Episode 118. presentation (2)

“Mister, wake up.”

“… Well?”

Lying on the bed, I followed my gaze to the place Meriel’s index finger was pointing at, and saw a window filled with white paper.

A room with the lights off. I asked Meriel, who slowly sat down on the futon and shook me awake.

“That, please… ?”

“Yes, it’s Caldera.”

Day 1 of nest opening.

I was awakened completely by the sound coming through the window… . Overwhelmed by the majesty of Caldera’s main body, she sat on the bed and froze for a while.

Its white wings, as if they had sprouted from a low-lying cloud, stretched out straight, blocking the dawn that illuminated the laboratory.

The gigantic body, which seemed to blow away everything standing in front of it with the wind with a single flap of its wings, spit out red and blue breath in the morning.

It is dawn when the birds raise their voices and wake up the beasts sleeping in the silent forest.

I nodded my head at Meriel’s muttering that he never imagined the day would come when he would see something like this with his own eyes.

“I should have heard that it was a very large lizard, but seeing it in person is very different… .”

The scales of Caldera, where most of the body was harmonized with nature, were projecting nature in rough colors like oil painting.

Looking at him, I naturally understood the Bible’s description of the dragon as the most beautiful observer.

At the same time, I could feel why Elma said Laplace was the most threatening omen of destruction.

Seven such beings gathered together to oppose the goddess. In fact, it is too big an ordeal for Elma, who is no different from a fairy in a fairy tale… .

I imagined Elma confronting them by substituting Kegar, who brought the storm, with the appearance of Caldera.

From the size to the intimidation, everything was Elma’s complete defeat.

“Mister.”

When, in my imagination, the little goddess was staggering here and there at the flap of Kegar’s wings.

Meriel, who was distracted by the window together, grabbed my sleeve and shook it.

“They are coming.”

“What? Who?”

Instead of answering Meriel, someone knocked lightly on the room door.

“Junior, are you awake?”

“… Yeah.”

“You didn’t wake up because of me? You haven’t been able to rest properly for several days.”

“No, Professor Dana. It’s been a while.”

“Isn’t it because there’s an uproar about the nest being opened outside? I also woke up because it was noisy… .”

When I opened the door, Dana held out the coffee cups she was holding in both hands, complaining that all the servants had gone out to see the caldera.

“Only one of them was sugared. What would you like to drink?”

Choosing the non-sweet side, I asked her, who showed more interest in presentation materials than outside the multicolored windows.

“… The professor doesn’t seem to have much interest in dragons.”

“Yeah? Oh no! Dragon, cool. You can’t see it all the time, can you?”

Only then did Dana approach the window, as if she was sorry for my point, and began acting obvious to the eyes, saying that it was an honor to see the dragon in person, and that it was cool.

“Soooooooo AWESOME! Look at those wings!”

“… .”

“Wow! Junior, isn’t the color too pretty?”

If I saw Principal Skillbeck in front of freshmen and continued to praise him, wouldn’t it be like that.

With Meriel, who turned her head to say that she couldn’t look at her, she responded with a mechanical reaction to Dana’s desperate performance.

‘… By the way, when are you going to tell me that you’re a dragon?’

It’s a situation where I don’t have an answer to the question of how I knew that I knew her identity.

She has to tell me the secret first, so I won’t have to do or see this kind of acting in the future.

‘Then I’d be comfortable talking about how to fight Laplace… .’

Dana also knew that Kegar was a dragon as something I didn’t know, so if all these misunderstandings were resolved quickly, we would be able to keep Kegar and Seryl in check.

The moment I was thinking about how to decorate her as if I knew her identity naturally.

“As expected, since it’s a dragon that has lived a very long time, most of its body has been turned into mana.”

Dana said as she took out a telescope from her pocket and observed the caldera closely, perhaps out of curiosity while continuing her method acting.

“I heard that as dragons get older, their bodies assimilate with nature’s mana, and they realize powerful magical powers.”

“That’s why you’re acting like that.”

“Yeah. The burning thing in the middle there is the heart.”

“Professor Dana, do young individuals, on the other hand, preserve their bodies almost completely?”

“Yes. They’re probably less cool than what you’re seeing now.”

“Um~ is that so? I think the one with the original form would be more attractive.”

“uh… .”

After looking at my face for a moment, she came to her senses and jumped up from her seat.

“Right, now is not the time for this!”

“… ?”

“Since troops are concentrated in the hotel because of the people who went out to see the caldera, I’m going to turn to the less vigilant laboratory. Junior, stay with those people, and if the knights are going to be sent to the laboratory boundary again, please contact me.”

“All right.”

“Then I’m… !”

Meriel and I looked at the door that Dana left open as if running away.

“It is sharp. Did you notice that I am inducing you to reveal your identity?”

“… Probably not.”

Looking at Dana’s back as she walks away with a bit of a pity.

For some reason, Meriel’s sighs filled the room.

* * *

“… okay. Before returning the knights, I’ll give you a tip first.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

Unlike Seril, who was reluctant to show himself in front of people, the active Frill had already gone down to the field, facing the knights and leading troops.

As the sun came up, the light purple sky behind the caldera began to turn blue, and everyone was mesmerized by the fact that it gradually began to emit a bright light accordingly.

Frill responsibly looked around, not in the woods, to make sure no one tried to get close to the nest without permission.

‘… Didn’t Kegar and Seryl come out?’

As she approached Frill, she looked around, and Seryl, as well as Kegar and Eclipse’s key personnel, were nowhere to be seen.

“Still, it seems that everyone is following the rules well. Most of the personnel in the research center are under Princess Seryl. I was worried about what to do if I trusted him and didn’t properly respond to the princess’ control… . It looks like it was raining. Your leadership is amazing.”

“It’s not because I’m great.”

Frill pointed at the girl approaching in the morning light.

With each slow step she took, scholars eager to document the caldera’s features all stepped aside in amazement.

Looking at her, who even drew the attention of the imperial knights, said Frill.

“If it wasn’t for Mina… . Ian, things might have gone as you said.”

The barrier, which was considered impregnable, collapsed, and a terrifying scene of mana flooding in at once.

It seemed that Mina’s power was strongly imprinted in their heads as they faced this directly.

“Hello professor. Actually, I didn’t come to see you on purpose to get some more rest. Did you wake up early?”

Mina, who calmly approached me, greeted me in the morning, as if taking the eyes of the people around me as a light fuss.

“Ah, did you wake up because it was too noisy in here? I don’t think everyone is aware that there are still people sleeping, but I’ll try to keep it quiet. Professor, a little more-”

“… no, that’s fine I’m here to help the princess too, so don’t worry too much.”

“Yep.”

I stopped Mina, but I wonder if her words were heard by those around me. At some point, the scholars standing around stopped talking and began to leave.

‘I don’t think there’s anyone as nice and sincere as him.’

In Kiruna, who consistently showed exemplary appearances, almost no students were afraid of Mina.

Those who met her for the first time saw only the power of her own magic and were afraid of Mina, considering her like a monster.

“… You must be suffering too.”

“No. Are you happy to be able to help the princess in this way?”

Perhaps after overcoming a few similar incidents in Kiruna, he seemed to have overcome the attention and fear that was pouring into him in his own way.

‘No, rather… .’

After looking at the place Frill, who was listening to Mina’s conversation with me, pointed out, I thought that Mina might not have been under this kind of stress in the first place.

“Because right before Caldera Nest was opened, people were flocking to it.”

Leaving the red flowers spreading like flames in front of the hotel, Frill said.

“It was so dark everywhere, so I tried to bite people first and tell them to come back later when the day is bright… .”

“… .”

“Thanks to Mina drawing attention to scholars by asking them to help with their unique magic research, people followed me well even in the dark.”

Looking at Mina’s shy smile while avoiding my gaze, and the reactions of the people around her, it didn’t seem like they really wanted to help Mina and stayed still… .

No matter what the intention was, if the results were good and Mina did not suffer, it was no matter what the hardships of the scholars under Seril were.

“Wouldn’t it be useful to analyze the result of unique magic at any time later if I keep the flower garden like this… ?”

“Is that so? I think you would be afraid to touch it.”

“hahahaha… . ah! Professor, did you hear that from the princess? Observers say they only arrived here in the evening.”

Frill nodded at Mina, who awkwardly changed the topic of conversation.

“Originally, we were supposed to gather by noon, the time the professor arrived. Cheryl has changed the scheduled arrival time.”

“that’s… .”

“They said they will postpone the presentation by a day and hold a banquet to comfort the participants this evening.”

As for the schedule before the change, a presentation was held at the first tower on the day of the opening of the nest, and after the screening results were announced on the second day.

On the third day, a congratulatory banquet was held for the professor chosen by Caldera to wrap up the presentation.

“So you moved the banquet two days forward.”

“I’m not an older sister who would do this for no reason… . Maybe he’s trying to do something stupid in the banquet hall… ?”

“I don’t think my opponent will come out that way. You should know very well that if you do something conspicuous at a banquet attended by many people, it could lead to a situation that you cannot handle.”

I looked at Mina for a moment and said.

“Moreover, most of Princess Il’s privates were incapacitated, and Prisoner 14 was no different. The moment they give their cause to Princess Frill, they will have to deal with the Imperial Knights and unique magic users in a situation where power is not even restored.”

Now Seril will try to counterattack us politically, not forcefully.

“Exactly how to respond… . You must hope that Professor Dana, who has gone out to scout, will dig up some good information.”