<Chapter 8>

No matter how much I tried to escape through sleep, my eyes opened once it was time. I stared blankly up at the stark white ceiling.

“I don’t wanna go to daycare…”

But I had to. I was the teacher, after all.

Even knowing that, the sighs wouldn’t stop.

Life at daycare with Ardishu had been nothing but delightful. Every day was joyful, and I always looked forward to the next lesson…

‘But then the dragon showed up.’

I pictured a kid with purple hair, wings, and a tail, all of it vividly purple.

I’d arbitrarily nicknamed him “Purple Puff,” but I still didn’t even know his real name.

Other guardians had at least sent over a portrait and a name beforehand, but the dragon lord, guardian of this child, only sent a note that read, “The individual does not wish to disclose any information.”

Looking back, that should’ve been a red flag. I should’ve seen this coming.

“Ughhh…”

Yesterday was, honestly, the worst.

[“Today, we’re going to learn a song called The Fancy Tomato!”]

I’d pulled out a ripe, plump tomato. It had eyes, a nose, and a mouth drawn on, and even wore a little straw hat. Without a doubt, it was a fancy tomato.

[“Let’s all say hello to our tomato friend who came to visit our classroom!”]

[“Hi, Tomato!”]

Ardishu had beamed and waved. That was the hopeful part of the class.

[“I don’t like it. Why do I have to greet some dumb vegetable?”]

Suddenly, the dragon rushed at me, snatched the tomato, and hurled it at the wall. Red pulp slid down the once-pristine surface.

[“Uh…”]

It happened so fast I froze on the spot. The dragon stood there with arms crossed, staring me down.

[“A-are you okay, Teacher?”]

[“Y-yeah”.]

My mental state had burst along with the tomato, and yeah, I was a little shaken…

But I was okay. I couldn’t let something like this break me. That would mean failing as a teacher.

[“That was quite the dramatic greeting. Ta-da! Our tomato friend has recovered and returned!”]

I whipped out the spare tomato I’d prepared just in case and continued the lesson.

Even with the upbeat tune and cheerful dance, the classroom was steeped in tension.

‘No joke, it’s getting hard to breathe in here.’

In hindsight, it was obvious. Between the cheerful humans and elves singing along stood a dragon, stone-faced and unmoved.

Barely surviving through class, we reached lunch.

[“Hm?”]

The dragon stabbed his fork into his apple over and over, almost as if tormenting it.

[“Do you not like apples?”]

[“I already lowered myself to eat human food. Now you want more…?”]

[“Well, if you don’t want to eat it, don’t. Just eat as much as you feel like.”]

The dragon scowled and tossed the fork aside. Then he stood up and stormed back into the classroom.

[“T-teacher…”]

[“Looks like our dragon friend isn’t quite used to daycare yet.”]

From the strong reaction, I figured he probably disliked apples.

Most kids, even if picky with veggies, usually liked fruit.

Was it just personal taste, or was there something more?

I decided to wait and see a bit longer.

The real incident happened that afternoon.

[“Teacher Sora! Teacher Soooora!”]

Youngja-unnie was screaming like her life depended on it.

[“Oh no.”]

The dragon kid had transformed and was flying off with the bus in his claws!

[“Miss Sora! Help meee!”]

[“Dragon friend, you scared the bus teacher really badly. Come down, please!”]

Thankfully, he did come down soon after, but I was so overwhelmed I almost cried.

“I don’t wanna go to daycare…”

I yanked the blanket up over my head. The Despair Arc of my teaching life had only just begun.

‘Honestly, I thought I could handle anything.’

I was never top of the class, but I was always in the top tier.

I made a lot of mistakes at first during practicum, but I always wrapped things up well.

Even after ending up in another world, I quickly bonded with Ardishu and got a little cocky.

“And now there’s a kid who could kill me if he felt like it.”

I felt kind of… cheated. What kind of teacher has to deal with this?

“Mentor teacher, I got caught in a job scam.”

No wonder the job offer seemed too good to be true. There was a reason they were so eager to pamper me.

“Wait a second… there was that really violent kid in the class next door!”

A memory suddenly struck me like lightning.

A transfer student had joined mid-term. He constantly hit the other kids, and their parents visited the school all the time.

When the assistant teacher in that class took a sick day, I filled in for a day…

‘I remember now. Daon. He used to chew on blocks when he got scolded and would end up hurting the inside of his mouth.’

That day, I had clung to my mentor in tears, asking how anyone could deal with a kid like that in class.

‘Right! I wrote down my mentor’s advice in my notebook!’

I flipped through it quickly.

<No matter what the child does, the teacher must not lose composure.>

“Deprivation…”

In Daon’s case, it was abuse from his parents.

My mentor had said his parents needed education and that Daon required consistent love and attention.

Only then would he learn he could get what he needed without resorting to violence.

‘What is Purple Puff lacking…?’

Even if he’s a dragon and powerful, he’s still just a child. A child with something missing.

“I think I can help him.”

I threw off the covers and stood up, clenching my fists with determination.

* * *

By morning, the bus had pulled up in front of the Dragon’s Lair gate.

“Hmph.”

The violet dragon, Paul, snorted at the sight. Human contraptions were laughable to him.

“I’m way faster than that weird-looking thing anyway.”

Flapping his wings, Paul soared straight toward daycare.

But when he arrived, the classroom was empty. The human, despite everything that happened yesterday, was nowhere to be seen.

“Tch. So much for being a ‘teacher.’ Figures.”

Paul kicked one of the round tables.

Maybe, just maybe, he had hoped a human might be different—

“Hi there. You’re early.”

The human burst in, a little disheveled from running, but smiling brightly as she smoothed out her hair with her fingers.

“Dragons being fast is only natural.”

“Exactly. You’ve got wings, after all. I’m jealous. When I was little, I used to wish I had wings too. I thought if I had wings, I could fly anywhere.”

Despite everything he’d done yesterday, she was still calm and cheerful.

‘Adults are all the same.’

Paul’s gaze sharpened.

He was genuinely curious to see how long that human could keep smiling.

* * *

“Good morning, Teacher.”

“Good morning to you too, Ardishu! Oh, pants today, huh?”

I greeted Ardishu with a warm hug.

“Do… do I look weird?”

“No way. You look cute! Kind of sporty. Let me tie your hair up high today.”

I took a hair tie from my pocket and tied her silvery hair into a high ponytail.

“Let’s play outside today. Actually, I sent you a telepathic message to wear something comfy!”

“I think I felt it zap me this morning. That’s probably why I wanted to wear pants!”

When it was just the two of us, it was blissfully peaceful.

But this was a classroom. It wasn’t just me and Ardishu.

“As if. What would a powerless human know?”

“Well, telepathy is a psychic power, not magic. It’s a totally different thing.”

Even when the dragon mocked me coldly, I kept my cool.

“Psychic power? What’s that?”

“Se-cret.”

“You’d be dead if I stepped on you, you know!”

The dragon’s face flushed red as he raised his voice. I just tilted my chin up with a smug smile.

“But if I died, you’d never learn the secret, would you?”

“Why you—!”

“Wanna make a bet?”

The dragon looked at me warily.

“A bet? Not a lesson?”

“Not a lesson. A bet.”

“You really think a human can beat me?”

“Guess we’ll find out. Let’s go.”

I took the lead, and both Ardishu and the dragon followed behind.

I took a deep breath. The dragon had been threatening, and I was definitely on edge.

‘You’re doing great. Proud of you for not backing down.’

The first challenge was tree climbing.

“Teacher, I’m good at climbing trees!”

Ardishu quickly scaled the tree and swung her legs from the top.

“You’re slow, even though you’re an adult.”

Next, The dragon climbed up effortlessly and looked down at me with disdain.

“Well, grown-ups are kinda… out of shape.”

“Don’t blame your stamina. Tree climbing’s all about technique.”

“Then why don’t you teach me, Mr. Dragon Teacher?”

“You don’t even know that and you call yourself an adult?”

The dragon clicked his tongue.

‘Ugh.’

I was stuck halfway, not knowing whether to go up or down.

“You just… need to keep going up, that’s all…”

Ardishu fidgeted. She could climb well, but explaining how was clearly another matter.

“Can’t be helped. This is as far as I go. I give up—”

“Look for sturdy branches.”

Surprisingly, the dragon spoke up.

“Don’t move both legs at once. One at a time. Not that I care if you fall or anything.”

He sounded gruff, but he was clearly trying to help.

‘Rough on the outside, but a good kid at heart.’

Thanks to the dragon’s advice, I barely managed to reach the top.

“Thanks. Wow, the view up here is amaz—”

“I wanna get down.”

“Wait! Let’s each pick one fruit before we go.”

Since we made it up here, it felt like a waste to leave empty-handed.

“I’ll toss one to you, okay? Catch!”

“Okay!”

Ardishu… caught about 20% of what I threw.

With fruit in hand, we climbed down and strolled along the river. The water was so clean it was safe to drink, and it flowed all the way to the Human Special Autonomous District.

Crunch.

I bit into the crisp fruit. Sweeter than any fruit I’d ever had in my old world.

“Kids, don’t toss the seeds. Save them.”

“Why?” Ardishu tilted her head.

“We’re gonna plant them in the daycare garden.”

“Wow, will they grow into big trees like that one?”

“Yep. If we water them and take care of them, they’ll grow nice and tall someday.”

Ardishu grinned and slipped the seeds into her pocket.

“Tch. Like planting seeds always leads to trees.”

The dragon threw cold water on the mood.

“You’re right. It’s not that easy.”

“They’ll probably fail.”

“Still, I’ll keep watering them. Someone has to wait patiently until the seeds are ready to sprout.”
 

<To be continued>

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