Two Commandments

  This incident suddenly made his mood very bad, he hastily finished eating and drinking, walked out of the cafeteria, glanced to the left, and suddenly saw a stream of blood flowing out from the grass. He lifted up the grass and walked in, seeing the apprentice who was curled up crying earlier now lying on the muddy ground with limbs stretched out, pupils losing focus, fresh blood gushing out from the wound on his wrist like an open faucet. Seeing this scene made Pennie's mood even worse.

  As a former surgeon, he was much more indifferent to life and death than ordinary people, but also more sensitive, and his emotions were more likely to be subtly fluctuating - in short, seeing others die in front of him would never make him feel good.

  If he turned and walked away, this body might be laid out on Pann's operating table tomorrow, a subject for dissection.

  Thinking of this, looking at the body still twitching on the lawn, Penny had already started to feel nauseous.

  Peeking through the bushes, he saw that there were no other apprentices or masters in the courtyard. He hastily bandaged the injured child's wounds, carefully lifting his long robes to reveal a small face with disheveled hair, no more than seven years old, and a female face at that. Perhaps she was a newcomer who couldn't bear the "wonderful" atmosphere here.

  After all, for a child who has just come to understand some things and hasn't experienced much of life, entering the Red Robe Academy is indeed a great misfortune.

  Penny's mind had given rise to a sympathetic idea that he had been avoiding, and this feeling made him depressed. However, he didn't like to give up halfway, and seeing that no one else was appearing around, he decided to rescue the person to the end.

  When the young apprentice girl woke up, it was already midnight. She seemed extremely surprised that she hadn't died, then her expression darkened and she silently got out of bed and walked barefoot to the door. She didn't care who had let her live; for her, who had lost the will to survive, living was just a prelude to dying again.

  "Woken up? You're lucky, if there was even one more person who saw that, I wouldn't have made a move." A tired voice, accompanied by a yawn, came from the bookcase in the corner of the wall and reached the apprentice's ears. She turned her head back in astonishment and saw the legendary figure sprawled out in that corner - although many people didn't like to admit it, many red-robed apprentices deeply admired Panny Sein, this freak who had never become a formal wizard but also hadn't become a specimen. So for these two years, especially this year's apprentices, Panny's appearance and name were as familiar as thunder in their ears.

  After all, there is only one living person in the academy who is fourteen years old, and it's quite obvious.

  So the young apprentice's heart finally gave rise to a thread of curiosity: "Why?"

  Although she had been in the Academy for less than a year, the female apprentice already knew that indifference was the first compulsory course in life as a Red Robe, and she was no exception. She didn't believe that this legendary senior would be an exception either, so she was very suspicious of this long-lived senior's intentions.

  "For no reason."

  The corner's answer was very concise, apparently Penny was too lazy to explain.

  "Oh."

  The female apprentice nodded and didn't say anything else before heading out the door.

  "Are you in such a hurry to go out and die?"

  Penny's words struck the apprentice's lingering thoughts, as if an arrow had accurately hit the bullseye, causing her expression to change as if she had been petrified by a sixth-level transformation spell.

  "You should know, the academy's recent topic of research is on the feasibility of transforming the souls of the dead and vengeful spirits - although this sounds more like a topic for the Necromancy department, but you know, our Curses department also has a strong interest in the relationship between living beings and their souls. So, there's a high chance that your corpse will be dissected, your brain soaked in reviving fluid... Ah, and it's also possible that your soul will be extracted for examination... Are you scared?"

  Pannie raised her head, scratched her messy hair like a bird's nest, and saw the female apprentice lying limp at the door, shaking all over. Her voice was cold: "Hey, I thought this reckless guy was fearless, but now it seems he's just an idiot who doesn't care about his own life."

  "I, I..." The young apprentice girl suddenly burst into tears: "I don't want to die! Don't want to die!"

  Penny gazed calmly at the little girl who had shrunk into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably. There was no further movement. The suicidal impulse of ordinary people only lasts for a short while. If guided properly, this impulse often transforms into a hysterical outburst.

  He didn't intend to interfere with this outburst, in this apathetic place, a little bit of conscience and warmth were luxuries, what he did today had already greatly deviated from the principles of the Red Robes, so he couldn't possibly generously give out anything else, could only tolerate the little girl crying until she was exhausted, his nerves already having an unbearable tautness.

  The sobbing gradually subsided, but after a long time, there was still no sound of the door opening or closing. Penny Sienn impatiently lifted her head and saw a pair of bright, timid eyes with tears shining in them:

  "Sir, I...I...can I survive?"

  That look was like that of a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, which made Penny Si unnoticeably soften her heart, but the words that came out of her mouth could only be described as sharp and acidic:

  "Don't worry, someone like you who looks like an easy target and cries easily will have many more foolish people willing to find pleasure in bullying you. You might get trampled on, but your chances of survival are much higher than those fools. At least they won't bother to deal with you. In the eyes of those mentors, if you were a bit more useful and not too conspicuous, your chances of surviving six years aren't small."

  "Oh." The little girl's eyes lit up, wiped away her tears, and nodded: "Thank you, thank you, sir."

  "Stop crying and get out, I don't want to see your corpse on the autopsy table in a few days." Seeing that the little girl had stopped crying, Penny waved her hand impatiently.

  "Yes! Yes!" The apprentice nodded and walked out, tripping on the doorframe as he left, rolling out a few steps like a gourd, but still remembering to come back and close the door before his footsteps gradually faded away.

  The room was pitch black, with Penny leaning back against the backrest, her eyes fixed on the invisible ceiling.

  You have to be somewhat useful but never too conspicuous.

  This has been Penny's guiding principle for many years. He was a bit surprised that he had just said this, and it was the most he had spoken in eight years since entering here today. He didn't mind this feeling, pressure needed to be released at the right time, and the little girl just happened to be there. So much so that he received a rare "thank you", which he had never heard before, also an unexpected surprise.

  But in Penny's view, this matter will eventually become a trivial episode in his apprenticeship. The young apprentice girl, if she doesn't appear on his dissecting table again, will quickly learn to wrap her coldness and cruelty in a timid shell, and will never again express genuine gratitude. Penny didn't even bother to know her name, nor did he pay much attention to her appearance.

  So Penny soon put it out of her mind and climbed onto that rickety little bed, time to sleep.