Chapter 246

Chapter 246

Bel, who had been listening to their conversation, tilted his head to the side and asked.

‘You can just use the stealth breathing magic.’

[Oh, is there such a thing?]

Stealth Breathing was a countermeasure created by black mages who were often kidnapped, confined, bound, or suppressed. It was a black magic that allowed them to maintain their breathing as long as there was even a tiny bit of space in extreme situations.

[But you can just untie the robe.]

It seemed Bel’s question was not yet clearly resolved.

In fact, it was the correct answer.

It was not a hostile environment anyway. If one was tied up in their own robe, they could just untie it. There was no need to waste mana for no reason.

‘Someone of a professor’s caliber should be able to use Stealth Breathing as naturally as breathing.’

However, Roan explained it to Bel like this to preserve Taedi’s honor.

Bel agreed, thinking, ‘Wow, she was a more amazing person than I thought.’

“By the way, Student Roan.”

“Yes?”

“When on earth are you going to release me from this binding tool? I don’t know what it’s made of, but my magic isn’t working on it…… and now I’m starting to suffocate a bit……”

“…….”

[……Master?]

Bel looked up at Roan as if asking him to explain this one as well.

Roan felt like he understood why Harden shot vision-enhancing holy power at him at every opportunity.

Roan sighed particularly often today.

“It is not a binding tool, Professor.”

“Heavens! Then is it binding magic? No matter how you are Student Roan, when did you cast such magic…… it doesn’t feel like black magic at all?”

That was because it was not even magic.

Roan told the truth to Taedi, who was marveling at his perfect magic (?).

“It is your robe, Professor.”

“…….”

Taedi fell silent.

“Shall I untie it for you?”

“Yes…… Oh, no. Wait a moment.”

Taedi hurriedly waved her hand to block Roan’s approach.

Only after taking a deep breath for a long time and calming down did she nod.

“Y-You can untie it now.”

Roan took the hem of the robe and began to untangle the magic (?) cast on Taedi.

Turning it for a long time, untwisting the twisted parts, pulling it out through the gaps…….

‘It got tangled in a really complex way.’

Even if one tied it on purpose, they could not tie it better than this.

Meanwhile, Taedi grumbled diligently, saying things like, “So my magic didn’t work because it was my own robe……”

Finally returned to a free body, Taedi let out a huge breath that she had been holding.

“Phew! As expected, breathing normally is much better than magic!”

Taedi’s face was extremely red.

It was unknown whether it was because of the embarrassment of being tied up in her own robe, or a side effect of not being able to breathe properly.

Roan asked Taedi, who was repeating deep breaths, puffing and huffing.

“By the way, why did you come like this this time?”

“Eh? I couldn’t exactly walk in through the school gate, right?”

Roan recalled a conversation among jokes he had heard on Earth: “How did you come?”, “I came by subway.”

Hearing such words from an elf with a mysterious appearance made him feel an even greater sense of incongruity.

“……I did not mean that, but why you were summoned unintentionally. Setting aside last week since it was the first time.”

“Ah!”

Taedi clapped her hands together, as if she finally understood the intention of Roan’s question.

Although her black magic was outstanding, it seemed she needed to learn a bit from Roan about how to talk to people.

“Well, you see. I went around searching diligently this time too, thinking I would be summoned if I looked at a portrait.”

“Did you really have to search so diligently……?”

“But since I couldn’t find one no matter how much I searched, I thought, ‘How strange, is the class canceled today?’ So I went into the forest to gather some moss, but suddenly something caught on my back. When I looked, oh my, a terrifying statue was standing right there!”

Taedi explained it in excessive detail and realistically, when a single sentence like, “This time I was surprised because it was a statue instead of a portrait,” would have sufficed.

Taedi growled half-clenching her fists, threateningly, as if asking Roan if it wasn’t scary.

Roan was also a bit scared.

‘I don’t care about the statue, but what Harden can do is terrifying.’

What if he later makes something of Demona with holy power and summons Taedi whenever they lock eyes…….

Since it felt like Harden might really do that, Roan trembled unknowingly.

Seeing that, Taedi giggled and was pleased.

“See~ Student Roan, it’s scary, right?”

Though his scary point was a bit different from Taedi’s intention.

Roan nodded and called Taedi.

“By the way, Professor.”

“Yes?”

“Do you expect what you’ll have to see to come next week?”

“…….”

Taedi quickly became gloomy, as if she had never laughed brightly and been pleased.

She picked up a branch rolling around nearby, and muttered while scribbling something on the ground.

“Indeed…… A tree? No, it could be a rock…… Oh dear, what if it’s a rabbit?”

She was a person who played very well on her own.

Watching the muttering Taedi quietly, Bel asked Roan.

[How old is that professor anyway?]

‘She is over 250 years old.’

[Hieek! She’s a complete grandmother?]

Startled, Bel fell backward on his rump.

Roan thought he should introduce him to Arne, the manager of the Divine Tree, in the future.

If Taedi had heard it, she would have snapped back, saying, “For an elf, I am still in my youth, you know?” but even the Lord of the Dead Forest did not have the skill to understand a dragon’s cry.

However, it served as an opportunity for Taedi to pay attention to Bel.

“Oh, come to think of it, I thought I heard a wild beast’s cry earlier, and it was this guy? Oh my~ There is a Heavenly Sword Peacock King too?”

Taedi found Bel and Charlotte extremely cute.

“She is the Professor. Greet her, Charlotte.”

Bow─

Charlotte grabbed the cloak feathers on both sides of her and greeted like a noble.

“Wow~ Your name is Charlotte! It’s really cute and charming!”

“I named her after my mother.”

“……It is also a classic, elegant, and aristocratic name!”

Taedi changed her words while secretly peeking at Roan’s reaction.

Still, she seemed to have immediately forgotten it as she was completely captivated by Charlotte’s appearance.

“My goodness~ I’ve only seen drawings and heard descriptions, but she looks just like a real person~ You are really pretty!”

As Taedi clapped and was pleased, Charlotte let out a pleasant cry.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Taedi stroked Charlotte’s head and even shook hands with her!

While Roan liked that his holy beast was praised, he also found it a bit doubtful.

‘Usually, people are more surprised to see Bel than Charlotte.’

Of course, the Heavenly Sword Peacock King was also an extremely rare and beautiful holy beast.

However, even so, it fell short compared to a legendary dragon.

[Hmph, did this person fail to recognize me?]

Perhaps because Bel was more accustomed to that, he asked in a slightly pouting voice.

‘No way.’

Roan shook his head.

No matter how rare a dragon was, a named character of the Lord of the Dead Forest’s caliber could not fail to recognize a dragon.

‘Besides, in the Angolda Great Forest, the forest of elves, there is also the guardian of trees, the green dragon Etradis.’

[Eh? There is another dragon besides me?]

‘Of course.’

Hearing about another dragon for the first time, Bel was startled.

Etradis was a dragon worshipped like a god by elves, and is said to have been born roughly three thousand years ago.

Since it rarely ventured outside the Great Forest, there were almost no sightings by humans.

In any case, Taedi would surely recognize immediately that Bel was a dragon.

“Huh?”

Just then, Taedi, who had a fun time with Charlotte, took an interest in Bel.

Bel puffed out his chest and thrust it forward, as if asking her to hurry up and praise him too.

Taedi’s eyes went round as she stared at Roan.

“Student Roan, this guy……”

“Yes, this guy is─”

“Why does an Ebony Lizard have wings?”

“An Ebony Lizard……?”

[……?]

Roan was so flustered that he could not say anything in reply.

Why did an Ebony Lizard suddenly come up?

Meanwhile, Bel, who had heard the story of the Ebony Lizard in Gilsburg, asked Roan with tearful eyes.

[Master, I am really not an Ebony Lizard, right……?]

‘……You’re not.’

Regardless, Taedi squatted in front of Bel and examined him here and there, as if treating a truly wondrous creature.

“Wow, it’s my first time seeing an Ebony Lizard too. To think it even has wings, was the illustration in the encyclopedia I saw incorrect? But wings on a lizard, this is just like a dragon. Though there’s no way a dragon would be here……”

Even as she spoke non-stop, she did not realize that she had inadvertently spoken the correct answer.

“It is indeed a dragon. An Abyssal Dragon.”

The same was true immediately after Roan told her the correct answer.

“Exactly. If it’s black, it would be either a black dragon or an Abyssal Dragon…… Huh?”

Then at some point, Taedi stopped her mouth completely.

She peeked up at Roan.

Then she asked in a considerably awkward tone.

“A dragon?”

“.”

“An Abyssal Dragon?”

“.”

“Not an Ebony Lizard with wings?”

“……Where would such a thing even exist?”

“!!!!!!”

Having finally grasped reality, Taedi suddenly let out a shriek.

She jumped up and began to run in circles inside Room 101 of McGodal Hall, holding both of her cheeks.

Bel looked at her and asked as if she were pitiful.

[You said she is 250 years old?]

‘Yes.’

Roan could not believe it either, but anyway, that was the case in the setting.

Certainly, long-lived elves aged much slower than humans.

Taedi, who had been running around for a while, dashed over to Roan.

Grab─!

Taedi actually grabbed Roan by the collar!

Roan frowned and asked.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? You have an Abyssal Dragon sitting in this dirty place like a neighborhood dog, and you can ask me, ‘What are you doing?’ right now?!”

‘Wasn’t calling him a neighborhood dog a bit too much…….’

Although Taedi’s words were correct, Roan, who had raised Bel with care in his own way, felt a bit wronged.

Did that mean he had to roll out a red carpet everywhere he went just because he was an Abyssal Dragon?

“At the very least, you should have him sit on a high-grade velvet cushion! What if something goes wrong with the Abyssal Dragon!”

……Presumably, that was how it had to be by Taedi’s standards.

“He won’t get sick from just that. And if he is raised too delicately, his immunity will drop.”

As Roan replied calmly, Taedi seemed to grow even more angry.

“Even so, this is not right! If you’re going to raise him like this, just hand him over to me!”

“ ……?”

“……Ah, is that not it?”

“I think that’s a bit not it.”

“I’m sorry. I got excited and crossed the line.”

Fortunately, unlike a certain someone among the Acherandir faculty, Taedi did not seem completely unreasonable, as expected of a black mage (?).

After releasing Roan’s collar, Taedi patted her robe to dust it off.

Roan said with a displeased expression.

“Actually, there was one professor who really asked for him.”

“Eh? The Abyssal Dragon? Well, wouldn’t they have done so out of anger seeing him raised so roughly?”

Taedi wore an expression of disbelief but understanding.

“No, they asked for him as soon as he was born.”

“Huh? Such a person is also a professor?”

Her expression now changed to one of complete incomprehension.

When Roan nodded, Taedi muttered, “If that’s the case, there’s nothing particularly strange about me being a professor either……”

The passing line for Acherandir professors lowered in an instant!

After pondering the identity of the holy sanctuary called Acherandir for a moment, Taedi greeted Bel as if it didn’t matter.

“Hello! So you are the legendary Abyssal Dragon? Sorry for not recognizing you~”

[Ethem, I am indeed the Abyssal Dragon!]

“Even your cry is cute~ What is his name?”

“It’s Bel.”

“Wow, the name is also very cute!”

“It is a nickname for Belzahar, the name of the first head of the Darc family.”

Hearing Roan’s words, Taedi picked up a piece of wood next to her and threw it onto the floor.

Clatter─!

“……Sheesh, why do you keep naming them like that!”