A Gentle Touch
—Crunch, crunch…! —Munch, munch…! —Chomp, chomp, chomp……!
Greedy sounds echoed from the counter. The source was none other than Derke. The hatchling with her silver hair tied into twin tails was wiggling her small lips. Perched on a tall stool in front of the counter, Derke had crumbs all over her mouth as she devoured the biscuits laid out before her.
‘Watching her eat so happily makes me feel good too. Come to think of it, has there ever been a dragon who enjoys food as much as Derke?’
Seeing her hold the biscuits with those tiny, adorable hands suddenly reminded me of the hamster I used to keep as a child. Just looking at her brought a smile to my face. Unlike the other young ladies, she wasn’t picky, nor was she stingy with compliments about the taste. She was practically the perfect regular customer.
“Derke, you’ll get indigestion if you keep eating like that. Drink some milk while you eat.”
Maybe she had been starving, because both cheeks were puffed out with biscuits stuffed inside.
—Gulp, gulp…!
At my worried words, Derke immediately downed the milk, carving a path through the dryness in her mouth. Was it thanks to Beast Taming and Gourmet Feeding that she listened so well? Or was she just naturally obedient?
“Kyahaa—!”
She slammed the mug down with a loud thud!, exhaling in satisfaction like someone who had just chugged a beer. Her gulp was so refreshing it could put Johnson to shame.
“Pfft, is it really that good?”
“Yeah—! It’s delicious today too, desu-yong… Ah, I mean, it’s really yummy-yap—!”
At my question, she nodded while correcting her speech in a meaningless way. She had her quirky side, but I could never bring myself to dislike her. Maybe it was because being around Derke put my mind at ease.
As expected, her favorability rose far too easily again. Yet it still remained stuck at the ‘Blind Trust’ stage.
“Derke? What brings you here at this hour? Isn’t lunch time already over?”
“That’s right-yap—! Lunch time is already over, desu-yong…!”
“Then is it okay for you to be here? Don’t you have afternoon classes?”
“Hueh—…? A-Actually, the theory classes are already over, desu… I mean, yap—! And right now it’s time for group experiential activities—yap!”
Derke answered while consciously fixing her sentence endings. Her odd way of speaking made me want to burst out laughing.
“Ah, are you talking about the group activities?”
“That’s it! That’s it…! I’ll explain it slowly, desu-yong—!”
Perhaps frustrated that I didn’t understand right away, she slipped back into her usual speech pattern. Having demolished every last biscuit, Derke stepped onto the chair and sprang to her feet to match my eye level.
“So, you see…! First-years only have theory classes in the morning, yap—! And then……”
Derke continued her explanation with a somewhat unsteady tone. To summarize what she said: mornings were regular theory classes, while afternoons were free time disguised as self-study. Since first-years had limited attention spans anyway, it seemed they replaced it with experiential activities. They apparently formed groups with close friends and let them explore the academy on their own. The theme of the experiential activities changed every week. This week’s theme was touring the academy. It made sense—they’d be living here for the next four hundred years, so it was best to learn the layout early. It felt similar to giving new recruits an adjustment period after being assigned to their unit.
One thing that bothered me was the part about “forming groups with close friends.” Maybe that was why Derke had come here alone.
‘On another note, the first-year professor must have it easy starting from the afternoon.’
I wouldn’t mind becoming a staff member instead of just a servant. At the very least, I didn’t want to be ignored anymore. But with this body that was dragged here for some crime or another, that was probably impossible. For whatever reason, none of the staff seemed to know exactly what my crime was. Maybe the dragon professors knew?
“…Anyway—! That’s how I ended up coming all the way here, desu… I mean, yap—!”
“Hmm, I see.”
Derke’s passionate explanation finally came to an end. But something about her speech had been bothering me for a while now. The stuttering was one thing, but she kept consciously changing her sentence endings.
Whether it was “desu-yong” or “yap,” both were equally unique speech patterns, so why was she so conscious about it?
“By the way, Derke? You said you were supposed to stick with your group, so why are you here alone? And what’s with your speech?”
I had a rough idea why, but I couldn’t just let it slide. Especially since Derke’s green eyes were trembling pitifully. She looked like a frightened kitten, completely withdrawn.
“I-It’s nothing, yap—! Like I said earlier, I just got lost and ended up here alone—”
“Your classmates are still excluding you, aren’t they?”
“T-That’s…! H-How did you figure that out, desu-yong—?! Derke never even said anything about it……?!”
When I hit the mark, Derke cried out in surprise. She probably lied to protect what little pride she had as a hatchling. Getting lost right in front of the dormitory was nonsense. Still, the situation was obvious. I had warned Tina yesterday, yet she completely ignored my warning in just one day……
“It was written all over your face. That aside, are your friends bullying you like yesterday?”
“It’s not like that, yap…!”
At my words, Derke wiped her face with both hands. She checked if anything had come off on her hands before continuing.
“Thanks to you, Oppa, they’re not bullying me, desu… I mean, yap—!”
“Really? I see……”
At least my warning hadn’t been completely useless. They weren’t directly bullying her, but the exclusion was still there. Bullying was bad enough, but complete indifference was even scarier. I couldn’t afford to underestimate these little girls just because they were young. Didn’t they know the saying about loving your classmates like your country?
“But why is your speech like that? Is it hard to get used to?”
“Is Derke’s way of speaking… weird, yap—?”
“Yeah. It sounds even more awkward because it’s not like you. Is something wrong?”
“Hngh…! T-That’s……”
When I looked at her with a worried voice, Derke lowered her gaze. As if she didn’t want to meet my eyes. And for good reason……
—Drip, drip, drip……!
Suddenly, Derke’s eyes welled up with tears.
“Huh? Derke…? Are you okay?”
“Kuuuugh……!”
She couldn’t easily open her lips as she tried to hold back her sobs. I had only asked because I was worried, but it seemed I had unintentionally touched a sore spot.
“Hngh—! I-I’m fine, yap…! To get closer to my friends, I have to fix my speech, yap—!”
As expected. It seemed her classmates’ teasing had even affected her speech.
“…Derke is the last descendant of the Death Dragons, so she can do it, yap……!”
Even so, she swallowed her tears and finished speaking resolutely. Watching her like this made my heart ache.
“No, Derke. Your way of speaking isn’t weird at all.”
“Heeh—…? You really think so, yap—?”
“Yeah. It just takes time to get used to, but now it actually sounds cute?”
“A-After all, Oppa is a kind human, desu-yong…!!”
“Huh? Derke? Wait a second……?!”
At my simple words of comfort, Derke suddenly stepped onto the counter and leaped toward me. Despite her small size, she jumped lightly and her body floated in the air.
—Whoosh!
Leaping into the air, Derke cleared the counter and threw herself straight into my arms.
“Derke? I rolled on the floor earlier, so I’m probably dirty—”
“Hngh, hic…! Hwaaang……! Sniff, sniff—!”
Ignoring my concern, Derke buried her face in my chest and burst into loud sobs. Being ostracized from the very first day must have been hard for a hatchling to endure. The thought of spending four hundred years at the academy as an outcast was horrifying.
‘Phew, good thing I asked Sofia earlier.’
Anticipating this, I had asked Sofia to look after one of the new students. I told her to make sure the others didn’t exclude or bully Derke. No matter how much authority I had as the dorm supervisor, there was only so much a human like me could do.
—Pat, pat!
“It’s okay. Everything will be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Huuuugh, hic, hic…! D-Do you really mean that, desu-yong……?”
“Of course. Just trust me. Everything will work out.”
“Hwaaang—! Even if it’s just words, it’s comforting, yap…! Oppa really is a good person, desu-yong……!”
This time, Derke shed tears of emotion. Still, she seemed to have calmed down somewhat, because her speech had returned to normal.
How long had I been holding her and patting her back like that?
“Feeling a bit better now?”
“Huuung…! Thanks to you, I feel much better, yap……”
My chest was damp with Derke’s tears. But it was fine. I was wearing an apron this time.
“Anyway, so you’re alone during afternoon hours from now on?”
“I don’t want to admit it, but that’s how it is, yap……”
“Don’t make that sad face. From now on, I’ll be with you.”
“Eeeeeh—? Really, desu-yong—?!”
Derke looked up at me, her eyes sparkling like emeralds.
“Of course.”
“Just hearing that makes me so happy, desu-yong—! But I know Oppa is a busy person, yap—!”
“I’m not just saying it. As you know, I’m busy dealing with the young ladies here. So……”
“……?”
“Derke? If it’s okay with you, would you help me out during the afternoon hours?”