This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1205: Divine Game, Divine Instruction 19

Rita did know Midsummer Kessa.

She might not fully understand Tiger Ear Kessa, but she knew Midsummer Kessa.

When she continued the World Sigh of "Midsummer," she had reread the earlier Chapters more than once. Anyone who had seen that Sigh would never forget Midsummer Kessa.

This time she thought for a long while before answering.

"Lost."

Whether it was Kessa or Midsummer, both had drifted away from the right path. Not because they were wrong, but because they had been placed in the wrong circumstances.

After a long silence, Kessa shook her head, just like Maple Syrup had.

She rejected the word.

But every player saw the rune light up briefly at her brow before fading.

Rita tried to say something, but Kessa was already lost in memory. She returned to her seat, chin propped on her hand, staring out the window.

Dawn Cicada’s vine wrapped around Rita’s wrist at once. Her eyes sparkled.

"What about me?"

Rita expressionlessly peeled the vine off. "We’re enemies. Remember?"

"Then forget it," Dawn Cicada replied without hesitation. "And the one who has a grudge with you is Deceitful Bloom, not me."

Rita choked on her own breath.

Dawn Cicada laughed at her expression. "Deceitful Bloom likes that I’m rebellious. She even praised me just now."

Rita once again confirmed she would never understand Vineborne.

She wore a pained expression for a few seconds before answering seriously.

"I don’t actually know you that well."

"I know myself," Dawn Cicada said calmly. "I just want to hear how others see me. I want an audience’s answer."

Since she was clear about that, Rita did not hesitate.

"Flower Soil."

Dawn Cicada forgot to manage her expression. She looked at Rita like a lost child.

"Flower Soil?"

"Yes." Rita spoke casually, as if she were only stating an impression. "Just like the Oak Owls needed a new Forest Sea after losing the original one, the Vineborne needed a new Beacon after they lost theirs.

"You and Maple Syrup lead in similar ways. Ruthless. Violent. Yet exactly the kind of ruler your people crave. Maple Syrup became the new Forest Sea the Oak Owls found. You became the flower soil the Vineborne found after Beacon fell. They will only take root in a world where you exist. You are the only ruler they recognize."

Dawn Cicada did not reject the word like the others had.

But she still was not satisfied.

"Smoke Tune doesn’t agree."

"She does," Rita said firmly, as if she understood Smoke Tune better than Dawn Cicada did. "She agrees with you. She knows that only war and blood can heal the Vineborne after Beacon. Her logic and emotions are in conflict. That’s one of the reasons she cannot bloom."

The Vineborne beside her went silent.

Several minutes later, Dawn Cicada muttered a hurried "Thank you" and ran out of the classroom toward one of the workshops.

The moment she left, Fury Prayer slid into her seat.

He adjusted his collar.

"I was born into a happy family. I have an older brother and a younger sister. When I was three..."

Rita raised a hand to interrupt the incantation. "Short version. If it takes more than a minute, I’m not listening."

Forced to summarize his life on the spot, Fury Prayer fell quiet.

He opened his mouth several times, then closed it again. Just as Rita put on her Foolishness Glasses to review the day’s training, he asked:

"Was I in the World Sigh of ’Brilliance’?"

"No," Rita answered bluntly.

Afraid she might be mistaken, she reviewed the historical replays she had studied.

"Not at all."

"As expected," Fury Prayer said softly. "I wasn’t really going to talk about when I was three. It’s just... I don’t know how to talk about what came later.

"Until Brilliance shattered, I stayed in Prayer. Praying someone would save Brilliance. Save the Fireglints.

"When the Fireglints wandered during Fury, I was still praying someone would save us. I don’t even remember how long I prayed before I woke up.

"By the time I realized I should step forward, that I was capable of saving my people, the Fireglints had already faded beyond light.

"On the first day here, I was afraid Foolishness would scold me. Now I almost wish she would."

His hand brushed his sleeve.

When he extended it before Rita again, there was a carving knife in his palm, about seven centimeters long. Everything but the blade was made of dark green gemstone.

He introduced it calmly.

"Divine Relic. ’Carve Error.’

"I carve new errors upon old ones."

He could not continue.

He did not need to.

Light flared at his brow, just like NightFury’s had. It glowed for a moment, then faded.

But he had found his direction.

After standing there blankly for a few seconds, Fury Prayer gripped the carving knife, thanked Rita, and rushed out of the classroom.

Rita stared at the empty doorway.

She inhaled deeply, then exhaled hard. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The moment she put her glasses back on, she sensed something off to her right.

She turned slowly.

Maple Syrup and Kessa were looking at her with complicated expressions.

"Let’s talk again?" Kessa said.

Maple Syrup nodded. "Yes. Master, maybe say more about Forest Sea? I just had an epiphany. Archrivals are family."

Rita stood up without a word, grabbed her notebook filled with formulas, and fled the classroom.

By the time Foolishness arrived the next morning to start class, the rumor had spread across Divine Game.

"Chatting with Master BS Rita awakens your divine talent."

Overnight, Foolishness had received dozens of requests for joint training sessions.

Her gaze swept across Rita’s desk, now piled high with snacks.

Everything that happened in the Toy Palace was known to her. The other four students had brought those gifts this morning.

It was not yet class time. Rita was eating the least fragrant sandwich on the table. When she noticed Foolishness had arrived early, she visibly sped up.

The sandwich was dry.

She reached for the milk.

Before her hand even touched it, Maple Syrup, who was reading beside her, calmly pierced the straw through the carton with one hand and placed it into Rita’s palm.

She did not even lift her head.

Foolishness stared at them.

She distinctly remembered these two were supposed to be archrivals.