The First Letter (55)

At the Academy, the second year was unquestionably the liveliest. They had just graduated from being fledgling first-years and were at the stage where they could finally enjoy some leisure.

During their first year, they had been ignorant fledglings who froze up whenever they encountered a senior. But after about a year, they had more or less adapted to the Academy's infamous lifestyle, without yet having to prepare for full-scale practical training like the third-years or leave on assignments like the fourth-years.

It was the time of life when they squandered the most hours on entertainment. The moment they stepped outside their rooms, they could find countless friends living within a ten-minute walk. It was obvious what those young people would be getting up to.

They gathered to chat, drank, planned trips, and went downtown to have fun.

In short, as long as it was fun, they did just about anything. And as they went out to play, they naturally formed groups they spent time with often; this was also when they decided which group they would spend the rest of their Academy life with.

It was a crucial time for friendships, too. That was why rumors spread unusually quickly among the second-years.

So-and-so from this department was apparently like this these days, so-and-so and so-and-so were apparently involved, and the relationship between those two who seemed to get along was supposedly awkward in private.

Information that sounded trivial at a glance was more important than anything else to the Academy's second-years. One of the main reasons they attended the Academy was to build connections.

An Academy diploma guaranteed a stable job, but connections guaranteed success and honor. It was only natural that the Academy, where talents from across the continent gathered, produced the highest-ranking figures of every country year after year.

To make proper use of that solid network of alumni connections, forming relationships was more important than anything else...