novelraw Chapter 139 : Preparation Stage.
Chapter 139 : Preparation Stage.
"Ugh! Isn't this really too much!"
Children's grumbles erupted here and there in front of the classroom where the engraving test had just ended.
"Hah... that's true. But at least we passed this time, didn't we?"
Skir also let out a small sigh and agreed with Pola's annoyed words.
"Hey, is passing the problem? They said they lowered the difficulty of the test this time. Didn't you hear the professor sneering, saying he now knew very well the students' pathetic skills from the last test?"
Snider, the engraving professor, had poured scathing criticism on all the students who had failed the last test.
Furthermore, when he went so far as to worry about the future of the empire and the parents of the students who were paying the academy tuition without knowing anything, some students even raised their voices in protest.
"Don't worry too much about it, unni. It's fine since you did well."
"I hate that professor so much. So much!"
Unlike the last test, this time the problem was a curse, but it was a problem that didn't seem like a curse.
"No, but what's the point of engraving that kind of thing?"
"It was just a test topic. Don't get so worked up, Pola."
In the end, Lucas also chimed in.
"No! It's true. What's the use of not being able to speak for 10 seconds if you touch an object!"
"That's true..."
The theme of this test was similar to a variation of the Silence spell.
Snider had given such a theme knowing that the advanced class students were still unable to perform curse engravings.
But Lucas's thoughts were different. All magic had infinite possibilities depending on how it was applied.
'There was a guy who was good at application.'
Lucas recalled a mage he had once met, who was competent but had gone down the wrong path.
'He's dead, though.'
Lucas did not think that the children's skills were in any way inferior to that man's. It was just that their application skills and practical experience were lacking.
"That's not necessarily true. The problem Professor Snider gave can be used at any time. There are so many people who can't use magic without a chant. No, it's no exaggeration to say that most mages are like that. If a mage's mouth is sealed for 10 seconds in a pressing battle? The tide of the battle would turn."
"Ah."
Nella gasped at Lucas's words.
"Right. But in a big battle, they usually have a solid defense against it, so it doesn't happen often, but it's to let you know that there is such a method."
Only then did the children nod their heads.
"Tsk... I still hate engraving so much."
"Actually, I dislike engraving too. Although we have to learn all magic and fields, I think it's better to learn the fields we are good at more in-depth."
"Kir. What's with you? You're actually saying something right. You usually only say things that get you hit."
"Pola! What do you mean, things that get me hit..."
Skir seemed flustered by Pola's words, but his eyes were smiling for some reason, perhaps because of the compliment he had just received.
"Still, it's fine since we all passed."
As they walked down the hallway, they arrived at the cafeteria.
"I'm not eating lunch today."
It was Nella.
"Huh? Why?"
"Just. I don't have much of an appetite."
Nella answered Pola's words calmly.
"Then you all enjoy your meal, and I'll see you later."
As Nella waved her hand and turned away, Pola's lips moved as if to say something, but she soon stopped.
"Ehyu..."
Pola sighed.
"Did something happen? Did you fight with Nella by any chance?"
Nella's unusual behavior and Pola's sigh. At that, Skir asked cautiously.
"No... we didn't fight."
"Then why are you sighing and Nella is skipping her meal?"
"Just... Nella said something to me yesterday."
Pola, who had sat down, fiddled with her hands with a serious expression.
"What do you want to eat?"
At that sight, Lucas first asked the children for their orders.
"I'll have a sandwich. Kir?"
"I'll have the same. Ah, I'd like it without onions."
"Okay."
Lucas silently took the children's orders. It was a job that Nella usually stepped up to do, saying she, the youngest, would do it. And Skir or Pola always helped Nella.
'I'll do it today.'
Lucas was secretly pleased again to see his leisurely heart at work everywhere these days.
"Here."
As Lucas, who had brought the sandwiches, handed them to the children, Skir first unwrapped Pola's sandwich to make it easier to eat.
"Here. Eat up."
"Thanks."
Pola, who took it first as if she were used to it, sighed softly again.
"Don't be like that, just tell me! What did Nella say. Is it something serious?"
At Skir's urging, Pola stared blankly at a piece of lettuce that had fallen on the table.
"Well... it seems Nella was actually very hurt."
As Pola's story began, Lucas nodded his head as if he had expected it and took a bite of his sandwich.
"What does that mean?"
Skir also had a rough idea, but he asked again just in case.
"She said she was fine, but it didn't seem like it."
Pola's story began.
Nella had said she would express her hurt feelings well, but in fact, it seemed that those feelings had burst out from time to time.
It was understandable. Since meeting Pamela, Pola had run to the library to see her sister every break time.
Moreover, after all classes were over, they even exchanged notes and acted like a loving couple, so from Nella's perspective, it was something to be hurt about.
"And then... she said she wanted to use the room alone."
In the end, Nella had poured out all her hurt feelings and had declared that she would use the room alone.
"Nella did?"
That was a little surprising even for Lucas.
"Yeah. It seems she was really hurt. But Nella said that because she likes me, she needs to distance herself from me to feel less of those hurt feelings in the future."
In addition, she had said that since Pola's real sister was Pamela, it was right for her not to be greedy.
Hearing those words, Lucas felt a little hurt.
'For a child who came after losing her parents, she was the one who gave her a place by her side...'
Thanks to Pola, Nella had quickly found stability and had been able to adapt to the academy. But it seemed that she had relied on Pola that much.
"What should I do now?"
Pola hung her head low.
"Ugh... I'm a little bad at these kinds of problems. What do you think, Lucas?"
Lucas slowly chewed and swallowed the sandwich in his mouth and thought. What should he do about this.
"What do you mean, what should you do. It might take some time, but you have to try to make up again."
Lucas also gave a vague answer, as if giving clumsy relationship advice.
There was really no way around this. He couldn't tell Pola to distance herself from Pamela, the sister she had been looking for so desperately.
Pola and Pamela were a special and loving pair of sisters, all the more so because they had been separated for a long time.
He couldn't tell them to make room for Nella, could he?
'Actually, I don't even want to tell them to make room.'
Moreover, Lucas was still not fond of Pamela. She was somehow unsettling and bothersome.
"Hyu..."
Only long sighs continued over the table.
***
Hasel and the elders had been visiting the other races and persuading them.
"I should have just massacred them all."
The person who spat out the annoyed words was a woman with hair and eyes the color of burning red.
"We decided not to do that, didn't we? Tene."
Hasel gently chided her.
"It's true, isn't it? How dare they have such an arrogant attitude when three dragons went to them. And I never liked the elves in the first place."
"Ahem... actually, Tene's words are not wrong, are they?"
It was a man with the same blond hair and golden eyes as Allie. Now, the man's brilliant blond hair and Tene's red hair even felt out of place.
"Apre-nim. We don't know the enemy's strength. As I said, we don't even know who they have on their backs."
"No, just because they have one measly high-ranking god on their back, do those pathetic demons think they've become dragons or something!?"
At Hasel's words, Tene suddenly stepped forward and shrieked.
"Ugh. Tene. My ears are going to fall off."
"It's true, isn't it? Don't you think so, Apre-nim? Just because they have the demon god on their back, do they think they're a flock of dragons? And besides, if the demon god comes down to the surface and helps the demons run wild, do you think the other gods will just stand by?"
As the woman fired off her words, the blond man named Apre nodded his head.
"I also have the same thought as Tene. Honestly, no matter how much they have Taras on their back, a demon is a demon. The day you and I shoot a breath, they'll be swept away in a flash."
"That's right! Isn't it? Hasel-nim?"
Hasel's head ached.
The two elders he thought he could talk to were in this state. So what about the other dragons?
"Hoo..."
Hasel let out a long sigh.
"No. Hasel-nim. I've lived long enough, but I don't understand. Hasel, no, you're the Lord now. Do you really think it's possible for them to drive us out?"
At Tene's words, Hasel closed his eyes and took a breath for a moment.
"Tene and Apre-nim."
Apre and Tene nodded at Hasel's call.
"Actually, there is one thing I haven't told you."
Hasel finally decided that he had to correct the thoughts of these two at least.
"Taras is challenging the authority of the main god."
"What does that mean?"
Apre's eyes widened at Hasel's words.
"The position of the main god is currently vacant. I heard it's been about a hundred years. We don't know what Taras has been preparing and how during that time. Getting the demons out of the demon world might just be the beginning."
"What does that..."
Tene's mouth dropped open as if she couldn't believe it.
"I-is that certain information?"
"I heard it directly from Amore, the god of love."
"Huh..."
To them, Amore was a trustworthy god. Amore, the beloved god who had existed since the beginning of time and possessed immense power.
"Did you meet Lord Amore?"
"Yes."
Hasel nodded his head at Apre's words.
"It must have been amazing."
"Yes. Although he was a little different from what I had imagined."
"Oh..."
"That is why I am stomping my feet like this. I also do not want to go around visiting these other races and bowing my head."
It was a matter that hurt Hasel's pride immensely as well. It was no different from a king visiting his subjects and bowing his head.
'Is this how the princes felt during a power struggle?'
Right now, Hasel felt like a prince who was visiting nobles and asking for their support in a power struggle.
"Still, there must be another way. I honestly can't do it. What can I do when I get annoyed just by smelling the elves and I want to set fire to their damn forest whenever I see it?"
"..."
"No, why do they like trees so much? It's annoying. It makes me want to set fire to everything."
Tene, a red dragon, was literally a fiery personality, but her attack power alone was stronger than anyone else's, which was why she was now sitting in the position of an elder.
But Tene had a bit of a crazy side since she was young.
No matter how much of a red dragon she was, it was hard to be that close to fire, but when she was young, she set fires wherever she went, causing her parents a great deal of trouble.
'The crazy arsonist Tene.'
She had dozens of nicknames, but this was by far the most fitting one.
"Tene. In that case, how about you take on the dwarves."
"Ah! I don't know. I don't want to."
Tene turned her head away abruptly.
"Um... Hasel."
At that, Apre opened his mouth.
"It seems that persuading them like this is not the best way."
"Then do you have another good idea?"
Hasel leaned his body towards Apre.
"Think about it. How often in their entire lives do they get to face us like this? But right now, I think we are not asking for their help but forcing their support."
"What does that..."
"I think we are being too selfish. Didn't you hear the elf chieftain's words earlier? Although we came out in a hurry because Tene was running wild."
At that, Hasel felt as if he had been hit on the head.
The elf chieftain had said, trembling, 'Has our race ever received your protection while living in the forest that is said to have your blessing?'
Tene, who had gotten angry at that, had tried to set fire to the entire forest. Because he had been busy stopping her, he had left in a hurry and hadn't thought about it, but...
"Let's change our method."
[End of Chapter]