episode_0011

I sat in my usual spot in the academy classroom, staring blankly at the sky.

The rewards for the interclass battle seemed delayed due to the sudden turn of events and the fact that Ayla had eliminated most of the participants.

I had been in the classroom for hours, but Headmistress Lira, who was supposed to give out the rewards, was nowhere to be seen.

It’s hard to believe what happened to Ayla, and she might not want to give me anything since I was fooled.

However, the rules of the academy are unchangeable even by the headmistress in just one day. It is a rule that involves rigorous evaluation and selection, and it seemed unlikely that Lira could change such a rule without any evaluation.

Still, as Lira continued to argue, it seemed like the reward would be given maybe the next day or the day after.

While I regretted teasing Headmistress Lira unnecessarily, I didn’t dwell on things that had already happened.

Resting my chin on my hand, I gazed at the darkening sky and realized that the time for the society president was approaching, so I got up from my seat in the middle of class.

“Hmm? Student Sylaine? We’re in the middle of Elemental Magic class…”

“I won’t be attending.”

“…As peculiar as I’ve heard. Skipping class, how audacious. However, since attending classes at our academy is optional, there’s nothing we can do about it. Understood. You may go.”

“Thank you.”

Professor Rilton Bylos, who focused on Elemental Affinity during his Elemental Magic class, made a slightly mocking remark when I said I would leave and ushered me out.

I wasn’t the kind of person to be mentally affected by such remarks, so I left the classroom after exchanging a few words.

On my way out, Ayla seemed to gaze at me with a wistful look, but well, that’s none of my concern.

Ayla is always in a melancholic state, so there’s no need to worry. What I need to focus on is the upcoming society event and Lulu’s plan involving the Red Moon.

For that to happen, I need to burn all the curtains hanging in the society president’s room. This way, Lulu can see the Red Moon through the window.

Preparatory work is necessary.

The society event is scheduled at the Leonios Academy, located in the Leon Kingdom Castle.

To get there, I need to use a portal, and fortunately, there is a portal within the academy that can transport me to the entire Leon Kingdom.

The castle is no exception.

So, to carry out the preparatory work at the society president’s office, I went to the portal on the 4th floor of the academy and saw the administrator standing in front of it.

The administrator’s name is not mentioned in the novel, so I don’t know it. But one thing is certain; she is a very cute girl.

“Oh? What’s a student doing here at this hour?! Skipping class, are we?! Well, fine! Pay up! Give me 1 gold coin, and I’ll let you use it!”

She’s a very small child.

With her little feet crossed, she extended her tiny hand towards me, urging me to pay before using the portal.

I already knew I would be using the portal. After all, there’s no other reason for me to be here.

Wow, she’s so cute it’s driving me crazy. Trying to match my height by standing on tiptoes. Really adorable. So cute that I want to bite her cheeks.

But appearances can be deceiving. Her actual age is 5000 years. She is a Longevity Species, the longest-living among them. A hybrid of ‘Dragon’ and ordinary ‘Human.’ A Dragonean, in other words, a half-dragon.

The average lifespan of Dragons, also known as the essence of magic, is 1,000,000 years.

And for those Dragons who fall in love with humans and procreate, giving birth to Dragoneans, half-dragons, their average lifespan is 500,000 years.

500,000 years, 1 million years might sound like a joke, but what can you do when the novel sets it up like this? If you’re going to criticize, then criticize the author who irresponsibly inserted such a setting.

Even though this woman is 5,000 years old, even for Draconian standards, it was simply because she appeared to be a young child, not due to any side effects.

Hmm, but I’m curious. The hybrid of a very powerful race like dragons and humans should have a high proportion of Draconian blood to be considered normal.

However, instead of having a high proportion of Draconian blood, she was just a mundane means of transportation that could only activate portals.

So, I’m curious. What is the name of this Draconian?

The name of an unknown monster in the novel. I wanted to know it once.

I raised my hands into the armpits of what looked like a little girl but was, by our standards, an elderly lady.

Startled by my sudden action, the Draconian began shouting with a surprised expression on her face.

“What? W-what are you doing! I am a Draconian! I am not someone that ordinary students can touch!”

“You’re pretty. By any chance, what’s your name?”

I knew that the Draconian would dislike it. Even in the novel, just by seeing how Karla reacted immediately after someone touched her arm, using Hellfire, I could tell that she really disliked being touched by humans.

Yet, despite her aversion to meeting many people in the human kingdom, the reason she took on the role of portal administrator was Lira. It’s because the headmistress of this academy is her mother.

Oh, right. Headmistress Lira. She’s a dragon.

She’s just working here because of her mother. Although not a full-fledged adult, she is considered one in human age terms, so she’s adapting socially and doing what Lira asked her to do.

It wasn’t a truly touching reason but rather an absurd one, which made me feel equally incredulous when reading the novel.

Ah, the story has gone off track. Let’s get back to the point. Despite this woman’s aversion to being touched by humans, there was a reason why I lifted her up.

I just wanted to lift her up.

Yeah, I just wanted to lift her up.

No, she’s cute. Cutie pies are the truth. Fluffiness is even more truthful, but cuteness comes right after.

Fluffiness is divine, cuteness reigns supreme. Therefore, praise both fluffiness and cuteness.

Huh? But won’t this lead to a punishment?

Yes, I might get punished. In the novel, just touching her arm led to an immediate outburst where she shot Hellfire.

But I didn’t get punished.

Because what she dislikes hearing, “You’re cute,” is the opposite and a compliment. I said, “You’re pretty.”

Having only heard “You’re cute” throughout her life, she had grown tired of it, so she wished to hear something different, and that’s what I did.

Look at her face; it turned red with embarrassment.

Hmm, but wouldn’t this come off as teasing?

Well, if she gets teased, I’ll have to involve her in the Divine Plan somehow.

Teasing me is fine. But I have no intention of getting married or dating.

I live solely for the Divine Plan.

“M-my… name is… Emil… H-human! You think I’m pretty!”

“Yes, of course. You’re so beautiful; why would I call you ugly?”

“I-I see… Hehe… That’s the first time I’ve heard that…”

With a face full of embarrassment, Emil, who looked like a girl, chuckled, coughed, slipped out of my hands, and landed on the floor.

Seeing this unexpected event unfold before my eyes, even though I know the future, I was left speechless. Is a Draconian truly a Draconian? Escaping from such restraints so easily seems too simple.

With that thought in mind, as I looked back at Emil, she was gesturing to activate the portal, indicating that I should go.

I wondered what was going on as I looked at Emil, who seemed to remember not explaining and coughed again before speaking.

“Hehe… Just this time… I won’t take any money. It’s special! Consider it a freebie from me!”

Ah, he was letting me use the portal for free because he was feeling good.

I hadn’t expected this. It was just something I did because I wanted to build rapport with him, but an unexpected reward came my way.

Well, is it a good deed? Maybe? Anyway, since I made him feel good, it’s okay to accept such a reward. So, without declining, I greeted Emil and hopped onto the portal.

“Where are you headed?”

“The castle. The castle of the Leon Kingdom.”

“Got it~ Sending you right away.”

Emil changed some of the ancient characters written on the portal to switch the coordinates to the castle of the Leon Kingdom.

Upon doing so, the portal, which had been emitting a beautiful blue light, transformed into one emitting a green light.

Confirming it, Emil, along with another farewell telling me to come back safely, activated the portal.

With a flick of his finger, the portal began emanating a yellow aura, enveloping me in a mix of green and yellow auras by my side.

After about 10 seconds of the auras swirling around me, I found myself transported from the 4th floor of the Leornios Academy to the massive portal in front of the castle of the Leon Kingdom.

Arriving at the castle, I smirked and headed towards the social hall.

The social hall was a free space where one could enter at will even before the event started.

However, despite many mishaps occurring in the social hall, the kingdom didn’t tighten security because nothing had happened there yet.

Since entry was free anyway, there wouldn’t be any guards.

Having arrived at the grand social hall of the kingdom, I immediately mixed fire magic and branding magic before throwing it towards the curtains.

As the current social hall was a very quiet space, there was no one to witness this act except for me alone inside the social hall.

A perfect crime. That’s what this was.

There were a total of six curtains in this social hall.

I had prepared a magic that would ignite them all instantly when I sent the signal, combining branding with fire to create a spell. I etched the branding by throwing the delayed explosion towards the curtains.

Now, if I were to activate one branding by channeling mana, the energy would spread to the other brands, causing all the curtains to burn simultaneously.

Now, the real preparation was finally complete.

During the social, after seeing the red moon rise, I would burn all these curtains.

Soon, the masquerade would begin, and I felt excitement building up.

Excitement surged. With no one around, there was no need to hide my true intentions in this space.

My upcoming masquerade plan would heavily depend on Karla’s influence.

One choice of Karla’s would determine the fate of Lulu’s masquerade.

If Karla made another choice, Lulu’s masquerade plan would be ruined, and if Lulu’s heart turned towards me, the masquerade plan would be thwarted.

Even if there were failures, there was always a Plan B, but I wanted to stick with Plan A, so provoking Karla was necessary.

This plan could be determined based on Karla’s feelings.

So, I needed to sour her mood a bit.

If Karla was in a bad mood, the chances of success for this plan would increase even more.

Being the protagonist doesn’t mean being inherently good. While Karla may be kind, she is strict with me, so if a single misconception and a dirty feeling combine, Karla will surely make that choice.

For now, let’s start by putting her in a bad mood.

Seeing the engraving on the curtain, I made up my mind. I headed back through the portal towards the 4th floor of the Leonios Academy to continue my journey.