68. I’m not very strong at all (please vote～)
Perhaps because Letty didn’t have any particularly “deep” impressions of the Siberian region of the Rosian Empire, during the subsequent “academy preparation” time, even when I found opportunities to be alone with Letty, I couldn’t find a chance to remind her to “lift the order and remember.”
On the contrary, I faced more instances where Letty, in a bad mood, was ready to “shoot me dead.” Time waits for no one, and while I was still trying to make Letty “remember,” the students who needed to participate in the “final exam” had already begun to arrive. As expected, I was assigned to the same group as Reyef, and I could only brace myself to participate, or rather, “observe” this final exam that was highly characteristic of the Rosian Empire.
Naturally, I couldn’t think about “making Letty remember” now, as Letty was already standing on a makeshift platform not far away, starting her “pre-war mobilization.”
“In short! This time is a team competition, as well as a personal proof! Without the interference of some flashy foreign lady, this time, this Emperor will let you determine the winner using the most Rosian methods!”
“First form teams, then individuals. This Emperor won’t care what your identities are, whether you’re noble offspring of Rosia or not. The winners will come before this Emperor to receive rewards, and the losers can go home and eat shit in Brit!”
“If you’re ready, just wait for the designated time and set off according to the route you initially decided!”
Responding to the lively shouts of “Hooray” from the students, who were jumping around with swords raised, it felt as if they were not heading towards a perilous snowfield, but rather to an amusement park.
From the current scene, it seemed I would have no opportunity to interact with Letty for the time being. Not to mention, according to Letty’s previous request, my role as a “back-row support” would require my full participation. With this in mind, I temporarily dismissed the thought of seeking out Letty and turned my attention to Leif, the big sister—Letty had designated the “hunting” to be divided into groups of considerable size, and this big sister was the leader of my group.
At this moment, Leif was fully armed, even with a sword at her side. However, upon catching my gaze, she still seemed flustered and wanted to conceal something.
“Sorry for being in the same group as me. I rarely come to places like this to do such things, so I might hold you back later, haha~”
Not at all, big sister. The script here says that you alone could easily handle not just the big white wolf, but even a bear, which is more dangerous than a wolf, as simply as poking a skewer. I can’t really respond to your claim of holding us back.
In the next moment, Leif directly ignored the other group members who were making a fuss and insisted on maintaining her image: “Besides, this is a team operation. I’m just responsible for leading the team, like a tour guide!”
“Shh!”
“!”
Although I didn’t know what Leif did after turning her back, a single glance from her silenced the rowdy group members. Then, as if wanting me to quickly forget everything I had just seen, she grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the base exit.
“Alright! Our route is to head north from the base in the Siberian region. Although it will be more dangerous, the corresponding rewards will be greater. Let’s set off now!”
Big sister, your words just now, along with the strength with which you’re pulling me, are anything but “delicate.”
“The specific methods will be explained once we reach the campsite we’ve set up outside. Considering this is a snowfield, it’s better for someone like you, an outsider, not to… uh, what are you looking at?”
It wasn’t so much that I was looking, but rather that I had “happened to see”—I had just glanced hurriedly in the direction where Letty was giving her speech and seemed to catch sight of that passerby, Skii, who had been acting strangely in front of us earlier, now sneaking around, not sure what he was up to.
However, it was pointless to dwell on it now; running over to check would only be a waste of time. It was more important to accompany Leif and focus on completing this “final test.”
“Nothing, let’s go. Don’t fall behind.”
I shook my head and followed in Leif’s footsteps, treading through the quickly accumulating snow on the ground.
——
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Having finally finished the somewhat boring speech, Letty was certainly not willing to sit idle. After all, as the Empress of the Rosian Empire, she preferred to personally get involved rather than wait in her dormitory for the results brought back by these students.
After all, coming to the Siberian region could be considered a “tour,” and it was quite normal to bring back some “souvenirs.” I wonder how the quality of the white wolf pelts in the forests after the snowfield is this year—are they good enough to make a carpet? But if I really encounter a pure white wolf, I would still prefer to find a way to tame it and use it as a mount!
Reti scratched her head in distress, but just as she was about to head back to change her clothes and then dash into the vast snow-covered forest to try her luck, Rasputin, that fool, seemed to be itching for trouble again, running over with a whimper and a shout. His expression and actions were much more exaggerated than usual.
“Lady Reti~ It’s bad!”
It was always this line, without any variation!
“So annoying!” If it weren’t for her eagerness to find a wolf to play with, Reti would definitely have poked Rasputin in the backside with her sword to wake him up. “This emperor is going out to have some fun, so don’t get in the way!”
“This time it’s real! Lady Reti!”
“Of course! If it were just to mess with this emperor, your head would have moved out long ago!”
Reti still ignored Rasputin and stepped toward her dormitory. “Don’t bother me with such trivial matters. Don’t you have a brain, you fool!?”
After giving Rasputin the middle finger, Reti walked away angrily. However… at this point, Reti also felt that Rasputin really seemed to have some issue, rushing over in such a hurry.
It must be something very sudden; otherwise, she should have been making a fuss during her speech just now.
Turning her head, Reti then noticed that the strange expression on her close minister’s face had vanished. Then…
She brought a strange piece of news.
“Lady Reti, it seems that a strange person has mixed into Siberia.”
“A spy? When hasn’t there been one of those? Let the internal affairs department look for it, catch them, and take them away.”
“No, it’s something else.”
Reti stopped in her tracks and turned to listen.
“It’s… possibly a provocation against you, mocking our Russian people.”
Rasputin spat on the snow.
“I’ve already brought the informant over. Regardless of whether he wants to be a hero or not, I need to squeeze the information out of him first. But time is tight; let’s go take a look, Reti.”
——
Yesterday’s points lottery winner is SakixTeru (4 points)
A new week, everyone remember to vote for this book, and give it some likes~