Celes is grinning.
The girl looked at herself while wearing a sleeveless white dress. She put on a black cloak, which was Lumina's gift to her. The girl descended the stairs so fast that she made a chomping sound.
It's eight in the morning and today is supposed to be her first day at the academy. She still has a lot of time. However, it's always better to be early than late.
"Ooh, this is so good! What is this?" Argus is chewing the food on the plate.
"It's just fried rice. Argus, where have you been living all this time?"
Argus is sitting at the bar table, while Uncle Hegs is on the other side. They both watched Celes getting flustered while she put on her shoes.
"Don't forget about your hat," said Argus, staring at Celes.
"How many times do I need to tell you? I don't use a hat when it is still morning!"
Celes is dressed as usual, but more tidy and clean. Her long black hair was shinier. Argus also noticed her round face look cuter. Probably because they were exploring a forest, staying in an inn, and walking in the sun for hours. It must be hard for a girl to not having an access to clean their body properly.
Argus continued eating.
"Are you not gonna eat?"
Celes, who finished putting on the shoes, shouted. "No, I am going out right now! Uncle Hegs, please explain to Argus everything about the restaurant." The girl opened the door and run in a hurry.
"She didn't explain anything to you yesterday?"
"I sleep early yesterday." Argus handed the empty plate with a big smile. "Can I have Celes's part?"
"After what you said yesterday, now this. You have no shame, are you?" Uncle Hegs sighed. He took the plate and go to the kitchen. "Well, I guess it's better than being too shy." He mumbled to himself.
"By the way, where are Hazel and Fiore? I don't see them." Argus raised his voice, so it reached the kitchen.
It took Uncle Hugs a minute to bring extra portions with an answer.
"The restaurant opens at 10. Hazel and Fiore will come before then. We closed the restaurant at 8. Depending on the situation, there is a break between 2 and 4."
"Huh? At 10? Between 2 or 4?"
"Yes, they usually come after 9. Around 2 hours from now."
"2 hours?" Argus closed his eyes until his brain connected all the dots. "Ooh, you mean the clock?"
"Oi!" Now this time, Uncle Hegs put on a blank expression. "You are not living in a cave, are you?"
"No, of course not! We never use the clock in my place. Everyone just says morning, noon, evening, or something."
"Ugh, well, I don't care. Since you stay here, you need to help."
"Eh, I need to help? But I can't cook."
"If you can't cook, then do something else. You know what they said: if you don't work, you can't eat. Since you have eaten, you have to work. "
That's what Argus' mother always said. It's not even a week, and he started to miss his family already.
"After you're done, go to the kitchen."
Uncle Hegs returned to the kitchen, leaving Argus to enjoy his food.
***
The academy is located east of the clock tower. On the east side, there are two layers of gates. It was a long time ago because there is not enough space, they built the academy outside the town. After that, they built another gate to cover the academy.
Even though Celes was born here. Her visit to the academy could be counted by fingers. It always amazes her whenever she comes here. Everything looks just wonderful in her eyes.
Passing through the academy gate, a green field and wide road greeted Celes. There is even a fish pond on one side. From the point where she stands, she can only see a tiny part of the buildings, since it goes deep and there are more buildings inside. The academy might not have a building as grand and tall as the castle, but its land area was probably almost double that of a castle.
"Okay, just follow the main path," Celes muttered.
Celes walked, following the main path while looking around.
Everyone looks so smart.
Since the academy doesn't have a special uniform, blending with the background is easy. It is even hard to spot which one is the freshman, senior, or professor. As long as she isn't doing stupid, no one will pay attention to her.
The road path divides into three. This is not her first time, so she knows where she needs to go. Especially when there are signposts posted in confusing places, so visitors don't get lost.
Then there's more path. One leads to the northeast, the other to the southeast. The board says the magic department, and the other is the knight department. She didn't hesitate.
This time, Celes followed an outdoor corridor. Beside is another green field. Many people seemed to be waiting for something.
A man and woman approached Celes. "Are you a freshman?"
"Eh, ah yes." It surprised Celes that someone suddenly spoke to her.
"You can wait here like everyone. Everyone can enter when everything is ready."
They both look young. Probably it must be her senior, thought Celes.
"Thank you," said Celes politely.
Following the other, she walked into the field. The weather isn't that hot. Still, she chose a place with a shadow beside the building.
Looking around, Celes felt uncomfortable. People talking to each other. Some people were alone, just like her. However, standing still, doing nothing beside the building, she is like a loner, even though she is not.
Celes noticed a huge board on one side of the field. She moved to take a look. It was an announcement for people who passed the test. The pressure suddenly increased after remembering that her name wasn't there.
"Uh, I wonder if it is okay to enter like this?"
Even though Lumina said everything was ready. She still couldn't calm down. Imagine if she attended the opening ceremony and turns out they did not register her as a student in the academy.
Celes took a deep breath. "Well, if that happens, I would just commit suicide."
When Celes has negative thoughts, everyone is making a lot of noise. Someone opened the door.
Celes entered the building, following the flow.
It is an enormous hall. The place is gigantic enough to accommodate maybe even a thousand people.
Celes sat on one of the chairs. She saw more people coming through from a different door.
Counting the number of people who were waiting in the field, the numbers were very different. Everyone was present there, not just from the magic department alone, but from another department as well.
It made sense that the hall was located at the academy's center. So, other departments can access it the same as others.
After everyone was already in their chairs. A young man wearing a blue formal shirt with a black tie appeared on the stage.
"Welcome to everyone who attended today. My name is Dreas Isembert. I am the principal of this academy."
The principal looks very young. Maybe around 30 years. Of course, that's just Celes trying to guess. After all, looks can be deceiving. She knows very well about someone who looks like twenty but turns out that person is two hundred years old.
Other than a formal greeting, the principal said nothing important. As soon as he disappeared from the stage, Celes has already forgotten most of the speech.
Then it was the next person to enter the stage.
Like a miracle. Her echo footsteps made a distinct atmosphere from everyone else. Filled with charisma and charm, it was such a mesmerizing view just to see her walking. Everyone was amazed to see her appear on the stage.
"Good morning to everyone. The principal asked me to come here as a special guest to greet the new students. So here I am. Hahaha…"
Different from the principal, the girl spoke in a friendly tone, and yet, her charisma never disappears.
She wore a black general uniform with long black pants. Even though the uniform is manly, the girl still looks beautiful. Especially when her long black hair fluttered while walking or posing whenever she was speaking.
Everyone knows about her. After all, she is the hero. The one who defeated the demon lord two hundred years ago.
"My name is Stella Karstein. Congratulations to all of you for successfully being accepted into the academy."
After defeating the demon lord, now the world is better. War stopped between race and kingdom.
Appears on stage to influence people through her presence and speech. The hero exists as a mascot. It's a sad truth, but that is how the world works. It doesn't change the fact that she is still the hero that everyone respect and admires.
Stella just went with another formal speech. Not as long as the principal. Stella also never said something important since she was just a special guest. Until someone stood up and raised their hand to grab everyone's attention.
"Huh?" Stella was taken aback while feeling a bad sign.
"I apologized, but I am not sure if I will have a second chance in the future. May I ask something to the hero who saved the world?"
Everyone looks amazed at the boy for being brave like that.
"Huh? Question? W-wait a moment!"
Stella never remember opening a session question, or to be precise, this was not part of the deal.
Stella looked backstage. It seems she is talking to someone.
"Uh, huh?! I... need to answer? But, that is… ugh?!"
Everyone is waiting patiently.
Stella forced a smile. "A-alright. Let's limit it to five. Also, please make the question simple."
For a reason, everyone seems happy.
"I heard this from a rumor. Is it true you handed over your sword to the royal family? May I ask, for what reason did you do that?"
"Yes, that is true. I handed over my sword to the royal family and now they are taking good care of it." Stella took this as a simple question, thus she smiled again. "Only the royal family knew my reason. If you have any questions about that, then you can go ask the king or princess directly."
By saying that, Stella indirectly silenced all the questions by discussing her sword. Meeting the king just to ask about the sword, there was no way anyone would dare.
"Next question."
At this moment, no one is holding back anymore. Many people raised their hands.
"I apologized if this is rude, but I heard that you defeated the demon lords two hundred years ago. Then how old are you right now, if I may know?"
Stella made a facepalm. This is the reason why she always does her best to avoid a formal event like this. It's either a personal or dumb question and sometimes even both of them.
If you know it's rude, then don't ask! She just wants to snap, but as a hero, she must hold back.
"Le-Let's not touch on that topic, okay? Uh, next question?"
As a hero, a lot of people write a book about her. It can be biographies, storybooks, or even just random facts about her. Sometimes people write about her life by exaggerating the event or adding wrong facts about her, thus making false rumors circulate. This had often caused her trouble.
"No, I will not marry any noble. Actually, I won't get married!" Stella lowered her shoulders, feeling disappointed and wanted. "Ugh… last question."
Stella looked around. A lot of people still raised their hands, feeling excited. Then, her gaze meets Celes, who is just sitting patiently waiting for everything to be over.
"How about you?"
Stella pointed at Celes. Everyone's gaze was on Celes.
"Me? But I didn't raise my hand."
"But you still want to ask something, didn't you?"
No, I don't! Celes was planning to reply like that. However, it would be super awkward for both of them if she keeps denying it.
"Ugh…"
Everyone's gazes made Celes nervous. Suddenly chosen by the hero made her perplexed. The girl tried to think hard.
"Hahaha, there must be something you wanted to ask, right? You don't need to think that hard."
The fact that Stella didn't want to move from picking Celes just irritates Celes more.
Celes opened her mouth.
"Then… what is the meaning of your name?"
"My… name? I see…"
Stella is smiling after listening to the question. It brought back a memory. Not just for Stella, but also Celes.
It was around six months ago.
Everyone's name has meaning. The same as my name or yours, Stella or Celesta.
Then, what is the meaning of your name?
Stella picked Celes because they knew each other. Anything is fine, as long as you don't spout dumb questions. However, it never crossed Stella's mind to hear the same question from the same person.
"Stella means a shining star. No matter how dark the place is, don't ever lose your light. Karstein means to trust in a relationship as in family or friends. It can also mean don't betray anyone who puts trust in you. Don't ever lose your faith."
And for Celes herself, it was the same answer as she remembers from a long time ago.
"Alright, that is. Thanks for everyone's attention. Accepted by the academy means you have the ability, skill, and knowledge to change not just your future, but everyone else. I hope everyone can study well to create a better future." Stella waved her hand, still with a cheerful smile, while going backstage.
No matter how basic or simple the speech is, sometimes even if it's scripted, when it comes from a hero that everyone respect, they will listen.
Several people went up to the stage in order, such as teachers, representatives of seniors also a freshmen.
Celes only records what she thinks is important in her brain, like what she needs to do after this or where should she go. After finishing the ceremony, the students gathered back in the field.
This time, the seniors divided the students into several groups. They guide all the freshmen around to explore the magic department so everyone can get used to the place.
The first day consists of nothing but just a ceremony, exploring the place, and doing a kind of tests such as health, magic output, magic capacity, and magic quality. All of that took around six hours.