Spring? What a joke!
Winterfield was as freezing as expected.
Sure, it’s called ‘Winterfield,’ but it doesn’t snow every single day of the year. It’s part of the Empire, after all, and unless you head down to the Riclant Autonomous State, you might actually see spring or summer here.
But spring just means it’s slightly less cold than winter, and summer can only be compared to autumn in other regions because it’s still pretty breezy.
Ironically, because of this, it’s quite famous as a decent vacation spot for nobles. They come here to enjoy the coolness during the scorching summer. Down below, near the bustling city, snow melts during spring, but up on the mountains, there’s always snow, providing a breathtaking view. It’s something you wouldn’t see easily in other parts of the Empire.
Even though the warlords and the autonomous government of Riclant are tangled up in a fight with the Empire’s soldiers, that’s a story far removed from the main territories. Winterfield is vast, and the central areas are positioned in the somewhat warmer southern parts.
“It’s freezing… Is it really still winter, even though it’s May?”
It’s said that when spring comes, the snow melts, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t snow. And when it snows, it doesn’t melt right away! Heck, in a place like Gangwon-do, you can still get snow even in may during the brutally cold years.
“It’s Winterfield. For the locals, it might feel different, but for people from other areas, it seems like winter all year round.”
Leo said to Claire, who was trembling.
“Well, it’s not like it’s winter all the time.”
Then, at Leo’s voice, he flinched, shaking his shoulders.
“It does have summer, sort of. Compared to the Imperial Capital, it’s cooler, but honestly, from my perspective growing up here, the Imperial Capital is way too hot.”
“…But it just turned spring, didn’t it?”
“Exactly, which is why it’s so hot. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t even get snow in spring.”
“…”
Jennifer’s words left Leo and Claire speechless, not to mention all the noble students gathered around them.
“Honestly, I’m already worried about how to survive the summer… but, I guess it doesn’t matter. There’s still summer vacation anyway.”
It’s not like it doesn’t matter at all.
Because before the actual summer even started, Jennifer would already be dripping in sweat.
And she openly wore revealing clothes, making her the perfect ‘character for figure making.’
Of course, this game didn’t often feature such figurines. So it was a bit disappointing.
In the game, it would be set in a cold place, reactions would pop up, and you could choose any outfit. Naturally, if you didn’t choose yourself, characters would show up in warm clothes like the coat I’m wearing. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t dress them in outfits you bought through DLC.
It felt incredibly awkward to have other characters wander around in swimsuits, but somehow it didn’t feel the same for Jennifer. After all, she was a character that claimed it was hot all along since the beginning of summer in the Imperial Capital.
“Alright, are we all together?”
Regardless of how the seasons went in Winterfield, it’s a vast territory within the Empire and also strategically important, so not only the nobles from Class A were getting off the train.
Businessmen in formal suits were moving briskly while checking their pocket watches, and a few soldiers in military uniforms were walking in the distance. There were also some soldiers who seemed to be returning from leave. No one paid any attention to us. Jennifer wasn’t in her usual officer uniform; she was in civilian clothes so nobody saluted her.
If they had seen her face, they might have saluted, but Jennifer was, after all, a retired soldier. Strictly speaking, that means she wasn’t someone to receive salutes.
Maybe that’s why she dressed in civilian clothes and tied her hair back on purpose?
“Yes, we’re all here.”
Before I knew it, Alice, who had taken the role of the class representative, answered like that.
Jennifer took a slow look around us.
Unlike other teachers, our homeroom teacher, surprisingly, didn’t ask us to line up or anything. This person, unlike our homeroom teacher Carolyn Northwood, was free in a different sense.
“Before coming here, I heard from Carolyn to take good care of you all.”
Jennifer, looking around at us, slowly opened her mouth.
“I’m not particularly fond of high-ranking nobles, but Carolyn is different. You all might have felt it, but there aren’t actually that many good people among nobles.”
People around nodded at Jennifer’s words.
No student would dislike a beautiful, kind, dedicated teacher.
“So, I don’t want to impose on Carolyn. If any of you act up or do something dangerous, I’ll make sure to punish you hard. I can’t just let you injure other students and send them home.”
Then, looking at us again,
“There are plenty of dangerous spots in Winterfield that can get pretty risky for first-timers. I’ll explain in detail later when we gather at the lodging. For now…”
Jennifer took out her pocket watch and looked at it.
“We have about an hour, so feel free to wander around until then. This area is a bit off from the main territory, but it’s not completely deserted, so it’ll be good for you to catch the vibe of Winterfield. Plus, with so many soldiers around, it should be pretty safe.”
Putting her watch back into her pocket,
“That’s it, disperse!”
With that, Jennifer left, as if to show that she genuinely meant those words.
The students, slightly thrilled by their first drill, seemed surprised by this turn of events and began murmuring.
“Sylvia.”
Among the buzzing students was Alice.
Unlike usual, Alice was dressed fully in her coat. The uniform inside it still looked somewhat like a uniform, but the coat itself looked genuinely military, making it not strange to mistake her for a cadet at first glance. After all, this place also served as a military academy.
However, Alice had removed the fur from her collar as it was bothering her.
“Wanna grab a meal together? It’s lunchtime.”
“That’s true, it is just the right time to finish eating.”
Charlotte chimed in with Alice’s words.
“You mean a meal?”
“Yeah. We haven’t eaten yet.”
“…”
Um, well.
In truth, even though Jennifer acted like she was releasing the students freely, there was a certain degree of intent mixed in for them to know a bit about the area.
And the ‘meal’ most noble students were thinking about wasn’t really available here. This wasn’t somewhere nobles frequented often.
It’s not a place with particularly bad security, but it’s also not rich territory.
Most of the places sell food targeting soldiers.
Being from the North, the food is rough and lightly salted.
Besides, isn’t this Empire, which is somewhat based on that ‘meme’ England? Blending that setting of the Northern Empire with the infamous British cuisine—a lot of the food in this Northern region seemed questionable if nobles would even manage to eat it properly.
“Oh, really? Then let’s eat together!”
“Yeah, it’d be more comfortable eating together than separately.”
Leo and Claire walked over to Alice and Charlotte, who were discussing the meal.
“That sounds good.”
Suddenly, one person interjected.
“I didn’t have anyone to eat with, either. Roti’s in a different class anyway.”
It was Jake Lindbergh.
Although Roti had entered the academy as Jake’s maid, they ultimately were in different classes. Roti was at least a commoner.
And supposedly, all students in this school were supposed to be equal. No student was allowed to have a servant or a maid, let alone have that person be a fellow student. By name, Jake and Roti were both students.
“Lindbergh?”
Alice looked at Jake with a slightly surprised expression. Charlotte appeared not too pleased with his laid-back demeanor.
“Isn’t it okay, Sylvia?”
“Sylvia?”
Alice’s eyes widened further.
“We talked and got to know each other a while back.”
At Jake’s words, Alice looked at me with a stunned expression almost in disbelief.
In fact, it wasn’t just Alice; all the kids around were looking at me in that manner.
…If I thought about it, I’d be shocked too if the girl who usually sat quietly in a corner of the classroom suddenly started hanging out with an obnoxiously laid-back blond guy.
But it’s not like that, right?
“Huh? Why?”
As I glanced at Jake, he shrugged lightly and said,
“Aren’t you two close?”
No, it’s our first real conversation in two weeks.
And the only thing we talked about two weeks ago was Jake simply greeting me; it wasn’t really a proper conversation.
So… if I have to clarify, it’s more accurate to say that we’re just acquaintances.
“Sylvia.”
As I was struggling to figure out how to respond, Charlotte came over.
She lightly grabbed my arm, pulling me slightly.
“You don’t know much about guys, so maybe you just didn’t notice, but guys like that shouldn’t be approached. Come on, this way.”
No, it’s not like we’re close! He’s the one being overly familiar!
I discreetly peeked at the back of Jake.
A few girls over there were fidgeting and glancing at him.
…I see.
Looks like Jake had escaped from a crowd of girls surrounding him. All the girls here were from high-ranking families.
Not only that, but they were incredibly beautiful as well.
So, inherently, if he came over here, the other girls would definitely start comparing themselves to us and drift away.
“…”
Charlotte had bumped into Jake at the beginning. Well, strictly speaking, what happened was she disliked his carelessness too much. Especially his tan—she hated that.
But later, after knowing who Jake liked, her attitude changed quite a bit. While she was still shocked by his carefree manner, her outright disdain lessened as she realized why he was in such a situation.
“Oh, really?”
But unlike Charlotte, Alice seemed to have quickly noticed my expression.
She realized that I wasn’t particularly close to Jake and that his friendliness towards me was one-sided. Was there annoyance showing on my face?
Even if others couldn’t see it, Alice must have noticed.
“If you’re just imposing on Sylvia, I’d kind of like to stop you.”
Alice stepped in between me and Jake, looking at him directly.
“Sylvia isn’t as easy as you think.”
“…”
What image do they hold of me among these kids?
I mean, I’ve spent time building a flawless image….
—And at that moment, I suddenly made eye contact with Mia Crowfield, who had silently blended into our conversation.
“…”
“…”
Well, it’s true I’m not ‘perfect.’
Let’s just say it’s ‘nearly perfect’ then.
Still, I hadn’t been noticed by anyone else except that one person.
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