In the afternoon, the train entered the territory of Radiant City. Erich pressed against the window, his eyes shining with terrifying intensity. Squeezed into her seat, Irene said with a look of disgust, “It's not like this is your first time entering a city. Is that really necessary?”
“This is my first time entering Radiant City.”
Irene blinked, feeling like something was off. Before she could figure it out, the train suddenly slowed down and finally came to a complete stop.
They had arrived.
Erich stood up, slung his luggage over his shoulder, and casually grabbed the back of Irene's collar as she was still daydreaming by the window. He dragged her toward the carriage door. Irene struggled for a moment before giving up and letting him drag her along.
The weather outside was beautifully sunny. Erich stepped out of the carriage and onto the stone slabs of the platform.
And then, he saw Radiant City.
The city walls rose high, built from massive white stones, each taller than a person. In the afternoon sun, they glowed with a warm, ivory hue. Spires rose from the walls at regular intervals; though he couldn't quite make out the flags fluttering atop them, the sheer scale of it was imposing enough.
Within the walls, the city's rooftops stretched out in layers—red tiles, gray tiles, golden domes, and white towers piercing the sky. The spire of the palace in the far distance almost seemed to glow in the sunlight.
But none of this was what shocked Erich the most.
On the platform, a giant of a man standing at least two and a half meters tall passed by him carrying two wooden crates. He had a pair of curved horns on his head and light gray skin. A few paces away, an elf dressed in a hooded robe was flipping through an old book. Further off, a gryphon perched on a specially constructed stone platform, its golden eagle eyes lazily scanning the crowd.
During his long stay in the Abyss, the number of non-human races Erich had seen could be counted on one hand, and those were all dwarf craftsmen brought along by merchants. But now, right here on this platform, elves, beastkin, dwarves, and gryphons were all crowded together.
He took a deep breath:
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
With lightning speed, Irene took three steps back and lowered her head, covering half her face with her hand, absolutely terrified that anyone would think she was with Erich.
Erich didn't notice at all. He shouted again: “Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
“That's enough.” A hand reached out from the side, stuffing a small pouch into his palm.
Erich looked down to see a small leather pouch. A gentle shake produced the crisp clinking of gold coins. He looked up and met Margaret's eyes.
After only a brief moment of eye contact, Margaret immediately averted her gaze, a light blush rapidly spreading across her cheeks. “Thank you for your assistance to the Wayne family on the train. This is a small token of our gratitude.”
Erich immediately took the maid's hand to express his thanks. Her hand was still soft, but it was no longer cold—instead, it felt quite warm.
Unfortunately, he only got to hold it for a brief second before she pulled her hand back as if shocked. Keeping her head down, she said, “You are heading to the academy next, correct? Please be careful.”
She lowered her voice slightly. “From what I know, there are quite a few students in this intake who hold a deep grudge against you, including my own young mistress, Mr. Erich.”
With that, she turned and left, presumably to find her young mistress, though she had clearly forgotten the task her young mistress had assigned her.
“Does she like you?” Irene asked, having sidled over at some point, her face practically glowing with gossip.
“Obviously,” Erich said as he stuffed the gold coins into his belt pouch, completely unabashed. “I saved her life, and I'm this handsome. It would be weird if she didn't like me.”
Irene rolled her eyes, clearly not expecting him to be so shameless.
Erich tugged on her sleeve, and the two followed the flow of the crowd toward the exit.
Outside the exit was a massive plaza, filled with travelers carrying luggage, carriage drivers soliciting passengers, and hawking vendors.
Erich stood in the center of the plaza, looked around, and took another deep breath.
Quick as a flash, Irene slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Don't you dare shout again,” she said, her face flushing red. “If you shout again, I'm walking by myself.”
Erich pried her hand away. In the end, he didn't shout, though he couldn't help but look up at the sky, unsatisfied. The sky above Radiant City was a clear, translucent blue, and the sun was shining beautifully.
Not bad.
“Let's go.” He slapped Irene on the back with enough force to make her stumble forward.
“Can't you be a little gentler?!” Irene yelled at him, rubbing her back.
“You need to be more manly, Irene!”
“What?”
“Nothing!”
...
Meanwhile, at the South Gate of Radiant City. Although it wasn't the largest city gate, it was still grand enough to make any first-time visitor crane their neck to stare for a long time.
Lorraine was currently doing exactly that, craning her neck to look up.
She wore a gray travel cloak with the hood slid back, revealing a head of light chestnut hair. The sunlight caught her hair, casting a faint golden halo around its edges. She wasn't particularly tall, with a slender build and an old cloth bag slung over her shoulder.
She had lived in a village south of the Radiant River for sixteen years.
In those sixteen years, the furthest she had ever traveled was to the banks of the Radiant River. Standing there, she could see the distant outline of Radiant City, but it was nothing more than a hazy, gray silhouette. Her father had told her that across the river lay the Royal City, the most prosperous city on the Dragonback Continent. Elves and dwarves walked side-by-side there, gryphon cavalry soared over the city walls, and the king's palace gleamed like gold in the sunlight.
Back then, she thought her father was boasting.
Now, she realized her father hadn't been boasting at all—if anything, he had understated it.
A guard stood on either side of the city gate, clad in silver-gray breastplates. One of the guards glanced at her, likely deciding that a girl standing at the entrance daydreaming with her head tilted back posed no threat, and looked away.
Lorraine took a deep breath and shouted with all her might: “Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
A large flock of pigeons at the city gate scattered in fright, and a dwarf ahead turned around to curse at her.
The guard's lips twitched, clearly hesitating over whether he should intervene.
Only after she finished shouting did Lorraine realize what she had done. Lowering her head so low it was almost buried in her chest, she muttered "I'm sorry" three times to the empty air and dashed through the city gate.
The streets inside the gate opened up before her. Lorraine stopped in the middle of the street, but the flow of the crowd pushed her forward. She couldn't help but smile.
She had arrived.
She had really arrived.
The admission letter for Morningstar Academy was still tucked at the very bottom of her cloth bag. When that letter had arrived at the village, the entire village had gathered around her doorstep. Her father's hands had trembled as he held the paper, and her mother's eyes had welled with tears as she praised her for making them proud.
As one of the few specially recruited students of this intake, not only was her tuition fully waived, but she would also receive extra stipends if her grades were outstanding. More importantly, her long-hidden talent would finally have a place to shine.
“Make way! Make way!”
The shout of a driver came from behind. Lorraine quickly dodged to the side as a carriage laden with wine barrels rumbled past. Standing by the roadside, she tidied her hair, which had been disheveled by the carriage's draft, and pulled a crumpled map from her bag.
The map was hand-drawn by her father, with crooked lines marking the path from the South Gate to Morningstar Academy. She stared at it for a long time, then looked up at the labyrinth of streets before her, before finally stuffing the map back into her bag in resignation.
She walked over to an old woman selling apples by the street. Clearing her throat, she tried her best to make her voice sound like she wasn't some country bumpkin who had never seen the world. “Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to Morningstar Academy?”
The old woman pointed toward the north. “Go straight, turn right at the third intersection, and you'll see a cluster of spires. That's it.”
“Thank you!”
Lorraine thanked her and set off toward the north.
In the sunlight, her amber eyes shone with incredible brightness.
By evening, the guards at the South Gate of Radiant City probably wouldn't remember the country girl who had shouted at the top of her lungs at the city entrance, but Lorraine herself would always remember this day.
This was her first day in Radiant City.
Rate on N.U.
