25 – Hands of Attention

ㅡCrunchy, crunchy… !

ㅡmush and mush… !

ㅡMoom, Moom, Mum… … !

A ravenous sound comes from the counter.

The source of the sound is none other than Derke.

Hetzling, her silver hair tied in two pigtails, twitched her small lips.

Derke sat on a tall chair in front of the counter. The guy was getting rid of the biscuits in front of him with crumbs all over his mouth.

‘Seeing them eat deliciously makes me feel good too. Come to think of it, has there ever been a dragon that eats as deliciously as Derke?’

Seeing him holding a biscuit with his small, dainty hands suddenly reminds me of a hamster I raised as a child.

Just looking at it brings a smile to my face.

I’m not picky like the other girls,

He wasn’t stingy when it came to complimenting the taste.

It was literally the best regulars.

“Derke, then I’ll pretend. Eat while drinking some milk.”

I don’t know if he was hungry, but the biscuits stuffed into his cheeks are full.

ㅡgulp, gulp… !

Derke immediately drank milk at my worried words. It opens up a path in the mouth that has become stuffy with cool milk.

Are they listening to me thanks to beast taming and gourmet feeding? Or is it because he is originally a naive guy?

“Kyaha-!”

Like a person who drank beer, he exhaled a refreshing breath and opened the mug! The guy who puts it down. It was cool enough to say Johnson Johnson go away.

“Pufu, is it that delicious?”

“yes-! It’s delicious today as well… Ah, no, to something delicious, yap-!”

The guy who nodded while correcting the meaningless tone of my question.

It was a bit odd, but

I could never hate it.

Should I say that I feel at ease in front of Derke?

[The sympathy of the sympathy target increases!]

As expected, the feeling of liking rises so easily this time too. However, it was still at the ‘blind faith’ stage.

“Derke? What are you doing at this time? Isn’t lunchtime over?”

“Right yap-! Lunch break is over… !”

“But can I stay here? Do you have any afternoon classes?”

“After… ? Yes, actually, the theory class is over… yap… ! And now is the time to do the jujuri experience, yap-!”

Derke consciously corrects the suffix ‘-detsuyong!’ It’s to the point of laughing at the guy’s erratic tone.

“Ah, are you talking about group activities?”

“That is! That is… ! Let me explain slowly!”

The guy who straight away brings out the original way of speaking, as if I was frustrated because I couldn’t understand it at once. Derke, who slaughtered all the biscuits, stepped on a chair and jumped up.

It was to match eye level with me.

“So… ! 1st graders only have theory classes in the morning, yap-! And oh… … .”

Derke continued his explanation with a slightly unstable tone.

To summarize his explanation:

The morning is a normal theory class,

The afternoon is free time under the guise of self-study.

It seemed that first graders had limited concentration anyway, so they replaced it with experiential activities.

Making groups with close friends,

I knew I had to take a tour of the academy.

Does the theme of the experience change every week?

Anyway, this week’s topic is the academy tour. It is a place where you will be staying for the next 400 years, so it must mean that you should know the structure in advance.

It seemed similar to giving new recruits a period of adaptation after being deployed.

If there is one thing that bothers me, it is that they made a group of ‘close friends’.

Maybe that’s why Derke came here alone.

‘By the way, the professor in charge of the 1st year must be a bitch from the afternoon.’

I also want to be a faculty member, not a servant.

I don’t know anything else, but I want to stop being ignored.

However, with this body that was dragged for ‘what kind of sin’, there’s nothing wrong with that.

For some reason, none of the faculty knew exactly what I was guilty of. Maybe the professors who are dragons know about it?

“… Anyway-! That’s why I came here… That’s it, yap-!”

“Uhm, that’s right.”

Derke’s heated explanation comes to an end now.

But since earlier, Derke’s way of speaking has been bothering me. Even if he stuttered, he was consciously changing the endings of his words.

‘-Desseuyong’ or ‘-Eyap’, both of which are unique words without much difference, so why are you paying so much attention to them?

“By the way, Derke? Why are you here alone? Why are you talking like that again?”

I can only guess why, but

I could never just get over it.

It was also because Derke’s green eyes trembled pitifully.

Like a very intimidated baby cat… … .

“Rice, it’s nothing, yap-! As I said earlier, I came all the way here by simply getting lost—”

“Are your classmates still bullying you?”

“That, that, that… ! Uh, how did you find out?! Derke never said anything… … ?!”

When I hit the point, Derke screamed in amazement.

On the subject of hetzling, he must have told lies because he wanted to protect his own pride. Getting lost right in front of the dormitory is ridiculous.

In any case, it is clear what the situation is.

Yesterday I cautioned Tina,

Ignoring all my warnings in one day… … .

“It was written on your face? By the way, are your friends harassing you like yesterday?”

“It’s not like that… !”

At my words, Derke wipes his face with both hands. The guy continued talking, checking to see if there was anything smeared on his hand.

“Thanks to my brother, Death doesn’t bother me… No, no-!”

“okay? I mean… … .”

Still, I guess my warning wasn’t completely useless. It wasn’t directly harassing, but the bullying seemed to be still there.

Bullying is bullying, but complete indifference is more terrifying. You shouldn’t look at them lightly just because they’re little girls. You don’t even know the words love of comrades and love of country.

“But why are you talking like that? Not adapting?”

“Derke’s tone… Is that awkward?”

“yes. It sounds more awkward because it’s not like usual. Are there any problems?”

“Hugh… ! that, it… … .”

When I looked at her with a worried voice, Derke lowered her gaze. Like you don’t want to make eye contact.

That would be too… … .

ㅡTuk, tuk, tuk… … !

Derke suddenly burst into tears.

“uh? Derke… ? Are you okay?”

“Kuuuuuuuuu… … !”

He couldn’t part his lips easily because he was holding back his tears.

I only asked because I was worried, but it seems that I unintentionally hurt my heart.

“f*ck-! It’s okay, it’s okay… ! If you want to be close with your friends, you need to fix your tone… !”

I knew it. It seems that even the way he speaks has become strange because of the teasing of his classmates.

“… Derke is the last descendant of the Death Dragon, so he can do well yap… … !”

Still, the guy who swallowed the tears and finished his words firmly.

Seeing you like this makes my heart hurt.

“No, Derk. Your way of speaking is not strange at all.”

“Hey… ? Do you really think so?”

“Yeah, it just takes time to get used to, but now it sounds rather cute, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, after all, my brother is a kind human being, Dessyon… !!”

“uh? Derke? Wait a minute… … ?!”

Derke stepped on the counter and jumped up with my simple words of comfort. Perhaps because of her small size, she just jumped lightly, but her body floats in the air.

ㅡ Wow!

After leaping into the air, Derke leaps over the counter and falls into my arms.

“Derke? I must have been dirty from rolling on the floor earlier—”

“Bad, black… ! ahhhh… … ! Whip, whimper-!”

Derke buries his face in my chest and cries coolly, disregarding my concerns.

Being bullied from day one

It must have been difficult for Hetzling to endure.

The thought of having to attend the academy for 400 years as a loner is terrifying.

‘Huh, it’s good that you asked Sofia earlier.’

Knowing that I would do this, I asked Sofia earlier.

Please take care of one freshman.

Just ask for pressure so that the other guys don’t harass and harass Derke.

No matter how much I’m a dormitory supervisor, there are limits to what I can do as a human being.

ㅡPat, Pat!

“it’s okay. Everything will be fine. I’ll guarantee it.”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, black, black… ! That, that word is sincere, Tatsuyong… … ?”

“Sure. Believe me. Because everything will be fine.”

“Whoah-! Even just words are comforting, yap… ! After all, my brother is a good person, Desseuyong… … !”

This time, Derke squeezes tears of emotion.

Is it still stable enough?

The tone of voice was back to how it was before.

How long had it been since you hugged him and patted him on the back?

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Ugh… ! Thanks to you, I’m much better… … .”

Her chest is wet with Derke’s tears.

It’s okay though.

I was wearing an apron this time.

“Anyway, so you’re going to be alone for the next afternoon?”

“I hate to admit it, but that’s it… … .”

“Don’t cry again. From now on, I will be with you.”

“Eh eh eh-? Really Death Yong-?!”

Derke looks up at me and his eyes shine like emeralds.

“Well, of course.”

“Desseuyong is happy just hearing the word! But oppa is a busy body, I know very well yap-!”

“It’s not just words. As you know, I’m busy dealing with the ladies here. So… … .”

“… … ?”

“Derke? If you don’t mind, can you help me out every afternoon?”