Chapter Eighteen: Legendary Cardinal
Who is this guy?
He looks like he’s in his twenties, with brown hair and gray eyes, his hair a bit curly just like Margaret’s. His features are sharp, his teeth dazzlingly white, and when he smiles, there’s this sunny boy-next-door vibe that feels really nice… But he looks so familiar, and I just can’t place where I’ve seen him before.
I stood there frozen, but Sarah spoke up beside me.
“Wow, Beiyard, no way! You actually dared to sneak out and chat this loudly…”
Huh?
She knows this guy.
I furrowed my brows as I watched Sarah walk right up to the male student, snatch the paper bag from his hands without a care in the world: “Let me see, let me see, what flavors do we have…”
“Hey, Sarah, don’t take everything! I haven’t eaten anything this morning!”
Beiyard, the male student, looked helpless, but Sarah ignored him, biting into a rabbit leg while pulling out a donut from the bag. She then shoved the bag toward me, “Mmm!”
Suddenly, that strong aroma hit me—my mouth watered, and before my brain could catch up, my right hand had already grabbed a donut.
It was crispy, drizzled with chocolate sauce…
“Nom.”
I quickly took a bite and savored the soft, creamy goodness in my mouth, my eyes squinting in delight. After swallowing, I turned to the male student, blinking at him.
“Who are you?”
The male student was taken aback, his lips twitching awkwardly before he forced a smile: “You can’t be serious, Miss Peilo. You don’t remember who I am and you’re eating my donut?”
My face turned slightly red with embarrassment, but I didn’t want to show it.
“You asked me if I wanted to eat.”
Meanwhile, Sarah had passed the bag to Daisy. Seeing Daisy shake her head gently, she returned the bag to Beiyard, held the rabbit leg in her left hand, and gripped the donut with her right. She glanced at me with a look of surprise: “Peilo, he’s Beiyard, that chatty guy who sits next to us in Abyss class every time. You really don’t remember him?”
Oh…
Now that Sarah mentioned it, I suddenly recalled him.
Yeah, there was indeed such a guy…
But I had never really paid much attention to him, and after not attending class for a while, I completely forgot…
“Sorry!”
I apologized to the male student, feeling a bit rude. After all, he had given me a donut and here I am, asking who he is…
Awkward.
“No problem, no problem!” Beiyard waved his hands, “I’m sure you’ll remember me sooner or later, right?”
He tossed his curly hair back in a bit of a show-off manner, grinning widely to reveal a set of pearly white teeth.
This guy, upon closer inspection, he’s pretty attractive…
That thought flashed in my mind, but I soon brushed it aside.
While we munched on our snacks, more and more students flocked to the training ground, and soon enough, a few familiar teachers arrived. Like last time at the opening ceremony, the four towers were divided into four squads. But this time, the number of students in each squad had clearly exploded, students crowding together and filling up the entire training ground, the level sixes in front and the level ones in back, a cacophony of noise everywhere.
I initially planned to stand at the back of the line, find a hidden corner, and keep my distance from Teacher Melville so I could secretly munch on my peas. But Sarah insisted on dragging Daisy and me to the front of the line where the level ones were, saying we’d see better that way.
The livestock by the Ceylon Lake were still gossiping about my arrival, and some folks even came over to greet me. I responded to each one, growing increasingly impatient on the inside. Luckily, that guy Beiyard was perceptive; he noticed my mood and quietly blocked anyone else trying to come over. Even though that might draw some annoyance from others, Beiyard didn’t care at all—he even winked at me as if to take credit for it.
I wasn’t impressed but smiled back at him anyway, and then he got even more into it. After once again blocking a male student who had tried to strike up a conversation, he casually stood next to me.
“Peilo, go ahead and eat your peas. I’ll keep Teacher Melville away.”
Huh…
This guy dropped the ‘Miss’ and just went straight to my name… How did he know I wanted to eat peas?
That’s actually pretty thoughtful…
Even though I wasn’t super keen on having someone I barely knew standing next to me, I couldn’t just push him away… Fine, let him be.
“Thanks~”
I sweetly smiled at Beiyard.
At least he was somewhat useful; he seemed to have a certain clout among male students. The folks he blocked off may have looked disgruntled but didn’t dare say anything, obediently walking away… Yeah, he might make a decent human shield.
After all, being approached by strangers all the time is annoying—earlier, I even had a little boy suddenly run up to confess his feelings, and honestly, that’s just too much…
I opened the little bag of peas I had been holding the whole time, quickly took one out, and subconsciously looked towards Teacher Melville’s direction—I couldn’t see him anymore; Beiyard’s not-so-buff but well-defined figure was blocking my view completely.
So, I lowered my head, quickly shoved the pea into my mouth, chewed slowly, and then gently nudged Daisy, who was standing to my right, using my elbow and passed the pea bag from behind.
“Let’s eat together…”
Just in case we got caught, there would be someone to back me up.
Daisy hesitated for two seconds, panic flashing across her face as she looked around, but she finally succumbed to the peas’ temptation and grabbed a few from the bag, quickly turning her head to eat them.
Under Beiyard’s cover, we started munching on the peas, taking turns while Sarah, standing beside Daisy, gazed eagerly ahead, waiting for the arrival of the Pope.
Not long after, the crowd suddenly erupted in a wave of cheers, and I immediately looked up to see a golden, glamorous war chariot, escorted by two rows of Church Knights and several teachers, slowly rolling towards the front of the line, greeted by the eager eyes of countless students.
“Pope—!!”
“The Pope has arrived!”
“May the gods bless us!”
The enthusiastic cheers rolled in like waves, as if they were going to completely drown the academy.
Once the war chariot stopped, a knight lifted the curtain, but the figure stepping out from the carriage wasn’t the angel we imagined.
It was an elderly man with flowing white hair. Despite his thin and hunched frame, he moved with the swiftness of a gust of wind, quick and steady. He hopped down from the carriage, passed through several knights, and approached the front of the line, facing us.
Because he was too far away, I couldn’t see the old man’s face, but the prominent and familiar purple-golden robe he wore, along with the gold-crowned mitre on his head, made my heart skip a beat. My breath halted and my eyes widened, even forgetting to chew the pea in my mouth.
Cardinal…
That outfit was the same style as Nero’s.
The noise from the crowd abruptly dropped in decibels within seconds.
“Tsk…”
I faintly heard Beiyard clicking his tongue beside me. I subconsciously turned my head to him, catching a glimpse of a fleeting, odd look in his eyes.
That look vanished in an instant.
Huh…
As my inner curiosity just began to stir, suddenly, an even louder cheer erupted from all corners, just as mighty as before. Students were raising their hands, shouting the old man’s name excitedly: “Saint George!”
“It’s Cardinal Saint George! The most loyal believer of the deity—”
“A legend of the Holy Church!”
“Ahhhh! I’m so excited—!!!”
Saint George…
I whispered this name in my heart, standing on my tiptoes to glimpse ahead. A teacher handed Cardinal Saint George a golden sphere… Ah, it’s that divine relic that can transmit thoughts across great distances.
Thud, thud!
A gentle golden light burst forth from the sphere, and my heart suddenly raced. That incredibly familiar and comforting sense of security washed over me like a tidal wave once again.
