Shrouded Seascape

Lily was stunned upon hearing Celia's words. School? If she went to school, it would certainly be a completely new experience. Before Lily became a mouse, she was being homeschooled by her mother.

"I thought the schools that Mr. Charles had founded accept only children below fourteen? Am I not too old to go to school?" Lily mused.

Doctor Oliver sitting nearby swallowed the clam in his mouth and said, "That was before. There's a university that is a level higher than those schools; there's no age limit there, but only the elites can get into the university.

"If you're interested, I can buy a recommendation letter through my connections."

Lily wasn't particularly keen on the idea. "What do they teach at a school? I don't feel like there's much for me to learn."

During her years as a mouse, Lily had served as the gunner on the Narwhale. To increase the accuracy of her shots, Lily had undergone systematic training with Charles' help.

Lily's interaction with the crew and what she had seen had also allowed her to learn quite a bit of navigation and seamanship.

Lily believed that a school couldn't possibly teach her more than what she already knew, and if they had something to teach her, Lily believed that they would be useless, miscellaneous knowledge.

Why bother learning something that she would never use anyway?

Olivia sitting next to Lily wiped the latter's mouth clean with a napkin. Then, she reached over with her right hand and gently stroked the back of her daughter's hand. "Sweetie, why don't you just go there and take a look? You can make many friends there. At the very least, you won't feel lonely."

"But Mommy, I have friends. I have lots of friends! They—" Lily stopped mid-sentence, and her expression became somber as she lowered her head. The tiny bottle hanging in front of her chest swayed slightly as she moved.

Sensing something amiss with her daughter, Olivia leaned closer and added, "How about I go with you to take a look? The academy is full of good kids, and you'll surely find new friends there. You must be feeling bored staying home all day."

Before Lily could reply, she noticed that her sister had finished eating, so she went over and cleaned the latter's mouth with a napkin before picking her up.

"No need, Mommy. I'll accompany my sister to school and take a look at the school itself while I'm at it."

Celia was taken aback, and when she snapped back to reality, her sister had already carried her out of the door.

"Ah!" Celia exclaimed, "My backpack! My backpack!"

Lily grabbed her sister's backpack and boarded the tram before finally letting out a sigh of relief. What she had done wasn't anything special, but she was feeling nervous for some reason.

There were people from all walks of life on the tram; some of them were reading books, some were reading newspapers, and some were either smoking or eating their breakfast.

Lily felt nervousness going away as she swept her gaze across the people living their own daily lives on Hope Island. Lily placed her sister on her lap and turned to look out the window. Mornings were always the busiest, and everyone on the streets was busy with their own business.

"Look at that, Lily! There are so many flowers!" Celia exclaimed. She pressed herself against the window and pointed at the distant street.

"Yes, there really are lots of flowers. I guess it must be because Hope Island Landing Day is just half a month away. Everyone must be busy preparing for that major holiday," Lily remarked.

The distant flowers reminded her of the day they landed on this island with Charles. Back then, the island was just one massive forest.

Lily stared at the buildings outside, and she couldn't help but marvel at how much the island had changed since they first arrived here.

"Lily, how many times have you joined the festivities during the Landing Day? Last year's Landing Day was so fun! We ate tons of delicious food; the streets were full of people; and I even saw an elephant! It's an animal with a really long nose!"

Celia's eyes immediately lit up. It seemed that she was particularly interested in having fun.

"The Landing Day?" Lily muttered and pondered over it. However, the scene that popped up in her mind was the Landing Day that she spent with Charles on the Coral Archipelago. It couldn't be helped. They were always out at sea on the Narwhale during the Hope Island Landing Day.

"Maybe I'll get to enjoy it this year," Lily muttered to herself with a look of anticipation for the holiday.

Just then, the tram came to a sudden stop.

Lily snapped back to reality and realized that the tram had pulled up to the school entrance.

Celia put on her backpack and stood on tiptoe to plant a firm kiss on her sister's cheek. Then, she turned around and rushed toward the lively school gates.

Lily grinned sweetly as she stared at her sister's departing figure. They had only known each other for a few days, but she had already taken a liking to her adorable little sister.

Lily stood by the roadside and left only when the school bell rang. Having ensured that her sister was on school grounds, Lily put her hands behind her and walked slowly toward another school nearby.

It was a university, and it featured rows of buildings connected to each other.

Compared to Celia's school next door, the University of Hope Island appeared particularly well-organized and neat. However, the place appeared to be desolate from what Lily could see through the iron fence.

"How come there's no one inside? Is it vacation day today?" Lily muttered. Then, she kicked off of the ground lightly, and she easily cleared the fence, landing gracefully on the other side.

When Lily walked into one of the buildings and peered into one of the rooms through the windows, she saw what seemed to be a myriad of books and students with their heads bent over those books, clearly busy with their studies.

The sight made Lily feel like she had stumbled upon a massive library rather than a university. Lily took in the peace and silence as she quietly walked past the neatly arranged bookshelves.

It was so quiet that Lily couldn't bear to disturb the silence. She even decided to fly at her minimum altitude just so she wouldn't inadvertently shatter the silence with her footsteps.

There were tables around the bookshelves, and the seats were occupied by students busy poring over their books. They treated the books with great care, turning the pages as gently as possible. The students were young, and the youngest of them seemed to be around Lily's age.

Lily walked up to a bespectacled girl and softly asked, "Hello, are there no teachers here?"

Upon being awakened from her own world, the bespectacled girl fell into a daze. It took her a moment to notice Lily standing next to her.

"I'm sorry?"

Lily repeated her question.

"Ah, yes," the bespectacled girl finally answered, "We're going to be the first batch of teachers here once we graduate."

Lily's widened eyes at the revelation.

"It's not as bad as you think. We have access to so many books, after all, and the knowledge inside of them isn't that difficult to grasp," the bespectacled girl remarked, "What's difficult is learning the things that aren't recorded in the books."

Lily appeared confused by the response. She thought over her next words for a while before finally asking, "So what are you going to do with the knowledge that you've learned here?"

"The principal said that Hope Island's educational framework is too rudimentary, disorderly, and unbalanced.

"We're here to absorb the Foundation's knowledge and create a brand-new educational framework with the help of the Relic Research Institute and the Governor's Mansion.

"I'm sure the seascape's overall technological level will improve over time using that new framework."

Just then, the bespectacled girl sized Lily up and asked, "How come you don't know any of that? Prior to enrollment, I'm sure the principal told you why the Governor built this university."