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Let’s Go Together – Chapter 63

“Are you mad?”

As soon as Adrian caught up with Mikhail, who had been walking ahead, he slowed his pace a little. What Edwin Nollen had said earlier was an incredibly sensitive topic to bring up with royalty.

Mikhail, walking with a stony expression, relaxed slightly at the question.

“I’m just surprised Alix didn’t do anything after hearing something like that.”

“Maybe he’s got a similar personality to you?”

His red eyes flicked briefly toward the clueless commoner before returning forward.

“Alix and I…? You’re looking at the youngest prince, who’s far from the line of succession. We couldn’t be more different.”

To be fair, Mikhail was considered the most flexible among the otherwise cold-blooded royal family. He wasn’t obsessed with formalities, and when it came to rude behavior born of ignorance, he could laugh it off. Sure, a prince’s laughter could still leave scars, but it was far better than the brutal responses others in the royal family were known for.

Mikhail knew all too well about his eldest brother Alix’s ruthless nature. As the crown prince, Alix upheld the arrogance of the royal bloodline to the extreme—if a servant at the palace annoyed him on a bad day, he wouldn’t hesitate to have them killed. Thankfully, he never turned that cruelty toward his fellow royals—but that wasn’t due to kindness. It was simply because his place in the line of succession was rock solid.

Maybe Alix had a softer heart back when he was still a student at the academy—Mikhail let the optimistic thought trail off with a grimace. No, more likely, he’d either been drunk or temporarily deaf.

The prince let his imagination wander, picturing what it would’ve been like if the golden-haired boy with the sulky face beside him had been Alix’s roommate instead. Adrian would’ve been executed on the first day of admission. Alix never tolerated insolence from commoners without a title.

“Really? It’s that bad?”

“You should be grateful that the royal you’re rooming with is me.”

Unaware of the gruesome fantasy Mikhail had just entertained, Adrian gave a half-hearted nod and sarcastically replied, “Yes, Your Highness, thank you ever so much.”

That was exactly the kind of attitude Alix hated the most. Mikhail sighed, imagining his brother’s ceremonial blade pressed against Adrian’s pale neck. Of course, Alix wouldn’t have abided by the academy’s two-per-room dorm rule in the first place—he’d have taken a room to himself.

And in any case, there was an insurmountable wall of social class between them. Their paths would never truly cross.

***

After a peaceful week at Basamiel, Administrative Studies class was back.

For the first time in their lives, the students had experienced a taste of scarcity over the past week. Now they sat wide-eyed, eager to absorb whatever wisdom the professor had on money management.

“How was your week, everyone?”

Professor Benjamin Wilson stood before their sparkling eyes and grinned. At his smile, the students began to pour out their struggles. One complained about the limited cafeteria menu, another about the Basamiel general store.

Benjamin listened to a few of their stories before quieting the room and stepping up to the podium.

“Last week, I told you to think about why I gave you exactly ten Tilons as starting capital.”

He slowly walked from one side of the podium to the other, beginning the lecture.

“What conclusions did you come to?”

“…I’m not sure,” someone admitted.

There was hardly anything one could do at the academy with just ten Tilons. Two meals from the premium A-course menu, and the money would be gone.

“You’ve lived it for a week now—let me give you the answer today.”

The students held their breath, waiting for Benjamin to continue.

“But before that—”

“Ahh…” The students groaned in disappointment at the intentional delay. Benjamin, as if expecting it, looked around at the class with an amused expression, then pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket.

“Let’s see if anyone actually figured it out.”

So someone had gotten it right. “How many?” asked a passionate student in the front row, clearly hoping they were the one.

While some students buzzed with anticipation, Adrian and Mikhail lounged at their desks, both resting their arms lazily, showing little interest. No way my name’s on that slip, they each thought to themselves.

“Oh, usually no one gets it, but… this year’s a little different.”

The professor pulled out a tiny pair of glasses from his pocket and perched them lightly on his nose.

“Let’s see here… Adrian Heather.”

Then, glancing down at the slip of paper in his hand, he read the name written on it out loud. At the mention of the name, all the students in the lecture hall turned their heads toward Adrian, who sat near the back.

But the rare quiz winner remained unaware, chin propped on his hand.

“Adrian Heather? Is he not here?”

Benjamin looked down at the paper and called the name again.

A student seated right next to Adrian lightly tapped his shoulder with a finger. “Hm?” Adrian turned his head at the nudge, meeting the other student’s gaze. The student simply pointed toward the podium.

“Adrian, you’ve already subscribed to the newspaper!”

“Uh… yes, I have.”

The dragon ruffled his golden hair with one hand and nodded at the professor’s words, feeling a little awkward for not having paid attention to the class.

“What kind of information was in the Basamiel campus paper?”

Adrian opened his mouth but first glanced across the room at Mikhail. He’d only subscribed to the paper the day before, and even then, he hadn’t read the important parts. Still, with all eyes in the classroom—students and professor alike—focused on him, he decided to share what little he knew.

“Well… the front page had the weather forecast.”

Wait, do I have to list everything? He checked that the professor was still listening intently and continued.

“…The next page had ‘This Month in Basamiel,’ and after that was ‘Basamiel General Store.’ The last page featured ‘Today’s Commissions.’”

“Excellent. You’ve read quite thoroughly.”

Benjamin smiled brightly and gave a satisfied nod.

“It costs exactly ten Tilons to subscribe to the Basamiel newspaper for one month. For reference, capital refers to available funds you possess in order to launch an enterprise that can increase your assets.”

He leaned slightly over the podium, scanning the faces of each student.

“After a peaceful week in Basamiel, you were suddenly thrown into the world of Tilons. In that kind of situation, the most recommended action—no matter how useless it may seem—is to identify and check the central hub of information. Even if it means spending all your capital to do it.”

Adrian scratched his cheek as he listened.

“In that sense, the student who subscribed to the school newspaper was selected as the correct answer. And the reward for the student who got it right is a free one-month subscription.”

Benjamin gave the slip of paper a playful shake for everyone to see, then placed it back on the podium with a light tap.

“That doesn’t mean everyone has to subscribe. Make sure you check what kind of information it contains beforehand. And just so you know, I don’t run the paper—so no, this isn’t an ad.”

Haha. The students let out soft chuckles at the professor’s joke.

“So now that we’ve gone over the quiz from last week, shall we finally begin the actual lesson?”

With that, the professor picked up the textbook he’d left on the podium, ready to properly dive into Administrative Studies.

Adrian sighed inwardly.

He already had mountains of treasure and coins piled up in chaos in just the vault alone—enough to buy the entire kingdom ten times over. Managing wealth was second nature to him.

A dragon was born with everything under its grasp, and the power to keep it that way. Still, as he listened to the human’s lesson on ‘asset management,’ Adrian sincerely hoped the man’s “methods” contained at least one worthwhile secret.

Levia
Author: Levia

Let’s Go Together

Let’s Go Together

Status: Completed Author:

For dragons, blending in among humans while concealing their true identity is considered a form of entertainment—a game.

A Gold Dragon enrolls in an academy under the guise of learning herbology, using it as an excuse to indulge in his own game. Taking on the false identity of

Adrian Heather

, he eagerly begins his academy life.

However, his excitement is short-lived. He unexpectedly ends up sharing a dorm room with the esteemed Prince Mikhail—a situation that drastically alters his original plans.

Though his days with Mikhail turn out to be unexpectedly enjoyable, the Gold Dragon’s ultimate goal remains the same: to finish this game quietly and disappear.

And so, he does. By faking his own death, he vanishes from his friend’s life, believing the game to be over.

That is, until his

friend

summons him back—with a wish.

***

Mikhail, now in possession of a dragon’s golden scale, strokes it lightly.

As if responding to the touch, the legendary Gold Dragon materializes before him.

"Summoner, I shall grant you one wish."

But… why does this dragon look exactly like Adrian Heather?

Suspicious, the prince demands an explanation, but the Gold Dragon remains adamant in his denial.

"I merely manifested in the form that the summoner desired."

After a brief hesitation, Mikhail finally speaks his one and only wish:

"I want to find Adrian Heather’s body."

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