Chapter 6 - Sonya Therave
Outside the Swords and Roses University of Sorcerers in Cailleach, the capital of the Starry Lands.
As summer approached, the number of bright stars in the night sky increased from two in spring to two and a half. Looking up carefully, one could see a tiny bright star. Thus the temperature in Cailleach rose and the bright light was just right - taking just a few steps would work up a light sweat.
Sonya took small steps forward and saw her mother Masha standing under the bright stars, drenched in sweat. She pulled her into the shade of a nearby tree, distressed: "Mom, why are you standing outside foolishly? Don't you know you can take shelter from the sun in the wooded paths inside the school..."
Masha laughed foolishly: "Linda，I was afraid I wouldn't see you..."
"How many times do I have to say, call me Sonya, not Linda!"
Sonya suddenly flared up and Masha nodded obediently again and again: "Sorry, sorry, I forgot again. Oh right, I also brought your favorite egg custard tarts..."
Seeing Masha's appeasing expression, Sonya became self-reproachful again. She took her hand and walked her outside: "I won't eat them, I'm trying to lose weight recently and can't eat such sweet stuff."
"You're already so skinny, what are you losing weight for? Do you want to become as thin as a sheet of paper? Uncle Elmer, you remember him right? His son has been ill for so long without getting better, his body is as light as a scarecrow in the fields, you're even thinner than him..."
From afar, Masha saw Sonya's figure that was barely thicker than a tree branch. She felt heartache beyond words. She had been a rural woman in an agricultural town of the Starry Lands all her life. She simply could not appreciate the fashionable slender figures of the big city, and sincerely hoped her daughter would be more robust.
Sonya did not interrupt her mother's chattering. When her mother finally stopped, she said: "Since you rarely come to Cailleach, let me take you around the capital..."
"No need, no need!" Masha waved her hands hastily: "Don't waste money, I saw a park over there when I walked over..."
"You walked over!?" Sonya's voice went up an octave: "Didn't I tell you to take the tram here after getting off the train? The train station is so far from school--"
"It's fine, it's fine. I came early so I had lots of time. Walking around counts as exercise for my health. I'm not that old yet, walking is no problem..."
Only then did Sonya notice the sweat on Masha's neck. The weather today was great and it wasn't cold, students on campus were dressed lightly for summer, but her mother had taken the night train from her rural hometown where it was already cool autumn winds, so she had worn several layers. Just walking for a bit had made her forehead sweat, her whole person looking like she had just been fished out of water.
She wanted to tell her mother not to skimp on that bit of money, but what came out was: "Let me buy you some clothes."
Masha shook her head reflexively: "There are plenty of clothes at home..."
"Listen to me today!"
Sonya Therave was from an impoverished village in the Starry Lands so small it didn't even have a name on the map. For her to take a train to the capital Cailleach, she first had to walk a full day on mountain roads to reach the nearest town with a train station.
Among the village children, in the past twenty years only Sonya, relying on the free miracle bracelet provided by the Lands, had completed the basic education courses on it. Before the age limit, she took the unified national higher education entrance exam online, successfully testing into the Swords and Roses College of Sorcerers in Cailleach, known as the Swordflower College for short.
Her father had drank himself to death when she was very young. In her memories, he was just a useless drunk who threw fits of temper after drinking. She had been fully raised by her mother Masha.
Precisely because of this, she could temporarily be free from labor and concentrate on studying, unlike other children her age who went to factories to work in the day and watched the only Meteor Channel they could receive in the village at night, muddling through life in that small town.
On her first day in Cailleach, when she saw the clean streets, towering buildings, flowing luxury cars, polite and refined civilized people, propaganda shorts playing day and night on giant screens, she knew that even if she died, she had to die in this city.
That hometown she had lived in for over ten years didn't even have the qualifications to be her graveyard.
In a short time she had learned about makeup and clothing matching. Within a month of enrollment she had already corrected her accent.
Relying on her superior looks she obtained many part-time jobs, while not falling behind on her studies either. She then used her scholarships and part-time income to expand her social circle and participate in all kinds of activities... Adding to her hosting school events many times last year which gave her great exposure, many already secretly considered her to be the Rose of the 67th batch.
In this world there are so many who can obtain happiness, why can't I?
Sonya spent the entire afternoon taking Masha around Cailleach. Under Sonya's insistence, Masha reluctantly followed her into an apparel store that looked very expensive to try on clothes.
If not for her daughter, just the female clerk with her secretly disdainful smile would have been enough to make Masha shrink away.
But in exchange for buying clothes, Sonya didn't spend any money that afternoon. Masha had even prepared water in advance with a flask.
"This is clean water provided by the train station, I can just drink this. Don't buy those colorful drinks, I'm not used to them." Masha said.
Even for dinner, Masha said she still had unfinished bread she had brought, it'd be wasteful not to eat it. Sonya knew bringing her mother into those upper class restaurants would only make her suffer, so she sat with her mother in the park eating bread.
Before 6pm, Sonya sent Masha to the train station.
The return ticket had long been purchased and bound to Masha's bracelet. She just had to scan her bracelet at the checkpoint.
Just before the checkpoint, Sonya suddenly said: "Why don't you stay one night, I don't have classes tomorrow either, I can accompany you another day."
Masha stared blankly at Sonya, her lips moved but eventually she just shook her head, her eyes squinting into slits: "No need, refunding the ticket would waste money, and I can't get used to staying here anyway, I can't understand what others are saying, and I have to go back to feed the chickens... Oh right, look at my memory, I almost forgot..."
She took out a small bag tucked away securely from her clothes. Without opening it, she stuffed it into Sonya's hands: "There are three silver coins inside..."
"Mom, I--"
"I know you don't lack money, but I can't spend this money at home either."
Masha tightly grasped Sonya's hand, "Mom is useless, I can't help you with anything. But Linda, don't worry, mom won't drag you down. Feel free to live in the capital, I live very well in the hometown, neighbors will help me with anything. Just remember to write home, but never send money. Keep it to spend yourself, and the post office might steal your money anyway..."
This time Sonya didn't correct Masha calling her by her childhood nickname 'Linda' again. She quietly listened to her ramble, suddenly understanding why her mother hadn't gone into the school to wait for her. After Masha finished, she calmly said: "I will bring you to live in Cailleach one day and enjoy the life of the wealthy."
Masha smiled and nodded: "Mom believes in you. But remember, no matter what happens, mom will have a meal ready for you back home. Big cities are too complicated, living a quiet life at home isn't so bad... "
Sonya watched her slightly hunched mother walk farther and farther away until she finally disappeared into the crowds.
Suddenly, she slid sharply to the right, dodging a man about to bump into her. The man's eyes showed surprise and he mumbled something before hurrying away.
"Indeed, big cities are too complicated." Sonya murmured softly: "But I am precisely this kind of complicated person."
She turned away from the train station, walking with her head held high back into the bright and bustling sleepless city Cailleach.