Yelena wore an exquisite long gown, primarily crimson with black and gold trim, accented by sparkling gems.
Compared to the crowd of teachers dressed in uniform black and white, she looked like a delicate red rose blooming after a heavy curtain was drawn.
She was exceptionally eye-catching, drawing all gazes toward her.
Yelena lifted her skirt and narrowed her eyes slightly as she bowed her head.
She performed a standard and elegant salute.
After exhaling softly, she raised her eyes to meet Ishumir’s gaze and spoke to the young lady in a manner that was neither humble nor arrogant.
“I’m sorry, I was delayed by some matters and arrived a bit late. Miss Ishumir, I hope you won’t blame me?”
“Heh heh heh, how could I?”
Listening to her words, Ishumir developed a new perspective on the recently succeeded Lord of Red Pine City. The intelligence she had received said Yelena was an immature little girl…
‘It seems the intelligence was false.’
Facing Yelena’s clever counterattack—using Ishumir’s own tactics against her—Ishumir did not show even a hint of defeat.
Her expression remained calm, though a faint trace of pride lingered between her brows. After a brief but intense clash of gazes, Ishumir finally spoke.
“By the way, I wonder how your sister Henna is doing physically?”
“My sister is very healthy. She even sparred with several people the day before yesterday and is in better shape than before. Miss Ishumir, please put your mind at ease.”
Yelena remained unyielding. It had to be said that while immense pressure could crush a person—much like it once had Yelena—she had undergone an evolution that exceeded everyone’s expectations after taking on the burden of a Lord.
Henna, or rather, the current Lilith… Lilith had asked for Yelena’s opinion, even telling her not to consider her sister’s situation and to do what she wanted most.
Yelena’s answer was that she wanted power! Yelena chose to sit on the throne of the Lord, becoming the Earl of Asades and ruling over Red Pine City and its lands.
Her composure and the grace she showed during her counterattack against Ishumir, the vanguard of the Zephyr Empire, changed the opinions of those present who had previously looked down on the 15-year-old Lord.
Some people who had access to limited high-level information even spread rumors that Red Pine City had become the back garden of the Zephyr Empire and that the Lord was merely a marionette of the Imperial Princess.
Many believed such rumors!
But she was not a puppet, and certainly no one’s marionette. Yelena had proven herself slightly, though it was still far from enough to truly establish her worth.
“Oh? That’s good then.” Ishumir let out a light laugh, covering her mouth. “I actually met your sister when I was young. If anything happened to her, I would be very sad.”
“Miss Ishumir, shall I take you for a tour?” Yelena did not leave the initiative to her guest. She proactively invited the noble lady from the Zephyr Empire to visit Crimson Academy.
Ishumir followed the momentum, stepping forward to take Yelena’s arm, and then glanced into the distance. Across the square, a few people were waiting. They were not Ishumir’s attendants, but a group of teenagers.
Yelena took a look and then focused on Ishumir. Ishumir smiled and explained, “These are students from several academies in Moonview City who wanted to come for an exchange. I brought them along.”
“I see. I was wondering why they were crouching over there. I almost took them for suspicious characters and had the City Guard Knights throw them into jail.”
Yelena feigned a look of realization as she spoke to Ishumir, who was still holding her arm.
Ishumir only smiled. This purple-haired Missy truly loved to smile; the expression never left her face, though it shifted between faint and fake.
Rosily lay lazily on the grass, watching the sun as it descended toward the west. It had changed from the brilliant white of noon to an orange-red color, similar to the hue of her eyes. After a while, she asked Elqi a strange question.
“Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west?”
Elqi was sitting beside her.
Exhausted, she didn’t want to speak at all, but she couldn’t help it because a hand was stroking her thigh.
She irritably brushed Rosily’s hand away and muttered with a hint of resentment, “Do you even know how ‘east’ and ‘west’ came to be?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s not that the sun rises in the east. It’s that the place where the sun rises is called the east, and the place where it sets is the west.”
“I get it.”
Rosily sat up and leaned toward Elqi, throwing an arm over her shoulder. Elqi frowned and struggled slightly, but Rosily held her tighter.
Sweat made their clothes stick to their skin, and that greasy feeling was particularly uncomfortable.
Between the stuffy heat and the frustration of her recent defeat, Elqi only wanted to go home, wash up, and lie in bed. As for anything else… whatever…
Furthermore, she felt like Rosily was a small furnace.
Being near her felt incredibly warm. If it were winter, Elqi would have been happy to be held like this, but it was summer!
Rosily suddenly had a new question. She leaned into Elqi’s ear and whispered, “Then what’s the deal with summer and winter?”
“Because our world is divided into a Light Season and a Dark Season. From late spring through summer and early autumn, the sun is a giant orb. But after late autumn…” Elqi recalled the knowledge from her books, chose her words carefully, and shared her understanding.
“When the Dark Season arrives, the sun in the sky becomes a ringed sun. The center is empty, so there is less light. At that time, demons appear more frequently, and that’s when the most people die.”
In the winter of the Dark Season, some remote villages might be completely wiped out by demons.
Only by regularly hiring adventurers to clear out the surrounding demons could they survive; that was the origin of village quests.
Although winter was dangerous, it was also the time when adventurers were most active.
Some people would set down their hoes and sickles after the autumn harvest and pick up knives and swords to hunt demons, earning extra income that could only be made in the winter.
The culture of the Winter Hunt was a very ancient tradition. And all of this would officially begin after the Harvest Festival.
“Hunting demons in the Dark Season…”
Rosily had heard that demons were prevalent in the Dark Season and knew about the demon hunters. Thinking of this, she became excited.
She stood up and looked at the distant sun. Before she could do anything else, a voice interrupted her.
“Rosily, I want to ask you a question.”
Tristan, the Martial Magic Instructor, walked over. His muscular build made him look like someone not to be trifled with, and in reality, he was indeed difficult to deal with.
Tristan had divided the twelve people into four teams, each equipped with a Saint, making it a five-person team configuration.
Then, he and the female Magic Mentor coordinated their attacks, conducting the most brutal practical combat training between teams and individuals.
The rule for victory was to defeat the opponent!
On Rosily’s team, there was the Rank 3 Magic User Elqi, the Rank 3 Assassin Scarlett, the Rank 3 Saint Simona, and a background female warrior.
As for her sister, Estelle, she had been assigned to another team; Tristan had intentionally separated them.
The results of the training were obvious.
No matter how strong Rosily’s individual ability was, the coordination between the team members was too poor.
This resulted in Rosily being pinned down by Tristan every time she challenged him, while her teammates were cleared out by the female Magic Mentor.
In the end, she would be caught in a pincer attack by two Rank 6 powerhouses. With Rosily’s current abilities, holding out for 1 minute was already considered impressive.
She lost, and despite challenging him several times, she never even came close to winning.
Moreover, if an outsider saw someone with Rank 2 Magic Power confronting a Rank 6 warrior head-on, they would only tell her to give up.
Tristan folded his thick arms across his chest. He stared at Rosily for a long time before exhaling a long breath.
“Rosily, you have great talent. Your parents gave you a powerful body that ordinary people couldn’t have, but all of that is within the realm of understanding because that is where your talent lies. However, that extraordinary practical combat experience makes me particularly curious. That isn’t something that can be cultivated just by sparring with someone. I have only felt this unique aura on those who wander between life and death, and none of them are young anymore.”
After speaking, Tristan pondered for a moment before condensing his thoughts into a single sentence: “Can you tell me how you did it?”
“It’s a girl’s secret.” Rosily tilted her head and said with a shallow smile.
A secret? Tristan grinned. “Haha, a good answer.”
After saying that, he turned and left, not pressing her any further.
Rosily watched him walk to the female Magic Mentor’s side and then saw the two of them whispering together.
Tristan approached Lady Samuel.
Before he could speak, she said, “I didn’t expect this wild place outside the central territories to have such a little genius. How do you think she compares to Susia?”
“I don’t like comparing people, especially these so-called ‘geniuses.’ After all, growth is a matter of what happens later.” Tristan’s answer was very serious.
Lady Samuel rolled her eyes at him, her fingers twirling her auburn curls.
‘I’m talking to you about combat power, and you’re giving me life lessons?’
That was what she thought, but the beautiful lady said, “Oh? You’re quite insightful, then.”
“Indeed.” Tristan nodded.
The smile on Samuel’s face stiffened slightly. ‘I wasn’t complimenting you…’