856 C-4, Rain Month 2, Moon 27
I felt the warm light of the sun caressing my eyelids, prompting me to open them. As I did, I had to reaffirm myself that none of this was a dream.
For the time being, it seemed as if I had successfully fooled them, but I needed to make sure my strength had recovered before I showed even a hint of my true intentions.
It’s strange though... I feel as if I’ve recovered to only a tiny fraction of my full power. I usually feel like I can blow up a mountain or two, but I don’t know if I can knock down even a tree right now.
I decided not to give it too much thought because the reason most likely stemmed from the terrible wounds I’d sustained from my battle with the Blade Saint. I still remembered the feel of the cold steel of his blade as it threatened to cleanly slice through my neck, and maybe because of that memory, I felt like there was an abnormal weight around my neck. I began to reach toward my neck, but I was soon interrupted by the doctor calling out to me.
“Oh, you’re awake? You can sleep more, you know?”
“No, I—” As I tried to finish that sentence, I found that my throat was dry, making it difficult for me to get the words out.
“Here. You must be thirsty,” she said, offering me a glass of water.
I’d been so focused on other things that I hadn’t noticed how dry my mouth had become. Technically speaking, there’s a seventeen-year gap between now and the last time I’ve had anything to drink.
I took the glass from her and immediately gulped its contents down.
“Wow, you were that thirsty, huh? Well, I guess there’s no helping it considering how badly you were wounded. But, hmm, you’re just accepting a drink from a stranger? Not worried about being drugged?”
I tilted my head. “What is ‘drugged’? Too much medicine?”
“Hmm...kinda? But more like poison in this situation, I guess?”
“No poison affects elder dragons. We don’t share the same delicate construction as other creatures.”
“Oh, really?” The doctor’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Maybe, if you wouldn’t mind, could I just...” Then she trailed off as if she froze. Seemingly thinking better of whatever she was going to say, she cleared her throat. “Ahem. Never mind. Anyway, how’re you feeling?”
Like, I want to murder all of you, get to the Blade Saint, and rip him limb from limb? “Better.”
“Excellent! Then I guess you’ll be able to leave this bed soon.” The doctor turned back to her desk.
Speaking of killing everyone... “Where is the huma— The Guardian girl?” I asked.
“Oh, Karen? She should be back soon. She just has a few more things she needs to talk to the student council president about. Do you need her?” the doctor asked.
I fought back the urge to burst out in rage for her implying that I needed a human for anything. “No...” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m still waiting to hear more about the asylum that’s being offered to me. If my stay here isn’t approved, I need to begin devising a new plan.” A new plan to locate and kill the Blade Saint that is.
“Ah, right, about that...” She walked from her desk to a nearby shelf, picked up a bag, and then walked over to me. “Welcome to Saint Aliriheim Academy,” she said, placing the bag in my hands.
“What’s this?”
“Your uniform. You are now officially a student here—a second year, just like Karen to be precise. Apparently, it’s easier for you to be in the same year as her.”
“I’m required to wear the same clothes as her? Is this some kind of humiliation ploy?”
The doctor guffawed at my legitimate concern. “No, not at all. Every student here wears the same thing. Well, there are different uniforms for girls and boys, and I guess there’s some variation in color depending on your year, but yeah. Pretty nice, isn’t it? At first, I was all like, ‘Knee-length skirts? What do they think these students are? Nuns?’ But I totally get it now. The less you’re able to see, the more tantalizing and the higher the anticipation of what’s underneath becomes. You know what I mean, right?”
No, I don’t.
“Anyway, it’ll be a great improvement over the hospital gown you’re wearing.”
An improvement? I quite prefer this breezy fabric. It barely restricts my movements, very reminiscent of the garb I typically wear when in human form. Are they...possibly trying to restrict my movements. Is this their ploy?
“Here, why don’t you try it on? I’ll shut the curtain around your bed so that you can change. In the meantime, I’ll contact Karen to let her know you’re up,” she said, surrounding my bed with the white curtain before walking away.
I wasn’t sure what purpose the curtain served. If it was supposed to be some form of a barrier, then it might as well have been nothing; I could easily sense the doctor’s presence behind it. Although, perhaps it was sufficient to obscure the eyes of lesser beings who didn’t have as powerful a vision as elder dragons did.
I turned my focus to the bag I’d received. Inside it was a set of garments similar, at least in appearance but maybe not size, to the ones that the human had been wearing. Though I had some reservations regarding their purpose, I thought better of making a commotion. I suppose as long as I’m here, I’ll need to abide by their rules.
I sighed and then began donning the outfit that’d been prepared for me.
As I neared the completion of the process, I heard the doctor call out to me. “Tell me if anything doesn’t fit. I’m confident I have your sizes correct though.”
She was right. The clothes fit perfectly—too perfectly. I couldn’t help but be a little suspicious of how she’d figured out the sizes so accurately. Every last bit of the clothes wrapped around me as if they’d been tailored to fit.
But still, humans really wear more garments than necessary. If my powers had recovered enough, mimicking their clothes by shifting the shape and color of my scales would be simple. But I could tell that I couldn’t do that right now; transformation required much more mana than I had at the moment.
Bitter as I felt, I swallowed my emotions and proceeded to finish putting everything on. As much as I hate to admit, these are all fairly comfortable. Certain parts of my body feel supported and kept in place. Though, I couldn’t quite grasp how after centuries of evolution, humans hadn’t evolved in a way that prevented their dangling appendages from moving unnecessarily; instead, they decided to rely on clothing to do the job for them. How inefficient. It wasn’t often that an elder dragon took a human form, but at least when I did, I’d never once felt necessary to have any of these “support items.”