Hizashi No Kage

  Chapter - 15

  Akash felt that Hameel was now just joking, but Hameel was actually telling the truth.

  “Go bring that girl here too. I’ll explain everything to you,” Hameel said.

  Akash couldn’t believe it. Their life had truly been saved.

  Akash immediately healed Manjula, then healed himself as well.

  Hameel had now sat down comfortably. When the two of them approached him, he began to speak—

  “Manjula Windheart, please forgive me. I know that you people did not enslave my brother Kameel. You couldn’t have either. He became your grandfather’s familiar of his own free will, and now he is your father’s familiar. I was already aware of this. Still, I put on the act of fighting only because I wanted to test you.

  And there is a reason for wanting to test you. I don’t have any special attachment to humans in general, but right now I need a kind and powerful human—and I’ve found two.

  The thing is, my child is about to be born. It could hatch from its egg at any moment, but I have a very urgent task that requires me to go to the Demon Continent. Do you know that the demons are trying to resurrect their king? That’s exactly why I have to go there.

  But I cannot leave my child alone either. I was caught in this dilemma when you two arrived here...

  I’ve heard that among humans, a male and a female raise their children together. That’s why I posed that life-or-death question in front of both of you. Now I’m convinced that you two will take good care of my child. Come with me.”

  Hameel led them to a hidden room inside the boss room, where his egg was kept. The egg was about three feet tall and quite thick.

  “When this egg hatches, both of you must be the first ones it sees. It will immediately recognize you as its parents. I cannot stay here—otherwise it will remember me too, and when I leave, it will cry remembering me.”

  (Extra information: Dragons have no gender. They are single parents who reproduce asexually.)

  After understanding everything Hameel said, only one thought came to Akash’s mind—“Me and Manjula as mommy-daddy… mommy-daddy?? Me and Manjula? Doesn’t that mean we’re also husband and wife…?” His face started turning red, especially his thick nose.

  Manjula could clearly understand what Akash was thinking, but in these circumstances she couldn’t oppose Hameel either. Deep down she wished Zavier were here instead of Akash. But…

  Just then, the egg began to stir. Hameel immediately said, “Now I must leave. Name my child Jameel Jaro and raise it well. If you do anything wrong, I will truly kill both of you.” With those words, Hameel flew away.

  A short while later the egg completely cracked open, and from inside emerged a small light-blue dragon. (Small meaning about two feet tall.)

  The baby found only Manjula and Akash standing in front of it and immediately accepted them as its mother and father, exactly as Hameel had said.

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  At first the baby wobbled and stumbled toward Manjula. Manjula bent down, picked it up, and hugged it close. Then the baby started moving toward Akash too. Reluctantly, Manjula let it go. Akash quickly lifted it into his hands and began gently rocking it in the air.

  “Come on, let’s name it Manjula—” Akash said happily, embracing his new fatherhood role. He continued on his own, “Your name will be Jameel—”

  “Stop, stop! Its name will be Zara. That terrible name Hameel gave is never happening,” Manjula declared, tearing apart her talisman as she spoke.

  Akash accepted her decision.

  Then Manjula said, “I’ll keep it with me. I’ll take it to the palace where it can meet its uncle. You can just come meet it once in a while.”

  Manjula had returned to her original form.

  “Huh??? But I’m its papa too,” Akash protested.

  “No. Only I am its mommy. It has no papa,” Manjula said, taking Zara back from Akash.

  Zara watched its parents’ first argument with its innocent, glass-like blue eyes (whether “his” or “her,” whatever).

  “So what am I supposed to tell Madam? You’ll just say you now have a dragon baby as your familiar. What about me?” Akash suddenly remembered he still needed a familiar.

  As she walked out of the boss room, Manjula replied, “You’d better find some monster as quickly as possible.”

  Akash couldn’t say anything. Manjula left with Zara.

  Akash had accepted Manjula’s words. The reason was simple—if he told everyone the full story, it would badly damage Manjula’s reputation. A princess raising a dragon child together with a woodcutter? If word spread, it might even jeopardize Manjula’s marriage prospects.

  Akash understood why Manjula had behaved so coldly before leaving. She didn’t want to have to explain it to him herself.

  “Fine, I’ll just meet it once in a while,” Akash muttered to himself.

  Then the worry about a familiar returned. He was extremely tired. In this state, what monster could he possibly tame? Just then, he noticed a slime in the hidden room.

  ---

  All the students had returned from the dungeon. No one died today because everyone had learned their lesson from last time. Most had tamed monsters above level 50. Only Akash had a familiar at level 4. Everyone laughed at him a lot.

  In contrast, everyone praised Manjula’s and Zavier’s familiars highly.

  Zavier had tamed a Fire Eagle (level 80).

  Zavier thought he had tamed the strongest monster—and he was right—but the moment people saw the dragon baby (even though its level was only 10 for now), they forgot all about his eagle and kept trying to get close to touch Manjula’s familiar.

  Seeing the huge crowd, Zara got scared and clung tightly to Manjula. Manjula immediately scolded everyone and shooed them away.

  Upon reaching the academy, following Leona Ma’am’s advice, Manjula met the principal and obtained permission to keep Zara in the hostel. Along with that, she also informed Principal Shuram that the demons were planning to resurrect their king.

  Principal Shuram told her that the humans already knew about it and were preparing to fight the demons. A war was coming.

  Manjula was stunned. Did that mean her father—the King of Kamilya—also knew? Of course he did.

  (Extra information: The academy had separate arrangements for all familiars. Monsters normally couldn’t stay in the hostel, but Manjula got special permission for Zara.)

  To everyone else, Manjula simply said she found a dragon egg in a hidden room and Zara hatched from it. But she told the full truth to only two people—Ramya and Zavier. Ramya had been with her since childhood and shared all her secrets, and Manjula had never hidden anything from Zavier either.

  However, Zavier didn’t like the idea that his fiancée would have to play the role of mother together with someone else. He stayed quiet for a while, then said, “Stay away from that Akash. He just wants to get close to you. After a few days without seeing Akash, the dragon child will forget him on its own. It would be better if I became its father instead.”

  Manjula agreed, though she did feel a little bad for Akash.

  The monster-taming class was the last class of the session. Afterward, all students were given a one-day holiday. During this time, the tournament notice was also released. This time the event was the “Hand-to-Hand Combat Tournament.” No weapons, no familiars—just fighting with your own body. However, using magic skills was allowed.

  During the one-day break, Akash decided to check his level. There was a special room in the academy where anyone could go and check their level.

  As Akash was heading toward that room, he saw Zavier coming out. Zavier noticed him too.

  Akash tried to ignore him and walk past, but Zavier deliberately bumped his shoulder into him. Akash paused, but Zavier didn’t stop and kept walking.

  Once again, Akash couldn’t say anything to Zavier. Whether intentional or not, Akash had always felt suppressed around Zavier.

  Akash’s mind was messed up, but he still entered the room. In the center was a huge mana crystal. Akash touched it. The next moment, his level appeared in the crystal—84. But he couldn’t feel happy about it. (By the way, Zavier’s level had already reached 92.)

  The next day…

  The tournament was about to begin. It was being held right in the academy grounds. Seating arrangements for spectators had been made. Second-year students would also compete, but after the first-years. That’s why all the second-years were currently sitting among the audience. A few third-years were there too. Third-years had no matches today, but they came just to watch the first- and second-year fights.

  All the teachers, supporting staff, and many outsiders had arrived as well.

  It was 8:00 in the morning. The matches were scheduled to start at 9:00. At that time, all students were informed about the first-round matchups.

  The very first match was between **Akash and Zavier**!!!!!!!!!

  In the center of the field, a large combat arena had been prepared, raised slightly above ground level.

  The rules were—

  A student would be declared the loser if:

  - They themselves surrendered,

  - They stepped/fell outside the arena,

  - They were no longer capable of fighting.

  And if someone died, no one else would be held responsible.