SRS 126

Yohan explained the whole situation to the professor, who was busy wringing out his hair. After Ariel heard about Gerog’s circumstances, his eyes drooped and he looked sad in his discouraged posture.

“T-there certainly are some violent ones among dragons…. I feel so bad for the shock and pain that goblin must’ve suffered! If I can help, I will!”

His eyes sparkled with justice and responsibility, it didn’t seem like empty talk. Before sharing the full plan, Yohan asked for understanding to prevent any retaliation from the professor.

“Thank you. However, the plan we want to carry out might be a bit rude to you. Is that alright?”

“Huh? What kind of plan is it?”

“Well….”

Did he really have to say this out loud?

Yohan felt embarrassed and turned to look at his friends. Swish, swish. Suhyeok and Kylus looked away and pretended to be busy with something else. Mikael gave an awkward smile and cheered him on.

It was ridiculous to feel betrayed by a friend who was cheering, so Yohan finally decided to take this embarrassing responsibility himself.

“…We plan to restrain you in a combat-incapable state and show you to Lord Gerog. He thinks dragons are very cruel, powerful, and fierce, so showing him the exact opposite will lessen his fear.”

When Yohan spoke honestly, Ariel hesitated.

“You, you’re going to restrain me?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s closer to just pretending to restrain you. We can’t actually hold you back with our skills.”

Suhyeok tilted his head at Yohan’s words and stealthily moved behind Ariel. It was a silent and agile move that surprised even Yohan. Suhyeok looked like an assassin as he pulled out a sedative for big monsters and shook it. It looked like he was contradicting Yohan’s words, so the latter shook his head.

Was he crazy?

It was a problem whether the sedative worked or not.

If it worked, they’d have to deal with the aftermath once Ariel woke up. If it didn’t work, they’d have to stop Ariel’s immediate anger. Yohan didn’t want to be involved in either case. When Yohan showed a fierce rejection, the black-eyed student looked disappointed and put the sedative back. Only then could Yohan feel a bit relieved.

“Hmm… I understand. In short, you mean we’ll do a little play? For someone named Gerog?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it.”

“A play isn’t hard. Even if it was a different dimension, it’s something my kin did. I have a responsibility to help with the healing.”

“Then….”

“Yes, I’ll help Yohan!”

Ariel spoke with a bright smile. Thanks to that, Yohan’s worries cleared up. As the atmosphere became warm, Ariel looked at the four students and touched his hair nervously.

“Um, but Yohan. …By any chance, were you scared when you saw my true form?”

“……!”

For some reason, it felt like he had to answer well. He saw the image of the professor who talked about destroying evidence and annihilation overlap with the Ariel who was now shy, embarrassed, and trembling with anxiety. Yohan felt like he was on a life-or-death line and instinctively looked at Mikael. The white-haired student nodded with a serious face. Yohan cleared his throat and gave a kind-looking priest’s smile.

“No. I wasn’t afraid. Rather, I’d say I was surprised by the dignity of your true form.”

“…Dignity?”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean I didn’t look too scary or like a monster?”

“Yes.”

“What about the other students?”

Ariel looked at the other three with slightly narrowed eyes, as if he couldn’t believe it. They were quick-witted and nodded immediately. As each of them said something positive, Ariel’s expression brightened.

“Then will you still attend my classes without skipping?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Ha….”

Only then did Ariel sit down as if the tension in his body had finally left, and he laughed a few times. Yohan consciously ignored the professor’s mumblings about classes, losing his status, reports, and the headmaster’s summons, things that seemed like a headache to get involved with.

Once the important conversation ended, Ariel brushed himself off and stood up.

“Then we should leave this place first. You said the headmaster’s book brought you here?”

“Yes.”

“As expected… that’s just like the headmaster. Even though this is my lair, I didn’t notice your intrusion. It means that book completely escaped my perception. Amazing!”

Ariel looked a bit excited and started to praise the headmaster endlessly.

Praise for the Nameless One, of all people. Yohan felt uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to hurt the happy half-dragon, so he forced himself to agree. After talking about the headmaster for a long time, Ariel stepped out of the cave.

“Then I’ll take you to the outside of the lair! You weren’t scared by my true form, so it’ll be fine.”

Ariel spoke energetically and ran out of the cave, returning to his true form. Yohan blankly watched Ariel transform from a human shape back into an imposing dragon. When the dragon lowered his body to tell them to climb on his back, Yohan slowly got on. The others did the same.

“Wow, it’s my first time riding a dragon.”

“Me too. Probably not many students in the whole school have ridden a dragon.”

“…It really is amazing.”

The three students let out unfamiliar exclamations and grabbed the horns on his back.

–Then, let’s go!

Ariel’s voice echoed in their minds, and the giant dragon began a magnificent flight. Yohan heard many stories on Ariel’s back until they left the lair.

He heard about Ariel’s early days when he taught in his true form because he didn’t know any better, which caused most students to faint or run away in fear. He heard how Ariel eventually started acting clumsy and awkward through trial and error, so students wouldn’t be scared even if he revealed he was a dragon. Yet, many students still turned their backs or said things they shouldn’t in fear, or badmouthed Ariel once they saw his true form.

The stories told in a bitter and gloomy voice proved that Ariel was a dragon who had been hurt more than he appeared.

Perhaps the desire to help Gerog also came from that past. Ariel must’ve felt a lot of fatigue from the fact that someone feared dragons.

“Don’t be hurt by those who speak carelessly because they’re afraid. Words spoken lightly only carry that much weight and sincerity. You don’t need to take an opponent’s words to heart and be hurt if they don’t come from a place of sincerity.”

When Yohan spoke calmly, the giant dragon rolled his wide eyes to look at the top of his head. Soon, a chuckle echoed through the sky. Of course, it was a chuckle from Ariel’s perspective, but to Yohan, it was a thunderous cackle that felt like his eardrums would fall out.

–Thank you, Yohan. Yohan is a truly kind mortal.

Ariel expressed his sincerity in a shy tone. Yohan felt like he understood why students grew to dislike Ariel’s true form from that last comment, but he didn’t dig deeper into that thought.

A short while later, Ariel dropped Yohan’s group at the lair’s exit and flapped his wings twice.

–Thank you for today, students. Then, see you at the next class!

Perhaps his suspicion and wariness were completely gone now, Ariel treated Yohan’s group with the same attitude as his human form and left. Yohan looked back at the mysterious lair with his friends one last time and walked out.

It was a very refreshing and brilliant place, but honestly, he didn’t want to come twice. Usually, monsters are born in places with this much mana, and there’s usually a guardian of the lair to deal with those monsters and intruders. It was a miracle-like stroke of luck that they met Ariel today and left the lair safely.

Yohan wasn’t sure such luck would come next time, so he thought he wouldn’t go near a dragon’s lair for a while as he left with his friends.

And that night, Yohan and his Room 304 friends received three demerit points.

The reason was that they had left the library in a mess without cleaning it up.

“That can’t be…!”

Yohan and his friends immediately knew it was the magic book’s doing. They expressed their unfairness using hand gestures and everything, but the supervisor didn’t even listen and just snorted.

“A magic book made by the headmaster? I just asked the library, and the only answer was that such a book doesn’t exist. Do you accept your demerit points now, Yohan Herse?”

Yohan thought that couldn’t be right, but he bowed his head because of the supervisor’s acerbic tone. He knew that protesting more would only ruin his image.

“…Yes.”

When he answered with his shoulders slumped, the supervisor clicked his tongue and left the room.

“Room 304. I thought you finally came to your senses, but you’re still troublemakers.”

Yohan and his friends felt a bit wronged by the supervisor’s words as he left.

Meanwhile, inside the headmaster office. The Nameless One was stroking a golden book in his hand and laughing.

“There were students who got fooled again this year.”

The book’s cover sparkled along with the playful words ‘What is a potion made by a perfect person’ written there.