How To Tame an Academy Dragon

17. As for me

Home. No way back to the inn.

It felt strange to walk in the opposite direction when the house was right in front of me.

Rather than deteriorating the quality of an inn, it was an opportunity to realize once again how precious a space where you can lay down comfortably is.

As I trudged back to the inn alone, I remembered the time when I was kicked out without having anything and wandered for over a hundred years.

“It’s better not to die.”

Without energy, without power, penniless and almost like a corpse, you managed to survive falling in the middle of the enemy territory.

Is it because the power was not lost, but because it was sealed? Recently, things that were difficult to experience in the state so far keep happening.

Unless Nunchi died, I had already noticed that changes were taking place in my body.

Maybe the power is gradually returning.

I wonder if the energy that ran out during my wandering days is gradually returning since I settled down safely.

Or is it that the seal is old and its function is deteriorating? Hmm… Like a machine, if you don’t manage magic, it wears out or loses its performance. But?

Sadly, all I know is general common sense that I learned little by little, scratching the surface.

I heard that even among the elite, only a few people with ‘cho’ can learn magic.

It is said that ordinary people may not see magic until the day they die. I heard that now that the war is over, everyone is staying in a research lab or magic tower.

“Ignorance is a sin.”

I wondered exactly how my condition had become and changed. Originally, when a person solves food, clothing and shelter, isn’t it said that the next thing to be concerned about is health.

It’s better to know for sure.

Doha The reality was that I wouldn’t be surprised if I was suddenly discovered that I was a demon, just like I was caught by a Prius.

If such a moment comes, shouldn’t there be enough evil to run away?

After walking for a bit, I saw the imperial soldiers I saw earlier. They were still conducting checks on passers-by.

Imperial soldiers tried to carry out a checkpoint when another citizen appeared, but soon they grabbed the rim of my helmet and nodded lightly to let me through as it was, as if they had confirmed my appearance.

As they moved further past the imperial army, they became increasingly scarce.

When we left, there were a few passers-by who were returning home or looking for bars, but now they all went indoors, so no one could be seen on the street.

Despite the boulevard bustling with people during the day, there was no one in sight, so I felt like I was watching a scene from a disaster movie.

“This is…”

On the way back, I noticed a bulletin board with a poster I hadn’t seen before.

Usually it’s an emperor’s edict or a changed law. It is a bulletin board with public information that citizens need to know.

But lately, posters of a slightly different nature have begun to appear on bulletin boards, and they are wanted posters looking for missing persons.

The area near the academy is very well-secured, and it is a different world where there is no room for such vicious rumors to penetrate, but if you look closely, you can see these parts.

“The number of missing people has increased recently.”

I remember the stories of the men I heard at the inn.

Some people thought it was something that could happen in a big city, and a conspiracy theory that the imperial army would catch innocent people while capturing criminals was circulating viciously.

The Imperial Army resolutely dismissed the conspiracy theory and declared that they would definitely find the missing people, but the missing people did not appear even after several weeks.

“Because no one knows.”

I found the name Lina while reading a poster with the details of the missing person.

“I heard earlier…”

16 Years old. His orange hair fell to his shoulders, and he had freckles. On April 26, at about 15:35, he went missing while going to the market with his parents. If anyone finds it, immediately call the local guard…

The 26th is just yesterday. It shouldn’t be a big deal.

At the bottom of the montage of a young girl smiling broadly, there was a hair tie that the child had dropped. If you look closely, it’s a string attached to both sides of your head, but it seems that one of them has been dropped.

In case you didn’t know, I brought my face closer and examined the red braid. It’s an ordinary hair tie with nothing special about it, but it was clean without a single stain as if it hadn’t been used much.

And the subtle scent felt from the hair tie.

“Scent?”

If not, can you feel the scent from the hair tie that must have been hanging here for well over 24 hours?

I brought my nose up a bit more, closed my eyes, and focused on the smell. I’ve never thought of having a good sense of smell.

Someone might look like a crazy pervert and report it to the security guard, but luckily I’m alone on the street. There was not even anyone who could be misunderstood.

“Soap scent? Lemon…? Isn’t it?”

I even checked the scent of the soap, but the scent that followed it was unfamiliar. It was a unique scent that was as unfamiliar as it was, and it was a type that was not easily encountered.

The moment you take a deep breath to check one more time. The dizzying anemia turned around and staggered, and I barely survived by holding on to the bulletin board to avoid falling.

A sharp pain radiated from the hand gripping the bulletin board at the same time.

“Ugh!”

I started to feel that the scent, which seemed almost impossible to catch, had been amplified hundreds of times, and I unknowingly covered my nose at the scent that had grown so thick that it gave me a headache.

Intense reverberation as if a bottle of perfume had been applied to the body. The world, which should have been closed with a shattering headache, was dyed purple.

I was walking.

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No. I borrowed my sight to see, but it wasn’t me who was walking.

Because it was much lower than normal eye level. I wanted to lower my head and check my body, but I couldn’t control anything, as all I could do was look.

People entered the purple field of vision, but the owner of the field of vision entered through the gap in the wall as if avoiding them.

As I passed through the narrow walls after whining for a long time, the moonlight came in and my vision became much brighter, and I was able to immediately recognize where the owner of the vision had arrived.

An alleyway used to pass quickly between the market and the stationery store. And the place where I met the Doha Prius disguised as a fixer.

My vision went down, and soon I began to see a sewer lid made of iron.

And without hesitation, the owner reached for the iron lid with a small, dirty hand, and as if being sucked in, the vision was blackened and then disappeared.

“Heh, heh…! Heh, heh… What…”

When I opened my eyes, I saw a red hair tie.

The world that had been flashing with pale purple had completely disappeared, and at the eye level I was used to seeing, it was the world of the colors I knew.

How did it happen? What i saw I didn’t feel it, and I was very confused. First of all, I let go of the bulletin board I was holding on to, and then I turned my palm over in a burning pain.

“I was stabbed.”

The palms were bleeding, probably from cuts or punctures. The wound was not large, but it seemed that the bleeding had intensified because of the strength given during the anomaly.

Aside from the pain, I was bothered by the glaring sewer cover. I don’t know, but the strange judgment that I should go and check it out was ruling my head.

There was no definite information, but for some reason, I began to believe that the scene I had seen was Lina who had disappeared.

“No.

There was no doubt that it was a rational decision. I’m not even a Doha Prius. It’s quicker to run to the nearest guard or patrol and report it.

The problem was what to say. With an incomprehensible feeling of being alone, I identified him as a missing person, and the only thing I saw was the scene of him approaching the lid.

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No matter how I thought about it, I had no choice but to open the lid and go down into the underground water, but that was always the case only for me who saw it myself.

“…Let’s check only the real lid and report it.”

My head was screaming to check in the daytime and not to do dangerous things unnecessarily, but my body didn’t care and moved towards the alley with great strides.

The closer I got to the alleyway, the more anxious I became, and I could understand a little why minor roles in horror movies were so curious.

What calmed me down unexpectedly was the scent of courtesy, which I could feel as clearly as I approached the alley. Because the fragrance let me know that my convictions were not wrong.

“Let’s go back after checking only the lid. Let’s go back after checking only the lid. Let’s go back after checking only the lid.”

What would it be if you put your patience mark on it three times? Were you patient? I don’t even remember. f*ck.

The only thing I remember was to engrave it three times and to say at the end that if I do something, I will die. Maybe I don’t remember correctly.

While wandering around alone, I arrived at a back alley where even the moonlight didn’t come in properly.

I ran into the scoundrel and passed the place where the knife had entered the nape of my neck and went further inside.

The lid was firmly closed as if nothing had happened. I looked around to see if anyone was around, but the atmosphere seemed to have stopped coming for quite some time.

The fact that there were very few people meant that even if someone passed by, the traces would be obvious.

I found small footprints around the manhole cover, and when I carefully inspected the cover, I also saw that the dirt was peeling off.

“He lifted this.”

A sewer cover made of strong and thick iron to prevent people from stepping on it and preventing the sewage from flowing backwards.

I put my finger in the hole to see if it really opened and went down, then lifted it up with all my might.

“Huuuimuuu43434 Can’t budge.”

As expected, the sewer lid didn’t even move. A sense of weight that can barely be lifted by using tools from a group of people.

Let’s assume that this is enough to check. Anyone can see that it went down here.

A very logical and normal voice came from my head saying that if the owner of the vision was really Lina, this lid could not be lifted.

“Then is it normal for the world to be dyed purple?”

I asked myself back to the rational cry of the voice in my heart. Then, the voice that caused the internal conflict shut his mouth.

“It won’t open. I’ve done enough, so let’s go and report it.”

I decided to get out of here quickly before I got into trouble by wandering further.

I’ve come this far safely, but I don’t know when my luck will suddenly run out and I’ll move forward with a bad ending.

I shook off the dirt from my hands and quickly walked down the alleyway, trying to remember where the nearest guard was.

“Looks like there was a guard near the nightlight inn.”

I remember that the guards often went around because it was also an entertainment district and there were endless incidents with drunken people.

In the four days I’ve been staying at the inn, I think I’ve heard the sound of the guards beeping their whistle more than 10 times.

After deciding on my destination, I decided to prepare my statement in advance as I headed towards the guards. If you testify wrongly, you could dismiss it as nonsense and just move on.

Let’s end it with one blow that definitely has an impact.

***

James, the captain of the guard, who has been in his 8th year this year, has been struggling with the recent disappearance cases.

At first, it was not a noteworthy event. Most of the missing people were people who had thrown themselves into criminal organizations and had no connections or blood ties.

In other words, most of the missing people disappeared because they deserved to disappear…

However, recent reports of missing persons, whose frequency has increased rapidly, have disappeared like smoke not only for criminals but also for ordinary citizens.

Right now, even during the day, I was sweating hard to send back my family who were crying out for someone to find them.

The superiors began to pay attention to the series of absurd incidents where no evidence, eyewitness accounts, or bodies of victims could be found, but the investigation was still difficult.

Today, the security guards who are on duty are also working hard, patrolling and making surprise inspections while shifting, but they are not getting much income either.

“Whew.”

An official letter from upstairs comes down to you, asking you to do something, but in James’ position, why are you telling me to do something that even others can’t do!! I felt like shouting.

Thump! Bang bang!

“What!”

At that time. The sound of frantic knocking on the guard’s door echoed loudly.

The guards who had been dozing off while remaining in the guards also hurriedly got up and put their hands on the swords at their waists. The harsh knocking sound did not stop, and someone had to go and open the door to check, but the guards did not move forward, noticing each other.

“These assholes.”

James, still feverish from the stress, cursed at his men’s ugliness, and the guards flinched when they heard his curse.

“Come out! You bastards.”

James, who roughly pushed one of the men blocking his way and moved it aside, drew his sword to check for himself. Swallowing his saliva, James drew his sword and slowly approached the door.

Standing in front of the door, James gulped at the sound of knocking on the door, still intent on breaking it down, and gave a signal to the men around him who were trembling and watching.

I don’t know if his men got the signal right, but James grabbed his doorknob and raised his left hand, spreading his three fingers.

The fingers began to fold slowly one by one, and at the same time as the last index finger folded, James opened the door.

He is a man slightly taller than himself.

Larger than the guards, terrified, dilated pupils were the first thing that caught James’ eyes. Then the man stumbled into the guardhouse and soon lost his balance and fell to the ground.

I don’t know what it is, but James quickly closed the door and lowered the latch to seal the door. Then he noticed the man lying on the floor with his head wrapped around his head.

“Who are you? Why are you like that?”

James slowly approaches the terrified muttering man.

The other guards were completely frozen because of the man who acted as if he had seen a ghost.

‘You scumbags. I’ll send them all out tomorrow.’

James, who decided on the treatment of his men on the spot, put his hand on the back of the man who was sprawling, and as soon as James’ hand touched it, the man sprung like a spring and grabbed James and sagged.

A rather smooth-looking man. Her curly black hair came down to her eyebrows, and she had a slender and graceful appearance that young women would like.

His pupils, like his hair, were also black, and James was so frightened that he found them dilated to their fullest extent.

I didn’t feel bulky because of the attached muscles, but the physique and skeleton itself were so good that I looked big.

Seeing a man who was taller and sturdier than himself doing this, James, assuming that there must be something, tried to calm him down.

James was forced to stop by the man who grabbed him by the collar, almost by the collar.

The man who sagged while holding on to James’s uniform said in a trembling voice.

“Please save me!!”

Anyway, it seemed wrong to get through tonight safely.