The Second Semester Opens with a Bang
The ship provided by Karmanu carried us across two full days to the port of Guchev City—the closest harbor to Alitus, where the academy stood. It was Saturday afternoon, with the new term just around the corner. We boarded the vessel from Guchev and returned safely to the academy. The moment we dropped off our Aindiums, dented and battered and in need of serious repairs, the reality that summer break was truly over sank in.
It had been a bittersweet yet satisfying summer.
“Thanks for all your hard work!”
“Luna, Rendel. You’ve been through a lot.”
Yvette patted my shoulder, then slipped an arm around my neck in a light hug. For a noble-born senior, she never hesitated with such casual affection.
“We were only able to finish safely thanks to all of you, seniors.”
“Hehe. That’s enough flattery, Luna. Let’s meet again at the CT Club room once the semester starts.”
“Wait, you’re coming to the club room?”
“Of course. I may have graduated, but I still drop by to see my juniors from time to time. I also need to hand out the souvenirs I picked up in Karmanu.”
Right. In the original story, Yvette would occasionally show her face at the beginning of each term. Though once Ruwina appeared, she stopped coming altogether. Still, if Yvette started visiting the CT Club, we would have a problem. She might casually let slip that Rendel and I had spent two days alone on a deserted island, or that I seemed to have some mysterious connection to Karmanu.
I finished greeting the other seniors and Rendel, then quietly trailed after Yvette.
“Um, Senior. About what happened in Karmanu… please don’t mention it to the club members…”
“Oh, don’t worry. I swore an oath not to breathe a word about military secrets.”
“That’s good, but… what I meant was, about me and Senior Rendel… well…”
“What exactly are you referring to, Luna?”
“We’re just close senior and junior, that’s all. I wanted to clear up any possible misunderstanding.”
Yvette tilted her head, then smacked her fist into her open palm.
“Ah! I see. Got it.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“It’s still a secret from everyone else, right? Hehe.”
“No, that’s not what I—”
This was hopeless. Nothing I said got through to her.
“It’s fine. I’m not the type of woman who goes around blabbing about other people’s love lives.”
“It’s not a love life… haa.”
Yvette gave my sighing self a strange look, waved lightly, and disappeared into the dormitory dragging her suitcase behind her.
“Luna. What was that about?”
“Oh, Senior.”
Rendel, who had been watching us from a distance, walked over. In the distance I caught Yvette turning her head and winking. Her lips moved, forming silent words, but since I had never learned lip-reading, I had no idea what she was saying.
“What did Senior Yvette say to you?”
“Nothing. I just had a small favor to ask. It’s no big deal.”
“Really?”
Rendel’s face grew serious; my sigh must have worried him. I deliberately put on a bright expression and spoke as if nothing was wrong.
“We still have time before dinner. Want to drop off our luggage and stop by the club room?”
I had things to prepare in advance, and it would help kill time.
“Sure. Then let’s meet in thirty minutes at the parking lot behind the dormitory.”
“Okay.”
*
“Oh my? Luna. It’s been a while. And Rendel too.”
When we entered the club room, Senior Lan greeted us from the sofa where she sat enjoying an elegant tea time. Savian, the first-year female student, shot up from the opposite seat and gave Rendel a perfectly polite bow.
“It’s been a long time, Senior Rendel. Long time no see, Luna.”
“Hello, Lan, Savian. I’m glad you both look healthy.”
“Senior Lan, Savian. Did you have a good break?”
“Of course. Still, I’m relieved you two made it back safely. Carson told us you crossed the border—I was so shocked.”
“It wasn’t just us who crossed.”
“But you two were the only ones from our club.”
Whenever Senior Lan spoke, Rendel would grumble like a sulky little brother. It was kind of cute.
“We just arrived by ship a little while ago.”
“Really? The other members returned around the middle of this week. Let’s all gather once the semester officially starts.”
“Yes, Senior.”
Seeing Senior Lan after so long lifted my mood. After joining the tea time with Rendel and sipping a cup, I finally remembered why I had come here in the first place.
“Oh, right. The ‘things’ I brought before break—are they still in the pantry?”
“Hm? What things?”
“The foreign snacks I brought the day before the closing ceremony.”
“Ah! Those? No one touched them, so they should still be there.”
Senior Lan frowned, clearly recalling the taste of the gift I had given them.
“They’re actually delicious…”
I muttered quietly, and Senior Lan gave me a stiff smile.
“Well. Everyone has their own tastes.”
“That’s right, Senior. Honestly, I don’t really get the appeal of flower tea either.”
At Savian’s rather insensitive remark, Senior Lan turned toward her with the exact same stiff smile still plastered on her face.
“Reaaally? Then why don’t we spend the rest of the evening having a deep discussion about flower tea?”
“Huh?”
I silently prayed for Savian’s soul—she had spoken her honest thoughts and would now be subjected to Senior Lan’s lecture disguised as tea time until evening—then headed for the pantry.
“Need any help?”
“It’s fine. I just want to check if they’re still okay.”
“What things?”
“These.”
I opened the cabinet in the corner of the pantry and took out the items I had brought. Two months had passed, but since they were dry snacks with no moisture, they shouldn’t have gone bad.
“Ah, those.”
Rendel showed a reaction similar to Lan’s—his face scrunched up slightly and he even swallowed dryly, as if remembering the taste from back then.
“Want some?”
“No, I’m…”
Seeing Rendel trying to refuse something so delicious sparked a sudden urge to tease him.
“Here. Eat.”
I tore open the packaging, broke one in half, and held a piece out to him. Rendel stared at the snack with trembling eyes full of inner conflict, then leaned back slightly as if to refuse.
I wasn’t about to let him get away. I pushed the snack right up to his mouth.
“Senior. Say ‘ah~’.”
“Eh?”
Caught off guard, Rendel’s mouth fell open in surprise. I tossed the piece inside and popped the other half into my own mouth.
“Mmm!”
A refreshing, clean flavor danced across my tongue. As expected of high-class Karmanu snacks—it was genuinely good. Ruwina would have loved these.
Rendel squeezed his eyes shut and moved his jaw, chewing mechanically. Perfect. Just as I thought, the people here really didn’t seem to like these snacks.
I checked the expiration date. There was still half a year left. In truth, just confirming that would have been enough, but I had eaten one anyway just to tease Rendel a little. Preparations complete. Now all that remained was to wait for the opening ceremony.
**
On the day of the opening ceremony, the sensible principal ended the event with a mere thirty-second speech. Thanks to that, even morning homeroom finished early. After eating lunch with my classmates, I headed to the club room with Neria.
“Luna. Did Lympi fight well?”
“Yeah. Thanks to your excellent maintenance, it performed brilliantly.”
“Hehe, hehehe.”
Neria clung tightly to my arm and laughed innocently. As the semester approached and the dispatched students returned one by one, the maintenance team had naturally grown busy. Because of that, I hadn’t had much chance to talk with Neria, who came back exhausted every night even on weekends. Now that the semester had started and the Aindium maintenance was mostly finished, she should have some free time for a while.
“Luna, Neria. Long time no see.”
“Hi. Have you been well?”
“Yeah.”
The tall Vivald-class pilot Yui was loitering in the hallway of the club building.
“Waiting for someone?”
“Y-yeah. I’m going to go in with Senior Muri when she arrives.”
She had been completely tamed. I gave Yui’s shoulder a pat of encouragement, then entered the club room with Neria.
*
The first club meeting in two months proceeded smoothly. All sorts of topics flew back and forth among the members, but the hottest issue was, of course, the Karmanu civil war that Rendel and I had been dispatched to.
“I was shocked too. Hearing that you two had crossed the border.”
At Carson’s words—he had been defending the border on the Karmanu side with us—the first-years let out gasps of admiration.
“So you really carried out operations inside Karmanu?”
“We did. Luna guided us, and we even met with a very high-ranking person from Karmanu.”
“Whoa.”
Rendel carefully omitted the parts that needed to be cut and explained our—especially my—exploits: causing sabotage at the coastal base that served as the enemy’s core headquarters before escaping by sea, assaulting a transport ship to rescue captured comrades…
Right before he could mention that the transport ship had exploded, I shot him a look. Rendel caught my signal and smoothly transitioned from the transport ship search into the naval battle at the Karamis Islands.
“And that’s how it ended. We thought we’d be late since it wrapped up last Wednesday, but Karmanu provided a ship so we managed to arrive on time.”
“The Karamis Islands are surprisingly close to our country.”
Savian began giving a geography lesson, pointing at a spot on the map. She really did love explaining things. Everyone was listening with great interest since it was an unexpectedly engaging story—when a knock sounded at the door. Before anyone could answer, the door burst open.
“Everyone, it’s been so long! Hello to all the new juniors I haven’t met yet! Oh, right. Rendel and Luna, only two days for you two!”
Yvette appeared, her light-sky-blue rolled hair swinging dramatically. She was the very target of the preparations I had made over the past few days.