4 - Let’s Go to School (Big Sister Edition)
MY brother and the demon prince brought me to what appeared to be…a coliseum?
Why is there a place like this in a school, anyway? Oh, maybe it’s leftover from when this used to be the royal palace? Even so, a coliseum? That’s too weird!
Papa and Mama were waiting at the entrance to the coliseum. They must have been surprised to see Demon Prince Will carrying me but concealed their shock and maintained serene and dignified expressions as they bowed respectfully to their social superior.
Papa knelt on his left knee, placed his right hand over his heart, and bent at the waist. It looked like something you’d see on a medieval European movie set. Mama lifted her skirt with both hands and curtsied deeply. She looked incredibly graceful, but holding that position must’ve been painful!
After all, they’re not allowed to rise until given permission, right?
It wouldn’t be much longer until I, too, was forced to learn and practice proper social manners, and I dreaded it.
“I’m joining today’s demonstration not as the crown prince but as a fellow student at the academy. Therefore, behave not as subjects but as graduates of this academy, and provide us with your knowledge and experience today.”
His words were gracious, but the air of superiority with which he spoke was so stereotypical of royalty that I couldn’t help but find it ironic.
Will noticed me snickering and looked at me inquiringly.
“It’s a sheecret!”
If I answer honestly, he’ll pinch me again.
Nothing was inside the coliseum besides the seating on top of its high walls. The only thing out of place was a summoning circle on the ground. According to Will, the summoning circle would call forth monsters randomly for the students to defeat using magic.
That’s brutal and cruel! Don’t make children do something like that! Is this country preparing to go to war or something? I was gritting my teeth in anger when my sister appeared.
“Kawna!” I exclaimed.
My sister stood with her usual quiet grace, so beautiful that it was hard to remember she was only ten.
Before long, a flash of white light came from the summoning circle. The light shone intensely for a moment, then slowly condensed. Once the light had completely condensed, it revealed the thing that had been summoned standing in the center of the circle.
The creature was huge… Absolutely enormous.
“This has to be a joke…” my brother muttered, shocked.
Beside him, Mama called out Karna’s name in a trembling voice.
Hmm, that’s… No matter how you look at it, that’s a dragon, isn’t it? And if I’m not mistaken, it appears to be a fire dragon. Which means it’s the worst possible opponent for Karna…
Karna’s skill with fire is high-level, but her skill with water is very low, isn’t it? And the elements here work the same as in my world—to fight fire, you need water. With the vast difference in Karna and the dragon’s abilities, it’s hard to think this will be a fair fight… And, besides that…! Fire dragons are revered holy beasts, aren’t they?!
What the heck are the teachers at this school thinking, treating a holy beast like a common monster?! Aren’t they condemning it to death by forcing it to fight with my sister?
The knights and magic users tried to rush the field once they noticed something was wrong, but…
Karna’s in danger! She’s closest to the dragon; save her first! And you, Karna! Wipe that determined look off your face and high-tail it out of there this instant!
Huh? Wait a minute, what are you doing, Mama? Why are you taking up a fighting stance?! What happened to my elegant, aristocratic Mama from just a moment ago?!
I’m getting the feeling the poor dragon’s a goner for sure…
After all, my mama was an elite-level magic user like Papa, and the maids at home whispered that she was the most powerful in the entire country with water magic.
Oh man, this is not good… What should I do?!
I leapt off Will’s lap and searched for a way to enter the arena. There didn’t appear to be any entrance from the seating area to the arena, only the staircases leading outside the coliseum.
What should I do? It would be wonderful if I could jump down from the wall, but it’s at least a ten-foot drop. But I don’t have time to waste pondering what to do— Will’s on my tail.
Looks like it’s time to show these boys how brave a girl can be!
“Neema!”
Here goes nothing…!
I jumped… Oh my god, I jumped!
I’m going to splatter on the ground for sure!
I did not think this through enough. Somebody, help!
As I was coming to a deep understanding of the meaning of the old saying, “Regret comes too late,” a warm and gentle wind enveloped my body.
That was a gentler landing than I was expecting… It felt different than the type of magic I’m used to, but what do I know? I don’t have any magic to speak of anyway.
“Tank you bewy much!”
I have no idea who saved me, but I’d better thank them properly. They saved my life, after all.
I hurried toward the dragon, running as fast as I could―ultimately about the same speed as an adult’s walk.
That’s right! My goal is the dragon, not my sister!
It might be common sense to run to my sister if I wanted to save her, but given my special ability, talking to the dragon is my best bet. My power is supposed to work on “all creatures other than humans.” Theoretically, that should include dragons.
Ducking around the adults who tried their best to stop me—once they recovered from the shock of the sudden appearance of a child in the middle of a battlefield—I stopped once I reached an area where the dragon could see me. The dragon was about as big as an airplane, so it seemed like a death wish to run up to its feet.
That would be one way to get squished flat as a pancake.
I looked around and shouted to the adults around me, “No! Leave him alone!”
The adults were dumbfounded.
They don’t seem convinced, but at least they stopped attacking him. Well, I suppose they can’t attack with a little kid in the way. Still, they’re professionals, so they’ll watch the dragon cautiously, waiting for a chance to resume their attack. I guess they’re not the elite staff of the royal academy for nothing…
Just as I was pondering this…
“This is no place for a child.”
The dragon spoke!
He must be one of those archetypical, nearly immortal dragons! In this world, wyverns and giant lizards are also classified as sub-species of dragons, but this guy seemed to be the real deal.
In any case, if he can speak, that makes this easier for me.
“You hafta stop fighting too, Mishta Dragon!”
“I can hardly ignore that I was forcibly summoned here and subjected to unwarranted violence.”
He does have a point; it’s basically self-defense on his part. They attacked him first. And although he called it ‘violence,’ I think ‘attempted murder’ is a more accurate description.
“But people will get hurt…”
If this devolves into a full-out battle, it won’t end with people merely being injured. But maybe if my special power can tame even a fire dragon…
“I wonder what dragon scales feel like…”
“Hm, you want to touch me, little girl?” the dragon asked.
Oh crap! My true feelings slipped out! No way, I really shouldn’t…
After all, he looked like a dragon from a video game or something. And not one of those wimpy reptiles we call “dragons” in Asia. No, this was a proper, European mythology-style dragon. The dragon was resplendent with sharp teeth and claws, huge leathery wings, golden reptilian eyes, and red scales.
But of course, I want to pet him! Please, let me pet you!
“Yeah! I want to pet you!” I admitted.
“Aren’t you frightened of me?”
“Nope!”
No hesitation whatsoever! I don’t think he’s scary; just super-duper cool! I would do just about anything for a ride on his back.
“You certainly are an unusual child.”
As he said this, the dragon leaned down so his face was right in front of me. I took this as an invitation, which I gladly accepted. I enjoyed petting him to my heart’s content.