Even Heroes Are Afraid of Dragons
In the awkward atmosphere, we finished our meal.
I couldn't focus on eating because I was keeping an eye on my surroundings. But it was worth every penny. I emptied my plates with the fantastic taste.
When I set down my plate, I felt Bella's gaze from the side. Her eyes were curved in a smile. She looked pleased.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“... Yes.”
I only nodded.
The other professors were chewing their food and alternately glancing at the unconscious Logan and me. The air was heavy.
It seemed inappropriate for Logan and me to remain in the atmosphere.
I stood up and gave a light greeting.
“I'll be going first.”
Bella reached out her hand, but I had already pushed my chair back. I put my arm around Logan's armpit and lifted him up. He hung limply with no reaction.
The professors' gazes pinned my back. After greeting them, I carried Logan to the infirmary.
Upon arriving at the infirmary, the healer teacher looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Professor?”
“He's unconscious.”
“How——”
“Suddenly during the meal.”
I closed my eyes tightly. I couldn't explain anymore.
The healer opened and closed his mouth. In the end, he sighed and accepted Logan.
***
I turned my steps toward the principal's office.
For some reason, I felt a premonition that I'd be coming here often in the future.
Knock knock.
“Come in~”
Marina's bright voice came from beyond the door.
If it's a principal like this, even if I see her often, it might not be bad. I opened the door with a self-deprecating thought.
“Arthur? After finishing the entrance ceremony, you missed this body?”
Today's Marina was tightly hugging a whale plushie to her chest. She threw a joke and handed me a dolphin plushie.
Familiar sensation.
It was the same plushie that was in my arms last time. When I pressed the soft belly hard, the dolphin face crumpled. I pressed more. It became upside down.
“I came to talk because there was a conflict with the professors.”
I sat on the chair opposite Marina while hugging the dolphin plush tightly. The plush was even more crumpled today.
“During the meal, there was a quarrel with the former mercenary king, Professor Logan.”
Marina propped her chin with both hands and waited for my words. She was smiling brightly.
“... He questioned my appointment as an academy professor. He swung an axe to attack.”
I briefly summarized the situation at the time to Marina. I tried to keep my tone calm. My fingers kept pressing the plush's belly.
Marina didn't say a word until I finished explaining the situation. She just looked at me with smiling eyes.
It wasn't that I started the quarrel. The one who attacked first was properly subdued. But I felt strangely uneasy. Maybe because of that incident last time.
“Hmmm. I understand.”
Marina nodded.
“Arthur isn't the type to lie much either. It seems this time Arthur is completely innocent!”
She smiled brightly.
But.
Perhaps it was my imagination. I thought I saw a goblin-like scary form behind her smiling face.
“So, it means Logan-sensei looked down on our academy and insulted it?”
...?
Did I say something wrong? Marina's smiling face gradually looked scary.
“Th... It's not that I insulted the academy, but since I have no experience... ”
I felt the situation was going strangely. I desperately tried to defend Logan.
“No.”
Marina firmly cut me off.
“It doesn't matter whether Arthur is actually an excellent person or not.”
The plushies around her began to float due to her magic.
The black eyes embedded in the plushies seemed to have a sense of fear.
“Arthur is hired by the academy. I also personally confirmed and approved Arthur.”
The chair I was sitting on creaked due to the flow of magic.
“Doubting that is an insult to the academy and to me.”
Marina, who was smiling and swinging her legs, stopped.
When the smiling eyes opened, vertically elongated eyes appeared.
My body was trembling slightly and I was sweating cold.
“100 years. That's the time I've been building and managing this academy. How much hardship did I go through.”
The room was already filled with magic, and even breathing was difficult. The sound of my lungs struggling to squeeze out air was clear in my ears.
“If you have complaints, tell me directly. I'll explain nicely.”
I sat quietly on the shaking chair, watching her eyes. I breathed as quietly as possible so as not to be noticed. Even blinking was cautious.
Marina released the hands propping her chin and stood up from her seat.
“Arthur? Wait here a moment. I have to go somewhere.”
Marina, smiling and waving at me, twisted the space and created a portal.
It looked more like tearing the space rather than twisting it. The edges were sharply cut. Inside was pitch black emptiness.
She jumped through the portal and disappeared.
At the same time, the floating plushies fell to the floor. Thud, thud, dull sounds followed. As the magic filling the room faded, I breathed heavily and wiped the cold sweat.
She was also in a childlike form, and I had forgotten her friendly and kind appearance.
The fact that she was a dragon.
My body facing her anger didn't react in the usual way. It wasn't that she lacked killing intent, but rather that I felt like a herbivore facing a predator, unable to do anything and freezing in place.
A person was thrown from beyond the portal.
A dull sound echoed as it hit the floor. Following that, Marina returned.
The person thrown was Logan, the one who had quarreled.
His face was so swollen that it was hard to recognize. A stream of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. Unlike his previous confident appearance, he crouched and trembled.
“Professor Arthur?”
Marina smiled brightly and met my eyes.
Behind her, a dense killing intent was felt.
“Logan-sensei will be dismissed from today. You don't have to worry and can go.”
Unlike her previous friendly appearance, Marina was now the principal.
I immediately stood up from my seat. I carefully placed the dolphin plush on the chair.
At the moment I was about to greet her and leave the principal's office.
I met eyes with Logan, who was crouched.
His eyes were pleading desperately for help.
I forcibly avoided his gaze and left the principal's office.
Just before the door of the principal's office closed, Logan's groan accompanied the sound like a balloon bursting.
But I gritted my teeth and ignored it.
That... I'm sorry, Logan. I didn't intend to do this.
I expressed my condolences inwardly.
After leaving the principal's office, I returned to the staff dormitory.
I saw a familiar figure in front of the dormitory. It was Professor Bella, who had just eaten with me. She met my eyes and approached with a bashful smile.
“Professor Arthur? It was quite a joke earlier, wasn't it?”
She came closer and faced me. Perhaps it was my imagination. Her robe seemed a bit more open than before.
When the skin color caught my eye, I looked up and focused on her hair. Her hair, which had looked orange, was dyed red in the sunlight.
“No. It was good luck. Thank you for helping earlier.”
Professor Bella also seemed unaware of the war hero Arthur. With a slightly relieved heart, I expressed gratitude for her goodwill.
“If Professor Arthur hadn't intervened, I would have turned that old man into charcoal. It's a pity.”
Unlike his refined appearance, the language was quite cheap. It felt like an aggressive person approaching without hesitation, making me a bit uncomfortable.
But I couldn't ignore her action filled with goodwill.
“I reported Professor Logan's matter to the principal. Professor Logan is scheduled for dismissal.”
I told her about Logan because I was worried about her reaction.
When she heard about the dismissal, Bella opened her eyes wide and covered her mouth with her hand. Through the fingers she couldn't cover, her smiling mouth was visible.
“Dismissal? Really?”
Bella couldn't hide her joy and wiggled her feet in place.
“I hated it when that old man kept staring at my chest lewdly.”
Following her words, I instinctively looked at the robe's gap and beyond, where her body was shaking to reveal its presence.
I turned my eyes as quickly as possible.
But she seemed to have noticed my gaze and showed a lewd smile.
“... It's not that bad that Professor Arthur is looking. I want you to look more.”
She moved her body up and down as if teasing me.
I managed my gaze with all my might and gazed at the distant sky. There was nothing in the sky. Just blue.
Bella made a 'tsk' sound as if it was no fun and stopped moving.
Fortunately, it seemed I avoided social murder.
Seeing me exhale in relief, Bella laughed 'kya-ruk'.
As expected, dealing with women of this type is too difficult.
I greeted her and returned to the dormitory.
I was about to lie on the bed to rest, but stood up again.
Classes start from tomorrow.
I read the lesson plan laid out on the desk again. It was prepared so as not to be a nuisance to the students.
I held the document and stared blankly for a long time.
What does it mean to teach?
My fingers rubbed the edge of the plan. The paper wrinkled and smoothed.
It might be a mindset that disqualifies me as a professor. But it would be good if there were only a few students who don't know about me. Still, since there are other outstanding professors, I won't be listening to other professors' classes like I only introduced my name at the entrance ceremony.
With the constant sighs behind me, I finished the day by reviewing the lesson plan.
---
The next day came.
I stopped in front of the classroom door and took a deep breath. I checked again if the white shirt and pants I bought instead of military uniform were not crooked or dusty.
I confirmed there was no one in the hallway, lightly slapped my cheeks to wake myself up, and then, pretending to be confident, opened the classroom door.
Upon opening the door, I saw familiar blonde hair and silver hair. The two students were sitting at the very front of the classroom. Facing the two, the blonde princess Isabel waved her hand, and the silver-haired princess Edith bowed her head in greeting.
And behind them, dozens of students were sitting. The classroom was almost full, and I broke into a cold sweat.
As I approached the lectern with a creaking body, there was a blue paper. Familiar magic - Marina's magic was on it. The paper had cute small handwriting.
To Professor Arthur,
Due to Logan being dismissed, the students who applied for his Combat Theory class have been assigned to you! I believe you can handle it! Good luck!
It seemed like a difficult professor life.