Jinyan Jing stood before Kail, glaring silently. White breath hissed out from the vents on his mask.
Knowing that the breath contained a psychoactive drug, Kail pinched his nose and advanced forward.
He swung his sword. Though he knew the mask could block an Aura Blade, he also knew the part covered by clothing wasn’t as resilient.
“Hrk-!”
The trajectory of the Aura Blade slashed diagonally across Jinyan Jing’s chest. A fountain of blood erupted, and the Star Tail that had been resting in his arms dropped to the ground with a thud.
Kail swiftly kicked the falling Star Tail away, assuming someone else would catch it, then cut off Jinyan Jing’s leg without a second thought.
Watching Jinyan Jing’s leg fall away without resistance, Kail wondered if the man had completely given up the will to live.
“─I admit it.”
Rolling on the ground with his severed leg, Jinyan Jing looked up at Kail and cautiously spoke. His gaze seemed to pierce through the lenses of his mask.
“I can no longer dismiss you as a mere barbarian. I acknowledge you, Kail Meyer.”
“What good does your acknowledgment do? Do you think you’ll walk out of here alive?”
“No, it means I’ll give you the chance to be civilized.”
With those words, Jinyan Jing raised both hands and spoke.
“I surrender. According to the Prisoner Agreement, I demand humane treatment.”
Kail just stared blankly at the surrendered Jinyan Jing. It was a ridiculous situation that made him want to laugh, but in the end, Kail had no choice but to act like a civilized person, just as Jinyan Jing had suggested.
* * *
After Jinyan Jing’s surrender, Kail took him directly to the headmaster. The headmaster, delighted to see the main culprit, immediately demanded the antidote from Jinyan Jing to reverse the transformation of those who had turned into dinosaurs.
True to his word of surrender, Jinyan Jing readily complied. He retrieved the potion from his belongings that would turn the transformed dinosaurs back into humans, and the headmaster administered the medicine to the victims.
“Ugh… What is this…?”
“Huh? I remember being chased by a magical beast…”
Those who had reverted from dinosaurs to humans couldn’t recall what had happened while they were dinosaurs. In a way, it was fortunate. Forgetting everything prevented further complications.
Of course, reverting to human form didn’t solve all problems.
“Aaah! My shop! My shop!”
“Where’s my dad?”
“Honey, honey…!”
The dinosaurs had mindlessly smashed buildings, bitten people to death, and even cannibalized their fellow humans.
The material and human losses incurred during this process didn’t vanish. They remained etched in people’s memories and hearts.
The headmaster realized he couldn’t simply sweep everything under the rug as if nothing had happened. Too many buildings were destroyed, too many lives lost.
If only one or two people had died, the headmaster might have been able to cover it up with his power. But this time, the damage was far too great.
“—You’re Jinyan Jing, right?”
“Yes.”
“From now on, you’re going to reveal everything. No hiding anything. Unless you want to die before this old man does…!”
An unusually furious headmaster took Jinyan Jing somewhere. Watching them leave, Kail silently returned to the mansion.
The citizens of Academy Town were still in agony, and other students were busy cleaning up the rubble or sweeping the streets—but Kail’s job was done.
The regular students who hadn’t contributed to resolving the situation had no right to complain about why Kail hadn’t helped.
“Phew.”
Looking at the broken mansion, Kail sighed. Come to think of it, this mansion had also been affected by the terrorist incident.
Naturally, the servants working at the mansion wouldn’t have escaped the effects of the drug either. It was only logical that after transforming into dinosaurs, they had destroyed the mansion.
Finding solace in the fact that the mansion hadn’t completely collapsed, Kail entered. Inside, he saw servants who had returned earlier and were already cleaning up.
“Ah, welcome back, Young Master.”
“Why’s the house like this?”
“We’re deeply sorry.”
The servants surely knew. They must have realized that they themselves, transformed into dinosaurs, had wrecked the mansion.
The most flustered by this ironic situation—destroying the place and then cleaning it up—were probably the servants themselves. Realizing this, Kail quietly left the scene.
Retreating to his relatively intact room, Kail flopped onto his bed and reflected on the day’s events.
“Civilized, huh…”
People often assume barbarians are more savage and rude than civilized folk. But in reality, that’s not true.
Civilized people, with their treaties and such, have countless ways to survive even when acting rudely. They never have to worry about axes lodging in their heads.
On the other hand, barbarians lack legal protections. All they have is an axe in their hands. They must always consider that their rudeness might result in an axe finding its way into their own heads—or those of their families.
“I should’ve killed him.”
But in the end, Kail chose to be civilized. Instead of driving a blade into Jinyan Jing’s head for his rudeness, Kail chose to let him live.
It was instinctively the more rational choice. He realized that keeping Jinyan Jing alive was necessary to resolve the situation—and to take down the real mastermind behind it all.
“This is tough, so tough.”
Kail had thought that simply being stronger than his opponent would suffice. That wielding a sword capable of killing enemies would solve every problem—that’s how he’d always seen things.
Reality was different. Killing an opponent required not a sharper blade but the resolve to sacrifice something.
“Things were better when it was just a game.”
Back then, he could swing his sword without a second thought.
Now, he couldn’t.
The more there was to think about, the more responsibility he had to bear, the harder life became.
Realizing this, Kail forced a bitter smile.
* * *
“Chirp…?”
Star Tail woke up nestled in Arthur’s arms. Freed from the smelly, dark embrace of some stranger, Star Tail found himself in the refreshing and fragrant arms of Arthur, chirping softly as he began to absorb her magic power.
First, the magic sustaining Arthur’s Polymorph spell was absorbed. Her slightly loose academy uniform swelled instantly, becoming uncomfortably tight.
Sandwiched between her voluptuous curves, Star Tail burrowed deeper into her breasts, greedily sucking on her magic.
“Piiiuuuu-.”
Dragon magic flowed out with Arthur’s breath. Star Tail slowly absorbed the dragon magic she exuded.
Like a baby suckling at its mother’s breast, Star Tail nestled into Arthur’s bosom, drinking in her magic.
How long had he been absorbing her magic? Flapping his wings, Star Tail broke free from Arthur’s embrace and flew toward the window.
“Thump.”
The full moon in the sky mesmerized Star Tail. Drawn by the moon’s magic, he flew outside and realized something was calling to him.
He didn’t know what it was, but instinctively, he understood it was related to his own kind.
“Huh, what’s all this?”
“Indeed.”
Not long after, Star Tail arrived at the academy’s warehouse. There, he discovered the corpses of his own kind.
“Piyaa…?”
“Hurry up and finish so we can go home.”
“Yes, understood.”
The academy’s warehouse keepers began slicing up the dragons’ bodies. Magic-powered saw blades spun wildly, cutting through the tough scales and flesh.
Star Tail observed silently as the keepers dismembered the bodies, separating hearts, organs, bones, and flesh for storage.
Without a word, completely silent.
“Let’s go home.”
“Good work!”
“Don’t forget to lock up.”
As the keepers exited, Star Tail slipped into the warehouse unnoticed. Before him lay the dragons’ hearts and organs.
Even after watching his kin being carved up, Star Tail felt no emotion. Dragons weren’t creatures sensitive to the deaths of their own kind.
What did elicit a reaction from Star Tail, however, were the byproducts left behind.
“Pip.”
Dragon hearts.
Hearts like the one embedded in Arthur’s body—but larger—lay before Star Tail.
“Snap!”
If he ate these, he could grow bigger.
Instinctively understanding this, Star Tail began devouring the remains left by the slain elder dragons.
No one witnessed a young dragon growing into an elder within the locked warehouse. Naturally, no one was there to stop it.
