I half-opened my eyes and threw glances around. The lids felt so heavy and very sticky that I couldn't even see clearly what was going on no matter how hard I tried. All I saw were crowds of people passing me one after another, two men wearing white robes who looked like they were constantly calling me, and the sky that was moving like a waterfall.

I fall asleep once more.

.

.

.

Then, I woke up again.

This time there were only a few people there, and I barely any one of them. There seems to be a tall man and a short woman, almost like a father and his daughter. I wanted to speak, but as soon as I opened my mouth, I could feel my whole body grow much weaker. Thus, I finally became unconscious again.

---

 

Several times I felt the alteration between consciousness and unconsciousness. Finally, at one point, I was able to wake up completely. I woke up in a room that I could already guess from the first time I closed my eyes after that horror in the darkness, and that is the academy's medical ward.

"Hm? Ah, you finally awake. It's about time."

 

A few moments later, after I was feeling better, I saw Zevia enter the room by herself. Why? I don't know myself. Didn't she say that she was going to go get someone? I don't understand.

"Why are you alone?"

Suddenly after I said that, someone slapped my face twice with a light wooden stick seemingly from the side of my bed.

"Ouch! What the hell?!"

Only after I turned my head to my left, did I notice her. She is a small girl with white hair tied in a long ponytail and a pair of violet eyes. Oh, and when I say small, I mean, like, a REALLY SMALL girl who looks as if she is almost half my age.

"Hey! Stop! Who is this brat?!"

Instead of answering my question, she smacks my face again four times in a row.

"Aaagh! Stop hitting, will you?!"

"Not until you apologize," a high-pitched voice coming out from that small mouth of hers.

"Why do I have to be the one-?!"

For ten strikes straight, she did as she said and kept hitting me. Although each strike didn't feel that hurtful, it definitely started to get real after a while. Thus, I had no choice but to do as she said, since I couldn't retaliate at all.

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry! Please stop hitting me!"

The swinging stops. The little kid crosses her arms with a smug face, and I don't even know why. Also, Zevia bursts out into laughter as if she was watching a skit. Huft. What is this? What was their game? Why am I being played with?

"You are as insolent as Zevia said. I can't believe I said yes to this job."

"I'm so sorry, little girl, but I'm so lost. I don't even know who you are, let alone why you hit me so fiercely."

"Liar. Zevia said you are an evil bully who always makes fun of everyone in any given opportunity you have. You pretend not to notice me as an insult to my height, right?! You think that will go over my head?!"

"What?! SO IT WAS YOU!"

I glared at Zevia, but she covered her face while giggling to herself before looking away.

"Master, please help me! Now that he sets his eyes on me, he will play his nasty pranks on me even more often than before!"

"Don't you even think of going at her!"

The little girl smacked right into my eyes, and I teared up uncontrollably. Grr! Zevia! I really won't forget this! I will get back to you double - no triple times with interest!

"I would have beat you to a pulp right now, but I guess you were already a pulp to begin with. You have no idea how lucky you were that I let you meet Ruwa instead of Rangdu!"

Ruwa? Rangdu? Wait . . . Did she mean? Is she talking about that monster in the old auditorium?

"What are you talking about? Who are you . . .?"

Then, suddenly, Zevia clapped her hands to get our attention.

"Heave- ho!" Zevia lifts the little girl up like a doll and smooches her cheek.

Now that I take a proper look at her, from her head down to her toes, I notice that she doesn't look like a Serainan. The various stones on her necklace, her absurdly long colourful earrings that resemble peacock feathers that dangle on her sharp elven ears, and her golden flower hairpin, truly don't match the fashion style of this continent. She is clearly a textbook example of the people of the Great Archipelago, especially with the intricate native-ornamented fabrics she wrapped herself in. What was the name again? Bhatik?

"Alright. Now that I have my fill, let me introduce you to your new master! This is Kinan Priyanka!" Zevia showed off as if she was a kid bragging about her new toy.

It seems my hunch was right. As absurd as it is, this kid, is the new lecturer. Truly, this academy never fails to amaze me. To think that a child prodigy will be a Yarna expert, how did they even find such a person? Wait no - How could such a kid even exist in the first place? What an absurd world we live in.

"Put me down, Zevia! I'm not a kid!"

"Sure sure."

Instead of putting her down, Zevia pulled out a box from a drawer next to my table. When she presents it to Kinan, the little girl looks completely hypnotized. It turns out that Zevia was giving her a box of sweet goodness. Thus, as she chews on them, all of her hostility is gone in a flash. Now, she looks like a completely harmless critter. She no longer even cares if Zevia swings her around her arms like she is cradling a baby.

"She's a sucker for sweets?"

"Mmhm. She's a die-hard fan of Western confectioneries."

I guess a kid is a kid no matter how prodigy they are. If you know how to handle them, everything will turn out alright. However, I never knew that Zevia had this kind of side to her. I have to say, the word 'surprise' doesn't even do justice to how I feel about it. Who would have ever thought that a cold harsh person actually has a liking to kids?

"Now, Kinan, why don't you introduce yourself properly to Zama?"

"Like what?"

"Like telling him your name, the place you come from . . . Oh, your favourite food also maybe? Who knows, maybe sometime you can have him cook for you!"

"Hm. Okay then . . . Not too nice to meet you, Zama, but whatever. I'm Kinan Priyanka. I come from Gundanala. I like sugar and meat, and I don't like vegetables."

Ugh, she's really a brat. I don't know if I can handle her.

"Oh, and I don't like people who don't listen. So, you must say yes to everything I ask for, understand?"

It's hard to take her seriously while she is munching all those sweet treats. Her bulging cheeks look like a hamster's, and it's lowkey adorable. I probably would have liked her if it weren't for the way she spoke. Still, at a glance, no one would ever guess that such a child is a Master of Yarna. I guess I need to take a more careful approach.

"Yes . . . ."

"Yes what?" Kinan raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, Master."

"Hmph. At least I don't have to repeat myself."