Chapter 91: The Story of Old People (Part Two)
“Are you really leaving now?”
Hearing Sara’s low question, Daisy beside her suddenly became aware, her book forgotten in hand, eyes wide, gazing at the young woman.
“I’m here to…”
The girl thought seriously for a moment: “Actually, I want to take another look at Grandma Bersa.”
Her words hardly counted as an answer.
However, the two girls had already understood what she meant.
…………
The spirit tablet of the recently retired principal of the Chris Royal Academy, the Sword Saint Lady Grandma Bersa, still sits in the chapel of the academy.
After a quick tidy-up in the dorm, I set off with Sara and Daisy, carrying a bouquet bought from a street vendor outside the academy, planning to walk over to pay our respects.
The War Chariot and guards that brought me here? I sent them off to wait near the library, not far from the main road.
That spot is closer to the academy gate, and it’s a convenient route to leave.
I had previously been secreted away halfway to walk alone to the dorm tower, which took quite some convincing. But it was the only way to avoid being recognized the moment I stepped into the tower—about why I knew the dorm room number had changed from “1504” to “604,” and how I got the key to the dorm—who wouldn’t know? I had just come from Principal Melville!
Besides the War Chariot and guards, the other thing that made me stand out was the royal court dress I was wearing, unmistakably opulent.
I had changed out of that purple-black dress before leaving the dorm and switched back to my old academy uniform that had been sitting around for ages.
The pristine white collared shirt with puffy sleeves, the pale blue flared skirt, and the leather waist cincher covering just my abdomen.
Wearing the Royal Academy uniform, it fit like it had from day one, looking spotless, not an ounce of mustiness despite having been stored away.
Not only that, there was a lovely hint of lavender fragrance.
“Did someone wash my uniform?”
After asking Sara, I learned that Daisy, every time she washed her own clothes, would quietly wash my uniform, including my sheets and blankets, too.
I expressed my thanks to Daisy.
Her reaction was a bit shy; she didn’t speak, just smiled at me bashfully.
After changing into my uniform, I couldn’t wear my usual hat because it didn’t match.
So, I put on my old felt top hat that I had left here. I remembered that time I bought so many hats to cover my hair color; Daisy had washed all those as well. I chose a style that went well with my uniform, at least to cover my hair.
As for my face—
Hmph, I’m proud to say that with a wide-brimmed hat like this, not many in the academy could get a clear look at me.
Before leaving, I washed my face in the dorm, removing the subtle makeup, and when I looked in the mirror, expressionless, nodded in satisfaction. I thought this no-makeup look truly accentuated the dewy whiteness of my skin.
Lowering my hat’s brim, on the way to the chapel, we once again passed the wide path outside the training ground.
At this point, the mood of the two girls had calmed down a lot, chatting back and forth with me. As we walked past the outer fence, suddenly, Sara pointed in the distance and said, “Right there! The place where you first hit someone on the nose!”
“Ah?” I couldn’t react immediately.
But without waiting for me, Sara continued, “Thus began your legendary path at the academy.”
“Pfft…”
Daisy couldn’t hold back her laughter.
I finally realized she was talking about our first day at the academy.
From then on, the atmosphere seemed to lighten up, and we chatted and laughed all the way, almost as if we were back in those earlier days at the academy.
Until we stepped into the chapel and stumbled upon my own spirit tablet.
The two girls froze momentarily, exchanging glances, as if they had forgotten about this. Once they realized, Sara couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“I just remembered that time…”
“Me, Sophia, Daisy… at your funeral, we brought donuts, and roasted lamb, haha…”
The girl laughed so hard she could hardly breathe: “You didn’t even know…”
“At that time, the place was packed… our fellow students, all sorts of random people showing up to bring you flowers; the whole chapel was filled with bouquets, to the point where… where our roasted lamb went rotten for days before anyone found it…”
“Teacher Virmel got so mad when he found out, his mouth twisted in anger… but I guess he was clever enough; he didn’t know who did it until later, and boy, did he give us a lecture, calling us disrespectful to a hero! Sophia jumped up and confronted him…”
“Ha, how can you disrespect a hero! He has no idea that us bringing roasted lamb was our biggest sign of respect for a hero…”
I couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and embarrassment.
Sara was bold enough to talk about these things so brazenly in the chapel mainly because nowadays, aside from the occasional visitor paying homage to the dead or past principals, the chapel mostly housed an old nun who was hard of hearing, rumored to have been ousted from the city cathedral, stuck here all alone.
Grandma Bersa’s spirit tablet wasn’t in the main hall but rather in a special room dedicated to the spirits of former principals of the Royal Academy. I had visited this room with Viki before, so it didn’t feel unfamiliar.
After laying down the bouquet in front of the spirit tablet, I, along with Sara and Daisy, knelt half-heartedly on the floor, praying silently for her.
It had been three years since the old lady passed away.
The image of her at the end and her words still linger clearly in my mind.
[When Grandma was young, she walked through mountains and rivers, experienced all walks of life, understood that this world is mostly pity for the humble…]
[Many strong beings, if they really come, can’t be stopped; not even the will to resist will arise…]
[Meeting you, Grandma, I feel lucky, and I’m very proud of you. In you, Grandma, I see echoes of Ryan in his youth…]
There were countless nights I, like now, would close my eyes.
Those words would always unconsciously float up from the depths of my heart.
[You should… make a true impact in this world.]
…………
As we left the chapel, I couldn’t shake the feeling, whether it was a trick of the light or not, but the old nun dozing on the porch seemed to raise her eyelids and deliberately look at me.
It was just a vague feeling; when I consciously looked back, I only saw the old nun with her head lowered, lightly snoring, out cold as if she hadn’t woken at all from the moment we entered until we left.
After paying our respects to old Principal Grandma, Sara suddenly proposed we all head to the cafeteria for a bite to eat.
“My treat!”
When the girl announced this, her two adorable dimples flashed, but I could tell she was just trying not to let me leave.
“The War Chariot and guards are waiting for me…”
I spoke before Sara could show disappointment, smirking a little, and quickly amended, “Well, it’s not like I asked them to follow; you know I hate that. So, let them wait a little longer~”
However, we didn’t actually sit in the cafeteria. In places crowded with so many eyes, even if I wore my hat the whole time, it was super easy to be recognized.
I had Sara and Daisy go inside and get me a roasted lamb, some beef stew with potatoes, creamy cheese fish soup, honey cake, and some bread—this was enough. Any more wouldn’t get eaten. Sara wasn’t Sophia; she couldn’t lie without breaking a sweat, saying her siblings were sick and needed tending to.
But she did bring me an extra helping of stir-fried peas.
This didn’t make me happy; I hadn’t eaten such useless stuff in ages. But Sara wouldn’t give up, walking alongside and teasing, “Look at Daisy; she’s getting bigger by the year. This is already the third time she’s requested a new uniform this year!”
“Ugh, peas are the root of the problem.”
Daisy and I glared at her with disapproving faces.
After that, Sara suggested we stroll around the training ground. We needed some place secluded to eat our food while it was hot—and at that time, it was right after lunchtime, so there usually weren’t many people around.
Spreading out a cloth in a quiet corner, as we started eating, Sara suddenly pointed to a spot not far away: “We cried for you right there.”
Before I could respond, she burst into laughter.
“During your funeral ceremony, after delivering the roasted lamb, we came here to clear our heads.”
“Everything was fine until someone started talking bad about you; then suddenly, I don’t know who started crying first, and we all couldn’t hold back… Hehe, I remember that day, it was Sophia crying the loudest, wailing away, mouth wide open, voice booming like the old uncle selling waffles at the academy’s gate…”
“I didn’t know she could look so ugly while crying—it was simply grotesque…”
“But, Sara…”
Hearing Sara take a jab at Sophia since she wasn’t around, the honest girl Daisy couldn’t help but call her out: “I remember the loudest cries came from you, though…”
“Of course not! It was definitely Sophia,” Sara denied adamantly, “She’s the one who talked the most trash about Peilo and always laughed at you for not being able to ride… What’s that! A delusional woman, our little fairy by Lake Ceylon is a Pope Knight, how could she not ride a Horned Horse! Peilo, right?”
“……”
“By the way, do you still hate the Horned Horse? I remember once in physical training, you didn’t want to ride the Horned Horse, and you knocked Mr. Lamb on the nose.”
“……”
“Come to think of it, how many people have you punched in the nose here?”
“Even that Captain of the Sword of Kanli, Mr. Rect, couldn’t escape unscathed.”
“If I remember correctly, you gave him a double whammy…”
“The Nose Crusher, how terrifying!”
“…Sara.”
“Hahahahaha—”
The sound of her carefree laughter faded away in the chilly winter breeze.
