Chapter 856

Chapter 856: A Corner of the Academy

“Thank you.”

Lolan Hill still expressed her gratitude towards the enthusiastic elven sage. At least, she looked quite decent.

Vistena, this elven maiden, had two long blue braids draped over her chest, and her figure was somewhat mature. Based on the age of elves, she should be between 150 to 300 years old, equivalent to a human aged 25 to 35, which made her relatively young.

After the avocado-grilled meat prepared by the restaurant was served, the two continued to slowly discuss recent events.

“Recently, some peculiar traces have been discovered in the southern empire. The sages will send people to investigate, and we should receive the report after a while,” Vistena said.

“Is it an ancient relic?” Lolan asked curiously.

“It’s not certain yet, but judging from the initial traces, the architectural style is different from what we know today,” Vistena replied with a shake of her head.

“If you’re interested, you can apply to the sage council to investigate after they approve. However, you’ll need to submit the information gathered to the council for safekeeping,” Vistena added.

“There is still much we need to understand and research about the ancients and the cause of the chaos. This is why I hope everyone can unite together,” Vistena explained further.

“Indeed,” Lolan nodded in agreement.

“So, if there are any discoveries in Clancia, I hope Lolan Hill will share them. Of course, we will also share equivalent intelligence,” Vistena continued.

Although Clancia is not as warm towards the sage council now as it was during the Seven Kingdoms of Snowflower, it is still cooler. The indifferent attitude has caused some headaches for the council, so Vistena wanted to open up through Lolan Hill.

“Thank you, Vistena,” Lolan did not mind this. In the current situation, these small interests were far less important than future crises.

The two then ended their lunch in a pleasant atmosphere.

Before parting, Vistena left her contact information, saying she would stay at Emanas for the next few years.

Afterwards, the staff of the sage council arranged for Lolan Hill to stay alone in a room, which was the small house where Lohil once lived.

After she left, the house remained empty until now, and it was perfect for her to move back in.

Opening the small courtyard, the walls of the little house were covered with vines, and the flowers in the pots had grown tall. It seemed that no one had cleaned it for a while.

Lolan Hill didn’t mind; she preferred cleaning it herself anyway.

Tiny wind blades fluttered around the courtyard like swallows, trimming the excess branches and leaves before gathering them into a wooden bucket beside, to be collected by the cleaning birds the next day.

Pushing open the dusty wooden door, she found a layer of dust on the floor.

It looked like she had a lot of cleaning to do.

Lolan Hill came to the courtyard, drew a bucket of water from the small well, and began cleaning the house.

It had been a long time since she last did such work, but it felt nice to try again.

After cleaning, fresh air flowed through the house and the courtyard, drying the moisture on the ground and bringing a cool sensation.

Lolan Hill brought a wooden chair to the courtyard and sat down to rest for a moment. The sun gradually moved around the corner of the temple and peeked out from the wall, casting slanted sunlight into the courtyard.

A silver-haired girl dressed in a white dress leaned her head against the wooden chair. Her smooth hair cascaded like flowing mercury from her shoulders to her waist, brushing lightly over her arms and contrasting beautifully with her flawless skin, making her appear breathtakingly beautiful.

However, it was a pity that only a small corner of the courtyard could appreciate this beauty. When she woke up, the sky had already turned westward, around four o’clock in the afternoon.

Yawn—

Stretching lazily, Lolan Hill felt her body relax, as if returning to the life of the academy several years ago. Back then, she lived here, often sitting in the courtyard reading books, and her only friend was Florasia, who occasionally came to eat with her.

She wondered how the young lady of the duchess was doing now. Although she didn’t know Florasia’s whereabouts, Lolan Hill deduced that she was probably living a low-profile and peaceful life somewhere in the world.

On closer reflection, she realized she had forgotten something important. Lolan Hill looked thoughtfully at the table behind the window.

Where was that stuffed bear now?

She remembered when she graduated, the bear wanted to continue studying at Emanas. So, she left it at the school, letting a few younger students take turns bringing it to the library or attending classes.

Tomorrow, she would look for it again. For now, she needed to focus on more important matters. Lolan Hill stood up from the wooden chair and gazed north towards Emanas, where the Night Mistress and Chris might be hiding.

She wondered if they had moved in the past ten years. Would they blame her for losing Keti? She missed Keti, even though she was sometimes silly, but being with her was truly comforting.

Lost in thought, the girl got up and flew north.

—

At the Fortress Academy, in the dormitory of third-year student Rosadina.

Despite it being the afternoon, the curtains in the room were tightly drawn. On the small bed lay a girl with deep blue hair. Books were scattered beside her hand, and papers and notes were strewn across the bedside table. A pen rested between her slippers.

When it finally grew dark, this girl with irregular sleep patterns slowly woke up due to the drop in temperature.

Ugh. What time is it? She rubbed her eyes, feeling a headache. Slowly getting up, she accidentally dropped a book onto the floor, causing it to land on the carpet.

“Mmm.” She struggled to bend down, picked up the book and pen from under the bed, and placed them on the bedside table before slowly standing up.

Zzzz—

Pulling back the curtains, outside was a tranquil lake shrouded in night, with faint lights visible on the other side, belonging to students participating in extracurricular activities.

Probably another party or game, she thought with a yawn.

Rosadina combed her messy hair.

Why isn’t she studying properly now that she’s at Emanas? Parties like this are such a waste of time. As she sat in front of the dressing mirror, she noticed the purple-checkered stuffed bear motionless beside her.

“Is Mr. Albert sleeping too?” she wondered, shaking the stuffed bear. Usually, he was very active, always pestering her to borrow books from the library.

Unfortunately, the type of books she borrowed had changed from those related to her studies to fairy tales and novels. This stuffed bear had really fallen, now enjoying fairy tales, even though she stopped believing in them at nine years old.

“Don’t wake me up, you silly girl,” the stuffed bear seemed to come back to life, standing up and escaping Rosadina’s grasp.

“Is Mr. Albert sleeping? But can a ghost bear dream of fairy princesses?” Rosadina had become familiar with the bear, knowing it wasn’t bad, just had a unique personality.

“Of course, I’ve seen fairy-tale princesses myself,” Albert dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

“I’ve seen many powerful, beautiful, and even eternal existences,” he patted his chest again.

“Are you talking about those witches’ legends again? My teachers say witches are all peculiar, not as lovely as in fairy tales,” Rosadina countered.

“That’s prejudice. I know a very beautiful, gentle, and lovely witch,” Albert boasted.

“But I haven’t seen her. So, it’s hard to imagine how beautiful Lady Lolan Hill is. Maybe I’ll see her when I graduate and go to Clancia,” Rosadina sighed.

“Ah, let’s not talk about that. Tonight, I have to attend the ‘Black Lotus’ club’s assessment. This is a rare opportunity I managed to get. They usually don’t accept third-year students,” Albert added.

“Hmph, it’s because you’ve been obsessed with researching strange plants, wasting so much time on studies, you haven’t even advanced to fourth year,” Albert criticized.

“If you listened to me, you’d be Sequence 6 by now, instead of sticking to the Natural Sequence. Let me tell you, my former master defeated a peerless genius from the Natural Sequence effortlessly, relying on the infinite possibilities of the Demon Sequence. Its extreme beauty and power are astonishing,” Albert continued.

“Alright, alright, we should go,” Rosadina clearly wasn’t listening to the bear. She couldn’t change her affinity for plant-related studies. After saying this, she put the stuffed bear into her bag and walked out of the dormitory.

“Should I eat something before going to the assessment? But it feels like I’m running out of time,” she muttered, walking quickly towards the corridor, then jumping down and taking off from the courtyard of the fortress, disappearing into the night sky.

(End of Chapter)