Chapter 73

Surviving Winter (6)

“Hahahahahahah~~.”

“Thanks for your efforts.”

Submission of conference agenda documents, submission of new student class assignment test plan and check of basic preparation, preparation of academic schedule coordination plan after school starts, settlement of final exam scores, ranking award, and full professor review preparations have been completed.

Assistant Professor Claire buried her head on her desk, feeling like her soul was leaving her.

“If you do well in the freshman placement test next week, you can rest for the rest of the vacation period.”

“Anis is amazing. She really has stamina of steel. Look how my skin hasn’t risen at all. I’m already getting dead skin cells... Is this... youth...?”

Assistant Professor Claire put her head down and just turned her head to look at the desk mirror. There was a body in the mirror.

On the other hand, Anise is sitting at the large table in the center of the lab, surrounded by documents... I wonder if that is a person.

Watching her flipping through documents with sparkling elegance, it looks like she has just come to work and is in great physical shape, but surprisingly, Anise has been staying up all night for the second day.

This is a quality that was developed while working alone as a teaching assistant in Professor Claire’s lab, which was already short on research personnel.

Since she handles all the tasks she wasn’t even asked to do and even takes care of chores to keep the lab running smoothly... from Assistant Professor Claire’s point of view, she has no choice but to treat her like a boss. I can’t tell who is the professor and who is the teaching assistant.

‘As expected... external scholarship personnel cannot be trusted.’

Meanwhile, Anis leafed through the documents and sighed.

Unlike Anise, who is openly working as Assistant Professor Clare’s chief assistant, it is difficult to expect a sense of belonging from those on academic scholarship.

Therefore, whether you are entrusting an important task or a minor task, you must carefully check whether it is handled well.

The verification work itself takes a lot of effort, so it cannot be considered a very efficient workforce.

As expected, whether it’s third-year Onyx or first-year Clevius, things aren’t done neatly. It may be difficult for a student to handle the paperwork as it is a lot of paperwork, even if it’s not that big of a deal... but I still felt like I was a fool for expecting the minimum level.

For the most part, Anis had to do the work again. The only person who didn’t touch it was Ed Rothtaylor.

Since Anise was the most worried person, she made a close mark, but surprisingly, she didn’t do anything at all.

If I had no intention of mentioning Ed in relation to Yenika, I think it would have been more efficient to have Anise attached to the other side. There is no point in having someone who is good at handling things on his own as a supervisor.

The document processing and practical work itself are flawless. Usually, student workers have little experience, so they are not good at handling tasks and often say they don’t know even the smallest details.

However, Ed Rothtaylor had a strong tendency to flexibly judge most problems in a solution-oriented manner rather than dismissing them as simply problems.

For example, when going on a preliminary field trip to a test site, he took a checklist with him, but Ed Rothtaylor did not necessarily limit himself to the checklist and judge the site.

– ‘It would be a good idea to close this entrance in advance as students may enter and exit by mistake.’

– ‘The snow is very slippery. ‘It would be a bit difficult if it was this slippery on the day of the test.’

– ‘The scope of the test site is wider than expected. It may be necessary to adjust the difficulty by setting the range a bit narrowly or, if that is not possible, by increasing the number of hidden magic stones.’

‘It seems that he has lived a surprisingly wealthy life...’

The ability to solve practical problems is a trait that is difficult to find in someone who has simply lived the life of a noble nobleman.

It looked somewhat unexpected. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t embarrassed.

“By the way, Anise went with Ed, right? What do you think? We’re similar, right?”

“They’re similar?”

“Hmm... you don’t know Anis. Ed student was excommunicated, right?”

“No... I know that much.”

“Really? Then this is something only I know... Shall I tell you a secret?”

Assistant Professor Claire, who must have felt a little lighter after being freed from the heavy workload, spoke to Anis with a mischievous look on her face.

“Do you know where that Ed student lives? In the vast forest north of the school. He lives alone in a cabin in the northwest corner of the forest...!”

“...Huh? Really?”

“Yes. I had some investigation to do during the Occupation of the Ofilis Building, so I followed them... umm... this is a secret from the Ed students...!”

This is the top secret about Yenika’s unrequited love. This is a fact that even Yenika did not carelessly share with others.

Anise swallowed her saliva and nodded.

“Well, he created a decent camp all by himself in a space much larger than this lab...! The tools, the workbench, the bonfire, the display stand, the drying rack, the smoker... nothing looked like it wasn’t handmade. It didn’t look like that, but I thought. “Isn’t he more dexterous than me?”

“Is that so?”

“Plus, he even made a spirit contract on his own. There is a barrier to entry when it comes to spirit sensitivity training. I don’t know how he did it, but hey... he must have put in that much effort.”

Only then did Anis seem to see a clue about Ed’s problem-solving abilities.

When you live alone in the wild, you face all kinds of practical problems. As you solve all kinds of difficult problems that you will face right away, you will naturally accumulate practical problem-solving skills.

Aristocrats who have lived as flowers in greenhouses have practical sense that they cannot obtain even if they live their whole lives. It may seem like an insignificant ability, but Anis knows best how important it is.

“That’s why Anise nodded when she followed Ed. Don’t you two have a lot of similarities?”

“Ed and I? What...”

“Okay~. Have you seen Ed’s report card progress? Should I show it to you?”

“Aren’t student transcripts prohibited from being freely disclosed to others?”

“Ah, oops...”

Laughing haha, Assistant Professor Claire twisted her hair.

“I’m done with work. Do you want to have a snack...? Should I buy something? What should I eat...?”

Assistant Professor Claire, who was oblivious, was just begging for tea to be made.

It was a total mess.

*

The Palover family’s ranch was not very large, but it was so healthy that no one in the village knew about it.

The ability to raise such high-quality livestock on a small scale is largely due to the family tradition that emphasizes internal stability and emphasizes harmony and coexistence.

As Yenika, the only daughter of the Palover family, she never became arrogant despite her great natural ability.

Rather, her beautiful heart of caring for others and loving everyone made her shine even more than her abilities.

– ‘Yenika is nice.’

– ‘There will be no one with a heart as kind as Yenika.’

The same thing happens when I leave my hometown and come to Aken Island.

It is a life like the main character in a fairy tale that is loved by everyone. It was a life far from the word loneliness, and thanks to that, I was able to gain many sincere friends... but there is no way a life without worries exists.

Under the guardian tree of Merilda on a moonlit night.

The guardian tree I looked up while practicing spirit sensitivity was still wide and green, as if the season was different.

Yenika sniffed once.

– ‘Yenika Palover is the ace of aces in name and reality, with the highest recognition and popularity among prospective third-year students. A merchant like me may have financial capabilities, but he doesn’t have the natural charm to attract people.’

– ‘Politics is ultimately about taking sides, right? It is important to receive support from students and recruit people who are loved as allies. Don’t worry too much. Senior Yenika is a person who has a good nature and is very considerate, so she listens and believes everything anyone says.’

– ‘Well, you’re a senior, so don’t be rude. That will never happen, but senior Yenika might be in a down mood, right? Hmm... at least I’ve never seen senior Yenika in such a gloomy state, but you never know. So, don’t say anything offensive for no reason.’

Thanks to Lortel, who gave her sincere advice, Tanya felt like she had gained a lot of strength.

Because it is rare to have a chance to talk like this with the person in power at Elte Company.

When I met Ziggs, I was taken aback by his unexpected reaction, but I didn’t have time to be confused by such happenings.

Right now, next week is the freshman class placement test, and then the student council president election begins as soon as the vacation ends and the new semester begins. From now on, I had to diligently get my face stamped.

As a result, the place I arrived at was a large tree in the northern forest lake. It was ‘Merilda’s guardian tree.’

It is said to be a tree that contains a huge wind spirit that protects the forest, but to Tanya, who had just arrived at school, it just looked like a huge zelkova tree.

This is a place that I managed to reach after traversing the rough path of the northern forest with my friend, Neo Deom-myeong. Even if it was this much trouble, I could have done as much as I wanted if I could recruit Yenika.

The back of a girl is seen looking at a zelkova tree. She has a short build similar to Tanya, and her beautifully braided light pink hair flows down a shawl.

The girl raised her hand and sent a bat made of flame flying. It seems like they were talking about something just now.

Of course, to Tanya, who does not have spirit sensitivity, it just looks like she is stretching out her arms.

Tanya took a deep breath and spoke loudly.

“Nice to meet you, Senior Yenika!”

I spoke with some respect so as not to seem arrogant.

Yenica, who slowly turned to look at Tanya, was exactly as Lortel had said.

An idol with a kind nature and loved by everyone on Beautiful Bachelor. Perhaps he was the most ideal senior Tanya had imagined.

For Tanya, who has lived her whole life in an aristocratic hierarchy, the existence of a senior with whom she can break away from such a power structure and communicate with her wholeheartedly is romantic in itself.

Just looking at them makes them feel warm and comfortable, so just sitting next to them makes you feel like the congestion is melting away. Tanya smiled as she imagined her future bachelor life.

“I’d like to introduce myself and talk to you... is that okay?”

After speaking as elegantly as possible, I looked at Yenika.

It’s exactly as I thought, but there’s something about the expression that seems a bit dark. Did something bad happen?

Still, I heard that he is basically a kind person who listens to what others say.

“My name is Tanya Rosstaylor.”

When Tanya, who greeted her with a bright face, revealed her name, Jenica looked in that direction.

Moon bright night.

A girl quietly turned back while holding an oak staff under a guardian tree swaying in the wind.

Feeling an inexplicable sense of intimidation... Tanya swallowed dry saliva for a moment.

*

Camp on a quiet winter night.

As Lortel sat quietly across from the campfire, I served her herbal tea in a mug.

Perhaps because he was happy to see the camp now equipped with so many household items, Lortel smiled as he looked at the view of the camp.

“I’m relieved to see that everything you need right now has been taken care of.”

“Yes... It’s almost like a home at this point. I’ve received a lot of help from you, so I’m grateful.”

“What? It wasn’t that big of a hassle.”

With a grin, Lortel took a sip of herbal tea.

“I have a lot to talk about.”