Ep 52. This Is Growing Pleasantly Out Of Hand. (1)
Patrick gripped his neck, trying to rub the soreness of sleep. When he forced his eyes open, the familiar living room’s ceiling greeted him as sunlight beamed through the windows.
“…What in hell’s name…”
As soon as he turned his head, the mage could see his little sibling oher couch, staring at him with evident worry in their eyes.
Which was, holy, pretty freaky.
“…Z…Serenis? You okay?”
After seeing weeks on end of their rather callous, unfiving attitude, the worry in Serenis’ eyes almost seemed doubtful.
But when she realized her brother was awake, Serenis hurriedly rose from her seat, croug down on the floor before him as she examined Patrick’s state.
“Such questions are better suited for yourself.”
The dragonlord’s hand lightly hovered over Patrick’s chest, firming the heartbeat beh. It was alive, that much she could tell – though besides that, the dragon barely knew anything about human biology.
“Does it hurt anywhere? Should I bring you to those human healers?”
“…You mean doctors?...Uh…”
Patrick pushed himself upright. His body had felt somewhat heavy when he was lying down, but strangely, it didn’t take much effort to rise. Even the soreness in his muscles quickly dissipated as he fixed his posture.
“It’s fihink I just slept badly. What happened? Why am I asleep on the cou…”
The mage slowly trailed off his sentence as memories came flooding back. Specifically, his peculiar coworker who’d eerily beamed at him before the surrounding pressure knocked him unscious.
“…Iris!”
When Patrick betedly remembered the culprit and darted his gaze around the room, his coworker was o be found. Only Serenis resent, sighing in relief as she tapped his arm a few times.
“It’s fine. She’s gone.”
“Do you even know what happened?! She used some sort of weird magic, I almost died! And-“
“I’m aware.”
The mage’s frowned deepened as he heard his sibling’s answer.
“…You are?”
“I am. Once you were risen, she’s asked me to apologize to you iead. I would tell you the details, but…”
“But? But what?”
“…But I swore not to tell you the details.”
…?
‘Wait, so what really happehen? That wasn’t a dream, was it? Where did she get all that mana from?’
Evident fusion muddled Patrick’s expression. He’d expected his little sibling would provide him with an expnation as to how Iris had been able to use wield such overwhelming amounts of mana, but clearly, she had no iion of giving him the answer – whily made him pin more.
“…What the hell. If that’s the case, shouldn’t you not be telling me anything in the first pce then?”
“I never swore to keep silent about the swearing.”
Patrick squinted his eyes at the audacity of his sibling’s reply. He didn’t know whether he should be thankful or not that the dragonlord was telling him this.
Oher hand, Serenis’ s quickly disappeared as she firmed Patrick to be perfectly himself as usual. She’d worried that the deity would’ve left sting ailments on her brother, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘…I suppose that’s one more evidence of hoy.’
Iris had mentioned having no iion of harming Patrick. Indeed, she’d selected a rather shrewd way of holding her coworker hostage, even though the deity should’ve had dozens of simpler options.
In fact, Serenis could even feel a noticeable growth of Patrick’s mana reserve – likely from his prolonged exposure to crushing levels of the deity’s mana.
“Feel free to ask Iris on your own time. But as far as I tell, she truly had no iion of doing you any harm.”
“After knog me out with mana that totally could’ve killed me?”
“But it didn’t, did it?”
“…“
“It’s the most inve, tirihod possible in snuffing someone of their scious. Perhaps she really did want you to grow, and nothing more.”
“…You know, I thought you were going to take my side for once. With that worried look and all.”
“I am on your side. I am currently gratuting yrowth as a mage.”
Patrick raised his hands in a surrenderiure. His arguments never seemed to get anywhere ever since his sibling had turned into a dragon.
“You know what, fine, I give up. I’ll go talk to Iris myself. That aside, shouldn’t you be at schht now?”
“While you’re unscious? That’s the least of my s.”
“…I feel like I should be moved, but somehow I’m not.”
“Speaking of which…”
Serenis rubbed her , ign her brother’s response as she thought her own statement over.
Her entire reason for attending the institute’s csses had been to learn of the divine ahem herself. However, both of them had aplished themselves st night. And if meeting the deity of life required her to leave the city, she simply wouldn’t be able to attend in the first pce.
“…It seems like an opportuime to leave the facility.”
“Wait, leave the facility? What facility?”
“The institute. What else?”
“…LEAVE? You mean like, taking a break?”
“No, I pn to drop the practice altogether.”
If the earlier news was fusing for Patrick, this news was ht shog. And he really couldn’t hide it, expression or words or otherwise.
“… Why???”
“I’ve learned all I wished to learn. To attend further would be nothing more than a waste of precious time.”
“But…but-”
“But?”
“…”
‘It hasn’t even been a year and my sibling wants to quit school.’
Even worse, Patrick didn’t have a sound ter to the dragonlord’s argument.
? ? ?
Knock. Knock.
Karas quizzically gnced over from his cup of coffee towards the door. It hadn’t been long since he’d arrived at the office himself.
“Hm? e in.”
The professor’s eyes widened slightly as the familiar dragonlord walked into his office. She hadn’t bee in the css that had ended a short while ago.
“…Serenis? I was w where you’d gooday.”
“Another matter required my attention.”
“I see…have you e to ask what today’s lecture was about?”
The professor’s hopes began te at the thought of a dragon so diligently attending his css. Most students who skipped csses never bothered to learerials they’d missed.
Unfortunately, said hopes were crushed underfoot in mere seds.
“No. I’ve actually e to ask the required procedures to leave this facility.”
A small amount of beverage trickled out of the professor’s beak at the ued reply. It in she wasn’t talking about simply leaving the physical building.
“…Leave? So suddenly? Why…?”
“I’ve gaihe knowledge I wished to learn.”
Karas bliwice, unaware of where this sudden ge was ing from. Unlike Serenis, he was nowhere near gaining all the knowledge he wished to learn from his research with the dragonlord.
“The procedure…well actually, before that, must you leave the institute pletely?”
“Since I’ll be leaving the city in a short while, tinuing the practices here simply won’t be an option.”
“Leaving the city? May I ask where to?”
“To the tral forests.”
“tral forests…Aldrid Forest? Why-”
“To find the deity of life.”
The professor fortunately wasn’t holding any coffee in his beak this time to spill out in shock. He quickly inquired back, questioning the statement.
“…How? The forest may be named after the deity, but it’s only a name. Whether Aldrid is truly there is…”
“I’ve retly heard otherwise. From a rather dependable source.”
Surely, one of the Twelve endable source for the rest’s whereabouts.
“Hm…”
Karas closed his eyes, rubbing his beak in ption.
Despite being in the name, Aldrid Forest was just a rge forest located at the tre of the ti – or so it had been known as. It was said that it was only named after a deity due to its sheer size.
“Hmm…”
‘But if Aldrid was truly there, then…a deity of life…would surely hold the secrets of reination.’
“Hmmm……”
The professor looked towards Serenis once more. She was as indifferent as ever, but he’d e to realize that her indifference was only a sign of fidend certainty.
Simply put, she wasn’t joking – that much, he could pinly see.
“Instead of leaving the institute…there is an alternative.”
“An alternative?”
“Yes. Ohat will allow aended leave without penalty.”
“Iing. I didn’t realize such a thing ossible.”
“It is. We only o file your leave as an educational workshop. However…”
Karas dramatically extended his senteh a pause as he raised his finger into the air.
“There’s a small caveat.”
“…And that is?”
“A staff member must be apanying the student.”
“…Then wouldn’t leaving be more…”
“I!!!”
Karas smmed one hand oable, effectively preventing the dragonlord from asserting that leaving would be far simpler. A quizzical frown instead crossed Serenis’ expression as she stared at the professor.
“…’I’?”
After a brief pause, Karas met the dragonlord’s gaze to finish his statement.
“…I will apany you to the tral forests.”
