The winter snow was flying.
The first snowfall in the southern borders had e a little later than usual, but it arrived in full force. Endless snowflakes tumbled down from the sky, spreading a desolate pallor across the leaden Firmament, and this hazy heavenscape seemed to mirror the future of the two countries—murky and chaotic, with no clear direction in sight.
A thick sheet of hard ice had formed on the pond in the academy district, and a foot of snow lay piled upon the ice and in the nearby nursery beds. A cold wind blew from the direction of the bell tower, shaking loose the snow accumulated on the roofs of nearby buildings and scattering vast white curtains down across the corridors and open courtyards. In such a snowy scene, there were hardly any students or teachers to be seen moving about outside.
The winter break of the Imperial Academy had arrived. At present, apart from the cadets of the officer academy who had to wait a few more days before they could go on leave, the vast majority of the students of this institution had already departed.
A small, rather thin figure in a black academy uniform hurried along the first-floor corridor of the dormitory building, her light gray long hair draped down her back. The howling wind outside the corridor occasionally threaded through the windows, echoing inside the building. Every so often she would lift her head to glance out, but through the crystal glass panes, all she could see was the ceaseless snow and the increasingly deserted academy scene within it.
This winter... is really cold.
The petite figure scarcely paused in the corridor. She quickly passed through a door and entered deeper into the dormitory wing. Here, at last, there were faint traces of human presence in the otherwise quiet and empty building—vague voices could be heard ing from several rooms in the distance, and now and then a short, sharp phrase from a wind whistle or hand accordion would sound. These noises eased her expression slightly. She stepped forward, and just then the nearest door was pushed open and a young woman with neat short hair stuck her head out.
"Dana?" The short-haired young woman looked at the petite figure walking down the corridor, a hint of surprise in her voice. "I was wondering why I didn’t see you... Where did you go after leaving the dorm?"
"I went to the library..." The short girl called Dana spoke in a somewhat soft voice. She held up what she was carrying in her arms—a few books she had just borrowed. "Mr. Miles lent me a few books."
"The library... that’s so you," the short-haired girl said imposingly, hands on her hips. "Look at the water on your shoulders. You walked all the way through the snow like that? Have you forgotten you’re a Mage?"
"There was a stretch outside where the snow wasn’t too heavy, so I dropped my barrier because I wanted to feel the snowflakes, and then I forgot," Dana said, a little embarrassed. "It’s fine, I didn’t get that wet, did I..."
"Hurry up and e in to warm yourself," the short-haired girl said, sighing helplessly. "If you actually catch a cold it could cause all sorts of trouble—especially in a situation like this."
Dana hummed in response and followed her roommate into the room—as a dormitory unit, the space inside was fairly generous, even divided into inner and outer rooms, and everything within sight was tidied to a considerable degree of neatness. A heating system driven by Magic Power worked silently, keeping the temperature in the room at a very fortable level.
Dana set the books she had borrowed on the desk to one side, then glanced around and asked curiously, "Is Marianno not here?"
"She went upstairs—said she was going to check on the ’patrol points’... She and that second son of the Weber Family are always on edge, as if people of the Cecil Clan might storm this dormitory building at any moment," the short-haired girl said, sighing again. "Though I’m pretty worried about that myself, to be honest, if Cecil Clan people really did e charging over... could us Typhon Exchange Students really turn a few dorm rooms into a fortress?"
"I don’t think it will e to that," Dana said quietly. "Didn’t the teachers say so? The emperor has already issued a personal decree that we’ll be guaranteed safety during wartime... We won’t be dragged into this war."
"That’s what they say, but in reality, who hasn’t been dragged in?" The short-haired girl snorted. "Every day Marianno stands on the roof terrace counting how many Soldiers are patrolling around the walls and gates near the Magic Guide Technology College. Maybe those Soldiers really are here to protect us... but they’re not here only to protect us."
Dana opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end everything she meant to say was swallowed back down.
She knew Kari was quite right. She knew that when this sudden war broke out, there was no way anyone could truly remain untouched and not be pulled into it—not even a group of "students" who looked entirely harmless.
The winter break of the Cecil Empire Academy had arrived, yet all the plans everyone had made for this vacation had already been quietly shattered.
In this standalone dormitory building lived only the exchange students from Typhon: they had been trapped by this war within its walls. After the academy’s staff and students left one after another, this small dorm seemed like an isolated island in a vast ocean. Dana and her patriots were stranded on this little island, and none of them knew what course the future would take—though each of them was an outstanding youth chosen by their own families, outstanding young talents of Typhon, and even trusted deeply by the Augustus Clan, in the final analysis... most of them were still just a group of young people who had not weathered many storms.
A true heir capable of bearing heavy responsibility would never be sent abroad to study—those heirs had to stay at home to manage the family’s estates and prepare for even greater burdens.
Another gust of frigid wind swept between the buildings, its rising howl passing through the double-glazed windows and into Dana and Kari’s ears. It sounded like the distant growl of some wild beast. Dana instinctively glanced at the nearby window and saw snowflakes in great flurries, swirling against the hazy daylight.
In this foreign winter, even the swirling snow seemed to have turned into visible walls and cages. To pass through this wind and snow and go out into the world beyond would require a courage as if crossing an abyss.
The academy’s administrators had in fact not forbidden the Typhon Exchange Students stranded here from moving about freely—in principle, at present, aside from any cross-border activities between Cecil Clan and Typhon being strictly restricted, exchange students who had e here through proper channels and mitted no offense were not subjected to any limitation or harassment. The emperor had already signed an edict to treat students kindly, the Administrative Office had publicly promoted the policy of "not letting lawful students be drawn into the war". In theory, Dana could even carry out the holiday plans she had considered earlier, such as visiting Tanzan City to see its historic Mill Hills and inner-city docks...
But all of that existed only in theory. In reality, not a single Typhon Exchange Student left this place. Whether out of cautious concern for safety, or out of their current sense of resistance toward the people of the Cecil Clan, Dana and her patriots ultimately chose to stay within the academy, to remain in the dormitory district—this vast institution, its crisscrossing corridors, walls, courtyards, and buildings, had bee the Sanctuary for these foreign Stayers during this winter, and had even bee their entire world.
"Fortunately, supplies have always been ample, the water hasn’t been cut off and the Magic Web is still on, the cafeteria in the central district will stay open during the holidays, and the shops in the main campus haven’t closed either," Kari’s voice pulled Dana out of her thoughts. The Viscount’s daughter from Enqihok County spoke with a trace of optimism. "Looking on the bright side, our life this winter will bee an unforgettable memory—we don’t get many chances to experience things like this in the lives we were supposed to have... being trapped in an academy of an enemy country during wartime, snowstorms that seem like they’ll never stop, talking about the future, classmates setting up barricades in the corridors... ah, and all these books you borrowed from the library..."
Dana thought for a moment and couldn’t help showing a faint smile. "No matter how you look at it, setting up barricades in the corridors is still a bit over the top... Marianno and the Weber Family’s second son really are from a Knight family, to think they’d e up with something like that..."
"Maybe next spring they’ll have to pensate the headmaster for all that wood and iron plate, and they might even have to face Mr. Magnan’s furious roaring," Kari shrugged. "I’m guessing the headmaster and the teachers probably already know what we’re doing in the dormitory building—yesterday Ruslan even mentioned that when he passed the corridor at night, he saw Mr. Magnan’s Spiritual Body drifting through the hallways, as if patrolling this last dormitory that still has people living in it."
Perhaps because she was imagining the terrifying scene of Mr. Magnan’s furious roaring, Dana subconsciously shrank her neck, but soon she laughed again. The scene Kari described finally let her feel a long‑lost bit of relaxation in this cold, tense winter day. She laughed, and gradually even laughed out loud, when suddenly the sound of a bagpipe drifted through the corridor outside and into the room, making both her and Kari instinctively pause.
The broken, not‑quite‑in‑tune melody finally became clear and continuous, with the sound of several people singing mixed into it. Dana subconsciously focused her mind, carefully listening to the tune ing from several rooms away, while Kari, beside her, suddenly spoke softly after a few seconds: "That’s a melody from Enqihok County... is it the Yulaya Family’s second son playing..."
"Yulaya..." Dana listened to the bagpipes in the corridor, as if remembering something. "I heard his elder brother fell at the Palamere Highlands..."
Kari did not answer, only nodded lightly. She leaned against the desk, her fingers slowly tapping out a beat on the tabletop, her lips moving silently, as if humming along under her breath to the faint bagpipe sound in the air. Dana slowly lifted her head, her gaze passing through the dormitory’s crystal glass window. Outside, the wind and snow still showed no sign of stopping; the constantly falling snowflakes formed a hazy curtain in the wind, and the whole world seemed to be gradually disappearing into the depths behind that curtain.
...
The wind and snow howled outside the window; this harsh weather was clearly unsuitable for any outdoor activity, but for people who didn’t like running around outside to begin with, such weather might actually be better.
Melita Ponia, small and delicate like a child, sat behind her desk. She lifted her head and glanced at the scene of swirling snow outside; her pointed ears twitched slightly, and then she lowered her head again. The fountain pen in her hand flew swiftly across the stationery—on the desk beside her there was already a thick stack of finished letters, but clearly she still had much more to write.
"...Mother, I actually kind of miss Moss Woods... Winters in Moss Woods are also very cold, but at least there isn’t wind this strong, and the snowfall is never this heavy. Of course, the snowy scenery here is quite beautiful, and some friends invited me to go out and play when the snow eased a little, but I’m very worried that I might accidentally fall into a deep snow pit... You can’t even imagine how big this snowfall is...
"...The Cecil Clan and Typhon are at war; you must be following this news too, right? You really don’t have to worry about me, it’s very safe here, as if the border war has had no impact on the inland at all... Of course, if we have to say it’s had some impact, then there has indeed been a bit: newspapers and broadcasts carry war news every day, and many people are talking about it...
"The price of food in the city has risen a little these past two days, but it quickly went back down again. According to my friends, the price of cloth actually went up a bit too, but then the Supreme Administration Office called a meeting with the merchants, and after that all the prices stabilized. You really don’t have to worry about my life here. In fact I don’t want to rely on the conveniences that e with being the daughter of the clan chief either... My friend is the daughter of the Marshal of the Navy, and she still has to go work a part‑time job during the holidays...
"Ah, of course, she’s not my only friend—I actually have several..."
The swiftly dancing pen tip in Melita’s hand suddenly stopped. She furrowed her brows; her delicate, childlike features scrunched together. A few seconds later, this gray elf still raised a finger and lightly brushed over the paper, and that last, somewhat self‑exposing sentence was silently wiped away.
She set down her pen for the moment and stretched hard, while her gaze swept casually to the side. A newspaper that had just been delivered today was lying quietly on the desk. On the front page headline position, one could clearly see the sharp, large letters—
"Reinforcements again—the brave warriors of the Empire have now pletely secured their foothold at Winterwolf Fortress."
"Stand firm in your belief, and be ready at any time to face higher‑level war and broader conflict!"
In this large feature report on the war, one could also see clear images from the front lines. The Magic Web Terminal faithfully recorded the scenes on the battlefield—war machines, ranks of Soldiers, positions after the artillery had plowed the land, and the trophies and body bags...
Although these were all bits of "peripheral information" with no confidentiality level and open to the public, the scenes they presented were still things that ordinary people in the rear rarely had the chance to e into contact with or even imagine. And for Melita, the very act of spreading and reporting real scenes of war in such a rapid and widespread manner was, in itself, something inconceivable.
What were the people who transmitted these images back called again? War... war journalists?
In any case, they seemed to be quite remarkable people.
Melita shook her head. She knew these newspapers were not just printed for the Cecil Clan to read. With the pulsing of merce as a blood vessel, the information carried on these newspapers would spread to far‑off places at a speed unimaginable in the past, spreading to Moss Woods, to the dwarves’ kingdoms, and even to the southern borders of the continent... The war that had broken out between Typhon and the Cecil Clan would likely have an impact of unimaginable scope.
Was this a situation that Emperor Gawain Cecil was deliberately pushing toward? Was he intentionally "displaying" this war to the entire civilized world?
Melita couldn’t help growing curious about it.
Reviews
All reviews (0)