Too Cocky, Don't Be
“Over there, the one with the fishing hook dangling from its mouth. Step forward.”
Unsurprisingly, the student Professor Zegerof pointed at was the same bastard who had snapped at me that morning for giving up my seat.
The creature was a merman race demon with fish scales sprouting across its body. The moment the words “fishing hook” left his lips, his face twisted in a grimace.
“Don’t dawdle. Just jump out right now.”
Of course, the mighty dragon frowned slightly, his irritation plain on his face, and the merman darted out like his ass was on fire.
“Here you go.”
Professor Zegerof handed the merman a thick iron rod.
“W-why…?”
“Just swing the broken staff I just gave you.”
The dragon gripped both ends of the shortened, half-broken staff and lifted it high above his own head.
The pierced merman hesitated.
“Is this really supposed to hit you with that?”
“Are you seriously asking for two explanations on such a simple task? Well, I’m going to have to work a bit harder with you from now on.”
A ripple of laughter broke out from the girls at the professor’s snide remark.
The merman’s face, already visibly rattled by his reputation, flushed crimson.
*Click.*
He gritted his teeth, snatched the iron rod, and struck the perfect downward strike.
The other male students secretly hoped the rod would smash straight into the dragon’s head.
With that in mind, the merman swung with full force, producing a loud *bang*!
*CRACK!*
A metallic clang rang out as the iron rod collided with the staff.
Surprisingly, the staff remained untouched. Instead, the merman who had swung it now clutched his burning hand and flailed around, wailing.
Professor Zegerof explained with an unconcerned face.
“This is the most basic hardness reinforcement. We infused mana to bolster the wood’s density and elasticity until it matches iron. Fishing hook, quit your whining and take it.”
“Eh? Aahhh—!!”
Zegerof hurled the staff in his hand. The merman, startled, leaped to his feet on pure reflex.
The staff he dropped clattered to the floor, and before long flames erupted from it.
The students stared in shock. The dragon simply explained again.
“We imbued it with a concept so it would generate heat on its own. As I said earlier, this is an extremely advanced technique.”
“Waaah!”
Clap clap clap!
Zegerof’s face glowed with delight at the girls’ gasps and applause.
“Drag race! This is nothing to me!”
…Why the hell was he laughing like that?
The male students looked at him with genuine chills.
“Not the time to be laughing, huh?! There’s a fire here!”
Meanwhile, the merman, staring at the flames on the floor in panic, was trying to stomp them out with his feet. He shouted at the professor.
“Tsk, all worked up over something so trivial.”
*Thwack!*
*Sshaaa!*
Zegerof snapped his fingers. A massive ball of water gathered in midair and crashed down like a waterfall, extinguishing the fire in an instant.
‘So they can even use magic?’
It seemed the dragon had taught the witches how to cast spells.
Even though his personality was utterly rotten, he was still a demon race that left nothing to be desired in skill.
“Now sit down.”
*Shiver shiver…!!*
The merman, who had stood too close to the flames, was hit by the water and drenched to the bone. He couldn’t even complain as he slunk back to his seat, looking like a soaked rat.
It looked like that idiot would stay quiet for a while.
“That’s enough demonstration. Next, let’s learn how to manipulate mana.”
Before the lesson, Zegerof passed every student a single white stone.
“This is a study aid created by Professor Morgan. Looks like an ordinary rock at first glance, but when mana is infused into it, it turns black. Your goal is to turn this stone black.”
He held up the exact same stone he had distributed and continued his explanation.
“Mana condenses near the heart and moves according to the owner’s strong will. The path is also fixed—usually the one in the arm area is the easiest to sense.”
As if to prove it, the stone in his hand began to turn black.
“Hold the stone and try infusing mana.”
The students each clutched their stones, attempting to channel mana.
But no one succeeded. A girl raised her hand.
“Professor! Is this supposed to work?”
“Of course it’s hard at first. Honestly, just successfully sensing mana today would be an achievement. Normally it takes about a week. Maybe some lucky kid will pull it off by tonight.”
“Even faster than that? Like during this very class…?”
“If even one of our fairy girls succeeds, I’ll treat everyone to a drink.”
“Waaah—”
Zegerof, grinning like a greedy lizard, made his promise. The girls cheered, *kyarruk kyarruk*, in delight.
One male student watching with a blank expression asked.
“Professor, what about us?”
“What about us? Do it yourself.”
“…Are you really that unfair?”
“Uuuu— no discrimination!”
“Reward us too!”
The students’ jeers erupted at the blatant favoritism.
“You annoying little shits… Fine, then. Quietly work on it! If any of you succeed, I’ll buy you a drink. Happy?”
Zegerof had said it reluctantly, and the male students burned with the burning desire to empty his wallet.
Karib, sitting beside me, had been focusing solely on moving the mana the moment the drink topic came up.
A model student unlike the rest of the class, who were mostly chasing the bait.
‘A rare good example.’
While I thought we could become good friends, I stared at the white stone in my hand and fell into thought.
With the hypnosis suggestion ability and the knowledge that came with it, manipulating mana was no challenge for me.
If I wanted, I could turn the stone black right now.
‘…But then everyone would notice too much.’
Maybe I should just watch the others succeed and slip away quietly?
But letting the dragon’s wallet go empty still stung.
My indecisive hesitation stretched until break time, and only right before the final lesson did I decide.
‘Just do it.’
The male students in this class were all glaring at the dragon.
Given the atmosphere, rather than feeling jealous about someone succeeding, they’d probably enjoy it.
“It looks like no one has succeeded yet.”
The break ended, and Zegerof re-entered the classroom.
He scanned the male students with a smug expression, as if saying “You’re the ones who are like that,” and let out a satisfied chuckle.
“Drag race! What did I say? It’s not that easy—”
“Professor, it’s done!”
Zegerof’s head snapped toward the voice.
A small goblin student with green skin stood with his hand raised high.
The professor was surprised for a split second by the words “it’s done,” then checked the stone in the student’s hand. It was still white.
“You can’t even tell colors? What exactly did you succeed at—”
“It’s not me. It’s this friend.”
Karib pointed at me with his finger.
‘Finally he’s looking my way.’
A little tense under the dragon’s piercing gaze, but everyone else’s eyes were already on me.
I casually spread my hand. The stone I held had turned pitch black.
“…You really did it?”
The dragon’s eyes widened. A small thrill of satisfaction ran through me.
‘Clearly easier to leak mana from my hand than my head.’
Maybe it would have been better to succeed just a little faster and let him see the shock on his face?
Just as I was slightly annoyed, Zegerof approached.
“Ugh…”
He had been staring at the stone I held with narrowed eyes for a while and muttered in a displeased voice.
“You have good instincts.”
“Ah, thank you…”
“Well, it’s good that you’re trying hard, but don’t get too cocky.”
“?”
I shot him a bewildered look, but the dragon ignored me and kept talking.
“Since you succeeded alone, there’s nothing left to do. You can leave class or sit quietly and play. Do as you like.”
Since he had finished today’s learning objective, he was giving us free rein.
It was quite appealing to simply fill the quota and have freedom, but I still hesitated to stand up right then.
“I haven’t even sensed it yet. Impressive.”
The goblin friend in the next seat looked at me with envious eyes.
“My luck was good.”
“Yeah. If you’re not busy, I can teach you the technique. I’ll take payment.”
“Payment between friends? Well, it’s not exactly a technique, but I’ll give you a rough idea of the feeling.”
“Thanks.”
While I continued explaining to Karib based on the knowledge in my head—
“Kyaaak— Professor! I did it too!”
Surprisingly, another student besides me had succeeded in moving mana.
It wasn’t the boy who had shouted.
He was bandaged everywhere—face, body, everywhere—so we couldn’t tell what he looked like, but the puffy chest sticking out of his shirt and the skirt clearly marked him as a girl.
Of course, Zegerof’s reaction was completely different from mine.
“You possess the talent to shine in the Cradle!”
He stood up and clapped at the black stone, then walked over to the girl and said in a gentle voice, “If you have any questions, come see me anytime. I’ll personally tutor you.”
It was true that the girl was more impressive for being able to manipulate mana with the knowledge gained alongside the ability, compared to me.
But the dragon didn’t know that, and his reaction was still too different.
I couldn’t hold back and spoke up.
“Professor, you didn’t say that to me…”
“If you listen carefully in class, you won’t need to come see me. Or what? Are you announcing in advance that you’ll half-ass my class?”
You crazy lizard…
My fist was trembling with how blatantly obvious the favoritism was.
In this insane world, feeling that I was born weak today felt especially unfair.
“Anyway, since the promise was made, I have to keep it.”
Zegerof headed to the cafeteria inside the Cradle, bought drinks for everyone, and handed them out.
“I wonder if our fairy girls will like it.”
“They’re so delicious~!”
“Thank you, Professor♡”
“No problem. I’ll buy more next time, so keep attending like today.”
The girls who had already written down their desired menu and received their ordered drinks were over the moon.
Zegerof looked at them with a satisfied smile, then glanced at the male students and added bluntly, “Eat and clean up properly. If even one piece of trash appears, I’ll make you vomit up everything you drank until you’re done.”
“…”
“Why is everyone’s face like that?”
The male students, who had been sucking on straws noisily, looked at me with bewildered eyes.
Unlike the girls, the male students’ drinks were all the cheapest coffee, yet he snorted as if there was no shame.
“What do you know about taste? Just eat what’s given to you.”
And whenever he got the chance, he would click his tongue and glance at me. It seemed he had it in for me as the one who wasted his spending.
‘Becoming petty as an adult…’
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