The afternoon sun shone brightly on the square, and the tallic emblem on top of the main teaching building glittered in the sunlight. Fendil walked among the students hurrying to class, walking together with everyone on the long and gentle slope leading to the main teaching building. He was wearing the new Imperial Academy cadet uniform, with decorative chains near the neckline and copper buttons on his clothes sparkling in the sunlight.
Among the students coming and going on the slope, so wore a similar "cadet uniform" modeled after the regular army outfit, while others wore uniforms from other colleges. The students walked proudly in this highest academic institution of the Empire, with young people like Fendil among them, as well as middle-aged individuals with graying hair, and even elders with wrinkles on their faces.
"You ended up choosing the cadet departnt, huh," Elywen’s voice ca from beside, "I thought you’d try the Departnt of Magic again before this winter at least..."
Fendil turned his head to see the son of the Duke of the West, dressed in the blue uniform of the Departnt of Magic, interwoven with chanical and magical symbols, which made this longti friend of his seem more scholarly.
"Your new uniform is nice too," Fendil said with a smile, then shook his head sowhat self-deprecatingly. "I’ll pass... I know where I have a knack and where I’m hopeless. I can handle fighting with magic, and I can grasp the not-so-advanced mathematical knowledge, but dealing with machines... I’d rather go hunt bears on the ice plains. My aunt knew this when she sent here; she didn’t even make take supplentary chanical courses..."
Elywen looked at him for a long ti before shaking his head helplessly, "...I’ve always admired your optimism."
"Ahaha... Don’t be so serious; I don’t want to see you beco a bookworm when I graduate as a reserve officer," Fendil laughed heartily, "You already show signs of that tendency!"
Elywen was clearly not in the mood to entertain the Northern heir’s not-so-clever humor. He thought seriously for a mont, sighed, and said, "Now we see Philm even less—he’s almost entirely occupied with the film company over there."
"... We all have our own things to do in the end," Fendil said shaking his head. "But it’s too early to talk about that now—we only have heavier studies than before, we haven’t yet reached the point where we have to take on responsibilities in the army or the Administrative Office. We still have at least two more years of wonderful academy life waiting for us—in the anti, we can still visit the film company when possible."
"True," Elywen nodded and glanced at the students coming and going on the slope—noticing that each face, whether in the specialized division uniforms of formal students or the basic uniforms of newcors, was confident and proud, which made him reflect, "Philm once told he has a wish. He hopes when the Magic Shadow Drama becos more mature, and more people accept and recognize this new thing, he’ll create a specialized discipline, teaching others how to make, perform, and create Magic Shadow Dramas like scholars teaching courses in the Imperial Academy..."
"He really has so unconventional thoughts," Fendil said, expressing a hint of surprise, "I never thought of that!"
"Yes, no one has ever done anything like it... Many pieces of knowledge are passed down through families or masters and apprentices, but Philm seems to believe they should be organized systematically like academy knowledge..." Elywen shrugged, "Maybe he’ll succeed?"
"... If that day ever cos, he might beco soone more famous than you and , and years later, his portrait could even be hung on so teaching building walls—like the Father of the Magic Net or Ravencrest."
Elywen imagined such a scene and couldn’t help but laugh, and at this mont, so figures in newcor uniforms appeared at the end of the slope, catching his and so students’ attention nearby.
Fendil soon saw those figures as well—they were both male and female, their ages seemingly similar, and their well-kept appearance and unconscious deanor indicating their distinguished origin. These newcors walked together, and aside from their bearing, they didn’t seem much different from other students at the academy. However, a keen observer could easily notice that they didn’t integrate well into the surrounding atmosphere: they communicated among themselves, appearing slightly nervous about their surroundings, and there was a subtle distance from the students passing by.
This wasn’t obvious, but it was enough to attract Fendil’s attention.
"Ah, those are the Typhon exchange students..." the Northern heir murmured, "I have so impression of that girl nad Dana..."
"Hey—that’s not how a proper aristocrat speaks."
"What are you thinking? I was just giving directions," Fendil imdiately defended his innocence, "You know, these Typhon exchange students are the ’special concern’ of our King."
"These Typhons always seem too tense—no one is rejecting them here," Elywen shook his head, "Keeping this state, it won’t be easy for them to complete their studies."
"That’s why we, as the ’hosts,’ need to show these foreign guests goodwill," Fendil smiled, patted Elywen on the shoulder, and walked towards the Typhon exchange students, "Co on, we should greet these newcors—to let them know the Cecil Clan is also courteous."
"Greet them?" Elywen barely mumbled before seeing his friend walk over directly. He stayed behind, watching helplessly and, after a few seconds, sighed and followed.
It’s ti to greet them, indeed.
After all... forming good relations with these children of Typhon nobility, bringing them to experience the prosperous world of Cecil is also part of his and Fendil’s tasks at this academy.
...
A pair of light gray eyes hid in the shadow of the colonnade, cautiously watching the events unfolding on the courtyard slope. After a long observation, the owner of these eyes finally withdrew her gaze.
A small figure with gray hair and gray eyes, childlike in stature, hid behind the shadow of the pillar. She sat on the base of a column, placed a textbook on her lap, opened a half-written letter, and began writing words to be sent far away: "...This is truly an incredible city, larger than the king’s city of the gray elves. All the buildings are tall, and almost every building is very new...
"It’s not as lacking in trees as I initially imagined—even though humans often expand their cities by cutting down plants, there are still trees everywhere in this city. Most of them were planted by Druids living in the city, and the Druid apprentices in the academy have an important internship course to take care of the city’s plants...
"The Druids here are different from others, there are many Druids, but only a few are the kind of ’standard Druids’ who truly master magic. The rest actually cast spells through alchemical potions and Magic Transmission Terminals, and they are equally respected, especially in the Alchemy Factory...
"There are people everywhere here, including mbers of the Cecil Clan, as well as people from the North or the ho planet, and Typhon people... The Typhon exchange students in this ’Imperial Academy’ are quite conspicuous. They always wear the Typhon emblem in the most visible places, even though this causes so from the Cecil Clan to keep their distance or attracts unnecessary attention, but they still do it.
"...Here, everyone is imrsed in knowledge, learning is the most important thing—prioritizing above all identity, status, race, and wealth concepts, because no one has the energy to focus on other things. Here, countless new things can firmly capture every learner’s heart. Of course, another important reason is that the learning order and assessnts here are very strict, the scholars teaching knowledge report directly to a certain departnt in the Administrative Office, and they show no rcy to any students, including even the Duke’s offspring...
"...Oh right, mother, those Typhon people I ntioned also study very hard. Besides the dormitory cafeteria and classrooms, they hardly socialize or go out, which is one of the reasons they stand out here—although everyone works hard, they go a bit overboard with it. But today I saw the Duke of the North and the Duke of the West’s heirs greeting those Typhon students, they seem to be quite approachable...
"Of course, I am also trying to make friends, although... I only have one friend. Her na is Pea, and though the na is a bit strange, she is a big deal—her father is the Marshal of the Navy of the Cecil Empire! Moreover, Pea has a magical device that allows her to speak and perceive the environnt...
"...Oh, I also t an incredible teacher, he is a pure energy being, respectfully called ’Master Kal,’ but when I first saw him, I was quite startled... But don’t worry, mother, I didn’t do anything rude...
"I’m living well here, no need to worry, and..."
A shadow suddenly lood over from the side, startling the gray elf girl who was writing, and she imdiately covered the letter with her hand—visibly shivering, her sleek gray long hair even seed slightly frizzy.
At almost the sa ti, a slightly emotionless, machine-synthesized, crisp female voice rang out, "Ah, lita! You’re hiding behind the pillar again!"
The gray elf girl known as lita looked up to see Pea standing beside her, and visibly breathed a sigh of relief, though her hand remained on the letter on her knee, answering softly in a sowhat delicate voice, "I’m writing a letter..."
A second later, she heard her newly acquainted friend start talking rapidly, "Writing a letter? To whom? Family? From the tribal country of Augari? Oh right, I shouldn’t ask these things, it’s private—sorry, just pretend I didn’t say it. Speaking of which, I haven’t written a letter in ages myself, the last ti I wrote to dad was during the Rebirth Festival... But with Magic Web Communication, who even writes letters anymore, connections to the North Coast are already established... I hope soday the tribal country of Augari can also directly communicate with Cecil, I’ve heard you’re already starting to build the magic network over there?"
Pea’s voice crackled non-stop like spilling beans, and lita Baizhi was montarily overwheld by the montum of the language, unable to get a word in edgewise until her friend finally paused. Then the gray elf girl finally had a chance to speak, her voice even softer than before, "I’m writing a letter to my mother..."
She paused for two seconds before continuing, "They’re also building the magic network in the tribal country of Augari... It’s my mother who’s in charge."
"Is that so?" Pea imdiately showed a look of surprise, followed by a great deal of admiration, "Ah... that’s true, your mother is the leader of the gray elves, and the first to expand trade and introduce technology with the West. Even my dad says he admires your mother. He says the North is filled with stubborn rocks, and if those rocks had half of your mother’s insight and wisdom, his work there would be a hundred tis easier..."
"What Sir Byron refers to as ’rocks’ probably aren’t just rocks..." the gray elf lita Baizhi softly reminded, but her faint voice was quickly drowned out by Pea’s clattering speech.
But she wasn’t at all disheartened or annoyed—she was used to this.
Perhaps that is precisely why they could beco friends.
...
"Academy life... It does look kind of enviable."
Amber sat on the high enclosing wall, looking at the courtyard in front of the castle-like main hall of the Imperial Academy, watching those students imrsed in the most beautiful years of life, and couldn’t help but murmur with a hint of sentintality.
Her legs dangled outside the wall’s edge, swinging back and forth in the air, seeming quite relaxed.
A figure erged ghost-like beside her, transforming into a bald man with a scar on his face, "Boss, you want to go to school?"
"Go to school? Do I look like I can enroll? If I go in, it’s to lecture!" Amber imdiately glared at her lieutenant, "Stop blabbering, and get to the point."
"It’s been investigated, among this batch of exchange students, one can certainly be a spy, and two others are suspected, the rest are fine," Scarface Anton imdiately turned serious when reprimanded, starting a serious report, "We have already monitored the communication channels of those three individuals, the ’Magician’ special squad is trying to discreetly make so moves without alerting them. Other batches of exchange students have no problems, including the closely monitored Dana—she is truly the daughter of a Typhon count, her identity is clean, and her previous contact with Fendil Weld was not preditated, she seems to simply be scatterbrained."
"Not bad... The Typhon people indeed ca for knowledge, they aren’t foolish enough to waste valuable academic opportunities on senseless spy activities. Keep an eye on all those individuals, whether confird or suspected spies, attempt to convert those with potential opportunities. Avoid alerting the targets where opportunities don’t exist, just maintain surveillance, because they are all valuable assets for the future. When the Eternal Sleepers withdrew, we lost so personnel in Typhon, finding a way to make up for those losses is essential..."
Scarface Anton nodded, "I understand, boss."
Amber waved her hand, and Anton silently vanished from the enclosing wall, after which she turned her gaze back to the courtyard, whispering again:
"Academy life..."
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