Book 4: Chapter 49 |
Constantine showing up at Saint Hiss Academy was indeed bound to cause a sensation.
First, Old Constantine was a legendary Dragon King written into “young dragon science readers” and all kinds of history books. Even though he’d experienced “rebirth” twice, it did nothing to diminish his former aura.
Second, back then—before Constantine attacked the Silver Dragon clan—he frequently launched small-scale wars everywhere, making everyone keep their distance from the Crimson Flame Dragon King.
But you couldn’t exactly call Constantine some “civil-war-only champion,” because Dragons fighting, annexing, and swallowing each other up was common.
So now that he appeared on campus, it naturally sparked a heated discussion.
“I heard that at one Dragon King council meeting, that old man Arlais was really targeting Constantine.”
“Yeah, yeah. And our clan’s Dragon King even sent troops to monitor the Crimson Flame border. What was that about?”
“But if Constantine is standing here alive and well, does that mean the surveillance has ended?”
“Then why is he here at the academy? I’ve never heard that the Crimson Flame Dragon King had any offspring.”
“Do you really think the Crimson Flame Dragon King is that kind of person?”
“……”
Discussion was discussion, but no one dared step closer to Old Constantine.
And the reason no chaos broke out was entirely that Saint Hiss Academy, like Sky City, was an absolutely neutral faction.
If Old Constantine tried to stir up trouble here, he would go from “hero of the Dragon race” to “public enemy of the Dragon race” in one second.
The one assigned to receive Constantine was a very senior grade director.
But even so, facing the Crimson Flame Dragon King, the director was sweating buckets.
Watching the slightly ridiculous exchange between those two, Leon narrowed his eyes and murmured,
“Could it be his daughter has recovered? Is he here to enroll her?”
Rosvitha shook her head slightly.
“Didn’t you say last time that his daughter was sealed into a crystal when she had just been born? Even if a baby dragon is talented, there’s no way she could enroll at that age.”
“True.”
Even a genius like Noa had enrolled at age three.
Even if Old Constantine somehow produced an even more gifted baby dragon, there was no way she’d come to school before she could even speak properly.
“Then what is he doing here?” Leon asked.
“I don’t know. But I think I understand why the vice principal didn’t come to ‘interrogate’ us this time,” Leon said.
The queen looked at him curiously. “Why?”
Leon lifted his chin toward Constantine. “He has a more difficult guest to cater to.”
Rosvitha looked over again.
Sure enough, Vice Principal Wilson had replaced the sweating grade director and was personally receiving Constantine.
Seeing that, Rosvitha couldn’t help laughing.
“So in the end, Constantine is the one taking the hit for us.”
Leon leaned back comfortably on the bench, stretched his upper body, and let out a satisfied yawn before sighing,
“My greatness speaks for itself.”
…
“Helenna!”
“Noa-chan~”
After several weeks apart, the two best friends opened their arms and ran toward each other.
Under the sunlight, in the crowd, two little dragons were about to hug—
Until a single tuft of hair suddenly popped straight up between them without warning.
Then Mu’en, eyes closed and arms folded, slowly rose to her full height right between Noa and Noa’s best friend.
Noa froze. “Mu’en? Weren’t you sleeping just now? H-how did you get here?”
“Yeah… I didn’t notice Mu’en moving at all… That was so fast,” Helenna said, also surprised.
But only Little Light saw right through everything.
“Big Sis, Helenna Sis—this is the once-in-a-lifetime instant blink of the Melkvi family!”
Noa slowly turned to look at her little sister, very seriously.
“But Dad always shows up at the perfect time. It feels like his ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ can happen a lot of times.”
“That’s just an exaggerated figure of speech, Big Sis.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Noa pulled her gaze back and looked at Mu’en again.
She had planned to greet Helenna while Mu’en was asleep, because she knew Mu’en might get jealous and come chasing after her.
But the overachiever hadn’t expected the sister-obsession alarm to be that sensitive.
They had just met, hadn’t even had time to hug, and Mu’en had already “blinked” into the middle of them.
Little sister… if you had this kind of drive during training, how great would that be… Noa sighed silently as the eldest.
“Mu’en just woke up, saw you weren’t there, and came to find you,” the little moon said righteously, arms still folded.
“Is that so… Well, now you’ve found me.”
“Mm-hm.”
Mu’en nodded. The little tuft of hair on her head swayed too.
But she still showed no intention of moving aside.
Noa blinked—and instantly came up with an idea.
“Alright then. Since you’re already here…”
She deliberately dragged out the final syllable.
Sure enough, Mu’en’s curiosity was hooked. She immediately turned her head toward Noa.
“What is it, Big Sis?”
Noa gave a small, smug laugh—and opened her arms and hugged.
“W-wait, Sis—”
Helenna, truly worthy of being Noa’s best friend for over a year, immediately understood and mirrored the move, hugging her too.
“Hey, Helenna Sis—mmph—!”
Mu’en didn’t have time to react and got squeezed in the middle.
On one side was the familiar scent from her sister.
On the other side was the Sea Dragon clan’s uniquely cool, refreshing comfort.
The little moon felt like she was going to faint. Her big eyes started spinning in dizzy circles.
Nearby, Little Light—witnessing this “tragedy”—couldn’t help clapping her hands, suddenly enlightened.
“So the one getting publicly embarrassed isn’t Big Sis…It’ss Second Sis!”
Also, seeing this kind of premium entertainment on the very first day of school, Little Light was confident this semester would only get better and better.
After being “sandwiched from both sides” and receiving a “double face-press,” Mu’en finally saw daylight again.
Little Light rushed over to support her dizzy second sister and asked,
“Second Sis—how did it feel?”
Mu’en, just barely recovering from her spinning eyes, shook her small head, thought for a moment, then answered,
“This side’s face was kind of firm. That side’s face was kind of soft.”
The first referred to Noa’s side. The second referred to Helenna.
“Firm? Soft? Why is it like that?”
Little Light’s question was also Mu’en’s question—and Noa’s question.
All three little dragon girls turned to look at Helenna at the same time.
Helenna froze, then smiled wryly with a frown.
“Uh… that kind of thing… you’ll understand when you’re older~.”
The Noa sisters looked at each other. Since it was an age-related answer, they didn’t press further. They’d understand sooner or later anyway.
“Let’s go,” Helenna suggested. “I just saw a snack stand over there. Let’s buy some.”
“Okay.”
The girls held hands and went shopping.
…
On Leon’s side, he avoided the crowd and entered the teaching building—but not to find a teacher.
Instead, he went alone to the rooftop.
It was quiet up here, with almost no one around.
Only during school lunch hours would a few students come here to eat.
Leon walked slowly to the rooftop edge and looked through the iron fence down into the campus.
Below was still loud and bustling.
In one corner of the academy plaza, Rosvitha had found Claudia—who had also come to send her child to school—and the two of them were talking.
Leon pulled his gaze away from the two women and looked toward the vice principal and Constantine.
That old vice principal dragon might love gossiping about couples, but his professional competence was absolutely solid.
Even facing someone like Constantine, he was neither servile nor overbearing, speaking as an equal.
Of course, it might also be that Constantine was in a good mood today.
Judging by his expression, his tone didn’t seem particularly aggressive.
That was why the conversation remained calm.
Before long, Constantine suddenly lifted his head and glanced toward the rooftop where Leon stood.
Clearly, he had already noticed Leon.
Leon wasn’t surprised.
He kept his arms folded and waited quietly.
Constantine withdrew his gaze, exchanged a few more lines with the vice principal, then headed toward the teaching building.
A few minutes later, heavy footsteps sounded behind Leon.
Leon didn’t turn around. He continued looking at the academy plaza and said,
“Don’t mind me choosing this place to talk. Other than my wife’s clanspeople, I don’t want anyone knowing we’re old friends.”
“I’ll say it again, Leon. We are not friends.”
“Sure. If you say we’re not, then we’re not.”
For the special stubborn pride unique to Dragon Kings, General Leon had his own exclusive response style.
When Rosvitha acted tough:
Leon: “Right, right, right. You’re absolutely correct.”
When Claudia acted tough:
Leon: “You’re just saying that. You don’t really mean it.”
When Constantine acted tough:
Leon: “Same as the one upstairs. You’re just saying that.”
“Did the dark lotus herb work?” Leon asked the question that mattered most to a doting father.
Constantine nodded. “She’s awakened. The clan’s apothecaries are helping her recover slowly.”
Hearing the little one was alrigh;, Leon quietly breathed easier.
But he didn’t show it too clearly. He only replied flatly,
“Good.”
After a brief pause, Leon asked again, “So you came to the academy to enroll Hephae?”
“She was two months old when Adam injured her. She can only say simple sentences now. How could she possibly come to school?”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Then why ask?”
“What, I can’t ask? Your daughter recovered—I deserve one-third of the credit, alright?”
Constantine snorted coldly.
“I came to help the clan members who were forced to withdraw before. We’re redoing the whole process, and I’m also communicating with Wilson so there won’t be unnecessary trouble later.”
The Crimson Flame clan’s internal and external situation had changed to varying degrees, and their position among the Dragons had become delicate.
So Constantine coming in person to communicate with the vice principal did make sense.
And it could even be called responsible.
In truth, Old Constantine could have sent a deputy to handle it.
“I see. So you’ve settled everything?” Leon asked.
“Not yet. I’m going to see Principal Orlet in a bit.”
“Then why didn’t you go earlier?”
Constantine paused.
He turned his head toward Leon and stared without saying a word.
Leon froze, then pointed at himself. “What? Don’t tell me you left the principal and vice principal waiting just to come chat with me?”
“Heh. Consider it your honor, human.”
Leon repeated in a mocking tone, “Con-si-der it your ho-nor, hu-man.”
“……”
“You are truly asking to be beaten. How has the Silver Dragon Queen tolerated you all these years?”
Leon shrugged. “Love begins with the kids. When the kids stop, the love still won’t settle.”
“……”
Constantine let out a sigh.
To this day, he still couldn’t accept that he once got his head chopped off by an idiot like this.
“Oh, right,” Constantine added. “I want to ask you something… fairly personal.”
Leon raised a brow. “What?”
“Are you and your wife planning to have another child?”
“……”
Leon’s eye twitched. Even his folded arms dropped. “Why are you asking that?”
Don’t tell me he’s here to ask for parenting advice… Leon thought.
But it could only be said that Old Constantine truly was Old Constantine.
Even the strongest dragon slayer couldn’t predict his train of thought.
Constantine said, “If you’re considering it, do it sooner. I want Hephae to enroll at Saint Hiss Academy at the same time as your next child.”
“Huh? W-why?”
Constantine answered with a deadly serious—and bizarrely fired-up—tone.
“I will defeat you. So my child will defeat your child, too. Definitely.”
Leon: …
Only a battle maniac like you could come up with this, seriously…
…