### Chapter 44: Grandma Bersa is Summoning
Huh…
I paused my actions, furrowed my brows, and looked at the two fighters who had suddenly called a truce in the middle of their duel. I saw Lucia helplessly toss away her half-broken wooden sword, slick back her damp hair, and shrug in exasperation at Beiyard, who was awkwardly scratching his head with a sheepish grin. The purple glow of his sword, which had flared so dramatically moments before, was now fading away…
This move… feels kind of familiar. I think I’ve seen it somewhere…
Where was it…
Ah!
Two seconds later, I smacked my hand in realization.
It was when I had just woken up and faced a knight commander named Wilkinski, who had stabbed me with this very move!
That purple light, isn’t it a divine miracle?
Sure enough, after laughing it off, Beiyard tossed aside his wooden sword and raised his hands. “Uh… sorry, Miss Lucia, that was just my reflex; your sword is really fast… I used a divine miracle, I admit defeat.”
“Not going to keep fighting?”
Lucia didn’t seem to care too much; she even playfully rotated her fist toward Beiyard, suggesting they could engage in some unarmed combat. It looked like she wasn’t done yet, but Beiyard shook his head. “No way, my physical training can’t compete with you. If we keep going, I’d just be the punching bag, and besides… hehe.”
He pointed at Lucia and laughed like a fool.
Lucia looked down at herself.
She was dressed quite lightly, and after getting splashed with water, the sleeveless top that clung to her body like a second skin outlined her almost perfect curves. Even the black tank top underneath was slightly visible, with drops of water “drip drop” cascading down, her hot pants soaked through, with streaks of water running down her thighs to her damp long socks… she was practically drenched.
The “howls of wolves” from the training ground echoed one after another.
I suddenly realized: so that’s what Beiyard was aiming for…
Pfft!
What nonsense, I have someone I like! I’m very loyal… turns out he’s just a lewd guy.
Perverted scoundrel…
I looked down on him in my heart.
But over there, Lucia seemed pretty unfazed by the attention. She even playfully tossed her hair and threw a wink at the onlooking students, immediately causing another wave of screams.
Honestly, that wasn’t even out of character for her. She was already dressing sexy; at that point, she just looked a little more sexy. The important parts were still covered, so what’s the big deal? It just exposed Beiyard’s ugly side; he was grinning creepily while staring at her.
Eventually, amid the cheers from the crowd, the two shook hands and declared their duel over.
Just then, someone shouted, “Peilo, I want to see you break Beiyard’s nose—!”
The shout wasn’t particularly loud, but it left the grinning Beiyard—who was just about to rejoin his team—frozen on the spot. Following that, the students went wild with excitement.
“Peilo! Beiyard! Peilo! Beiyard—”
“Fight already!”
“What are you talking about? Why the heck would I fight her? No way!” Beiyard exclaimed, flustered. “You guys are shouting so loudly, why don’t you come up and fight? Are you just jealous of my relationship with Peilo?”
The moment those words left his mouth, a wave of boos erupted.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
What relationship do I have with you… Why’s your face so big?
Of course, there was no brawl between Beiyard and me. I wasn’t interested in his nose and didn’t want to get my hands any dirtier, so he dashed away into the crowd amid the ruckus. Then Teacher Melville gave everyone a talking-to, reminding them this was a classroom, not a fighting arena, and that they should save their energy for the practice sessions to come.
With a bit of time left in class, Teacher Melville gave a motivational speech, then had everyone haul out a bunch of iron targets, organizing the students to showcase their Power of Order and asking each dorm leader to keep track of their dorm mates’ range, speed, and power. He hoped to see everyone improve by the next class.
Then, he went to send off four warriors leaving the academy.
I found Sarah, Daisy, and Sophia in the crowd. The excited girls hugged me, pinching my cheeks and ruffling my hair before they quickly started complaining about how dirty I was, insisting I needed a good bath when we got back. Sarah was especially enthusiastic, claiming she had to personally wash me. Of course, I wasn’t about to agree to that, and we bickered for a while. Just as we were about to start practicing, Teacher Melville returned.
He scolded a few mischievous students, then walked straight up to me and pulled me aside.
“Principal Bersa wants to see you.”
“Principal Grandma?”
“Yeah, she’s just outside the training ground.”
The old man pointed toward the gate, and I followed his finger to see a white war chariot parked there, its curtain slightly lifted, with someone peeking through the bars… it really did look like Principal Grandma.
What does she want with me?
Feeling puzzled, I said goodbye to Sarah and the others and followed Teacher Melville outside.
“… A month before the Iron Guard attacked the city, Principal Bersa wrote a letter to His Holiness the Pope.”
Not far out the gate, once we were away from the students, the old man on my side suddenly said this without looking back.
“Huh?”
I responded, indicating my confusion, waiting for Teacher Melville to continue.
He slowed his pace a bit: “She wrote to many people, asking for help, reaching out to some of her… um, old friends, as well as old friends of the Sword Saint, rallying them to come over, hoping to prepare for the upcoming conflict. I was the one who helped send out those letters. I remember the night the letters were sent; Principal Bersa kept on about how she wasn’t sure if this would do any good, but she just wanted to do something. She couldn’t put all the weight on a little girl, and when the enemy came, she thought if this preparation could save even one person, it would be worth it…”
“Later, many wandering poets and merchant traders hoarding supplies for the Royal City were all volunteers brought in by Principal Bersa. Some old heroes stepped up to voice their support for the city, and I heard the letters piled up on His Holiness’s desk were half a meter tall… Unfortunately, the Church had to provide secret support in many ways… but in the end, it still broke out into conflict.”
The old man paused for a moment.
“The Iron Guard infiltrated the city, and suddenly the Abyss appeared. The entire southern part of the city fell, houses toppled, scorched earth policies failed, and soldiers and civilians perished one after another… it seemed like all those efforts had become meaningless, and Principal Bersa fell ill, lying in bed unable to speak, recovering slowly only after several days…”
Grandma fell ill…
I remembered Carlos mentioning something about this before, but he brushed it off casually. I had thought…
I thought it was just a regular illness…
“She can’t move half her body now, but at least it’s better than before… I guess when people lie in bed for too long, they tend to ramble a bit more these days. She always pulls me aside to yap about various things, reminiscing about when we were young, talking about Her Majesty the Queen when she was little, and sometimes even about you… She saw you just now and probably wanted to chat about something trivial; it doesn’t have to be anything important. If she happens to mistake you for someone else, could you please be a bit more patient, Miss Silvya? The principal’s… mind might be a bit foggy…”
The old man stopped a few meters from the carriage, turned back, stroked his beard, and smiled at me.
“Ha, she wasn’t even that alert before. Otherwise… why would she have me send letters to so many people who’ve long since passed away? She’s almost seventy; how many old friends does she think she has left…?” Teacher Melville gently clapped my shoulder, a warm smile spread across his bearded face. “Go on up to the carriage; she’s waiting for you.”
“… Okay.”
I nodded.
