“What on earth happened to put Liolikin in that state?”
Reysir was the first to ask the question I wanted to voice.
Yor then covered his two eyes with his index and middle fingers, and without moving the fingers, twisted his wrist as if poking at the air.
I thought, could he be poking his eyes? Alarmed, I quickly checked Liolikin’s face again, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Both of his eyeballs were intact, and there was no bleeding from his eye sockets.
“So, is he trying to say he just glared at him?”
“Meow!”
Yor vigorously nodded at my question.
That meant Liolikin had been frightened just by Yor’s gaze.
Although Yor was a dragon, he was still a baby, and to everyone here, he appeared as a very long, slender cat.
“That doesn’t look promising.”
“O‡o!”
Yor shook his head this time.
Then he took out a whiteboard from his orb and started writing something.
「Fear vs Greater Fear」
He was proposing to pit fear against an even greater fear.
I was puzzled by the phrase, but after repeating it several times, a plausible interpretation emerged in my mind.
“If you face a greater fear, the original fear you felt becomes insignificant and you can overcome it?”
“Meow meow meow~!”
Yor’s meows carried a rhythm like a ‘ding-dong-deng~!’ sound.
It was an unusually cheerful sound to be talking about fear, but in any case, it meant he was correct.
“Wow… how on earth did you understand that weird phrase…?”
I almost told Vigdis that my sentence reasoning had improved thanks to her terrible explanations, but I stopped myself.
Right now, it was more important to see if Yor’s theory would actually work rather than making Vigdis reflect on her writing skills.
‘It might not be the right way to strengthen mental health, but there is some sense to it.
If your fear threshold rises, you’ll stop being scared of trivial things!
Besides, Liolikin’s fear didn’t come from specific experiences, did it?
It’s just an illusion born from the original author’s cowardly characterization.
Therefore, the baby dragon’s wise theory might actually be a suitable solution for improving Liolikin’s problem.
Only, it’s ridiculous that the ‘greater fear’ Yor suggests is just the ‘baby dragon’s glare.’
It’s not even a greater fear—more like a smaller one, and just plain cute.
Yet even this is overwhelming for the current Liolikin.
‘For now, leaving it to Yor seems the best option…?’
Liolikin probably can’t endure a greater fear yet.
Later, when he gets used to the baby dragon’s gaze, we can try scaring him in other ways.
If we gradually raise the difficulty like that, maybe one day he’ll be able to spar—and even fight in real combat.’
“Meowaaang…!”
***
When I woke up, Yor was pressing his face close to mine, letting out a mournful meow.
I was puzzled for a moment, but then I understood why.
Too much light was pouring through the window for it to be morning.
‘Whether weekday or weekend, I always got up early at dawn, but now I only opened my eyes at noon, so it was natural to worry…
Even yesterday, after private whip training with Skadi, I went straight to bed without eating dinner.
And yet I slept this long.
I briefly visited the infirmary before lunch, but unfortunately, the attendant could only treat external injuries.
So while the bruises on my body were healed, my stamina didn’t recover.
I was just scolded with things like, “Student, if you’re tired, sleep more. What’s this about coming to the infirmary with dark circles under your eyes asking to restore your stamina?”
‘I should have at least agreed when Elska scolded the infirmary staff’s negligence before…
Anyway, because of that, I had to keep using the buff trick to boost stamina even while learning Whip Technique.
This situation is the direct result.’
“I’m sorry for worrying you, Yor. I’ll be more careful managing my stamina next time.”
“Meow, nyaang, nyaa~!”
Yor meowed sulkily as I petted the baby dragon’s head.
If this happens again, I think he’ll really get mad, so I should refrain from repeatedly using buffs to borrow stamina from the future.
“I ate well while I was asleep, right?”
“Mya…”
“Good job.”
***
After finishing training with Skadi, I told Yor to eat dinner on his own.
Back then, Yor wouldn’t have been the only one sent to the Dining Hall like this.
I was worried some ill-mannered person might say something rude to him.
But now that I unintentionally had to sit at the same table as the Original Protagonist, I figured Reysir would handle any such situation, so I told Yor to go ahead.
Still, I didn’t expect to sleep in this late, so I hadn’t left any instructions about dinner afterward.
If the growing baby dragon had been starving waiting for me to wake up, I would’ve felt terrible guilt.
Thankfully, the wise baby dragon seemed to have eaten properly, understanding my feelings.
Feeling relieved, I stood up and checked the time.
‘Is it already 2 PM…? It seems too late to grab lunch at the Dining Hall…!
The Dining Hall was open nonstop from 5 AM to 11:50 PM.
Because of one thoughtless setting by the original author, the workers in this world were overworked.
Anyway, the reason I thought it was late was…
“I should soon go see Professor Radvisin… and I need to wash up first…”
I trailed off and glanced at Yor’s expression.
I felt awkward about admitting I’d overslept, worried him, and was about to skip three meals in a row.
“Haah…”
Yor sighed deeply while staring at me, then raised his hand to point at the table.
Naturally, my eyes followed his gesture, landing on some bread.
“Yor, did you bring that?”
“Nyan.”
Yor shook his head at my question, denying it, then took out the whiteboard and scribbled something.
“Reysir gave it to me…?”
“Meow~.”
“…When?”
TOXHJ
“Last night?”
“Meow!”
Knowing my character, Reysir wouldn’t have failed to ask why I skipped meals after hearing about it.
After all, he’s the protagonist of a Korean web novel who takes food seriously.
Also, upon hearing I was so exhausted after sparring with him and learning Whip Technique from Skadi that I passed out without eating, it makes sense he would worry and offer help.
‘Did he prepare it for me to eat if I woke up hungry in the middle of the night…?’
It was time to eat at least some simple bread, so I sat at the table.
Perhaps thinking I wouldn’t touch cheap bread sold at the convenience store, Reysir had bought bread from a proper bakery.
He must have gone outside the Academy after dinner, but by then most bakeries were closed.
‘Even if it was someone else skipping meals, Reysir would have taken care of them like this! That’s just how protagonists are; the Original Protagonist Reysir is no different. In other words, this is just another affection event.’
Even as I muttered this to steel my resolve—
‘Honestly, it’s kind of… no, very touching…!’
This thought slipped out without me realizing it.
Now that I had slept well and my mind felt refreshed, I could entertain such thoughts about affection events.
But what if I hadn’t simply been tired and gone to bed early, but had collapsed from illness and hadn’t fully recovered yet?
‘I might have fallen completely for this affection event trick…!’
I now had more reasons to focus on stamina management and conditioning.
There’s no time more vulnerable than when you’re sick.
At least this semester, I’d manage my health well to avoid illness.
Drawing that conclusion, I picked up the bread, and Yor placed a 200mL milk carton on the table.
He must have taken it out from the Aether Mini Refrigerator in the room, though I didn’t remember putting one in.
“Did Reysir get this too?”
“Meow~.”
“……”
It’s probably better not to think further.
Trying to clear my mind, I ate the bread and milk.
Then I quickly washed up, changed clothes, and headed to the lecture hall where Professor Radvisin was waiting.
“Are the senior research students not coming anymore?”
After greeting the professor upon arrival, I asked about those who weren’t here, feeling the atmosphere was oddly empty.
“They won’t be much help in upcoming training. But we agreed to have dinner together later, so no need to feel too disappointed.”
For some reason, the old professor’s face showed a distinctly satisfied expression, making me feel a bit awkward.
Changing the subject and seeking help from someone who studied Aether Attributes intensively, I said:
“By the way… during yesterday’s Martial Arts Lecture sparring, I gained a new ‘buff’ skill and would like to consult about it.”
If readers skimmed the previous episode, they’d notice I was lying.
The Mental Acceleration skill consumes Sky-Blue Aether, not the Purple Aether that carries buff properties.
Still, I called it a ‘buff’ skill on Yor’s advice.
Right after finishing yesterday’s Martial Arts Lecture, I stopped by the dorm to wash off dust and sweat and explained the new skill to Yor.
When I asked if Sky-Blue Aether had Mental Acceleration properties too, this was his reply:
? I can’t do that.
It was the first time Yor wrote a proper sentence on the whiteboard.
But the content was disappointing.
So I asked if I should seek Professor Radvisin’s advice, and he wrote a new sentence on the whiteboard:
「Talk oo but don’t mention sky color ᄂᄂ」
It was an opinion saying it’s fine to talk about the Mental Acceleration skill but best not to reveal it consumes Sky-Blue Aether.
Professor Radvisin was already struggling with his thesis on ‘Ether Color and Attribute Correlation.’
I didn’t want to give him a new research topic about whether the dual-attribute Aether’s two abilities were really related…
‘There must be a good reason the wise baby dragon told me not to say anything!’
Based on that belief, I decided to follow Yor’s advice.
Though Yor didn’t explain the ‘reason.’