SRS 80

“Are you saying a monster attacked him and that’s why he ended up like this?”

When they brought Aquador to the infirmary, the jellyfish nurse lifted Aquador’s eyelids and shined a light into his pupils as he asked.

“Yes. He passed out after being strangled.”

“…Hmm. This isn’t fainting from asphyxiation.”

“What?”

“What did you say the monster looked like?”

Yohan found the nurse’s question strange. He wasn’t someone who came to the infirmary often, but from what he’d seen before, the jellyfish nurse wasn’t exactly passionate about caring for patients.

Compared to the other professors at Fantasiademia, the jellyfish nurse was quite kind. But being kind didn’t necessarily mean he was good at his job. He was the type who thought his duty was fulfilled if he gave basic treatment and offered a rest bed unless the condition was really serious.

It was strange that such a person was showing such interest in this matter, but at the same time, it felt a little ominous.

Aquador’s condition has to be serious for him to say something like that.

Yohan thought Aquador had simply fainted, but maybe the nurse saw something different.

While Yohan was lost in thought, Mikael described the monster’s appearance. The jellyfish nurse lifted one limp arm and touched his head.

“…Hmm. I’ll have to file a report to the headmaster.”

“What?”

“Leave your friend here and go for now. Oh, Yohan, you said you needed recovery?”

The jellyfish nurse’s expression softened as he turned to Yohan, who was using the bed across from where Aquador lay. As he waved his tentacles, blue crystal-like particles scattered around Yohan.

“Ah…”

Yohan stared at the beautiful sight. He felt his drained energy slowly returning and gasped in admiration.

So he really wasn’t here for nothing.

He never knew the extent of the jellyfish nurse’s abilities because he always seemed to be doing things carelessly, but seeing him replenish his energy so easily, Yohan guessed he must be quite capable.

Well, that must be why he worked here.

Those working at Fantasiademia were always exceptionally talented, if only slightly mentally unstable. Yohan stood up and thanked the jellyfish nurse. The jellyfish waved his tentacles, lazily sending Yohan and Mikael off.

“What’s going to happen to Aquador?”

“Who knows… But since he said he’d report it to the headmaster, I’m sure it’ll be handled somehow.”

Chatting with Mikael as they returned to the dorm, Yohan told Suhyeok and Kylus about what had happened in the corridor.

“Wow… why does this school never seem to be safe from outside intrusions?”

Suhyeok clicked his tongue and muttered something about the end of the world. When Yohan asked what that meant, he didn’t bother explaining. After a short rest, Yohan and his roommates from Room 304 headed to the Sky Garden to prepare for their griffin combat class under Professor Ariel.

“Alright, Hippy… fetch it!”

Whoosh!

At Suhyeok’s command, he threw a rope the size of his forearm into the air, and his griffin flew through the air, spinning around, and landed with the rope in its mouth.

Tap, tap, tap.

The griffin returned to Suhyeok and dropped the rope.

“Good job, Hippy.”

“…Are you even allowed to make a divine beast do that?”

“Hmm. Why not? It’s a form of communication too.”

Is that so?

It wasn’t an entirely unreasonable statement.

But no matter what, he felt uncomfortable being rude to a divine beast, so he turned his head and petted his griffin, and Suhyeok opened his mouth.

“By the way, Yohan, you haven’t named your griffin?”

“A name?”

“Yes. Most people gave their griffins names to build a bond. Melek named his Maximus, I named mine Hippy, but you and Mikael didn’t. Even Kylus Even Kylus gave his griffin a cute name, Kuku.”

“…It’s not a name I made up.”

As Suhyeok snickered teasingly, Kylus frowned and replied. Knowing the inside story of how his friend’s griffin came to be called “Kuku,” Yohan chuckled quietly.

When Kylus named Kuku, Yohan was there too. His friend’s griffin was very opinionated and had distinct likes and dislikes, so it would shake its head and flap its wings in anger at every cool name that Kylus called it.

Then Suhyeok jokingly suggested “Kuku,” and the griffin immediately accepted it.

Kylus refused with a grimace, but his refusal did not change the griffin’s mind.

For a week, Kylus’s griffin ignored every other name and acted grumpy, except when called Kuku, it would beam adorably and act affectionate. In the end, Kylus gave in.

Because of that, every time the usually dignified Kylus called his griffin, he had to say “…Kuku” in a cute tone. Even Yohan found it a little funny and endearing.

Yohan smiled as he watched Kylus look embarrassed, then cleared his throat once.

“A name…”

For some reason, giving a divine beast a name felt like overstepping, so he hadn’t wanted to do it. But when he thought about how every other griffin had a name while his didn’t, it started to bother him a little.

Yohan stroked his griffin, who looked up at him with innocent, obedient eyes and rubbed its forehead against his.

“…Do you want a name?”

When he asked carefully, the griffin blinked, then flapped its wings excitedly and pressed its face all over him. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like the griffin was saying yes, and Yohan didn’t know what to do.

He hadn’t realized it wanted a name so much, since it had never shown it before.

“See? Your griffin wants one too.”

Since the griffin had reacted like that, Suhyeok’s smug tone wasn’t entirely unjustified. Yohan racked his brain. He hadn’t prepared any names, so he was trying to come up with one when Mikael, standing beside him, suddenly stroked his own griffin.

“You need a name too, right?”

In response to the question, Mikael’s griffin gently pressed its forehead against his and closed its eyes. Mikael then stroked the griffin’s cheek and smiled.

“Yes, I’ve been thoughtless. It’s already been four years with you. In that case…”

He looked toward Yohan and softened his eyes.

“Let’s go with Hess.”

Prrrng!

Mikael’s griffin purred happily. When the griffin raised its front paws and jumped at him, Mikael fell backward and rolled on the ground, laughing like a child.

Hess…

Hearing the name, Yohan felt a subtle sense of déjà vu, then looked down at his own griffin pushing its head insistently against his hands and smiled.

“Alright, alright.”

Judging by how it was nudging him, his griffin wasn’t planning to wait any longer.

Not wanting to disappoint it, Yohan thought seriously about a name and stared at its face.

His griffin had brighter and more beautiful fur than most divine beasts. Yohan, stroking its lustrous yellow fur like sunlight, muttered.

“Orr.”

The griffin happily swayed at the whispered name.

“Ahaha!”

Just like Hess, Orr jumped at him affectionately, and Yohan fell backward laughing.

Now, everyone’s griffin had a name.

Even though he had simply given it a name, Yohan felt a strong bond between himself and his griffin, and he smiled brightly, feeling a sense of fulfillment.

He was certain that feeling will strengthen his bond with his griffin and make the upcoming test easier.

He flew with Orr, convinced of that, as if he foresaw the future.

At that time, Yohan really thought that as long as his griffin and his friends were with him, the basic ability evaluation would go smoothly.

It was the result of underestimating what kind of place Fantasiademia was.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“……”

On the day of the basic ability test, after finishing their evaluations for each major, the first-year students, who had spent most of the day bonding with their griffins and training together, fell silent when they saw the griffins assigned to their group for the test.

The reason was simple, but not insignificant.

The griffins provided for the test, said to be mutated ones, were enormous.

They looked five times larger than normal griffins.

“…Why are they so huge?”

Suhyeok bit his lip as he spoke. Yohan had no idea either. He sighed and massaged his throbbing temple.

Even just looking at the griffin before them, breathing roughly through a muzzle and snorting in agitation, was enough to give him a headache. But that wasn’t the only problem.

The real issue was the monster they were supposed to fight alongside the griffins after dispelling their madness.

That monster wasn’t ordinary either.

Yohan looked at the creature locked inside an iron cage and wondered why an agrisha, a high-grade beast they had only studied in class, was here.

The agrisha was said to be a legendary monster that had existed in the Nameless Realm since ancient times.

According to what they’d learned, it could control lightning and cause natural disasters.

So this was supposed to be the “basic ability” evaluation? Yohan stared at Professor Ariel with a look full of disbelief and betrayal.

The half-dragon, who felt the students’ murderous gazes, looked on the verge of tears.

“That… It wasn’t me who prepared for the test, it was the vice headmaster who did it….”

The moment the half-dragon muttered in protest, Yohan heard a loud thud. He turned his head to the source of the sound and saw a huddle of magic students.

Yohan approached out of curiosity, but felt a chill and stepped back.

Students learning witchcraft were hammering nails into a large straw doll, repeating the name Serdik Agor.