The next day.
Tuesday, July 13, 1740
Lyxander repeated the same routine—waking up and going to the station at seven in the morning.
There, he stood holding a black suitcase, waiting for the train to arrive.
Before long, a woman's voice echoed throughout the station, followed by the sound of an approaching train.
"Attention to all passengers, please stand behind the yellow line for your safety."
The train arrived as usual. The doors opened, and Lyxander stepped inside. Moments later, the woman's voice echoed again—
"Attention, the doors will close shortly. Please board the train immediately."
The first train was always quiet. Lyxander took a seat to enjoy his music.
Two songs passed, and the train stopped again at the second station. A man wearing a black coat entered the train, carrying a sword on his back.
Lyxander stared at him.
"Eh!"
The man stared back.
"Eh!"
"Eeeeeh!"
The two of them pointed at each other.
The man was Zirkon. It was quite rare to see him this early in the morning.
Zirkon took a seat in front of Lyxander, now facing him directly.
"So, my beloved junior, what are you doing here?" Zirkon tried to start a conversation.
Lyxander chuckled, putting on his favorite sarcastic smile. "Take a guess. The hint is: use your eyes."
"Damn it," Zirkon muttered.
"Shouldn't that be my question? It's very rare to see you coming this early."
Lyxander continued the conversation.
"It's just that last night my neighbor's baby cried really loudly." Dark lines were visible under Zirkon's eyes.
"That sounds unpleasant," Lyxander replied.
The two of them fell silent for a few minutes. Awkward.
"Just so you know, I had an accident that caused me to lose all my memories," Lyxander started again.
"My condolences, my friend," Zirkon replied.
"Ahem." Lyxander coughed.
"Because of that, I don't have any stories to tell."
"All right," Zirkon frowned, clearly confused.
"AKHEM." Lyxander coughed louder.
"So, since I don't have any stories, I invite Brother Zirkon to tell one instead."
"Hah!" Zirkon's mouth fell open.
"Why me?"
"I lost my memory," Lyxander said, pointing at his innocent-looking face.
"In that case, I lost my memory too. I won't tell any stories," Zirkon leaned back.
They were silent again for several minutes. Lyxander did not give up; his dark eyes kept staring at Zirkon.
"Ugh," Zirkon grumbled.
Finally, Zirkon raised both hands.
"Fine, I give up. I'll tell you any story you want."
Lyxander clenched his fist tightly.
"I win."
"To be honest, there's one thing I'm curious about."
"What is it?" Zirkon replied flatly, without any intention of asking back.
"Why didn't I receive any training to use weapons? Or is there simply no such training?" Lyxander asked.
Zirkon stared at the ceiling, as if lamenting something.
"It's not that there isn't any. It's just…" His voice softened. "The Raven who usually trained others has died."
"I see. You knew him," Lyxander asked without much curiosity. Honestly, he was just trying to avoid awkward silence.
"He was my teacher," Zirkon said quietly.
"You learned swordsmanship from him?" Lyxander began to feel interested.
Zirkon mimicked Lyxander's sarcastic smile.
"Take a guess."
"Come on, don't steal my iconic line," Lyxander complained.
"Haha," Zirkon laughed.
"Now I understand why you say it so often."
"If there's no one left to teach, why don't you teach me instead?" Lyxander leaned forward, staring at Zirkon.
Zirkon made an ugly face. Without saying anything, Lyxander already understood what he meant.
"Come on," Lyxander pleaded.
"I often ran away during Calcite's lessons, and you expect me to teach you?" Zirkon firmly refused.
"Calcite? Your teacher was a woman?" Lyxander asked.
"What's wrong with her being a woman?" Zirkon frowned.
Lyxander chuckled. "I'd bet you have feelings for her, don't you?"
"No need to bet. I do love her," Zirkon replied.
That honest answer surprised Lyxander. Somehow, he could feel the sincerity behind Zirkon's words.
Lyxander smiled faintly.
"Can you tell me what she was like?"
Zirkon lowered his head.
"Very beautiful. Her golden hair shone brightly. She was like a cool knight. But the best thing was her warm smile."
Zirkon remained with his head lowered.
"By the way, she was Quartz's older sister and Vivi's partner before you."
Lyxander was quite surprised. Now he understood why his desk was next to Quartz's.
Lyxander chuckled.
"Did she work on reports carefully?"
Zirkon grinned widely.
"Just so you know, Vivi revised more than you ever did."
"Hahaha." They both laughed together.
After their laughter subsided, Lyxander continued.
"Senior, if one day I lose someone I love," he paused for a moment. "What should I do?"
Zirkon smiled. Contrary to Lyxander's expectations—he had thought Zirkon would look gloomy.
"Have you ever read the holy scriptures?" Zirkon asked.
"I lost my memory." Even though those things were actually still in his mind, Lyxander had to stay consistent with his act.
"I forgot which verse it was, but it goes like this: 'Feel suffering, learn from suffering, and understand suffering.'" Zirkon quoted a verse from the scriptures.
A memory surfaced in Lyxander's mind—one of the unimportant pieces of knowledge stored in his head.
'It was the story of a coward who begged God for death.
Yohan said,
"Truly, there is no difference between death and life for you. Your greatest sin is not being a coward, but never learning from suffering."
A verse revealed for a coward.'
Lyxander came back to his senses from the memory. He smiled. "So what does it mean?"
Zirkon tilted his head, gazing at the blue curtain stretching high into the sky.
"I don't know what it means either."
"But if you truly love them, wouldn't it be better for them to remain in your memories as a lesson, rather than as a wound?"
Before Lyxander could reply, Zirkon had already stood up. His ears turned red, clearly embarrassed by what he had said.
"All right, it's time to get off."
Zirkon stood in front of the train doors.
"Eh," Lyxander tried to speak.
"Isn't this not the last station yet?"
Zirkon froze, standing perfectly still.