Chapter 268
Haina’s Interrogation
As the steam train chugged into Shepherd’s Bay Country, the air noticeably grew much fresher. Haina opened the window, taking a deep breath of her hometown’s crisp air. “Ah, this is certainly Shepherd’s Bay Country!”
As a child, Haina knew very little about her hometown. Back then, she took for granted the gem-like beauty of the azure waters and blue skies, as well as the lush, verdant forests.
When she first entered Glass Island, she was shocked by its prosperity. Entering Glass Island from the Metropolitan Area, she witnessed one magnificent, giant factory after another, dense crowds of people, and even trains that could appear more than two at a time within her field of vision. This inspired a sense of awe from the bottom of her heart.
On the streets, people wore fashionable clothes she had never seen before. Knights in full armor were everywhere, on the streets and in the sky. She even saw circus troupes passing by, street magicians and singers performing, and towering, sacred, solemn churches… It was bustling, vibrant, crowded, yet remarkably orderly.
But after staying for a while, Haina started to miss home. She missed the blue skies and fresh air of her home – unlike Glass Island, which was half misty and half smelling of the sea. Only the White Queen District was slightly better, but only just. Although Glass Island had far more entertainment than her hometown, she never went out anyway. Did that not mean all that entertainment was virtually nonexistent to her? Therefore, Glass Island was actually not as fun as Shepherd’s Bay Country for her!
“I thought Miss Haina, being young, would prefer Glass Island,” Yeats said with a smile, sitting opposite Haina. “A resort like Shepherd’s Bay Country is usually enjoyed by middle-aged nobles who like fishing and horseback riding.”
“Nonsense.” Haina took a bite of the now-cold pie in her embrace and a sip of water from the metal flask gifted to her by Meg, subconsciously rolling her eyes. Glass Island offered all sorts of entertainment, from safe to unsafe, conservative to extreme, perverted to not-so-perverted. Young people liked it, and middle-aged people liked it too.
“Not only middle-aged people visit Shepherd’s Bay Country…” Feeling that her eye-roll was a bit impolite, Haina added, “Besides, I don’t like going out to play when I’m on Glass Island.” Haina usually stayed holed up in her room, not entirely because she was lazy or lacked money. It was because she was genuinely not interested in those forms of entertainment.
Although she was indeed short on cash, her status as a top student made it easy to borrow large sums of money from classmates from merchant families – money that she wouldn’t have to repay, of course. This was normal, even quite common. Not all Knight families were wealthy, let alone the many Priests and Ordinary Persons among the students. Being a successor Knight only indicated that there had been a nationally renowned outstanding ancestor in the past four hundred years; however, if the lineage was ancient enough, their accumulated connections would likely have been depleted. What remained was a set of ancestral armor, personally bestowed by the King or Queen, which allowed them entry into the Round Table Hall. But that was all.
The reason Lloyd Society couldn’t be eliminated before was because these Knights had accepted their sponsorship. And compared to providing sponsorship to Knights, pleasing these good students who had yet to enter society and likely only had academic experience was much simpler. For far less money, they could secure years of friendship and favor that might be repaid at an unknown future time. This was quite a high-quality investment. As long as they cast a wide net, they were practically guaranteed to profit—
Royal Law University essentially controlled all mainstream talents except for the Military System, Engineering Institute, and Science Institute. The Inspection Bureau, Inspection Department, Court of Justice, and Church, as well as important government departments like Trade and Foreign Affairs, all prioritized recruiting from Royal Law University. This included freelance lawyers who did not join the Court of Justice, low-level priests who did not pass the Church examination but still mastered the Illuminate Spell, and common scholars who desperately needed sponsorship to support their research.
These were all valuable talents, and they were easily won over during their student years. Even if they were eventually screened out, it didn’t signify their incompetence; it merely meant the competition in that cohort was too fierce. With diligent prospecting, there were always opportunities to find buyers. The numerous clubs existed for precisely this situation. Students had numerous social needs, and these clubs could take a cut from that.
If Haina agreed, her life would not only cease to be meager but she could even live a lavish life without any scruples. And all of this required no commitment from her; she simply had to maintain a friendly attitude and relax to enjoy it—For a prodigy who started engaging with the Path of the Extraordinary at eighteen and reached Third Tier by twenty, there were plenty of people eager to offer her money. “You still dare to make demands? Then stay in the back, and you’ll have no chance to fawn over them later.”
“Oh, why?” Yeats asked with some doubt and curiosity. “Miss Haina is so beautiful… and I’m sure her grades are excellent. Do you not have any admirers around you?”
“I do, and quite a few. But I’ve driven them all away,” Haina stated frankly. Although Haina was somewhat naive, she was not foolish. Even though she didn’t know what price this would entail, Haina resolutely refused all temptations. This wasn’t because she was a born saint—in fact, she was quite tempted by those little darlings printed with red candles and silver crowns. Every time she refused temptation, she would writhe on her bed in regret for a long time. But after regretting it, she would still resolutely refuse temptation the next time.
The reason was simple. It was because she was cautious for a certain reason. Haina knew she was a country bumpkin from a small town. She had a low self-evaluation, very conservative. Although she excelled at studying and testing, and was sensitive to Path Power, she ultimately wasn’t that smart, and lacked insight and experience. Therefore, she didn’t understand what these things meant, nor what the price of these favors would be. She simply adhered to an extremely simple principle—There were no good things given for free; everything always had a price. And she might not be able to afford that price, thus losing even more.
Merchants were extremely intelligent, even cunning. The fact that they could make money demonstrated they had agile brains—and Haina knew her own brain wasn’t sharp; she couldn’t outsmart them. So, she simply refused to interact with these merchants and smart people. As long as she kept her distance, refused all offers and gifts, she would never be deceived.
At the time, she was so annoyed by various social requests that she couldn’t discern them, so she applied for early internship. After leaving school, she immediately found peace. When people saw her, the first thing they thought of was “Haina the Inspector,” not “Haina the Top Student.” Even with her best friend, Haina wasn’t sure if she was sent by some faction, nor was she sure if they had been bought. Therefore, she dared not listen to their suggestions or opinions.
The kingdom’s political situation was complex. Haina couldn’t understand it at all. So she didn’t take sides, merely aiming for no merit and no fault. She just wanted to be a mediocre person who coasted through life. However, it was precisely because of her attitude that Meg took her as a disciple.
“What about you?” Haina didn’t want to continue talking about herself, so she abruptly changed the subject. “Are you here for tourism? Is that big bag of yours your fishing gear?” Because if she told the truth, Haina feared the other person would suspect she was bragging; and if she proved it with evidence, it would reveal her information. Realizing she couldn’t continue the conversation, Haina simply chose not to. This was her style of operation. If she didn’t understand, she observed; if she couldn’t figure it out, she kept quiet; if she couldn’t do it, she didn’t do it!
Facing Haina’s question, Yeats simply smiled slightly, “I’m returning home too.”
“Huh?” Haina was taken aback. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from Windpipe Town,” Yeats replied. As he spoke, a faint red light flickered in the depths of his pupils.
“Then that’s a coincidence, I’m from Eagle Cape Village!” Haina’s spirit immediately lifted. “We’re quite close, and both are destination stops!” Hearing that they had the same destination and both were final stops, Haina immediately let down her guard and became elated. She pressed further, “Which part of Windpipe Town are you from?”
Yeats simply smiled and shook his head without answering. Haina then realized she had gotten too excited and voluntarily explained, “I studied in Windpipe Town for a few years when I was a child—Do you know “The Cow and the Harbor”?”
“The ‘Cow Harbor News,’ I’ve been reading it since I was little,” Yeats answered easily. This was indeed the local nickname. *My former neighbor, the editor-in-chief of “The Cow and the Harbor,”* Haina had originally intended to say. But her spiritual intuition suddenly made her pause—because she felt that statement was too easy to pinpoint her, and it wasn’t good to tell a stranger. So, Haina swallowed the words. She then asked, “Do you work on Glass Island?”
Seeing that Haina didn’t continue, Yeats seemed subtly surprised. He raised an eyebrow, looking at Haina with some astonishment. I only slept three hours last night… I’ve slept ten hours in the last three days, I feel like I’m about to die. I’ll order takeout first, there will be a second chapter, I’ll post it later—
