Greetings, Mister Principal

Two days later, it was the first day of the weekend.

Dana woke up early as usual, but after putting on the short skirt of the sailor suit, she sat on the bed and did not move for a while.

If it was normal time, she should go to work-study programs to help clean the campus, then self-study for a while, do some math problems, and study new dresses in the evening.

But today was her birthday.

Dana Christine's birthday was also the day when Adol Christine and Elena Christine died.

This girl had mixed feelings in her heart, and an inexplicable feeling of irritability swept through her, causing insomnia from last night. She only fell asleep until late at night. When looking in the mirror this morning, faint dark circles were visible around her eyes.

In order to calm herself down, Dana took out the test paper given to her by Reiner and decided to do some math problems.

As the formulas began to be calculated, Dana felt that her heart gradually calmed down. It took her about half an hour to solve three questions. Putting down the pen, she slowly stood up and walked out of her bedroom.

The sun in the Month of White Dew scorched the earth, and the masonry floor was like a hot iron plate; its hotness could be felt through the soles of the shoes. There were not many students staying in the campus square, which made the whole campus appear quiet.

Dana walked through the corridor and came to the place Reiner had told her. It was an ordinary classroom.

She stood at the door and hesitated for a while before stepping into it.

Two crisp sounds popped in her ears, followed by the falling of colorful confetti.

"Happy birthday!"

It turned out that it was Eureka and Rena. These two girls were hiding at the door, waiting for Dana to step into the classroom, so that she could surprise her with a party popper in her hand.

"Ah... thank, thank you."

Dana was naturally taken aback. Her head was covered with confetti, but she didn't feel annoyed. She looked into the classroom and found that, apart from the two guarding the door, Reiner and Claire had already been waiting here, even Fina also sat quietly by the window, reading a book.

Obviously, Reiner called all the people who went to take the exam in Torrendo together.

On the blackboard in the classroom, the words Happy Birthday were written in colored chalk, and in the middle of the room, four tables were put together to form a big table, on which was placed a large cream cake, and 17 candles were inserted on the cake, waiting to be lit.

"You came later than I expected."

Reiner smiled and gently brushed off confetti on Dana's head.

"Slightly delayed by something."

Dana replied, in fact, on the way to here, Dana had already figured it out.

Her parents had passed away, and she shouldn't always feel sad. Only by looking forward and continuing to move forward could she make up for the regret in her heart.

Dana was determined to get rid of the influence of the past and face the future, starting from today.

"It seems that you are no longer troubled by the past."

Rainer said, and at the same time handed Dana a familiar note.

This was the note that Reiner asked all the students to write notes about what they wanted to do in the first morning assembly.

And this one was Dana's.

After receiving the note, Dana looked at her thoughts she had more than a month ago, she smiled slightly and held it in her palm.

There was only one sentence on that note:

I want to be a mage; even if it is the most crappy and stupid mage. Dana Christine.

Even though her parents were obsessed with research and didn't pay much attention to her, since she was a child, Dana still had such a dream, that was to be a mage.

Because the world was so colorful, it would be a shame if the perception of it only remained on the surface.

"Come and make a wish."

Claire had lit the candles. According to the tradition of this world, the birthday person needed to blow out the candles and make a wish. This wish was likely to be realized someday in the future.

This was a world of magic and miracles, and Reiner thought that maybe there was some mysterious power in it.

After everyone sang the birthday song, Dana closed her eyes slightly and blew the candle gently.

The candle went out, and there seemed to be some kind of will being called, but no one noticed it.

Dana opened her eyes and saw smiling friends. For the first time, she felt that celebrating a birthday seemed not so difficult.

At this moment, Reiner spoke.

"He's here."

The crowd followed Reiner's gaze and turned their heads and saw a man in a robe standing at the door of the classroom.

"Uncle Chester..."

Dana cried out and looked at the man.

The man was slim, but his face was full of traces of age. He obviously looked less than 30 years old, but the grey hair was already on his head. When he saw Dana, he smiled slightly and said apologetically,

"I want to surprise you."

Chester walked into the classroom and first nodded to Reiner.

"Mr. Ian Gray, thank you for your reply."

"This is what we should do."

Reiner replied. The conversation between the two made Dana confused. So, when did her uncle have a relationship with Reiner?

"Dana, actually, I'm here this time to give you a present."

Chester hesitated, then said.

"A present?"

Dana felt even more puzzled, but still listened to Chester quietly.

"Adol and Elena, the two of them fell because of the collapse of the demiplane ten years ago. In theory, all the matter existing on that demiplane should have been annihilated, but just a few days ago... I got something."

Chester took out a small cloth bag from his robe, and the original delicate ornamentation of the cloth bag could be vaguely seen. Probably because it was weather-beaten, its original color had already faded.

But Dana recognized what it was at first glance.

"This is Dad's storage bag?"

Yes, this was the storage bag that Adol Christine carried with him everywhere. It contained his experimental notes and draft papers. Dana used to secretly play with it when she was a child, and then was severely scolded by her father, so she could remember it clearly.

Chester nodded and handed it to Dana.

"I think you should have it."

"But--"

But she obviously let her parents down. Dana thought. She had always remembered the disappointed look in their eyes. At this moment, this storage bag was like a curse, which made Dana feel the pressure on her shoulders again. Did she really deserve the things inside the storage bag?

"Open it and take a look."

Chester said. The seal of the storage bag had long failed, and anyone could easily open it.

After a moment of silence, as if Dana had finally gathered her courage and opened the storage bag. She reached out and took out the thing inside.

However, unexpectedly, it was not familiar experimental notes, nor was it a draft of the paper, or even a suicide note or magic item.

It was an exquisite transparent glass box, and inside the box, there was a crumpled paper crane glued together from pieces.

At the bottom of the box, there was a sentence written.

To commemorate the first step of the great mage Dana Christine