Shortly after the Ernst Institute began the new school semester, Hillman arrived at the Ernst Institute in search of Linley.
In front of the Ernst Institute’s main gate, Hillman was frowning while pacing. Clearly, he had a belly full of bad thoughts. The Ernst Institute was under very strict management, and as an outsider without any particular status or power, he didn’t have the qualifications needed to enter.
After a while, Yale and Reynolds, both dressed in sky-blue robes, stepped out and walked towards him.
“You are Linley’s Uncle Hillman, right? I met you before.” Yale spoke out warmly.
Hillman had previously seen Linley’s three bros before. Upon seeing Yale and Reynolds, he immediately went over and asked them, “Hey…I know that you are classmates with Linley, and I wanted to ask, why didn’t Linley come back to celebrate the New Year? Every year in the past, he would come back.”
“Uh…” Yale and Reynolds exchanged glances.
That Linley had his heart broken wasn’t a happy event. It wouldn’t be good for them to reveal it to Linley’s elders.
Reynolds reaction speed was the fastest. Smiling, he said, “Uncle Hillman, Linley’s totally focused on his training, and long before the end-of-the-year examinations, had already reached the rank of magus of the sixth rank. And then, he once more entered the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for training. Man, he’s so hard-working…he didn’t even bother coming back for the yearly examinations. That Dixie fellow was assessed as a magus of the sixth rank this year. Some people are now saying that Dixie has surpassed Linley.”
“Third Bro has no care for these superficial things. Right, Uncle Hillman, Linley headed off to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts last December. He should be back very soon. Is there something important? If there is, you can tell us. We’ll definitely let him know when he’s back.” Yale said very courteously.
Hillman was silent for a while, then shook his head, a smile on his face that didn’t seem like a smile. “No…nothing important. It was just that Linley had always come back every year, and so this year, when he did not, the family grew worried and wanted to check up on him. Since we now know that Linley has entered the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, we’re satisfied.”
“Uncle Hillman, don’t worry, when Third Bro comes back, I’ll definitely tell him to go home early so that you won’t be worried.” Yale immediately said.
Hillman shook his head. “No need, no need to rush him back. Let him focus on his training. When he has some free time, he can come back then. Nothing big is going on back home anyways. Thanks, the two of you. I’ll head off now.”
Watching Hillman depart, Yale and Reynolds smiled, then turned to leave as well.
Suddenly…
“Young master Yale, young master Reynolds!” From far away, an exceedingly friendly voice called out.
Yale and Reynolds turned to stare outside of the Institute. From far away, they could see a parked carriage guarded by four armored knights. Frowning, Yale said questioningly, “Who is calling out to me? Oh. It’s Austoni.” Yale saw Austoni poke his face out of the carriage.
Austoni was the first out of the carriage. He smiled humbly at Yale, and then respectfully stood off to the side. At this time, the screen door to the carriage was once more pushed open, and a very distinguished-looking bald gentleman with a cane slowly made his way out.
Yale and Reynolds exchanged glances.
“Who is this old geezer? Seems distinguished.” Reynolds said beneath his breath.
Yale shook his head. Also beneath his breath, he said, “I don’t recognize this old geezer either. But based on Austoni’s actions, he should be an important individual. Austoni is a high level manager at the Proulx Gallery who has fairly high status himself.”
Accompanied by Austoni, that distinguished looking old man walked over to them, smiling.
“Little Yale, hello.” The bald man smiled as he spoke to Yale. “I ran into your father not long ago. Your father was full of praises for you. Haha, for Mr. Dawson to have a son such as yourself at the Ernst Institute is a very proud thing.”
Yale looked questioningly at the bald man.
“He says he knows my father? And seems to be close to him?”
Austoni said from the side, “Young master Yale, this is the managing director of our Proulx Gallery. You can call him Director Maia [Mai’ya].”
“No need, just call me Uncle Maia. I’ve been friends with your father for decades.” The bald old man said with a smile.
Yale felt secretly shocked.
The Proulx Gallery was the holy land for the arts. Every single large city in the Yulan continent had a branch of the Proulx Gallery. Even here at Fenlai City alone, the total value of all the sculptures stored at the local Proulx Gallery would come to an astounding figure.
And that wasn’t the half of it.
The most important thing was status. To be the managing director of the holy land for the arts meant that the circle this Director Maia travelled in composed of the highest tier of people in the entire Yulan continent, and he might even be on friendly terms with Saint-level combatants. How could anyone look down upon someone like this?
What’s more, the Proulx Gallery had a extremely formidable armed force, as otherwise, how could they protect their valuable treasures?
“Uncle Maia.” Yale said humbly.
The bald Director Maia turned to look at Reynolds. “And this is?”
“This is a good bro of mine – Reynolds.” Yale immediately replied. Quite elegantly, Reynolds also said, “Very pleased to meet you, Director Maia.”
Director Maia nodded slightly. From Reynolds movements, he could tell that Reynolds had received excellent tutelage from when he was young.
“Uncle Maia, why have you come here, if I might ask?” Yale asked.
Although he was asking, in his heart, Yale already suspected the answer. “80% chance he’s here because of that sculpture of Third Bro – Awakening From the Dream.” The last time the Ernst Institute had a holiday break, due to the fact that it had been quite some time since Linley had sent any sculptures to the Proulx Gallery, Austoni had come over to see what the situation was.
But upon arriving at Linley’s dormitory, by chance, Austoni had caught a glimpse of that sculpture, which they had placed in the dorm.
Upon seeing it, Austoni had been totally stunned.
As a high level manager of the Proulx Gallery, Austoni’s eyes were exceedingly sharp. From that glimpse, he was absolutely certain that this sculpture of Linley’s was qualified to be described as standing at the pinnacle of the entire art of stonesculpting. It definitely was qualified to stand on the same pedestal as the Ten Great Sculptures.