Chapter 25 "Before This, My Name Was Edith Gary"
the next day.
Today is July 7, the first day of Summer Carnival, and there are still 7 days until the entrance examination results are released.
The carnival has a history of 300 years in this country. According to the description in the history books, on July 10, 300 years ago, Campbell I killed the previous monarch and established the current Dragon Spine Kingdom under the bones of the former monarch's mount. Since then, at this time every year, people all over the kingdom have a carnival to celebrate the birth of the country.
As expected, Hedda was taken away by her family to the palace ball to fulfill her social obligations. Edith naturally had some free time, so she took her sister to the vicinity of her previous life residence under the pretext of going out for fun.
The streets of the carnival were full of vendors, and the houses on both sides of the street were hung with ribbons and flags, from time to time a few pieces of ribbons would fall and float into the diners' soup bowls. Merchants in bright clothes shouted at the top of their lungs, trying to make their voices drown out the sound of jugglers not far away, but were hit on the head with black bread by the audience who could not hear them clearly.
Although there were many tasks today, the primary purpose was to take Doreen to see the market and cheer up this little girl who hadn't had a good life for a few days. The vendors were also very understanding and kept shoving things in front of the child, hoping to meet a young master from a big family who would make trouble if she didn't buy from him.
"Hot! Rabbit pie!"
"Brew the beer, add water when you get home, and sleep till dawn. I guarantee all your worries will disappear!"
"The amulet has been buried in the ground in front of the church for three months. If it doesn't work, you can return it at any time!"
Doreen had also lived in a big city for half a year, but she was still dazzled by the prosperity of the capital. She looked at the enthusiastic passers-by and got behind Edith with some discomfort.
"Sister, they are using bread to hit people..."
Edith had just paid for the amulet. She didn't want to be so conspicuous as to take out her wand in the crowd, so she quietly cast a few positioning spells and defensive spells on it with her bare hands, then turned around and squatted to put it on Doreen.
"Yes, we couldn't afford black bread before, but people in the capital could throw it at people." She adjusted the angle of the amulet and taught him, "Sister won't let you go hungry again, but we can't make a habit of throwing food at people, right?"
Doreen nodded sharply.
Edith patted the little girl's head.
In her previous life, she was not welcomed because of her non-noble status, so she made a plan to cultivate commoners. However, having suffered such "injustice", she could not have imagined that the real "commoners" in the border town would actually live such a life.
It's good. Death once made her realize that she still has a long way to go.
"Just sit here and watch the show. I'll go buy some things and come back in three hours." It was inconvenient to bring other people to see Mary, so Edith rented a stool for Doreen at the street stage. After thinking for a while, she went to the stall next door and bought a small bag of roasted chestnuts and various roasted fruits. "I gave you the money yesterday. Buy whatever you want. Remember not to walk too far, and don't trust the stranger who takes you away."
Doreen tugged at Edith's sleeve and cried for a while, then reluctantly agreed to it when she saw that her sister really couldn't stay with her. But children are children after all, and they don't think about anything once they have food in their mouths. It wasn't long before Doreen's eyes calmed down from tears and began to stare intently at the juggler's cat-like face.
Edith breathed a sigh of relief and confirmed once again that the amulet was in good condition before turning around and leaving with confidence.
......
"That's right."
Edith was in riding clothes today, with her hair tied back tightly and covered with a hat to ensure that no golden hair showed.
Although my reincarnated self looks somewhat different from the original one, my hair and eye color have not changed after all, so it is better to cover it up to avoid associations.
She turned left and right skillfully and went into a narrow alley. There were few people living in this alley, and today everyone was out celebrating the festival. The whole place was silent, which made Edith feel relieved.
No one is good, no one is hidden.
She finally approached the familiar house in her memory. Her heart beat faster and faster, and her thoughts gradually stopped.
She didn't know how to prove that she was Edith Gary, but she believed that as long as the other party was willing to talk to her a few more words, Mary would recognize her identity.
...Yes, it is best not to say it directly, as it is easy to be mistaken for a liar. It is best to let the other party guess first, and then explain it. The effect will definitely be much better.
Edith walked to the front of the room. It had the familiar high walls and the familiar door, except that a circle of small white flowers had been planted beside the door at some point, making it look different from before.
She stopped and listened, and barely heard some vague mumbling from the door.
It looks like Aunt Mary is home.
Edith lowered her eyes, suppressing all the sour emotions in her eyes, then raised her hand, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
The sound of skin touching wood was a little dull, but it stood out in the silent alley. The voice of the person in the room paused for a moment, as if he didn't expect someone to come, and after a while, footsteps were heard going out.
"Who's outside?"
The voice came from the crack of the door. Edith lowered her eyes and spoke carefully: "The Sword Academy is about to recruit students. I heard that you are good at swordsmanship. I want to become your disciple."
The door swung open.
"...Come in and talk." Meili's face was not very good, but at least she did not turn Edith away. "I don't know who introduced you, but I haven't accepted students for many years."
"You can give me some pointers, but please go back after this."
Edith nodded.
Mary asked her to sit down in the yard first, and she turned around and walked back to the room. Edith looked sideways and found that the portraits of herself and her mother were placed on the table in the room, and there were many miscellaneous things in front of them.
There are pocket watches and earrings that her mother used when she was alive; there are books that she likes to read and a few stones that she collects. Wangdu does not have the custom of commemorating the dead, which is the custom in Meili's hometown.
"Putting the deceased's belongings together on important days can easily attract the deceased's soul to come." This is how Meili set up a memorial table to comfort her mother after her mother passed away. "Even if I am alone in reality, I can still be accompanied by the soul of the person who misses me."
At that time, Mary could still keep Edith company, but now she can only talk to two portraits.
Edith suppressed the urge to rush over and tell the other person her identity, and quietly watched Mary walk out from the depths of the house and put a few plates on the memorial table. The plates were full of her favorite foods in her previous life.
"Sorry for the wait."
After finishing everything at hand, Meili closed the door, pulled the sword tube and came to Edith: "Let me see your strength."
"You don't look very happy." Edith looked at Mary's pale face and frowned slightly. "My business is not urgent. You should rest first."
She was not being polite, but Meili looked extremely sleepy. When she left the portrait, she seemed to lose her breath, and even her straight waist collapsed backwards and stuck to the back of the rattan chair.
"Don't worry, just practice for me."
Meili scratched her hair in annoyance. She really couldn't muster the energy to face strangers, but she also knew that if she didn't find something to distract herself, her spirit would definitely collapse.
The girl in front of me is the best helper in distracting my attention.
Given my current health condition, if I lose my mental motivation, I might not survive this winter.
Mary's thoughts drifted further and further away, and she didn't notice that Edith had already picked up the sword and stood in the middle of the yard.
"Hitting a wooden stake?" She wiped the hilt of the sword and looked up at the other person.
Meili's thoughts came back to her mind at this moment. "Let's do the basic moves first." She pressed her eyebrows, looked up at the sword in Edith's hand, and raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Why did you choose this one..."
Edith pretended not to hear the second half of the sentence, holding the sword with both hands, and began the simplest swinging motion.
After the first movement, Mary raised her eyelids slightly.
After the second movement, Mary sat up straight.
After the third move, Mary stood up suddenly, pulled out a sword from the sword tube beside her, and stabbed forward to block Edith's next move, her eyes sharp.
"Fight me." She spoke each word with great emphasis, not noticing that her voice was trembling. "Do your best."
Edith said nothing. She didn't even wait for Mary to start. She turned around the moment she drew back her sword, and used the natural rotation of her body to drive her arm, slashing at Mary's waist. Mary's eyes flashed with surprise, and she bent her waist skillfully and fell back, avoiding this fatal blow, and rolled sideways to avoid the attack range.
Edith stopped just in time.
Meili paused on the ground for two seconds, then stood up with the sword in her hand. She looked at Edith with her eyes filled with mixed emotions. She pursed her lips for a long time, then only said one sentence: "Come again!"
This time, she took the initiative to step forward, without any extra movements, she simply raised the sword above her head and chopped down with all her might.
She was risking her life - if she guessed wrong, this attack would definitely seriously injure the person in front of her, but she couldn't care less at the moment.
Extreme guesses must be verified using extreme methods.
The sword fell halfway, and a flash of cold light pierced into Meili's eyes along the hilt. She paused subconsciously, and the sword of the person opposite flashed like a snake, tilting to block the sword's falling movement. The man holding the sword stepped back and squatted, removing all her strength, and steadily controlled the object less than half a meter from the ground.
…She blocked it.
She blocked it.
Meili raised her eyes, and a ball of hot flames rose from her pupils again.
"Who are you?" She asked in a questioning tone, but her tone was extremely certain.
Edith did not answer immediately. Instead, she cleaned the sword using the standard sword-sheathing procedure that Mary taught her, put the thing back into the sword tube, and then met the other person's gaze.
"Edith Griffin," she began, "but before that, I was Edith Gary."
......
The person in front of her smiled so enthusiastically that Doreen felt a little uncomfortable.
"Dorine, right?" Mary touched the little girl's head lovingly. The girl's blonde hair and blue eyes almost made her imagine Edith as a child. "Eat more. Auntie has plenty."
Then she scooped a spoonful of beef soup from the pot and poured it on the mashed potatoes in front of Doreen. When she put down the spoon, she scooped out two more spoonfuls in a flash and added them to Edith's plate without saying anything. "You too, how come you've become so thin in half a year?"
"Oh! That's enough, I said no more!" Edith picked up the plate in fear and leaned back away from the table. "Besides, I'm not thin at all!"
She already said that the change in her figure and appearance was because she had a new body, so why does Aunt Mary always think that she didn't take good care of herself?
Goddess, to be able to recover to this level in half a year is already the result of her hard work, okay!
"You talked back to the adults, and you'll be fined another spoonful." Mary said sternly, scooping a spoonful of baked beans from another pot. Relying on her long arms, she crossed the entire table and poured the food into Edith's hands. "You didn't put the plate on the table, and you'll be fined another spoonful--"
"I'll put it in, I'll put it in." Edith raised her hands in surrender, and forced herself to empty the plate under Mary's loving eyes, then pulled her sister, who was also full, to walk around the corner of the yard in circles.
"So, you're planning on attending Beaujunes College now?"
Meili frowned and looked at Edith in front of her with a worried look on her face: "As a study partner? Will the host family treat you well? No, it's easy to be bullied if you go in with this identity. Wait for me, I'll contact your dean——"
"No, no!" Edith still underestimated how excited Mary would be after seeing her, and she opened her mouth to refuse again, "I still have things to check, and it would be easy to get into trouble if someone found out that I had contact with you."
"That's right..." Mary tilted her head to think, but her eyes were reluctant to leave Edith's face for a second. "How about this, I'll talk to your dean and not mention your name. I'll give you a token later, and you can take it out when you have no other choice - how about it?"
This was a very lenient statement. Edith nodded in agreement, which finally made Mary look satisfied.
"You...have no idea at all?" After a relaxing chat, Edith pointed to her own "portrait" in the room and asked Mary implicitly.
Meili shook her head. "I don't know. When I got the news, Shelly had already broken with the Magic Association. He took your body away. I don't know why he didn't even let me take a look at it."
After that, she coughed awkwardly. "This guy still remembers to come to see me once a week... I never treated him well, and I thought, I thought it was because of him..." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again, "Ah, it's all in the past."
Edith sighed, not knowing what to say, so she just went up and hugged her.
Although he didn't get much useful information, at least he was able to confirm that there were indeed some clues on his "corpse", otherwise Shelly wouldn't even let Mary see it.
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Edith glanced at the desolate yard, then looked at Aunt Mary's obviously thinner figure and frowned.
Now that she's back, Mary's worries have mostly gone and her health will probably be much better. But such a goalless life can easily drag her spirit down again.
"I want to ask you for a favor." After thinking for a long time, Edith raised her head and said to Mary sincerely, "It may take a long time for me to trouble you."
"What are you talking about!" Mary's eyes sparkled when she heard the word "help". "What do you mean by trouble? Not a trouble at all! What's the matter?"
"I know you haven't taught students for a long time, but I would like to ask you to give Doreen some advice." Edith said seriously, "I plan to send her to a sword school in two years. At her age, she should be enlightened."
Doreen instantly felt a burning gaze falling on her.
"No problem." Meili pinched Doreen's bones and raised her eyes in surprise. "To be honest, she is more suitable for sword training than I thought."
However, even if Doreen were an ordinary person, she would unconditionally grant all her knowledge, just because she is Edith's "sister".
"With more people, my place will be more lively." The worry on Meili's face disappeared, replaced by full motivation. "When you go to school, you can leave your sister here without worry. Let me think about it. A new room, a set of furniture, a sword specially made for children, um, I have to buy a lot of new things."
Edith was relieved. There were too many people in Hedda's family, and Doreen might learn something bad. It was safer to stay with her family. She patted her sister's head, explained the whole story to her, and then looked in the direction of Mary. "Aunt Mary, there is one last thing."
"Do you have all the keys to my warehouse?"
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