WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 13: Dormitory

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The academy, located in neutral territory, had no separate residential facilities.

Instead, every student who stayed here was assigned a dorm room without exception.

So far, it did not seem much different from schools in the Empire or other countries, but the academy had one rather unusual policy.

Men and women shared the same building.

They were not separated by floor or section either. There was no division of space at all.

Still, to maintain a minimum level of propriety, the academy had taken measures to ensure that every student could only use a private room.

The parents of the students had played a large part in creating such an absurd arrangement.

Most students enrolled here were children of high-ranking nobles.

Accordingly, many enrolled in the academy accompanied by attendants who, like me now, were servants.

Attendants helped with everyday life, but their most important duty was protecting the noble children in their care.

When the academy was first founded, students had been separated by gender like at any other school.

However, protests poured in that attendants could never properly carry out their protective duties under that arrangement, so the academy had taken special measures.

They could not exactly allow young men and women to share lodging at an academy, so this was apparently the compromise they had reached.

"Which rooms should we choose, Sirius?"

There were three dormitory buildings, one for each year.

Luna and I, who would be moving into the first-year building, were deciding which floor to settle on.

"Wouldn't the first floor be best? It'll be convenient when we go to class, too."

Since I was not particularly fond of moving around, I cautiously offered my opinion.

Luna held her head as though she was thinking it over.

"The first floor is definitely convenient... but it has too many bad points."

"What bad points?"

"It'll be noisy. Lots of people will be passing by."

She was not wrong, but I did not really care. Even if it was a little noisy, getting ten more minutes of sleep in the morning would raise my satisfaction level far more.

"Come on, it'll be fine. Everyone will be quiet at night anyway... and they're private rooms."

"That's not what I mean..."

I did not know what exactly she meant, but Luna shifted awkwardly and spoke in a small voice.

"What if someone hears us...?"

Huh...? Hears what...?

After giving it a moment's thought, I felt my face heat up.

If all kinds of rumors started, we would become the subject of gossip around the academy. That would exhaust us in more ways than one.

It was for a rather suggestive reason, but I immediately changed my stance and nodded.

"The first floor would be a little inconvenient, you're right. There'd be all sorts of things to worry about. Yeah, yeah, Luna, you actually made sense for once."

Feeling awkward, I scratched my head.

"Pervert."

Luna's one word struck right at the heart of it.

No, but you were the one who brought it up first...

After looking at higher floors, we chose rooms at the very end of the top floor.

Apparently, if a noble child and their attendant could prove their relationship, the academy would arrange for them to be assigned neighboring rooms right away.

"Hmm... The top floor will probably be popular, though. We'll just have to hope we're lucky."

If two or more students applied for the same room, the academy would fairly select one at random, and the rest would choose from the remaining rooms.

At the reception desk, we applied for two rooms under Count Iaros's name.

After our little clash with Celia and finishing our dorm application, we headed to the dinner banquet welcoming the new students.

Naturally, the dinner banquet was exceptionally lavish, as it had to suit the tastes of all the important people here.

"Wow... The world really is a big place..."

All kinds of rare-looking ingredients I had never seen before, along with the glittering lights, left my mouth hanging open.

Having grown up in a village at the edge of the border, then in Amelia's colorless castle, it was an incredible experience.

"Hey, hey. What's gotten into you, Sirius?"

Luna jabbed me with her elbow as I openly gawked at everything.

Well sure... You may have been the Demon King's princess, but this was my first time seeing anything like this...

"That looks really good... That too..."

"You're hopeless. You need to come visit my home sometime."

Luna whined, sounding dissatisfied about something.

Come to think of it, Luna had hardly ever told me about her family home, the Demon King's Castle.

Maybe it was simply because I had never asked, but she rarely talked about her family.

Of course, Luna knew everything about how I came to follow my master. Maybe she had avoided talking about her family out of consideration for me.

"Come on, my lady. What are you saying? I'm a member of House Iaros too!"

Feeling playful, I grinned broadly at her.

Luna snorted as though she found me ridiculous, then told me to lean closer.

"...So you're saying my dad is the same as some lowly human...?"

No...!

Of course not...!

P-Please, anything but the finger snap...!

The note from the Demon King, which I had briefly forgotten, came back to mind.

The truly scary people were the quiet ones.

My master had taught me that the people you had to fear most were the ones whose thoughts you could not read.

In that sense, the fact that the Demon King already held my life in his hands was frightening enough, but not knowing what he was thinking made him even more terrifying.

He said he was watching me... Suddenly, I wondered if every move I made was being reported somewhere.

Luna, who did not know what the note said, looked flustered when she saw the slightly horrified look on my face.

"I'm joking, I'm joking. Why are you so scared? Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay. I'm... okay. I couldn't possibly compare your father to some human... H-Haha..."

"Sirius. I don't know what sort of image you have of my dad, but he's kinder than you think."

That's because you're his daughter.

I could grab anyone at this academy, no, any demon in the Demon World, and ask them what they thought the Demon King's personality was like.

The answer would be obvious.

A terrifying person who would send you straight to the afterlife for the slightest mistake. That was the Demon King.

"Y-Yeah. I'd really like to meet him."

Still, if I ever did meet the Demon King, it would be better to go with Luna.

I just hoped I would never have to go to the Demon King's Castle to stop Celia from trying to kill him.

The banquet hall was crowded with people.

The students had apparently already begun forming their own circles, gathering in groups to eat.

Luna and I filled our plates and sat at a table meant for eight.

"Luna."

"Yeah?"

Luna was stuffing her cheeks with food, looking happy.

"Um... shouldn't we go talk to someone too...?"

I knew today was not our only chance, but seeing everyone chatting and laughing in groups made me worry that we would end up as the only two outcasts once the term truly began.

I had never really experienced school life before.

When I was young, I briefly attended lessons with Celia and around ten other children at the village school, taught by the village chief. That was all.

So I was secretly anxious.

It was not that I wanted to latch onto them because they were stronger than me. I needed some kind of foothold to approach Celia naturally.

If Luna and Celia seriously clashed again like they had earlier, it would not be strange for this entire academy to be blown away.

I was working hard to make plans in my head, but Luna seemed too focused on eating to care.

She loved food this much, so it was impressive that she had endured living under my master.

"Luna... should I go ask that girl over there if she wants to eat with us...?"

Luna glanced in the direction I pointed, then frowned.

"...Is that your type...?"

Why did her thought process only ever work that way?

I had pointed at a girl nearby without thinking, but apparently I had chosen the wrong gender.

"Ha... It's not like that... Then what about that guy standing over there...?"

"But we're eating together right now. Do we really need someone else to join us?"

Luna's reaction was lukewarm.

Fine... Let's give up...

There would surely be a chance to make new friends naturally.

Giving up on persuading Luna, I emptied my plate with her, practically burying my face in it, then left the table.

Expensive food really did taste good.

"Yes. Lady Luna Iaros, you may use rooms 604 and 605 as requested."

The staff member kindly informed us that we had gotten the rooms we applied for.

"Really? Thank you~"

Luna looked pleased as she took the keys and handed them to me.

Neither Luna nor I found climbing six flights of stairs difficult, but it definitely took a while to reach our rooms.

Even so, I thought that amount of inconvenience was a cheap price compared to the benefits of the top floor.

Just imagining secretly being in the same room as Luna made my heart race.

Luna's eyes had turned blue recently because of the ring, making her seem a little like a different person. It gave her a new kind of charm.

After chatting as we climbed, we reached the sixth floor and had no choice but to stop in the hallway.

"Oh my. What a coincidence...! I was rude earlier..."

Celia stood before us, sweeping back her blonde hair as she waited with the key to room 603 in hand.

Celia was not what concerned me. I automatically turned to look at Luna.

Sure enough, Luna stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at Celia.

"You’re really going too far."

I could practically feel Luna boiling inside.

Twice in the hot seat in one day was a little too much, wasn't it?

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