Chasing a New Dawn

Chapter 15: Bonding and Sword Lessons

Mercedes gestured to the back of the cathedral with a serene smile. "I was praying. Also, I could ask you the same question."

Blythe looked into the direction of the counseling box. "I was going through the notes in the counseling box, giving them advice. Helping others is important, after all."

"True. It teaches humbleness and humility, along with patience."

Blythe nodded in reply. Flashing a small smile on her face, she looked around the cathedral.

Mercedes noticed her friend looking around. "What is it, Blythe?"

"It's nothing, Merce." Blythe responded, smiling at her friend. "This place just reminds me of how we met."

"It does. We did meet in a church." Mercedes said with a wistful smile. "In a few moons, it'll be ten years since we've met."

"Has it really almost been ten years already?" Blythe asked rhetorically, in disbelief at how fast those years went by. "I remember it as if it was yesterday."

Mercedes nodded in reply. Then, the choir stopped singing. The bells to the monastery started to toll their signature jingle.

"Well, time for class!" Both young women said at the same time. Laughing, the two friends walked out of the cathedral together.

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14th of the Garland Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, 2nd Floor Dormitories, (Afternoon), Imperial Year 1180

In the hall of the second-floor dormitories, the only sound heard was a scraping noise on metal. While the noise was horrendous to some, it was a wonderful noise to others, since the person making the noise was hard at work.

The person working was a female with dark blue hair and eyes to match. She was wearing the uniform of the Officer's Academy, and her hair was in a ponytail, out of her face. The female had a sword on a table in front of her, and the female was sitting on her bed. She was using a whetstone to sharpen the sword's blade, small sparks flying every time the stone hit the metal of the sword.

The young woman did a final swipe with the whetstone before examining her work. Giving a small smirk at her job well done, the young woman put the whetstone away. She then pulled out weapon polish and a towel. She started to polish her sword when she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" The young woman asked after the knock was concluded.

The blue-haired young woman heard a feminine chuckle on the other side of the door as a response. "Who do you think, Celine?"

Celine shook her head in amusement while putting down the towel she was using to polish her sword. "You can come in, Blythe. I know that's what you are going to ask next."

The door then opened, with Blythe walking into the room. She closed the door behind her with her foot, since her hands were full of supplies. Blythe walked across the wood floor, her heeled boots making a clicking sound as she walked.

Blythe put the stuff in her hand down on a table in Celine's room. "In your rush to prepare for the mission, you forgot your things in the classroom."

Celine smacked her head with her free hand. "I knew I forgot something. Thanks, Blythe."

"You're welcome. I figured you were rushing, so I brought it to you once I figured out where you were going."

Celine nodded, but she was still confused. "How did you know where I was going? I didn't tell anyone."

"Claude saw you rush by the Golden Deer classroom, towards the second floor dormitories." Blythe responded, sitting beside Celine on the bed. "When he saw your stuff in my hand, he assumed I was looking for you. He told me where you went, and that's how I got here."