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Time drifted onward as he did his research, hung out with the girls, tried new foods, and enjoyed himself until June finally arrived.
Throughout it all, Jalter was having the time of her life.
She had unified the entire chaotic border region. Hundreds, even thousands of wizards spent their days building the city, only to collapse from exhaustion every night.
And somehow, Lupin had once again become a construction foreman.
Back when Dalaran was being built, he'd served as a supervisor too.
Because of that, he'd started questioning his life choices. Had Tom chosen him for this job because he'd been planning this all along?
At this rate, he wasn't going to become a renowned Dark Creatures expert. He was going to become a master city planner.
More than once, he'd wanted to gently remind Jalter that they still had an actual mission to complete. But every time he met the girl's sharp, intimidating gaze, his survival instincts kicked in, and the words died in his throat.
Not worth it. Absolutely not worth it. The violence simmering beneath that girl's surface was even more terrifying than Voldemort's.
Only a few days ago, she'd been advocating the return of the triangular slave trade to boost the labor force for construction. Then she'd gone one step further, proposing an "upgraded" version that would rope Asians and whites into it too. Somehow, she even managed to label the whole thing as equality.
But how could anyone possibly allow that? Reviving the triangular trade? That was absolutely never going to happen.
At least, Tom would never agree to something like that... Or so Lupin thought.
The very next day, several shiploads of high-quality laborers from all over the world arrived.
With an operation of this scale underway, Lester no longer dared sneak around abducting wizards. Even Astra Abyssum, that fast-rising force led by the monster Riddle, had effectively become Jalter's backing. Any funds, materials, or personnel she requested arrived at once. There was no shortage of support, nor any hesitation in meeting her demands.
Lester wasn't foolish enough to start a fight he had no chance of winning, so he resigned himself to being a well-behaved vampire for the time being and quietly went into hiding.
...
Only after several days did Jalter suddenly realize something... She'd completely ruined the original mission.
Returning to the study space, she apologized to Tom with unusual caution.
After she got back, she declared she was willing to accept any punishment.
Any punishment at all. Any position he wanna try.
Tom nearly laughed out loud.
A punishment? This was obviously her way of tricking him into rewarding her instead. Sure, he'd end up benefiting too, but that wasn't the point. The important thing was that it wouldn't be a punishment for her at all.
"Where's Jeanne?" he asked, pinching Jalter's nose.
Instead of pursuing the subject, he changed topics.
Recently, Jeanne had appeared less and less often, leaving Jalter in almost complete control of their shared body.
If Tom hadn't known they would never disobey his orders, he might have suspected Jalter had somehow devoured Jeanne.
"That country bumpkin?" Jalter looked completely unconcerned. "Ever since she used that spell you gave her, she's had some kind of... enlightenment, I guess that's the word. Anyway, she spends all day holed up somewhere, praying."
She rolled her eyes, "Always muttering about faith and revelations. I have no idea what she's talking about."
Tom smiled, "Jeanne got something out of it. How come you didn't?"
For once, Jalter's face reddened.
"I... Hmph. That spell doesn't fit my temperament," she said with a snort. "It's only natural that I didn't make any progress with it."
Then she wrapped both arms around Tom's and pouted dramatically. "You're playing favorites. You gave that country bumpkin some ridiculously powerful magic, and all I can do is support her."
"I don't care. I want something too. Something super powerful. Give me one. Tom, come on, give me one."
Unlike some delicate lady, Jalter was monstrously strong.
With the way she was shaking his arm, Tom actually started feeling dizzy.
In the end, he could only agree.
Satisfied with his answer, Jalter happily skipped off to continue playing with her city.
Tom remained behind, thinking.
Plans rarely survived contact with reality. After this fiasco, Lester would probably go back into hiding or shift his attention elsewhere.
Still... the location Jalter had chosen for her city was surprisingly ideal.
Dalaran allowed Tom to exert influence across Europe and even parts of Asia.
The Americas, however, had always been too distant. His influence there remained limited.
Now Jeanne's city would serve as a perfect beachhead.
The Sun Chasers. The vampires. The hidden Herpo.
Sooner or later, all of them would notice this new city.
And the more they moved, the more opportunities they'd create to expose themselves.
...
..
When June arrived, the biggest topic among students wasn't the Tournament finals, despite the competition having lasted nearly a full year. It was final exams.
For the first time in history, students from so many schools were taking exams side by side.
Nobody really wanted to study. But unfortunately, the professors were determined to make them.
If the students performed badly, it wouldn't just be an individual embarrassment. The reputation of their entire school would suffer.
As a result, once June began, every corner of the castle was filled with students desperately cramming with books in hand.
At moments like these, everyone envied the Champions.
None of the competitors had to take final exams. All they needed to do was focus on preparing for the final round.
Before, that reward hadn't seemed particularly impressive. Now its value had become painfully obvious.
Of course, that was only how ordinary students saw it.
The Champions themselves were suffering even more.
The competition had entered its final sprint. Although there were differences in scores, no one had fallen so far behind that victory was impossible.
Even Quinta, currently ranked last, still had a theoretical chance of taking first place.
Because of that, the professors had seized all the Champions and thrown them into intensive training.
Only Hogwarts and Durmstrang were special cases.
Grindelwald had returned to his beloved Berlin. No one else was qualified to teach Ariana, so he entrusted her to Dumbledore.
Honestly, ignoring your own school's competitor to coach someone else's sounded pretty shameless.
But Daphne had Tom. A walking cheat code.
As a result, Dumbledore felt absolutely no guilt about focusing his efforts on his dear sister Ariana.
Daphne, meanwhile, was left entirely in Tom's care.
...
"Mwah!"
Inside the pocket world, Tom held Daphne in his arms like a doll.
"Alright." He smiled. "You got your kiss. Can we start studying now?"
Daphne puffed out her cheeks and looked thoroughly dissatisfied.
"Why can't we spend half an hour kissing and half an hour studying?"
Tom stared at her in silence.
She really was a little glutton. When she wasn't greedy for food, she was greedy for affection.
.
.
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