Vol 7. Chapter 26: Girls Don’t Stay Silly Forever

The pink-haired little girl was wearing the Youth Dragon Division uniform. A few months ago, both she and Moon had successfully advanced into the Academy’s Youth Dragon Division.

Of course, the sisters had enrolled early, so they were a few years younger than the typical Youth Dragons.

"Aurora, did you just call her ‘teacher’? Did you... mistake her for someone else?" Leon asked.

But Aurora didn’t answer her old dad’s question. She remained tangled up in thought, muttering:

"What should I do... Hm... forget it, whatever, I’ll just pick one."

Having made up her mind, Aurora looked toward Aunt Isha beside her, anxiety written all over her face as she said:

"Teacher, bad news! Two Youth Dragon Division students are fighting over there! Hurry and go check it out."

At that, Isha froze. She raised her hand and pointed at the tip of her own nose.

"T-Teacher? You’re calling me?"

"Mhm!"

"I’m your aunt."

As she spoke, Isha reached out and touched Aurora’s forehead with the back of her hand.

"No fever... Why is this child spouting nonsense here?"

"There’s no time! Teacher, are you going or not?"

Isha blinked and rubbed her temples, glancing at Leon beside her.

Her brother-in-law looked just as lost.

After a brief daze, Isha quickly regained composure and said:

"Alright then, let’s go see what’s going on."

"Okay, teacher, I’ll take you there."

With that, Aurora grabbed Isha’s wrist and led her away.

Leon followed after them.

But before he could take more than a few steps, Aurora turned around and said:

"Teacher, you can’t come."

Leon froze again. "I... Why can’t I go...?"

Aurora pressed her lips together, clearly searching for a reason.

After a moment, she said seriously:

"Just stand here and don’t move. Someone else will come get you in a bit."

Leon & Isha: ?

This kid’s lost her mind.

Before Leon could figure out what kind of game Aurora was playing, the little one had already taken Isha and run off.

Leon wanted to chase after them to see what was going on, but Aurora had explicitly told him not to wander.

Even though he had no idea what this child was up to, Leon decided to just obediently play along.

That’s how it is with girl dads. Even if their daughters are acting nuts, they still spoil them.

So he waited in place for about five minutes, and sure enough, off in the distance another Youth Dragon Division student came running.

She had the same silvery hair and had tied her uniform jacket around her waist. Her ponytail bounced with each step—she looked like she’d just finished a workout.

"Noa..."

"Teacher!"

Again with the teacher.

"Who’s your dad again?!"

Noa ran up to Leon and looked up at him. Just like Aurora earlier, her face was full of urgency.

"There are students fighting over there. Do you want to go take a look?"

"Even if the Dragon Kings themselves were fighting over there, I wouldn’t want to go."

Leon squatted down and gently pinched Noa’s cheek. In a soft voice, he asked:

"What’s going on? Aurora came by earlier too and took your aunt with her. Are you two playing some kind of pretend game?"

Hearing that, Noa raised an eyebrow and muttered:

"You’re walking around with Aunt Isha... Hm, teacher never mentioned what to do in that kind of situation..."

She shook her head and ignored her dad’s question, instead repeating:

"Teacher, do you want to go check it out? They’re really fighting."

"......"

"Oh no, my daughter’s turned into a broken record."

Leon sighed. It seemed if he wanted to understand what was really going on, he had to go see it for himself.

He stood up and took Noa’s wrist.

"Fine, then. Teacher Leon will just have to accompany you."

Noa rolled her eyes hard, opened her mouth like she wanted to roast him, but stopped herself at the last moment.

She suppressed her urge to mock her narcissistic old man and tugged him toward the other side of the training field.

When they got there, Leon saw that two students really were fighting.

Energy waves crackled everywhere. The field was full of pits and craters left by the force of their clash.

Clearly caused by raw energy. Leon didn’t recognize either of them.

"It’s them, Da— I mean, teacher. Yes, they’re the ones fighting."

Noa nearly let it slip.

It wasn’t even the first time today. Starting with Aurora earlier, both sisters had been avoiding familial terms and were instead calling both Leon and Isha "teacher."

Which was why Leon had asked if this was some kind of pretend game earlier.

But the two students before them were indeed fighting, and Leon could see they were about to bust out dragonflames.

Seeing that, Leon swiftly stepped in, grabbed both their shoulders from either side, and separated them.

"Can’t you talk things out? Why resort to fighting?"

Leon spoke sternly. He looked toward one of the students and asked:

"Why are you fighting?"

The student hesitated, then pointed angrily at his opponent.

"He bumped into me and wouldn’t apologize. Then he started swinging!"

"I’m not apologizing! So what!!"

"You’re asking for a beating!"

"You can talk it out! No need to throw fists."

Thankfully, Leon stood between them. Otherwise, someone’s fist might’ve landed again.

He could understand why these two kids started fighting. Students in their rebellious phase didn’t want to be told what to do. Even if they bumped into someone, they wouldn’t feel they owed anyone an apology. At the same time, the one who got bumped into was just as hot-blooded.

A clash of tempers quickly became a fight.

Leon had seen this often enough during his school years—after all, even in the Dragon Academy, there were plenty of hot-headed combat-types.

"Alright, stop arguing. You—go stand over there and keep quiet," Leon said to the student who’d been bumped. Then he turned to his eldest daughter:

"Noa, keep an eye on him. Don’t let him sneak off."

Noa nodded and obediently followed his instructions.

Next, Leon took the one who bumped into him aside and looked down at him.

"Did you bump into him on purpose?"

"I did it on purpose!" The kid straightened his back, looking stubborn to the bone.

But Leon could tell—it was just bravado.

He continued:

"I know you did it on purpose. You know it too. No one just goes around bumping into strangers for no reason. If they do, that means they’re a bad person."

But the kid remained defiant.

"I am a bad person. So what??"

Facing this mule-headed little punk, Leon still stayed patient.

"Do you know what kind of people bad guys really are?"

"No."

"They’re the kind of people who abuse their power. As the new generation of your clan, you represent its future. You worked hard to get into the Academy so you could become stronger. But now you’re using that hard-won power to turn into a bad guy. Don’t you think that’s wrong?"

Among dragonkin, the pursuit of strength bordered on obsession. They revered the strong and aspired to become like them.

Their respect for power was pure and absolute—a hunger for strength beyond measure.

Living with Rosvisser and the other women for so long, Leon # Nоvеlight # had come to deeply understand this fierce and combative nature.

That’s why what he just said about "power" was exactly what would resonate with a Youth Dragon.

This was the parenting wisdom Leon had accumulated over many years:

Treat the disease with the right medicine if you want it cured.

Sure enough, after hearing his words, the kid gradually cooled down. He turned his eyes away, unable to meet Leon’s gaze.

Leon didn’t push further. He gave him about a minute to reflect, then asked again:

"So do you still think you’re a bad person?"

The kid shook his head.

"Good. Since you’re not a bad person, then if you accidentally bumped into someone, what should you do?"

The kid gripped his pant leg, hesitated for a moment, then said:

"...Apologize."

"Mhm. What matters most for a man isn’t never making mistakes, but having the courage to face and make up for them afterward. Go on."

Leon patted his shoulder. "Go."

The boy turned around and slowly walked up to the other student. Bowing his head slightly, he muttered:

"Sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you."

The response he got was one of grudging pride.

"I never said you bumped into me."

Both boys gave Leon a quick thanks, then left together.

Leon watched their retreating backs fade into the distance. After a moment, he turned his gaze to Noa.

"Now can you tell me what this was all about?"

Noa scratched her cheek and hesitated before answering:

"Technically, my mission was already complete five minutes ago. I should’ve left already..."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you still here?"

"Because I thought that line you said—‘What matters most for a man isn’t never making mistakes, but having the courage to face them afterward’—"

"Was very inspiring? Profound? Worth its own lecture, right?" Leon’s voice was brimming with smug pride.

Noa gave a crooked smile and mercilessly crushed her dad’s fantasy.

"Was very cringey."

"......"

"Sigh. My daughter’s grown up. She’s past the age of playing along with her dad’s chuunibyou nonsense. What am I even supposed to do with myself now..."

"I stuck around to see if you'd say anything even more cringey."

With that, Noa waved her hand.

"Bye now, old man. You’ll find out what all this was about tomorrow~"

"Hey, you—!"

Before Leon could question further, Noa had already dashed off.

He suppressed his curiosity and instead shouted after her:

"Hey, wanna join me and Aunt Isha for dinner later?"

Noa ran off while waving an arm behind her back.

"Yeah! The cafeteria’s got grilled steak today—don’t forget to save a plate for Moon!"

"OK!"

Watching his daughter disappear into the distance, Leon muttered to himself:

"Did she just mention some kind of mission... Who gave her a mission?"