Chapter 49 : Ribbit

“An interesting request.”

Aram, who had already uncoiled himself, slowly circled around me, enveloping my vicinity.

Though smaller than Orquiel, he was the undisputed king of the Black Forest, having even subdued a Lord.

Even the mere hissing of his tongue carried an extraordinary pressure.

Looking into those yellow eyes felt like seeing the eyes of a Basilisk, threatening to petrify my body. For about fifteen days.

“Where did you hear such things?”

Stay calm. Although he seems to be trying to intimidate me slightly, he isn’t trying to eat me.

If that were his intention, he would have disappeared from the academy long ago, not even lasting 100 years.

What the original Trea excelled at: managing expressions and politicking.

I answered without blinking an eye.

“I am, after all, the daughter of a Duke. Obtaining such information is difficult, but not impossible. And it didn’t seem like particularly

forbidden information either.”

I lied without batting an eyelid.

Sorry, I couldn’t exactly say I saw it in the original story.

It sounded like a reasonably decent answer, even to my ears.

Teperi listened to our conversation with a peculiar expression.

“Well, that could be possible.”

Aram instantly returned to his original spot and coiled up again.

Honestly, this wasn’t really a threat or anything. There was no killing intent.

Instead of hissing his tongue, he pondered for a moment before speaking.

“Ryong, you say. It is a type of demigod. A body that can only be obtained when an Imugi crosses the Dragon Gate. In some regions, they are

also called Lyong…”

Aram described it with various details, like a used car salesman.

It grows horns, can fly in the sky…

Listening to the explanation, it sounded similar to what I knew. The kind that shows up when you collect seven spheres.

“Please do not compare it to such inferior creatures.”

He said, raising his voice unusually.

He, who could even capture a Lord, wouldn’t be struggling just to become something merely resembling a dragon.

I would probably hate it too if someone compared me to a mere spell-slinger.

“A demigod, you say.”

Demigod. At first glance, it sounds like a half-god, but in this world, a demigod ranked just below the main gods.

There are many gods, but not that many influential ones.

That position was high enough to be worshipped.

“What must one do to become a Ryong?”

At my words, Aram chuckled and made his scales wriggle.

“Do you wish to become one? If so, I believe you’ll have to discard those limbs first.”

The wriggling movement resembled an earthworm.

Ugh, was that really what the original Trea wanted?

It’s true there was a description mentioning her limbs were torn off her dead corpse.

The remaining descriptions were about being impaled by a stake through the stomach and being gang-raped for seven days and nights.

Hmm.

As my expression darkened, Aram added an explanation.

“That must be why you asked about Ascension. Hmm, to think that record still remains.”

It doesn’t. No, actually, I don’t even know if it exists.

The reason I know about it is because you’ll blabber about it all later.

Since I don’t know the details, I’m taking this opportunity to ask.

“Truthfully, I don’t know much about Ascension either. Just as the Dragon Gate exists for the Imugi, Ascension is permitted only to humans.”

“Permitted only to humans?”

“Edwin. Honestly, besides that person, there are no records about it, so I don’t know much either.”

Edwin. The name of the hero from 1000 years ago who supposedly founded the academy came up.

This wasn’t mentioned even once in the original work. It seems like quite an important fact.

Beyond that, Aram seemed unsure, his words trailing off. Even considering it was 1000 years ago, Aram was proving less useful than

expected.

As if hearing my thoughts, he added one more thing after some deliberation.

“If you wish to know more details, visiting Shaiman might be a good idea.”

Shaiman, the country overrun by spell-slingers. I wouldn’t even pee in that direction.

…That’s just a figure of speech, of course.

“…Thank you.”

“Thinking about it, I feel sorry that my words weren’t very helpful. Is there perhaps anything else you desire?”

He was a much sweeter snake than expected.

Something else? I hadn’t really thought deeply about anything else.

I simply voiced the first thing that came to mind.

“Then, do you happen to know about Summoning Magic? Even just the basics.”

I didn’t want a grand summoned beast, but I felt the need for a sturdy aggro-taker to act as a shield in front of me.

Spirits are picky and sensitive; ordering them to do something like that would result in an immediate contract termination.

“Of course. Shall we start tomorrow morning? If you come at this time, I can oversee you for a week.”

He agreed readily, without hesitation or deliberation.

It’s good, but it feels like a lecture I didn’t sign up for has just been added to my schedule.

And as the first period, no less.

The next two days passed uneventfully.

The biggest issue during this peaceful time was a problem with clothing that emerged in daily life.

It was something I had vaguely felt even when wearing casual clothes, but trying to wear the form-fitting academy uniform was extremely

uncomfortable.

The uncomfortable point was that my sensitized body, especially my chest area, reacted sensitively every time it brushed against the fabric.

It felt similar to the discomfort and pain experienced during the first onset of puberty.

For now, layering clothes underneath helped a little, but I worried about how I would endure the summer like this.

The summoning magic Aram taught was a complete bust.

The type of summon I wanted was a sturdy tank, like a turtle, but the creature I actually summoned was just a single small frog.

-Gulp.

The fist-sized frog croaked on my palm, puffing up its body, regardless of whether I glared at it or not.

Its purple color was also quite drab.

“Hmm, it seems Miss Trea doesn’t have much talent when it comes to summoning magic. That looks quite delicious…”

The one I summoned seemed particularly stupid, not understanding words and just croaking ‘ribbit ribbit’.

Right, it would be stranger if I did have talent in summoning.

I raised the palm the frog sat on to eye level and muttered.

“Ugly.”

Actually, the little guy, croaking foolishly without knowing anything, was a little cute.

I have a soft spot for ugly things.

That’s why I sometimes envy other people. They must feel like petting themselves just by looking in the mirror.

“It seems best to conclude the summoning lessons here. Thank you.”

I prepared to get up, reverse-summoning the purple frog.

Normally, Aram might have tried to stop me from leaving, but this time, even he nodded and saw me off.

The summoning ritual, which should have taken three hours at most, had taken two days.

At that point, it was right to give up on summoning magic.

However, the reason I was feeling troubled now wasn’t because of such a trivial matter.

‘A marriage meeting, huh.’

Two days had passed without issue, but this morning, on the third day after arriving at the academy, a letter bearing the family seal arrived

for me.

Cutting to the chase, it said that arrangements had been made, and I should meet with Fontego once.

Fontego Tribago. A fellow first-year freshman and the second son of the Duke Tribago family.

As befits an academy story where talent is concentrated in the protagonist’s year, he overflows with talent in swordsmanship.

In the original story, Teperi and Trea fought over him.

Although the timing is early, considering Trea’s meticulous planning personality, the timeline roughly fits. So this is how it happened.

‘This has become troublesome.’

If it were just a gentle nudge, maybe, but since the family had made a promise at their level, I had to meet him at least once, whether I liked it or not.

My father isn’t a bad person, but it reminds me of those drama scenes where parents nag, asking when you’ll stop living alone.

Ugh, I’d rather live single forever. The thought of myself pregnant with a swollen belly is beyond unpleasant; it’s repulsive.

‘No, wait. Is this actually a good thing?’

If I make my stance clear, they won’t bother me again. Then he’ll naturally end up with Teperi.

Meanwhile, I need to prepare for the upcoming ‘Ball’ episode.

Speak of the devil, Teperi appeared.

“Ah, you!”

…Along with that elf from before. Was her name Isabelle?

She looked angry for some reason.

Seeing me, she took Teperi’s hand and approached.

Strange, it’s Teperi’s hand she grabbed, not mine. Why do I feel displeased?

[Hello, Trea.]

“Hello? What hello? You, what exactly did you do to Teperi?”

If it were just the two of them, I would have spoken comfortably, but now I had to force a cold expression.

Actually, it wasn’t entirely forced. I was suddenly being yelled at.

“What is your business?”

I wanted to call her a f*cking weakling, but held back.

I’ve matured a lot.

Isabelle snatched the books Teperi was holding and showed them to me.

“Do you see what these are?”

“…’Sleep Magic That Even Kidnappers Wouldn’t Notice’…”

“Ever since you took Teperi to that terrifying place, she hasn’t been able to sleep properly at all!”

It seems the two are roommates.

Considering her request to Aram as well, does she really have insomnia?

Teperi snatched the books from my hand and hurriedly made excuses.

[N-Not sleeping properly, when did I ever!]

“Stop being scared too! What’s with you fidgeting in bed every dawn? Did you think I wouldn’t know? You weren’t like this before you went

there!”

Teperi’s face turned strangely bright red.