The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 383

Today is sure to go down in history.

Because it will be the significant ritual for electing a representative due to the Dragon Lord’s absence, which hasn’t happened even ten times in the long history of the Gold Dragon.

Until now, there had been occasions where the Lord briefly left, but it was never to the point of needing to elect a representative like this.

Dragons often opted to wait with the Lord absent because their lifespans are so long.

It wasn’t something one considered particularly honorable, but Forma had already made up her mind.

In the room where the election ceremony would take place, Forma and Gemma had arrived early, creating a solemn atmosphere.

[The sinner has arrived.]

“Who’s the sinner?”

And then Atlas, one of the most important figures, was brought in by Jade and placed on the table.

Atlas clicked his tongue upon seeing the dragon-shaped statue at the center.

But Forma wasn’t feeling great either.

[The scheduled time has passed.]

With Atlas arriving, who was supposed to be last, the ceremony should have started right away, but a problem arose.

According to the schedule, three dragons were supposed to gather to proceed with the election, but one was completely missing, prompting Mana to speak up.

[Why is Sal so late?]

[… Actually.]

At Forma’s question, Smaragd, who was standing behind Jade, replied.

[He’s gone missing?]

Forma couldn’t help but be flustered upon hearing that.

Sal didn’t actually reside here.

While he often visited the sanctuary, he lived in a different forest outside the sanctuary, nesting there.

This time, he had decided to stay overnight at the sanctuary for the election, but when they went to check since he was late, it was completely empty.

“Maybe he went out for something?”

As soon as Atlas heard that Sal was missing, he giggled, prompting Forma to glare at him.

[… You didn’t do something, did you?]

“I’m stuck here; what could I possibly do?”

It was a snide remark, but it was true.

The prison keeping Atlas trapped was made from the essence of magical techniques that only dragons could use, suppressing all mana and aura of the living being inside.

Even a Master couldn’t use their aura while inside that prison.

With the prison not broken, there was no way to say Atlas had done anything, so Forma dropped her suspicion.

[If he’s not coming, we have no choice but to proceed as is.]

There was no more time to waste, so it couldn’t be helped.

They couldn’t wait indefinitely without knowing why he was gone.

[Then…]

Forma stood up to begin the election.

The moment for selecting the Dragon Lord’s representative was about to begin, and there was no turning back now.

[Ugh… Aaaaaah!!!]

At that moment, a booming sound echoed from the hallway.

With a loud bang, someone burst through the door.

[Huff… Huff… Am I… late?]

The one who came in, all in a panic, was Sal.

Though he was a mess, he had indeed returned to the sanctuary.

—————-

Watching Sal rush back, I secretly clicked my tongue.

‘How did he manage to come back after being tossed who-knows-where?’

My plans had slightly gone awry.

After hearing about the election from McKinto, I felt I couldn’t just sit back and decided to take action to reduce variables.

After hearing how the election worked, I wanted to ensure that a friendly dragon, specifically Gemma, would be selected, but I realized that no matter what I did, it could all be pointless, making that impossible.

As a result, what naturally came to mind was removing a candidate.

Wouldn’t it be easy to drop them on the opposite end of the continent to prevent them from attending the election?

There was no way they would include a candidate who couldn’t even show up.

While tossing them far away was easy, the downside was they could come back.

I could prevent such a situation more easily, but I chose not to.

I’m not some crazed murderer, and it’s not that serious.

I had thrown Sal, who was sound asleep, off to a distant island that normally took about 20 hours of flight for an average dragon, and I never thought he would return in time.

Being dumped in the vast ocean where even location spells would fail due to chaotic mana, a place known as the sailor’s graveyard—how the heck did he escape?

I underestimated the Gold Dragon too much.

[Fortunately, it seems you’re not late, huh? Then let’s get started!]

Sal was panting and gasping for breath, but aside from that, he seemed fine.

It looked like he hadn’t just teleported; he must have flown quite vigorously.

[… Well, now that everyone seems ready, I will proceed with the election.]

Forma said that and gently caressed the dragon statue prepared in the center.

Then, a golden light of mana began flowing from the statue, and a dragon made of golden magic appeared above it.

[Dr… Dragon??]

[Don’t be alarmed. It’s our ancestor.]

Gemma was surprised at the unexpected sight, but Forma calmed her down.

‘That’s the facilitator of the election that McKinto mentioned.’

The holographic Gold Dragon that suddenly appeared represented all the past Dragon Lords.

While it sounded grand, the reality was that the memories of the Dragon Lords were backed up inside the statue, and the governing personality inside used that data to make judgments.

In simple terms, the election ritual was like asking a high-performance AI who would be the most suitable as the representative of the Dragon Lord.

Since it scored in various dimensions, nobody knew who would be chosen.

After the election, they did explain why someone was chosen, but apparently, the reasons differed wildly.

The awakened facilitator glanced around without taking in the surroundings.

[The consciousness of the current Dragon Lord is not felt. Have you called me forth to elect a new representative?]

[Yes, ancestor. We, the inadequate descendants, implore you to grant us the wisdom to elect a representative who can endure this chaotic period while the Lord is absent.]

The facilitator felt no emotion in response to the words.

That was natural since it was just a repository of memories from past Dragon Lords, not the Dragon Lord themselves.

[So it appears.]

The facilitator’s eyes shone with a golden aura, enveloping all the dragons present with its golden light.

It seemed like one had been chosen.

It was an unsettling moment.

I had no idea on what criteria they would pick; effectively, it was like a lottery for me, and I initially wanted to set things up with a 1/2 chance for Gemma to be spared and Forma to dish out appropriate punitive measures, but now it was skewed to 1/3 which didn’t sit well with me.

What if Sal was chosen?

What if he seized on something from the previous day and decided to wage war against the Empire?

‘Please don’t let me have to step forward anymore…’

Now, I just had to shut my eyes tightly and pray desperately that Sal simply wouldn’t be the one.

‘Sal can’t be chosen, and for that matter, neither can Forma; please let Gemma be the one selected.’

Though I wasn’t praying to a deity, I desperately wished for it.

In a situation where I could only rely on luck, there was nothing to do but this.

-Thump

As I prayed earnestly, a few essences inside my body reacted.

Some essence from the spirits worshipped as a land deity in some rural village… No, not Leah.

Still, the essence of beings held in high regard was reacting as if they were eager to grant my wish, but I thoroughly ignored it.

What could they do, behaving like they had any power when they were all supposed to be bound to me?

-Thump

However, among them, there was one that felt distinctly different.

It wasn’t Typhon.

It wasn’t Leah either.

This is something that had already taken up residence within me comfortably….

‘Power of Polymorph?’

Why is this suddenly acting up after being quiet all this time?

[Oh?]

[What…?]

At that moment, the atmosphere shifted slightly.

Everyone fell silent for a moment before suddenly bursting out in confusion.

What was happening? Curious, I looked up to see a strange golden sentence floating above me.

What in the world is this? As I waved my arms around, the facilitator shot a beam of golden light toward me and said.

[The one qualified as the representative of the Dragon Lord… is you.]

“What? Me?”

What kind of nonsense is this?