THE ACADEMY FIELD TRIP
A cup of tea and a plate of macarons were placed before me on the table.
“You’re slowing down, Miss Secretary.” Ricuen was gazing at me coolly. I believe that was her natural affect, but even setting that aside, it made me uneasy.
“My apologies, I’m not yet used to clerical work… And you did not need to serve me any tea. You are the older one here.”
“I am a subsecretary. I am being kept in the student council on the pretext that I am to assist the secretaries. I must do what I have to do,” she said, her expression unchanging.
Was this some sort of elaborate hazing ritual…?
We were in the student council room.
The heart, one could say, of the entire academy for girls.
I was the only first-year student in here. Even though I was here as a result of my victory to preserve the buffet we had in the cafeteria, the weight sat heavy on my shoulders, and I felt very small.
“You must be having a rough time, Laika. It reminds me of when I first became president.”
A voice came from the president’s chair.
It was my elder sister, Leila—boss of this room, boss of the entire academy.
“Is that so? I was under the impression that you took on the position with great dignity the moment you got it back in first year,” Airshock Temiyainu, the Vice President of the West and another fourth-year student in the same grade as my sister, pointed out.
She wore her hair in braids long enough to touch the floor.
“Well, right when I became student council president, I literally didn’t know anything at all. Everyone else was older; it was terrifying. I felt so small. I still dream about it sometimes.”
“Your seniors had ten times as many nightmares about you back then, Leila,” Temiyainu quipped, and the other members of the council chuckled.
There were two vice presidents: one of the west and one of the east. The Vice President of the East was another fourth-year student, Rubiaflash Sadie. There were quite a lot of people in this council…
Then entered Direwolf Etigra of general affairs, carrying a crate filled to the brim with fruit.
“Everyone, my family sent over some high-quality apples and grapes. You’re welcome to have some if you like!”
A few members delightedly accepted this while others discussed accompanying drinks.
“We must put the tea on!”
“Why not make it apple tea?”
I continued my work after that, but Temiyainu snatched up all my papers.
“Come, newbie, you mustn’t cut into teatime. You need to nourish your heart, otherwise you will not be able to do good work.”
“Oh, all right… I will join you, if I may… Since I’m the only first-year here, I will prepare the—”
“No, that is Paulownia Tokinen’s job. She’s a treasurer. Relax.”
I then heard some very elegant giggles.
This social atmosphere was so difficult to deal with!
My work was going rather slowly, both because I had not quite gotten the hang of it yet and also because this environment was not suited for clerical work at all.
And on top of that, as everyone graciously spent their teatime…
They were all prickling with bloodlust!
Temiyainu, who had invited me to tea, was said to demolish her opponents by using her long braid as a morning star. Even if she were surrounded by a force of dozens, I could imagine her mowing them all down single-handedly.
The others had started to call her Airshock Temiyainu because of how her braid seemed to dance in the air.
Tokinen the treasurer, the one who was preparing our tea, fought with a sword made from paulownia wood, but it was so big that it required two full arms to hold it. And that is how she became known as Paulownia Tokinen.
Everyone in here was a battle specialist.
I shivered, feeling a sudden chill. I was like an elf trying to do work in the cage of a fearsome beast.
No, I should take this as a positive. There was no better place for me to grow and mature. By forging myself here, I will become an exemplary dragon.
I partook in the tea and fruit as those thoughts ran through my head.
But once teatime was over…
“Now it’s time for your next job, Miss Secretary.” Ricuen brought over some documents.
“But I’m not finished with my current work…”
“You will sometimes have multiple projects. Get used to it.”
If she said so. First, I would see what this was all about and then confirm if I could leave it for later.
It struck me as strange when I first looked at the documents.
They were written in rather bubbly writing, you see. Almost as though it was deliberately trying to mimic a child’s writing.
And it read:
“Field…trip?”
“Yes, a field trip. The first project you will have is taking the first-years on a safe and successful field trip. Here are all the plans from the other field trips in the past. Use them as reference to create a plan and submit it to the president.”
“Is this not something the teachers decide?”
Leila spoke up from her president’s chair. “Our school gives us a lot of independence, Laika.”
Work was work, but I quietly steeled myself.
This field trip problem was my enemy now.
And if an enemy stood before me, I had no choice but to face it and strike it down!
On the ground, I could see the humans running around in panic over something.
Ah, let them be. I know we sent notices to all the human offices.
Right now, all the red-dragon first-year students, including myself, were in our original dragon form and soaring across the sky.
We were headed for Lake Gujo, a wide lake in the lowlands.
Not only did it sit in a place where humans did not typically venture, but it had lovely scenery and was a different climate to the one red dragons lived in, so it was the perfect spot.
But…it was not the first place I chose. My elder sister had vetoed idea after idea of mine until she finally approved this spot…
No, she had not been purposefully hard on me or anything of the sort. She gave me good reasons for her rejections, such as, “A human council is in charge of this area, so they won’t approve” or “This coincides with a festival the dwarves are throwing.” But I did sometimes get upset knowing my sister would shoot my ideas down.
Regardless, I was glad to see the first-year students having fun.
Everyone was darting freely through the skies in their dragon forms. I was hoping the high energy would not lead to any fire-breathing, however.
Lake Gujo was truly beautiful, but it was empty.
Perhaps it was a given, though, considering that we couldn’t take field trips to inhabited areas.
When we landed at the shore of Lake Gujo, we took on our human forms.
It was a large lake, but it would not be enough for all of us in dragon form. More importantly, we might ruin the landscape. If my trip dealt a blow to the academy’s reputation, then my sister would give me a good scolding.
When the teachers saw that we had safely reached Lake Gujo, they returned to the academy. I would be the one in charge for the rest of the trip. The students had a great amount of autonomy. Perhaps, strictly speaking, it was my sister in the student council who had all the power.
I had to stand in front of everyone and give out pointers, as well.
I hated all the attention on me, but…thinking of it as work made it easier to get through.
“Good morning, everyone. I am Laika, student council secretary. I have some things to talk to you about.”
I could hear some students talking. “It’s Laika! The only first-year councilmember!”
“She really is handsome.”
“No matter how long I look at her, she’s still beautiful.”
“This gives me hope for our futures.”
“Excuse me! Please refrain from talking! This is a part of our learning environment, so please exercise moderation and do not topple any trees or burn down the forest,” I said, but the students kept talking. It felt like whenever I said something, it only added fuel to the fires of conversation…
Ooh, what should I do? I did not want to start this field trip off by yelling at them and dampening the mood…
Then Hialis rushed up to my side. “If we cause problems, then Laika will be the one to take the heat for us. You don’t want to get Laika in trouble, do you? So we need to keep the horseplay and the jokes to a minimum, okay? Does that make sense?”
Then I heard people saying “I’ll do it for Laika” and “I don’t want Laika to be upset.”
The noise was not getting any quieter, but it seemed my intentions had reached them.
“Be especially careful of your fire, okay? The punishment for starting fires in this province is hefty. Understand?”
Everyone nodded.
Hialis then glanced over at me and whispered, “Tell them we’re done here, Sister.”
“Oh, ah… Th-that’s all! Please be sure to be back on time!”
Everyone scattered. My first job was finished.
I bowed my head to Hialis. “Thank you. It was you who kept them together.”
“It’s my job to do your work for you, Sister,” she announced confidently—but then her demeanor shifted to that of a mother scolding her child. “You’re so bad at asking for help. You’re a part of the student council now, so you need to start learning how to use others so you can get things done. This is different from visualizing things on your own.”
“Ah… I understand what you’re saying, but I am hesitant to use someone else…”
“Well, you can’t be the errand girl for other people now. This is a trial for you to overcome! Think of it as a part of your growth!”
“Oh, are you…mad at me?”
“I am. You are helpless in certain situations, after all. I’ll just have to look after you all the way until graduation! Come now, let’s go!” Hialis tugged on my hand.
“What? Where are we going?”
“You haven’t even thought about your plans for fun, have you?”
“You…are correct.”
I’d had my hands full with planning the logistics of the field trip, and I was not sure what exactly I should do to relax.
“So I’ll figure them out for you. First, they have a boat rental over there, so let’s do laps around the lake!”
Hialis’s face was full of life.
Her expressions changed so quickly and easily, much like the other students at the academy, I mused as I allowed Hialis to pull me along.
When Hialis and I boarded the boat, we gracefully rowed ourselves around the lake about fifteen times.
We had gone at a bit of a faster pace, but this was normal for a dragon.
“You’re doing great, Sister. Leisurely enjoying the scenery instead of flying around isn’t so bad.”
“Indeed. I’m thankful we have such great weather.”
“I think it’s because you’re such a hard worker, Sister.”
“Which means that it would have been my fault if it were raining. That’s quite the scare.”
“Aw, come on! You’re so mean! You never take my compliments earnestly!”
In a dramatic display, Hialis puffed out her cheeks with a smile.
This was a wonderful way to spend the time.
Our rowboat glided along the lake surface, ripples trailing behind us, but the scenery around us did not change one bit. Birds gathered at the lake’s edge, cawing with delight.
“When we’re done with the boat, we should rent some fishing gear and go fishing, Sister.”
“I don’t think I could put the worm on the hook… I have never liked slimy, wriggly things…”
“Then I’ll do it for you. It’s not too bad once you get used to it. Worms are dwarfish, powerless creatures. There is nothing to be afraid of. Dragons can easily topple worms the size of a tree, after all.”
“No, I do not like them because I do not think I can win against them.”
At the boat rental hut, we also rented some fishing tackle. It seemed as though this little shop took on all things related to tourism in this area single-handedly.
It was the first time I had ever fished in my life, but I managed to catch a trout whose scales shone like a rainbow.
“Ah, I caught one! Isn’t it rather big?”
“That’s beginner’s luck for you, Sister. Congratulations!”
“But…how am I supposed to get it off the hook…?”
Though I had managed to reel it onto land, I felt no desire to try and catch a flopping fish.
“Do you not like fish, either?” Hialis had both her hands on her hips in astonishment.
“Yes, fish appear quite slimy, you see… And that means there is no good place to hold on to it…”
“That’s a bit of a stretch. You can just say you’re viscerally repulsed by them.” With a wry smile, she dexterously removed the trout from the hook. “There are a surprising number of things you can’t handle, Sister.”
“I have never claimed otherwise.”
I vaguely remembered my elder sister toying with me when I was young. She was much more dynamic than I had been. This was a bad example, but she could slither her way into a circle of people like a slimy fish and immediately open up to all of them.
“That is true. And I’m glad that you’re still sticking around with me, Sister.”
That was a strange thing for Hialis to say.
“I don’t think it’s a question of will. We see each other every day at the academy.”
“But people in the student council are special.”
A sad smile crossed Hialis’s face.
I wanted to tell her I did not want to be special, but I had a feeling that I couldn’t convince her that I was no different from anyone else.
And when I looked at Hialis, she seemed to believe she had done something wrong.
“I…I’ll always be your sister!”
I declared.
“…Okay. I’ll never forget that.”
Hialis nodded, her face flushed.
Her sad demeanor was gone now, so I considered it mission accomplished.
Our fishing was over in a blink of an eye, and it was time for lunch.
Hialis and I set out our lunch on a shoreside patch of grass.
The boat rental house grilled the trout for us, and it sat on a plate.
“I brought a five-stack lunch box,” Hialis said.
“What? Five stacks? Will that be enough? Are you on a diet?”
The lunch box I was using was seven stacks, the one my mother used when she was a girl. Though one part of it had once broken and was repaired, it was still sturdy and made of bamboo.
“This is enough for me, so long as you’re around. I know I can always get a tiny share of yours.”
“What share?”
I soon came to understand what she meant.
“Please have my fried egg, Laika.” “I have extra sausages for you.”
The students began to approach me and offer me parts of their lunch.
“Um, I appreciate it, but…I don’t like being the sole recipient, so please take something from my lunch…”
“Oh, I couldn’t do that.”
“I fried this all myself, though!”
They did not accept this; bit by bit, food began to fill the empty spaces in my lunch box.
It was not people from my own class, either; those from other classes had even formed a line to give me food.
As I sat bewildered, Hialis was chuckling beside me. As though she had no part in this herself.
“You’re like a tax collector, Sister.”
“That’s a horrible example.”
“But they’re all giving you things out of respect. Turning them down would be rude.”
As she said, everyone did seem delighted to be giving me things.
“Everyone sees how hard you work. This whole field trip today was your plan, wasn’t it?”
“I have not announced that I was the one who planned all this, yet it seems everyone knows.”
“They want to show their appreciation. You shouldn’t feel bad about accepting that.”
I suppose I should be happy that I was being thanked in such a manner.
“I understand. I will take what I can.”
A cheer came from the line of people.
The line to give me food lasted for a little while afterward.
The last girl said to me, “The people in the student council always seemed so distant, but you’re so friendly and approachable.”
I must be doing something right, then—the members of my grade did not think of me as a burden, and in fact, they found me amicable.
The student gave me a piece of meat that had been cut into a cube.
The long line had finally cleared; no one else was waiting for me.
“What should we do for the afternoon, Sister? We could take a nap once we’re done eating. The weather is perfect for that.”
“It’s not a bad idea, but what if I sleep too long and miss the time we’re supposed to meet? I do not want to neglect my duties.”
“Then you can rest your head on my lap. I’ll wake you up so you can rest easy.”
“Will you? My elder sister used to let me rest my head on her lap, too.”
“You made the president be your pillow? You are the most powerful person in the world, Sister.”
“Oh, stop. If anything, it was my sister who insisted I—”
That moment, the bright and sunny sky suddenly darkened.
Had clouds come to cover the sun? No, we had not seen any clouds that could have drifted this way when we were flying over.
Was that a flock of roc birds in the sky?
No—those were dragons.
And their scales were pale blue …
This was the worst-case scenario—blue dragons!
Blue dragons were the natural opposite of the red dragons; they had come to attack us a number of times in the past.
The dragons landed nearby, took on their human forms, and approached us.
The one leading the pack was familiar to me—Flatorte, their commander.
She was, in a way, my elder sister’s rival; I had seen the two fighting on a number of occasions.
Put another way, she was a contender on my sister’s level. I could not defeat her in battle…
“Heard some red dragons found their way into blue-dragon territory, but look at all of you. Weak. Too weak to even be any fun.”
I see… So this was a place the blue dragons frequented.
Perhaps that was why this place had been so empty.
All the red dragons were shaking.
“Flatorte, beating these kids in a fight won’t make for a good story. Let’s go back.”
“All we did was show up, and now they’re about to cry.”
“Aww, look at their sad faces.”
As shameful as it would be, I honestly wished they would do just that. Then this incident would only be a brief unpleasant moment.
But things never went as smoothly as they should.
Flatorte found me. “Hey, you’re Leila’s little sister. And that uniform’s the same as the one Leila wears to school. So if we capture you, then Leila might show up. It’ll be a huge battle!”
“You’re right!”
“You’re so smart, Flatorte!”
“I didn’t know that was an option!”
This was bad! I couldn’t let the others get dragged into this!
“Wait!” I stepped forward to stand before Flatorte. “If your aim is to summon Leila, then face me, her younger sister. Consider the match finished if you manage to catch me. Do not lay a hand on any of the other students. We red dragons will place our pride on the line and accept any challenge proposed to us. But we do not engage in barbaric squabbles. Do not involve us in this!” I stated, placing a hand to my chest.
Though I was a newcomer, I knew I had to play my part as a member of the student council and protect everyone else!
I stared hard into Flatorte’s eyes, hoping I had convinced her.
“…”
Perhaps Flatorte’s silence meant she was examining whether what I said was true.
“…What you said was too complicated for me to understand, but a fight’s a fight, right?”
She did not understand!
“If we’ve got a reason to go all out, then that’s what we do. That’s all. C’mon, guys, you’re fighting with me!”
The blue dragons’ wild cheers and my classmates’ screams filled the air.
Flatorte was still staring at me; she could not move carelessly because of that.
“You’re the strongest one here. I could tell right away.”
“Did you think I was strong simply because I’m Leila’s little sister?”
This dragon has been desperately trying to keep up with Leila as well; I doubted she saw me as anything more than her little sister.
Though it bothered me, I suppose it was natural from the perspective of skill.
“Nah, instinct.”
“Your instinct?!”
“I, the great Flatorte, have sharp intuition. If there’s a fork in the road, and I don’t know if I’m supposed to go left or right, I’ll let my instincts decide. I’m usually right fifty percent of the time.”
“That is a rather pedestrian probability…”
“Details! I’ll show you the best battle you’ve ever had!” Flatorte rushed at me.
Though she called it a battle, she was wasting so much energy on her movements. She was like a drunken ruffian.
But she attacked much faster than I could, and she sent kick after kick in my direction. Her movements were terribly inefficient, but they were also quite quick.
I stuck out my knee to guard; I thought I had successfully blocked the blow.
But…
I staggered.
Flatorte’s tail had whipped out to entangle my other leg.
That’s right! Unlike red dragons, blue dragons kept their tails when they took on human form… I needed to keep that in mind as I fought!
Will she step in after I’ve fallen to deal a punch?
I could use both hands still, so I would not be hit so easily.
But as the possibility entered my mind, Flatorte opened her mouth.
A midwinter blizzard blasted my whole being! A cold breath attack at point-blank range!
This was the unique skill of the blue dragons, who lived in frigid regions!
Oh dear… My body went numb with cold, and my movements slowed.
“Oh, what’s wrong? What’s wrong, huh? Make it interesting; attack me more!” She then kicked me several times in rapid succession.
I managed to put some distance between us…but she had the upper hand right from the start.
“Ha, you red dragons always have to come up with stupid reasons to fight. You sure you’re not weaker ’cause you’ve decided to adopt culture from those dumb humans? A fight’s a fight. You make too much of it, your instinct goes dull. See? You couldn’t dodge my tail or my cold breath.”
“Rgh… You waste so much energy, yet I let my guard down.”
“I don’t waste anything. I, the great Flatorte, only make the attacks I think are best. That’s how I climbed to the top of the blue dragons.”
What she said was strangely convincing.
If she was so used to squabbling in this manner that the path she believed in had become the most effective choice…then maybe she was an outstanding warrior in her own right!
My opponent had outmatched her enemies by honing her instincts!
But if the enemy had her own form, then this became a true competition.
This was no ordinary squabble but a match against the art of battle that was street fighting!
I would accept this challenge and grow.
“Hey, your eyes changed. That’s how Leila used to look at me.”
“The distractions will hold you back if you think of my sister too much,” I said.
For some reason, Flatorte snickered. “I, the great Flatorte, can only think of the enemy in front of me. Don’t worry. I won’t spend our fight thinking about the next dragon I’m gonna beat up.”
“Then you have no excuses if you lose against me!”
It was my turn to rush forward.
Now I would be getting a fresh start!
If her strategy was rough-and-tumble battle…then I would pour all the battle tactics I had cultivated thus far into our fight!
We had fought to what was essentially a stalemate.
Several of my hits had connected. Flatorte’s defense was sloppy; it was hard to call her blocks perfect by any means.
But perhaps saying we were on equal footing was a bit much… She had the upper hand. She paid no mind to any of my hits that connected with her and moved to attack me.
The biggest nuisance was her tail.
Red dragons did not have them; though this was a one-on-one fight, it would move independently of her arms and legs and attack me when I got close, so I felt as if I was fighting two on one anyway.
If this were to drag on too long, I would be the first to wipe out…
“Oh yeah, you said something about distractions, right?” Flatorte sneered. “I’m going to shoot that right back at you.”
“What do you mean?”
“All you can think about is your red-dragon friends. And that distraction is making your reactions slower!”
She saw right through me.
She was right. I could hear my classmates’ voices all around me, so I could not fight with an empty mind.
Not only that, but I was the only first-year student in the student council. I was responsible for protecting everyone else…
“Heh, hard to understand what you think you’re doing if all that weight is just making you weaker.” She sneered again. “A free Flatorte is stronger than a weakling and her obligations!”
Flatorte rushed at me again. Was she going to use her cold breath? Or was it going to be a physical attack?
She attacked with both her tail and her fist at the same time!
“Double strike! Doing whatever you want, whenever you want, is the style of the great Flatorte!”
And so, she darted right into my personal space, inhaling for another breath attack.
This was the closest I’d been to the source of the blizzard thus far!
I quickly lost feeling in my hands. Oh no… If the rest of my body goes numb, she will flatten me…
“You underestimate us, Sister!”
A cry reached my ears.
It was Hialis.
Though we were in the middle of a fight, there was a plea in her eyes.
“We’re academy students, too. Proud red dragons! We will get over this small hurdle! You have to use all your strength and win, too!”
“Exactly!”
“We won’t lose!”
“We’re red dragons; we’ll hang in there!”
I could hear the voices coming from all around me.
Ah, I’m sorry, everyone.
I had turned you all into burdens to be carried.
But you are all proud classmates of mine.
And I had to manage my own situation first before I could take on others’ weight. It was time to concentrate on the enemy before me.
“We will win, Sister, I swear it! You don’t need to worry about us at all! Don’t insult us! I’ll give you very sore muscles if you do!”
Hialis’s voice calmed me.
“I have so many people on my side that I cannot lose.”
And…I dove right into her breath!
“What?!” Flatorte exclaimed in amazement, cutting off the frigid flow.
She never expected I would walk right into it.
I trusted my instincts, too.
I would choose the best method of attack! Even if it was illogical, I would trust in it!
And I breathed fire on her at point-blank range! How do you like that?!
“Dammit! That’s hot! That’s so hot!”
Such a simple idea left Flatorte wide open.
My hands did not stop—I moved straight into a punch.
Her tail whipped toward me to attack…but I paid it no mind and sent my fist flying!
This was a fight. I did not care if I got injured.
It didn’t matter, so long as I wounded my enemy more!
It did hurt, but I felt the tides had turned in my favor. Something in the air had changed. There was a gust of wind pushing me forward.
This was a battle among multiple people, an entanglement of all their hopes and intentions.
If all of us red dragons believed we had the upper hand; if all the blue dragons believed they were losing…
Then that would truly turn the tides of this fight!
I fought freely, with fire and kicks together.
The fire blocked my vision and made me less effective. Not even the youngest of red dragons fought like this.
But Flatorte was unable to predict I would attack in such a way, and she could not block me!
“Dammit! You’re all over the place! Grr, come on!” she complained.
All I had to do was keep pushing!
“I’ll freeze you to the bone!” she shouted.
Now she was going to use her cold breath—but I kicked at the ground first.
Clumps of black earth got into her mouth.
“Peh! Bleh! What are you doing?!”
“There are no rules in a tussle!” I let my fist fly as Flatorte’s fighting spirit withered away.
I grabbed her arm with my left hand and punched with my right. This was my own way of brawling!
“Dammit! Stop, stop!”
“How can I?!”
Everyone else could tell I was on the offensive now.
“You can do this!” they called.
“We’d never lose to you!”
“I’m right here if you need any help!”
The tide was indeed turning in our favor! I could also tell that everyone else was putting up a good fight.
At last, several of the blue dragons began suggesting they retreat.
In some places, my classmates were teaming up to face the enemy in two-on-ones or three-on-twos. This was a full-on brawl, so there was no strict need to go one-on-one.
“Crap! This shit sucks! I’m going home! C’mon, guys!”
The blue dragons took on their dragon forms and left, with Flatorte at the helm.
The red dragons were victorious.
“We made it through…” I sat down on the grass and sighed.
I had breathed so many flames that the inside of my mouth felt hot.
The rest of my classmates formed a circle around me.
Due to the fight, some of their uniforms were dirtied or even torn; we would be scolded for poorly representing the academy.
But everyone looked proud.
Hialis stepped forward. “We’ve gotten a lot stronger, Sister. You see that clearly now, right?”
“Of course. I will need your aid in the future.”
“But we only won because of you.”
Hialis pulled tightly on my hand, and I staggered to my feet. “It’s time to celebrate!”
The rest of my classmates closed in around me.
“Huh? What are you doing? Will you tell me…?”
“I just came up with it now, so of course not!”
“You rule, Laika!”
“Hip, hip, hurray!”
“You’re the star of the first-years, Laika!”
And for some reason, all my classmates lifted me up and started tossing me into the air. And since they were all dragons, I was thrown to the height of the tallest tree.
I believe that was the first time in a long while that I had been up so high in my human form.
My heart suddenly felt free of its chains.
“Ah, and the weather today was perfect,” I murmured as I reached the apex.
The End
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