Chapter 80

A chill still lingered in the air, but the warm sunlight made one forget all about it on that early spring day.

The entrance ceremony of St. Sophia was held on such a day.

With the open main gate, new students and their parents continuously poured in, and St. Sophia was instantly crowded.

There was someone looking down at those people from the rooftop of the building.

“Hehe. The new students are so cute. Hey! Look at that kid, shivering in fear! How adorable! Ah, I’m drooling.”

“……”

The principal looked down at his palm.

On his palm, a small fairy with wings was wiping her mouth corner and giggling happily.

‘The director is the cutest, though.’

The principal barely swallowed those words that had risen to the tip of his tongue.

Director Lara.

She looked just like a cute doll, but her mental age had long since surpassed 7000 years.

Of course, to be precise, as she was not a living creature, one could wonder if applying the concept of “age” was appropriate.

“Oh! By the way, what was it that you said? There’s a dangerous one among the new students, and you told me to stay away?”

“Yes. You should keep your distance as much as possible so you can escape in unexpected situations…”

“Haha! Escape? What am I supposed to escape from? What a joke!”

“……”

Lara was a magical being made of mana rather than organic matter; a spirit.

That made her even more dangerous.

If that new student who nullifies magic screamed again, the entire St. Sophia would plunge into blackout and Director Lara would vanish without a trace.

But whether Lara knew the principal’s heart or not, she just kept smiling.

“Haha! Could it be that student I’m talking about? They’re quite imposing; they seem unusual! Oh! That kid has an enormous amount of magical power in their body! And that little one… Ah.”

“Director?”

Lara’s previously cheerful chatter came to an immediate halt.

Her face turned pale in an instant.

The fairy’s instinct had just sensed a crisis.

“That, that child…”

“Yes. That student is the one who destroyed the testing room and caused a blackout last time…”

No matter what the principal was mumbling, it was no longer entering Lara’s ears.

In an instant, the terror of death filled Lara’s mana circuits.

The moment she laid eyes on that innocent child, Lara had an intuition.

That was a disaster.

She realized instantly that it was a being similar to a natural disaster for spirits.

Lara quickly began to step back from the principal’s palm and spread her two pairs of thin wings wide.

“Wait, I’ll be right back! I’m just going to the bathroom!”

“What does a spirit need to go to the bathroom for…?”

Lara had already left the principal’s palm and was buzzing up into the sky.

The principal looked out for that problematic new student.

That child was suddenly looking around as if sensing something and pointed up at the sky.

“Mom! There’s a firefly over there!”

“Kyah?!”

The fingertip was precisely aimed at Lara.

Lara suddenly screamed and hid behind the principal.

“The firefly screamed!”

“How can a firefly scream? You must have misheard. Let’s hurry up.”

“No, it’s true…”

The girl, with an aggrieved expression, was led away into the crowd by her mother.

Watching that scene, the principal clicked his tongue.

He was continuously engulfed by doubt about whether allowing that child to enroll was the right choice.

*

“Arrived!!!”

We’re already here.

Deep sighs kept escaping my lips.

Tia opened the door and jumped out as soon as the carriage stopped.

With the help of the coachman, I finally managed to get down from the carriage.

“Mmm? Why doesn’t Mom come down alone?”

“It’s not that I won’t come down; it’s that I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Well… I wonder…”

Tia would understand when she grows up.

The suffocating feeling of not being able to see her feet.

I got out of the carriage and took several deep breaths again.

I was scared and tense, but I couldn’t be trembling.

For Tia, today would likely be a joyful day.

I didn’t want to ruin such a day.

“Shall we go now?”

“Okay!”

Trying to act brave, I reached out my hand, and Tia grabbed it tightly.

St. Sophia was crowded right from the main gate.

Kids and their parents, plus onlookers too.

It was overwhelming.

“Wow! There are so many kids! I’ve never seen so many children before! It’s like an orphanage!”

“Isn’t that a bit strange to say…?”

I quickly covered Tia’s mouth.

I understood what she meant, but it sounded a bit odd.

Fortunately, it seemed that no one had heard Tia’s orphanage remark, so I wasn’t met with any glaring looks.

Once again, I felt the necessity to nurture Tia’s social skills.

“The people are like ants swarming around!”

“That’s a bit better.”

Most students who could enroll in St. Sophia must be nobles or wealthy merchants.

However, in Tia’s eyes, whether they were nobles or bourgeois, they were all just humans.

Was I the only one feeling so intimidated?

I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

Thanks to Tia, I felt a lot more relaxed.

‘There’s definitely a variety of species here…’

In the urban areas, aside from humans, you rarely see any others.

Except in places like the Ryuba Tavern, you could hardly find any half-humans.

Yet, here, various types of half-humans were scattered around everywhere.

This was the first time I’d seen so many half-humans in one place.

Tia seemed quite surprised as she busily looked around in wonder.

“Oh, Mom!”

“What’s wrong?”

“That person! Over there!”

“……?”

Tia pulled my sleeve taut and shouted.

Just as I was wondering what was going on, I spotted a woman and felt a sensation as if I was choking.

Long black hair and red eyes.

A sailor uniform mixed with black and red.

And straight-up blackish-red horns sprouting on her head.

She was attracting not just our attention but everyone’s around her.

“Is that a demon?!”

“Yes. Probably.”

So that’s what a real demon looks like.

I had seen a sailor’s face before, so it wasn’t my first encounter with a demon.

But back then, it was so sudden that I didn’t have time to observe properly, so this was practically the first time.

Looking closely, it was clear that the demon’s horns looked quite different from Tia’s.

They weren’t as thick, didn’t curve, and weren’t black at all.

I felt embarrassed for passing Tia off as a demon all this time.

“Wow…”

However, the reason everyone was captivated wasn’t just because of the horns.

With slender limbs and an indifferent yet captivating gaze, she was a beauty to be a bit envious of.

She crossed through the crowd on her own and disappeared into the building.

I wondered if she was one of the teachers.

Seeing they hired a demon teacher made me feel relieved that it wasn’t too strict a school.

“She’s so pretty!”

“Hmm. I suppose so…”

“Yeah! She’s super pretty! I didn’t know demons could be that beautiful!”

“Is she prettier than Mom…?”

“Ugh.”

Tia froze as if she was surprised.

At that moment, a wave of self-loathing surged over me.

My face burned, and I ended up covering it with my hands.

“No… forget it… I misspoke…”

“Of course, Mom is prettier! You’re the most beautiful in the world!”

“Alright, it’s fine… dear…”

Surely, a slim and proportionate woman like her would appear more beautiful than someone who couldn’t even see her feet and couldn’t find pants that fit her butt.

That’s understandable.

It’s only natural, but I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

I was jealous…

“There are so many people. Hold my hand tightly.”

“Mmm…”

As we were about to enter the building, the crowd was dizzying.

I thought I might lose Tia if I wasn’t careful, so I tried to hold her hand, but Tia’s hand kept slipping away like an eel.

At first, I thought she was just playing around.

So this time, I tried to grab her wrist instead when Tia shifted sideways, turning away from me.

“Why? I told you to hold my hand!”

“Mmm…”

Tia shook her head, avoiding my gaze.

Her hands were clasped behind her.

What’s wrong with her?

Does her hand hurt?

“All the other kids are walking without holding their moms’ hands…?”

“What?”

Tia mumbled something and looked around hurriedly.

It was true.

Among the new students around Tia’s age, there were no kids walking while holding their parents’ hands.

No, there were some, but they were very few and far between.

“Could it be… that you’re embarrassed to hold mom’s hand…?”

“……”

Tia nodded silently.

At that moment, I froze, feeling as if the sky had shattered above me.

Tia was embarrassed of me.

She was ashamed of me.

She didn’t want to hold my hand.

Just thinking that made tears well up in my eyes.

She was the one who would cry if she couldn’t see me.

The one who would whine for me to carry her or hug her.

The one who would fall asleep only if I held her hand tightly.

But now, she was embarrassed to hold my hand.

Emotion surged within me, threatening to spill over in tears.

But what could I do?

This was also the destiny of a parent.

I, too, didn’t want to hold my mother’s hand around the time I entered puberty.

Tia was just approaching that phase now.

It was something I had to accept.

Steeling myself, I wiped the few tears that had escaped.

“What’s going on? Where did she go?”

But when I opened my eyes, Tia was no longer in front of me.

Where had she darted off to?

I told her to hold my hand…

She couldn’t have gone too far.

Looking around, I heard Tia’s voice and turned in that direction.

However, her voice was unusually loud, sounding as if she was having a quarrel with someone.

“An apology is what someone who did something wrong does! Mom said so! You apologize!”

“Do you even know who you’re talking back to?!”

“I’m not curious!”

“I shall punish you severely!”

“Go ahead and try!”

“Ugh…!”

The opposing voice sounded familiar.

No way…

The one Tia was growling and arguing with was none other than the blonde boy.

Prince Nikolai.

A headache suddenly throbbed in my temples.

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