The entire morning was spent with Sylutia and the other students listening to Scholar Hyde explain the key points and precautions of the 'Bonfire and Dance Steps' ritual.
"You've mostly morized the relevant matters now, but did you pay attention to the humming lody and drumbeat rhythm from last night?"
"Well..."
Many present looked at each other, with several noble students having so exposure to music but not deeply enough to imdiately rember sothing they'd only heard once. This was simply too difficult.
Sylutia sat on a tree stump to the side, carefully recalling. She could vaguely rember parts of the rhythm but couldn't articulate it clearly. In her previous life, she hadn't studied music, and while she might have learned in this life, she had no mory of it and couldn't utilize that knowledge for now.
"Hehe, you see, this demonstrates the importance of mastering multiple skills," Scholar Hyde stroked his beard as he spoke.
"Rituals involve quite broad content and techniques. So even require the officiant to perform in specific dance forms. The most famous among these is the 'Crown of Flowers Dance' ritual perford by elves during the Spring Dew Festival, which places exceptionally high demands on the dancer's skill but yields obvious effects. This ritual can make hundreds of flowers bloom and revive the earth, being one of the rare rituals capable of altering the environnt."
"Alright, today's lesson ends here. Regarding the humming lody and drumbeat in 'Bonfire and Dance Steps,' I'll have you copy the musical score later to morize it. However, the best way to inherit this remains listening to the elders hum it yourselves, so you can rember that unique rhythm, atmosphere, and emotion."
With the class concluded, the afternoon was free activity ti. But before the students could go out to play, light rain began falling from the sky.
Fine raindrops dripped down the thatched roof, moistening the ground. The village paths without paved stone bricks quickly turned muddy.
"We can't go out now," Koa stood behind the doorway, looking at the gray world outside.
Inside the room, Sylutia sat by the front hall window reading a book, Karen sat by the workbench maintaining her tools and longbow, while Valeny stood with arms crossed, sowhat irritably watching the rainy scene outside. As for Iona, she still hadn't erged from her room.
The five girls all lived in this house. Normally, nobles and commoners interacted very little, but today they were forced to stay under the sa roof.
Leaning against the doorfra watching the rain for a long ti, counting the falling droplets and the tiny streams between the stone brick cracks before the threshold, Koa finally grew bored and turned around.
She looked at the people in the front hall, wandered around Karen asking about various tools' uses, then ca to Sylutia's side to secretly see what book the girl was reading today. Afterwards, she returned to the bedroom trying to continue her afternoon nap, but tossed and turned unable to fall asleep.
"It must be because I slept too well last night," she complained sowhat dejectedly to her companions in the front hall.
Regarding her complaints, Sylutia and Karen just smiled faintly, finding it amusing rather than taking it seriously. Sure enough, before long, Koa was wandering around the house again, looking everywhere for sothing interesting.
A 'creak' sounded as another closed door in the hallway opened.
Hearing the noise, the previously sowhat agitated Valeny imdiately changed expression and trotted over, indeed seeing Iona who had just erged.
This golden-haired young noblewoman had styled her short hair well, with a red ribbon tied on one side whose color complented her eye color. Then there were the uniform dress that stood out from ordinary students - its design was efficient yet luxurious, the fabric quality excellent, with a small leather belt cinching her waist and cowhide boots suitable for outdoor activities on her feet.
Even though her circumstances weren't as before, Iona still cared quite a bit about her appearance and grooming. She just couldn't maintain her past practice of wearing different extravagant outfits every day.
Those crimson eyes briefly swept over the others in the room. Iona looked at the rainy world outside, then ca to sit at the table in the front hall.
Since the house itself wasn't large and the front hall area was limited, what could be called tables here were one workbench against the wall, and the wooden table by the window where Iona and Sylutia now sat on opposite sides.
"Lady Iona," Valeny followed with small steps.
Seeing Iona sit down, her gaze fell on Sylutia sitting at the sa table, feeling sowhat jealous and displeased. Why should this person also sit beside Lady Iona?
But if she drove her away now, she felt it would lose face and appear lacking in elegance and upbringing, so she glared at the girl several tis.
However, Sylutia was currently flipping through the book in her hands, completely unaware of the frequent aningful glances from the side.
With her subtle tactics ineffective, Valeny could only pace back and forth irritably, hesitating whether to go over and directly make Sylutia get up.
"Just stand there, stop pacing around," Iona finally waved impatiently, telling Valeny to quiet down for a while.
The commanded Valeny imdiately stood proudly against the wall, this sycophantic obedient behavior puzzling Koa, who found it sowhat foolish.
Is she not very smart? Koa thought to herself, but didn't dare say it aloud now.
The room temporarily quieted down. Sylutia continued turning pages, Koa sat beside Karen, sotis watching her oil tools and adjust tension, sotis turning her gaze to others in the room. Valeny kept silent and still now, while Iona propped her head up gazing distantly at the rainy scene outside, lost in thought.
Ti passed slowly, the room filled only with Sylutia's occasional page-turning sounds and the endless raindrop noises outside the window.
Half an hour later, perhaps tired of the monotonous gray rain curtain, Iona turned her gaze to the quiet girl opposite her.
Her na was Tia, right? Iona recalled information about this girl, but unfortunately there wasn't much. She hadn't paid much attention to classmates anyway, let alone this one who had always been very low-profile, as if forgotten in a corner.
The only morable impression was probably when she first t Scholar Hyde and noticed that bespectacled figure standing beside him.
At the ti she thought this was Scholar Hyde's granddaughter or formal apprentice, never expecting it to be just an ordinary commoner student.
For commoners, delving deeply into studies wasn't easy, she thought as her eyes turned again to the book in Sylutia's hands.
"The Mountain Peak Nation in Wind and Snow" - this book, in travelogue form, narrated the author's experiences traveling through the Winter Kingdom hundreds of years ago. That cold nation located north of Regas, situated entirely on mountain peaks with constant wind and snow and sparse population, had nonetheless stood for nearly a thousand years. Its nationally established Winter Knight Corps was famous throughout the continent, a holy land in the hearts of many knights and martial artists.
A girl reading this kind of book? Quite rare indeed. Although Iona wasn't interested in this book, she was quite familiar with it, largely because her father had loved the nation described in the book, especially the legendary Winter Knight Corps.
Regas and the Winter Kingdom shared considerable history, since the founding monarch Regard Bouverie originated from the Winter Kingdom. The nationally established Fir Knight Corps of Regas also contained many imitations of the Winter Knight Corps.
However, compared to the Winter Kingdom's harsh geographical environnt, Regas was much better off, with relatively abundant food.
While thinking, Iona turned her gaze to the reading girl. The other wore glasses, had delicate features, and upon closer inspection, good skin that seed even fairer than her own.
Probably because I've been sun-exposed recently from competition training, while this one always stays in corners reading, that's why she's so pale, Iona comforted herself.
Speaking of which, she was actually competing with a country girl, which made Iona feel uncomfortable, much like this persistently gloomy rainy scene outside.
Taking a deep breath, Iona adjusted her mood, preparing to return to her bedroom to be alone.
But before leaving, looking at the bespectacled girl who hadn't acknowledged her at all, imrsed in the book's world, she couldn't help speaking up.
"Do you actually understand what you're reading?" She knew this book, written centuries ago, used vocabulary and writing quite different from contemporary language.
"Ah, are you asking ?" Sylutia looked up, then answered.
"I can understand it, largely because I read 'The Tree Rings of Firs ~ Tales of the Mountain Nation' so ti ago. The two books were written around the sa period, so I can understand them by cross-referencing."
Iona still didn't quite believe this, since her father had read both books to her as a child, and even he had needed to consult texts to explain so terms to her.
"Then I'll test you," Iona stood up, while Valeny also grew excited.
This was the kind of commanding Lady Iona she admired.
"Where was the Winter Knight Corps founded, and which professional class did they primarily cultivate?"
"When the knight corps was founded, the officiant was an elderly pastor who lived year-round on wind-swept snowy peaks, skilled in the Slumbering Winter Aspect's secret arts and abilities. The founding location was his small chapel."
"The earliest knight corps mbers were only five young people who hadn't yet reached First Tier. But the elderly pastor taught them with extre patience, enabling all five youths to eventually achieve 'Third Tier - Slumbering Winter' strength, primarily cultivating the 'Frost Swordsman' professional class."
"With these five knights as the core, the initial knight corps was established. They spread their upheld beliefs through the mountains, uniting various scattered settlents across the wind-swept snowy peaks to form patrol cavalry protecting local stability. This organization gradually expanded until the forty-seventh knight corps commander Peraine, with great talent and bold vision, integrated the areas maintained by the knight corps into a nation, while he himself ascended to 'Sixth Tier - Slumbering Winter · Castle' professional class 'Winter Crown Knight' due to nation-founding."
The Winter Kingdom's founding process was quite similar to Regas's history - or rather, Regas had imitated the Winter Kingdom's historical precedent when pioneering its own nation.
Sylutia's appropriately detailed explanation sowhat silenced Iona, even making her feel the other knew more history than she did. But how could that be? She'd been imrsed in it since childhood, and even though she'd neglected it later due to social gatherings, she shouldn't be comparable to so country commoner.
Not only failing to demonstrate superiority but appearing less knowledgeable than a country commoner - this feeling evoked inexplicable irritation and panic from within, making Iona's mood restless.
She silently watched the girl before her, fingers slightly moving but ultimately relaxing.
Several seconds later, Iona finally spoke: "You've read quite a few books."
No, she couldn't lose her temper here. She didn't want complications ruining the impression she'd built with Scholar Hyde recently.
Then Iona pulled the door shut and returned to her bedroom, not erging again. This action greatly surprised Valeny, who consequently grew resentful toward Sylutia too.
Seeing Iona's angry return to the bedroom, Sylutia now pressed her brow. How could she not see what had just happened?
It seed she still hadn't been low-profile enough, wounding this young noblewoman's pride.
But knowing the answers yet pretending ignorance would have been too affected and uncomfortable. While she had a gentle nature, she wasn't soone who could constantly distort her true self to accommodate others.
She hoped this young noblewoman wouldn't pay her too much attention, otherwise her future life would face many unnecessary troubles.
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