In the capital of Felik, at the Magic Academy.
Jill sat under the shade of a tree in the mountain city, gazing dreamily into the distance. She hoped to see him again, but months had passed, and there was still no sign of him. Perhaps it would have been better if she had stayed that day, instead of leaving.
But in this world, there are no regrets, and time cannot be turned back.
She could only hope for a miracle, for him to return to Felik, to her side, just as she had prayed.
Months passed, and the discovery of the Demon and Beastman tribes stirring in the Land of Evil sparked a sense of crisis in people's hearts. The previously coordinated suppression and covert persecution of Felik by other nations were temporarily set aside. At this time, humanity needed to unite and stand together. If nations forcefully sent troops to Felik, it would surely provoke public outrage. Felik would vow to resist to the death, and during such a fierce battle, the Demon and Beastman armies would take the opportunity to cross the Land of Evil and launch a surprise attack from behind, leading to a destruction far beyond just Felik.
The Hundred-Year Holy War was drawing closer ahead of schedule, causing tension in the Human Alliance.
Armies from various nations were mobilizing, including not only regular troops but also militias being registered and ready to heed the call of their nations.
Large numbers of mercenary groups from the Mercenary Guild were hired by the states to scout and pave the way in the Land of Evil, gathering intelligence for the upcoming war. The Temple of Light issued a decree from the God Race to all nations: The Hundred-Year Holy War would erupt twenty years earlier than expected. According to revelations from the angels, rifts had formed in the spatial seals of Hell, the River Styx, and the Abyss, allowing over fifty thousand lower demons to emerge. Over a hundred thousand Beastmen and half-beastmen were amassing, nearing the outermost parts of the Land of Evil, signaling the imminent early onset of the Holy War.
Due to the threat of the Demon Race and the generous donation from the King of Felik, who contributed twenty thousand gold coins and five hundred magic crystals to the Temple, the Colin brothers, previously 'protected' by other nations, were returned.
As a vassal state of Great Frey, Felik was to send at least a thousand troops to participate in the Hundred-Year Holy War.
Of course, other nations also strongly demanded that Felik send elite students from its Magic Academy to the battlefield for training, to join the 'Death Training Camp' organized by the four great empires: Norn, Camaron, Gale, and Mille, composed of elite students from various countries. Felik sent a hundred students, but a month later, other nations suggested that even freshmen from Felik should participate in the Holy War, rather than avoiding it like cowards.
The target of these nations was the hope of Felik, but the King of Felik firmly refused.
Men of Felik would not avoid warfare like cowards, but the fragile girls should stay at home, under the protection of the Human Justice Alliance. The Allied Human Forces could not send girls to the battlefield to fight against the Demon Race, as it would not only tarnish the honor of the men in the Alliance but also subject them to mockery by the enemy.
This was the King of Felik's response to the representatives of the nations, and his stance was extremely firm.
No matter what threats or protests the representatives of various nations made, the King of Felik refused to send any girl to participate in the battle.
Although it wasn't mentioned openly, all nations knew that among the new students at the Felik Magic Academy, there was a girl who was the once-in-a-millennium hope of Felik. Unfortunately, Father Sine only provided this information to Great Frey, failing to reveal the name of the Hope Girl or any special characteristics about her. Many nations suspected that the Hope Girl was the descendant of the Silver-Eyed Singer, the Silver-Eyed Girl Sonia.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
However, Sonia, the Silver-Eyed Girl, was already under Felik's protection. Not only her, but Elizabeth and Hira from the Seven Guardian Tribes were also no longer appearing in public.
The remaining female swordsman Orelia and the introverted girl Jillian continued their studies at the Magic Academy.
Clearly, they were not the Hope Girl.
The nations were not much interested in them, as no one wanted to risk alerting Felik by attacking two ordinary girls. Led by the Cardinal of the Temple, the nations expressed their willingness to mend relations with Felik, but Felik had to ensure full support for the Holy War. Thus, the issue of sending Felik's freshmen to the 'Death Training' was raised again.
Although it was not possible to overtly destroy Felik's hope, depleting Felik's talent pool significantly was a good way to strike at them covertly.
The King of Felik couldn't refuse. Although he delayed as long as possible, he ultimately had to agree to send the last of the students.
As the sun neared the horizon, Jill still sat there quietly.
She didn't care about the century-long Holy War of the world, and national affairs were not something she could influence. She only knew that three days ago, her classmates who had barely escaped with their lives from the Land of Evil had already headed to the Norn Empire to participate in the 'Death Training'.
How many of them would come back alive, not even the demonic Dean Buck could say.
These days, he and the other instructors had been trying their best to instill everything they could into the students, hoping to increase their chances of survival. Jill was sad; as classmates who had spent months together, she didn't want any of them to perish on the battlefield. But she couldn't stop it from happening, just like she couldn't stay in the Dwarf Lands to wait for Rhody to come back.
Dean Buck sighed more than once, saying that if Rhody could come back and lead them, the chances of everyone surviving the 'Death Training' and the 'Hundred-Year Holy War' would be much higher...
Among the freshmen, a wise leader was needed.
Although silver-haired Aaron was powerful, chubby Tommy was smart and cunning, and Benson was cautious enough.
Yet, none of them were the best choices for a leader. Without a suitable leader, even just ten male students had to be divided into two groups, each standing against the other, incompatible, which was a cause for sighs.
"Come back! We need you!" Jill looked at the setting sun, tearfully murmuring, "Come back, I know, I know you're not dead, I know you're still alive! You are the strongest and best man in my heart, how could you abandon me? I miss you so much... Didn't you promise auntie to protect me? I'm so lonely, where are you? Why don't you come back to me?"
"..." In the distance, Instructor Magrig silently watched all this, her face full of pity.
She had searched everywhere for Rhody for months, but he had vanished like a wisp of smoke, leaving no trace. The last news was that the Dwarf tribe's Red Hats had seen Rhody deceive a magic master of Great Frey, leading the latter towards a hill, and eventually, the magic master's body was found at the foot of the hill. But Rhody, nobody had seen him again.
Great Frey's army was looking for him, and the powerful forces of Felik were also searching in secret.
But no one could find any trace of him, and no one knew where the magicless one-star novice magic apprentice had gone.
Perhaps he encountered an angel patrolling the Land of Evil, who cast him down to hell or completely annihilated him with holy light magic. The beautiful female instructor speculated this, but she dared not mention it to Jill, nor did she want to bring up to Dean Buck and the Drunken Swordsman about seeing an angel near the Dwarf Lands. In Dean Buck's heart, Rhody was the most outstanding of Felik's younger generation, nearly all his hopes rested on him. If she said such things, it would shatter Buck's heart.
It would make him incredibly guilty because it was he who had personally buried his most proud disciple in the Land of Evil.
"Rhody, if you're still alive, please hear Jill's call of the heart! Listen, her heart is calling for you. As a guardian, you should respond to that call." The beautiful instructor looked up to the sky, speaking softly, "Come back! Don't disappoint everyone again... You are the hope of a new generation; you should bear this responsibility. Rhody, can you hear me?"
In a corner of the wall, the Drunken Cat lay on the ground, deeply asleep in his drunken stupor.
Beside him sat Dean Buck, looking forlorn, holding an empty wine skin in his hand, his face wearing a bitter smile. He wished he could get as drunk as the Drunken Cat, but he couldn't.
The night passed quickly.
A new day arrived, dawn blinked its golden eyes in the east, showing its rosy fingers, pushing aside the light veil of mist, and stepped forward slowly.
Jill hadn't gone back to rest; she still sat under the tree, quietly sleeping.
She was waiting for him, day by day, never seeing his figure, but Jill hoped that if one day he returned, she would be the first to greet him, the first to see him, the first to embrace him tightly...
On her long eyelashes, there were still specks of tears, perhaps she had just cried in her dreams.
The beautiful instructor sighed softly, took off her cloak from behind, and gently draped it over Jill, preparing to pick her up. Suddenly, sunlight shone down from the sky, the dawn light illuminated the earth, casting a person's shadow. That long shadow, stepping forward from afar, step by step, walked behind the beautiful instructor, and bowed slightly, saying, "I'm late in returning."
"You're back, that's good, she has been waiting for you." The voice of the beautiful instructor was hoarse, even her jade-like fingers gripping the staff trembled with joy.
"Let me hold her," said the shadow from behind, stepping forward gently and naturally lifting the sleeping Jill into his arms.
"You take her back to rest first, we have a lot to talk to you about, but not now." The beautiful instructor nodded again, calming the excitement in her heart, and spoke warmly, "Welcome back, lad. It's been a few months since we've seen you, you seem to have grown up a bit more, looking more like a man now."