Dragonlord

Ep 32. You're A What? (2)

It was supposed to be an uneventful afternoon. Karas busily flipped through the small pile of assignments he’d issued earlier: an individual reflection on the roots of magic.

Most of the assignments were just as expected, and thus, easy to grade. A significant majority of the students discussed the deity of mana, and the various ways magic was used during early eras of civilization. The critical few pointed to historical roots in magical development, but even those were within the realms of what he’d taught, and inevitably, unsurprising.

The professor swiftly graded the assignments without pause – until he’d come up on a name that now stood out all too well.

‘…Zion. Never the least surprising, I see.’

The peculiar student’s handwriting was a strange amalgamation of a messy child’s scribbles and an elderly individual’s antique carvings; in a way, it seemed like two different people fighting to write in their own ways. Although the dragonlord’s life experiences tended to overshadow the human boy’s, dragons had little reason to write anything, if at all; what few handwriting experiences the dragonlord had were clearly clashing against the handwriting Zion had practiced for his entire life in that body.

“Hmm…”

When the professor moved onto the assignment’s contents, his eyes would begin to scan every word and letter for the first time. The dragonlord’s responses were always intriguing; in fact, what he collected from her every assignment was another piece of history he had yet to discover. As an academic, the dragonlord’s memories were practically a treasure trove, and she proved herself no different in this response.

‘The origins of mankind’s magic lie in mimicry of the demonkind. It is a mockery to their own heritage to forget its roots and claim the discipline as a gift from the divine.’

“Hmmmm…”

Any other student and the professor would’ve thought this response nonsensical, or even heretical. To attribute the origins of one of their greatest disciplines to a mere mimicry of demons was an unthinkable process of thought.

But Karas knew that this response encompassed a history far surpassing his lecture. While the professor could not teach anything beyond the past millennium, the dragonlord’s response encompassed a long-forgotten history of their star.

In appreciation of his new knowledge, Karas would grade the response with what he felt it deserved most. Not like anyone else will know the response’s contents anyways.

But before he could continue his marking, a familiar voice called his name beyond the office door, accompanied by several knocks.

“Professor? Can I see you for a minute?”

Karas pushed the pile of assignments aside as he answered the door.

“Come in.”

The door swung open – a little faster, and a little more violently than he’d normally expect – as his neighbor cat half walked in. The dragonlord was accompanying her, which was a welcoming surprise. At first, anyways.

“Light. I see Zion’s with you as well. Did you two have something to ask?”

In response, the half girl walked up to his office desk and slammed down a familiar piece of paper – the one Karas had given Serenis a while ago. It was the renewed schedule after her sudden advancement into senior years.

Karas had known Light for long enough; she’d pick up on his weird little antics every single time.

“Pro-fes-orrr? Can you explain what happened here?”

And he’d pretend innocent every time, with small hopes of getting away with it.

“…Explain what, exactly?”

“Four of his five classes are the exact same as mine. The only one that doesn’t overlap is your history class…which I already took! You really don’t have anything to say?”

“…I simply recommended my own classes.”

“Your classes aren’t the only ones that overlap.”

“…An odd coincidence, that.”

“Really? If you’re lying, I’m gonna tell mom to never give you any coffee beans again.”

Karas visibly flinched at the threat. He awkwardly cleared his throat, but the cat half’s glare wasn’t growing any lighter.

“…Really, it’s a coincidence. The classes I recommended just so happened to be the ones you’re in.”

“He had no clue what mana biology was, and he wasn’t even interested in biology. Why the heck would you recommend that to him?”

“He didn’t know and wasn’t interested, so…I recommended it in hopes that he’d know and be interested.”

“…That’s…wait, that kinda…makes sense? I think?”

A quiet laughter escaped Serenis as she listened to the exchange between the half girl and the professor. She looked towards her questioning peer, beaming in delight.

“Simple-minded, aren’t you, child.”

“Huh? Is that an insult?”

“No. It’s a compliment.”

For hatchlings. It becomes an insult when you grow up.

“Why the heck do you keep calling me ‘child’? I have a name, it’s Light! And you’re not even older than me!”

“I apologize. Light.”

Light contemplated for a moment whether her peer was being serious or not, but she soon discarded the thought. A short sigh escaped her small lips as she handed the schedule back to the dragonlord, then returned her gaze back to the half crow sitting in his office chair.

“Well…if you say so, professor. I thought you were doing something stupid again. Like you wanted to introduce him to me, but you didn’t know a better way to do it.”

Karas once again flinched. Visibly.

Fortunately, Light didn’t catch it; unfortunately, Serenis did. Though, she didn’t bother to comment, simply letting the professor struggle to return a coherent reply.

“Of…course. No such thing.”

“Oh, before I go – dad told me to invite you over for dinner later. He said he needed your help making a new dish or something.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll be right by in the evening then.”

“Okay. See you later!”

After asking what she wanted and delivering the message she was asked, Light turned to leave the office with her new friend. Serenis was about to accompany Light outside, but was stopped when Karas called the dragonlord by her human name.

“Ah, Zion. If you could stay a while longer, I’ve more things to discuss with you.”

The dragonlord returned a brief nod. Light looked between the two with a quizzical face, wondering what her new friend and neighbor were up to.

“…Did he fail his assignment or something?”

The dragonlord couldn’t answer her; it’s not like Serenis knew what happened to those assignments either. It was Karas who immediately shook his head.

“Hm? No, no. Nothing of that sort.”

“Then what else are you two up to?”

“Hm. You see, Zion’s been helping out with a study of mine.”

“Eh? A study? How come you never told me? I can help too.”

“That’s…”

Karas’ beak momentarily froze up as he realized he’d dug his own grave. The entire research he was doing was something he’d kept secret for a very long time; research into the soul, or reincarnation in general, would cause an uproar amongst academics. Keeping it secret was of utmost importance – even from the person he was doing the research for.

“Well…the reason why I never told you…is…”

The professor’s eyes rolled over towards the dragonlord. She was staring back at him, but it was clear Serenis wasn’t going to help him out.

‘Think, Karas! What’s a discriminatory variable between these two that could justify my reasons?!’

A million thoughts brushed past the professor’s mind in split seconds as he formulated his next response.

“…Because it’s a study that girls cannot help in.”

Light’s expression crumpled into a cringe; even Serenis was grimacing at the unexpected answer.

“…What?”

“…”

Karas maintained silence. Light slowly walked away from the professor in slow steps, and when she reached the door, the half girl abruptly turned around and waved goodbye.

“Uh…um, have fun with your study! Bye!”

The door slammed behind her, leaving an awkward silence in the air within the office. It was Serenis who broke it after Light was fully gone.

“Karas.”

“…Yes?”

“If this research requires a genuine male, I cannot help you.”

“…”

✧ ✧ ✧

Light was quietly munching on her pastries while on her way home. After stopping by the markets for a number of ingredients her parents had asked her to buy on the way back, the sun had already begun to set across the orange horizons. It was getting late and she was only halfway to home, but it definitely wasn’t because she made unnecessary stops to buy donuts. Nope.

On another note, the events from earlier at the institute was still bugging her mind. Even though she’d rushed out of the crow professor’s office herself, Light found herself constantly thinking about what Karas was doing in there with her oddest peer.

‘What kind of study are they doing in there? And what does he mean, girls can’t help?!’

Light’s eyes were glued to the floor as the half girl lost herself in strange(?) hypotheses about what such studies could entail. Her body walked on autopilot for a while until her head bumped into another person, forcing her ideas to scatter as she backed away.

“Ow!...Sorry, I wasn’t looking…”

“Oh, it, it’s no problem. A, as long as you’re, a, a, alive.”

“Huh?”

When the half girl raised her gaze, she could see a scrawny, green-haired man standing before her. He was wearing a dusty lab coat caked in dirt, and his unkempt hair and face were clear signs of just how long it’d been since he’d last looked at a mirror. A twisted smile curved his lips beneath his crooked glasses, and behind them, a pair of bulging eyes were studying Light like one would an interesting toy.

“H, h, h, hi…have you b, b, been well? D, d, daughter?”

An ominous shadow crept up Light’s expression as she grimaced at the sight of the man before her. A conditioned fear response began to make her entire body tremble. Her fingers gave away, dropping the groceries onto the floor.

Light couldn’t even bring herself to shriek. She simply turned around and bolted in the other direction, never looking back for a second.

“I was j, j, just saying h, hello…”

The man lazily scratched the back of his hair, watching the half girl disappear out of sight. His eyes then fell down to the groceries she’d left, picking them up himself.

“I…I, I guess I could f, feed this to the…the p, pups…”