SRS 120

“So, to summarize what you’ve said, it’s like this?”

Suhyeok listened to Gerog’s story, held up three fingers, and folded them one by one.

“Professor Will and you were warriors fighting a dragon in the same dimension. You died in that battle and came here. Will seemed fine, and you looked fine on the surface too, but a hundred years ago, you realized something was wrong with your body. In the last ten years, you guessed the issue came from a curse the dragon left behind. Fearing you’d harm others, you stayed inside your house and looked for a way to break it.”

The summary was clear. Gerog looked a bit troubled as he nodded at the student who had condensed three hours of his life story into three sentences.

“For now, yes.”

Suhyeok asked as if he didn’t understand.

“Then why didn’t you tell Professor Will the truth? He’s a herbology professor. He should know quite a lot about treatments.”

“…I didn’t want to tell Will I was injured. If he knew my condition, he’d definitely feel guilty.”

“Ah, friendship and loyalty, then.”

“……”

The goblin’s eyes drooped at the half-hearted response. Yohan pinched his indifferent friend’s arm, pushed him back, and stepped forward.

“Can you tell us about the symptoms you think are a curse again?”

He’d heard it before, but Gerog’s explanation was so long that Yohan was confused if he remembered it right. Gerog willingly shared his symptoms.

“At least five times a week, my heart burns like it’s on fire. It happens often at dawn. Sometimes during the day or night, my heart beats fast and hot, and I break into a cold sweat. My whole body shakes so much I can’t even stand. Since these severe moments are unpredictable, I can’t make things like I used to. I might make a mistake during the process because of the pain. I also have frequent nightmares. A dragon opens its maw right in front of me. On days I have those dreams, the heart pain always follows.”

Gerog talked about how scary, cruel, and heartless the dragon was. Eventually, he looked at Yohan with teary eyes.

“I’m so scared and exhausted. I don’t think I can do what Will asked, so please leave. It’s better to tell Will that I… that I’ve become a loser.”

The goblin was overcome with grief as he remembered the past and quietly gried. Listening to his lament, Yohan was lost in thought.

The symptoms suddenly started a hundred years ago, the main issue is heart pain, and it mostly happens at dawn….

Yohan groaned and rubbed his chin. Then, he gasped as a sudden realization dawned on him. He started sweating when he turned his head awkwardly toward his friends.

Is it possible….

They stared at Yohan, wondering why he looked so panicked. Yohan mouthed the words.

‘Professor Ariel.’

The three boys’ eyes widened at the name he mouthed. Then, they started sweating too.

Maybe Gerog’s condition wasn’t a dragon’s curse. Maybe the cause was the overwhelming fear of the dragon carved into his soul when he died. That fear stayed hidden normally but reacted when a dragon appeared.

For example… like Professor Ariel, who is half-dragon.

The possibility was high. But he couldn’t be sure yet, so Yohan patted the crying Gerog’s shoulder.

“I understand your condition for now. However, the situation is serious, so I can’t judge or act carelessly yet. We’ll head back for today and visit again tomorrow.”

“…There’s no need to come. I won’t open the door next time.”

“Even if I am the representative of the Nameless One?”

“……”

Gerog lost his words. Yohan’s friends looked at Yohan with eyes that said they had already given up on him. Yohan shrugged and comforted the goblin, who had stopped crying.

“I’ll find a way for you. I’ll help you escape the curse, so I hope you’ll listen to Professor Will’s request.”

Yohan grabbed the goblin’s hand and pleaded. Gerog bowed his head. The goblin’s flat head looked full of thoughts and worries. Yohan realized Gerog needed time to think and stepped back.

“I don’t expect a definite answer right now. I just hope you’ll open the door when I come back. I’ll see you again.”

Yohan bowed politely and walked out of Gerog’s house. He walked through the residential area as if nothing was wrong, and only then did he take a deep breath.

“What should we do? It’s definitely because of Professor Ariel.”

“…It’s not confirmed yet. That’s why we have to check tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes. I’m going to meet Professor Ariel directly and ask how many years it’s been since he started working at Fantasiademia.”

They could decide what to do after confirming the facts.

Yohan left the commercial district with a heavy heart. The next day, after finishing gymnastics class with the griffins, Yohan caught Professor Ariel before he could head back to his lair.

“Professor. I have a question.”

“Ah, Student Yohan? What’s the question?”

“How long has it been since you started working at Fantasiademia? I apologize if this is a rude question.”

“Oh. You don’t need to do that! I can definitely answer. So… how many years? Uh… hmm….”

The half-dragon, who smiled brightly and promised to answer, tilted his head and hesitated. His pondering went on for a long time. One minute, three minutes, five minutes….

“So….”

Ten minutes.

“Huummm.”

Fifteen minutes.

“…If you don’t remember, it’s alright not to tell me.”

“Really? Ah. I thought this was really important, so I kept thinking! Ha, I guess I have no memory of it. Why don’t you ask the headmaster? You’re close with him too, Yohan. See you later!”

Professor Ariel’s face brightened immediately when he heard he didn’t have to answer. He flew away on his griffin. Yohan watched the professor’s back fade away and clutched his forehead.

“Hang in there, Yohan.”

“Hmm… maybe we can ask other professors?”

“Right. Going to the headmaster’s office can be the last resort.”

Mikael and Kylus suggested new plans, guessing Yohan wanted to avoid the headmaster’s office after the favoritism controversy.

“…That’s a good idea. Let’s each ask a professor and meet back here.”

Yohan felt grateful for his friends’ kindness and returned to the dormitory.

During the first period, Divine Studies, it was Yohan’s duty to ask the angel professor.

“Um, Professor. Do you happen to know when Professor Ariel started working here?”

Yohan cautiously asked while continuously popping water balloons with divine power amid the croaking of frogs. The angel professor stood there and blinked.

“Do I need to know about reptiles? Especially a half-breed dragon?”

“…My apologies.”

It seemed the angel professor didn’t like Professor Ariel very much. Since dragons used magic, it made sense for him to dislike them. In the end, Yohan got nothing from the first period.

In the second period, Spirit Studies, Mikael directly asked Professor Shinbi.

“You’re close with Professor Ariel, right? Do you know when he started working here?”

“Professor Ariel? Hmm…. Hmm…. I think it’s been over eighty years, but I don’t remember well. When you’re here a long time, your sense of time gets weird.”

Professor Shinbi gave an answer after some thought. Over eighty years…. The possibility that the professor was the one triggering Gerog’s trauma hadn’t decreased yet.

Third period, Herbology. Suhyeok asked Professor Will about Professor Ariel.

“He’s probably been here longer than me. I wasn’t a professor originally. I was an elf who managed the forests of the entire territory. It’s only been fifty years since I became a professor at the headmaster’s suggestion.”

He got no results from Professor Will’s answer either.

Yohan met his friends after class and shared the information. He sighed and buried his face in his bed when he heard that neither the Hunter Studies professor nor the Swordsmanship professor knew Ariel’s start date.

“…I guess I have to go see the headmaster.”

“Let’s report Gerog’s condition and get help while we’re at it.”

“Oh, good idea. If we’re going, we might as well solve everything at once!”

“…I’ll pity you. I’ll go with you if you want.”

“…No, it’s fine.”

After weighing whether it was better to go alone or with all four of them, the former seemed safer. The Nameless One was eccentric and unpredictable. It was better to have fewer targets for his whims. The favoritism rumor only followed Yohan for now, but if they all went, it would surely stick to Mikael, Suhyeok, and Kylus too. He didn’t want that, so he took a long breath and headed to the headmaster’s office.

Knock, knock.

He grabbed the handle and knocked, and the pure white door opened to welcome him. Unlike before, the headmaster seemed to be actually working for once. Yohan felt relieved he hadn’t made a wasted trip and stepped inside. As always, the glowing head, which was hard to get used to, greeted him.

“Oh, Yohan. Come in. You’re the first new student since the academy opened to visit the headmaster’s office this often. Ahaha!”

The laughter vibrating through the whole office was too much to listen to for long. Yohan bowed politely and got straight to the point.

“Hmm… Professor Ariel? Wait a moment.”

Since he was the headmaster, he did have some information. He pushed his chair back and looked at the dozens of bookshelves lining the walls. As he shouted words Yohan couldn’t understand, the bookshelves shifted. A few books floated up and landed in the headmaster’s hands. He recited another command, and the pages flipped automatically. He let out an exclamation.

“Ah, here it is. Professor Ariel. He’s a half-dragon that his parents, the Dragons of Dominion and War, brought here 120 years ago. He was at the end of his hatchling stage back then. Ahahaha. So now, Professor Ariel is about a teenager in human years. I guess that’s why he’s immature and clumsy.”

The headmaster laughed. Yohan found himself nodding along to the story, finally understanding why Professor Ariel felt so young, but he quickly snapped out of it.

“How long has it been since he became a professor?”

He’d asked about the start date from the beginning, but the headmaster was telling him when he first met Ariel. The two timelines seemed similar but were different. If he didn’t clarify the question here, he might get the wrong information. When he asked firmly, the headmaster closed the book.

“I thought I could trick you. What a shame.”

…Can I really call this person a headmaster?

Yohan glared at the man who thought of nothing but messing with his students. The headmaster chuckled, sat down, and stared at Yohan.

“Well. There’s no reason I can’t tell you when Professor Ariel started. But if I tell you that, what can you give me, Yohan?”

“…Do I really have to give you something?”

“…My, my. I didn’t expect such words from the kind and gentle Yohan. Have you finally fallen into corruption?”

The headmaster covered where his mouth should be and made sobbing sounds. Yohan felt a headache coming on and held his forehead.

If he could talk to him without considering their ranks, Yohan wanted to beg the headmaster to stop talking nonsense.

What is God doing? Why hasn’t He taken this ridiculous headmaster away?

Oh, right. The headmaster was a god….