-263- Cithria

"Cithria! Where are you? Put down your wooden board and come! it's time for dinner!"

At the outskirts of Cloudfield, guarding the fields, and as a militia, a woman stepped out of the house, raising her hand and shouting loudly outside.

After shouting nearly three times in a row, she, a former soldier, immediately saw a furry head emerging from the nearby bushes.

Having served as a scout on the battlefield, her vision was excellent, and moreover, she was accustomed to Cithria appearing from various places. She could now easily guess where her daughter would emerge from.

"What board! Mother, this is my sword!" 

A few leaves hung on her furry head, and then the girl emerged from the bushes. She stood up, hung the flat and heavy giant wooden sword on her back, and began to pat off the dirt and leaves from her body.

"You, why do you always get yourself so dirty?" Cithria's mother frowned, looking at Cithria in her training clothes, sighed helplessly, and said, "Listen to me, you are already outstanding, and the training methods I taught you can no longer make you stronger."

Turning her head sideways, tapping her ears while jumping in place, Cithria opened her mouth, "Ah, oh, yeah."

"Are you not listening to me? You little girl!" With a raised hand, a long sword instantly thrust towards Cithria.

Whipping her braided brown hair, Cithria bent down and back, simultaneously grabbing her wooden sword with her right hand, pulling it out and lifting it upwards.

"Thud!"

The long sword chopped onto the wooden sword, leaving a new mark.

And on this heavy wooden sword, there were countless, densely packed sword marks.

"Even so, I still have to continue training." Cithria pushed up forcefully, starting to counterattack her mother, swinging her sword like a shield towards her mother.

Although she was short and thin, Cithria was incredibly strong, swinging the heavy wooden sword.

Suppressing her mother, Cithria exclaimed excitedly, "Because only this way can I continue to become stronger, and I can meet the heroes you talked about, mother."

"Oh?" A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Vianca's right leg, wearing leather boots, instantly flicked out, accurately and forcefully kicking Cithria's left shin. Then, her full and strong thigh whipped out again, lashing Cithria's shin.

"Ow!"

A painful cry, Cithria's body instantly lost balance, and Vianca immediately entered the attacking range of the wooden sword. Seeing this, Cithria panicked and swung her wooden sword, but Vianca had already entered Cithria's blind spot for defense. With her calloused left hand, she forcefully lifted it up and precisely struck Cithria's chin.

"Ouch!"

A painful cry, Cithria felt her head spinning instinctively, followed by sitting on the ground.

"Silly daughter, if you want to challenge me, you're a hundred years too early." 

Vianca gracefully sheathed her long sword, then crossed her arms and stood in front of Cithria.

"Don't get cocky!" Quickly getting up from the ground, Cithria held her chin, shaking her braided brown hair, muttering loudly to Vianca, "I will definitely succeed. My dreams are full of adventure, I aspire to."

Back at home, Cithria put down her wooden sword and sat at the dining table.

Vianca picked up a plate of stale bread and placed it in front of Cithria. With mushroom soup, Cithria had this meal.

But just as Cithria was about to take a nap, there was a loud sound of hooves coming from the farm.

In an instant, Cithria's sleepiness vanished, and the sound of hooves sounded heavy, it was a warhorse!

Cloudfield was a very small town, and the only person who owned warhorses in the town was Baron Sri.

Cithria climbed out of her wooden bed and looked at her mother.

Vianca frowned, unsure of the visitor's intentions.

And when a voice sounded, it confirmed Cithria's guess.

"Vianca! The Baron is here, come out and greet him!"

"Is this how you treat a veteran? Don't be rude, Kuron, step back!" 

Vianca and Cithria stood outside the door together. On the tall warhorse, wearing a red cloak and noble attire, the man held the reins, lowered his head, and looked at Vianca and Cithria.

Cithria, who was usually arrogant in front of her mother, now timidly shrank her head, hiding behind Vianca like a quail.

What a tall and majestic soldier on a warhorse.

"Lord Sri." Vianca bowed her head and reached out to press Cithria's head, respectfully saying to Sri.

"No need for formalities, Vianca, I am here with the Count's orders."

"The Count?!" Cithria, behind Vianca, mumbled, and then, when Sri looked over with two soldiers wearing silver-white helmets, Cithria immediately covered her mouth and lowered her head.

"You must be Cithria, right? I know you. You've participated in several Cloudfield Hunts, and I've also seen your enlistment letter," Baron Sri dismounted, and the two soldiers behind him quickly followed suit, staying close behind the Baron.

"I-I-I..." Cithria stuttered.

"Don't be nervous, Cithria," Sri looked at her gently. "Your excellence hasn't escaped my notice. You're a talented warrior. I've agreed to your enlistment. Initially, I planned for you to train in Cloudfield for a few more years, then send you to the Demacian army, recommending you in my name."

Vianca's expression remained unchanged. She was an excellent scout who had seen many powerful people. She had shared their stories with young Cithria, fueling her aspirations to join the military.

A soldier's heroes are usually soldiers.

Cithria would surely become a brave soldier in the future. Vianca believed in that firmly.

"But there's been a slight change of plans,"

Sri looked at Vianca, who immediately inquired, "What is it, Baron?"

"Cloudfield is remote, but I assume you already know about Demacia's recent diplomatic relations with the outside."

"You mean the Twin Cities?" Vianca asked softly.

"Exactly. The massive blue light tower on Verdant Cliff is the creation of the Twin Cities Federation. Also, the magical airship that flew over Cloudfield before was also from the Twin Cities," Sri said with a touch of nostalgia.

He, too, had been a noble who refused to establish diplomatic ties with the Twin Cities. Although he knew about Hextech phones, he didn't think they were that important.

Back then, Hextech phones only appeared in twin cities and were owned only by the high nobles. Moreover, due to the lack of Hextech towers, the communication range of Hextech phones wasn't far.

But now, residing in Cloudfield, Sri could communicate with people miles away.

"This..." Vianca frowned and hugged Cithria, saying, "But what does this have to do with Cithria?"

"Because Cithria is one of the chosen," Sri said seriously. "I've chosen Cithria. For the next four years, she will be an exchange student to the Twin Cities University from Demacia for a four-year program."

"What? No!" Vianca tensed up instantly, saying angrily, "Baron, Cithria hasn't done anything wrong, and her father and I have served Demacia honorably! You can't treat us like this!"

Vianca drew her sword, and behind Sri, the two soldiers also unsheathed their swords, their swords looking even better, glimmering in the sunlight.

Cithria also placed her hand on the hilt of her wooden sword, feeling anxious and scared. But her mind was blank, and slowly, her hands stopped shaking, becoming extremely calm.

"Please calm down, Vianca," Sri raised his hand, and the two soldiers behind him sheathed their swords.

"Calm down? How can I be calm? Are you trying to send my daughter as a hostage to another country? I won't agree to this. If the country needs soldiers, my husband and I can return to the army, and I can go to the Twin Cities instead of Cithria!" Vianca retorted loudly.

"This is a misunderstanding, Vianca, you, oh dear, you've misunderstood me," Sri shook his head wryly, pressing down Vianca's sword. The tall baron took a step forward, looking at the tense Vi, and said softly:

"You might think so, and I can understand that. But, Vianca, this is an opportunity for Cithria. She will study in the scientific powerhouse and learn about the advanced Hextech of the Twin Cities Federation."

Seeing Vianca still not believing, Sri continued, "You can rest assured, the Crown Prince will also be a part of this journey. Can you trust me now?"

"The Crown Prince?" Vianca's tense arms relaxed, and she looked at Sri in a daze.

"Yes, that's right, the Crown Prince is also going to the Twin Cities University to study. I know you might doubt this. Vi, you can use your former connections to inquire in the capital, and then you'll know I'm not lying."

"As for you wanting to go in place of Cithria," Sri smiled and shook his head, "That's a university. I don't know what a university is, but I've heard they only accept young, talented children."

"I..." Vianca had put away her sword and was about to speak, but she seemed to think of something and looked at Cithria beside her, whispering softly:

"After hearing what the Baron and I said, Cithria, tell me, what do you think?"

"Mother," Cithria took a deep breath, looking at Baron Sri. She spoke, "I want to know, are there heroes in that place? In the Twin Cities you mentioned, Baron, are there great heroes there?"

"Heroes?" Sri didn't expect such a term, usually only uttered by children, to come from the mouth of the grown-up Cithria.

Sri looked at Cithria, her eyes filled with curiosity. When he stared into her eyes, she immediately lowered her head, avoiding Sri's gaze.

"Heroes. Does a man who defeats an undead general count as a hero?" Sri asked strangely. Of course, heroes are those who stand on one's own side and are advantageous to oneself.

Sri didn't consider the Guardian of the Twin Cities as a hero. From a certain perspective, he posed a great threat to Demacia.

But Cithria's thoughts were different from Sri's.

"Undead general?" Cithria was taken aback, then turned sharply to Vianca, asking, "Is it the one you told me about, that.... Sion?"

"Yes, it's Sion," Sri answered from the side. "Noxus once invaded the Twin Cities but retreated in defeat. Even the undead general Sion was left behind. It's said that Noxians are still negotiating with the Twin Cities people, hoping to get Sion's corpse back."

"Was it him?" Cithria's eyes sparkled.

She had grown up listening to Vianca telling Demacian hero stories at her bedside. She fell asleep listening to those stories.

Her dreams were full of magical and adventurous stories, filled with the tales of great heroes of Demacia.

Kind and benevolent King Orlon, the powerful and mysterious yet noble demon slayer, Tiana Crownguard who, despite being a woman, held the position of Field Marshal, and the mysterious steward in the palace. Cithria admired heroes. Otherwise, as a girl from a remote town, she wouldn't have been practicing swordplay, dreaming of joining the military.

Ha, a commoner's child joining the military, and she's a girl?

But it was precisely because of her aspirations that she wanted to become one.

"Of course, he single-handedly repelled thousands of Noxian soldiers and even killed Sion."

Seeing Cithria's eyes light up, Sri immediately continued, striking while the iron was hot, "Not only that, Cithria, let me tell you some news I recently received."

"Baron, please tell me!" Cithria was extremely excited.

"There's been recent underground news from the capital. It's said that this man had make great changes in Bilgewater. He killed the legendary deity, a colossal being several hundred meters in size!"

"Wow!" Cithria exclaimed.

Vianca watched quietly as Cithria became excited beyond measure. She knew her daughter's choice.

Cithria had heard all kinds of hero stories, and now, Vianca knew clearly that Cithria was about to write her own story.

"Baron, do you know the name of that hero?" Cithria asked Sri again.

Sri nodded and replied, "Of course."

"His name is Linwin, Linwin Lorant."