Chapter 24: The Dragon Legend (Part 1)
“Peilo, have you seen my school badge?”
“I put it on the table with my hair tie last night… where could it have gone… weird…”
In the serene morning light of the Royal Academy, soft rays filtered through the tower windows, merging with the warm summer breeze. Even with the window open, it felt a bit stuffy. The three girls from 1504 were already up, leisurely tidying themselves up, changing into their uniforms, and tying their hair. Daisy was still in the bathroom, while Sarah was rummaging through drawers looking for her badge. I, gazing into the mirror, couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her words.
You don’t even know where you put it, why ask me…
I don’t want to talk to you…
I had a dream last night.
In the dream, I was chasing a super-duper large Captain Gray. I ran and ran with all my might, but Captain Gray didn’t want me catching up. So, as he rolled away, he dropped a ton of little Captain Grays to trip me up. I grabbed one of them, ready to throw it, but then thought it might be better to just eat it, and then I woke up.
I woke up to see Sarah standing there like a ghost, scaring me with her silly grin. I felt irked and snapped at her. She just laughed even louder, acting all weird. I didn’t know what her deal was, and when I asked, she just shook her head. But I knew she was laughing at me, so I was angry and didn’t want to talk to her now.
After a bit, I heard Sarah ask again, “Wait a minute, Peilo… did you secretly hide my badge?”
“……”
I kept looking in the mirror, not responding.
The connected, white sleeveless pleated skirt, paired with a matching sun hat, looked pretty good… Nice… Hmph, I look good in anything.
Though the hem is a bit short, doesn’t even cover my knees…
“Peilo? Why are you ignoring me…”
…Forget it.
It’s too hot outside, so I’ll just wear this… cooler… besides, I have pumpkin lantern pants underneath.
“Hey… are you still mad? I’m sorry! I said it wasn’t on purpose to scare you… ah, I found the badge.”
“……”
There was some rustling behind me, and then I saw Sarah, all sneaky-like, walking towards me with her badge on, her little paws up near her head, wiggling her fingers and grinning wickedly, “If you keep being mad, I’m going to tickle you!”
“Don’t!”
I panicked a bit, jumping back two steps, crossing my arms in defense, and turning to glare at her.
“Hehe.”
Sarah chuckled a bit, dropping her paws, looking a bit proud: “Just kidding! I won’t tickle you, but don’t ignore me… If you’re good, I’ll have my mom make you some pea cakes next time I go home.”
…Pea cakes?
Suddenly, my interest was piqued: “Are they good?”
“Yep! Crispy and crunchy, super tasty.”
Hmm…
I don’t think that’s on the cafeteria menu, and I haven’t seen it outside either.
I tilted my head, thought for a moment, and then nodded enthusiastically: “Deal.”
Sarah laughed: “It’s settled then! You can’t just disappear again.”
“Won’t happen.”
There shouldn’t be anything going on these days…
“Alright, let’s shake on it.”
Sarah offered her palm, facing up.
“… Do you think I’m a puppy?!”
“I just wanted to shake hands to make up…”
“……”
Not long after, once Daisy emerged from the bathroom, the three of us were ready to head to the cafeteria. But as soon as we opened the dorm door, we spotted two more clusters of fresh flowers laid out on the ground.
“Peilo, you’re really popular…” Sarah remarked, walking up to pick them up and rummaging for the card inside. She walked towards the stairs, reading softly, “Dear Miss Peilo… uh, they misspelled your name… What is the hardest thing to bear in this world? It’s neither hunger nor pain, but longing… I don’t know when my feelings for you began, but that doesn’t matter now; your beautiful figure has rooted deeply in my heart… Ugh, so cheesy.”
Sarah made a face of disgust and tossed the card back into the flower cluster.
“Cheesy, and you still read it out loud, grossing us out.”
“Right?!”
Daisy and I followed behind Sarah, making our way through the narrow circular hallway and down the spiral staircase.
Sarah continued, “But this is for you, though I know you won’t look at it. I thought, out of kindness, at least you should hear how someone feels about you… sigh, another foolish boy deep in his feelings. Daisy, how many more of these fools do you think we should let fall into such traps for Peilo…?”
“Ehehe.”
Daisy didn’t say anything, just smiled. I had no clue what she was laughing about.
“Throw it away.”
I said flatly.
Sarah raised an eyebrow and turned back: “Aren’t you going to at least ask for a name?”
“Why should I?”
“Right, so pitiful…”
Sarah shrugged, and then pulled out the card from the second flower bundle: “Huh? This one’s not for you.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s for Daisy…”
“Ah!” Daisy gasped, covering her mouth.
“Wait, I’ll read it for you…”
“Don’t…”
Daisy turned beet red, looking ready to snatch it back, but Sarah was quicker and read it out loud: “You are the softest girl I have ever met, I love your fullness… Pfft, hahahaha, what a… hahaha… what a blunt head… so over the top… ha ha ha! Ouch! Daisy, you pinched me!”
“Give me that…”
“Eh?! You… you actually gonna accept it?”
“No… Ugh! This is so annoying…”
The three of us laughed and chatted down the stairs, and by the time we reached the tower entrance, Daisy looked furious yet embarrassed, as if she might cry from being mad. Gritting her teeth, she ripped up the card meant for her, tossing it along with the two clusters of flowers into the nearby trash can. Good thing she had a temper; if it were me, I would’ve dragged out whoever wrote that mix of a love letter and prank and made them eat dirt.
After we had breakfast in the cafeteria, Sarah went off to buy me a small bag of boiled peas, which I tucked into my skirt pocket to munch on later during class. Then I headed to the teaching building with Sarah and Daisy—though they didn’t have morning classes, Sarah insisted on following me, claiming that things had been tense lately in the Academy, that she would be my guard to scare off any pesky suitors who dared to approach. The glimmer in her eyes suggested she was looking forward to something, while Daisy… well, she was just free.
However, this time no one bothered us.
When we reached the teaching building, the two girls parted ways, and I made my way up to the sixth floor alone. Clutching my books, I entered a classroom that resembled a stone house, ignoring the curious looks and whispers from the students around me. As usual, I chose an inconspicuous corner by the window and began to wipe my desk and chair with a cloth I had tied around my wrist. I took off my sun hat, placed it aside, adjusted my skirt, and put my books on the table. My hand glided over the cover, which bore shiny gold letters: “The Mysterious Lives.”
Before long, an elderly man with tousled white hair walked into the classroom and climbed onto the platform.
“Today, we are going to talk about dragons.”
The old man was a renowned scholar from Ethanbel; I didn’t remember his name, just that he had dedicated years to studying exotic species and the science of life, and was well-respected in the Royal Academy.
He spoke slowly, somewhat stumbling over his words but with a clear line of thought: “Dragons… are one of the oldest species in this world, with origins tracing back to the dawn of creation, during the time when the Deities gifted life to the barren land, existing on par with or even above the Immortal Race.”
“According to the Holy Church’s ‘Revelation’, dragons possess the monstrous strength to sweep through armies, scales that are impervious to blades, flames that can incinerate everything, and can soar freely in the skies. They have an extremely high sense of pride, seeing humans as inferior beings, and their temperaments are aloof, greedy, and arrogant. Even among their kin, they rarely band together…”
“There has been ongoing debate among scholars for thousands of years about exactly how long dragons live, and to this day, no definitive answer has been reached. Some believe they can exist for a thousand years, while others suggest ten thousand. Most of you are familiar with notable examples mentioned in various legends, such as the demon Nidhogg, who caused the World Tree to wither; Fafnir, the dragon born of a curse; Aji Takahaka, the ancient evil emblem; and Kureibre, who thrives on bl**d… These powerful, notorious dragons, according to the earliest human knowledge, lived until their fall, or until they were banished to the Land of Dragons, a period that spans at least over a thousand years, and even to this day, no one knows whether they are still alive…”
