Chapter 60: Halfway done
"Wow..."
Created from my memory, I showed her the grand institution.
I showed her how there were big mountain ranges around the central academy mountain. I showed her the different fortresses that were present on this mountain, the inside of this mountain was like an ant colony as well, so I showed her the insides with a dissected version of the mountain.
There were a lot of things here. So many that I had not seen most of them even after spending decades in this academy.
Much of the things that were unknown to me were shrouded in darkness and I told her the truth. Even I did not know what existed in these places.
Still, it was her first time seeing anything outside of the Sungrade castle.
For someone who hadn’t been around the city she was born in, seeing a place so far beyond, a place before which our entire city seemed like nothing, this experience alone was breathtaking.
"It’s amazing, isn’t it?" I did not know about this place until I was away from the family.
The world outside of our family home speaks constantly about this place, but not the farthest city in the east.
We are far too isolated for people to focus on the academics of the world. For common people of Sungrade, Oren and areas around it are everything.
But the world is not so small that we must be confined to a single place.
"I want to go out there and see the world." I know she wanted the same as well. That was the only reason she was causing trouble for others, running around the house just to experience a sparkle of freedom.
But, just like how I am doing right now, a time will come when she will have to prove that she is ready to go out there in the world on her own.
"I am currently giving a test to leave the house. I don’t know if I will pass it, but I have time until it is your birthnight. But if I do not pass, I will have to wait much longer."
Those were the rules and they applied to every one of us.
"Really?" She did not like the fact that I needed to give a test for my own freedom. But, that was how things worked in this world.
There was a price to everything. A premise to everything that happens in this world.
"Yes... that’s why I want your permission as well. I’d not like it if you’re sad when I’m leaving." I might really stay if she wasn’t ready to let me go.
We haven’t had much time together so perhaps she will be ready after we learn a few more things together.
"Ummm... Eh..." She looked at my sad face and contemplated a little.
Perhaps she had conflicting thoughts, I don’t know the reason but she started massaging her head with her fingers before shaking off what seemed like a bitter thought.
"Haaa! Fine." She seemed to have made her decision. "You... you have my permission."
She was hesitating even now. But, she had made her decision.
"Really?" Still, I pushed her buttons just to see how strong her decision really was.
"YES! REALLY!" And it seemed solid from the way she screamed right at my face.
She really didn’t want me to go. But then again, she did not want to hold me back either.
"Fine then." A burden seemed to have lifted off my shoulders.
And the little one still had some time to think about her decision, so she will be fine by the time it’s time for us to go.
"Thank you for the permission." I smiled at her while Felix giggled from beyond the fog.
The sky vanished as well, and we were back to the garden that, despite its eternal beauty, did not seem as interesting to the girl as it did just a moment ago.
"C-can we see that again?" She wasn’t content with just one look at that place. Her eagerness was vast while her shyness was overpowering.
"Of course. And since you’ve given your permission, I will show you many other things as well."
"Wait, really? Yeiiiiiiiiii~!"
She was happy.
She was so happy that she started running around the garden, making the bird in the trees laugh at her innocence...
"Come back now, little lady." Now that one thing was out of the checklist, I can move onto the next thing on the list.
’There are still eight elders left.’
Not counting Elder Testerosa or Elder Hume, the remaining seven elders were not going to be easy to deal with.
They were all either extremely experimental or outright hated me.
I’m pretty sure some of them will present the most difficult tasks to get their approval. Some would want to chase my two tamed beasts, and they might succeed as well.
Elder Valor was truly focused on the training part, so even though the process was difficult, it wasn’t something that he did out of negative emotions.
He just wanted to train me. And the rest of the elders would not be the same as him.
"Were you the one that showed us that amazing place, Miss Felix?"
"Meow?"
Alex was playing with Felix now, so I had some time to think about the rest of the things that we have to do.
’The first lady is coming back tomorrow as well.’
It was a big day, as well as an important day for us.
’Before she gets to the city, we have to finish the preparations.’
The things happening in the empire right now were not simple. The chain of events that were sparked in the annual meeting of this year led to countless misfortunes for the empire and the Sungrades.
Finally, the family with one of the richest histories met an undeserving end. But, to prevent those events, I have to start from the incident that sparked the wildfire.
I’m playing with fire by diving into things that I only have a little knowledge of. But, from everything I know about the future, if things do not change, we as a society will face the same calamity as we did the last time.
’And I must not let that happen.’