Exchange Student?

“Thank you.”

“Enjoy your meal!”

Under the bright spring weather, I bought a cool ice cream and sat at an outdoor table to savor it. The bittersweet and subtly sweet taste brought satisfaction.

As expected of mint chocolate, the most renowned snack in the British Empire. It was much more delicious than when I encountered it in the game.

“Mmm, yum.”

With each spoonful of ice cream from the antique glass bowl, I felt a sense of ease for no reason. It felt like the fatigue from the previous day was disappearing in an instant.

It was quite tough.

No matter how luxurious the food I was served, or how I conversed in a restaurant I had never been to before, the one-on-one with Ernst was a considerably exhausting time.

After all, he’s a figure who could be called part of the Empire’s core power structure. Even someone as composed as me couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Is the only achievement that we parted on good terms?

Crunch!

I put the ice cream with frost on its surface into my mouth, chewing until my cheeks puffed out. If asked about the results of meeting Ernst, there was nothing particularly noteworthy except for getting a free meal.

To be frank, I was rejected by him.

At best, it was a meeting to lay the groundwork for future endeavors, as all my proposals were rejected.

It’s not like I failed to make a deal because I ate pineapple pizza, right? In the end, it means Ernst still sees me as just a simple child.

It’s fortunate that I at least had the joint training victory prize money, otherwise, if I had been penniless as before, I would be eating dry bread now since I couldn’t receive financial support from Ernst.

The thought of coming to Bern and not being able to eat mint chocolate is terribly chilling, just imagining it makes my whole body shudder.

“Whew… that was good.”

Perhaps because it had been a long time since I had a dessert to my liking, I emptied the bowl cleanly in just a few minutes of sitting.

“Shall I clear this away, ma’am?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to order coffee additionally?”

“No, thank you.”

After wiping my mouth with a handkerchief, I handed over the dishes to a passing waiter and got up from my chair. Then I moved my steps towards my destination.

Thud, thud!

I didn’t come out just to eat mint chocolate. There was a much more important schedule still remaining.

“…Now I’m meeting them.”

Passing by groups of soldiers in Storm Trooper uniforms and several citizens in Bern’s distinctive attire, I finally looked up at the sign in front of the vast grounds I had arrived at.

[Honorary Imperial Citizens National Cemetery]

I promised, didn’t I? That I would definitely visit my parents when I came to Bern. I’ve finally come to end that long-awaited promise.

“Please show your identification.”

“Here it is.”

“…Confirmed. You may enter.”

After going through the identification process with the military police guarding the entrance, I now truly entered the grounds where tombstones were planted.

It seemed many people had already come and gone, as there were flowers and what appeared to be memorial items placed here and there. Several people could be seen quietly paying their respects around the gravestones.

Erich Freud, my father.

Emma Brown, my mother.

Rustle, rustle!

As if in a trance, I stepped towards the graves where my parents were buried. Under the gentle sunlight, I moved forward, parting the grass and treading on the lawn as my legs led me.

The place I arrived at was a ridge located at the edge of the grounds, where two small hills were attached.

“……”

As I lightly brushed the top of the grave, the rough grass tickled my hand. Then, as I touched the gravestone just below, gray dust intertwined with my fingers.

The cemetery caretaker must have cleaned it to some extent, but traces of loneliness seemed to remain unremoved.

Mother.

Father.

Although they were not truly my parents but the people who raised ‘Yena’ before entering the military academy, I couldn’t suppress the welling emotion when I muttered their names inwardly.

Perhaps because I had received much help from Erich Freud’s reputation, my feelings towards them were even greater.

It must have been a harmonious family.

Despite being able to be buried in the area where ordinary generals are interred due to his service as a magic officer and the title of war hero, the father stayed by his wife’s side.

It was something rarely seen unless the marital relationship was exceptionally strong.

My relationship with the family must have been good too. Even glimpsing the past memories that occasionally came to mind, I was always sitting around with family, laughing happily.

Although we lived in a small apartment due to lack of money, we didn’t despair and always filled the house with happiness.

If it weren’t for the Great War, we would have lived feeling warm affection for a long time.

Crunch!

I gripped the ground so strongly that grass stems were about to be torn off under my nails. The greed of imperialism had shattered a family that had only been harmonious.

The parents were annihilated.

Honor was gained, but smiles were lost.

I realized anew how miserable the situation Yena Freud was in, and indeed why she entered the military academy despite seeing her father, who was a magic officer, die.

She must have expressed her resentment and anger as hostility towards the Allied Nations. She probably replaced her sorrow with killing intent to forget it.

What a fragile soul.

Plop!

I put my hand on the marble inscribed with [Erich Freud], slid it down, and knelt on the bare ground.

Then I closed my eyes and lowered my head.

Yena, I will take on the cause you were trying to achieve. I will make sure that your father, mother, and the Allied Nations, the enemies of your homeland, pay a sufficient price.

That would be the only repayment I could offer.

If the Second World War is an inevitable history of the era that cannot be stopped, I will just ride along with it, lead Bern from defeat to victory, and resolve Yena’s grudge.

“I will come back someday.”

Father, Mother.

Being in front of the deceased for a long time makes my mind unsettled. Is it because I think I’ve glimpsed a cruel facet of reality, not just a simple game setting?

I finished paying my respects and stood up, supporting myself on the ground.

After placing a flower beside their faded marble, I quietly turned my back and left after looking at the deceased for a moment.

---

“It’s peaceful…”

Gartel gazed at the sky while puffing on his pipe. It was an unusually calm day.

‘No, is this how it should be originally?’

Writing a recommendation letter for Yena, investigating the conspiracy related to Yena in the joint training, transferring Wolf von Stresemann to the eastern detention center after returning to the military academy.

There truly hadn’t been a day without trouble. Only after completing the handover of Manfred to the Federation did he finally regain his daily routine.

‘It seems like it’s because Yena isn’t here.’

Gartel looked out the window while savoring the smoke using the high-level technique of exhaling through his mouth and inhaling again through his nose. To be precise, he was thinking of Yena who would be far away in Bern.

Thinking seriously, whenever Yena was around, his body and mind were somehow always tired. He had to exert his capabilities as an instructor to match her genius level.

But now that Yena is gone, what’s this? For the first time since receiving this batch of students, he was enjoying proper rest.

“…Maybe I should have given her a longer vacation.”

Gartel sucked on his pipe with a tone mixed with half-joke and half-seriousness. Anyway, hoping that the current leisure would continue in the future, he propped his chin and appreciated the view beyond the window frame.

“Administrator Gartel?”

“Aren’t you the secretary of Principal Lustet?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What business do you have…”

“An official document has been issued, so I came to deliver it.”

But unfortunately, that wish didn’t last long.

The secretary in charge of Principal Lustet, who rarely visited, came and broke the quiet air of the office.

Thud!

Although he was trying to leisurely smoke his pipe after a long time, the sudden uninvited guest seemed to irritate him, and Gartel slightly twisted his lips as he opened the envelope.

As it was the weekend and he was in the middle of smoking, he had planned to just briefly check the contents and deal with it later.

“…Exchange student?”

However, after seeing the contents, he changed his mind.

The document brought by the secretary was content that quickly awakened his mind, which had been steeped in fatigue, as if injected with a stimulant.

[Federation Exchange Student Education Guidelines]

From any context, it contained the story that he would soon be teaching a Federation exchange student dispatched for academic research purposes in his own class.

“Huh.”

This doesn’t give me even a little time to rest. Gartel rubbed his brow, recalling the amount of work he had to handle as an administrator.

Now that the reply the Federation had been postponing over and over had finally arrived, he couldn’t just sit and sip espresso.

If he did, he would have to face a murderous workload piled up the next day, so it was better to handle it on time.

Trudge, trudge.

Still, it would have been nice if it had come a few hours later…. Gartel moved to his work desk, dragging his drooping arms.