Chapter 100: Must’ve been the wind
To prevent an incident like the one before, back when an organization had specifically targeted first-year students, the academy went to absurd lengths, bringing Estiel along with them, even having the homeroom teachers at the Radiant realm join in, along with a handful at the Luminous realm to keep watch over the students who’d inevitably wander off later.
Estiel himself hadn’t been brought along without reason. After all, his own territory was Augusta, and he’d been assigned to the academy precisely because he knew the first-years would be targeted.
And that’s exactly why Estiel was here.
He sat on a beach chair, wearing a checkered shirt and sunglasses. He relaxed right at the edge of the ship, gazing out at the beautiful sea of clouds. Behind him, students splashed around in the swimming pool, looking genuinely delighted after everything that had happened.
A smile crossed Estiel’s face as he reached out for a cup of his drink sitting on a table across from him. But before he could grab it, he felt the cup shift, right as a figure appeared standing there.
Estiel hesitated, then lowered his sunglasses, revealing the regular glasses he usually wore underneath. His gaze landed on a student with long red hair, and matching red eyes.
Valkas grinned at him, amused, while Estiel just stayed quiet, his lips twitching. He put his sunglasses back on and returned his gaze to the view.
"I’m not taking any questions," he said casually, making it sound like a final decision.
That made Valkas’s face scrunch up.
"What?! Wait!! At least listen to me! Just one question!"
But Estiel stayed stubborn, showing no intention of talking. He waved a hand, shooing Valkas off.
Well, one more troublemaking kid Estiel had to make sure was doing okay had shown up right in front of him. He had no idea what other kind of insanity this particular troublemaker might pull, so he chose to just ignore it.
He let out a sigh and looked at Valkas. "Peace is hard to come by, appreciate it a little. Don’t you feel bad for the hero who just saved this world?"
"That’s your hero! Not mine!"
Of course, well, Valkas was a dragon, after all. Oh, and Estiel and Valkas had already been introduced—Estiel even knew perfectly well that Valkas was a dragon.
That was exactly why Valkas turned out to be even more of a headache. Because that dragon’s tail carried a genuinely eccentric personality, always convinced he was in the right.
"Alright, alright, I don’t have time for this right now, could you just leave already?"
"No."
"Come on, why’re we being so awkward about this? Can’t you just be nice, just once, to the person who saved your life?"
"...Please, I just need one piece of information."
See? When it came to something they genuinely wanted, the dragon race could turn out to be genuinely stubborn. Stubborn enough that it made Estiel let out a long sigh.
Why wouldn’t it be?
Valkas stood behind him, rubbing at his shoulders, putting on a pitiful expression. Well, he wasn’t just an ordinary dragon—he was also a shameless one.
"Tell me, what do you want to know?"
That sentence made Valkas stop in his tracks. The smile on his face dimmed for a moment, replaced by a clearly visible frown.
"...How’s my little sister doing?"
Those words slipped out of his lips, and it was easy enough to notice—that tone of voice was anything but ordinary. Valkas said it with a voice full of hesitation, anxiety, and genuine fear.
His fists were clenched tight, his heart genuinely pounding hard right now. As for Estiel?
He just stayed quiet.
***
If Eiros had to describe this ship in one sentence, the answer would surely be: paradise.
Because this ship was genuinely that comfortable. Not only was there a cold pool that made him shiver, but there was also a hot spring.
So, what he did was simple. Of course, he was going to soak in it!
’This is insane...’
Steam billowed upward, the warm water searing his body at just the right temperature. Not enough to scald him, of course, but enough to let that heat release every last bit of exhaustion and soreness Eiros had been carrying.
It would’ve been genuinely comfortable, if not for Alen, Godon, and Lovia.
Well, don’t get the wrong idea—they’d all come here dressed casually, not in swimwear. There were also several other students around.
But Eiros couldn’t take his eyes off the main characters in front of him.
"Wait... wait...! Let, let me up! Let go—!"
Alen looked genuinely pale, clinging to the edge of the hot spring pool, while behind him, Lovia and Godon laughed hysterically, each grabbing one of Alen’s legs and pulling him back.
"Come on! Why’re you such a scaredy-cat?! Didn’t we already agree on this?"
Meanwhile, Godon, someone Eiros rarely saw this animated, was genuinely a new sight for him.
"Alen, since when did you become such a coward?"
Right then, Godon deliberately channeled his Soul Essence, making his pull grow so powerful that Alen simply couldn’t hold on any longer.
Alen’s face looked genuinely horrified as he felt his body dragged toward the center of the hot spring, staring at Eiros with a pleading expression.
"Damn it... Eiros... help—Glup!"
Splash—!
But he didn’t get to finish his sentence before Lovia leapt, dropping her body right on top of Alen’s head.
For a moment, Eiros heard a muffled scream underwater, watching Alen sink, then turned his attention away with an irritated smile.
’Must’ve been the wind.’
I mean, they were up in the sky right now, so it made sense that the wind would get pretty noisy, right?
Eiros touched his own shoulder, rolling it for a moment. It genuinely felt relaxing, but right then, he felt a strange touch beneath his feet.
That touch froze him in place, his expression hardening, and then, the next instant.
"UWAAGH!"
His body got yanked deep into the hot spring pool.
What happened next was a genuinely unpleasant experience!
He tried to escape, but Godon had him completely locked in place with everything he had. Godon’s physique was genuinely no joke at all.
Along with Alen, he genuinely had to work together with him just to break free. But hey, what could the two of them actually do when their bodies were being held in a chokehold like this?
If both of them manifested their stigmata, they might’ve been able to break free. But seriously, who was going to manifest their stigmata in a place like this?
Craaack—!!
"H-huh?!"
"H-hey! What’s this?! Watch out!"
"WOAH? SOMEONE’S MANIFESTING!"
The hot spring pool shook violently as bolts of red lightning slowly spread out, electrocuting every student inside the pool.
That was enough to make Godon, Lovia, and Alen turn genuinely pale, realizing Eiros had gotten fed up enough to actually summon his stigmata’s manifestation.
If it hadn’t been for the fact that Eiros only channeled a tiny fraction of his essence, all of them would’ve ended up genuinely hurt!
Either way, it seemed Eiros was crazy enough to actually manifest his stigmata over a situation like this.
Thanks to that, he managed to break free and surface, escaping the hot spring pool unharmed.
His expression looked genuinely grim, like someone who’d just walked off an incredibly dangerous battlefield.
"Hm? Darling? What’s wrong with you?" Renessa appeared right at the perfect moment, looking at Eiros, soaked head to toe, with obvious curiosity.
Eiros took a breath for a moment, then said:
"Nothing happened."
The first vacation day aboard that flying ship went smoothly and peacefully enough. But for some reason, Valkas was noticeably absent for most of it.
***