The first few days at sea were much more peaceful than Li Yue had expected. Once the fleet had a clear objective and had replenished their supplies, they embarked on the journey to find the God's remains.
The region depicted on the map, situated along this Great Route, appeared to have few obstacles. Most of the area seemed to be clear sailing, with no significant dangers or even sea monster sightings marked.
Li Yue initially thought this was a good thing. However, as uncharted reefs began to appear and Sharon demonstrated her seasoned sailing skills time and again, Li Yue gradually realized that this route had likely never been fully charted.
Could they just fly over? Li Yue wondered occasionally. Sharon’s answer was simple: when flying over high-risk areas, the fluctuations of one's own mana field would attract a vast number of sea monsters, many of which were at the Great Mage level.
Though the path ahead was treacherous, there were several supply points on nearby islands. Most were established by pirates, and some even served as their main bases. They built their nests here, seemingly confident that the harsh terrain would hinder any government attempts at encirclement.
Of course, these pirates might have maps they had drawn themselves, but those would only cover a small radius around their locations. As for where the main route led, everything remained a total unknown.
None of the ancestors who had attempted to chart the path ever returned with their final maps. Some said they got lost; some said they turned on each other until the ships were destroyed and everyone was dead; others said they perished in the extreme environment.
Despite the many rumors, the fact remained that no one had ever made it out.
A tribute to those who blaze the trail...
Li Yue thought about it for a long time but couldn't see any way she could help. Rather than sitting idly in the cabin and staring into space all day, she decided to make some preparations—such as asking these future "classmates" for information about the Academy.
The answers she received were simple: attend the professors' lectures, participate in activities to earn academic credits, and remember to work part-time to earn money. That was the mundane, repetitive reality of Academy life.
However, the activities were indeed diverse. You could even choose to be a pirate...
The Academy had its own unique currency system, which served as the link for transactions between students. Unlike the gold coins circulating in the outside world, the Academy minted magic coins, which also came in gold, silver, and copper denominations.
Li Yue didn't get all the specific details, but it was quite interesting to learn that Sharon and the others earned a salary for their daily pirate activities.
Professional pirates?
Was there any fundamental difference between them and the government’s naval vessels? The answer Li Yue got from Sharon was that they could plunder under the guise of pirates, but they still maintained a bottom line...
Li Yue walked from the deck back to her cabin. Her ring glowed faintly, and a letter appeared in her hand. There was no signature, just a single line of text.
I cut my finger while chopping vegetables QAQ (Clo had drawn a little crying chibi face here.)
Li Yue’s lips twitched.
Your finger must have been healed by the time you wrote this... (Li Yue drew a sweating face emoji.)
Li Yue took out Roland’s sheet music and tested her violin; it seemed her skills hadn't grown rusty. A moment later, a letter popped out of the ring, and she could tell the sender was quite agitated.
But it hurt so much when it happened!
There, there. It doesn't hurt anymore.
Li Yue replied dismissively. She looked at the sheet music beside her and began playing from that section again. Her ring flashed, and a letter shot out from her ring finger, hitting her right in the face.
Are you patronizing me! (Clo had drawn a little angry figure.)
No, no.
Li Yue smiled, thinking about whether she should just send that back. On second thought, the other girl would probably get angry if she sent such a short reply, so she decided to add a bit more content.
When I get to the Academy, I'll play the violin for you.
She waited for a while, but there was no follow-up. She smiled and continued playing the piece, but she couldn't help but keep thinking about her.
Why did she start chopping vegetables? In her memory, Clo seemed to know absolutely nothing about cooking. Had life become so difficult that she had to cook for herself? I recall she’s already a Great Mage; how could she be doing so poorly at the Academy?
Could it be that even Great Mages face many restrictions at the Academy, especially students who haven't graduated yet?
Li Yue pondered this, wondering if she should perhaps hone her own cooking skills.
After finishing the piece, she put the violin back into her ring and walked out to the deck. From what she recalled, the person responsible for the meals these past few days was Mende, the oldest man with the steady air of a middle-aged uncle. His skills were quite good; he could take the coarse ingredients they had before getting supplies and turn them into something delicious.
On the other side, Clo tucked the letter away, placing it with the stack of previous letters. These were her most precious treasures. She leaned back slightly, her graceful body sinking into the soft sofa. She squinted her eyes, seemingly preparing to drift into a comfortable midday dream.
She put on an eye mask, and the world before her turned pitch black. In this total darkness, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Darkness, death—no one was more familiar with these sensations than she was.
These things seemed to remind her of her lover at every moment.
She tossed and turned, wanting to cast these thoughts aside, but she couldn't find peace no matter how much she moved.
A Yue said she learned the violin and even wants to play for me... She never used to do things like that... I wonder what her style will be? I'm so looking forward to it, I can't sleep... So annoying...
Why did the God's remains have to wake up in clusters at sea right now? Could it be that specific piece of God's remains has appeared? It’s much earlier than I thought. Originally... I was looking forward to collecting that piece with her.
Oh well, if it's her, it'll be fine.
On Clo’s desk, a mostly finished flower crown lay quietly. Half of it used flowers Clo had gathered, and the other half were those sent by Li Yue. Clo had used meticulous magic patterns to trace the natural veins of the flowers, a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. The result was that the flowers on this crown would never fade.
No matter what, it would always be as beautiful as the first time they met, as moving as the first time, and as surprising as the first time. No matter how many times she saw it, it would be just like the first time.
Rate on N.U.
