Night Patrol and the Recipe Book
The recipients were clearly all asleep. “Koooor…! Snore snore……” “Mnya, mnyaaah……” “J-Just wake up… Senpai……” “I wanna… go home……”
It was late at night, and the first-year girls were all snoring away. A few of them were even talking in their sleep. They must have been trying to keep discipline as upperclassmen when the new students first arrived.
‘Still, they’re sleeping like logs. I was worried my footsteps would wake them up.’
They had no idea I’d entered the room and continued drifting through dreamland. Most of them looked content, probably exhausted from their packed schedules.
‘Haah. The first-year headcount is fine, but… where did things go wrong?’
My own expression, however, was far from relaxed. Worry and anxiety weighed heavily on me. That was why I’d ended up doing an unplanned nighttime patrol.
—Step, step, step.
I crept forward like a thief, muffling every sound. Counting everyone was important, but not getting caught by the girls mattered even more. I didn’t even dare enter the third- and fourth-year dorms. I had no choice but to check the roster against any signs of presence.
—Creeeeak…!
I carefully opened the door to the last first-year room. Tina and Derke were fast asleep inside, snoring softly. Tina lay perfectly still in a proper sleeping posture, but Derke…
“Mnyaah, Daddy… I miss you desu-yong……”
She was murmuring in her sleep while tightly hugging the vest I’d draped over her yesterday, sniffing at it over and over.
Watching her like this tugged at my heart. Maybe that was why my hand moved on its own.
—Pat, pat.
I gently stroked her head, wanting to offer even the smallest comfort. It felt like comforting a lost puppy.
“You worked hard today. If your friends bully you again, just tell me.”
I whispered softly near her ear. It was the only thing I could do for her right now. As I softly stroked Derke’s head while she kept calling for her dad—
“Kyaaht, heehee……”
A bright, happy smile spread across her face. Had she reunited with her father even in a dream? Seeing her look so content eased my mind a little. Her youthful smile made me smile too.
‘She really is cute……’
I left the last dorm room while quietly voicing my thoughts.
“Huuuah, damn it……”
But that smile quickly faded beneath my heavy sigh. After all, my careful headcount had turned up nothing unusual. Just as Berman said, every student except the fourth-year Raylin was safely in bed.
Of course, nothing being wrong was the normal outcome. Yet my unease only grew. That nagging feeling in my chest refused to go away.
I’d counted so carefully this time. Why were there only seven? Weren’t there supposed to be eight? Or had I misremembered the names?
Back in the duty room, I stared at the student roster and sank into thought once more. As far as I recalled, there were exactly eight SSR-rank students. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember all eight names individually—only enough to recognize them when I heard names like Sofia or Raylin. After living at the academy for a month, my memory had apparently faded.
No matter how many times I checked the roster, one SSR-rank slot remained empty. Even stranger was the fact that the total headcount showed no discrepancies. It was an unsolvable puzzle.
My head already ached from exhaustion. Thinking any harder felt like it might make it explode.
—Thud!
I pushed my complicated thoughts aside, sat on the bed, and pressed my temples. The fatigue I’d accumulated all day had manifested as a headache. Ever since the semester started, there hadn’t been a single moment to rest. And it still wasn’t over. I had to pull an all-night duty shift.
‘Whatever. Forget it.’
I flopped onto the bed, silently telling the duty shift to go to hell. Even if I was on duty, there were no other staff members in the dormitory. In other words, no one was watching me. Berman, who was on duty at the main building, had just left and wasn’t likely to return anytime soon. So I planned to spend my shift in the most comfortable position possible—like a veteran soldier on night watch. As long as I didn’t actually fall asleep, it would be fine. I’d done this plenty of times during my military service.
Of course, there was one variable. Besides the main building, there was one more person overseeing the entire academy’s duty roster: the duty professor, essentially the equivalent of a duty commander. The fourth-years had been terrified enough to prepare their roll call by the book because of her. Still, there was no reason for such a high-ranking dragon to visit the student dorms this late at night. If I heard footsteps, I could just jump up then. It wouldn’t be too late.
—Flip, flip…!
I set aside my complicated thoughts and opened the book I’d left by my bedside. It was a history book of the Drango Continent that I’d borrowed from Sofia. Reading really was the best way to kill time while staying awake. I’d been curious about it anyway, so this was perfect. I might as well read it to pass the time and learn what kind of world this was.
*
Thanks to The History of the Drango Continent, I managed to while away the night. Normally, I fell asleep quickly when reading. Especially with dry history books like this one. Staying up all night had only been an excuse on the surface—I’d simply wanted to sleep soundly without guilt. Yet somehow, I’d become so absorbed in the book that I ended up pulling an all-nighter.
I’d worried because it was written in Dragon Tongue, but not a single sentence was difficult to understand. It read smoothly without any awkwardness. I focused even better than I did with most web novels. Just from reading, I could vividly picture scenes in my mind. It felt like watching a long fantasy movie.
“Ugh, I’m dying of sleepiness……”
Dark circles hung beneath my eyes after reading through the night. That was the price of sacrificing sleep for knowledge. Still, I’d gained a rough understanding of the Destiny Dragons setting and background.
To summarize the book’s contents: Long ago, the ancient dragon Detronos, who had threatened the continent, had its seal broken. To prepare for that threat, the ancestor dragons created an academy island on Valkyrie Island. Since most of the ancestor dragons had perished, their daughters carried on their will. In short, the girls enrolled at the academy were essentially female high school students serving in the military. They’d been receiving military education from a young age to protect the continent.
‘So Derke’s father must have gone far away too. No wonder she misses him so much……’
It made sense why Derke kept searching for her dad. ‘It’s sad, but I still have to survive first.’
I’d rung the bell early in the morning to wake all the girls, then headed to the lounge to start my shift.
—Gurgle, gurgle…!
“The aroma’s still good even though it’s leftover from yesterday.”
Upon entering the lounge, I brewed the leftover coffee from yesterday.
—Slurp…!
I deliberately made it stronger by using less water and took a sip. I planned to get through the day by borrowing the power of coffee. Haah, I finally felt a bit more alive. It was the same coffee I always drank, but today it tasted different. My body absorbed it like a sponge. It was the instinctive reaction of a body worn down by fatigue. My entire being was craving caffeine.
A quiet morning with a cup of coffee. It was my favorite time of day. A moment when no one disturbed me……
Once the rich caffeine seeped into my tired body, I felt a bit of vitality return. Even so, my eyelids remained heavy. It was the side effect of forcing myself to stay awake. I had to endure with caffeine’s blessing, even if I ended up dozing while standing.
‘I’ll take my time thinking about mint chocolate desserts. For now, I just can’t fall asleep.’
If I accidentally brushed against the girls’ tails, I’d be a dead man……
Just as I was thinking that—
—Knock, knock, knock!
“Hm? What now?”
I’d been about to start roasting coffee beans when a knock came from the early hour. At this point, I could probably guess who it was just from the sound. There was only one person who would interrupt my happy personal time this early in the morning.
“Hey, Breeder! Did you sleep well last night?”
“……”
Johnson pushed open the door—which looked about five times his size—and walked in. He called my name in a friendly way, almost like “brother.” Did this guy have nothing better to do? How did he manage to show up every single day before opening?
“Huh? What’s this? Did you turn into a beastkin overnight or something?”
“Excuse me?”
“Look at those dark circles around your eyes. You’re a full-fledged panda now.”
“Ah, I was on duty last night and I’m dead tired. I won’t be able to prepare anything for you today.”
I replied curtly and turned my back. If it were a welcome guest, maybe, but I didn’t have the energy to be kind to Johnson right now.
“Oh come on, this guy! Do you think I only come here when I want something?!”
“Aren’t you here for your special coffee again? During the semester, this place is exclusively for the girls. What if someone catches you?”
“Ahem! F-Fine… If you’re that sleepy, want me to roll you a mana cigarette?”
A mana cigarette. In simple terms, it was a rolled cigarette far more addictive than regular tobacco. People said that because of its effects, one puff made you feel like you were under a spell.
“I’m good.”
I wasn’t a non-smoker, but I had no desire to touch something that was basically a drug.
“Yeah? Then how about this? It’ll probably wake you right up.”
Johnson kept pestering me. This old man was acting strangely today. Unlike usual, he wasn’t calling me “friend” and instead kept trying to take care of me. It was probably thanks to the increased favorability from the biscuits.
“What is it? Don’t tell me you brought a gift for me?”
“As expected, you’re quick on the uptake. Take a look. Hup…!”
Johnson grunted and climbed onto a chair taller than himself, then—
—Thud!
“This is my gift. Want to see?”
“Huh? What’s this all of a sudden?”
Johnson suddenly placed a book on the table. It was odd enough that he’d brought a book out of nowhere, but the title on the cover was even more surprising.
50 Easy and Quick Dessert Recipes
“How about it? Pretty nice, right? Aren’t you curious?”
“……”
This short, nagging dwarf old man… It seemed he’d decided to mold me completely to his tastes.