Chapter 268: The Scarecrow and the Fire |
Stars Kingdom, Swordflower College, evening.
Engulite, with her sword bag slung over her shoulder, returned to the dormitory, holding up a gold-edged invitation. “I just got back from Swordsmanship Practice, and someone asked me to deliver this invitation to Sonya.”
Adelle came over to take a look, smirked, and casually tossed it into the trash bin. “A mere viscount’s son daring to send invitations is like a toad lusting after a swan’s flesh… Engulite, let me teach you something. For invitations like this, with less than three stars, just say ‘I’m not very close with Sonya’ to decline. If it has a Moon Star, then you should bring it back because it means the sender is at least an earl or a direct heir.”
“What if it has a Radiant Star?” Engulite, though of noble birth herself, had never learned heraldry and was completely unfamiliar with such etiquette.
“That would represent an olive branch from the royal family,” Adelle explained. “You would need to kneel on one knee and accept the invitation with white gloves on as a sign of respect to the royalty… Haha, just kidding. Normally, just accepting it is fine, but doing that might actually earn you some favor with the royal family!”
It was just a joke from Adelle, but seeing Engulite pondering seriously, she was somewhat surprised. “Are you actually considering it?”
“Why shouldn’t I consider it? Opportunities to connect with the royal family aren’t common, are they?” Engulite countered.
Scratching her face, Adelle said, “But… you know, Engulite, you’ve always seemed to us someone who wouldn’t bow down to power, nor compromise yourself for personal gain. After all, even when Sonya offered to introduce you to Professor Trozan, you weren’t keen…”
“I am someone who doesn’t bow to power, nor compromise for personal gain,” Engulite nodded. “In these past few days as a Sorcerer, many nobles have tried to curry favor with me through various means, and I’ve ignored them all.”
“Bowing to other nobles is selling oneself to the powerful, but serving the royal family is a contribution to society—how could they be the same?” Engulite gave Adelle a look and set down her sword bag. “I’m not a fool. After becoming a Swordcerer, my goal was to join the Stars Kingdom’s Sorcerer system. If I have the chance to start at a higher level, why would I refuse?”
Adelle understood—Engulite had always been principled because she had long decided that her only sovereign could be the country itself, and as the royal family rules the Stars Kingdom, she would offer her loyalty exclusively to them, never accepting the overtures of other nobles.
“But why didn’t they directly approach Sonya?” Engulite wondered. “Sonya goes to the training grounds every day, isn’t she easy to find?”
“They don’t dare.”
Lois rubbed her eyes and yawned as she climbed out of bed, saying, “Nobles are the most concerned about face. If people knew that Sonya had turned down their invitation to a banquet, it would be them who lose face, not Sonya. But if they send the invitation through us, even if it’s rejected, no one would know… Oh no, my head hurts so bad, Adelle—”
“I’m on it.” Quickly, Adelle prepared a cup of honey water and handed it to Lois, who gulped it down. Curious, Engulite asked, “Lois, do you get hangovers?”
“Normal people get hangovers after drinking and sleeping,” Lois muttered.
When Sonya triumphantly returned from Orbit College in the wee hours, the entire girls’ dormitory was abuzz, staying up all night to celebrate.
Initially, the dorm supervisor had objections, but when Professor Trozan directly paid to have several cases of wine delivered overnight from the Secret Garden, the supervisor had no choice but to reluctantly participate.
The excitement in the girls’ dormitory was inevitable. Although Sonya had been focusing on Swordsmanship Training this past month, not participating in any girls’ activities, remember that last semester, Sonya diligently expanded her network. Even though she wasn’t close with everyone, she was at least acquainted.
Therefore, as Sonya rose to prominence, the female students also quietly paid attention to this impoverished and beautiful college student. Among them, there were those who blessed her, those who were jealous, and even those who disliked her. However, regardless of their feelings, they all kept an eye on Sonya. As she continued her relentless Swordsmanship Training and achieved one dazzling victory after another, many of them gradually changed their attitudes, secretly rooting for Sonya, becoming her first batch of fans.
Most students at Swordflower College come from the middle class, lower Noble families, and merchant families of Gales. Although most of them were born into luxury, their spiritual world is often very empty. The bustling Gales only filled their minds with vanity and entertainment, not instilling in them the ideals of responsibility they should have.
Some, like Lois, knew to study hard, preparing to take over family business affairs in the future; others, like Adelle, spent four years at Swordflower College with the plan to graduate, get married, have a few children, and then continue to drift through life, with their futures secured by others.
They were like luxuriously dressed scarecrows, existing merely to fill a quota.
Initially, Adelle and Lois, both locals, ostracized Sonya and Engulite essentially due to the conflict between scarecrows and fire—whether it was Engulite or Sonya, they both had clear aspirations and ideals, and their souls constantly radiated a flame named ‘struggle’, naturally causing the scarecrows to keep their distance.
But now, the situation had changed.
Because Sonya was no longer merely a fire; she had risen and become a rising Radiant Star.
Scarecrows might fear the pain of flames, but they do not fear the sunlight of a Radiant Star. On the contrary, they yearn for the sunlight to enrich their souls. As long as the Radiant Star shines brighter, they feel as if their empty souls are also becoming fuller and more brilliant.
In fact, Lois was the first to be affected. In order to keep up with Sonya’s pace, she had quietly declined all invitations, stopped attending tea parties, left the Club, and even started paying attention in class, fully dedicating herself to studying the Water Faction. Her academic achievements in this month alone were equivalent to the past half-year—time previously wasted on meaningless social activities had occupied too much of her attention.
So when they saw Sonya slay the alchemical giant bear with a single stroke on the Curtain live broadcast, they were almost ready to jump up for joy in the dormitory. The honor of Swordflower students and Sonya’s achievement—these two joys overlapped, bringing them even more happiness.
Last night’s celebration party didn’t end until dawn, and traces of yesterday’s carnival were still evident in the dormitory. The trash cans were filled with bottles and cans, and there were even scraps of fireworks tubes on the floor—it’s amazing they managed to find fireworks to celebrate late at night.
Lois, not yet a Sorcerer, was already exhausted from staying up late to watch the Curtain live broadcast, and the early morning celebration party only added to her fatigue. As soon as it was daylight, she passed out drunk in bed, skipping classes for the entire day.
On the other hand, Adelle, who had also drunk quite a bit, was unaffected and remained energetic all night without needing sleep, which she claims is a skill developed from staying up late watching shows. Now suffering from a terrible hangover, Lois saw Adelle playing cheerfully on the Curtain and couldn’t help but kick her with her foot.
“Sorry!” Lois preemptively shouted out loud.
Adelle was immediately taken aback by her action, muttering, “Always taking it out on me…”
“Where’s Sonya?” Engulite asked. She had been engaged in Exploration in Virtual Realm the previous night and missed the morning party. “Is she still outside?”
“She came back at noon,” Adelle nodded, “She’s been lying in bed this whole time.”
Engulite looked over and noticed that Sonya was deeply engrossed in the Curtain, seriously tapping away, her expressions changing rapidly—smiling joyfully one moment, gritting her teeth the next, then looking serious and deep, and occasionally raising her eyebrows in triumph, her expressions shifting several times within a minute.
The Swordsmanship girl blinked, “Why has she suddenly become so obsessed with the Curtain? She’s almost like someone else…”
“Engulite, you’ve changed,” Adelle said solemnly. “You didn’t use to beat around the bush and insult people like this.”
“I didn’t say it was you!”
“Still denying it? As if I don’t know who’s the biggest Curtain addict in this building!”
