I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 443, 1.27-24: A Bouquet of Blessings

"Shia! Shia? Are you listening to me?" A girl's giggling voice called out in my ear.

She paused for a moment, then glanced around at the scenery.

The room was neatly arranged with many tables and chairs, and at the front was a blackboard and a podium, making it look like a classroom.

She was wearing a dark green dress embroidered with gold trim and holding a piece of cream bread in her hand.

A cute-looking girl was sitting in the seat in front of her, looking at her with concern. The girl was wearing the exact same clothes as her, which looked like the school's uniform.

The girl was seen straddling a chair, hugging the back of the chair, holding a glass of juice in one hand, her movements very casual.

Shia frowned slightly, feeling that she shouldn't be here, but if she wasn't here, where should she be?

Her name is Shia, she is 16 years old, and she has no father, only a mother.

My mother is a plant expert who loves studying all sorts of plants; she's quite a celebrity in town. We live on the outskirts of Willis, and I currently attend Asley College in Willis.

Although it's called a small town, it's actually a very large city with several colleges, but she attends Asley College, which has the best teaching resources.

Because of the high tuition fees, the school has a very small number of students, with a maximum of 10 students per class, which is why it is often ridiculed as an elite academy.

The girl in front of her seemed to be called...

what do you say that is?

"Are you alright? You look a little pale." The girl rested her chin on her hand, looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine," Shia said, shaking her head.

"Really? If you're tired, you should ask for leave and go home to rest," the girl sighed softly.

Although everything around her felt very strange, she had no choice but to give up because she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

After a quick lunch, the bell rang for class.

The lesson was dull and tedious. Shia looked down at the notebook in front of her and scribbled something on it with a quill pen.

Suddenly she froze, staring at the apple drawn in the notebook.

Huh?
"What is this? Is it a new variety of fruit that Madam cultivated?" the girl asked curiously, looking at the apple in her notebook.

"what?"

"What's it called?"

"Apple." Shia was stunned again after saying those two words. It's called an apple? How did she know that? She had never seen one before.

The girl chuckled and took Shia's hand, saying as they walked, "Let's go home together."

Shia asked, "Isn't it on the way?"

The girl pouted and retorted, "At least the part of the road outside the school gate is fine."

Xia glanced at the girl, then let her lead him as the two walked toward the school gate.

As she approached the school gate, the girl paused slightly, shrank back fearfully, and whispered, "They're here again..."

"What?" Shia asked.

"Hia, have you forgotten? Those people always like to block the school gate and extort money from students. Since our academy is full of rich kids, they appear most frequently. I didn't expect that after hiding for so long, I would finally run into them." The girl sighed softly.

Shia frowned slightly and took a step forward to block the girl's path.

"Lovely lady, give us some money, or we might do something weird to your lovely bodies~" the men said with a lewd grin, threateningly. "Shia...we'd better give us the money..." the girl said fearfully.

“Some things, once you do it the first time, you’ll do it countless times. Once you’ve tasted the sweetness, you’ll keep taking the risks. It’s because some people are afraid of getting into trouble and choose to back down that they become more and more outrageous and eventually block the school gate.” Shia stared at the group of people and said calmly.

"But!" The girl wanted to say something, but saw Shia walk towards those people and swiftly knock them all to the ground with one hand each.

She stared in shock, her eyes wide. Was Shia really that amazing before? But this Shia is so cool!!

Hearing the sounds of their bones breaking and their pitiful screams, Shia casually stepped over their bodies and walked up to the girl, saying, "Go back."

The girl nodded excitedly.

As the two walked along the road, Shia kept frowning, her silver eyes glancing at the girl's short, pink-gold hair tied into two low ponytails, a hint of doubt in her heart.

Is this her hair color?
That didn't seem to be the case just now...

Ok?
Just now?

Did she get a good look at the girl's hair color?
Why did I suddenly see it clearly?
Even though we were interacting as usual, there was something strange about it all.

The girl beside her must be her best friend, but she doesn't remember her name.

As the two walked home, the girl chattered on, "I heard that a group of guys claiming to be divine messengers have recently arrived. I have a feeling they're bad guys, like they're going to do something strange."

"A divine messenger?" Shia asked, puzzled.

"They seem to be messengers from the Kingdom of the Mysterious. Our kingdom and the Kingdom of the Mysterious have always been enemies, so why would they come here? I overheard them yesterday; they were discussing something with my father. But I was afraid of being caught eavesdropping, so I ran away. I should have kept listening."

The girl pouted and casually kicked at the pebbles on the ground.

"Discuss?" Shia asked.

"What are they going to do with words like 'container' and 'ritual'?" the girl asked, tilting her head in confusion.

A flock of jet-black birds flew overhead, chirping incessantly, giving them a creepy feeling.

The girl bent down, picked up a small stone, and threw it into the air. "It's crows again. Their cawing is awful!"

As dusk settled, the setting sun painted the sky a blood-red hue, both alluring and eerie.

Despite feeling no different from any other day, Shia scanned the crowds of people passing by, but couldn't remember anyone's face, not even the girl next to her.

The only thing that could be clearly seen was her pinkish-gold hair.

Suddenly she paused slightly, and there stood a young man dressed in white knight's attire in front of the fountain.

"Is there anything there?" The girl followed Shia's gaze and asked in confusion, "There's nothing there."

Shia blinked, and when she looked again, there was no one in front of the fountain.

That's strange, she clearly saw people there.

Like a knight in a fairy tale...

You must have misread it.

After saying goodbye to the girl, Shia walked home alone, but was stunned when she saw a guy who suddenly appeared when she turned a corner.

The guy who was standing in front of the fountain just now.

"Come with me." His azure eyes were fixed on Shia as he extended his hand to her, seemingly as an invitation but in reality with a very firm attitude.

(End of this chapter)