Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Divine Beast Academy

“Do you have anyone left?” Su Yan asked.

Bai Kai Xin shook his head. “No. I’m alone.”

“What talent?”

“Yellow-rank wind.”

Su Yan clicked her tongue. “Low.”

“…Sorry,” Bai Kai Xin muttered automatically.

Su Yan lifted her gaze. “What are you apologizing for? It’s not like you chose it.”

The clerk arrived with a gleaming roast goose, skin golden and dripping with fat, the scent rich enough to make her stomach tighten despite everything.

“Honored Customer, please!” he sang out. “Our signature dish—Golden Roast Goose. There isn’t another one like it in Pomegranate Blossom Town. Within a thousand miles, you won’t find anything better!”

Then he noticed the crystal coins on the table and nearly dropped the goose. “C-customer—please enjoy!”

“Thank you,” Su Yan said, steadying him with her tone.

The clerk hurried back to the kitchen after setting the dish down.

Su Yan tucked the crystal coins away.

Bai Kai Xin swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the table. It wasn’t clear whether he was drooling over the goose or the money.

Su Yan wiped her hands with the cloth provided, tore off a goose leg, and offered it to him. “Eat. My treat.”

Bai Kai Xin’s ears reddened. “I… I can’t. Earlier I…”

“No grudges, no debts,” Su Yan said. “We met, that’s all. Eat.”

Bai Kai Xin didn’t take the leg. Instead he tore off a big piece of tougher breast meat for himself, as if punishing his own appetite.

Su Yan took a bite of the leg. Tender, fragrant—worth the price.

The next dish arrived: braised fish. The aroma hit the table before the plate did, sweet and savory, rising in a steam that curled into the air.

This time it wasn’t the clerk who served it, but a tall, broad-shouldered man with his sleeves tied up. He looked like someone who’d spent his whole life around heat and smoke—steady, grounded, eyes sharp.

He set the fish down and met Su Yan’s eyes. There was clear admiration in his gaze, but his voice stayed low and serious. “Honored Customer—don’t show your wealth so openly.”

Su Yan smiled. “Thank you for the reminder, Old Boss. May I ask your name?”

“Song Sui.”

Song Sui glanced at Bai Kai Xin and frowned. “Out.”

Bai Kai Xin stiffened. “I… I…”

Su Yan lifted a hand. “I invited him. Besides, I can’t finish all this food alone.”

Song Sui didn’t soften. “He’s a liar.”

Bai Kai Xin’s face flushed crimson, and he didn’t dare argue.

Su Yan tasted a piece of fish, then looked at Bai Kai Xin. “Is it true what you told me? That you borrowed money for your mother’s illness?”

Song Sui answered for him, blunt as a hammer. “He doesn’t have a mother. He’s an orphan who grew up eating from every household in town. It’s true he owes money, but he lied to the townspeople. He claimed he was going to the Imperial Capital to test into the Divine Beast Academy, so people lent him money. He took it gambling, lost it all, and ended up owing the casino too. At this point, Pomegranate Blossom Town is the only place that still tolerates him.”

Su Yan’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes cooled.

Bai Kai Xin’s voice came out hoarse. “I did win at first. The casino cheated—they set me up.”

“Even if they did,” Su Yan said, “you still lied to the townspeople about the Divine Beast Academy.”

Bai Kai Xin sagged. “That part… was real. It’s just—halfway there, I heard the Divine Beast Academy stopped recruiting.”

“What is the Divine Beast Academy?” Su Yan asked.

Song Sui answered, “Across the East District, any beastman under eighteen can take the entrance exam during recruitment season. Pass, and you can study there. Graduate with their certificate, and you can work at a local Beast God Temple. It’s an iron rice bowl.”

Bai Kai Xin lowered his head. “I’ll go this year. I will.”