A channel drawn from a canal leads to the Isle Rose Fortress. It is used for domestic water, but there are other deep dug wells that are used as fresh water for cooking meals.

　Originally, the well was used by nearby residents who built a small settlement and used it there, but it was bought out when they were building the fortress. With the money, the original residents moved to the town of Wendell, which was close to the fortress.

　The reason for the high price of the well was because one of the two wells dug was laced with hot springs. A major advantage for the soldiers sleeping in their quarters on the first floor of the fortress was the easy access to hot water.

　The basement of the fortress was divided into several areas, and one of them was that there was a bathhouse for the use of the officers. I feel that this is also a consideration unique to the women-only fortress - even in wartime, hygiene is directly related to morale, so it's good to have the facilities in place.

(Well, hot springs and wells don't always spring infinitely either, so I can usually only wipe myself down at ...... academy, but that's not always possible, although I did go into town and occasionally go to a public bathhouse.)

　As I begin to remember a little of the past, I still think of my friends. Sven is a tough guy, so I'm sure he'll be fine, but I wonder if Leslie is doing well at the Academy.

　I'm concerned about Leslie's house. The head of the Duke of Renklus' family, the illegitimate child - Leslie himself thinks I don't know about it, but I happen to know about it.

　My father was a clerk in the House of Lords, and my mother was the seventh daughter of the Viscount family. Normally, there was a huge difference in status between Leslie and me, and it wasn't a relationship that allowed me to socialize with her. As for why it was that I met her and came to know her and call her 'Brother Glass', I have to go back to the beginning of our meeting.

　When I entered the Academy of Magic at the age of eight, the teachers' eyes weren't so strict because I was of noble blood - that expectation would be turned around on the day of the Election Ceremony. To begin with, there were not a few children of nobility, so it's not that I was particularly privileged.

　However, because I was of noble blood, and because of my mother's family's involvement with the Dukes of Renklus, I was summoned by Headmaster Hendrick at the time of Leslie's entrance to the school and asked to do something.

''As one of the personnel guarding the academy to prevent other students from harming Leslie Lee Renkles, I would like you to help me as well.''

　It was a request for me to keep a strict eye on Leslie in a forest school setting where the new students and the upperclassmen would form groups.

　A few other aristocratic students who were breathed by the Renklus family were chosen, and Leslie spent her time in the forest school, probably completely unaware of it, being watched by multiple people.

　I was in a different group than Leslie. What happened was that Leslie got lost in the woods, despite the fact that she was under such strict guard orders.

　Someone else would be able to find Leslie. At first I thought it would be unnatural for me to go willingly to the aid of a younger female student I hadn't even spoken to yet.

　But I didn't hesitate any amount. While everyone else was shying away from the darkening forest, I was unreasonably confident that I would be able to find Leslie in the dark.

　Come to think of it, maybe then I was showing signs of making a pact with a plant spirit. I had a feeling that the spirits of the trees that existed in nature were telling me where Leslie was.

'Why did you come here?'

　The girl, who had finally found it after a lot of searching, looked up at me as I reached out from the cave at the base of the great tree. She didn't trust anyone, and I could tell by the way she looked at me that she didn't trust anyone.

　For some reason I hesitated to tell them the truth. Maybe I had an idea of what the girl in front of me would look like if I said the words 'because the teacher asked me to.

　So I thought about it desperately, and even though I thought about it, I couldn't come up with an answer, so I said, 'I don't know.

　How did I bring Leslie home then? I don't remember exactly what I did anymore until I had to piggyback her off of a sprained leg.

(...... I'm not going to die until I tell you the truth. So I don't have anything to worry about.)

　The fact that I was instructed by the head teacher and that I knew where Leslie was coming from. I shouldn't keep that quiet for a long time - one day I should be punished by her.

　I felt comfortable spending time with Leslie, who also enjoyed the face of not knowing anything, and who also enjoyed being called 'Brother Glass' and drew the same outlier spirit.

　All of the women of the Renklus family's blood are married through political marriage. While I'm away from the academy, it's not surprising that Leslie will be the same at any time - it's said that all the nobles will be married off by the age of eighteen.

'Oh, um, ...... Dr. Glass?'
I was just stopping in the hallway or something.

　I noticed that a woman with short hair was standing in front of me. I still can't remember all the names of the medics - I'll have to remember them again next time.

'Oh, you're going to take a bath, aren't you? If it's the bathroom, there was a bill for men in use. We made the tags for Dr. Glass and his secretary.
Thank you for your concern.
No, it's my pleasure ...... and I'm very grateful to the teachers for their help and support. ......

　As if in some kind of hurry, the woman ran - but she saw a sign with the motto 'Quiet in the corridors' and left from there at a quick pace.

　The people in this fortress are all hardworking people who value discipline. I think there are many different people, but so far relationships are improving and there are no quarrels. I wonder if it's fair to say that we're doing well.

(I knew I might be pretty isolated since I'm the only guy, but ...... in that sense, I'm still pretty happy to have Rendle there to help me out.)

　While thinking about this, I open the door with the 'Men in Use' tag on it and enter the changing room.

'Oh, Mr. Rendle. I'm already on my way up: ......
'Huh? ......!'

　--that can't be anyone but 'Mr. Rendle' there.

　A male in use tag. Mr. Rendle, who came with me -- even if I took off my hat and removed my glasses, he was definitely a man.

　But all the time I didn't ask what spirit was responsible for the magic that Mr. Rendle used to protect me from the goblin arrows.

　What if 'Mr. Rendle' was using the power of that genie to disguise his identity against me.

'...... glass, sir ......'

　For a moment, I couldn't connect the 'she' that called me like that to the person I knew.

　When she was twelve, she was still a child of innocence. But in the three years since then, knowing that she had changed, I still didn't understand how much of a change it was.

　The cloth used to wipe her body reliably hid her breasts. Long wet hair draped over her shoulders, and her shoulders, too, must have been hidden by the ingenuity of her clothes - thin, slender curves.

　Thus, everything I saw in my eyes showed that 'Mr. Rendle' could not be a man or anything else.