407 Gifts

At first, Modred was unable to see the face clearly, but she knew who it belonged to, thanks to the huge bosom on the figure. The buns were much bigger than those of the other girls in the house, and so, with a smile of embarrassment, Modred stuttered, "H-hey hey! Vidomina! Y-you're finally here! We have all been waiting for you—"

Before she could finish, Vidomina had picked her up by the scruff of her neck, like a puppy. When they were at eye level, Vidomina growled, "Are you smiling? After all the crap your 'wonderful' students have put me through? This is the only reason I am late! "

"Tee hee... I mean, This is just the way it has to be... I'm sure you understand!" Mordred grinned shyly. "I told you why before, didn't I? So, well, let us hug it out and pretend it never happened, okay?" Mordred, who still being carried by the heck, opened her arms for a hug, looking immensely adorable. Vidomina was enraged, but surprisingly, she assented and rubbed her cheeks against Modred's. 

"Why can't there be a better way? Must you use such a method?" Vidomina placed Mordred back down, after which she massaged her temple in her exasperation. 

"Only if you don't want to have the best dragon knights at your disposal! This is the best method we have available — one that our ancestors used to train Dragon knights for thousands of years. This method has been tried and tested, and used by many throughout the ages. There is no easy way to change it," Mordred explained.

If Dragon-knights wanted to control their dragons, there are a few things they had to know: one, the knight had to earn the trust and approval of their dragon. 

There was a problem with this, though. Only young, low-ranked dragons could be tamed into becoming mounts. These dragons were not intelligent, civil, or high-ranked. Other than the case with Aya and Baiyi, one would be hard-pressed to find a high-class dragon who would agree to have humans ride them. Even Aya would never let anyone other than Baiyi ride her. 

As for low-ranked dragon breeds, they do not lose their primal instincts, even after they have been made mounts by Dragon-knights. If riders wanted their mounts to respect them, the riders would have to possess the same wild nature that dragons were known for. People as peaceful as scholars would be unable to ride dragons for as long as they lived. 

Even low-level dragons were inherently proud; they would not be bossed around or ridden by people they deemed weaklings. 

The short-cuts to bypass this — for example, spirit subjugation or mind control — were not things that students could perform. If one wished to become a Dragon-knight, they would not resort to such unruly methods. 

Hence, one could not become a Dragon-knight without first being a royal pain in the behind. The more unruly someone was, the higher the chance that the Dragon-riding faculty would accept them. New students that choose to study dragon riding are taught to be wild and unrestrained. This has led to a surge in the number of delinquents in that faculty. In order to burn the excess energy they always seemed to have, the students of the dragon-riding faculty did not hesitate to cause trouble. 

There was another method that these delinquents used to let loose their pent-up aggression: sex. An intense romp session was enough to rid a dragon rider of their surging energy. Back when the Dragon-knights were still in Gouve, the riders used sex to great effect! However, as Da Xue was an academy, such a crude method was forbidden. This was especially so because Aya, a lady, was the leader of the faculty in question. 

This method was something Aya had explained to Baiyi a long, long time ago. As there was no way that Baiyi could let his students screw around like wild bunnies, he could only allow them to fight amongst themselves in order to let off steam. This was another reason why the Dragon-knights were a handful for Baiyi. He could only wait for the prospective Dragon-knights to subjugate their dragons; after that, the riders could be taught civility once again. 

However, before that happened, poor Vidomina was stuck breaking up fights. 

"Well, at least, you're about to go for a field trip, far away from the academy. I'm already looking forward to the month's worth of peace and quiet," Vidomina murmured under her breath and followed Modred into the house. "I pity you, though, Mia. I really do..."

"No worries! I'm powerful and violent!" Mordred patted her flat chest, smiling brightly at Vidomina. This caused her adorable fangs to be visible. "Furthermore, I'm mature and dependable when my students are around! I'll take care of Mia and my punks perfectly!"

"Wow. You'll amaze me a lot more if you can actually hold yourself to a reasonable standard," Vidomina muttered, pitying Mia even more than before. 

Nota saw Vidomina and Modred come into the house. In a short while, Attie and Nota finished dinner and called everyone downstairs. The girls were about to be treated to a banquet of mouth-watering dishes!

"Whoa! These are simply amazing!" Vidomina cried out the moment she laid eyes on the dishes awaiting their consumption. "As expected of Nota, the dream wife of so many students."

"Don't you bring that nonsense up here," Nota choked in embarrassment as she playfully wrapped her hands around Vidomina's neck. Tisdale, who had just arrived downstairs, heard their conversation, and her interest was piqued. "Oh, is there a new poll?'

These polls were created by students, during the free time they had between classes. This was something they did to humor themselves, which was not uncharacteristic of students. At first, there were only two polls: 'Best Girl' and 'Best Boy'. The nominees were students only at first. 

However, as time went on, this little game, which was born out of boredom, began to include lecturers in its nominee list. 

In the poll titled 'Most Lovable Teacher', the nominee with the most votes was small and adorable Professor Mia, who always acted maturely around the students. In second place was the head of the Faculty of Magic — who the students often called 'His Majesty' or 'Emperor of teachers'— the Sage-Emperor of the Magi. One could only imagine how lax the old geezer had been with his students so far, seeing as he was popular than the gentle Nota, who was also an excellent chef. 

For those curious about Baiyi's ranking in the 'Most Lovable Teacher' poll, he was ranked 21st; even Mr. Sorry was ranked higher than he was. The students were not particularly pleased with his uptight attitude, as well as his strict rules. 

There was another poll that had garnered a lot of attention since its creation; it was titled 'Please, Be My Wife'. The nominee with the most votes on this poll was Nota. The second spot was being occupied by Vidomina, who had just recently begun to enforce Da Xue's rules in Baiyi's stead. Many wondered what the male students saw in her. Could it be her looks, or her alluring, long, pink hair, or her high-class family? [1]

As for the male version of this poll, 'Please, Be My Husband', the cool Sir Hitman Walker occupied first place. Every move he made was done with flair. In second place was the Head of the Literature Faculty, the Bard Walker. He was quite skilled at saying what the ladies loved to hear. In third place was the 'Emperor of teachers'— the Archmage. Some people wondered if the girls that voted for the old geezer secretly wished to become empresses. [2]

The top three spots of this poll were occupied by Soul Armatures, who did not have a fleshly body. One could only wonder if the female students had a thing for beings without fleshly bodies. 

Baiyi had ranked a pitiful 38th on this poll; a position even lower than that of the Engineer Walker, a geek who was only into machines. The number of votes he had received was abysmal. In fact, most of the votes had been cast out of pity for him. A few had been even cast by other lecturers; for example, Aya, who had to pretend she was a student just so that she could vote for Baiyi. 

This was not something Baiyi could help, though. Baiyi stopped teaching the students years ago, so he had had no chance to interact with them. What most students knew about him was from the rumors and legends circulating in the public, so most female students did not consider him husband material.

However, these polls were just that, polls. They did not reflect the true feelings of everyone. For example, the Huffing Piggies of the Void, the Warrior Walker and the Assassin Walker, both found Baiyi charming and irresistible. 

When the ladies came downstairs, they sat at the table and began to enjoy them sumptuous dishes prepared by Nota and Attie. While they ate, they chatted about various things, as well as tease one another. Soon, the topic of discussion shifted to the excursion Mia and Mordred would be going on in three days. 

"I made you some clothes. You should take them with you," Attie said.

"I concocted some medicines. They'll be useful during emergencies," Nota added.

It had not been too long since these two returned, yet they already had gifts prepared for Mia and Modred. This showed how well they are at taking care of others. 

"Here, take this with you," Tisdale said, tossing a storage pouch to Mia. When Mia opened it, she saw a pile of magic scrolls. Since the storage pouch's volume was similar to that of a large trunk, the number of magic scrolls it could contain was shocking. 

"Some of them are mine, and some of them were made by the sir," Tisdale added. "He has not had time to come home, so he asked him to give them to you."

Laeticia gave Modred and Mia a talisman, which she had infused with her theurgy magic; Sunny the sunflower gave them a sunflower seed, which was a dormant clone of itself; Potter the owl gifted them a feather that could transform into a sturdy piece of armor, and Zakum the fox shoved a beast fang into Mia's hands. This fang would allow her to summon magical beasts that were of a lower level than Zakum itself. 

Nydore gave Mia a conch. According to her, if the conch was blown, the wind would warn the user of any dangers that lied ahead of them. 

Vidomina was the last to come forward; she gave Mia a bag of gold. "Sorry," she apologetically said, "I didn't have the time to prepare anything else..."

Mia was amused by the warm gestures. "Come on, girls, I'm a Legendary level sorcerer now! Why are you all still treating me like a kid sister?"