Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 902: School

Lily was stunned upon hearing Celia's words. School? If she went to school, it would certainly be a completely new experience. Before Lily became a mouse, she was being homeschooled by her mother.

"I thought the schools that Mr. Charles had founded accept only children below fourteen? Am I not too old to go to school?" Lily mused.

Doctor Oliver sitting nearby swallowed the clam in his mouth and said, "That was before. There's a university that is a level higher than those schools; there's no age limit there, but only the elites can get into the university.

"If you're interested, I can buy a recommendation letter through my connections."

Lily wasn't particularly keen on the idea. "What do they teach at a school? I don't feel like there's much for me to learn."

During her years as a mouse, Lily had served as the gunner on the Narwhale. To increase the accuracy of her shots, Lily had undergone systematic training with Charles' help.

Lily's interaction with the crew and what she had seen had also allowed her to learn quite a bit of navigation and seamanship.

Lily believed that a school couldn't possibly teach her more than what she already knew, and if they had something to teach her, Lily believed that they would be useless, miscellaneous knowledge.

Why bother learning something that she would never use anyway?

Olivia sitting next to Lily wiped the latter's mouth clean with a napkin. Then, she reached over with her right hand and gently stroked the back of her daughter's hand. "Sweetie, why don't you just go there and take a look? You can make many friends there. At the very least, you won't feel lonely."

"But Mommy, I have friends. I have lots of friends! They—" Lily stopped mid-sentence, and her expression became somber as she lowered her head. The tiny bottle hanging in front of her chest swayed slightly as she moved.

Sensing something amiss with her daughter, Olivia leaned closer and added, "How about I go with you to take a look? The academy is full of good kids, and you'll surely find new friends there. You must be feeling bored staying home all day."

Before Lily could reply, she noticed that her sister had finished eating, so she went over and cleaned the latter's mouth with a napkin before picking her up.

"No need, Mommy. I'll accompany my sister to school and take a look at the school itself while I'm at it."

Celia was taken aback, and when she snapped back to reality, her sister had already carried her out of the door.

"Ah!" Celia exclaimed, "My backpack! My backpack!"

Lily grabbed her sister's backpack and boarded the tram before finally letting out a sigh of relief. What she had done wasn't anything special, but she was feeling nervous for some reason.

"How come there's no one inside? Is it vacation day today?" Lily muttered. Then, she kicked off of the ground lightly, and she easily cleared the fence, landing gracefully on the other side.

When Lily walked into one of the buildings and peered into one of the rooms through the windows, she saw what seemed to be a myriad of books and students with their heads bent over those books, clearly busy with their studies.

The sight made Lily feel like she had stumbled upon a massive library rather than a university. Lily took in the peace and silence as she quietly walked past the neatly arranged bookshelves.

It was so quiet that Lily couldn't bear to disturb the silence. She even decided to fly at her minimum altitude just so she wouldn't inadvertently shatter the silence with her footsteps.

There were tables around the bookshelves, and the seats were occupied by students busy poring over their books. They treated the books with great care, turning the pages as gently as possible. The students were young, and the youngest of them seemed to be around Lily's age.

Lily walked up to a bespectacled girl and softly asked, "Hello, are there no teachers here?"

Upon being awakened from her own world, the bespectacled girl fell into a daze. It took her a moment to notice Lily standing next to her.

"I'm sorry?"

Lily repeated her question.

"Ah, yes," the bespectacled girl finally answered, "We're going to be the first batch of teachers here once we graduate."

Lily's widened eyes at the revelation.

"It's not as bad as you think. We have access to so many books, after all, and the knowledge inside of them isn't that difficult to grasp," the bespectacled girl remarked, "What's difficult is learning the things that aren't recorded in the books."

Lily appeared confused by the response. She thought over her next words for a while before finally asking, "So what are you going to do with the knowledge that you've learned here?"

"The principal said that Hope Island's educational framework is too rudimentary, disorderly, and unbalanced.

"We're here to absorb the Foundation's knowledge and create a brand-new educational framework with the help of the Relic Research Institute and the Governor's Mansion.

"I'm sure the seascape's overall technological level will improve over time using that new framework."

Just then, the bespectacled girl sized Lily up and asked, "How come you don't know any of that? Prior to enrollment, I'm sure the principal told you why the Governor built this university."