Chapter 54

More Surprising Things

“Wait, Carbuncle, please explain it to me! I don’t get it?”

“Lyra, what did she tell you?”

As we walked out of the principal’s room, I still tried to bug Carbuncle who ignored my question and continued to hum in her happiness.

Welp, I omitted honorifics when I called Carbuncle just now, as my mind was in chaos from her words. However, she didn’t seem to mind…

“Eeh, come on, are you kidding me? You guys know it but decided to hide it, right? That you have dragon blood running through your veins.”

“…What?!”

“…Come again?”

Alt-nii yelled in his surprise, and I couldn’t comprehend her words.

“We have elf blood in our veins from our mom’s side of family, but apart from it, we’re just humans!”

“That’s right!”

Alt-nii and I quickly defended ourselves from Carbuncle’s false labeling.

“Eeh?”

Carbuncle then turned around to the two of us and approached us—

*Sniff sniff*

She made a sniffing gesture… Uhm, are you a dog—wait, a dragon’s physical senses far exceed the other races, right?

“You two smell of dragon blood, though it’s faint. You must be lying for not knowing it at all!”

Though I was a little bit surprised for her awesome sense of smell, I quickly overcame my astonishment and answered—coincidentally, Alt-nii also answered to Carbuncle’s statement at the exact same time!

“”We’re not lying!!””

“…Eh?”

Carbuncle tilted her head in confusion and seemed to be lost in a deep thought.

“Hmm… then that’s your homework! Go and ask your family! Your family might be keeping such an important secret from you!”

“No, you might smell it wrong!”

“Lyr, are you doubting my senses?! Wait, I have a more conclusive evidence! That healing spherical glass from earlier—you two felt that you were brimming with energy, right? Let me tell you, that spherical glass was a healing item—of an exclusive use only to anyone that has dragon blood running through their veins!”

“…WHAT?!”

Alt-nii and I froze. And then, at this time, I came to understand what Carbuncle meant before by, “Jackpot!” …Jackpot, she just confirmed that we have dragon blood running through our veins.

But it didn’t make sense… why hasn’t anyone mentioned it to us before?

“Ah, there they are! Lyraaaa!!”

Just then, I heard Iris’ cute voice that managed to heal and soothe my mind… Ah, my beloved daughter—no, wait, that’s wrong!

I turned around and saw Iris, Luca, and Kiri rushing off to us.

“Wha, you guys, aren’t you back at the class?”

“Well, since it’s already at this hour, the class was immediately ended right after we heard a few words from Morgan-sensei. As for introduction to the school, he said that it will be done along with our lessons… Ah, we’ll immediately start the lessons as scheduled tomorrow!”

Kiri answered like a good boy he is.

I see… so, while I was taken to the infirmary and to the principal’s room, the class was dismissed.

“…You were great. Nothing’s hurt?”

Luca asked reluctantly—hmph, you don’t want to admit that I’m greater than you? Mwahaha!!!

*cough*, let’s stop laughing like a villain or a bully for now.

“Nope, we’re all fine… ah…”

Carbuncle is going to stick with me—I mean, do her observation of humans while being together with me, as I’m the “specimen” that sparked her interest.

So, a proper introduction is in order.

“Carbuncle-san… let me introduce—”

“Carbuncle’s fine.”

“…Right. Let me introduce you to my friends. This here is Iris, this is Luca, and this is Kiri. …if you want to stick to me, then I hope you can get along well with my friends as well.”

“Ha, good! You’re brave enough to put a condition that I have to agree! But, that sounds fun! Lyr’s friends… they must be interesting!!”

Carbuncle leaned forward with sparkling eyes.

…ah, Luca, Kiri, and Iris spontaneously stepped back.

“Oi, Lyra, you owe us an explanation!”

“L-Lyra, what is going on?”

“E-eh?”

Luca demanded an explanation, Iris turned her head to me and to Carbuncle many times over in her confusion, and Kiri just looked at me with blank stare.

“Ah, she’s Carbuncle, as you may have known… She has decided to join our special class… as she wants to be my friend… I think.”

“Yup, well said, Lyr!”

“So… yeah. We now have one more friend…? Ahaha…”

I tried to laugh it off in a friendly way, but my face is still stiff, after all…

“Awesome!” Luca quickly recovered from his surprise and happily celebrated.

“W-whoa, a dragon… is a friend?!” Kiri’s eyes shone—

Ah, they are typical boys, after all. Meanwhile, Iris…

“E-eh? W-will it be all right? Dragons… don’t eat humans, right?”

Iris is being Iris.

“Don’t worry, the Dragonkin has vowed to uphold peace in this world. You have my words,” Carbuncle smiled and reassured Iris.

“Although… I must say that you’re giving off the image of a little sheep… hmmm…,” She continued to mutter as her gaze is glued to Iris.

“Hiiii!!”

Obviously, Iris would be frightened—Carbuncle is looking at her intently… and what’s that… why is she licking her lips, as if she wants to taste something good?

“Ah, forgive me! I love meat, after all. Sheep—ah, to be more specific, lamb is one of my favorite meat.”

…It’s not so reassuring, Carbuncle.

I heaved a sigh at how Iris is using me as a shield, hiding behind me as Carbuncle played “peek-a-boo!” with her through my body.

“Oy, Altaire! Lyra! You two okay?”

Clavis’ voice!

This time, it’s Alt-nii’s friends coming after him—there’s Clavis and… another boy who’s right behind Clavis. I’ve never seen him before.

His beige hair feels comforting and it goes well with his brown eyes—ah, he’s wearing a glasses! Is he the “by-the-book” type?

“Ah, Luca and Kiri are also here… And the dragon girl… and…?”

“Ah, Clavis-nii! This girl here is Iris, the one I talked about!”

“…Iris?”

--Unexpectedly, the one who responded wasn’t Clavis-nii, but instead, it’s Alt-nii’s other friend.

From his tone, he seemed to have known Iris, but… I kept thinking on how people around me kept saying that the name “Iris” is so familiar.

“Harvey?!”

Second unexpected thing: Iris popped out her head, ignoring Carbuncle who was right in front of her as she tried to take a better look at the figure who just called out her name.

“Iris, is that really you?!”

“Harvey, really?!”

“…”

Iris stopped hiding behind me and passed by Carbuncle—now, she’s right in front of Alt-nii’s other friend—okay, his name seems to be Harvey.

And the two are now inside their own worlds.

“Long time no see! You’ve grown so much! How are you doing? You aren’t being bullied or anything, right?”

“Harvey, how is Auntie? I’m… I’m fine now! I’m finally enrolled in here, and all…”

“Which one is your class? Basic Level 2 Class…?”

“Ah, no… I… I decided to repeat the year and enrolled in Basic Special Class Year 1!”

“So, what happened during the time we didn’t meet?”

…You two, please… notice that we’re still here, and look! All of us are looking at you two, unable to understand what’s going on or what are you guys talking about…

But none of us has the guts to destroy this… friendly atmosphere surrounding the two of them.

…Wait! Iris repeated the year? Does that mean… she’s actually older than me?!

As much as I want to ask her, I can’t bring myself to disturb them…

“Harvey, how do you know Altaire’s sister’s friend?”

…Oh, look! I spotted a dense character! Clavis-nii innocently disturbed Iris and Harvey, forcefully bringing them back to the real world.

I’m glad it isn’t my big brother, though…

“Ah, Clavis! You don’t remember? I’ve told you often about Iris, my childhood friend!”

“Eh?! Ah, sorry, I forgot the name! No wonder it sounds so familiar!” (Clavis)

“So you finally reunited with your childhood friend after a long time?” (Altaire)

As the seniors flocked together, I tugged Iris closer to me.

“Iris… you know my big brother’s friend? And… just how old are you?!”

“Lyra… ah, yes, Harvey is a childhood friend of mine! It’s been quite a long time since I last saw him. We were so close before. And… I’m seven years old!”

“…”

I stared at her small and cute stature carefully.

Seven… years… old?!

She really is one year older than me?!

But what’s with her appearance that can even deceive anyone if she were to claim that she’s younger than me?!

“Hmm, what’s going on?”

The one who seems to be unable to comprehend the situation the most is none other than Carbuncle.

“Well, long story short… they just met each other after being separated for quite a while…”

“Ah… I see…”

Carbuncle nodded at my explanation, but to be honest… I don’t quite understand the whole situation myself.

The sound system suddenly echoed a certain melody… A signal to something?

“A-anyway! We got to return back soon, it’s the melody that signals us to go back already. We can talk things out tomorrow, right?” Clavis explained the significance of that melody and suggested us to just go back first and slowly digest everything that has happened today.

“Ah, right… T-then, shall we head to the gate?”

“Oh… Then, see you tomorrow, Lyra!”

“Iris, you’re not going back?”

“I am. But, since I live in the school dormitory…”

…Lyra, 6 years old physically, and older mentally. Yet I kept forgetting trivial things, such as… the existence of school dormitory. Since Clavis-nii, Alt-nii, Luca, and Kiri are all not going to the dormitory, so it completely slipped from my mind.

“You’re going to the dormitory? Then, let me lead the way! I live in the dormitory, too,” Harvey happily responded.

“Really?”

“Yeah, the direction’s the same, although it’s separated between boys and girls.”

“T-then, I’m glad! Please lead the way, Harvey!”

“Let’s catch up on the way, we’ve got so much to talk about, right?!”

“Un!”

Iris nodded enthusiastically and smiled. Aaah, why do I feel like my Iris is being snatched away from me—wait, I can’t turn to be like Dad!!

“Then, see you tomorrow, Iris! Oh, I haven’t introduced myself to Harvey-san!”

“Just Harvey is fine! Ah, I’ve known about you guys from Altaire here. By the way, I’m glad that you could use the gift that Altaire requested of me and my father! Hope you like that knuckle-hair-accessories-hybrid!”

“…”

I turned to face Alt-nii.

“Alt-nii, you asked Harvey to make it?!”

“Yes! Harvey’s a blacksmith’s son. His father runs a small blacksmithing workshop!”

Actually, this hybrid is awesome…

But as I think of the weapon-accessory-hybrid and of Harvey’s “by-the-book” first impression… I feel like Harvey isn’t really a “by-the-book” person…

Imagine, if he can make such a hybrid, he’d easily make other hybrid-things that can be used for… let’s say… pranks?

…I need to get to know Alt-nii and his friends’ behavior at school!

“Okay, let’s go, then!”

Carbuncle walked to my side and grabbed my arm happily.

“…Uhm, where are you going, Carbuncle?”

“Me? I’m going to wherever you’re going, of course!”

“…But, I’m going home, you know? Where do you stay, by the way?”

“Eh, ah? Right… if you’re going home… it’s not my home, so I can’t say I’m going home with you… Oh, Shekai-san told me she’d arrange a dormitory room… maybe?”

As Carbuncle tilted her head, Shekai-san’s figure could be seen. …what a perfect timing!

“Thank goodness you haven’t gone so far! The arrangements to your living here have been completely prepared, Carbuncle-chan. You are to live in the student dormitory. Come, let me guide you.”

“Headmaster Shekai, you’re going to the dormitory as well?”

Harvey, who isn’t too far away from us, asked.

“Yes, that’s right. I got to escort Carbuncle-chan.”

“Then, shall we go together?”

“That’s a nice idea!”

“Fwe… I want to talk more with Lyr and Tair, though…”

“There’s always tomorrow!” Alt-nii answered.

And finally, after such a long, long exhausting day, we’re heading home…

***

“Come to think of it, I’ve heard the information about a dragon girl.”

“Yes, indeed.”

At night, we told everything that happened to Mom and Dad. As expected from the two important figures in this country, they’ve heard of Carbuncle as well!

“But I didn’t expect her to settle on my children’s school… and Lyra’s class, moreover.”

“Uhm, Dad, Mom… She also said something weird!”

“Something weird?”

“Oh, you mean, that, Lyra?! That’s right, I almost forgot!”

That’s right, Alt-nii.

We have a “homework” to do, given to us by the dragon girl, Carbuncle.

“Carbuncle said that we’re of [mixed dragon descent]! We insisted that we are only of human and elven descent, but she gave us an irrefutable evidence…,” I propped my chin as I reported it.

“Yeah, she said that she used a healing item that would have an effect only to those with dragon blood, and we felt the effect of it!” Alt-nii quickly backed up my sentence.

“Eh…?”

Mom and Dad exclaimed in their surprises—and their faces genuinely screamed, “What the heck?!”

“So, she said we have to ask our family… Hey, Mom, Dad, do you know anything?”

“No… my family only has mixed with the elves…”

“No, wait, I don’t know anything…”

See?

See, Carbuncle?

I’m pretty sure that she’s mistaken and that the healing item incident was just… a coincidence? Luck?

“I’ve never heard of it from any family history… … ah.”

Dad suddenly said, “ah!” as if he just thought of something.

“Dad, did you just remember something?” (Lyra)

“No, no, that’s… just a possibility. I have nothing to back it up… Perhaps I’d need to see the dragon girl to clarify something.” (Cyan)

“Huh, you want to see Carbuncle?!” (Lyra)

“Well, it’s quite intriguing! I also would like to meet her. I’m sure she will be brought to the royal court soon, though…” (Cass)

Mom clapped her hands, her face showed that she’s enjoying the situation.

“Hmm… that means… uhm… I must invite her over?” (Lyra)

“You can also invite your friends if you want, Lyra.” (Cass)

“Ah, I want to invite my friends, too!” (Alt)

“Oh, right. You’ve never brought your friends here other than Clavis. You know that it’s fine to invite them over, right?” (Cyan)

“Yes, but I honestly had never thought of it!! Harvey enthusiastically goes straight home whenever there's holiday, so it never crossed my mind. ” (Alt)

…so, the reason why Alt-nii has never brought his friend over… it’s not that it’s forbidden, he just never thought of doing so!

And sometimes, I got convinced that he only had Clavis as his closest friend… but seeing Harvey, I become relieved.

Come to think of it, Alt-nii has even mentioned his name several times before, hasn’t he?

…A lot of things happened today, so let’s list them!

One, Carbuncle, the dragon girl is officially my friend, and she will be joining my class from now on!

Two, I need to verify that thing about a mixed dragon descent with Carbuncle…

Three, apparently, Iris and Alt-nii’s friend, Harvey—they’re childhood friends and I’m curious of their story—especially Iris! Why did she decide to repeat a year and enroll here? How did they get separated in the first place?

It seems that my world can never be a simple world.

Anyway, it’s no use thinking of them right now. I can’t do anything right now, anyway. Everything has to wait until tomorrow!

So, let’s start preparing stuff for tomorrow!

Where is that piece of paper that detailed my lesson schedule, again?

[ Day 1 - General Knowledge (Math, Science), Home Economics

Day 2 - Social Studies: Geography & History

Day 3* – Magic, Physical Combat, Elective (Music, Arts, Literature)

Day 4 - Moral & Etiquette, Physical Education

Day 5 – Reading, Practical Classes or Adventure ]

Tomorrow is… Day 2… Social Studies… Since I’d be repeating what I’ve learned more or less, I think that class will be boring tomorrow… Except, there’s Carbuncle to make sure my school day isn’t going to be that monotonous tomorrow.

Yes, let’s try to be positive! …Though I’m more skilled at being negative…

Ah, I can’t wait for Day 3 to come, though!

I laid on my bed and closed my eyes full of anticipation for Day 3. I think it’s the most interesting day—oh wait, Day 5—[Practical Classes or Adventure] also sounds fun!

In my last school, I used [Practical Class] or a lesson that’s similar to it to practice my swordsmanship and spar with the others. Though we have some lessons there where we learned of many things in the noble society, being a school exclusive for nobles.

Actually, [Home Economics] also sounds tasty—I mean, interesting!

…

…

Just like that, I drifted myself to sleep…

…

Wait, no.

It still feels unreal to me that I encountered a real pure-blooded dragon and even made friends with her.

Perhaps… this is just… a dream?

***

*Normal POV*

Meanwhile, around the same time, in the Harmonia Academy’s dormitory…

“Little shee—I mean, Iris-chan! From now on, we’re roommates!”

“…”

Iris rapidly blinked at the scene projected in front of her eyes. Carbuncle was standing right in front of her dormitory room, and there were several boxes behind her. The boxes seemed to be her luggage.

“Uhm…?”

“Or do you not want me to be your roommate? Shekai-san offered me a personal room before, but I wanted to have a Non-Draconis roommate and so, here I am, but guess I should just accept that personal room…”

Carbuncle tilted her head at Iris’ lack of response. As Iris hadn't gestured for her to come in or anything, she assumed that Iris wanted to reject but couldn't find the heart to. So, she turned around to leave.

And that managed to wake Iris up. She quickly grabbed onto Carbuncle’s sleeves.

“No, wait, please come in, accompany me!”

Iris spontaneously pleaded.

She was surprised when she first arrived in her room—because there was no roommate assigned to her yet! She was anxious from just arriving in a new place… although she had forced herself to sleep despite being anxious from a new environment, she never wanted to go through that experience again if possible.

The fact that her roommate is actually a dragon?

Well, at least a dragon can protect her from any evil spirit!

Besides, she looks pretty much like an ordinary girl when she’s like this! Yes, no problem!

“Teehee~! You’re so cute, little she—Iris.”

…

If only she’d stop doing that…

“I’m using the right side of the room… the left side’s still very vacant.”

“Thanks, I’ll be tidying up my luggage, then! Oh, did you just sleep when I knocked on your door? You can continue to sleep, I’ll mind my own business!”

“Good night.”

“Nighty, little sheep~!”

“…It’s Iris…”

“…my bad, nighty, Iris-chan!”

Iris yawned and returned back to her own bed.

As she closed her eyes, she could feel the presence of another person inside the room, and that made her feel relieved.

…but then her mind started to trail off on the events happening today.

First… her very first friend ever, Lyra, is actually a duke’s daughter?!

What’s more, she’s not an ordinary girl, that’s for sure…

Her big brother looks even more extraordinary…

…And Lyra’s friends…

I am very ordinary compared to her, though…

…Wait a second.

Luca and Kiri, they’re from the royal castle?!

…

Last damage: she actually befriended a dragon (indirectly through Lyra)?!

“…”

Iris curled up her body again, wondering if she was actually dreaming at the moment, and that when she woke up, everything would… return to ordinary?

But if everything is true, then… She is the plain one among her circle of friends?

When she thought that everything didn’t seem to make any sense, she suddenly remembered that she just met Harvey again.

Inside her current messy world, Harvey is the only one that provides her the sense of stability…

At long last, Iris finally managed to fall asleep while reminiscing on her past memories that she had with Harvey.

…But then, Iris, aren’t you just pushing the current matters aside in a denial this way?