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Today was a day to celebrate victory, especially for my three friends who had just finished their first subjugation mission, and not just any puny subjugation, an actual drake who, if not for Dad and his knights, would have taken platoons of soldiers to take down while expecting heavy casualties.

Not only was their first major subjugation a success but their contributions were considered critical to the swift and relatively safe subjugation of the drake, making the only truly troublesome part of the mission the transportation of the drake’s carcass out of the woods.

Dad’s men had to go back to the old farmer and requisition a cart to lug the carcass and ended up needing to take a huge roundabout route to fit the cart between trees, but we managed to get home before sundown and handed the carcass over to the house staff to break the drake down.

That night, we had the rather rare delicacy of Drake steaks. Our personal chef actually broke out in tears at the chance to cook such a rare ingredient, and I got to say, drake steaks kick the shit out of regular beef stakes, while it was slightly tougher than beef, the meaty flavor was a lot more impactful

As for everything that was not the meat, we sold them to the alchemist and leatherworker, but with the number of holes we put in the drake, its value decreased drastically, but I did get promised a replacement for my cut gloves made from the drake’s hide.

As for the teeth, claws, and bones, they were sold to the alchemist to be tempered via an alchemical treatment that other crafters could later use.

The only bone we did not pass to the alchemist was the drake's skull, we had plans to mount it as a trophy in the foyer.

***

Over the next few weeks, until we had to prepare to return to the academy, it was a rather relaxing break from academic life. I spent those days with my friends, visiting the town and going on a few smaller-scale subjugation missions where we were facing pest-level monsters, where the knights let my friends loose on the monsters and stood around for backup.

This was as real as a real-life experience they were getting outside the protection of the academy, but to be honest, they were in no real danger while they had knights playing chaperone.

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Other than that, when we were talking about school life, my smithing and enchanting lessons came up during one of our lunches, “That sounds like a nice hobby to have, I am quite partial to archery and a little wood carving from time to time when I am stressed.” dad said.

“But if I pick that up as a hobby, I am going to need to bother the local blacksmith for his space.” I said as I bit into a piece of meat.

“Nonsense, we have a small abandoned house out back that the men use to store broken equipment. I am sure we can clear it out and spruce it up, turning it into a small workshop for you. When you come back for your breaks, and after you finish your schooling, you can use it more frequently.” Dad suggested, and I got to say, it sounded like a good idea, so I agreed to it,

It was a good project to have, but I told Dad that I would only have a chance and time to use it when I got home next year. Dad just nodded and said that it would be prepared when I got home next year, saying that this was a present for doing so well in school, and bringing honor and recognition to the family name.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the Royal Academy, the only difference was that Emma was following us back, she had already taken the entrance test to get a scholarship at Earl Beaufort’s territory and was just waiting for the day we would be traveling together.

We loaded up on the carriage we hired to get here and said our goodbyes. it was extra emotional for Emma’s parents that their little girl was going to be away from them for a whole year.

As Emma hugged her parents and cried into her mother’s bosom, saying that they would miss each other, her father, Klaus, came up to me and bowed, “Young Master Luke, please take care of our girl in the capital, she is a sweet girl, but a little naive.”

I held his shoulders to prevent him from bowing any further, “That goes without saying, Klaus, I will take care of her.” I said as I puffed my chest out, no matter how unimpressive it was before Klaus’ naturally muscular figure, but all the same, he was happy with my answer.

Soon, we were on the carriage and rolling out of the estate’s gate, all the while waving goodbye to our parents and house staff.

Sometime after we left the town, Emma, with her still puffy eyes, scooted closer to me and hugged my arm. At first, I thought she was just being extra clingy, but I felt her slightly trembling, and that's when it came to me, this was the first time in her life that she was going to be away from her family for an extended period of time, and she was scared.

This was the same type of fear that children experience on their first day of school, this just reminds me that she is still an eighth-year-old child who was not going to see the face of her family for the next year and that I was the closest thing to family that she had.

As she was trembling while hugging my arm hard enough to start cutting off blood flow, I reached out with my other hand and stroked her head until she calmed down and eventually fell asleep on my shoulder.

Don’t you worry, big brother Luke will always look out for you.