SRS 124

“A dragon? So that roar just now was the sound a dragon made? Where? Where is it?”

“Look over there.”

Yohan pointed to the sky for Suhyeok who wondered about the dragon’s location. Suhyeok followed that finger with his gaze. He found the dragon, which looked only as big as a fist because of the distance, and gasped.

“The roar from way over there reached all the way here?”

“Because it’s a dragon.”

“Right. Furthermore, if that’s a real dragon, we can’t compare it to the weakened Hydra we fought at the entrance ceremony.”

“…It’s better to keep our bodies low.”

The students knew the Hydra’s majesty and terror from the entrance exam, so they lowered their posture and looked at each other. They needed a moment to review the situation so they could understand the current confusion of meeting a dragon, something they hadn’t expected in their lives.

“Let’s think about why we came here.”

Suhyeok opened the discussion.

“Isn’t it because we hastily worshipped to the headmaster’s book?”

Kylus grumped. He was displeased with this result since he’d opposed the worship from the start.

“Ha. So were we caught in the headmaster’s trick after all?”

“It’s a bit strange to just say that. The book said it’d give us the potion’s recipe if we worshipped. Gods can be mischievous, but they don’t lie. That’s because of a god’s status. It means the content of the book we saw won’t be a lie.”

“Oh… Mikael, you know quite a bit about this stuff?”

“…It’s because I took Divine Studies as an elective last year.”

“Oh, I should sign up for that next year too.”

“Suhyeok, the conversation’s getting off track.”

“Ah.”

Yohan focused on the conversation as his friends tried to change the subject whenever he let his guard down. He had to lead this conversation.

“Mikael is right. Gods don’t lie. That’s why prophecies are always vague. Also, gods like to say things that leave room for double interpretation. Maybe the phrase written in that book is a very twisted sentence too?”

“What exactly was the book’s sentence?”

They looked at Yohan at Suhyeok’s question. Their eyes sparkled with the belief that Yohan, who was the most studious and had a talent for memorization, would remember it. Yohan felt a bit burdened.

“It’s not like I walk around with every sentence memorized.”

“So, did you forget?”

“No. Of course I know it.”

“…”

Yohan ignored his friends’ “I told you so” faces and recited the sentence from his memory. Suhyeok exclaimed “Ah”.

“Maybe it’s because the potions we thought of were different? It told us to think of the conditions for the potion we wanted to make.”

“Can that happen? We already matched the details right before we offered worship.”

“We can match the words in detail. But couldn’t our hearts be different?”

“Eh?”

“Even if we think we want to make a potion that removes the fear of dragons on the surface, our true inner intentions might be different. And that intention could be a feeling we didn’t even realize ourselves. Didn’t you say the headmaster’s book contains a massive amount of divine power? Then looking into someone’s inner thoughts shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t you think?”

“Ah…”

The possibility Suhyeok suggested sparkled with logic. Mikael thought after he heard that and summarized it.

“You mean the line I thought of and my real intention might be different?”

“Exactly.”

“…If that’s the case, it’ll be troublesome.”

“Hmm…”

Yohan first tried to find out if anyone had thought of conditions different from what they’d agreed upon beforehand. But no one raised a hand. It meant everyone was thinking of a potion to remove fear.

But they might’ve wanted something else in their hearts.

For example…

Something like the fundamental reason why they had to make the potion to remove fear.

Curing Gerog’s trauma is the essence, and a dragon is related to that essence. Then, is it really a coincidence that they came here and found a dragon?

Divine power is omnipotent. Yohan decided that noble power wouldn’t have moved them here without a reason, so he watched the dragon move away and stood up.

“In that case, let’s meet the dragon.”

“What?”

“Yohan. You might’ve hit your head when you fell. Check it.”

The reaction wasn’t ordinary because it sounded like a suggestion to go die. Yohan tried to persuade the two students who felt uncomfortable.

“Think about it. Think about why we tried to make the potion. It’s to remove the fear of dragons. If so, we might’ve thought about the dragon in our hearts. That’s why we met a dragon here. If things go this way, that dragon is this world’s key.”

Maybe the dragon was the most difficult yet certain way to find a clue to leave this place.

They hesitated as he argued that following the dragon would be better than wandering through this vast and giant garden. Mikael was the one who sealed their decision.

“He’s right. Everything here is abnormally big. It’s not a normal forest or garden. Maybe that dragon is the one who made this place. It won’t hurt to try and meet them like Yohan said.”

Suhyeok was startled.

“The dragon made this place? Mikael… you know what that means, right?”

The white-haired student nodded at the cautious check. His face was very peaceful.

“I know. It means this place might be a lair.”

“…”

Thet went silent for a moment at the new speculation Mikael offered.

A dragon’s lair.

A mysterious place known to be full of various treasures. A dragon becomes an absolute and nearly omnipotent being in its lair. It wasn’t for nothing that warriors said you had to pull a dragon out of its lair to defeat it.

If this was a lair, they were literally going to meet the creature on its main stage.

But Mikael looked so calm while he said that, so Yohan, Kylus, and Suhyeok could maintain their calm without being affected by the agitation.

“…Right. Just sitting here won’t give us an answer.”

“I think meeting the dragon will be faster than searching this entire forest.”

The ones who’d opposed finally gave in.

It worked…!

Yohan felt proud that he’d succeeded in persuading them, and he held out his fist to Mikael. Mikael bumped his fist with a smile.

They flew to chase the creature’s flight path so they could meet the dragon. Mikael had to struggle with his magic this time too.

“Mikael. Can’t we go faster?”

“This is the maximum speed. Catching up to a dragon with my magic is impossible to begin with.”

The flight magic’s speed was fast, but it was definitely slow compared to a dragon. Yohan felt anxious as the distance seemed to grow, so he called his spirit. The spirit appeared with bubbles and circled around Yohan.

“Can you follow the dragon’s path and observe it? I’d appreciate it if you shared your vision.”

The water spirit moved to carry out the instructions when he asked while pressing their foreheads together. A moment later, the water spirit shared its vision with Yohan. Yohan felt a sting in his optic nerves and accepted the transfer request.

Soon, the dragon’s figure appeared. It looked a bit small, perhaps because the spirit didn’t get too close for fear of being discovered, but it was enough to see the dragon’s form.

Yohan scanned the creature up close after he’d only seen it from a distance, then he stopped.

“Eh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you see something weird?”

“It’s not like it turned out to not be a dragon or something, right?”

His friends echoed the embarrassment Yohan felt. Yohan parted his lips as he received a delicate share of the scene reflected in the spirit’s vision once more.

He was a bit unsure. So Yohan tilted his head slightly and spoke.

“…Professor Ariel?”

“What?”

The dragon’s appearance, which he could see clearly thanks to the spirit, resembled the half-dragon professor.

The eye color, the scale color, the tail color, and the claw color.

Everything had colors similar to Professor Ariel’s, so they understood once he explained it in detail.

“If it’s that similar, it makes sense that you’d think of the professor.”

“Professor Ariel is a half-breed, but he’s still a dragon after all.”

“…Hmm. Maybe it’s the real Professor Ariel. The closest dragon’s lair to Fantasiademia would naturally be Professor Ariel’s lair.”

“Oh, is that how it is?”

“Then did that book send us to the professor’s lair?”

Their expressions brightened slightly and then turned strange again as they kept guessing. It was a relief that it wasn’t a desolate space like another dimension, but they were confused because they didn’t know why it moved them to the professor’s lair.

But something happened.

“Hmm… so that dragon is Professor Ariel himself?”

Suhyeok looked at the dragon, whose tail was slightly visible now that the distance was closer after a long, full-speed flight. He rummaged through his clothes and made a suggestion.

“Let’s do this.”

“What?”

“Let’s catch Professor Ariel and take him directly to Lord Gerog.”

Suhyeok’s hand held an anesthetic for magical beasts that he’d taken out of his subspace pocket as he said that.

Yohan looked at him with an horrified expression.

…Is he insane?

Kylus nodded at the flustered Yohan.

“That’s a good idea.”

Yohan realized anew how Suhyeok and Kylus, who fought every day, could stay friends.