People of all races bustled about the station plaza, dragging their luggage with them. Erich, sharp-eyed as always, immediately spotted a row of pegasus carriages parked in the southeastern corner.
The pegasi pulling the carriages were pure white, with wings on their backs that looked like feathered cloaks when folded. The carriages themselves were deep blue, their sides bearing the emblem of Morningstar Academy—an eight-pointed star surrounded by a ring of stars.
The driver was a dwarf, sitting in the driver's seat with a blade of grass in his mouth.
Irene tugged on Erich's sleeve and pointed to a wooden sign standing beside the carriage. It read: 【Morningstar Academy Freshman Shuttle, Free Ride with Admission Letter】
“What do you plan to do?” Irene asked.
“What do you mean, what do I plan to do?”
“You don't have an admission letter.”
Erich said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Don't you have one?”
“That's mine.”
“What's yours is mine.”
Irene gave up trying to reason with him.
The two walked up to the carriage. The dwarf lazily held out his hand, and Irene pulled her admission letter from her bag. The dwarf glanced at it, nodded, and Erich pushed Irene into the carriage.
The dwarf driver shrugged and went back to chewing on his blade of grass.
A few freshmen were already sitting inside. Erich found a seat by the window, and Irene sat down right next to him.
After waiting for about half an hour, the carriage gradually filled up. The dwarf driver called out to the passengers inside:
“Hold on tight, brats!”
The pegasi at the front of the carriage spread their wings in unison, and the carriage rose weightlessly into the air. The station plaza of Radiant City gradually shrank below them, turning into a patchwork of colored shapes.
As the carriage climbed higher, the full view of Radiant City unfolded through the window.
The city was massive, spanning nearly a thousand square kilometers—larger than many modern cities from before Erich's transmigration. From the station in the northwest corner to Morningstar Academy in the southwest, it spanned nearly half of Radiant City. Walking there would have practically killed Irene.
But the carriage was much faster.
Radiant City's streets were as orderly as a chessboard. White buildings gleamed softly in the sunlight, the central imperial palace shone with golden brilliance, and several high towers dotted the cityscape. Erich pressed himself against the window, completely captivated, occasionally letting out meaningless exclamations of awe.
As they traveled, the carriage came to a halt in midair. Erich leaned his head out to look. Ahead of them was a dense gridlock of flying vehicles: carriages from other academies, private airships, and even a dragon stuck in the middle of the flight lane, unable to move forward or backward.
This traffic jam lasted the entire morning.
By the time the carriage finally squeezed its way out of the aerial lane, the sunlight had grown intense. The pegasi dove through the clouds, and the full view of Morningstar Academy gradually came into focus.
A continuous sprawl of buildings spread across the rolling hills. Spires, domes, cloisters, and gardens of various architectural styles were blended together, looking as if great works from different eras had been forcibly crammed into a single canvas. Yet the most eye-catching feature was the white tower at the very center: the Morningstar Tower.
The tower was pure white and rose a hundred meters high, piercing straight into the sky. A bronze bell hung at its peak, gleaming with a dull golden luster in the midday sun.
The carriage landed on Starlight Plaza in front of the academy's main gates. The plaza was paved with deep blue flagstones embedded with glittering, luminous ores. A good number of freshmen were already wandering around the plaza, completing their registration or taking photos.
The carriage arrived exactly at noon. As the bronze bell tolled, everyone in the plaza stopped in their tracks, their eyes drawn involuntarily toward the high tower.
Standing beside Erich, Irene also looked up, her mouth slightly agape.
“Stop daydreaming,” Erich said, patting her on the shoulder. “Time for business.”
Numerous guidance desks were set up across the plaza, each staffed by upperclassmen. Erich scanned the area and picked out an upperclassman girl who looked the friendliest.
He gave Irene a gentle push. “You go first.”
Irene walked up to the desk. The girl greeted her warmly, “Are you a freshman? Please show me your identification and admission letter.”
Irene pulled an ID card and her admission letter from her small bag. The girl took them and began operating the crystal display screen in front of her.
The device worked on a principle similar to a computer, but because its performance was terrible, its cost was exorbitant, and it required mana to run, it couldn't be widely adopted. Only a place like Morningstar Academy could afford to equip them in bulk.
The girl quickly found Irene's information, then reached under the desk to pull out a manila envelope and a small badge, handing them over.
“Inside the envelope, you'll find the freshman handbook, a campus map, and your dormitory assignment. This badge is your school emblem and serves as your student ID. Once you bind it, make sure not to lose it!”
Irene took the items, thanked her politely, and stepped aside.
Erich stepped up.
He pulled out the replacement ID card he had gotten in Ash City, a smile on his face. “Excuse me, but I forgot my admission letter at home. Will this do?”
The girl smiled. “Yes, that's fine. Give me a moment to look you up in the system.”
She took the ID card, her eyes falling on the name field.
【Erich】
There was no surname. After being stripped of his noble status, his family name had been erased as well. But even without a surname, the name itself was more than enough.
The girl's smile froze. She shot a rapid glance up at Erich, then quickly looked back down, her fingers flying across the crystal screen.
Throughout the entire process, the girl barely dared to breathe. She pushed the manila envelope and the school badge toward Erich, her voice trembling. “P-Please take them.”
Erich took the items and gave her a smile, causing her to shrink back even further.
People around them were already starting to look.
Silver hair was the signature trait of the Edmond family. Whispers began to spread across the plaza like a rising tide.
“Is that Erich?”
“Are you serious? How does he dare show his face at the academy?”
“Wasn't he exiled by his family...?”
“Who's that next to him? Did they come together?”
“No idea. Probably a commoner.”
The discussions grew louder. With Erich at the center, the crowd naturally parted to form a circle, keeping a distance of three meters as they sized him up with various looks.
Standing beside Erich, Irene was also caught in the crowd's gaze. Some pointed at her and whispered.
“That commoner is hanging out with Erich. Probably up to no good.”
“Birds of a feather flock together, after all.”
Irene's face flushed red, and she lowered her head, remaining silent.
Erich tucked the manila envelope under his arm, stuffed the badge into his pocket, and turned around with a smile on his face.
“Everyone, listen up.”
“I don't care what you say behind my back, but if anyone dares to gossip about me and my friend right in front of my face again...”
“I will rip their mouth right off.”
The plaza fell dead silent. A few of those who had been speaking the loudest turned pale and shrank back into the crowd.
Erich patted Irene on the shoulder.
“Let's go.”
Irene dithered for a second before quickly catching up.
As the two crossed the plaza and headed toward the academy gates, the crowd naturally parted to let them through. No one dared to utter another word.
Only after his figure had completely vanished through the gates did the murmurs start up again on the plaza.
In the crowd, a young girl with light chestnut hair and amber eyes stood in place, clutching her own admission letter. She stared in the direction Erich had vanished for a good while.
Lorraine tilted her head.
That playboy rumored to bully men and violate women, committing every imaginable evil... though arrogant, he didn't seem all that terrifying.
But she didn't dwell on it. After all, she still had to complete her own registration. Lorraine withdrew her gaze, turned toward the nearest guidance desk, and quickly put the minor interlude out of her mind.
Rate on N.U.
