The abnormal Emenas has once again changed into the peaceful appearance of the past. Except for Orsuna, who had been in a deep sleep, the other infected students recovered one by one. Most of the students returned to their old lives, but they were slightly different from before.
The High Tower Academy in the north, the Witch of Books who has been the dean for hundreds of years, has officially resigned. The new dean is a long-established sage, Magic Sequence 9·Quantitative Balance, Gold.
There was a knock on the door outside the office.
"Enter!"
The old man sitting in the office looked at the old yellowed book in his hand and responded, and a young man pushed the door and walked in.
"Hey dean, I'm Jack."
The student looked at the old man a little nervously. He had sparse white hair and a thin face, but he looked very healthy.
"sit down."
"Yes."
Jack walked to the side of the sofa and sat down, leaning his legs together, his hands resting on his sides uneasily.
This is the first time he has seen the new dean, and he is currently just an ordinary student. Not only is his grades not good, but he also made a big mistake this time.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
The dean put down the notes that he handed over. It recorded various matters of the academy intricately. It was hard to imagine how the former dean Si Ye handled so many chores, just like a tireless machine.
He sighed faintly in his heart, and then looked at the student in front of him, who was one of the vortexes that caused various things in the academy some time ago, a third-year student named Jack.
Judging from his resume, although the student worked very hard, he was not outstanding and did not have many bright spots, but he still wanted to know why he set foot on this road, or, in other words, why the witch chose alone he.
"Yes, Master Chief..." Then Jack recounted the process that happened before.
"In other words, you were disheartened because of the failure of the experiment, and accepted the alms of the witch?"
"...Yes." When answering this sentence, Jack lowered his head, feeling a burst of shame and shame, and his voice trembled.
"It's nothing, just raise your head."
Gold waved his hand and looked at the young man in front of him. He has short light blond hair, and his appearance is not bad, but his clothes are a little ordinary, his shoes look a little old, and there are bloodshot eyes in the corners of his eyes. It seems that he has not slept well in the past few days.
"I heard from some students that you are usually very hardworking, aren't you?" In fact, that was no longer hard work, it could even be said to be self-abuse, Gold thought silently in his heart.
"It can't be called, it's not something to be proud of..." Jack's voice was a bit bitter. He worked so hard and would definitely achieve the desired result, but instead accumulated a lot of depression, anxiety, resentment and the like. .
"Um... .."
Gold looked at the young man in front of him, and seemed to see many similar figures, overlapping on him, and there was more than one student like him.
There are many students who work hard during school, but not everyone can compete for the top few. It is about talent, direction, effort, opportunities, etc. In many cases, hard work can not be successful.
The dean, who has a lot of experience in his life, said.
"Actually, whether it's in academies or in various industries, there are always a lot of people who are thinking about 'getting ahead', that is, competing for the top few places, but they don't realize how small the possibility of success in this kind of thing is, or even at all. An extravagant hope. I’m not denying that competition makes progress, but competition can cause pain, and sometimes the pain is far greater than the gain.”
He continued, as if recalling the faces and figures that had grown old in his memory.
"Sometimes, when you put in a long time and effort for something, even exhausted, only to find that nothing has changed in the status quo. The grades have not changed, the parents have not loved you more because of it, the teachers have not noticed, friends The relationship is still the same, the treatment does not increase, the popularity does not increase, the prospects are blurred, and there is no motivation to do anything... "
"No doubt, this is actually a situation that many people will encounter. In fact, it is the same for him, the same for you, and the same for me."
"At this time, you will be very anxious, and you will begin to doubt the original intention of your efforts and the meaning of competition. At first, you doubt your talent and ability, and later deny your character and background. As the number of failures increases, one day. You suddenly understand that not everyone has to be at the top of the industry or in the circle to be considered a leader.”
He paused for a while before continuing.
"Since ancient times in this world, more people must be willing to be mediocre, not to mention mediocrity for a lifetime, at least ten or eight years, or even decades of long-term mediocrity."
His voice suddenly became stronger: "What is striving for the upper reaches, in many cases, this is actually a kind of spiritual kidnapping of people in the middle and lower reaches who have already occupied the upper reaches."
"It's like saying that if you don't make it to the top, you're a failure, useless, bad, unfortunate, to satisfy their superiority, and then let you keep swimming for the few places and make them profit ."
"So competition gradually becomes the source of your pain."
The headmaster's voice slowly softened.
[So, even if you're not upstream, that doesn't mean you're not good. You've worked hard, you've worked hard, and you've done a great job. ]
[I am proud to have a student like you. ]
"Thank you, teacher." Jack lowered his head, his voice choked, his eyes blinked desperately, not letting the warm liquid remain.
Not wanting the student to make a fool of himself in front of him, Gold said, "Okay, go back first."
"Write a review to describe what happened in detail, and the teacher will handle the next thing." His voice was gentle and powerful, making the student in front of him feel grateful and warm.
"Yes, teacher." Jack lowered his head, walked out of the office quickly, and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
------------
Walled College, under the shade of the lakeside.
Loren Hill was sitting on a bluestone leaning against the trunk, and the pure white skirt was scattered on the green grass and small flowers. She slowly flipped through the book on her lap, occasionally looking at the gem-quiet lake with the joyful chirping of birds overhead.
Entering the midsummer season ahead of time, some people in the bright sunshine can't open their eyes, the white dress is a little blurry in the sun, and the reflected halo makes it impossible to see the silk threads on the skirt.
Soft strands of hair fell on the shoulders and chest, occasionally swaying in the breeze.
A short-haired girl in the distance looked at Loren Hill under the tree and walked back and forth hesitantly.
After a long time, she finally gathered up the courage and stepped forward.
"Long time no see, Lorraine. I'm sorry about what happened before." She lowered her emerald green eyes and dared not look at the girl in front of her. She felt guilty or ashamed, and she couldn't tell herself. . Before, in the underground of the 'black veil' church, she had someone to 'entertain' this friend, and even injured the other party.
"It's Jenna, long time no see. It doesn't matter, but you, are you recovering now?"
Loren Hill asked the girl standing in front of him to sit beside him, and then the two began to talk.
"It's recovering well. I heard that these are all due to Roland." Jenna's hand was held by Roland Hill, and she replied a little embarrassedly.
"I made a little contribution, but it's not that great." Roland Hill looked at the friend he met on the airship in front of him, and felt a little emotional. Before he knew it, it was almost two years.
"How are you doing at school lately?"
"Generally speaking, I don't feel like I'm the material for practicing the natural sequence." Jenna slightly eased her nervousness and said again.
"I can't find the trick all the time, and I'm a little anxious. Now I doubt whether I can go this way."
"Well, let's try it out. If it doesn't work, change to a transcendent sequence. In general, it's best to do what you are good at."
Roland Hill suggested that if you do what you are good at, you can get more positive feedback, so you will have more confidence and motivation, and if you do more, it will become a specialty, an advantage, and more and more The more I like it.
"Um."
Jenna nodded, and the two chatted under the tree for a while, after which Jenna stood up.
"Then I'll go back first, Lorraine."
"See you next time." Roland Hill raised his wrist.
"See you next time." With her back to the sun, Jena smiled, and walked briskly away from the shade of the tree.
Summer is coming, Roland Hill blocked the white sun with his fingers, looked at the blue sky, and recalled all kinds of this semester.
Due to the special circumstances of this year, the climate has gradually become hotter, and Emenas's holiday has also started early.