Pendleton Revolution
Chapter 3

Thirty-two hours had passed since Andrea Yuriness had started at the academy. After finally managing to calm her roommates, she sat grimly across from them. She was still stinking of sweat, and her sword was slung around her waist. After a lot of explaining on her end, she finally managed to reassure the girls and sit across from them, with what looked like a negotiation table in between. However, her roommates continued to look at her suspiciously.

“A-are you really our roommate?”

“Yes. You can feel my breasts to confirm,” Andrea replied confidently.

“That would be rude...”

“It is fine, really.” It wasn’t her first time being misunderstood like this. She ripped her shirt open with a familiar motion.

In a dormitory meant for eight people, only four had arrived—Andrea in the Military Studies Department and three girls in the Department of Arts who had just begun their semester that day. The three women had not introduced themselves to her yet. They exchanged glances as they assessed the situation.

Finally, the meekest of them all, a woman with straight, brown hair, came forward.

“H-hello. I-I am Alice.”

“I’m Andrea.”

For some reason, Alice felt compelled to formally introduce herself before feeling Andrea’s chest.

“Th-then, here I go...”

“Please do.”

Andrea herself wasn’t quite sure what she was urging Alice to do. In any case, Alice touched her chest with trembling fingers. Slowly, the palm of her hand touched Andrea’s skin.

The girl’s face suddenly scrunched up as if she was about to cry.

“M-mommy...”

Andrea had no idea why she was calling for her mother. She was convinced she could clear up this misunderstanding quickly, but just as Ed tilted her head in confusion, Alice burst into tears.

“There’s nothing there... Mommy! I touched a man’s chest! I-I can’t get married anymore!”

“Wait, no, no, no! Why can’t you get married? I’m sorry for having a flat chest! Let me just take the whole shirt off!” Andrea cried desperately.

Unfortunately, she only made herself sound like a bigger pervert.

* * *

“I have heard there are quite a few female officers these days, but they are usually women from noble backgrounds, so... I didn’t think I would see any in Erta. I apologize for my mistake.”

“It is quite all right. I mean, it happens all the time,” Andrea reassured her.

“No, no. It was rude of me to assume your gender based on first impression alone. What about your shirt? I can sew the buttons back on for you,” Alice offered.

Andrea had ripped her shirt open to reveal her breasts and clear up the misunderstanding. Now, her arm was around Alice’s shoulders to gently comfort her. Feeling guilty, Alice was at a loss about what to do.

“I-I know that modern women like to wear pants and style their hair short, but...” She began sniffling again. Andrea gently patted her shoulders.

At this moment, Andrea and Alice looked more like lovers than roommates. The beautiful woman—the one who dropped her skirt when Andrea entered the dorm—watched them curiously. She was now wrapped in a towel that she had quickly picked up to hide her body, and she wore fancy lingerie. Brilliant golden curls flowed down the frame of her face. Her emerald eyes glimmered like gems, and a cute freckle decorated the skin just under her eye. She was one of the new students in the Department of Arts.

“Andrea, was it? Do you mind if we drop the formalities? Why don’t we introduce ourselves? I’m Elena, Elena Heingrass. Eighteen years old,” she said quite merrily.

“Sorry, I misunderstood you, too. You look like you came straight out of a novel. The best friend who is kinder and more reliable than any man. A soul sister. Before, I thought you were a dashing young man trying to peep at my body. It’s both relieving and disappointing to hear that you’re actually our roommate,” Alice said.

“If you’re okay with dropping the formalities, I am too. My name is Andrea Yuriness. I’m also eighteen. I’m from the Kalabasta Orphanage.”

“Oh my, you’re an orphan? How did you get into the Military Studies Department?” Elena asked moon-eyed.

Andrea looked back with embarrassment. When her benefactor asked what she was interested in studying, she had hesitated before answering that she wanted to major in Military Studies. The reason for her hesitation was its cost. As one of the few fields offering social mobility, it was also hard to get accepted. Graduates of this department would mainly become knights. At worst, they would become drill instructors, or with luck, officers.

The department was usually closed to commoners. In fact, the commoners in Military Studies were usually the children of merchants, fallen aristocrats, or, at the very least, local authorities. The discipline system in the department was set up for children of the petty nobility or notable civilian families who lacked access to military education.

As both Alice and the drill instructor pointed out, the few female officers who did exist all came from noble backgrounds. Few families encouraged their daughters to get a military degree, and even fewer allowed them to become officers instead of pushing them to marriages of convenience. Normally, the female officers were members of the imperial family or high nobility that exerted great influence.

Other countries had it worse. In the neighboring country of Mareha, women were treated as less than human. In Luevit across the sea, women had no right to succession. As such, women’s rights in the Crembell Empire were considered comparatively better. Women who graduated from the Arts Department were guaranteed jobs, but other work outside related fields was extremely limited.

After pondering for a moment, Andrea hesitantly disclosed her secret.

“I have a benefactor.”

“Now, that’s a surprise...” Elena stated bluntly. Andrea just shrugged her shoulders, as though she expected this reaction. Elena didn’t say that because Andrea didn’t look feminine. “Benefactors don’t really like to invest in ‘education,’ do you know what I mean?”

“Really? I thought the point of sponsorship was to provide financial support for things like school.”

“What are you talking about? What benefactor does that these days? As far as I know, there hasn’t been such a case since Archduke Pendleton. No, scratch that. You’re here now, so let’s say yours is the first exception,” Elena quipped coldly.

Andrea got the feeling that Elena also had a sponsor. She considered asking her about it. After all, she didn’t seem like the type to mind talking about personal or sensitive topics.

So, Andrea probed softly, asking, “Do you have a benefactor too?”

“That’s right,” Elena said right away, as Andrea expected.

Examining the tips of her painted nails, Elena crossed her legs with only a towel over her lingerie. Now that she was fully convinced that Andrea Yuriness was indeed a woman, she seemed more relaxed.

“I’m from Lua, a region in the south,” Elena explained. “My parents live in the capital, but it was hard to make ends meet. So they sent me, their third daughter, to an orphanage. The orphanages around the capital were too hard to get into, so I was passed around orphanages before settling at one in Lua at five. I’m entering the academy this year, but I’ve had a benefactor supporting me for three years. Thanks to him, I was able to find my parents and come back to the capital. It’s been three years since I’ve been living with them. Unfortunately, that wily old man demanded I go on dates with him the moment I turned fifteen.”

“Dates?”

“Yes, dates.”

“What’s the point of being an ‘anonymous’ benefactor, then?”

“Right? A lot of girls are in the same boat. I’ve been on a few dates already. It’s not all bad. After every date, I get some spending money for myself and some more to keep my family afloat.”

Elena paused and excused herself to fill her pipe with tobacco and take a long drag. Then, using the tips of her brightly painted fingernails, she popped a cherry into her mouth. After another inhale of the pipe, she quickly snubbed it out. It didn’t look like she smoked regularly. Nor did it seem like she had been smoking for long, either. Andrea watched curiously, silently studying Elena. Although she said that the dates weren’t all that bad, she felt she was only saying that to comfort herself. She took another puff, as if to calm herself.

“I wanted to study international trade or diplomacy, but my benefactor refused, saying it costs too much. In the end, I decided to go into childcare. I think I’ll fit right in because I have many siblings. At least I’ll have a much better life after graduation than I have now, so I’m looking forward to that. You’re a very lucky case.”

The orphanage where Andrea grew up also had a handful of children with mysterious benefactors of noble backgrounds. She knew that it was very rare for orphans like her to be able to study the subject of their interest with no strings attached. So when she had written to her patron about it, she crafted her request with great care and respect, thanks to the help of her wise friend Maria Helezen. She didn’t want to irk her benefactor and ruin her chances of studying what she wanted.

“I know. I’m lucky,” Andrea said plainly.

So many things had happened that day that she had momentarily forgotten that her benefactor was indeed one of a kind. Based on his letter, she had some idea of what kind of person he was. He was diligent and kind, and approached everything with great care. He seemed meticulous, even in his choice of words. Few nobles were like him—he taught his servant to write and made him write letters to practice. Andrea told herself she ought to be grateful to her benefactor for the rest of her life, hoping to return the favor someday.

“My benefactor wasn’t specifically looking for a girl,” Andrea explained.

“I doubt it.”

“Really. Seeing as he sent me a male uniform, he probably thinks I’m a guy.”

“Are you sure he’s not into young boys?”

“Watch it,” Andrea said coldly.

Elena grinned. “In any case, let’s do our best as the new Jerusha Abbotts,” Elena said with a hint of sarcasm. What mattered was that she had opened up to Andrea. She extended her delicately maintained hand for a handshake, and Andrea enthusiastically grabbed her hand and shook it.

The last roommate jumped in to introduce herself.

“I’m Jeria. My family on both my mother's and father’s sides are merchants, so they’ve been teaching me the ropes. I’m here to get a higher education. I enrolled late, so I’m seven years older than you girls. Feel free to ask me any questions if you need life coaching or dating advice.”

Jeria was a freckled woman who had brought Alice some cold water.

“You enrolled in Arts to become a merchant? Why not study business instead?”

“I’ve already learned the ins and outs of business from direct experience. Plus, Business Administration is for those who want to start their own businesses. I want a higher education—something in domestic and international affairs, languages, public speaking, mathematics... On that note, I’ll be majoring in History, Math, and Linguistics. I might not be around too much since I have three majors to juggle.” She spoke with an air of confidence. Her brown hair, which had streaks of orange, was pulled into a thick braid. Andrea found herself awed by the way she spoke.

“You’re amazing,” Andrea murmured.

“Thanks. Considering how you’re a commoner and a woman, you’re also amazing for getting accepted into Military Studies.”

At twenty-five years old, Jeria seemed to look after Alice like an older sister would. Andrea decided to drop formalities with her, too. Having found a kindred spirit, they exchanged greetings by lightly bumping fists.

“O-once again, I am Alice, Alice Carmidan. I am sixteen, and my father is Baron Carmidan,” the girl said carefully. She was still hiccuping after all the crying, but she finally managed to calm herself down after the glass of cold water. The other roommates, who had already exchanged introductions, nodded. Andrea, on the other hand, nearly jumped from her seat.

Usually, nobles lived separately from the commoners. All the students were assigned dormitories, and they were supposed to be distributed evenly regardless of social status. In reality, commoners were sent to the most run-down building. It couldn’t be helped, since different dormitories charged different fees. There was no way an aristocrat would want to live in a double room with one communal living room and so many other people.

What’s an aristocrat doing here? Andrea found it difficult to process Alice’s statement. She quickly drew the hand that had been patting Alice’s round shoulders. Cold sweat ran down her back as she remembered how she had urged her to feel her breasts.

“M-my lady, wh-what are you d-doing in this dormitory?” Andrea managed to ask.

“My father is a baron in name only. Our fortune has been on the wane since my grandfather’s generation, so the title is all we have. We are what you would call fallen nobility. Apparently, in the old days, we prospered through academics, but it is hard for me to discern whether that is true. I am the only child, but my family is too poor for me to claim the right to succession,” Alice, rubbing the area around her eyes, explained nonchalantly with a timid smile.

“I am going to study Government Administration and become a civil servant. My father’s title as baron will give me a better chance at passing the civil servant exam,” she continued.

“I-I see...”

“Please treat me like you would any other. I only speak like this because of my upbringing. Oh, I am assigned to Room Three. I noticed some baggage inside. Am I to be sharing the room with you, Andrea?”

After quickly checking her room number, Andrea nodded. It didn’t matter that Alice’s aristocratic family was poor now. As the child of a gangster and a pirate, living all her life in an orphanage, Andrea squirmed in Alice’s presence. She couldn’t help how she felt. Despite her outward appearance, she was a delicate soul. Maria would often chide her about it, telling her to stop overthinking everything. Alice didn’t seem to care whether she used to be an orphan, but Andrea couldn’t help but fidget about it regardless.

Alice, with her light brown hair and azure eyes, smiled shyly.

“I thought so! I look forward to sharing the room with you, Andrea.”

“Y-you can call me Ed. And, uh, I’m sorry I put my sweaty arm around you. Now that we’ve finished our introductions, I better go shower.”

“I do not mind. Everyone knows how arduous military training can be. It is impressive, really. Anyway, please go on. Oh, right. Please give me your shirt. I will sew the buttons back on for you.”

“Thanks...”

With a flustered face, Ed shook Alice’s hand before handing over her shirt and the buttons, then made her way to the shower room.

What should I do? How should I act around a noble lady without Maria to help me? She felt she shouldn’t carry herself like she usually did—like a gangster. Despite her best intentions, Ed already had a story worth telling her benefactor.

I’ll write something like, Dear Mr. Benefactor, I was assigned to a dormitory for commoners, but for some reason, my roommate is a noble. Your dearest Ed will no longer be able to sleep naked...

Within thirty-three hours of entering the academy, Ed had gone through many ups and downs, including a handful of misunderstandings and commotion. Yet, the biggest challenge turned out to be how to act around her new roommate, Alice.