It had been two weeks since Gael left the farm. Now that his mother had died, Gael was going to fulfil the promise he made to her. Today Gael would arrive at his destination, the University of Challiste. When he was young he dreamed of studying at the University. Now he was going to see it. The University of Challiste served as a centre of knowledge. This knowledge would be gathered from all over the Empire. A wide array of disciplines were researched. The sheer size of the University meant that the city it was in would be vast. Gael had heard about the size of Challiste but that could not prepare him for the view he met when the city came into view.
Walls lined with round towers stretched for miles. Gael thought that the long journey would finally pay off. The closer he had come to the city this morning, the more merchants and other travellers joined him on the road. With almost childlike anticipation, Gael followed the stream of people through the gate. The influence of the University was clearly visible. Multiple storied buildings and clothes made of intricately woven fabrics. For a moment this made Gael uneasy, as if he didn't belong in this place. This feeling left as a sea of voices came to Gael. He had walked onto the market square which was filled with people and market stalls. In the middle of the square stood a tall black signpost with yellow lettering. Gael knew which direction he needed to go because he planned his journey well, but still Gael’s heart jumped when he saw the sign:
'UNIVERSITY'
On the approach to the University shops lined the street. They sold notebooks, ink and quills. During his stay he was surely going to visit them, but for now he continued on. Then a metal fence with a massive gate came into view. The bars of the fence were painted a dark green and the gate had brass lettering, saying: ‘University of Challiste’. Gael stepped on the white gravel path of the University grounds, leaving the busy street behind. It excited and intimidated him at the same time. The white gravel path lead to the main building. The big building was designed to project the grandeur of the University itself. It was made of red bricks and had multiple stories. Gael had to climb a small set of stairs to get into the building.
When inside the main hall it took Gael a moment to get his bearings. Connected to this hall were multiple hallways and staircases. Students and university staff alike came and went to the different departments. Most of them wore robes. They had different styles of robes but three colours stood out. Most of them wore black robes, and some red. On one balcony a man wore the light blue robes b of a professor. Beneath that balcony there was an entire wall with high counters. Eventually Gael read ‘Visitors’ above one of the counters and approached it. At the counter sat a woman who was sorting forms and stacked them in neat piles. It took her a while to notice Gael.
‘So is there anything in particular you would like to see?’, Suzet asked Gael while they were walking through one of the University hallways. Gael immediately had a large grin as he was unable to hide his enthusiasm.
‘I would love to see the agricultural department, if that is possible?’
'Of course! The agridept it is!´ said Suzet. Suzet was a slender woman. Her sleek blonde hair was in a tight knot. She looked a bit stern which Gael didn't think fit her kind demeanour at all.
‘Why the interest in agriculture if I may ask? Are you from a farm?’
‘I have worked on a farm my entire life but I have always been interested in researching plantlife. I have even been enrolled as a student at a dependence for it’.
‘Oh, did it not work out?’.
Gael hesitated for a second, but continued:
'I enrolled in Dorringer.’
Suzet fell silent. When she was a young girl there was a fire at the dependence at Dorringer. The buildings went up in flames. Even quite some people had died.
‘Were you there with the fire?’, she asked. Gael nodded.
‘It was on my first days in Dorringer. I had signed the enrolment documents but the tutelage hadn’t even started yet’.
‘Oh that is tragic. Did you get a chance to study again?’
Answering that question hurt Gael a little. It had been quite a privilege to enrol. He did not have a wealthy family and buying the equipment took them a lot of their savings.
‘Because quite a portion of the staff had died and all the literature and equipment burned up the University decided not to rebuild the dependance. I just went back home to work on the farm.’
‘I’m-I’m sorry to hear that.’
It was hard for Gael to talk about Dorringer. He had seen his dream burn. Arriving home was even worse. Of course his family knew the fire wasn't his fault but his father and brother silently blamed him for his ambitions. Even for his mother it was hard to hide her disappointment. He had carried the weight of the loss for years. But he couldn't get angry about it. It just saddened him a little. Gael put the thoughts behind him. It had been years. He was now here, in Challiste, and he would not let this ruin his days here.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
‘Those enrolment documents have to be sent here to Challiste. They always do that right after the signing.’ Suzet said and added: ‘You know what? We’ll pick up your enrollment on the way!’
Gael had only just met Suzet. She clearly was a woman of action. Which he liked, but he didn't know if he even wanted the document. Gael decided not to bring it up again as they continued through the hallways.
Gael was met with a heavy smell of soil as they entered the main hall of the agricultural department. The department had a few different areas, but directly connected to the main hall was the giant greenhouse. He walked over to the entrance of the greenhouse and looked over rows and rows of planters filled with all kinds of plants. These planters were separated by wide paths, from which students and researchers studied the plants. They examined the plants with delicate tools. Gael immediately felt at home. This reminded him how he and his mother would work on the herb garden. They spend countless hours in the woods searching for plants. They sometimes got strange looks from other villagers. But he didn't mind, they didn't understand the value of the work he and his mother did. These people would, he thought as he looked at the people in the greenhouse. Suzet who was following Gael from a distance came standing next to him.
‘What do you think?’, she asked.
‘It- it's amazing. It a thing of beauty to see these people work!’, Gael said as he struggled to find the right words. Suzet asked Gael to follow her. She led Gael to the balcony overlooking the agricultural departments main hall. Behind a counter there sat a firm woman with a serious expression. Gael guessed what this was about and started:
‘About those documents. I don’t really know if I want them. It is all in the past, maybe it is better to leave it there’.
‘Yes well, hear me out. I thought, maybe, if we have this document we could talk to some people and you could maybe intern for a while. I can see that you like it here’.
Gael got a spark of enthusiasm. Working here? Discovering everything this department had to offer and staying at the University for a while, would be like a dream. Gael could already see himself walking through the university hallways. But Gael had learned in his many tough years not to get his hopes up too soon. Suzet approached the woman.
‘Estelle, we are here for this man’s enrolment. Can you look for the name Gael in the last enrolments of Dorringer. Could you get those documents for me?’
Estelle looked a bit confused by Suzet’s request and left the counter. Suzet however, turned around quite pleased. Smiling, she met Gael’s doubtful gaze, which betrayed him.
‘How much as I would love staying here longer, I can only afford to stay here for a few days before I must return home. That is, if she finds the documents at all.’
'Maybe we could arrange something’, Suzet said, refusing to admit to Gael’s pessimism. Though she knew that there could be problems. She hesitantly added:
‘If we get your enrolment payment proven, we could try to get it refunded, even if it is only partial’. Gael wasn't convinced but admired the lengths Suzet was willing to go for a complete stranger.
‘It is very nice of you though, helping me’, Gael said, ‘Thank you for doing this’.
‘It is the least I could do’.
They both leaned on the balcony railing overlooking the main hall. Enrolment or not, he would rent a room in the city and had a few days to explore the University some more, but would eventually return home. Standing here in this strange place the thoughts of home made him feel safe. He saw some students reading and talking on the ground floor. This was a magical place, and Gael decided that it was best to keep it that way by not staying here for too long.
It took a while for Estelle to come back. She slapped a stack of papers down on her counter:
‘Okay. I did what I could. Because the documents are quite old. I have filled in all the enrolment forms and have his registration and proof of subscription right here. They check out, so you only need to sign this form here’. She picked a form from the pile and handed it to Suzet.
‘And you’ll need approval by the department headmaster, professor de Brún. But then everything should be sound and your enrolment as a student would be complete´, said Estelle as she stood with her hands in her sides looking proudly over the work she had done. To her surprise she was not met with the gratitude she expected. Gael and Suzet looked at Estelle with disbelief. She continued, but now slightly irritated:
‘Professor de Brún is at his office today and I could make an appointment for you, but you’ll have to wait until he is available’.
Gael’s head was spinning. He could still be enrolled? As a student? Three hours ago he had never seen the University now he had the chance to study there. He grabbed one of the papers from the stack. It was his enrolment document. This was the document that he signed twenty-six years ago. He saw his handwriting on the yellowed paper. This was the dream of a young version of him. He would have done everything to get a chance like this again. He met Suzet’s gaze looking at him with anticipation. Gael felt as if he owed it to himself to do this, to grab this chance with both hands. He turned to the Estelle:
‘When might professor de Brún have time for me?’