Cause Unknown: Sugar Crash
“The seniors’ condition looks really strange, desu-yong-!” A freshman peering through the gap in the Rest Lounge door spoke in her peculiar manner while pointing inside.
“Desu-yong…? Could that be Dragon Tongue…?” Yet Sofia’s gaze remained fixed on the freshman. The young Hatchling was using an unusual form of Dragon Tongue. What she uttered was clearly far removed from the common continental language. At the same time, it felt awkward to call it true Dragon Tongue, the language spoken only by dragons.
‘Using Dragon Tongue that sounds like something from an ancient history book…? Ah, but more importantly, what is that?’
While the odd speech pattern was intriguing, something else caught Sofia’s eye even more. She stared intently at Derke’s chest. —Sparkle, sparkle! The badge pinned to the shoulder strap of her uniform caught the sunlight and drew Sofia’s attention.
“Hm? This is…”
「Special Interest Dragon」
As Sofia drew closer, the yellow badge came into view. It was the exact opposite of the class representative insignia. Sofia had only ever heard of it; this was her first time seeing one in person. The Special Interest Dragon badge was given exclusively to freshmen who required special attention. For a dragon, it was a tremendous dishonor. No one enjoyed being singled out for special treatment. The weight of that badge was enough to crush a dragon’s pride entirely.
“…Haah, I’m Derke, a first-year student, eyap-!”
The moment Sofia’s hand touched the badge, Derke recited her rank and name. It was basic protocol to state one’s identity whenever touched by a senior or professor. Her reaction was quite prompt for someone labeled a Special Interest Dragon—except for that peculiar way of speaking. It was a form of Dragon Tongue Sofia had never heard in her life. It resembled an ancient variant that almost no one used anymore.
‘That aside… Derke? Ah, right. Breeder asked me to…’
Recalling her promise to Breeder, Sofia’s expression turned surprised.
“Is your name really Derke?”
“Th-that’s right, eyap-! I’m sorry for loitering around the Rest Lounge, desu-yong…!”
When Sofia asked her name again, Derke’s face turned pale in an instant. She fidgeted anxiously, her eyes darting about. It was only natural—there was an insurmountable gap in seniority between them. Including vacation periods, at least four hundred and fifty years separated them. Derke was facing a senior she could barely look at directly. Overwhelmed, she could only tremble with her face drained of color.
Of course, outside the academy the age difference wasn’t that extreme, but the younger one was, the more keenly they felt such gaps.
“……”
Sofia, on the other hand, simply stared at Derke with a curious expression. There was no deeper meaning—she simply found Derke fascinating. She wasn’t displeased that the girl had been hanging around the lounge; if anything, she felt apologetic. After all, it was clearly unfair that only fourth-years were allowed to use the Rest Lounge.
‘Yet a child like this is a Special Interest Dragon?’
Sofia examined Derke’s frozen appearance. The more she looked, the more peculiar this Hatchling seemed.
‘Is she really a freshman? At such a young age, how is there not a single trace of dragon features? Aside from that strange Dragon Tongue, she…’
Sofia stroked her chin as she muttered, wearing the expression of a scholar facing a difficult problem. It made sense—normally, the younger a dragon was, the harder it was to maintain a human form. In other words, being able to stably maintain polymorph meant one had complete control over the mana within their body. That was why lower-year students, still unskilled at handling mana, tended to have horns or tails visible.
‘Even I, a fourth-year, occasionally sprout a tail when I get excited… Just what is this child? For someone so naturally gifted with mana to be labeled a Special Interest Dragon…’
……
Sofia stood frozen in front of Derke, having completely forgotten her original intention of delivering the chocolate. A brief silence fell as each was surprised by the other’s existence.
“I-I’m sorry, eyap…!”
It was Derke who broke the silence first.
“…I-I’m Derke-! I won’t come to the Rest Lounge again—”
“No, it’s all right. I’ve already heard about you from Breeder.”
Sofia came to her senses at Derke’s words and offered a gentle smile. Setting aside her curiosity about Derke for now, she recalled her original purpose.
“We can talk about that later. In the meantime, could you explain again? You said something strange was happening inside the lounge?”
“Th-that’s…! I heard weird noises coming from inside, so I peeked in… a-and the seniors…!”
Derke couldn’t continue. Even her peculiar speech pattern had stopped. Her face showed she had witnessed something too dreadful to put into words.
“Just what could be so alarming that you’re making such a fuss…”
—Creaaak…!
Unable to watch any longer, Sofia opened the door herself and stepped inside, feeling frustrated.
“Haah…? Wh-what on earth is this…?!”
Yet the moment Sofia entered the Rest Lounge, she too lost her composure and couldn’t hide her shock.
—Munch, munch…… Feels so goooood…♡
—Sweet things are the best…… I’m so happy……
—I want to eat this every single day, hehe♡
It was no wonder. Most of the fourth-years inside were slumped over the tables with their faces pressed against the surface. Their posture was far too undignified to be called a simple nap. A few even had their eyes open, drooling as they swayed in a daze.
“No matter how much I eat, it’s incredibly delicious…! Sweet things aren’t really my preference, but this drink…! It’s really amazing……!”
Ah, at least a few of them still seemed somewhat normal. But even those who hadn’t collapsed had glazed-over eyes. It was as if they had swallowed an entire bowl of medicine……
“D-Diora? E-everyone…? Are you all right?!”
“Was it called misutgaru? Here, one more cup……!”
Diora was lavishly praising the misutgaru, while the other fourth-years were devouring desserts with ravenous hunger.
—Chomp, chomp!
They were even burying their faces directly into the bowls, which hardly suited their human forms. It resembled livestock devouring feed. Any trace of draconic dignity had vanished completely.
“Hey, Diora?! Can’t you hear me? Explain what’s going on right now……!”
“It’s perfect for the palate of a dragon of the earth! As expected, grains grown with the energy of the land can’t taste bad! It’s truly remarkable…! To create such a nutty and clean drink using only grains……!”
“She’s not listening at all?”
Sofia waved her hand in front of Diora’s face and tried speaking to her, but Diora continued rambling with unfocused pupils, like someone intoxicated. She didn’t even glance at Sofia standing right beside her.
—D-delicious…!
—Breeder? One more bowl!
—I’ve never tasted anything this sweet before! Plus it’s crunchy!
—Was it called misutgaru? Just like Breeder said, mixing in hardtack makes it even better……?
Besides Diora, several other dragons were still out of their minds, shouting for refills.
““Breeder? Breeder…! We’d like some over here too!!!””
They were all shouting Breeder’s name toward the kitchen in unison. They were no different from livestock consuming feed. They blindly craved dessert. The way they chanted Breeder’s name almost felt like fanatics.
“…Yes, I’ll be right out-!! Please wait just a moment… Ah? Sofia? And Derke?”
At that moment, a man appeared from the kitchen in response to the fervent welcome of the so-called fanatics. It was Breeder, sweating profusely as he prepared desserts.
*
The whole incident was actually quite simple. He had simply served the hardtack and drinks as prepared. And the young ladies had eaten them. That was truly all there was to it. He hadn’t done anything special. Ah, the only extra thing was suggesting that if they wanted to enjoy it even more, they should try mixing it with misutgaru.
Anyway, after that, the young ladies’ reactions upon tasting the star-candy-covered hardtack were intense. Some buried their faces with glazed eyes. Others drooled from the corners of their mouths and fainted. There were even those who, seemingly drunk on sugar, shoved their faces into bowls like livestock and inhaled the hardtack.
At least Diora had managed to keep her wits about her. The hardtack alone hadn’t been enough to make her lose control. Of course, after tasting the misutgaru, she had done a complete one-eighty……
“Kyaaah-! Breeder? One more cup, please!! I’ve never had such a nutty and filling drink in my life!”
Her reaction was just like someone downing a mug of beer. Anyone watching might have mistaken the place for a tavern. All it took was one cup of misutgaru to make her eyes glaze over like she was drunk.
—Over here…! Over here! More hardtack!
—You’re… too delicious…! Give me more too!
—Could you give me just the star candies separately?
—Why can’t I drink it through my nose?!
—Chomp, chomp…! Nom, nom…!
—Haa… It’s euphoric♡ Give me something a little sweeter……
The atmosphere in the Rest Lounge transformed into something resembling a pleasure district in an instant. Anyone looking in might have thought the desserts had been laced with drugs. In reality, it was nothing more than a nourishing meal, so where exactly had things gone wrong? It was impossible to even guess.
‘Why is everyone acting like this? The first-years yesterday had a similar reaction, but not to this extent……?’
—Hurry and bring more…! Right now!
—Do you want gold coins? I’ll give you everything I have, so bring it all!
—Haa, I’m supposed to be on a diet, but I can’t stop……
—Just bring me more of the drink!
—I skipped lunch anyway, so I’m hungry, but this alone is filling……
There was no time to analyze the cause. Customers were demanding refills from every direction. Though worried about the young ladies’ condition, there was nothing Breeder could do in his human body right now.
“…Yes, I’ll be right out!”
He simply took orders and handled them as the dragons commanded.
—Clatter, clatter…!
Because they kept demanding refills, he had no choice but to rush back and forth carrying hardtack and misutgaru. Even while wondering if this was right, he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t ignore the young ladies’ orders. Thus, Breeder was forced to handle the flood of orders all by himself.
—Creaaak…!
Just then, the lounge door opened again.
“…Ah? Sofia? And Derke?”
The moment Breeder saw Sofia’s radiant appearance as she entered, he thought a goddess had descended.
‘If it’s Sofia, maybe she can do something about this?’
Even though it was clearly his own doing, he couldn’t figure out the cause. That was exactly why he desperately needed help at this moment. Satisfying the young ladies was turning out to be a problem in itself……
Someone, please save me.