Raili's Sealed Challenge
The sender, Raili —Rustle…! Nothing was written on the outside of the yellow envelope. No sender or recipient addresses, names, stamps, or postmarks. Only the emblem stamped into the sealing wax that held the envelope shut.
"Huh? Wait, this… this is surely…?"
The emblem stamped on the sealing wax looked familiar. A dragon’s head drawn with sharp, straight lines. It had the feel of a simple logo. Yet even though it was just a few straight strokes, its gaze was piercing. Even as a mere emblem, it was hard to meet its eyes. Engraved there was the face of a ferocious dragon. Was it perhaps reflecting the sender’s state of mind?
‘This is definitely…’
Looking at the emblem brought the memory rushing back. The letter Berman had handed me late that night. Yes, it was exactly the same as the one sent by the girl named Raili.
In an instant, the hostile contents surfaced in my mind. I had completely forgotten about it until now, but receiving this letter revived every detail. The message from back then was still vivid. The girl named Raili had written that she was searching for me for some reason. Not content with sacrificing her precious fifty-year vacation, she had even postponed her return to school. As a result, she had discovered my location and ordered me not to run away—just wait. She had even sent two semi-threatening letters to make sure of it.
‘But no matter how I look at it, whether I wait or run, neither option seems to end well… Anyway, what did she send another letter for this time?’
I didn’t know what past entanglements existed, but one thing was certain: this body called Breeder had not been on good terms with her. She had written the letter in a tone practically reserved for an enemy.
That made sense. Even now, an unsettling aura seemed to radiate from the envelope itself.
—Gulp!
Receiving a letter I had never expected made me swallow dryly. Who would have thought the girl I had completely forgotten would send another one?
"Hwawa…? Heundung-ah? Why do you look so surprised?"
Raylin peered over from the side. She too was staring at the envelope, yet she showed no particular reaction. Even after seeing the emblem on the sealing wax, she merely tilted her head. She looked completely clueless.
Still, if I mentioned the name, she would probably know. As a fourth-year senior, there was no way she wouldn’t. Besides, Raili was SSR rank. Knowing about her in advance couldn’t hurt. I didn’t know why she was angry, but figuring out a way to approach her beforehand might make recruiting her easier later.
"Hey, Raylin noona?"
"Hm? Heundung-ah?"
"I wanted to ask you something—"
"Breeder? I still have something to deliver…!"
Just as I was about to ask Raylin for information, Indrago cut in. His wildly grown tree branch thrust itself in front of me.
"Eek, you startled me?! Is there anything else left?"
His face really made me want to take pruning shears to it.
"The other ladies are starting to come down. I saw them on my way here…!"
Indrago’s lips, formed of hard bark, moved slowly as a low, bizarre voice emerged.
"Huh? If it’s the other ladies, aren’t they still at the freshman welcome party upstairs…?"
"What~?! Indrago! Is that true?"
Raylin reacted like a spark to dry tinder. Her response was completely different from when she had seen the letter. Her voice carried disbelief.
—Nod, nod…!
Indrago answered Raylin’s question by bobbing his branches. He didn’t bother opening his mouth. Forcing honorifics must have been too much trouble.
"Hwawaat…? Why are they coming down already? Did the two of them fight?!"
"Huh? Fight…? You mean Sofia and Diora?"
"Yeah! There must have been an argument over the drinking rules…!"
"But why between classmates…?"
"Their personalities are complete opposites."
"Aah? Opposites?"
"Yeah. Senior Diora wants to keep the academy tradition of the freshman welcome party, but Senior Sofia has always hated that kind of coercive atmosphere. Ever since she was a freshman. She’s been trying to change it every semester."
"So that’s why she didn’t get along with Diora."
"There are other reasons too, but… I don’t know exactly what happened. Something must have occurred. Otherwise they wouldn’t be coming down this fast—"
—Thud, thud, thud…!
Just as Raylin was speculating, numerous footsteps echoed nearby. It was the sound of the girls descending from the temple. Judging by how clearly the noise reached us, they were already close to the dormitory.
—First and second years, go straight to your rooms and sleep!
—Third years, head to the fourth floor right now! I have something to say about today’s events!
—Hurry up, everyone!
—Especially the first years? Don’t breathe a word about what happened earlier to the professors, got it?
—Yeeesss……!
Before long the hallway outside grew noisy. Footsteps and voices reverberated through the corridor. Mostly fourth-year girls, and every single one of them sounded sharp and on edge. The first and second years, by contrast, spoke in tense, anxious tones. The third years remained silent as mice.
It seemed something had indeed happened upstairs, just as Raylin suspected.
"Kkht?! Th-this isn’t how it was supposed to go…!"
"Raylin noona? Shouldn’t you be heading up?"
"Haah, I still haven’t finished everything yet. Do I really have to go now?"
"Huh? Was there more besides the pact?"
"Tsk—! Can’t be helped. At least we made the pact… Heundung-ah? I’ll be going for today!"
"Ah, noona?"
—Bang…!
Raylin opened the door as she said goodbye. She had seemed like she still had more to say, but the gathering call for third years outside must have changed her mind.
"Anyway, see you tomorrow again—?!"
With a reluctant expression, Raylin finally left, giving me a wink just before the door closed.
"Gogogo, I really thought everything was about to go up in flames……"
Indrago let out a sigh of relief once Raylin was gone. The wooden statue of a face softened slightly. I hadn’t known a wooden figure could display such a variety of expressions.
"Ah? Aren’t you going back, Manager?"
"I’ll head in once it quiets down! And more importantly……"
—Rustle!
The guy abruptly turned his back and pointed a long wooden finger at the envelope I was holding.
"Don’t hate the girl who has nothing to do with the old incident too much."
"Huh? What do you mean…?"
"Long years can change a person’s heart. Well then……"
—Click, thud…!
Indrago left after dropping that meaningful remark.
"What…? Does he know something about Raili?"
I muttered to myself in the now-empty dorm supervisor’s room, still clutching Raili’s envelope.
Finally, silence settled over the room. Whatever the case, I could finally breathe. At last I could rest without worry.
‘So the first day of the weekend is already over……’
Time really crawled. It felt like I had been re-enlisted. If I had just lazed around with nothing to do, I wouldn’t complain.
—Flop!
"Haah, anyway, I’m too scared to even open it and see what she wrote this time……"
I collapsed onto the bed. I had thought about reading the letter while lying down, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at Raili’s letter. After everything that had happened today, I didn’t want any more stress. The temple visit and my self-exemption, the unexpected dessert showdown with Marti, the faint hints about this body’s identity, and that unforgettable, heated moment with Sofia……
‘Haah, that really was something earlier.’
Just recalling Sofia’s face made the Dragon Heart in my chest stir. Thinking about it alone gave me a ticklish, embarrassing feeling. For an unwanted possession, these had been surprisingly luxurious experiences.
"I hope I only run into happy things like this from now on……"
—Rustle…!
As I mulled over the day’s events, I pulled out Raili’s envelope again. I was dying to know what was written inside, but my hand still refused to move. Opening this letter felt like it would shatter all the happiness I had found so far.
‘Still, it’s a fate I’ll have to face eventually, right?’
—Tududuk…!
I accepted reality and peeled away the red sealing wax. My heart might feel heavy for now, but reading it before sleep seemed better than putting it off.
—Flutter…!
When I opened the envelope, there was only a single sheet of letter paper inside, just like before. On it, rough-inked handwriting sprawled across the page.
「Hey, you’re still at the academy, right?」
「Don’t even think about running this time. If you got this letter over the weekend, I’ll probably arrive next week.」
「Thanks to your teachings and the academy classes, I’ve gotten stronger, but I feel like I grew even more while searching for you during this vacation.」
「So, Breeder-sensei? When I return next week, don’t disappear again. Spar with me after so long.」
「I can’t just let it slide that you abandoned me without a word. So give me everything you’ve got. Enough to risk your life.」
「Anyway, we’ll meet soon. I’ll be looking forward to the day I see you. That’s all for now.」
「—Raili, the one you abandoned.」
‘No…! I never abandoned a dragon like you!’