As the female student’s dry gaze struck down toward me, the name of the horse head came to mind.
‘To think I’d see a Kubanda here of all places.’
Nothing was certain, but Kubanda had a unique aspect to him, so he had remained in my memory.
It was the fact that his origin as a magical beast had been laundered into that of a Divine Beast when he was taken in as a retainer of a Southern God named ‘Virudhaka.’
In a sense, he was a Divine Beast of a lower caliber than the Thunderbird, and it seemed he had somehow come all the way here while attached to that female student.
‘Is today really some special day, like those kids said?’
The Thunderbird included, it was rare to encounter beings of this level one after another.
Then again, if I thought of it as people from all over the world gathering in one place, it did not seem that unreasonable either.
Leaving all that aside, why was he doing that?
‘Could he have failed to break the habit?’
I was curious inwardly. Whether Kubanda, who had come from magical beast origins, had failed to fix his old habits and latched onto that girl.
After all, Kubanda was known to absorb human mana.
‘Her complexion definitely doesn’t look good, and her manners are......’
Her dark circles stood out because of her snow-white skin.
But as for her aggressive way of speaking, the female student might have felt that the gaze and expression I had directed at Kubanda were directed at her instead.
“Hey, aren’t you going to answer?”
Once again, sharp words flew toward me.
‘This is complicated.’
Looking at the female student, it suddenly occurred to me that, putting aside her lack of manners and Kubanda, this might be a defense mechanism caused by something.
In any case, I could not put off answering any longer.
“I thought you were someone I knew. Sorry.”
Considering it from all sides, I was the one at fault, so I apologized. At my apology, the female student seemed somewhat flustered, as if she had not expected it.
“What are you even saying, seriously?”
Moreover, the students who had been watching the exciting scene were dumbfounded the moment I apologized.
“......That really kills the mood.”
“Right? When he destroyed the barrier, he acted like he was going to kill everyone.”
From that reaction, I grasped a basic qualification of Heroes.
‘They don’t apologize.’
But whoever just said the mood was killed did not know what they were talking about.
Because I was more deflated than anyone else. I had just made proper eye contact with Kubanda.
Kubanda might not be a being that belonged to the Demonic, but a pitch-black horse head repeatedly winking was a separate problem.
I was genuinely disappointed that I was the only one seeing this.
“You can see me, can’t you!”
As misfortune upon misfortune, Kubanda seemed to have noticed that I had perceived him.
Kubanda’s delighted voice was even more thin and delicate, serving as the perfect finishing spice to his obnoxiousness.
‘He may look like that, but he’s a god’s retainer. A Divine Beast. A Divine Beast.’
I brainwashed myself.
More precisely, I had to steady my mind even if I had to do it this way.
‘There are too many people.’
I had destroyed the barrier with excessive force and come off as stingy by not answering questions asked with goodwill.
On top of that, I was not sure, but I had gone against what seemed to be an unwritten rule among Heroes and ended with an apology.
‘No more.’
In other words, I had to avoid behavior like talking to myself into empty air or bursting into laughter.
‘Won’t I get a chance to be alone with him?’
There were more than one or two things I was curious about regarding Kubanda, so I wanted to have a conversation with him.
Just then, the proctor who had led us here earlier returned.
“As you can see, you are in Dormitory A.”
The moment the proctor finished speaking, everyone chimed in with a word.
“Phew...... Thank goodness.”
“What are you making a fuss about? It was obvious.”
The way they each swaggered was unmistakably that of seventeen-year-olds......
‘Stop staring already.’
I naturally looked away from Kubanda.
Because Kubanda had started thrusting his head in earnest.
“Ahem...... How strange. I was sure he could see me.”
I thoroughly ignored Kubanda, and for now, I simply shared the mood of the students who had become my dormmates.
‘Still, things worked out well.’
According to the guidebook distributed to us on the way here, Dormitory A was the highest-grade dormitory.
However, this comfortable life would not continue. After the midterm and final exams, as well as the dormitory placement evaluation, we would be assigned anew.
The proctor said as he left the lounge.
“As of this moment, you may look around the Academy.”
There was not the slightest sign of hesitation from the students. They all hurriedly moved their feet.
“Where should we go first?”
“What kind of question is that? Obviously the training ground or the physical training room.”
Even though they were my age, their greatest interests were the training ground and the physical training room. The difference from ordinary people was already standing out.
‘They really are different.’
Perhaps I could understand the students’ arrogance and pride to a certain extent. Growing up, they must have spent arduous days trying to become Heroes.
I also very much wanted to follow them and look around the Academy, but not now.
‘This comes first.’
Fortunately, the female student Kubanda was riding had not left and was still standing with her arms crossed.
Since chances to be alone would not come often, I resolved to make active use of it.
Even after everyone finally left and only the female student and I remained, Kubanda was still making a fuss.
“What is it? You can see me? You can’t see me?!”
Ah, seriously, enough was enough.
“I can see you. I said I can see you, you horse head.”
“......!?”
The words had clearly been directed at Kubanda, but the female student was startled.
“Were, were you talking to me just now?”
I replied with the most serious expression and tone possible, making sure to present my sincerity.
“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to the guy on your shoulder.”
“What are you talking about, this whole time?!”
She was throwing a temper as before, but she was looking around in every direction as if she were frightened.
Because of my sincerity, the suddenly empty lounge began to give off an eerie atmosphere.
‘Like you’d be able to see him.’
Where had her appearance from moments ago gone? Right now, she was simply a girl my age.
I felt a little sorry for the female student, but I heightened the atmosphere.
And in a way, it was no different from the female student meeting a benefactor in me.
“What’s your name?”
“Out of nowh-.”
“Name.”
“Elena Eshdid......”
Because I spoke while approaching her one step at a time, Elena slowly backed away.
Terrified, Elena was pushed along by my momentum. I did not miss it, and assuming the Authority of Kubanda that I knew, I spoke.
“At some point, you must have started feeling tired all the time. If not that, then maybe you can’t operate your mana properly.”
“......!”
Elena only looked at me as if I were a gifted shaman.
I had no intention of hearing an answer anyway. My plan was simply to maintain the same attitude and communicate smoothly with Kubanda.
It was a strategy that made me look like either a madman or a gifted shaman, and both effects were excellent.
“Then stay quiet. And you over there, keep it reasonable too.”
Kubanda was on Elena’s left, so my index finger pointed in that direction as well.
Elena moved her gaze along my index finger, but there was nothing visible to her.
In this atmosphere, there was nothing Elena could do.
‘Be thankful you can’t see him.’
Because right now, Kubanda was standing on his hands and staring at Elena upside down.
“No. Just keep your eyes closed.”
I knew full well that Elena could not see him, but I, the one watching, felt burdened.
“O-Okay!”
All Elena, who could not possibly follow the flow of the conversation, could do was squeeze her eyes shut.
***
‘This should do.’
With that, I was able to focus only on Kubanda.
Contrary to his appearance, Kubanda was generous. After all, this was probably his first time being cursed at by a human too.
‘Is he waiting for me on purpose?’
Only after the situation had settled did Kubanda hop down from Elena’s shoulder.
“You little brat, you’ve got one refreshingly direct personality. I knew you could see me. Just in case, did you see the Thunderbird earlier too?”
“Yeah, I did. I was right next to her.”
The more our conversation continued, the more Elena’s eyebrows trembled.
“Hmm...... I do not know how she managed to soar. According to rumors, her wings were broken after she challenged a divine authority.”
I nodded silently.
‘She really plays in a different league.’
The words that the Thunderbird had challenged the Authority struck me deeply.
Because, for some reason, I had the feeling that what the Thunderbird had challenged was a god.
I had already been curious about how the Thunderbird had ended up that way, and Kubanda had unintentionally resolved that curiosity for me.
SNAP!
Kubanda, who had been stroking his pitch-black muzzle for a moment, snapped his fingers.
“Ah! So that is why you have that. Yes, then the pieces fit.”
“What are you going on about by yourself?”
He did not say it directly, but Kubanda seemed to have realized that I had helped the Thunderbird.
Perhaps I might have been completely wrong about Kubanda’s Authority.
‘But isn’t it kind of vicious for a horse head to even use mind reading?’
No, there had to be limits.
“You foolish wretch! That is the Covenant of the Thunder God. What in the world is the Thunderbird doing? Giving something so precious to a brat who does not even know its value......? Wait. The Heavenly Hound’s Eye of All Under Heaven? You wretch! What are you?!”
Honestly, because Kubanda talked so much, there were ways in which he was helpful, but there was also the drawback that he made my mind feel frantic.
‘What kind of guy is he?’
This was my first time seeing such a talkative Divine Beast, so I found him fascinating, and I also could not stand the sight of him.
One funny thing was that we were both wary of each other.
“Forget that. Why are you riding her? Did you revert, or was it Virudhaka’s order?”
At the word “riding,” Elena staggered backward and barely leaned against the wall.
THUD!
But Kubanda glared at me, so I could not pay attention to her.
“You wretch!”
“......Lord Virudhaka.”
Kubanda was truly simple.
“Good. You know quite a lot for what you are. First, it was not an order, and I do not know what you mean by ‘revert,’ but I am simply helping this child.”
“Helping her?”
How was I supposed to look at that and call it helping?
“Well, even if you are quite the unusual fellow, I suppose you would not know about this......”
Soon, Kubanda began another long speech.
It was mostly helpful, but since pointless chatter was mixed in here and there, I automatically let half of it go in one ear.
“......So you’re saying something is happening up there right now. And while you were at it, you ended up helping Elena too.”
At this rate, there was no sign it would end, so I interpreted it myself and replied.
“O-Oh...... That’s right.”
Though I said it easily, that was not how I felt inside.
‘But...... what did I just hear? This seems way too big.’
Because something even Kubanda, a retainer of the Southern God Virudhaka, did not properly know was happening up above.
Thus, it seemed that while Kubanda was trying to replenish his mana for the future, Elena had caught his eye.
I glanced at Elena, who was leaning against the wall and looked as if she was about to lose her breath.
‘To think I’d see a spirit-type here too.’
Elena was said to be a spirit-type Hero, one considered to be on a different track. Such a girl had one problem.
‘But if she has so much mana that she can’t operate it...... is that good or bad?’
Namely, she possessed mana that was difficult for a human being to handle. That was the reason Elena had been chosen by Kubanda.
‘At least I was right about the mana absorption.’
Thanks to the chatterbox, I had also figured out that his Authority was mana absorption.
As I spent a moment grasping the situation, Kubanda spoke to me.
“Does it frighten you? The future, never knowing when or how it will come?”
Sorry, but when he said it with that appearance and that voice, even the seriousness that had been there drained away.
“When that time comes, the me of that time will handle it.”
And for now, I needed to focus on what was right in front of me.
“Heh heh...... You certainly say carefree things, boy.”
Kubanda, who had been playful in everything, clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the floor.
“Anyway, this method will take far too long. I must return to Lord Virudhaka now......”
“Your Authority is mana absorption, right?”
Kubanda lightly nodded.
“Well, it is also vital energy absorption, but they are more or less the same......? You brat, are you a pervert? What do you not know, exactly?”
For the first time, I approached Kubanda first.
Approaching that face was no easy thing, but a good idea had occurred to me, so I needed to endure it.
“What is it you’re trying to do, then?”
“It is both difficult and easy. If there were someone who could absorb mana like me, it could be resolved immediately. But where would one easily find such a person?”
“Ah, I see.”
That person was right here.
More precisely, someone who would become that person was.