Vol 2 Chapter 170 Lin Xiaolu’s Accident

Veronica did not hide from her juniors the fact that she would participate in the assessment under the identity of "Gentian." After all, she had already revealed that there might be unexpected changes in the exam, and she had openly stated her cooperation with the nation's Magical Affairs Court. Given both facts, continuing to conceal this would have little meaning, and the juniors would not question her “disguising as a candidate.”

Therefore, Lin Xiaolu and the others clearly knew that Veronica was inside the Silver Gallery and had just witnessed the exam questions firsthand. The only difference was that their reporting times were different, so they were not in the same examination hall.

[Xiaojin: Feels good, mostly reviewed topics, so it went smoothly.]

[Bosetsu: Should be no problem.]

[Bai Mei: Not bad.]

After about a minute of Veronica’s questioning, the three juniors each replied in the group chat.

She glanced at their responses. Xia Liang’s answer matched her usual study attitude, so there was no cause for worry. Bai Jingxuan was also someone who wouldn’t lie about such things;

if she said “no problem,” it probably meant just that. The only suspicious one was Lin Xiaolu, whose “not bad” left much room for speculation.

After some thought, Veronica slowly typed a few words on her phone screen with her index finger:

[Veronica: The passing mark should be fine?]

In the final scoring of the assessment, although both the written test and practical test each had four scores, their proportions in the total score were different. Usually, the written test accounted for only 30% of the final score, while the practical test made up the remaining 70%.

However, although the written test’s proportion was low, as the first hurdle, it served to eliminate some candidates.

A Magical Girl candidate must pass the passing line in all four subjects of the written test to qualify for the following practical exams. Failure to reach the passing line means the written test is considered “failed,” and the candidate would be filtered out.

The passing line for the written test was not a fixed score. It was generally 60% of the total score but fluctuated depending on the average score of that year. For example, if the total score for Rune Studies was 100 points, the passing line was initially set at 60 points. If the average score that year was high, with most candidates scoring above 90 and the average around 80, the passing line might be raised to 70 points. Conversely, if the average was low, say 65 points, the passing line could be lowered to around 55 points.

Every year, about 15% to 20% of Magical Girls were eliminated due to failing the written test. This effectively weeded out those who didn’t study or follow the rules. But for those who studied well and followed regulations, passing was not particularly difficult.

So, Veronica’s question was essentially a very low bar.

[Xiaojin: Yeah, passing is definitely no problem. The main hope is to get a higher score.]

[Bosetsu: Can pass.]

[Bai Mei: Probably.]

These were the replies from the three juniors on their phones.

After this exchange, even Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan noticed something was off with Lin Xiaolu. That “not bad” and “probably” were essentially non-answers, quite suspicious.

[Xiaojin: What do you mean by ‘probably’? The exam wasn’t that hard this year, right? Most content was covered by the senior’s lectures.]

[Bosetsu: Is Sister Xiaolu really okay?]

[Bai Mei: I didn’t say I can’t do it, it’s just that I can’t use spell formulas yet, so I haven’t memorized many runes.]

[Veronica: Have you finished reading the Lawwo Rune Compendium I gave you half a month ago?]

As soon as Veronica sent this, the chat suddenly went quiet.

It was as if everyone was waiting for Lin Xiaolu’s answer, deliberately giving her the spotlight. After a while, Lin Xiaolu finally replied:

[Bai Mei: I read it.]

[Veronica: Three of the five big questions this time can be found verbatim in the last three chapters of that book. No problem with those questions, right?]

Once this question appeared, Lin Xiaolu fell silent again.

[Bai Mei: Well, I think I might have mixed things up.]

After a long pause, Lin Xiaolu typed this line in the group chat.

[Veronica: Mixed up?]

Veronica did not interrogate her daughter but asked in a calm tone as if hearing something very normal, trying to confirm the situation with straightforward words. Soon, she received the answer:

Lin Xiaolu had never specifically memorized the Lawwo runes before. She had not reached Leaf-rank and thus could not use spell formulas, so she had no way to verify the effects of the runes. With this mindset, she procrastinated on memorization until one week before the exam.

During that week, Lin Xiaolu’s review material was not limited to Rune Studies. Even after memorizing the book, many runes and phrases did not match their meanings correctly. This caused her, when writing the exam, to merely “know that such an answer existed.”

That answer certainly appeared in the book, but she wasn’t sure if it was the right answer for the question. It was very likely that she put the answer for question one under question two, and the answer for question three under question one.

If that was the case, even if all her answers came from the book, she could still have made many errors.

After hearing Lin Xiaolu’s explanation, everyone in the chat was momentarily at a loss for words.

After much thought, Veronica finally sent a message:

[Veronica: If you mixed things up, there’s nothing to be done about it. Don’t dwell on it now;

prepare for the next subject’s exam.]

[Veronica: Even if there is a problem, don’t rush or be sad. Focus on the next exams. I’ll find a way.]

[Veronica: Let’s have lunch first, but don’t eat too much. Tonight, I’ll take you all out for some snacks. [Rose]]

Honestly, if this had happened several years ago, with Veronica’s former self—Lin Yun in her early thirties—she would have scolded Lin Xiaolu.

But with time and many experiences, Veronica had decided not to treat her daughter with such one-sided expectations anymore.

Maybe Lin Xiaolu had indeed made mistakes in this matter, possibly causing some confusion. Yet, at least she did try to memorize the material.

Veronica knew very well that her daughter was not a studious child. Unlike those “other children,” Lin Xiaolu was playful, a bit lazy, and liked to act spoiled. This was her nature, something she was born with and could not change.

But based on this personality, the preparation Lin Xiaolu had done for the assessment over the past year was evident to the entire Fangting City team. Not to say she was very hardworking, but at least she completed the tasks Veronica assigned.

This time was the same. Although she procrastinated, was lazy, and executed the rune memorization task poorly, she did memorize it in the end. For a child like Lin Xiaolu, this was already significant progress.

Since that was the case, Veronica could not seriously scold her.

The first subject’s exam had just ended. The performance in the next three subjects was equally important. Keeping Lin Xiaolu’s mindset steady and passing the remaining three was the priority.

As for the Rune Studies score, if Lin Xiaolu had only mixed up a few parts, that would be ideal. If too many errors caused her to fail… well, if it came to that, they could try to negotiate with the Green Faction’s Magical Girls.

Of course, this was only for the case of failing one subject with a small margin.

The qualification assessment was a very serious exam. Manipulating or altering scores—even by Magical Affairs Court insiders—was heavily restricted and could only be done on a very limited scale.

For example, if the passing line was 75 and a candidate scored 74 or 73, they might try to pull some strings. But if the difference was too large, even the Director of Permanent Education Selection would just shake their head.

As for the remaining three subjects, if Lin Xiaolu had further problems, there would be nothing to do but go home and wait for next year.

Veronica thought this through, then suddenly paused, realizing that her thoughts had unconsciously veered into the territory of “using power for personal gain.”

What she had once hated, she now considered naturally as an option.

With a helpless sigh, Veronica did not dwell on it much and walked toward the Silver Gallery’s public cafeteria.

After all, this was not something to agonize over.

If it was for her child, she would never hesitate to become the “bad person” if necessary.