The SSR of the Second Floor
A warm hand clamped down on my wrist like a vice. It was stopping me from giving Derke the biscuits. She was pouring every ounce of strength into blocking my hand. Of course, resistance was impossible. My arm simply wouldn’t move. Those slender, delicate fingers held me fast, leaving me completely immobilized.
“…Lady Raylin? What exactly are you doing?”
“Whitey, are you seriously asking because you don’t know?”
It was Raylin who had snatched my wrist. Her bright red eyes flashed as she glared at me, her gaze demanding to know why I didn’t understand what I was doing. The veins on the back of her hand stood out sharply from the force she was exerting. Even so, my wrist didn’t hurt—she was clearly controlling her strength, merely preventing me from handing over the snacks.
“I’m exercising the dorm supervisor’s authority to provide snacks in place of the store. Have I committed some kind of breach of etiquette?”
I asked the question with genuine confusion. What exactly was wrong with my actions? Was bringing food into the dormitory the problem?
“Hmm? I thought you were clever, but it seems you still don’t understand after all.”
“Pardon?”
“Whitey, did you give the new students snacks like this yesterday too?”
Raylin’s expression remained grave, as though something unthinkable had occurred. She kept staring at me with clear disbelief. I felt the same way—I couldn’t begin to guess why she was reacting so strongly.
“Yes, I gave them biscuits yesterday as well—”
“Are you out of your mind?! You’ve been giving freshmen desserts that even second- and third-years can’t eat on weekdays, and you’ve done it two days in a row?”
Raylin raised her voice sharply. Startled, Derke quickly retreated, scurrying behind the bed and trembling all over like a child who had just witnessed a fight between parents. Still, Raylin’s anger made perfect sense once I understood the reason. The privilege of enjoying desserts in the lounge belonged exclusively to the fourth-years. I had casually broken that unspoken rule, swept up in the freshmen’s laughter and momentarily forgetting the academy’s military-like customs.
“Whitey, I understand how you feel, but this goes against our rules. So stop it right now.”
Raylin made the request as gently as possible. It was probably thanks to her favorability toward me. If it had been anyone else, things wouldn’t have ended with mere words.
“But… Lady Raylin? Could you just look the other way this one time? Please.”
Even so, I found myself saying something that went against her goodwill.
“What? Did you not hear me just now—”
“You accepted the biscuits from me earlier too. And you even had a separate meal in the kitchen.”
“Hohwawa…? You, what are you even saying…?”
Raylin couldn’t find a proper retort. Only a faint haze seemed to ripple around her lips. She looked more bewildered than angry. After all, she probably never expected a human to talk back like this. The funny thing was, I hadn’t expected it of myself either. It had been a purely impulsive act. Seeing Derke’s terrified expression had stirred something inside me—an instinctive urge to protect her.
‘Ha, what did I just say?’
The sudden chill in the atmosphere made my hair stand on end. At this rate, I might even lower Raylin’s favorability and get the conditional rapport quest canceled…
“Hmm, well, I suppose you’re not entirely wrong.”
“Lady Raylin…?”
“I did break the rules myself, so I don’t really have the right to say anything. Still… just for today, all right?”
“Yes…! Thank you so much for understanding.”
Thank goodness it was Raylin. I had expected a scolding, but she was surprisingly capable of reflecting on herself objectively.
—Slither.
The moment she finished speaking, my hand was free. It felt as though electricity was coursing through my palm. Blood flow returned through my wrist, restoring sensation to my hand. At the same time, the heavy atmosphere seemed to lift.
“Derke? You can relax now. Come here.”
“Heeh…? Are you okay, Brother?”
Derke peeked out cautiously. She was speaking in normal continental common tongue. She must have been mindful of her speech in front of Raylin. Of course, to my ears, only her tone had changed to something more normal. Perhaps because this body had been possessed, I still couldn’t quite distinguish between the common language and dragon speech.
“I’m fine. Anyway, hurry and take the snacks. If you eat too many at once, you might get scolded, so I’ll give you just the right amount. Here, take Tina’s share too.”
“Thank youuu…!”
Even when thanking me in her usual tone, Derke remained adorable. She accepted the fried biscuits with a bright smile, as if she had never been scared at all. Watching that innocent smile, I was glad I had stood up to Raylin after all. It felt as though the tense atmosphere had been washed away in an instant.
“Lady Raylin? Since we’ve already delayed, shall we just hand out the snacks and be done?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Do that.”
“Thank you for always being so understanding.”
“Hmm, I thought you were just a cute kid, but you really do have a sharp side too. You’re a lot like Whitey.”
“……?”
Leaning against the corridor wall with her arms crossed, Raylin muttered something incomprehensible and nodded to herself. I decided not to ask and simply continued my rounds through the first-years’ dormitory. Originally, I had planned to distribute the biscuits differently depending on each room’s condition, but since it seemed I wouldn’t be able to give snacks anymore after today, I gave everyone the same amount.
“All right, that concludes the roll call. Please wait until it officially ends. And make sure to eat the snacks secretly after roll call is over.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Tina answered with a voice full of military discipline. With that, the first-year roll call was finished.
“Whitey? The freshmen are still in their adjustment period, so I can understand, but starting tomorrow, don’t go handing out snacks on your own. If any dragon besides me finds out, you’ll be in real trouble.”
Once the first-year roll call ended, Raylin gave me a concerned warning.
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. Now head upstairs. I’ll be watching secretly again this time.”
Raylin’s face had brightened once more. She looked like a friendly neighborhood big sister. I had thought she was simply boisterous, but when the situation called for it, she could be quite strict.
—Thud, thud…!
I climbed the stairs in silence. At the top of the corridor stood a pink-haired girl. She was the second-year representative, always wearing that cool, aloof expression. Her name was Sonya. She was also an SSR-rank dragon. But she was the type who was hard to get close to.
“…Second-year reporting in. Total of fifteen second-years. No absences. That will be all.”
“……”
Look at that. The same mechanical line as always. Her voice was indifferent, and her attitude even carried a hint of annoyance.
“What is it…? Yesterday you just passed by, so do you have something to say today?”
When I simply stood there, she tilted her head, her eyebrows twitching slightly. It was the first subtle change in expression I had seen from her in two days.
“Yes. I was busy yesterday, so I let it slide, but today I think I need to conduct a dormitory inspection.”
“Haa? Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Wouldn’t it be easier for both of us if you just left like yesterday?”
Why? Because I’ve got backup today.
—Step, step, step…!
The moment Sonya shot back with her prickly tone, Raylin, who had been hiding on the landing, came up the stairs with audible footsteps. The second-years’ natural enemy, their third-year senior, had arrived.
“Eek…? S-Senior…?!”
Upon seeing her, Sonya instantly froze, snapping into a rigid attention stance. It was the first time any emotion had appeared on her usually expressionless face.
“Sonya~? Now that you’re a second-year, the academy must feel pretty comfortable, huh?”
“N-No, that’s not true…!”
Raylin grinned as if she had finally found an opening.
“Then why are you acting so rebellious during sacred roll call time? You were so cute back in your first year.”
“I-I’m sorry…!”
“If you’re sorry, does that mean academy life is over?”
“No! I’ll correct my behavior…!”
“Then why did you do something that needs correcting in the first place?”
“I-I’m sorry—”
“Do you think I came here just to hear you say sorry?”
“W-Well…”
Maintaining discipline between grades was, after all, a long-standing academy tradition. Raylin’s colorful repertoire of scolding was enough to trigger my old military PTSD.
“Whitey? Go ahead and do the dormitory inspection like usual. The second-years have all hidden away. They’ve locked their doors tight and are cowering inside.”
Raylin shook her head and sighed. Even someone as good-natured as her seemed to become strict in front of her slacking juniors.
“Ahem, then I’ll begin the dormitory inspection.”
I continued the inspection I hadn’t been able to do properly on the first day. Back then, I had only roughly counted the number of SSR-rank second-years because everything had been so hectic. In other words, I hadn’t properly matched faces to names yet.
—Knock, knock, knock!
“I’m coming in.”
I knocked on the door of the first room. I wanted to check on Sonya’s roommate.
“……”
—Creaaak…!
Since there was no response, I simply turned the doorknob. The door opened. And the moment I swung it wide open—
—Whoosh…!
Thud!
“……?!”
A giant teddy bear suddenly greeted me. More precisely, the doll flew through the air and slammed into me. It was clearly thrown deliberately from inside the room. I didn’t even need to look to know who had thrown it.
“Who dares open a lady’s door and walk in without permission?! And you—a lowly short-lived species at that!”
“…Cough! Um, it’s currently roll call time.”
“S-Shut up! Do you think having a decent face is enough? Get out right now! A human servant like you makes me sick♥”
Inside the room stood a purple-haired girl speaking in an arrogant tone. She was another SSR-rank dragon I had been keeping an eye on.