Chapter 723: The Arrival [Part 1]
After boarding the airship, the duration of their journey took almost as long as Northern was used to, or perhaps even less. He had things to do on the ship, people to watch, and sleep to catch, so he did not pay much attention to how long it took.
'I've been sleeping too much recently.'
Northern waited at the front of the deck, his eyes focused as the ship took a slow and careful dive towards the port. It moved with such measured care that people did not have to worry about sliding off its wooden deck.
Prematures, of course, held onto the ship's rails nonetheless.
Before the seventh ship landed, six others had landed before it at the same port, and the students had been received by the entourage of high nobility in the kingdom of Verulania.
As the ship settled on the high platforms, a small mass of people in noble attire waited on the ground, conversing amongst themselves.
The instructors on the ship gave a few words of maintenance and warning before the students slowly disembarked and descended to meet their escorts.
Upon reaching the nobles, the two instructors who served as guards and guides for the seventh group of hundred students bowed and paid their respects to the officials.
Not much could be heard about what they discussed, at least not from Northern's position clustered far behind amidst many other students.
If he wanted to know, he probably could, but what good was it? That was called eavesdropping. Rather than wasting his time on things like that, Northern had better things to do.
'Come to think of it... I have never really been inside the country.'
Northern lived on the outskirts of the state capital. Although his father had gone into the city several times to purchase things, Northern had no clear memory of being there.
Not even once.
So in a way, even though this was his kingdom of birth-well, sort of-this was Northern's first time entering the kingdom of Verulania.
After a few moments, the instructors began to lead the students carefully into the city. No carriages were used; everyone marched forward slowly on foot, flanked by several soldiers who guarded them left and right, preventing the line of students from leaking outside a particular radius or preventing the crowd of onlookers from approaching the students recklessly.
Order was surprisingly maintained as they moved forward, while the citizens of the nation watched the students as if they were gazing at celestials, lights of hope and pride glowing beautifully in their eyes.
The city was exalted and marked with spires of brown roof. There was a particular accent of structure that noted the entire architecture of the land, making it vastly different from all others Northern had visited.
Actually, now that he thought about it, other cities weren't too far off. Take Sierra for example, with their appealing yet strange structures of wood... never-ending wood.
Arcadia and its catholistic air-it was quite obvious that the influence of the Church of Constellation was heavy, even though it was the closest to what many would call a free city.
And the dark continent. Luinngard also had its structure. He was sure Reimgard and several other cities would too. It was what forged their personality.
Each kingdom, no matter how small, had a sturdy root buried in the depth of history, with Reimgard being the strongest, deepest, and fairest of them all.
Then the clans. The making of individualistic values in the stony pages of history. It would have taken an exemplary, legendary, and magnifying human to create a legacy that only nations could create.
It was why clans were so valued and respected. Even though many only basked in the greatness of their ancestors, underestimating and daring them was a reckless attitude with a tremendous price anyone would want to avoid paying.
After a while, the students arrived at an estate. Compared to the other city buildings, the estate carried an air of difference, almost like a foreigner amidst other structures, stared at with strange awe by the piercing spires of several buildings.
The buildings in the estate maintained more calm and nominal structures. Flat roofs and sharp edges, almost like every other building that was not significant.
But there was precision in the details with which they were built. They exuded a foreign beauty, and even though so simple... as simple as a structure in a medieval world could be, the arrayed collection of them exuded an ambience of luxury.
'As expected of royalty... they'll splurge money on another and make it look good.' Northern observed several things about the place: the paintings and designs of the structures were new. The roads were too neat to have existed all the while.
This probably indicated that this was a rapidly built or renovated place to host the students.
'I wonder if the academy had to spend a lot of money, or if the kingdom agreed to do it for a favor in return.'
Getting owed by Milhguard Academy-anyone would probably kill for the chance.
It was no surprise to see nobles diligently giving their best to escort students.
Through all of this, Northern could see clearly the value that the academy truly possessed. It was a powerhouse in and of itself, no doubt about it.
All this realization, however, made him grin maliciously.
'All the more interesting it will be when I stand on top of it and crush it before his very eyes.'
Northern had never expected world domination; he wasn't interested in vainglory and certainly not in being praised by humans driven by fickle and insignificant emotions.
What he wanted only was... Rughsbourgh.
Oh, to rise to the top of his treasured land and crumble it to pieces right before his eyes. This was the only gesture of welcome gift Northern could think of for the man who had uprooted him from his family and sent him to a land of dread to suffer.
The bastard had even specially sent him into a rift. Rughsbourgh was out for his throat! 'I'm sure a little school won't be too much of a price to pay.'