“Where do we even sign up for the list?”
Adrian muttered as he stood up from the table after finishing his meal. Naturally, Mikhail didn’t know either.
Which was why the two of them were now aimlessly wandering around the main building of the academy. They’d thought about asking a passing student, but there wasn’t a soul in sight—it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, after all. Who would be roaming the halls of the main building on a day like this?
Adrian and Mikhail stood in front of the large map on the first floor, scrutinizing it closely. But no matter how hard they looked, there was no mention of anything as straightforward as the Academy Newspaper Information Desk.
“…Maybe they don’t operate on weekends.”
That might be it. Adrian, who had wanted to get everything done while he was still motivated, let out a long sigh.
“Guess we’ll just do it next week.”
There was no helping it. The moment Adrian reluctantly gave up and stepped out of the main building—
Someone was entering the building, balancing a precarious stack of thick books. They were carrying so many at once that the book on the very top was wobbling dangerously, on the verge of falling. Just as the student stepped up onto the entrance stairs—
The top book tipped forward.
“Ah—careful!”
A pale hand reached out and deftly snatched the book mid-fall. “Studies on Mana Movement in Water II.” It was a monstrously thick book. With the top book gone, the student’s face was finally visible.
It was Catherine.
“Oh, hey. You guys didn’t go out either, even with such nice weather?”
“Here you go.”
Adrian casually dropped the rescued book back onto the top of the stack in her arms. Mikhail, who had knightly chivalry embedded in his bones thanks to his royal lineage, thought about suggesting that Adrian help her carry some—but dismissed the idea, too lazy to act on it. Catherine didn’t seem to expect that sort of gallantry from Adrian anyway.
“Thanks. Well then, have a nice weekend.”
As Catherine teetered past them, Adrian watched her with an uneasy look, then suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”
At the sound, Catherine, mid-struggle with her books, turned her head with a faint, “Hm?”
“What is it? Something wrong?”
From behind her tower of books, she called out in Adrian’s direction, guessing where he was.
“Sunbae, do you know where we can sign up for the academy newspaper?”
“The newspaper? Oh, that’s—”
Just then, Adrian reached out and took half the books from her arms. Mikhail narrowed his eyes slightly. Kindness offered for convenience or personal gain—didn’t paint the best picture.
“If you can explain, I’ll carry these for you while you do.”
Catherine nodded and, while walking through the main building with Adrian and Mikhail, explained how to subscribe to the academy newspaper.
***
“This is it?”
Mikhail muttered under his breath.
“Apparently so.”
Adrian replied as he picked up the feather pen from the side.
The place Catherine had mentioned was the clocktower attached directly to the main academy building. The tower itself was about ten stories high, but since the bell inside was rung with magic, there were no stairs within. When they opened the beautifully carved marble doors, they were met with the sight of the massive bell hanging high above in a vast open space.
On the first floor of the empty clocktower, a large bulletin board was mounted to the wall, and right beside it was a clearly written instruction sign. Adrian’s warm brown eyes scanned the board from top to bottom.
“Looks like this is the place. It says, ‘Write the applicant’s name,’ and, ‘Be sure to use your right hand, the one marked with Tilon’s Contract.’”
The Gold Dragon dipped the feather pen lightly into the ink. Then, as if to show Mikhail he was indeed using his right hand, he lifted it slightly before writing. He began to write his name in elegant script on the large bulletin board-paper mounted on the wall beneath the tower.
Adrian Heather.
As he finished the last letter of his name with a flourish of the pen, the Tilon crest on the back of his writing hand gave a soft golden shimmer.
94 Tilon.
That was his current balance. After subtracting the 10 Tilon subscription fee.
“They took the Tilon. Guess the application went through properly.”
It was clearly too sophisticated a spell to be used just for something like an academy newspaper. Adrian clicked his tongue at the extravagance of nobles pouring obscene amounts of money into their children’s education.
***
It was the dead of night, when everyone else was fast asleep.
Knock, knock, knock—
The sound of knocking pierced the silence, followed by a faint rustling. It was enough to stir the sharp-eared dragon from his slumber. Adrian’s eyelids slowly opened, and he swiftly rose from his bed. Fortunately, it seemed the newspaper subscription had processed correctly.
The Gold Dragon rose in a flash and strode toward the dormitory door. Mikhail, likely roused by the movement, cracked his eyes open briefly from the bed across the room, then closed them again.
“The newspaper?”
Mikhail mumbled as he turned over. Adrian slipped his fingers into the door gap and pulled out a bundle of papers wedged there.
“Yeah.”
He could feel a trace of mana. It had been delivered by magic. He glanced at the wall-mounted clock nearby—it was six in the morning. Pretty fast, huh.
Adrian placed the day’s academy newspaper atop the small table set up in the center of the dorm room.
“I’ll read it after some more sleep.”
He wasn’t about to start reading a newspaper at the crack of dawn. Rubbing his eyes with a palm, he shuffled back through the dim room and flopped onto the bed. He had been slightly worried earlier since there had been no way to confirm if the subscription was active, but now that he’d received the newspaper properly, that concern had vanished.
He could afford a few more hours of sleep.
***
Sunlight pierced through the window, stinging Adrian’s eyes. The Gold Dragon had woken up earlier than usual. Mikhail was still fast asleep. Slowly, Adrian sat up and turned his gaze to the newspaper he’d placed on the table at dawn.
Time to find out whether that thing was actually worth 10 Tilon.
Hmmm… The dragon picked up the crisp, thick-papered newspaper and sat at the edge of the bed. He casually flipped through a few pages, skimming the contents.
“Today’s weather report.”
Not interested. Adrian chuckled and flipped to the next page. Perhaps due to the rustling of the paper, Mikhail stirred awake. Upon seeing Adrian reading the newspaper from across the room, he immediately sat up.
“How is it?”
“Still going through it.”
More pages turned. Curious, Mikhail slowly crossed the room and approached Adrian’s bed.
“‘This Month’s Basamiel.’”
“What’s that about?”
“…Party schedules for this month.”
“Skip it.”
Adrian briskly flipped through a few more pages. There was enough trivial filler that he didn’t mind skipping big chunks.
Rustle— Three pages flipped at once. One was filled edge to edge with images of various items.
“‘Basamiel General Store.’”
“Looks like a catalog of what you can buy at the academy.”
“Seems like you can purchase them with Tilon.”
It might come in handy later, but for now, it wasn’t what they were looking for.
Then they reached the final page. Adrian was about to fold the paper shut when he paused, his hand freezing as he saw what was printed there.
“What’s this?”
Adrian’s eyes scanned the section, prompting Mikhail’s gaze to follow. The prince read the heading aloud.
“…‘Today’s Requests.’”
That part of the newspaper was filled with a list of some kind. The original text above each item had been completely blacked out—like someone had painted over it—and in its place, new text had been typed below.
━━━━⊱ Today’s Requests ⊰━━━━
Request A: ■■■■■■■ ■ ■■■■.
└ This request is already closed.
Request B: ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■.
└ This request is already closed.
Request C: ■ ■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■.
└ This request is already closed.
Request D: ■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■.
└ This request is already closed.
Request E: ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■.
└ This request is already closed.
Request F: ■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■.
└ This request is already closed.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
“…Requests?”
Adrian murmured.
‘This request is already closed.’ What did that mean? The dragon’s eyes glinted. Could it be that this section had listed actual requests earlier this morning, but was now blacked out because they were already taken? Adrian’s index finger brushed the paper. A faint trace of mana shimmered beneath the surface.
Adrian and Mikhail huddled over the paper, trying to puzzle out what this mysterious “request” section was, but they came up empty. In the end, they agreed to check the newspaper immediately upon arrival the next morning and began preparing for class.
There was something about the word “request” that reeked of lucrative Tilon. When exactly was this paper delivered again? Suddenly, it made sense why so many students were subscribing to the paper individually.
This Basamiel Academy Newspaper? It was practically useless a few hours after delivery.
“Guess there’s no sleeping in anymore.”
The Gold Dragon muttered quietly to himself. Tomorrow, he’d need to open the paper the moment it arrived at six in the morning.
