Time flew, swift as a fleeting glimpse of a galloping horse.
Before they knew it, Bannie, Sylphy, and Aisha had finished their second year in that temple of knowledge, Ranoa Magic University.
Autumn had arrived.
In Cui Ciyou's memories of his previous life, autumn should have brought refreshing golden breezes and the fragrance of osmanthus, a season of harvest and quiet reflection.
Sow in spring, reap in autumn; diligence earned its reward. That was how it should have been.
But this was the far north.
Autumn in the Northern Territory wore an entirely different face, cold and bleak.
The crops sown in spring had already completed their life cycles in summer's brief brilliance.
Now, the autumn wind brought no warmth, only bitter cold.
It was barely early autumn, yet tiny, crystalline snowflakes had already begun drifting from the sky.
Looking into the distance, the fields were already covered in a thin layer of white frost.
Without the large temperature-regulating barriers overhead and the expensive underfloor-heating magic circles keeping the soil warm, no crops could have survived such a harsh environment.
For one particular race on this continent, however, autumn signified a season far more important than the harvest, and far more... restless.
It was the Beastfolk mating season.
That differed somewhat from the animals that followed nature's rhythms in Cui Ciyou's memories.
In his homeland, spring was when all things revived and new life sprouted; in this world, however, the primal urges etched deep into Beastfolk blood were fully ignited during these bleak autumn days.
"...Once this season arrives, Beastfolk, both male and female, begin to grow irritable and restless."
Reading this, Cui Ciyou raised an eyebrow slightly. An image involuntarily surfaced in his mind-that powerful, dependable swordswoman, Ghislaine, whose graceful muscles and supple strength made her resemble a leopardess.