to launch into a long speech when Ge Li interrupted him rudely. "—People with weak abilities have no right to be valued."

Wayne's words caught in his throat.

Perhaps taking his silence as a sign of guilt, Ge Li continued, "This research has strayed from the right path from the very beginning."

"There is no need to think about how to help underachieving students achieve better results. The most reasonable way to cultivate them is to allocate all resources to the strongest and most promising students."

Wayne frowned and said, "So, does that mean that because I'm stronger than you, I should naturally receive more resources than you?"

“I have no objection,” Ge Li replied without hesitation.

"..." Wayne didn't know what to say.

“That’s not how it works,” he said in a deep voice. “The purpose of establishing the kingdom’s various magic academies is to cultivate enough magicians, even if they are not the strongest ones.”

How can the talents mass-produced year after year compare to those elite individuals who have secluded themselves to study and hone their skills for decades before finally becoming masters?

But it was precisely because of these mass-produced talents that the kingdom's overall strength soared, transforming it from an insignificant little country into one of the strongest nations on the entire continent at that time.

Chapter 541 An Unexpected Pawn

Nowadays, every country on the continent with aspirations will not hesitate to invest in its own magic academies, not to mention the endless stream of princes and nobles who come to Lornes to study.

Even with the Kingdom of Lornes's vigorous promotion, the renowned Seiki Academy still needs to be accepted by them...

Without generating profits, the flourishing of magic academies would never be possible.

After listening to his analysis, Ge Li couldn't find any words to refute him, but he was unwilling to be persuaded by him just like that.

"In short, I will not agree."

After firmly leaving those words behind, Ge Li turned and left.

Wayne rubbed his temples helplessly, feeling that there was still a long way to go before people's attitudes could be changed.

……

"Teacher, do you think it's meaningful to have pity on the weak?"

Tasia suddenly asked.

Her training in magical control was put to the test at the academy, and she happily shared the results with her teacher.

But after she finished speaking, she raised a new question, her emotions hard to discern.

In the room, Wayne sat diagonally opposite her desk, on which were several small paper figures cut out from paper.

"It's meaningless."

He fiddled with a small paper figure, manipulating it to move around on the table.

Upon receiving this rather cold reply, Tasia's expression shifted slightly.

“Don’t pity them, respect them,” he said.

"Pity can bring them nothing of benefit; it can only immerse them in the environment of the weak and make them unable to extricate themselves."

Just as giving money directly is not as good as providing work relief, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.

Tasia's tone suddenly softened, as if she had become a little happier.

"I thought you, teacher, would think the same way as everyone else in the school..."

She nodded as she spoke, "Indeed, even if I become stronger in the future, I will still respect everyone."

Wayne casually made a witty remark. "Are you provoking me, your teacher, and acknowledging that you'll definitely be stronger than me in the future?"

Realizing she had been misunderstood by her teacher, Tasia was both ashamed and anxious: "I...I didn't mean that—"

When her eyes met his gentle gaze, she froze, instantly snapping back to reality.

"...Teacher, are you kidding me?"

As she gazed at him with eyes that seemed to recognize him anew, Wayne realized that he seemed to have unconsciously deviated from his usual aloof persona.

"Ahem, pay attention in class!" Wayne immediately adjusted.

He began to forcefully change the subject, trying to draw Tasia's attention back to the lesson itself.

Despite Wayne's best efforts, the results were still unsatisfactory. He could sense that Tasia was looking at him with suspicion from time to time.

There's no other way but to use the trump card!

"That concludes today's lesson. Practice using the methods I've described. Don't aim too high; just start with the most basic wrapping motion and gradually try it out."

—Of the thirty-six stratagems, running away is the best; Wayne simply slipped away.

"Wait……"

Before Tasia could finish speaking, a gentle breeze blew up the paper figures on the table and then slowly drifted them down.

Slightly disappointed, she put her hand, which she had wanted to use to keep him, back on the table and got up to collect the paper figures that had been left in front of Wayne's seat.

Even though the lines are both very simple, the teacher's cut them out cuter than mine...

Tasia pouted, her feelings a mix of emotions.

"Oh, right! Tasia." A magnetic voice suddenly rang in her ears, startling Tasia.

She hurriedly clenched the paper figure in her hand, stood ramrod straight, and answered loudly, "Here!"

Wayne looked at her with surprise at her guilty-looking reaction and found it somewhat amusing.

"This toy is for you." He took out a brand new brown bear.

It had a nice top hat and bow tie, and also wore a white mask.

"This is... a gift for me?" Tasia asked, as if she couldn't believe it.

"You seem to really like dolls. I happen to have a lot, so I'll give you one."

Wayne casually remarked, as if it were nothing, "As for the one I picked up from someone else's house, it's still somewhat of a research subject for me. I'll take it with me. You don't mind, do you?"

Since he had said that, Tasia naturally had no objections and shook her head repeatedly: "Of course not!"

"That's good, I'm leaving now."

Just like before, the spot where he had been standing a moment ago was now completely empty.

After waiting for a while and sensing that he had indeed left, Tasia finally relaxed and let out a long breath.

To Wayne, the pitch-black night was as bright as day.

He idly fiddled with the doll in his hand, and as he passed a street corner, he casually threw it into a trash heap.

This thing could easily remind others, especially Tasia, of herself, so he no longer planned to use it. Cleaning it up was the best way to deal with it.

Thick, dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and the pitch-black night grew even darker in the cold.

The masked person walked away step by step, and the ugly doll behind him gradually dissolved in the dark corner until it disappeared completely.

I don't know how much time passed.

Two dark figures came from another direction and followed the same path.

“Tasia Louis’s bakery is just a short distance ahead,” one of them said.

“The houses here are noticeably much more shabby,” another person remarked.

Although his voice was more mature, it was particularly frivolous.

"Naturally. The people living here are all commoners. They are timid and afraid of trouble. Even if they hear some noise in the middle of the night, very few of them will go out and meddle."

The person who spoke first said coldly, "Even if someone sees us, just kill them."

“Darcy, that’s not quite right,” Norman said with a contented smile.

The nature of dark magic made him thoroughly enjoy the darkness. "We are righteous people, determined to rebel against the cruel rule of the noble lords for the sake of the common people!"