### Chapter 116: The First Encounter
“Yeah, two Level One students. Their names are… I remember one of them is… what was his name again?”
Ugh.
Right when it mattered, my brain decided to go on vacation, and I couldn’t recall that Fire Boy’s name… Who even cares about the name of that fool anyway?
I quickly shot a pleading glance at Sophia, who immediately understood what I wanted and jumped in: “His name is Peter.”
“Right, right.” I nodded vigorously. “Peter. And the other one, no idea… but he’s from the Lightning Order. This morning, uh…”
“This morning, we were all really scared.”
Sophia probably thought I was talking too slowly and stepped in, finishing my sentence for me.
“Those two were also new students, but with Lightning and Fire powers—they looked super intimidating and wouldn’t even let us leave when we bumped into them…” She exaggerated the situation as she spoke, secretly giving me a thumbs up from behind, then started lying without batting an eyelash, “Then I heard Peilo say she was your friend… Sorry, don’t blame her, she was really scared and just wanted to borrow your name to avoid being bullied… And we’d have to run twenty laps for being late…”
I carefully lifted my eyelids. Alex didn’t seem displeased; in fact, he looked a bit pleased, which made Sophia relax and continue.
“But… I don’t know who they were, but they didn’t seem impressed. They were saying stuff like…”
Her hesitation made Alex’s face darken.
“What did they say?”
“…You won’t hit us, will you?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh.” Sophia nodded. “Actually, I don’t remember everything; they said a lot of things, like ‘Alex’s reputation is in the gutter’ and ‘Who’s scared of guys like that?’ I didn’t understand some of it, but they definitely had a bad attitude, and I was really scared…”
At this point, she hesitated for a moment.
“We really don’t know him… Luckily, the teacher came over later, and they… but they were saying some really mean things back then, and I’m still anxious thinking they might come looking for us again, so we agreed if that happens, we’d make the first move and then tell the teacher… so…”
By the end, her voice trailed off into a whisper.
Alex silently nodded, but there was no obvious emotional change on his face. After a moment, he turned to me, asking, “Peilo, is that right?”
He didn’t even bother with “Miss” to get closer to me. Although I scoffed internally, I decided not to say anything more.
“Yeah, that’s it.” I tilted my head and thought for a moment. “You can ask them… but they definitely won’t admit it.”
Just then, someone next to us chimed in.
“Alex, it might be that kid from the Raikemon family.”
“I remember there’s a Peter, from the Fire Order… seems he did start this year.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Alex’s face was all brooding; I had no clue what he was thinking… and honestly, it wasn’t my business. His focus had shifted, so I figured I could just exchange a few words and bail.
Turning back, I saw that guy I knocked down had woken up from his brief stupor and was now sitting on the ground, looking around in confusion.
Shouldn’t be a big deal; I went easy on him. He’d probably just have a sore nose for ten days or so.
After pondering for a while, Alex spoke again.
“About what happened today…”
At that moment, a clear and gentle voice came from nearby, seemingly calling to us: “The girls over there.”
Everyone turned to see where the voice was coming from.
The first thing that caught our eye was a white dress fluttering in the wind.
At the edge of the pavement stood a woman in a nun’s outfit, poised and elegant, her sleeves flowing like silk. She had her hands crossed at her abdomen, standing gracefully like a gentle stream.
“Could you come here and help me for a moment?”
Sophia’s eyes lit up: “It’s Sister Teresa!”
“Um…” Sophia’s eyes darted around and then she quickly grabbed my hand and smiled at Alex, “Sister Teresa is calling us! Let’s go~”
Before Alex could say anything else, she pulled my hand and hurried across the road. Sarah and Daisy quickly followed, almost tripping over themselves to get to Sister Teresa.
Looking at her radiant smile, the three girls visibly relaxed.
“Are you the new students for this year?” Sister Teresa inquired.
“Uh-huh!”
“Yes, Sister Teresa…”
The girls were a bit nervous.
It was different from their previous tension with Alex; now, they were starstruck and a mix of excitement and awkwardness overwhelmed them. They wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words, even struggling with where to put their hands.
This was most evident in Sarah, her cheeks flushing with a flustered expression. Among the three, only Sophia managed to keep her cool.
She curtsied to Sister Teresa.
“Thank you, Sister Teresa.”
Sister Teresa chuckled softly and shook her head.
“Just call me Teresa or Teacher; I’m not some big shot.”
As she shook her head, a strand of silver hair escaped from her black veil and brushed against her lips, which she gently tucked behind her ear with her little finger.
Such a casual gesture made my heart do a little flip.
So elegant… Everything she did was so gentle and pleasant. This woman didn’t need to do anything; just standing there made you feel like you were bathed in springtime.
Even though she didn’t seem very pretty and had clearly passed thirty.
“Teacher Teresa, I often see you in the Church newsletter!” Sarah exclaimed excitedly, clenching her fists, eyes sparkling with admiration. “I know you’ve received the Peace Medal and the Chrysler Honor Medal! I also know you’re a diplomatic envoy from the Royal City; they call you the White Feather… I saw you this morning! I even read your book, ‘The Sorrow of Love,’ which talks about…”
I could almost bet that if this world had autograph sessions, Sarah would absolutely want Sister Teresa to sign her own rather empty chest.
“Alright, alright~” Sister Teresa gently patted Sarah on the head and pointed to the small stone path ahead. “No need to rush; let’s head on.”
“Uh-huh!”
After taking a couple of steps, I turned back and realized that Alex and his gang had already walked far away in the opposite direction.
“What were you just talking about with those people?”
“Uh… actually, it wasn’t anything important…”
“Did they bully you?”
“Yeah… a little, but we didn’t really suffer, so it’s fine.”
“That’s good. If there’s nothing else, you should hurry back to the dorm. Don’t spend too much time around them.”
“Uh-huh! We know, Teacher Teresa.”
“Teacher Teresa, can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?”
“They say… your power of faith is so strong that it can make the silver-leafed Eisha trees on Ahama Mountain bloom all over the mountains. Is that true?”
“Ha-ha~” Sister Teresa covered her mouth with a gentle laugh. “Not at all; even the Pope can’t do that.”
Sarah looked a bit disappointed upon hearing this.
“So the rumors are all lies.”
“Well… you can’t say it like that. By the way, what are your names?”
“I’m Sarah!” “Sophia, nice to meet you, Teacher.” “…Daisy.”
Sister Teresa turned her head and focused her gaze on me.
“And you, little sister?”
Beneath her gracefully arched brows, her sapphire blue eyes somehow reminded me a bit of Carlos.
