TINA V6C179: Graduation Ceremony

The staple food for breakfast was walnut pancakes with tender and delicious fresh walnuts that Olivia and Mu Gen liked to eat. Five walnut trees were planted in the enlarged backyard and thanks to Xiao A and the one-horned beasts, they have grown well. Before the walnut ripening season, Uncle Alpha will gather several robots to knock down all the walnuts and give some to each neighbor’s house, the professors at Mu Gen’s Academy, and the rest is the raw material for Olivia to squeeze the walnut oil.

Make the batter and sprinkle the fresh walnuts in it, spread a layer of oil on the pancake pan, then pour a spoonful of batter on it…in a short while, the scented walnut pancake is ready. Olivia chose Bailu Star’s local flour mixed with a little bit of flour milled from the roots of Mugen grass. Tasting a bit, it’s crispy and not dry at all. With a large number of affordable walnuts, the taste is even better!

Early in the morning, Olivia would busily climb the tree to pick fresh walnuts and then peel them to make pancakes.

Mu Gen was not idle so while Oli is making breakfast. He and Sigma polished Robot A’s whole body and tied a bow tie around his neck. Among the few big heads, Mengmeng was the top priority so these days, under Alpha’s suggestion, Mu Gen and Sigma used their only remaining materials not worn out during the journey through the Stargate to create a body for Mengmeng.

Today is Olivia’s graduation day.

The Graduation Ceremony that was supposed to be held half a year ago has been postponed for more than half a year! This is the wish of all graduates. They hope that the graduation ceremony could be held after the return of their Chief. The Academy accepted their collective request, but also set a time limit, and Olivia returned safely before this deadline.

“Little Oli, I’ll iron your uniform!” There was a knock on the door and before Sigma jumped down to open the door, Miss Maria’s voice came from outside.

Although Miss Maria looked like a lady, even speaking and behaving like one, her voice is really loud!

She was also very strong and wouldn’t ask anyone for help. She smilingly came over with a few big boxes. Even while wearing an elegant long skirt and a pair of stiletto heels, she could still carry so many things and walk so steadily!

Surprised by this, Mu Gen hurried over and took the boxes from her hand. Olivia also came to help and saw her staring at the walnut pancake on the table shyly. Olivia hurriedly invited Miss Maria to try his special walnut pancake.

“Aiyo! I’m trying to lost weight…so I haven’t eaten breakfast today…” Miss Maria hesitated but in the end, she couldn’t resist the attack of the walnut pancake’s aroma and sat on the Mu Gen’s dining table to have a taste.

Then, with this taste, though Mu Gen and Olivia were full, she’s still going.

As a lady, a young and beautiful lady who’s in her courtship age, Miss Maria achieved the task of “clearing” the table elegantly (← Clearing, specifically refers to the anti-waste behavior of rounding up leftovers and eating it all up. During dinner, males often complete this glorious mission).

Satisfied after eating the last piece of walnut pancake, Miss Maria hurried over to help the two young men try on the suits.

Mu Gen’s suit was just an ordinary one since today’s protagonist was Olivia.

As early as when the internship was about to end, the Imperial Military Academy customized the formal suits for each student to wear in the graduation ceremony. Olivia also has a set. The suit was customized according to his body size on his last medical examination report before the internship. But after his disappearance, Olivia, who returned home, grew 5cm taller. His limbs became longer so the original suit no longer fits. Miss Maria, who had a clothing store, took the initiative to help him reproduce the suit within three days.

The clothes are very particular, especially the military uniform: The position of the medal is very particular and there’s a special manual dedicated to explaining these! Every detail is required to be meticulous, and this is Olivia’s first time wearing such complicated clothes. Even though Mu Gen helped, half an hour passed and Olivia’s clothes still looked wrong.

“Let me do it.” After washing her hands, Miss Maria smiled and took over the work from Mu Gen. While explaining, she re-adjusted the epaulets for Olivia, straightened the ribbon, and the position of the medal was also adjusted…in ten minutes, Olivia looked completely different!

With hands on both sides of her body, Miss Maria watched her “work” proudly. It was so perfect!

If the previous Olivia was a grown-up child in her eyes, then the Olivia right now is an “adult male” with an aggressive feeling.

The black clothes is completely tailor-made, which perfectly outlines the broad shoulders of the youth, and the thin waist, slender and tight calves wrapped in black military boots was perfect!

This is the back view.

When he turned around, anyone would fall into those golden eyes in an instant. Eyes of such strange colors embedded in that handsome face, faintly adding a layer of majesty to the youth. There’s only a short layer of blond hair on top of his head, but this simple hairstyle made him look more like a soldier——

“Oh my God! Little Oli, you look great!” Clapping both hands, Miss Maria exclaimed. Passing the black military cap in her hand to Mu Gen, she motioned for Mu Gen to put it on Olivia’s head.

“Formal clothes must be worn with the help of others. Little Oli will inevitably participate in such occasions in the future so you must learn to help him, little Mu Gen.” As Miss Maria said that, she directed the angle of the brim of the hat and explained how to wear it without affecting the hairstyle even after removing it.

Mu Gen listened carefully and when Miss Maria was done and he wanted to practice, he froze for a moment:

Uh…Oli…Oli is so much taller than me now that I can’t reach his head, what should I do?

Lifting his head, Mu Gen slammed into those golden eyes with a slight smile. Oli was looking at him with a smile.

Mu Gen pulled his sleeve and Olivia bent down obediently. Mu Gen then put the hat on his head very gently and after looking at it for a while, he motioned for Miss Maria to check it.

“Very nice.” Throwing a thumbs up to Mu Gen, Miss Maria rushed to the few robots.

After the family was done, the neighbors drove them to the port and watched as Mu Gen’s family boarded the military spacecraft heading to Hengtian Star.

At 13:00 on Day 1, Month 2, Year 394, the hottest time of the sun star, they could already smell the elegant fragrance of flowers blowing in the wind. It’s still one hour away from the graduation ceremony of the previous seventh grade of the Imperial Military Academy which had been postponed for more than half a year.

As the only day in seven years when parents can enter their children’s campus for a visit, the Imperial Military Academy has a lot of traffic today.

Since most of the students’ parents are currently senior military officers, this graduation ceremony looked like another military meeting.

In previous years, the annual graduation ceremony was held in the First Student Hall of the Imperial Military Academy. But this time, the graduation ceremony was different. The addresses notified on the invitations issued by the Academy were all in the Royal Hall of Louis I of the Imperial Military Academy. Almost everyone in the entire empire knew the origin of this auditorium!

This is the auditorium built by His Majesty Louis I when he founded the school! Specially built for the school opening ceremony, and the first ten graduation ceremonies of the Academy were held here! All the honors obtained by the Imperial Military Academy were displayed here aside from the portraits of the previous deans. Because so many precious items are here, the Academy had to build an additional auditorium. The Royal Hall of Louis I became a museum of honor, standing quietly in the northeast corner of the Imperial Military Academy, a heavily guarded place where students can’t easily approach.

Many parents were shocked to learn that this year’s graduation ceremony will be held in this auditorium!

You must know, most of the parents of these students are graduates of the Imperial Military Academy, even their parents! However, no one’s graduation ceremony was held in the Royal Hall of Louis I!

Due to the change in venue, this graduation ceremony gained extra weight in everyone’s hearts before it was even held!

The parents came and even those who originally couldn’t come have to ask for leave. Many immediate family members are qualified to participate in the Graduation Ceremony so the Academy was overcrowded.

Fortunately, the auditorium was big enough! Fortunately, 50% of the people who came were soldiers, and only then did everyone have enough control to keep the scene in order!

The students entered the venue early while the parents made a long line outside and only 15 minutes before 14:00 did the Academy finally began to arrange for them to enter.

Mu Gen was also one of these people.

However, although he’s wearing a high-end suit that’s not much different from the others, he seemed incompatible with the surrounding environment: Blame the big robot heads in his hand!

After experiencing the adventure of crossing the Star Gate, the only people who can stand in their family is Mu Gen, Robot A, Sigma (with the spare legs he’s more satisfied with), and Mengmeng (with a temporarily assembled body).

The other five robots, with only their heads, are now being held as they followed the crowd, waiting to enter the venue.

The surroundings looked strangely at them: There’s only one human being and still so young while the rest are robots, wait! Are robots eligible to enter? Could it be a bodyguard robot? But these robots are broken and old, not even a high-end item…how did these people get in?

Without paying attention to the others, Mu Gen just firmly looked ahead, but in the end, Sigma felt that something was wrong.

His dark screen turned around and didn’t understand why the humans around him were staring at his family with such strange eyes.

He tried to say hello but didn’t get any response.

Mu Gen patted his head comfortingly.

At this moment, a greeting came from behind Mu Gen:

“Good day, is it the family of student Augustus?”

Mu Gen turned around in response and saw an old man greeting him and Sigma. He looked stern and also wore a formal military uniform, so Mu Gen looked at his epaulets reflexively: Hmm…a Lt General.

“I am Paul’s Grandfather. I don’t know if Augustus has mentioned my child at home…”

Not, mentioned, at, all——Mu Gen quickly flipped through his memories.

What he did was easier for robots to do so before Mu Gen could react, Sigma’s flickering screen flashed after trying to greet someone but failed.

Not good——it’d be bad if Sigma told the other party that Oli hadn’t mentioned that classmate at all!

Just when Mu Gen wanted to stop Sigma, Sigma had already taken over.

“Good day, Olivia often mentions classmate Paul at home! Classmate Paul’s mecha scores are very good and he’ll definitely become an excellent fighter in the Empire’s First Mecha Battalion…”

Mu Gen: ￣▽￣?

Mu Gen just remembered that because of his concern for Olivia’s learning environment, he had been careful about Olivia’s surroundings and also carefully memorized the name and general situation of Olivia’s current classmates. As a good brother who’s always inseparable from Mu Gen, Sigma naturally assisted him.

He always felt that Sigma’s behavioral pattern of meeting people and saying nice things look a bit familiar——as soon as this thought passed, Mu Gen smiled and watched Sigma talk to the old gentleman.

The old gentleman is probably a very well-known person. When he talked to the Mu Gen family, many people came to greet them one after another. As more and more people came, fewer and fewer people looked at his family with strange eyes.

Soon, it was time for their family to enter the auditorium. After bidding farewell to the gentleman, Mu Gen and his party stepped into the legendary auditorium!

“(*@ο@*) Wow……” ← After entering the auditorium, Mu Gen’s expression became like this!

But to not shame Olivia, he reluctantly suppressed his excitement. While walking towards the seats under the guidance of the Academy staff, he imperceptibly observed the venue without a trace.

Mu Gen had never seen such a beautiful place!

The roof of the entire auditorium is a huge arch and every step would bring countless square portraits embedded on the walls, which are portraits of famous people from the Imperial Military Academy. At the bottom of the portrait was the person’s name, honor, and a simple resume recorded in small print.

The background color is white, the portrait frames are full of golden carvings, and with the scarlet curtains and seats, the simple three colors made this hall very spectacular!

This is a rare royal architectural style in recent years, this kind of gold, this kind of red…these colors are only allowed by the Imperial Royal Family!

While looking around, Mu Gen recalled what he had learned in the art appreciation class.

Eventually, their group was introduced to the front row position, which is the best position in the parent area.

One person had one seat. After beckoning Dad A and Mengmeng to quickly take their seats, Mu Gen and Sigma also sat in the scarlet seats.

After they took their seats, the parents who entered the venue later also arrived and sat in the seats behind Mu Gen. He didn’t have to look back to know that countless people are staring at him, so Mu Gen put his hands on his knees awkwardly and didn’t dare look back at all.

This occasion was too formal and everyone’s clothes are too formal, so the surrounding situation made Mu Gen nervous.

The host announced the official start of the ceremony at this moment. When the national anthem sounded, the scarlet curtain in front of the main stage instantly fell, revealing the portrait of a person behind as the main background: The protagonist in the photo was a man in a black uniform with long golden hair and golden eyes, he is——

Louis I!

The moment the portrait was revealed, without any instructions from the host, everyone silently stood up and took off their hats to pay tribute for a minute before they all took their seats.

Not knowing what was going on at all, Mu Gen could only follow along, feeling his heartbeat getting faster and faster.

Fortunately, the next ceremony was almost the same as what he had experienced. The host invited the Dean and professor representatives of the Academy to give speeches.

Mr. Argos looked very serious when he’s in the Academy——Mu Gen thought when the Dean gave a speech. They are regular speakers so the atmosphere was very calm.

It reached a small climax when the host invited the guests to make a speech:

This time, the Imperial Military Academy actually invited Marshal Rothsay as a guest!!!

This is too grand!

The venue became more serious and Marshal Rothsay received great applause after his speech that Mu Gen almost felt his ears going deaf.

According to the usual practice, after the guests’ speeches, it’s time for the graduate representative to speak and Mu Gen couldn’t help but raise his spirits, ready to applaud Olivia. However, after Marshal Rothsay’s speech, the second person who came up was not Olivia, but another person that Mu Gen also knew!

“Mr. Sith?” Mu Gen was stunned.

When Sithili Rho Nashkiel stood in front of the portrait of Louis I and began to speak, the atmosphere in the hall was so enthusiastic that it was about to explode——

As the boss of the opponent of all military personnel present, Sithili Rho Nashkiel has not set foot on any land that belonged to the military’s sphere of influence for 150 years, and the Imperial Military Academy was naturally within this range.

With the corners of his mouth curled up slightly and waiting for the atmosphere in the hall to calm down where he could talk, Sithili began to speak. He first praised the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was held and then recalled the glory during Louis I era. That gorgeous rhetoric and slow speaking speed was very consistent with his aura and existing impressions in front of the public. The audience didn’t know why he appeared in this place at this time, and just when they thought that he would not praise the Imperial Military Academy at its territory, Sithili Rho Nashkiel unexpectedly earnestly praised the Academy.

“…this is a very good Academy where young people can gain strength and a brave heart.”

“I will consider letting my children come here to study in the future.”

Everyone knew that this Lord is a Kantas. As the number one fanatical supporter of regaining the Kantas race’s glory, all his “children” are Kantas.

As an Academy founded by the Kantas Emperor Louis I, the Imperial Military Academy is deeply marked with the traces of the Kantas race, even——the school badge of the Academy is a black Kantas. However, this Academy has never welcomed a Kantas student in recent decades.

It wasn’t that there are no Kantas, but that this Lord brought all the freshman Kantas into his sphere of influence.

But now, he actually——

In full view, Sithili Rho Nashkiel finished his speech, then, when he was about to leave, he suddenly stretched out his right hand in one direction.

This is an inviting gesture, full of equality and friendliness.

They heard Sithili Rho Nashkiel say: “Come on, my boy.”

When the tall young man stood on the podium, they recognized his identity just from his clothes. At this time on stage, his identity should be the top student of this year and also the representative of the graduates.

But——

What is the relationship between the graduate representative of the Imperial Military Academy and the Lord from the Government Administration Council?

All doubts stopped the moment the young man raised his head and took off his military cap.

Standing in front of the portrait of the Emperor with golden eyes, the young graduate representative showed his golden eyes.

***

The young man who was very consistent with the appearance of the Emperor started his speech gently. Without any scripts, he always faced everyone.

And he talked a lot.

He talked about the excellent instructors of the Academy and Dean Argos who brought him here and also talked about the unique canteens…

Then he solemnly recommended Canteen 3’s food that tasted like fish even without using fish (everyone laughed).

Just like an excellent junior, from his speech, people could hear his memories of the Imperial Military Academy, his impressions of the faculty and staff, and his feelings for his classmates.

People did not doubt that he had deep feelings for this Academy.

Then the topic changed. From the food in Canteen 3, he mentioned part of his disappearance experience.

About his hunger and how he used the precious recipes from Canteen 3 to survive the disaster with his colleagues.

He didn’t mention much about that mission and all the parts he talked about are things that could be mentioned, so everyone in the venue knew his experience. Rather than cover it up, it’d be better to let everyone know from his own mouth.

The Military is very complicated and the Council also seemed to want to get involved in this matter so to get the highest benefit, Olivia used this occasion to push himself in front of everyone.

What could be grander than in front of the bosses of the Military and Government Affairs at the same time?

Olivia smiled from start to finish.

As Miss Maria said, he looks great!

From the moment Olivia came on stage, Mengmeng became very focused.

He stared at Olivia with his screen very hard and Mu Gen guessed that he’s probably filming the whole process.

Just when Mu Gen retracted his gaze on Mengmeng, Olivia saw Mengmeng suddenly turn his head.

“Mu Gen, Olivia looks so strange.”

“En?”

“He looks so upgraded now.” Mengmeng chose an adjective that’s more in line with robot habits.

“But I’m so tattered, do you think Olivia will still want me?” The patched-up Mengmeng cautiously said.

Mengmeng’s head tilted, looking a bit pitiful.

Gently touching Mengmeng’s body, Mu Gen smiled.

“No, you are Mengmeng.”

“For Oli, you are the one and only Mengmeng!”

Mu Gen smiled and his smile was faithfully recorded in the video record that day by Mengmeng who was still in camera mode and was seen by Olivia.

Of course, this is something for later.

Soon after Mu Gen comforted Mengmeng, Olivia finally turned the topic to his family.

“…I am a soldier. From the moment I entered this Academy, I know what my future destiny belongs to.”

“But unlike Lt. General Bulfat Lane who hopes to die in the starry skies, I hope to die in my home, surrounded by my family and leave under everyone’s attention.”

“At that moment, I just hope to bring everyone back.”

“I don’t want to die in a strange starfield. Even if I die, I will die in my own country.”

“I love my country.”

“For my family, I want to thank them again for coming to me when I was desperate. Although they’re not high-ranking officers or even members of the military, however, they did their best to come to me when I was most desperate.”

“I love you all.”

Olivia’s speech ended with a thank you and a deep bow.

Everyone could say beautiful words, but Olivia was especially good at it.

This speech that made him like a fish in the water in the Military and the Council at the same time has been repeatedly studied by future generations.

People thought that Olivia has been a qualified politician since this time.

In a speech, he not only introduced his relationship with the country but also acquiesced to his Kantas identity and this identity gave him the support of the Council. He also introduced his merits and patriotic spirit. Finally, he used the introduction to his family to show that his family is very ordinary and doesn’t belong to any power.

This is a very beautiful closing speech that marked the end of Olivia’s school days;

At the same time——

It’s also a very, very beautiful opening remark. After this graduation ceremony, this big figure who had been left behind in the history of the Empire officially stepped on the stage that only belonged to him!

This speech was somewhat true and somewhat false, and perhaps only Olivia knew which is which.

At that time, Olivia was staring deeply at the row of people sitting in the front row of the parent seats and then smiled brightly at them.

---

The author is something to say:

Olivia grew up enough for his family to be proud.

PS: Since the name of this chapter is called Graduation Ceremony, I intend to finish it in one chapter. As a result, I wrote so much that I didn’t finish in time for the scheduled update.

I’m so embarrassed!

Muah!