Dragonlord

Ep 168. I’m Always Right Here. (2)

Ep 168. I’m Always Right Here. (2)

As far as Serenis knew, the Historian hadn’t answered Light and Karas’ inquiry in the slightest; the entire group had been banished from the Archive as soon as the half had asked if they could view her own records.

But ever since then, Light had been examining herself on a strangely frequent basis. It’d finally seemed to cease as she fell asleep…only for her to awaken in the middle of the night to go out for no apparent reason.

‘…And Karas chased after her like a madman.’

As soon as the dragonlord had informed Karas of their student’s whereabouts, he’d scrambled out of the cave in a hurry, straight towards the direction Serenis had pointed him too.

She wasn’t particularly concerned, of course; their mana were both within her range of detection, and she couldn’t sense any other dangerous presences besides. For all she knew, Light had gone for a simple walk, and Karas had decided to chase her due to safety concerns.

The professor had evidently given up on returning to the Archive. And even if he were to attempt anything suspicious, Light could likely beat him down bare-handed in his current state.

But even so…

“…”

Serenis glanced at the spider on her shoulder. Despite the lack of evidence, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was something going on between them – something that wasn’t exactly dangerous per se, but something serious nonetheless.

“…What do you suppose it is, Raizel?”

“…Screeee.”

Although the spider couldn’t answer in proper words, considering the youngling’s tone and nature, it didn’t take much to guess what the chirping meant – which was probably something along the lines of ‘beats me.’

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“Then again…stranger things have happened, I suppose.”

“Chirp! Chirp!”

“…”

Okay, that time even Serenis didn’t know what Raizel was saying.

Thankfully, according to Karas, relocating Raizel’s soul back to her body was a relatively easy process –assuming that the youngling’s physical body remained empty and alive, and he was present to facilitate it.

Had Karas died at the Archive, even Serenis wouldn’t know what to do with spider-Raizel otherwise. The youngling might’ve had to live out her entire life as an arachnid.

So, despite all that’s happened…and all that’s happening…

‘…It’s a good thing he’s alive.’

Probably.

✧   ✧   ✧

Karas rapidly darted his eyes along the snowy treeline.

Most trees were devoid of leaves, their branches covered in snow as they waited for spring’s coming. But the lack of foliage allowed an ample amount of light to shine through from the moonlit skies, providing the professor with a much-needed range of vision.

And soon, he’d spot his student some distance ahead, leisurely sitting atop a snow-covered boulder. She was leisurely staring up at the sky, waving her legs back and forth while humming a soft tune.

Soon, her twitching ears would pick up her teacher’s footsteps.

The half’s tune came to a fading cease as she lowered her head. Once Karas approached the boulder she was sitting on, she playfully wove her hand, grinning at the sight of her teacher.

“You’re awake! Are you feeling better now? Pro-fe-ssor?”

“…Thanks to the crystal you gave me, yes.”

“Crystal? What crystal?”

“I was told that you fed me a mana crystal?”

“I did?...Oh. I mean, yeah. I did.”

“…?”

“You’re welcome!”

Despite his student’s cheery tone, Karas frowned at the oddness of the conversation’s flow. It couldn’t have been that long ago when Light had supposedly fed him the crystal, and yet, it seemed as if she was having trouble recalling the event.

“…Seems you’re not as awake as usual, Light. What’re you doing up already?”

“Oh, I don’t know…I just woke up for some reason, so I went for a walk.”

“…”

“What’re you looking so grumpy about? Here, have a seat.”

Light dashed her hands along the boulder’s snowy surface, clearing up a small space beside her.

Sighing, Karas eventually walked up the boulder’s height to sit at his student’s side.

“Even if it’s safe, staying up this late can’t be good for you. I needn’t remind you how cold it gets in Asarda during the night. And we still don’t know what the Historian did to you; you shouldn’t go far out alone.”

“Pfft. Nag, nag, nag…look at you, worrying about me. Since when were you so nice?”

“…”

Karas dropped his gaze, wreathing in guilt and shame as he reminisced the last moments before Felicir’s possession.

No matter how hard he tried, his mind refused to forget how he’d attacked the student sitting beside him.

“…I’m deeply sorry for what I did at Chell. If there’s anything I can do to make up for it, then-”

“There is!”

Karas slowly raised his head, surprised by his student’s immediate answer. But when he looked up, Light was beaming a mischievous smile, making the academic gulp in a mix of anticipation and fear.

“And that…would be…?”

“You can tell me about who I used to be.”

“…Who you used to be?”

The cat half nodded her head enthusiastically. Her voice grew louder in excitement as she urged her professor on.

“Yeah! You said the person you want to see is my past life, right? What did I look like?”

“…Well…she looked surprisingly like you. If you were older, you two might’ve looked the exact same.”

“Uh huh..”

Light let out a thin groan, as if disappointed by the lack of difference. She pursed her lips in a pouting manner, though it soon motivated her to move onto another topic.

“How did we meet then? Was I still your student?”

“…Pfah. No, not at all. If anything, you were the teacher, and I was your student.”

“Really? What did I teach you?”

“…”

Karas made a thin smile as he looked over his student.

In a way, he could almost see the past in the present – despite their swap in roles, they’d always been a teacher and student to one another. And as much as Karas had learned from her, he was now returning the favor.

After a brief pause, the professor closed his eyes to deliver his reply.

“Important things…things I should never forget.”

“Important things? Like what?”

“Like…”