The mention of the phrase "two and a half years" stirred an excitement within Mel; trusting the bond of camaraderie that had formed between them, he voiced his question.
"Edgan, what happened two and a half years ago?"
The girl sitting beside the handsome youth covered her mouth with both hands, resembling a child caught in a grave misdeed. It was glaringly evident they had sworn a pact to remain silent on this matter.
"Marvina, I fear that loose tongue of yours will bring disaster down on us!"
For the first time, Edgan spoke with a hardened tone. His previously gentle gaze, now accentuated by furrowed brows, took on a warning glare.
"I just asked out of curiosity; please, you don't have to answer."
Seeing that the pleasant atmosphere had been spoiled on his account, Mel spoke up. His reaction somewhat softened Edgan's demeanor, and the young man, tapping his fingers methodically on the table, kept his eyes fixed upon them.
"I can't talk about this right now. Could you just act like you never heard those words?"
Mel did not speak; he merely nodded in solemn agreement.
"Mel, we're going to try and find a place to stay; do you want to come with us?"
Assuming the tone of a reprimanded child, Marvina called out to the withdrawn boy. Mel pondered for a brief moment, then answered.
"First, I'm going to submit my application for the Botanical Division's exams. After that, I'll take a look around."
Having her proposal rejected, Marvina merely shrugged her shoulders and rose from the table; her older brother, Edgan, soon followed.
"The bill is yours to settle, my friend, and so our debts are cleared. I hope our paths cross again!"
Once the two siblings exited the tavern's doors, Mel gestured to the full-bosomed maid, summoning her to the table. The bill amounted to five silver coins; mirroring the gesture he had observed Edgan perform, the young boy reached inside his clothes as if drawing from a pouch, and left six silver coins on the table.
The maid's face illuminated; despite his simple attire, the patron proved generous. Bowing repeatedly until she nearly brushed the floor, she escorted him to the door, while every patron within the tavern observed the spectacle in bewilderment.
A minute later, the generous patron rushed back inside, asked the full-bosomed maid a question, and sprinted back out with equal haste; a sight that left the onlookers baffled.
"I rushed out so fast, I forgot to ask where the Botanical Division is. It's a good thing I tipped the maid, or I would've been wandering around for nothing."
Muttering to himself, Mel arrived before a single-story structure; though it was not wide, its length was at least five times that of the surrounding buildings. Above the threshold, the words Botanical Division Registration Office were inscribed; upon reading this, the boy began to chuckle.
"How stupid of me; I directly asked the maid where the Botanical Division was, without realizing that this whole settlement is just the gateway to the academy. I wonder what my face looked like when the woman said the academy itself is hidden in the mountains?"
Having spent his life in a remote and desolate stretch of land, Mel could not help but appear slightly foolish while absorbing new knowledge. Though he laughed off most of these blunders, a few weighed heavily upon his mind.
"I wish I never asked that question. Did it ruin things between us? Marvina looked upset; why didn't I just go with them?"
His internal musings spilled from his lips; he was oblivious to how long he had been standing before the building.
"Are you going to get out of the way?"
With a physique far too robust for a fourteen-year-old, Mel was obstructing the entrance. Seeing this, two girls began to shout directly beside his ear.
"Sorry, go right ahead!"
The boy leaped aside in a panic, simultaneously examining the girls who were berating him.
"A peasant, without a doubt; it must be his first time in a city!"
"Look at his clothes; how pathetic!"
Draped from head to toe in heavily ruffled and ostentatious garments, the girls pinched their noses with two fingers as they brushed past Mel.
Prompted by their gesture, the boy involuntarily sniffed himself, yet he detected no foul odor. He could not fathom why the girls had acted in such a manner.
"I just need to go in, finish this, and get back to where I belong!"
Pushing open the towering doors, Mel stepped inside. He beheld desks arranged in rows on both sides, stretching to the very end of the hall. A registrar sat behind each one, and those seeking enrollment were gravitating toward them.
The boy slipped through the bustling crowd near the entrance and walked toward the rear of the hall, his eyes scanning for a vacant desk. Finally, nearing the end of the building, he discovered one. Wasting no time, he sat across from a man who rested his head between his arms on the desk.
"Hello, sir. I'm here to register!"
His voice was resonant and joyful; brimming with energy, he could not sit still. In stark contrast to Mel, the man slowly lifted his head from the desk; the intricate embroidery of his robe's sleeves was imprinted upon his cheek.
"What do you want?"
Mel was perplexed upon hearing a question to which he had already provided the answer.
"Like I said, sir, I want to register for the Botanical Division's entrance exams!"
Everyone save for Mel had comprehended the slumbering man's underlying meaning, yet the young boy persistently repeated the exact same words.
"Could you find no other desk?"
"No, sir; this was the only empty one, and I rushed over right away!"
Mel was merely adding fuel to the flames; the nearby registrars ceased their duties and began to observe the spectacle.
"A pity; it seems his mind is deficient!"
"To actively seek out Cantankerous Hanry... one must possess the luck of a fool!"
While the registrars conversed in hushed whispers, the man seated across from Mel grumbled, retrieving a parchment, a quill forged from sharpened bone, and a vial of ink from his desk drawer.
"What is your name?"
"Malcom, but everyone calls me Mel!"
The man began writing upon hearing the name Malcom; however, at the subsequent words, he paused and glanced at the boy without fully raising his head.
Mel met the registrar's gaze with a radiant smile; the onlookers were struggling to stifle their laughter.
"What is your surname?"
"I don't have one!"
"Are you mocking me, boy!"
When Cantankerous Hanry slammed his hand on the desk and roared, a burst of laughter erupted from the nearby desks; the crowd, having restrained themselves for so long, finally yielded.
"I wouldn't dare, sir. I really don't have a surname. In the village where I was born, nobody needed one!"
After surveying Mel's attire from head to toe, the man spoke.
"Understood. Do you not even know someone who possesses a surname? At least state theirs."
Mel's eyes gleamed; there was indeed someone with a surname, and he knew him intimately.
"Drago. You can write Drago as my surname!"
Upon hearing these words, the people who had gathered around the desk due to the commotion erupted into uproarious laughter once more.
"Ignorant child, where in the desolate mountain village you hail from could you possibly hear such a surname? Who knows whose name you overheard upon entering the settlement, only to come here and attempt to peddle it to me. Do you seek to bring a calamity upon your own head?"
"Your given name is Mel, and your surname shall be Malcom from this day forth; now, state where you hail from!"
Because the registrar deemed the majestic surname unfitting for the boy, he fabricated a registration name according to his own whims. In his eyes, Mel was nothing more than an ignorant peasant from the mountains.
"My village doesn't have a name."
"I have recorded it as 'Wilderness'. Now, present your medallion so I may conclude this registration!"
Mel feigned reaching into his robes, extracted the medallion from his Spatial Ring, and extended it toward the registrar. Upon receiving it, Cantankerous Hanry inspected the round metal from the corner of his eye and pressed his seal on the parchment.
Retrieving a small jade stone from his drawer, he handed it to Mel. Seeing that the boy still stood before him, inspecting the artifact he had just been given, the man grumbled in a cantankerous tone.
"It is called an enrollment acceptance token; if you venture beyond the ramparts, it shall grant you seamless reentry. Though I care not for your fate, in your frail state, you should not only avoid venturing beyond the walls, but also wandering the city streets. Should someone accidentally collide with you, perishing would be the least of your concerns!"