silence and stars

"It's like being stripped of the familiar shell, and you're not used to it everywhere, right?" Leo asked Cassia as he walked towards No. 4 teaching building.

Without saying a word, she threw the shoulder bag on her back and followed Leo forward.It had started to rain lightly, and the raindrops stirred up a thin layer of mist on the road.They all put their hats on and quickened their pace.Classmates who came over continued to greet Leo, but Cassia remained silent all the way.

Cassia's inopportuneness is in stark contrast to Leo's.Leo was still as at home at Lier as he had been at Saint Laurent, but Cassia was wedged silently in the center of the cork like an unchanging nail, alien to everything around her.

Leo saw in her the shadow of himself when he was ten years old. "I went through it too. I was in the fleet school year, I didn't talk to people, I hated going to class, I hated going to the dining room, and I hated going back to my dorm to sleep."

"why?"

"Thinking about it now, the main problem is that I'm not used to boarding schools. I didn't leave my brother for half a step until I was ten years old, and the sudden change of environment was fatal. Can you imagine, only ten years old, the whole I couldn't sleep at night. The next day I was in a daze and I was so sleepy that I didn't know what I was doing."

"There is really no way..." Cassia said sympathetically, "Someone just isn't suitable for that environment."

It was raining harder, some raindrops were blowing into his face, and Leo pulled his hood down. "I really don't like the atmosphere of that place. I especially hate the cold, pragmatic atmosphere. There are patches of gray low houses everywhere, giving people a sense of oppression. Besides, I can't keep up with the courses of the Fleet School. .”

Cassia said: "There are very few people who can't keep up in the first year. How did you pass the entrance test?"

Leo sighed: "They admitted me directly because of my father."

"Oh my God, General Lingard, I forgot... I'm sorry." Cassia apologized hastily.

Leo shook his head: "I don't know whether this rule of the fleet is a good thing or a bad thing. Think about those who sacrificed for Anson, their families should indeed be treated specially, but it should also be based on the situation. It's really not suitable for all children Going to Fleet School, that kind of environment is very cruel for some people."

"But people generally think that this will be hereditary. It is normal for a whole family to be in the fleet. Think about those famous 'fleet surnames'... Your family can almost be counted, and each generation has at least one captain."

"To put it this way, I probably mutated. I only inherited my father's appearance, and my mind doesn't follow him at all." Leo smiled wryly.

"I've watched a lot of documentaries about the Battle of Anson Roma. You really look like General Lingard. Your current hairstyle is from him, right?"

"Correct."

They entered the foyer on the first floor while they were talking, and Cassia went straight to the corner and sat on the ground, and then told Leo: "I have spatial orientation disorder."

"what is this?"

"A physiological disorientation that only occurs in low-gravity environments. I found out when I entered the fleet school. It said that it could be improved through training, but it didn't seem to improve at all after six years. They still wouldn't let me go. Command Academy. Because of this bug, I can't beat Kubus."

Leo was stunned: "It doesn't make sense. Apart from the Kubus stadium, where are there so many low-gravity environments? Spaceports and manned ships have gravity generators. Who would float outside every day?"

Cassia's tone was quite depressed: "Yeah, beyond visual range warfare is not built by people. The main battleships are all unmanned ships, and the captains either stay on the command platform or in Ansen's base. It can be said These are useless, the regulations are the regulations, and no one can change them. I don’t know what to do if I can’t go to the command academy.”

"You chose Lehr Business School?"

"Not exactly. My dad asked me to go to Anson University to study law at first, but it didn't work out. The law school has a quota limit, and it depends on the grades of related courses. The courses in the Fleet School have nothing to do with what they require. I don't want to It will take another two years to make up lessons," Cassia sighed, "After a lot of tossing and quarreling, I finally came here."

Leo comforted her: "Three years have passed in the blink of an eye. With your mind, you can get whatever you want."

"I just want to join the fleet. Even if there is no one around me to support me, I still want to join the fleet. I made up my mind to be a captain when I was very young, but they all hope that I will take over the family business in the future." She said more and more Faster, with an extremely excited tone: "Everyone is asking for me, but no one cares about what I want."

"It was like that when I was ten years old. Everyone took me for granted that I went to Fleet School and didn't even ask my opinion."

Gradually, the two of them formed a tacit understanding. If there was a class in the afternoon, they would go to the teaching building in advance and use the time before class to chat for a while.

"There is only one person here with you today, not the usual two," Cassia said.She was wearing a particularly beautiful shawl, which was made of a material Leo had never seen before. The pattern on it spread out like a halo, quite retro.

"Yes, Captain Mars sent me here today. He is our captain of the guard. I was in St. Laurent when I was a child, and he picked me up every day." Leo held the two bottles of juice that Captain Mars gave him and handed them to A bottle of Cassia.

Cassia thanked and took it over, and asked casually, "Is his surname Ma Si or Ma Si?"

"Single Mas."

Cassia was shocked: "Single name? Roma? Are you kidding?! You actually let a Roma be the captain of the guard!"

"Don't say that, he has been in Anson for almost 30 years, and he started working as a guard when Ipama was still around."

"Then he's not from Anson either!"

"For me," Leo said without hesitation, "it's like family after all these years. It doesn't matter where he comes from."

Cassia still had a look of disapproval, but she didn't say anything to refute.It was still early for class, and there were only the two of them in a corner of the hall. The ground was warm and dry, and it was almost a double world with the outdoors separated by a wall.Cassia took off the colorful shawl, stuffed it into a shoulder bag, and asked slowly: "Actually, I'm curious, how do you and your brother get along? Will he impose his ideas on you? "

Leo bit the straw and shook his head: "No."

"What do you do when you disagree?"

"There is no disagreement, it has always been what I want."

Cassia hesitated before saying: "Many people think he is scary. Queen Ximena was known for her tough style back then, but what he did can even be described as horror. I don't think you are like him at all, And it's impossible to imagine that you grew up under his influence."

Leo said: "I know what you're talking about. Those four executed in 144, right? Ird said more than once that there could have been a better way to deal with it, but he chose The most extreme kind. But I always felt that people were too hard on him, and he was 17 at the time."

Cassia shook her head slowly: "If those four people are standing in front of you now, would you let them die?"

"..."

"I don't believe you can do it. From what I know of you, you wouldn't do it whether you were 17, 27 or 37."

"I really won't, but I don't want to blame Ild either. He has his own reasons."

Cassia looked sideways at Leo: "You have a kind of blind trust in him."

"Casia, you still don't understand. Queen Ximena died when I was two years old. The word 'mother' is strange and strange to me. I have never even seen my father. I only have my brother. Everything I know is taught by him. I can live to such an age because of his hard work. Have you heard of the attack on the Bolero bar? He happened to be facing the bar at the time and saw it for the first time In the situation over there, there was a chance to dodge, but he didn't dodge, but pushed me aside."

"My God."

"Captain Maas blocked that shot for him. If Maas missed the shot a little bit more, Maas would not be able to save him; if Maas reacted a little slower at that time, it would be Ild who died." Leo stopped and took a deep breath. Calm down in one breath.

It's only been six years, and that horrible scene is still vivid in my mind.There was a dead silence in the Bolero bar. There were two bloody and unidentified objects on the bar. A few steps away, Ian and Joe fell to the ground.With one hand on the floor and the other across Mia, Ellie Lin crouched behind a bar chair to avoid her attackers.On Leo's side, Ild was kneeling by the wall. Captain Maas's shoulder was completely pierced, and the blood mixed with the residue after the wall collapsed was shocking.

"It took me a long time to understand that people will subconsciously avoid danger, but the reactions of Captain Maas and Ild are against instinct. Captain Maas relies on years of training, what does Ild rely on?" , I don't know. Maybe since our mother died, he has realized that there are dangers all around him at any time, and he also knows that he is the most obvious target. Maybe he has already prepared to push me away."

"..."

"So you are right, my trust in Ild is indeed blind. Cassia, you can dislike Ild, but don't hold on to misunderstandings. He did do some controversial things, but Everything happened for a reason. He was never a cold-blooded person."

Cassia may or may not have listened.They talk about everything, often at odds, and sometimes they can convince each other, sometimes they can't.She is still a loner, and Leo seems to be her only friend.Once, when Myron was organizing a party, Leo said, "And Cassia."

Before Myron said anything, a person next to him objected: "Why call her, she doesn't like to talk, and she is extremely arrogant every day."

"Either call Cassia, or I won't go." Leo said bluntly.

That’s probably when the rumors started—Leo Caro and Cassia Izatura were dating.People like this kind of gossip so much, even if Leo has repeatedly denied it, the rumors have not subsided.Whisperers never seem to tire of it.

"Casia? You've heard it too, right?" Leo coughed dryly, and opened his mouth bravely.

"what?"

"Those messy rumors."

"Ah, it's okay, just ignore them." She threw the shoulder bag on the ground casually, sat down against the corner of the wall, and suddenly added: "I know you don't like girls."

"..." Leo was speechless, so he had to sit down.The floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor separated the cold and humid air outside, and the students waiting for class were in groups in the spacious hallway, laughing endlessly.

"Casia, who do you two-headed geniuses like?"

"I like people like you." Cassia leaned against the corner, looked out the window, and said listlessly. "A person who is smart but not pretending to be smart, who lives a real and honest life."

"But he doesn't like me."

"I don't know who this person you are talking about, does he know you? Does he know anything about you except your name and face?"

"……No."

"That's right. If he really got along with you, he would like it."

Leo sincerely hopes that Cassia's prophecy will come true.But there is still a voice in my heart asking: Will it?