An Unexpected Encounter

Carriages could be seen arriving one after another at the main entrance of Athenya to pick up the students. 

This weekend, everyone had to travel to their own home in preparation for the winter break, since the whole campus—including the dormitories—would totally be closed. 

The groundskeepers such as the gardeners, cleaners, and other maintenance workers had stopped working this weekend.

While other people were busy leaving the campus, Annette and Miss Cynthia took this opportunity to check the old ward area without being noticed.

“This indeed looks like a nice hiding place.”

Miss Cynthia stared at the old building beyond a rusty gate, with ivy vines half covering both of them. Next to her stood Annette in her casual clothes.

“Um, how should we get inside, ma’am?” asked Annette.

“Hmmm… Let’s just leap over it. We shouldn’t break anything here. Can you use your wind magecraft to lift both of us?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Annette made a gesture with her hand, and a swirling wind gathered beneath their feet before lifting them over the gate, which was half covered in vines.

The old ward area looked fairly wide and old-fashioned. Behind the gates, there was an old, unmaintained fountain to one side and overgrown bushes that had already lost half of their leaves.

Miss Cynthia briefly checked her surroundings before she said, “Hmmm… It doesn’t seem that anyone has been here for a long time, but let’s just go inside and check!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Both of them walked past the fountain towards the entrance of the building. The doors seemed very old and dusty, clearly showing it hadn’t been touched for a long time, but it didn’t seem to be locked. When Miss Cynthia pushed the door open, it made a creaking sound, sending dust falling onto them. Annette and Miss Cynthia instinctively covered their faces as they coughed.

“Kkhh, kkhhh… It’s so dusty,” Annette said.

“Oh my goodness… khh, kkhh…” cried Miss Cynthia.

After waiting for most of the dust to settle, they finally stepped inside the old building. It seemed that the building was used for classrooms in the old days. However, it now looked as though it was being used as storage for a bunch of unused furniture that was either broken or simply too old.

“Annette, can you check the left wing? I’ll check the right wing. Be careful, okay?”

“Okay, ma’am.”

Annette walked through the hallway in the left wing, which was full of dust and cobwebs, as she looked at the row of old classrooms filled with chairs and desks piled messily inside.

If the Heart was hidden here, doesn’t that mean someone should have been here recently? But this is too dusty for a place that someone had visited recently, Annette thought.

It didn’t take long for Annette to reach the end of the hallway, where she found an exit door. The door made a screeching sound as she carefully pushed it open. Once she stepped outside, Annette found herself in an open area in the middle of the old building. A moment later, she saw Miss Cynthia open the door from the other wing.

“Oh? How was it? Did you sense anything?” asked Miss Cynthia.

Annette shook her head. “I didn’t feel anything, ma’am.”

“Hmm… The whole area was pretty wide, but it’s not that big. We’ve basically gone through everything here. Is it not here, or are we just too dull to notice? But it’s a massively condensed mass of mana. There’s no way we can’t sense it this close, right?” Miss Cynthia was puzzled.

“It didn’t seem like anyone had been here recently either, ma’am. It was too dusty,” added Annette.

Her adviser let out a heavy sigh as she placed one hand and lightly pressed her head. “I guess, we are back to square one. Whoever they are, they might have already taken it outside by now. Maybe my thinking fell short. It’s winter break soon, after all.”

The professor felt guilty because she thought she should have decided to check the old ward sooner.

“If only there was a way to check if it’s still here in the first place,” Miss Cynthia added.

Hearing that, Annette got reminded of something. “Um, Esmeraldo left me something so I can summon him, but…”

Miss Cynthia glanced at her and said, “If the huge dragon came back, it would cause another uproar.”

“That is true… Hmmm…”

All of a sudden, something tugged the hem of her clothes as Annette pondered what to do, before she heard a voice behind her.

“It is still here.”

“Hiiieeekkk!!!” Annette jolted and squeaked very loudly. She instinctively ran and hid behind her adviser.

“Dear me!” Miss Cynthia, who was more startled by Annette’s reaction, exclaimed.

“Eh?!”

Before them stood a young boy with vivid green eyes, staring at them in surprise.

“My! Who are you? Why are you here, young boy?” asked Miss Cynthia.

Annette peeked out from behind her adviser. Her eyes widened as she recognised the young boy.

“Oh, you are…”

“Is he someone you know, Annette?”

“Um, I accidentally bumped into him a few days ago, ma’am,” said Annette.

“Hmmm… So, who are you, young boy?” Miss Cynthia asked as she tried to think about what to do with this boy, who had caught them inside an off-limits area.

The boy slightly lowered his head before he said, “I merely… wanted to tell you that it is still here…”

“What is?” asked Miss Cynthia.

Annette was staring at the young boy when something struck her.

“Es…meraldo?” asked Annette.

“Eh? Heh? Are you... that huge dragon? I mean, you are small now, but you were that huge dragon?”

The young boy nodded hesitantly.

Miss Cynthia was surprised to see that the young boy standing before her eyes was the colossal green dragon she had seen back then. She stared at him for a while before she shook her head to get herself together.

“Alright, so, when you said it’s still here, did you mean the Heart of Spring is still here?” Miss Cynthia asked him.

“Yes. I can still feel that it’s somewhere here.”

“Could you pinpoint the location?”

Esmeraldo shook his head slowly before he answered, “I could only sense that it is somewhere within this, um… campus? I came looking for that mage of light. I was rather worried, since I had heard nothing. And then I saw the two of you, and I heard you mention my name.”

“Ah… I’m really sorry, I haven’t found it yet.” Annette lowered her head, feeling guilty.

“Okay, I think our time is over. We should leave now. At the very least, we have confirmed that the Heart is still here. Would you come with us, Esmeraldo?” Miss Cynthia asked.

Esmeraldo stared at both of them before he nodded slowly.

***

“Oh, Miss Cynthia! Are you leaving now?”

An older male professor greeted Miss Cynthia, who was walking with Annette and Esmeraldo in his young boy form, at the main entrance.

“Oh, hello, Mr Gregory! Yes, we are leaving now!” Miss Cynthia greeted him back.

Annette flinched a little behind her adviser, but then quickly bowed to Mr Gregory while Esmeraldo hid behind her, as quiet as ever.

“Oh! This must be the famous Annette? And the other one is…” Mr Gregory lowered his reading glasses as he saw Annette and a young boy standing behind Miss Cynthia.

“A distant relative of mine! I need to take care of him for a while! Oh, and yes! This is our talented Annette!”

“I see, I see! Oh, I shouldn’t bother you any longer. Have a nice trip and a joyful Evernight to all of you!”

“A joyful Evernight to you too, Mr Gregory!” said Miss Cynthia.

Annette bowed to him once again and quickly followed her adviser into their carriage, along with Esmeraldo. Their carriage soon departed, heading towards the royal capital border.

“Now that you are here, at least we can keep an eye on the Heart. However, the whole campus grounds will be completely closed for three weeks. So, for the time being, you should stay with us at my house in the royal capital. You can still sense it from this far away, right?” Miss Cynthia spoke up.

Esmeraldo gave her a nod. “I could sense it from a great distance. It is connected with me.”

“That’s good. I don’t think that they could enter Athenya during the winter break, but if they ever do, we should know right away,” Miss Cynthia said.

“Since it’s not too far, if anything happens, I think we should be able to do something about it,” Annette added.

Athenya Institute of Magic was located just outside of the royal capital border. It took about an hour to reach Miss Cynthia’s house by carriage. However, they could use a long-distance teleportation spell to get there quicker in case of an emergency.

As they talked, their carriage reached the royal capital border and entered the city.

“For now, let’s enjoy our winter break as much as we can! Could it be your first time in the royal capital, Esmeraldo?”

The young boy nodded.

“I see! If that’s the case, I would like to welcome you to our royal capital, Eldora, the City of Light!”

The sounds of hustle and bustle in the distance gradually grew louder outside their carriage, as though the royal capital itself were welcoming the beginning of their winter break.