Chapter 107 -
“My liege, will you be meeting Ms. Margarette this morning?”
Benette nearly jumped.
He was still not used to Azra changing into her human form.
[After lunch. She has an early military drill today. I sould at least rest a bit after that chaotic breakfast.]
“Well, it won’t last long, since I’ll be back working in the cafeteria starting next week,” said Johan. “I think Dorin will also be working twice a week as well.”
[Good. That means, no more Xander and company.]
“It was pretty fun eating with everyone, though, reminds me of the mines.” Johan looked at Benette. “I guess the two of you aren’t used to it, though.”
“N-no... actually...” Benette said with his hands raised. “I was actually... also happy to eat with... everyone else...” he trailed off, his face turning red.
“Hey, could you speak louder?” Johan frowned at him. “You should have more confidence, you’re part of the Special Sphere, after all, you’re not just a military nobody anymore.”
“S-sorry...” Benette mumbled.
[Johan is right. Stop thinking about your father and be proud that the best medic in this university is teaching you,] wrote Sebastian. [I would have given up this room and the Special Class Sphere itself, just to be her apprentice.]
“Yeah, she keeps turning him down,” Johan piped in. “So stop looking down on yourself.”
“S-so... Thank you...” Benette gave his room mates a shy smile. “I have been... so glad that I am part of your group...”
“Yeah, same here. You would have been very useful back in the mines, we get a lot of injuries there.”
“You sound like... you miss the mines a lot...” Benette asked Johan with a shy smile that made the fire mage stare at him. Benette’s face turned even redder.
“As a matter of fact, I do...” said Johan with a far away look in his face. “I have been asking Prof. Dupont to send a part of my allowance to the folks back home, but I still can’t stop worrying about them...” he frowned. “I should have asked the professor to teach some of them to read and write properly so we can send letters to each other.”
“Why not send a magic videogram instead?” asked Benette.
“A magic videogram?”
“It’s a kind of letter you can send someone... where you send a video of yourself, and get an instant reply, where you can talk to each other real time...” explained Benette. “It’s really useful in rural areas where they don’t have electricity, phone lines, or internet connection.”
“Oh! That’s a good idea!” Johan grinned at Benette. “I’ll tell Jacob about it next time we meet.”
[See, it’s good to speak up.] Sebastian wrote in his slate for Benette to read. [I, myself, am not aware that we still use things like that in the empire.]
“Oh, it is still widely used in the frontier, I used to go on medical missions there with our military division...” he trailed off, his face turning pale. “Until my father found out and sent me back into training...”
“Good thing, you’re now under Prof. Althea.” Johan slapped Benette on the back.
The older student began coughing, while Johan went to the kitchen and placed the leftovers in a bowl.
“Come’re, Dog, you can have the rest of the leftovers!” he called to Dog.
Dog rose and followed him to the kitchen where he placed a bowl on the floor.
“Well, I’m off to take a bath, I smell like sausages. You guys better get ready for your classes as well.”
[You okay?] Sebastian asked Benette who still kept coughing.
“I-I’m okay... he meant well...”
[Yeah, they’re both good kids, Dorin and Johan, so don’t be a stranger] wrote Sebastian before going back to his room with Azra trailing behind him.
Benette finally stopped coughing. Now, he couldn’t help but smile.
He had never been around people who actually wanted to be with him.
He gave a deep sigh and was about to get his things from his room when he noticed Dagon and Dog staring at each other, with the half eaten bowl of leftovers between them.
“Dagon, are you still hungry?” he asked the dragon child. “Please don’t take Dog’s food, it’s not sanitary, I can get you something to eat from the fridge instead.”
“Not clean!” Dagon pointed at Dog.
“Yes, people shouldn’t eat on the floor.”
“Right!” replied Dagon.
The small child took the bowl from the floor.
“Dagon!” Benette called to him, worried that the child might eat the leftovers, but he went towards the sink and threw the food in the trash bin instead.
He then went to the fridge, took a string of five sausages, placed them on a clean plate, and put it on the table after scorching them with his breath.
“I give clean food to Dog!” Dagon said, beaming.
“How nice of you, Dagon!” Benette praised him with a big smile. “You’re such a good kid, aren’t you?”
“I’m good kid!” replied Dagon who jumped at Benette who picked him up and gave him a warm hug.
They watched as Dog stood up on his hind legs to reach the plate on the kitchen counter.
“Funny how he looks like a man while he eats like that,” said Benette laughing.
“Big man!” Dagon agreed.
“We should give him a bowl of water as well!”
“Dog thirsty!”
“Hmm, you should laugh more often.”
Benette looked sideways and saw Johan grinning at him. He immediately felt his face burn. “And Dagon, you shouldn’t feed the dog on top of the kitchen counter.”
“But you say, food on floor is dirty!” Dagon pouted at him.
“Yeah, but it’s just a dog!” Johan argued.
“D-don’t you think Dog looks more comfortable on the table, though?” Benette piped in.
The three of them looked at the skinny hound who slowly chewed his sausages in silence. It gulped the food down, and drank from the bowl of water Benette placed beside it.
“What ever...” Johan said, sounding defeated. “Come now, Dagon, time to leave, I need to send you to Lord Ombra along the way.” He looked at Benette who’s been wearing his uniform since early that morning. “Wanna go with?”
“O-okay...” the other replied with a shy smile. “Let me get my bag first,” and together, the three left for their classes.
Sebastian got out of his room 10 minutes later. He was about to leave the place when he noticed someone standing in the kitchen.
“What the hell!” he cursed, seeing Dog staring back at him with its big yellow eyes. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Are you okay, my liege?” Azra asked him, her head tilted.
“I thought a man was standing there...” he shook his head and sighed. “Keep an eye on the room, Azra, and take care of Dog.”
“Of course, my liege.”
“We’ll be back as soon as classes are over. I just hope this day turns out to be just another, ordinary, boring day...” he paused. “In regular students’ standards,” he added before leaving the dorm.