Ep 53. This Is Growing Pleasantly Out Of Hand. (2)

Ep 53. This Is Growing Pleasantly Out Of Hand. (2)

Ep 53. This Is Growing Pleasantly Out Of Hand. (2)

“That won’t be necessary. I-“

“Please. Allow me to accompany you.”

“...”

Serenis’ eyes remained locked with the professor’s in silence.

In her eyes, a lot of people were seemingly going haywire all of a sudden; first Iris, now Karas.

‘Whatever’s the matter with him? Seems like a rather exaggerated reaction.’

At least the professor already know Serenis’ identity as a dragonlord. Any other instructor, and she would’ve declined in a heartbeat.

“...Do as you will. But I plan to leave within tomorrow.”

“I’ll finish the files and make necessary arrangements within today. You’ll need but call on me, and-“

Knock. Knock.

Both Serenis and Karas’ eyes shifted over towards the door.

With the dragonlord already present with him, it was easy to guess who was behind the knocking for the professor.

“...Come in.”

When the door creaked open, Light expectantly popped into the office. Ilias was trailing behind the half girl to close the door.

“Professor!...Wait, Zion, you’re here too? Where were you earlier, skipping class?”

“At my nest, looking after my brother.”

Serenis then shifted her attention over to the red dragon, happily waving at her from behind Light.

“...I see you brought Ilias with you now?”

“Well, class was done a while ago, so we went on a little tour around the campus. We popped by to say hi to the professor, but we didn’t know you’d be here too.

Ilias enthusiastically nodded at the remark. If the office had been any smaller, her tail would’ve been knocking things over left and right.

“Lor...I mean, uh, Zion! This place is so cool! It has tons of people using all sorts of magic. There’s even a place where you make poison!”

Light let out a nervous laughter as she corrected her sister.

“Potions, Ilias. Potions.”

“...Oh. Yeah, that! And apparently we’re super popular, everyone’s staring at us wherever we go.”

Karas watched the ongoing conversation in silence. He’d seen Ilias then and there, living in the neighboring house and all – but this was the first time the dragon was physically in his presence. And even he couldn’t take his eyes off of Ilias, who was plainly a dragon – unlike Serenis who hid her features most of the time.

‘Well, she IS a dragon...it’s not an everyday sight.’

Meanwhile, Serenis was nodding towards the youngling like an approving mother. Unlike literally everyone else on campus, seeing a dragon was the least surprising thing for her.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying your time here, child. Also, you’re free to call me as you normally will.”

“Huh, really? But Light said you were trying to be...uh...’Zion’?”

“Everyone in this room knows who I am.”

When everyone nodded in unison, Ilias let out a relieved sigh.

“Outside? Can we follow them?”

“No, we...wait a sec, can we?”

Light turned to Karas, who’d vaguely heard Ilias’ question. The half girl couldn’t tell if the professor was sweating underneath all his feathers, but it sure seemed like he was.

“Professor, you can take more than one student to a workshop, right?”

“That’s...well...I really...”

While Karas scrambled for words, Light pressed her statement further.

“You said you’re heading to Aldrid Forest, right? That sounds fun! Take us with you!”

“No well, this is-“

“Aww c’mon, it’s just another name on some paper!”

The professor nervously cleared his throat as he avoided his student’s gaze. Even the dragonlord’s judgmental stare would be better than Light’s eyes gleaming in excitement. He gave an answer with what little logic he had remaining.

“Well, you see Light, I really shouldn’t. For one, Ilias isn’t even a student-“

“Oh, don’t worry about me. If you’re just going to a forest, I can follow along on my own, no need for you to take me anywhere.”

...And just like that, Karas’ last remains of logic were destroyed under the red dragon’s reassurance.

Serenis glanced around the chaos.

“...Well then. This is growing pleasantly out of hand.”

Everyone present in this room knew who she was. At the very least, if Aldrid was truly as benevolent as Iris and the books made the deity out to be, there shouldn’t have been any danger involved in taking them along.

Finally, the professor gave in. He simply didn’t have a good reason to turn down Light’s question.

“I’ll...make the necessary arrangements.”

“Yay! Workshop! Zion, Zion, raise your hand!”

Serenis curiously stared at her half peer, slowly raising one hand into the air.

“Hand? What for-“

“High five!”

A loud slapping noise filled the office as the half girl excitedly slapped the dragonlord’s palm. Serenis soon lowered her hand, quizzically watching her peer bounce in excitement.

“Do you regularly slap others when you’re exhilarated?”

“Eh? Don’t you know what a high five is?”

“No?”

“You do it with someone else when something exciting happens! It’s where you raise your hands and slap them against each other!”

“Is that so...”

The dragonlord stared at her palm. The lasting shock from the slap was slowly fading away.

‘Hurting each other even in the face of good fortune...humans develop the strangest customs.’

A brief nod followed as Serenis internally noted the new term.

“I see. I’ll remember that.”

Only Ilias was staring at the dragonlord in evident worry. A long time ago, she’d heard the exact same explanation herself – which wasn’t the clearest one out there for a dragon.

‘...I don’t think she understood that right...’