"Aer! Aer, are you okay?!" Raevin shouted, as he slammed open the door of the room. Inside the room was Aer, who was laying down on a bed right now, with someone who wore a black coat and glasses looking over for him. His clothes were all nicely folded up and washed next to him, but there was a blanket on his body that covered his waist and everything below it, so only the upper torso was seen.
"Raevin..." he said, starting to move but then his face contorted as he felt pain.
"Hold on, boy. We used healing magic and potions on you, as requested, but the injuries you sustained were severe enough that you need a few hours before you are fully back to normal. You are lucky that you were found soon enough to have recovery magic used on you. So until I say so, do not get out of that bed, got it?"
Aer nodded, understanding. As the doctor left the room though, Iosi quickly prepared a rug right before Raevin ran over and collapsed by Aer's bedside.
"Thank the gods...I didn't want to lose the one classmate I managed to find so far..."
Aer blushed a bit, not used to people showing such concern for him.
"Thanks...I am surprised you heard".
"I am always monitoring things, given everything we have heard and learned. Here, scoot over. I am laying down next to you".
"Erm...Raevin, I dont think..."
"The only other person in here is Iosi. Iosi, make sure no one enters".
"On it".
"You know I am not dressed under..."
"I dont care, we are both boys anyways, so give me this".
Aer couldn't help but listen to Raevin, and scootched over a little, letting Raevin lay in the bed next to him after he took off his shoes Of course, Raevin was taller, but Aer did not have a height complex.
Raevin found Aer's hand, and gripped it tight. Aer felt it was nice, gripping the hand of someone so reliable...of a friend. It had been so long since he felt such a thing, aside from Saphri.
And then, Aer found himself starting to cry all of a sudden.
"Why...why does this keep happening to me?!" Aer cried, as he burried his face into Raevin.
"You know who attacked you?"
"Not specifically, although there is one name I think of first. But I know it was one of the knights in the barracks. After all, I am the only commoner Dragon Knight in this Kingdom. After all, it requires bonding with a Dragon Egg shortly after you are born. Only Nobles can really get those, so everyone hated and discriminated against me. Even in the Academy, I was always being harassed, embarrassed, or worse".
"Its that bastard, I am sure of it. The one I saw humiliating you when I arrived, Heywood".
"We have no proof though...and he is a high ranking noble. How can we..." Aer said, as he lifted his head off of Raevin's chest. He got a bit embarassed since the blanket got tossed aside though.
"That is quite simple" an older man's voice said, entering. Aer became quite embarrassed as he was seen, but Raevin had the much stronger reaction as he jumped out of the bed.
"Father?!"
"Hello son. Sorry it took so long for us to meet".
At this exact moment, Raevin and Aer came face to face with Raevin's father, Margrave Rikken Cromley. Aer attempted to get out of bed to kneel, but Rikken raised his hand.
"I am not such a cruel person as to make an injured boy stand. Although..."
As he said that, he moved in and examined Aer's body. Aer was super uncomfortable, but he understood the power of nobles and did not do anything to offend.
"...your arms and frame are small and thin, they appear tender. It doesn't look like there is much muscle. And yet, the way they are...they are tender, but refined. What you lack in muscle mass, you seem flexible and nimble. Even able to move like that effortlessly despite needing ours of healing. Ah, could you role over please?"
"Dad?" Raevin asked, as Aer rolled over onto his stomach.
"As expected, your legs are the same...you use magic to boost yourself physically to meet the strength requirements, since it seems you are not able to build up much muscle. However, you clearly have quite the flexibility, and adaptability. I bet, when riding, you dont sit upon your rear as much right, and instead prefer to hug your dragon when flying at high speeds. You do have enough mass and protection to sit normally though, but not that much. A very well balanced frame".
"Dad...I think you are embarrassing him" Raevin mentioned, as Aer tried to dig his head into a pillow. Rikken pulled the covers back up over his body.
"Sorry, but I wanted to see for myself, the young Dragon Rider that had caught my son's eye. Certainly, we have room for one, and it would be great to have one. But as the current Margrave, I had to ensure that you were physically exceptional, or at least capable. I see great promise from you, so I approve".
"So we can recruit him?"
"Yes, though we should bring it up with the king during the party. Technically speaking, although he graduated, he is still a Cadet and so is still technically a part of the Academy, which is overseen directly by the royal family. Although we could go through the process ourselves, if we got the King's backing it would be far easier".
"I see. Thank you father".
"Its fine, you dont normally get this passionate...its nice to see you make friends your own age. And if he is a Cadet by age thirteen, he must be skilled. Most dont graduate until fourteen or fifteen, but he graduated at age twelve. I would love to hear some stories about the Academy, if that is okay?"
"Ah...sure. And thank you" Aer said.
"Now, you get some rest. I have assigned two guards to protect you while me, my son, and Iosi go and attend the party and deal with this mess".
Aer just nodded, as Saphri, who had been laying down in the corner the whole time, watched and nodded.
"Counting on you too of course..."
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Rikuo was extremely tense. At the moment, he was wearing some rather nice clothing they had been given, courtesy of the crown princess. Originally, they had been given clothes on the orders of Jezre, but...well, they had been dresses for all five of them. Although there were certainly circumstances where boys wore dresses in this world, such as religous reasons, holiday reasons, ceremonial reasons, and weddings, as it seemed that the weddings in this world had the genders swapped for what clothes they would wear, this was not any of them.
That said, sometimes young children were made to, in the hopes they might not run around as much, and apparently Rikuo appeared like he was that age. But the Crown Princess had them covered.
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Although they way they had first met each other was a bit of a trauma for Rikuo, it appeared she was now fully their ally.
And now, in dress shirts and shorts, with nice shoes as well, they were on their way to meet the king. Rumors had it the king was a kind, honorable man, with a deep passion for promoting education and culture. He even had a large swimming pool installed within the city, open for anyone to use. It appeared that there was a strong and popular swimming culture in this world despite no swimsuits, probably since they didn't care about nudity as much.
However, for the king, they had to make sure to act respectfully, even if they were his guests there at his request.
"Now entering, Rikuo, Herra, Sora, and Arila, and the legendary spear, Ruuruu".
Incidentally, whatever magic the maids had used had worn off, so Ruuruu was in spear form again. He was sheathed on Rikuo's back, and had used his ability to modify the handle length to make it Rikuo sized.
"Hou....You are all quite young, but clearly quite talented" he said, as they took a knee and bowed before him.
"See, didn't I tell you they were cute?" Crown Princess Esmerelda mentioned, causing Rikuo to twitch quite a bit.
"Hmmm...Rikuo, approach".
Hearing the King's request, Rikuo approached, although the guards seemed wary all the same. However, the king raised a hand and had them stand down, while becking Rikuo closer. Eventually, he was standing right in front of the king, when the king picked him up and put Rikuo on his lap.
"You are right. He does seem quite cute".
The king's attendent, Jezre, seemed totally calm, but Herra could sense through her Intuition skill that he was actively thinking about murdering Rikuo right now.
"Umm...your majesty?"
"Sorry...you are actually thirteen, but when you are so small like this, it just makes me want to do this. I don't know why...by any chance, are you suffering from an annoying or bothersome title or curse?"
"...title".
"Ah, that would explain it. Still, your body is quite young, so do make sure you keep it fed well. Here".
Suddenly, the king cut his own hand, and fed the blood to Rikuo. Everyone was shocked by this, but what especially shocked Rikuo was the smell.
Normally, he was able to resist drinking any random blood. But when it came to royal blood, he dove right in if it flowed in front of him. As such, everyone watched as Rikuo fed from the king's blood, appearing to be in a state of bliss.
"You see, the royal blood has contained special magical properties for generations. Not only that, but we eat the best tasting, healthiest ingredients from across the land, which richens the nuitrients in it. So its quite the delicacy to vampires such as yourself, and even conveys special benefits".
"Your majesty...you should probably stop then, wont that boy drain you dry?" Jezre mentioned in warning.
However, the king just took out a health potion, and drank it.
"That was a special healing potion that also helps restore blood loss over time. This boy will grow much stronger if fed well, and I would love if it one of our heroes was in his prime. Not only that, but we have the actual hero we have discoered as well as the Hero Summoning Ritual. So lets go all out with this one, and show them the golden age that is surely coming. After all, I am sure I can count on the efforts of this one, whether he is tied to the crown or not".
"Understood, your grace".
Everyone just watched as the king let Rikuo drink his fill...unlike the Princess, who only have him a little after using healing water magic, he gave Rikuo quite a bit.
It took a few minutes before Rikuo had really finished and was satisfied.
"Ahhhh....that was great, thanks your majesty".
"Its quite alright. Now then, shall we go over some things before the main party?"
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"...is this really necessary?" Fang said, feeling a bit embarrassed as the wolf ears on his head twitched. As for what was bothering him, it was the collar, or rather, the choker around his neck.
"Yes. This is a special magic tool we created. It will let you control your werewolf form more. We paid the incredibly expensive fee to have it soul bound to your body, so you will be able to transform if you want without breaking it. We also put in some safety measures".
"Wait hold on, what safety..."
"Sit boy!"
Suddenly, Fang found himself being compelled to sit down on the ground in front of the twins.
"We made it so you have to obey any commands we give. Its for our peace of mind in case you somehow lose control. We also made it impossible for anyone but us to take off. With this, congrats, you are officially able to sleep at night without transforming".
Although there was some clear annoyance from the twins in terms of what he put them through, Fang still felt it was a bit unreasonable.
That said, after a good minute, he was finally able to stand back up after the sit command was given. At the same time, Lutessa came back into the room.
"So, is it done?"
"The big bad wolf should be tame now, and we put in some extra safety measures for our sake. Since we have suffered a great deal these last few nights".
"...just dont be unreasonable, okay?"
"Making me obediently obey commands is totally unreasonable!"
Ardet and Arlit turned and faced him.
"You want us to order you to strip and go play in the mud? Cause, we will".
"I am very, very sorry!"
"Right, well, with that done...we have gathered some information about potential classmates, but it doesn't look like we are in position to meet any of them right now, at least unless you want to storm the royal castle".
Lutessa twitched a little, hearing that.
"...I would rather not want to piss off the entire country. Are you saying there are some good candidates there?"
"There are two groups of commoners, who have many people who are thirteen years old, who have displayed exceptional skills and abilities. One of them pulled out a spear that was sealed by another Otherworlder, and one of them fought against a ton of brutes, won, and even rescued a family. She is apparently a Hero, and has a little brother traveling with her that may be a future sage. But the one I am absolutely sure of, there is a thirteen year old girl who uses a dual sword style among them that is crazy skilled..."
"Well, I can see why you would think that. Two swords, very skilled, and the right age? It has to be the kendo club captain".
"Exactly. Hence why I am so confident. That said, it seems like there have been some strange goings on. A lot of thugs and people acting out on violent impulses, and just last night, a boy in the noble district got beaten up, and maybe worse, and was sent to a medical clinic. There are also some reports of kidnapings, and disappearances...honestly speaking, this could be a possible threat..."
In that moment, Lutessa stood up, a strong and determined look in her eyes.
"If there is a potential threat to my students, I need to deal with it" she said, heading to the door. She was jerked back though when someone grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving. She turned, and saw it was Fang, with the twins Ardet and Arlit there as well.
"You dont seriously think we will let you go out on your own, right?"
"So you want us to stay here and do nothing?" Lutessa asked.
"No, I am saying we will go with you. Or if you stay behind, go ourselves".
Hearing that, Lutessa glared at them.
"No way! You guys have already faced more danger then I am willing to allow!"
"You might be our teacher, but you dont control our lives! You taught us that you should always try to do the right thing, right? Well in this world, we can fight. We have fought! And we will have to keep fighting! And if I damn well trapped as a Werewolf, then at the very least, I am going to use that power as I want!"
"...Fang..."
Lutessa was shocked, but the twins took his side.
"We cant allow this to happen either. This is a different world teacher, and we have to get used to it! We have to play by its rules, and its customs. And we sure as hell wont let some jerks stomp all over people when we have the power to stop them!"
Lutessa could see it in their eyes. The look of determination, of refusing to back down. There was no way she could convince them to abandon this quest now.
"Very well...then we shall go together at least, and make a plan. And we do this right. I dont like it...but I understand it. Lets make this city a safer place for the rest of our class".
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"Those stinking commoners, daring to sit upon his majesty's lap, drinking his blood with so much gluttony!" he said, kicking his usual kicking object, Haru, who flew into another wall, and was badly hurt.
Jezre had left to attend to other matters, and was having Haru and Jace handle various trivial things. But he could not help but once again kick and abuse Haru.
"Just like your mother, so incompetant!" he screamed, as he headed towards Haru once more, planning on finishing him off. He was just a weak willed servant boy anyways...
"Jezre, you meanie! Don't hurt my hubby!"
A young girl's voice forced him to stop, as he turned to see the third princess, Elaine.
"Erwin told me you were being mean to Haru again! I hate you Jezre! Meanie!"
"Err...the second prince did? Shouldn't he be recovering still?"
He said that, but Elaine went over to Haru. Although he was thirteen, he appeared younger, maybe ten or eleven, maybe a very short twelve. The third princess saw that Haru's head was bleeding, and pulled his head onto her lap, giving him a lap pillow as she began to sing.
However, that song seemed to turn into energy, and a glow came over Haru as he behan to heal and recover.
"Jezre, leave now! Haru is mine today and mine only!"
"But..."
"Leave! I dont want to talk to you, you are a meanie!"
"...I understand, Third Princess"
Seeing Elaine using her healing song, he departed...but his grudge only worsened.
"See? Its like you keep fearing, these commoner trash just keep worming their way in" a man's voice said to him. Jezre turned around, and saw someone he was happy to see.
"The Otherworlder Hero, Darius Black!"
"Yes. I just arrived, a bit early I know, but I wanted to talk with you about a solution I thought of to fix this issue".
"A solution? As expected of an Otherworlder who became a Noble, you always seem to come up with something!"
"Indeed. And with this plan, you should be able to convince the king about how correct your feelings are. All we have to do, is follow the plan to the letter".
Darius said that, with a smile that could sell the brooklyn bridge.