784 Facade
"A-are there any further questions so far?"
In an attempt to divert attention from the topic of her crush on Adonis, Mi'ja quickly changed the mood back to an official one.
Her stuttering and overtly flustered expression still made it clear that she was simply hiding from her feelings, though.
"Questions?"
"Y-yeah. I mean, I've shown you the Hall, so if there are no questions… we'll move on to the next place on our list." Mi'ja replied with a rather daring smile.
As Class Rep, it was ultimately her decision to escort the two out of them out of the Hall and completely change the kind of conversation they could have.
Thankfully, Lucielle took the hint and decided to stop teasing Mi'ja.
Instead, she went for a rather surprising question.
One that not even Rey predicted—though it was something he had been thinking about, even at that very moment.
"What are your thoughts on humans?"
The moment this question echoed into the air, some kind of tense silence suddenly enveloped everything around the three.
It felt heavy.
"Humans… huh?"
The kind and innocent expression that Mi'ja previously displayed instantly melted off, replaced by a sinister look.
Her eyes shone bright pink, and from the chilly expressionless reaction she had upon first hearing the question, her demeanor quickly morphed into something far more malevolent.
Her small lips grew broad and formed a bloodthirsty smile, revealing a suppressed excitement that would cause anyone to tremble.
"Those inferior worms… my thoughts on them aren't special." She began, each word laced with utter disgust towards the subject of discussion. "They're our playthings, meant to entertain us in multiple ways. They're stubborn for sure, not knowing their place, but in the end… they're livestock who are only useful in their deaths and continuous suffering."
Rey and Lucielle were silent as they heard the kind and innocent Mi'ja spew these words with such confidence and blatant excitement.
There was no reluctance or compassion in her words.
Just blunt honesty.
"Ahh… I really can't wait till I kill my first human." At this point, she looked slightly aroused as she indulged in her fantasy.
The perverse joy she felt just from imagining the countless ways she would kill the humans was laid bare for them to see.
No nuance… no further deep thoughts. Just that—pure, savage bloodlust.
As Rey stood there and listened to all of this, his eyes wide open to take in all of these words, he couldn't help but recoil at the rawness of Mi'ja's intent.
'What was I expecting…?' He told himself silently.
This was a Dragon—the same as the many who had driven humanity, as well as the other races of the world, to a state of constant warfare.
Her people were responsible for countless atrocities. They were responsible for the deaths of some of his comrades as well.
So what did he expect?
'Is this really the time for me to search for nuances? Ultimately, they are the enemy… my enemy.'
Right now, he and Lucielle were in Enemy Territory.
There was no luxury to think otherwise.
"Hehe! Right? Humans are soooo dumb!" Lucielle broke the resulting silence with her excited voice, causing the tension to vanish as quickly as it came.
"Don't you think so too, R'ai?" Rey slowly turned to Lucielle, who now nudged him playfully, smiling with so much glee and excitement that it matched Mi'ja's expression.
'Lucielle…' His thoughts trailed as he stared deep into her eyes.
All this time, he had assumed she was going along with things so well, judging by her behavior, that he didn't for once realize just how hard that was.
She acclimated to this Dragon Civilization a lot better than him, but… just how did she take all of this?
'... So many of her comrades died to Dragons, and she has probably fought with and killed more Dragons than I have. She has experienced this war since it started nearly eleven years ago, and I'm sure they've taken a lot from her—more than I can currently understand. Yet… how can she remain so calm and collected?'
Her perfect smile… her clear voice… her natural body movements…
Everything about Lucielle felt genuine, but Rey knew more than anyone else that she didn't feel any of the things she was displaying.
Yet why did it feel so real?
Why did it feel like her regular self? Could it be that the Grand Mage Lucielle that he knew was just as real as the Dragon Student Luc'ia who was now in front of him.
—A complete facade.
Something about that frightened Rey, but it also brought about a weight of melancholy that he was unable to resist.
It was sad… so sad.
'I can only imagine how it must feel to hear all of this about my own people; to be around the very same enemies who have killed so many of my people… and who intend to kill even more.' Taking all of it in, while wrestling with his newfound perspective, he forced his lips to curl upward while chuckling as sincerely as he could.
"Yeah. Humans are dumb indeed. Hahaha…"
*********
After leaving the Practical Hall, Mi'ja showed them around the campus grounds a little more. They visited the park, and a few more recreation centers, before returning to the cafeteria for a meal.
The Draconic Cuisine were all foreign to Rey and Lucielle, but they had to pretend as if they were already familiar with the kinds of strange foods they would be eating.
Thankfully, since they had already spent a little over a week before coming to the Academy, they had enough practice.
They ate and discussed a host of other topics, taking advantage of the rather long break, but ultimately… it had to end at some point.
Once the Break Period was over, Rey and Lucielle had to return to the classroom for the next Class.
During the second Class, he was able to pay more attention, thanks to the brief rundown of the topics that Mi'ja was so kind to give.
Thanks to her thoughtfulness, he knew a bit about the subjects they would be offering at their level.
He also knew that he and Lucielle would have to go to the library to borrow the necessary textbooks so he could be up to date with the current curriculum and also acclimate to their current academic situation. The rest of the classes went by like a blur, and before Rey realized it… the day was over.
*
*
*
[A/N]