A new day.

After breakfast, Sylutia and Talier went to Winnie’s house. Landy was also playing in the parlor, clutching a large ball of yarn.

“You’re here.” Winnie emerged from the kitchen, bringing over some freshly baked cookies and handing them to the two girls.

“Have some.”

She then picked up Landy, carried him back to his room to play on his own, and began the first official lesson for the two of them.

“First I need to assess Miss Tia’s literacy level.” She set a very thick book on the table.

“This was a graduation gift from Scholar Hyde: The Tree Rings of the Fir — Memories of the Mountain Realm. The author was the famous scholar Arkanash from three hundred years ago. This book records the early history of the Kingdom of Regas: how the Knight-King Regard Buwelly conquered the mountain ranges, drafted laws, and placated the mountain tribes into allegiance.”

“Now, Miss Tia can try reading aloud the chapter on page 235, ‘The Snowfall Battle of Mount’.”

“I understand.” Sylutia took the heavy book with evident interest.

“A heavy snow fell for five days and four nights, breaking pine branches under its weight. We had to dismount and trudge through the piled white, seeing nothing but vast desolation...

The accompanying ‘wind’ hunter Sid told me he could sense lingering ‘winter-sleep’ in the air; this storm might have been artificially created, which filled me with unease.

Malange and Priss said they would find a way to help me resolve the blizzard, but I thought, what could these Candlefort scholars possibly do? They are good at combing through books and transcribing traces on ancient relics. The only thing pleasant about them is their skill at mathematics and building siege engines; that helped solve many problems for us.

...

For two months we could not find the enemy’s main force; we wandered the mountains in vain. Many froze to death in the cold nights. Today, Knight Horin reported to me that thirteen soldiers did not wake last night.

I think we are lost.

...

Facing Sir Reed’s corpse, anger surged through me, making me want to burn and erupt like the Blazing Sun, but I am not the Blazing Sun. I could only plant my sword into the frozen ground beneath my feet.

We cannot wait any longer; we cannot proceed like this. I told Scholar Malange to leave my tent temporarily, then walked toward the birdcage covered in black cloth. Inside stood an odd bird that would carry my resolve...

...

The black-crowned magpie cried; the four hundred thirty-second ring of the brown bloodred fir sealed over. Beneath the black pine of Snowfall Mountain I put Kschlar to death; he fell with a curse, and my heavy blade was full of chips.

Regardless, we had achieved victory, defeating the last and most powerful tribe in the mountains and beheading its leader. The snow-mountain hags who aided Kschlar were nailed to stakes until their blood flowed dry.

From twenty-one years ago, when I led my household attendants southward to settle in the lakeside town by Ear Lake, through expansion, alliances and campaigns, and finally clearing all obstacles, this long journey has at last come to an end.

It is time to return. My family still awaits me; the soldiers do as well.

We will build a city where these mountain ranges meet, set our cornerstone covenant, and establish our nation.

May it be evergreen as the fir; may our knights’ armor be ever strong, and their long swords be forever prosperous.”

Having finished reading the slightly lyrical closing of the passage, Sylutia closed the book.

Winnie lightly clapped in approval. “Not only is your pronunciation exceptionally standard, Miss Tia, your voice is also very pleasant—full of rhythm and engrossing.”

“If full marks are ten, I’d give Miss Tia 9.6.”

“Alas, that’s not a perfect score?” Talier asked, puzzled.

“Hmm. Miss Tia probably wasn’t born in the Kingdom of Regas, so she didn’t understand some local terms and slang. She skipped a few words, so points were deducted.” Winnie explained.

“I see.”

“However, what’s gratifying is that Miss Tia correctly read some of the obscure, uncommon characters in the book. You should know that the author Arkanash had a habit of showing off his literary skills—choosing rare words to display his erudition and taste.” Winnie shook her head slightly, as if she’d suffered while studying this book herself before.

“In that case, Miss Tia’s writing foundation need not be further tested. Next is arithmetic.” She produced a sheet filled with math problems and handed it to Sylutia.

The girl felt a momentary flutter of nervousness before taking the paper—after all, she had forgotten most university-level math, especially things like calculus.

But upon seeing the problems, she instantly relaxed; these were elementary-school level questions, maybe with a touch of middle-school material.

She wrote down the answers almost without thinking; the entire page was completed in less than a minute.

Winnie had intended to test Talier while Sylutia answered, but when she turned around, Talier had already handed in her own paper. Winnie had to inspect Sylutia’s answers first.

“All correct.” Her voice held a note of hesitation and disbelief.

Talier leaned in to look at the sheet of numbers and problems and immediately felt dizzy, turning her face away.

“There’s no need to worry about Miss Tia’s basics now.” Winnie was relieved, told the girl to wait a bit, and went to check on Talier’s performance.

During the lull, Sylutia continued flipping through The Tree Rings of the Fir — Memories of the Mountain Realm with keen interest.

This book, written by Scholar Arkanash three hundred years ago, quoted parts of the Knight-King Regent Buwelly’s own memoirs, records from military scholars who accompanied him, and accounts from local people, which were stitched into a long epic describing the founding of the Kingdom of Regas.

Regard Buwelly hailed from the ancient Glúngar Mountains in the continent’s center, the younger son of minor nobility. Though he could not inherit the title, he showed exceptional talent from childhood, and at twenty-four became a third-tier — Castle aspect knight. He gathered like-minded companions and attendants and moved south to the mountain lakeshore, using it as a foothold to gradually expand territory. By the time he was fifty-six he had cleared all obstacles and established the Kingdom of Regas. The knights and comrades who followed him became the first nobles of Regas.

The founding of Regas was not smooth. Knight-King Regard spent twenty-one years conquering the mountain ranges, then nearly another twenty years stabilizing the country. The security, economic, and construction problems during that period often had him overwhelmed. Fortunately, the Candlefort School continually dispatched scholars over decades to this harsh mountainous region to serve as advisors, tutors, and aides to local nobility—teaching, passing on skills, and helping erect castle towers bit by bit until the nation was truly consolidated.

Arkanash must have also come from the Candlefort School, Sylutia guessed as she read to the end. Although he complained and poked fun at the Candlefort scholars in parts, the book’s later praise made those earlier criticisms feel like a rhetorical setup to highlight their merits.

Perhaps a little biased, but without the Candlefort School scholars’ records, later generations would have had no route to understanding the past. All in all, Sylutia’s impression of the Candlefort School was positive: they truly expanded the boundaries of civilization and improved the lives of local residents.