"Thousand Cities Academy?"
Mira’s eyes widened with curiosity as she asked,
"What is that?"
"Hm... It originated from the Pattern Garden established by the first batch of True Believers during the Kingdom Era. At the beginning of its establishnt, there were only thirty-six teachers and a few subjects such as Danschel Grammar, Logos Grammar, Rhetoric, Law, Philosophy, and Theology. Now, however, it has greatly changed. In addition to subjects that leave traces only on paper, Military Science, Ancient Language Studies, and so on, have beco the main disciplines of the academy.
Its official na is the Danschel Constantine University, which ans ’Thousand Cities Academy’ is just a colloquial term. ’Thousand Cities’ signifies that the scholars who co to study there are from over a thousand different city-states."
Anos briefly explained Thousand Cities Academy to Mira, whose eyes shimred with increasing curiosity.
"Can I study there? Can I?"
Mira stood up from the table, excitedly saying.
Anos was startled by her reaction but soon regained her composure and said,
"Of course you can."
Mira nodded vigorously, filled with anticipation for the academy.
In Heaven, she had never heard of any academy, and now, hearing Princess Anos describe it, she imagined encountering many different people there, naturally brimming with expectations for the academy.
"Well then, Mira, I warmly welco you. I believe the dean will feel the sa."
Anos stood up in front of Mira, raised her hand to summon a palace maid, and whispered so instructions.
Mira didn’t mind, her mind entirely occupied with thoughts of the academy, imagining the wonderful things and the array of people she would et there. She was so lost in these fantasies that she even forgot the mission she had volunteered for to God...
Despite Anos being the daughter of the Emperor, arranging for a person of unknown origin to study at the academy was not an easy task.
Thousand Cities Academy, as the most prestigious institution in the known world, had seen countless nobles and officials pass through its halls. Many sought to enter through the back door, but very few were actually successful.
The academy’s admission was a parallel system of recomndation and assessnt. There were limited slots for recomndations, and typically even the Emperor and co-sovereign each had only six slots per year. After recomndation ca a year-long assessnt during which each student had to simultaneously study Danschel Grammar, Rhetoric, and taphysics, and had to pass the final exam to beco a formal student of the academy.
Just the recomndation step alone was a hurdle for many aspiring students, challenging even for nobles, let alone commoners. The one consolation was that, by tradition, the Emperor and co-sovereign’s six slots were generally given to civilians from within the country and citizens from beyond the third ring of the capital, to demonstrate the Emperor’s fairness.
But after the recomndation, the assessnt was even more strenuous. The three subjects may seem few, but they encompassed a vast amount of material, and the difficulty of the final exams was daunting, resulting in only an average passing rate of sixty percent each year, and in extre cases, as low as thirty percent.
After surmounting the recomndation and assessnt hurdle, one could barely breathe a sigh of relief, but not too deeply. There were many rules to be followed within Thousand Cities Academy, such as True Believer students having to attend morning prayers when the Astronomical Clock pointed to six o’clock, and subjects like Theology and Philosophy requiring one to first obtain Bachelor’s degrees in both Literature and Rhetoric Studies before pursuing deeper study.
One could say that graduating from Thousand Cities Academy was no easy path; it typically required six to seven years of dedication.
Under such a rigorous educational system, arranging for Mira’s admission without clear justification was fraught with difficulty.
Thus, Anos employedso subtle manoeuvres.
Such as bribery, threats, and promises from the Emperor...
anwhile, Princess Anos ticulously studied the various rules of Thousand Cities Academy and successfully found a loophole—allowing Mira to be admitted under the special status of a Foreign Country Priest.
"Mira, this is your uniform."
Anos displayed the academy’s uniform to Mira, a scholarly garnt woven from fine wool and linen, adorned with silk decorations.
Mira accepted the clothes, her gratitude evident as she said,
"Thank you, Anos."
Over these recent days, Mira had seen how Anos had been busy with preparations for her enrollnt, running to and fro on her behalf. In her eyes, Anos had been incredibly kind to her.
"No need to be polite, Mira," Anos said, sitting down in front of Mira, her voice a soft instruction,
"After enrollnt, you’ll be studying the sa subjects as : Ancient Language Studies, Military Science, Theology. I’ve already arranged for your lodging near the academy. Most of the residents on that street are students and teachers. We’ll be living in the sa room, and I hope you won’t mind."
"Oh, how could I possibly mind?"
Mira replied with a naive smile.
As Anos gazed at Mira, a tinge of guilt rose in the heart of the princess.
The girl before her hid many mysteries, whether it was the "Rosa" of the Ancient Language, a knowledge only the Delos Family held, or her enigmatic origin—all of which made Princess Anos urgently wish to delve deeper and uncover the secrets buried within this girl.
Perhaps...
This girl could stabilize the power of the Delos Family.
Perhaps...
This girl could remove the Golden Heart from her own chest?
With that thought, even the princess herself was filled with anticipation for Mira’s enrollnt.
Of course, Mira could not possibly know of all the sches in Anos’ heart; she was solely focused on enrollnt.
And Anos was fully aware of this. In front of Mira, the princess suddenly felt her own image had beco shadowed.
The following evening, Mira and Anos headed to the street nad Romantic Farm, so called because a hundred years prior, it had been nothing more than ordinary farmland, a na retained to this day.
The street was privately owned by the Poplatore family, one of the two great families that had founded the Empire. The steward in charge, along with his attendants, ca out to welco Mira and Princess Anos.
As Mira walked past them, her keen ears picked up an attendant whispering to another,
"Do you think, when God resurrects us, the righteous will be resurrected first, or the sinners?"
"Of course, the righteous will be resurrected first."
"But I heard from students at the academy that the sinners will be resurrected first."
"They just like to cause a sensation."
"I thought so too; it should be the righteous who are resurrected first."
The attendants’ discussion caught Mira’s attention, and unable to contain her curiosity, she whispered towards them,
"That’s not right, not right at all, everyone will be resurrected together."
In that instant, the faces of both attendants changed drastically, almost turning black as they retorted,
"How can everyone be resurrected together? How can everyone be resurrected together? God is just; how would He allow the righteous to be resurrected alongside the sinners? This is like defiling a clear spring with stagnant water."
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