The third day of punishment duty was somehow worse than the first two.
Not because anything had gone wrong.
That would've at least been interesting.
No.
The problem was that nothing had happened.
For nearly four hours.
Nothing.
No monster escapes.
No emergencies.
No injured cleanup crews.
No dungeon breaches.
Nothing.
I had reached a point where watching grass grow would've qualified as entertainment.
Which was why I immediately noticed the voice.
Female Voice: "Astaroso?"
I stopped walking.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The crate of monster cores resting on my shoulder suddenly felt much heavier.
There were very few people capable of recognizing that name.
There were even fewer people who would use it openly.
I turned.
And immediately understood.
Four white wings.
Elegant.
Massive.
Beautiful.
The feathers practically shimmered beneath the afternoon sunlight.
Skyfield.
Of course.
Standing a short distance away was a girl visibly older than me.
Long silver-blonde hair.
Golden eyes.
A relaxed smile.
And enough noble confidence to identify her before she even spoke.
Enel Skyfield.
One of Elarion's more prominent noble daughters.
Third year.
Nine-Star class holder.
Academy ranked.
And apparently assigned to punishment duty.
Interesting.
Actually—
No.
Concerning.
Enel: "I never got the chance to thank you."
Benjamin: "For what?"
Enel: "For inviting my family to your coming-of-age banquet."
Ah.
That explained everything.
Benjamin: "And here I thought my disguise was flawless."
Enel: "It is."
Benjamin: "Then how—"
Enel: "I watched you punch a statue."
...
Fair.
That had happened.
Benjamin: "One time."
Enel: "It was memorable."
Benjamin: "The statue disagrees."
A laugh escaped her.
Warm.
Natural.
The sort of laugh that immediately made people comfortable around her.
Which explained quite a lot.
Several passing students waved.
Enel waved back.
Another student greeted her.
She greeted them by name.
A third-year stopped briefly to chat before continuing on his way.
Everyone seemed happy to see her.
I found that suspicious.
Benjamin: "People actually call you the Angel?"
Enel: "Most do."
Benjamin: "And Angel of Death?"
Enel: "Only after the incident."
Benjamin: "Understandable."
Enel: "White Embracer is my favorite."
Benjamin: "That sounds harmless."
Enel: "It is."
Benjamin: "That's suspicious."
Enel: "My bloodline has a passive ability."
Benjamin: "Ooh."
Enel: "If I wrap someone in my wings, it removes negative mental conditions."
Benjamin: "Define negative."
Enel: "Stress."
Benjamin: "Useful."
Enel: "Anxiety."
Benjamin: "Very useful."
Enel: "Confusion."
Benjamin: "Impressive."
Enel: "Fatigue."
Benjamin: "Now you're just showing off."
Enel: "I also help people relax."
Benjamin: "You cure emotional damage with hugs."
Enel: "More or less."
Benjamin: "That explains the nickname."
Now it made sense.
White Embracer.
Students weren't happy to see Enel because she was famous.
They were happy because spending a few minutes wrapped inside those enormous white wings apparently removed half the problems in their lives.
Stress.
Anxiety.
Mental exhaustion.
Emotional instability.
The ability was absurdly useful.
Which explained why half the academy seemed to adore her.
It also explained why she appeared completely unaware of how popular she was.
The truly dangerous people rarely noticed.
We walked together for a while.
The conversation drifted naturally.
Elarion.
Academy life.
Punishment duty.
The usual topics.
Eventually curiosity won.
Benjamin: "So what are you doing here?"
Enel immediately looked away.
That was a bad sign.
Benjamin: "Enel."
Enel: "I may have overreacted."
Benjamin: "Define overreacted."
She sighed.
Enel: "A fourth-year insulted my wings."
I nodded.
Reasonable opening statement.
Enel: "Repeatedly."
Enel: "Then she called them decorative."
I stopped walking.
The scales visible across my arms practically twitched.
Ah.
One of those situations.
I understood perfectly.
Benjamin: "What happened next?"
Enel: "I dropped her."
Silence.
Benjamin: "From where?"
Enel: "Airship altitude."
she said looking at the sky
I stared at her.
Benjamin: "...that's not a normal escalation."
Enel: "She survived."
Benjamin: "That's not helping."
Enel: "The healers fixed her."
Benjamin: "Still not helping."
Apparently the entire incident had started because of a boy.
A fourth-year girl had developed feelings for a student from Kaligon.
Unfortunately for her—
The student liked Enel.
Specifically her wings.
At some point he had openly admitted:
"I think Enel's wings are beautiful."
Then later:
"I want to ask her out."
The resulting disaster had apparently become academy history.
Benjamin: "Did you even know the guy?"
Enel: "No."
Benjamin: "Did you encourage him?"
Enel: "No."
Benjamin: "Did you go out with him?"
Enel: "No."
Benjamin: "And she still blamed you?"
Enel: "Yes."
Benjamin: "...people are strange."
Enel: "Very."
For a while neither of us spoke.
The silence wasn't awkward.
Just comfortable.
Then Enel glanced sideways at me.
Enel: "I heard about your incident."
I groaned.
Benjamin: "Everyone heard."
Enel: "You broke his face."
Benjamin: "Allegedly."
Enel: "You literally did."
Benjamin: "Details."
A laugh escaped her.
The afternoon sunlight caught both her wings and my scales.
White feathers.
Draconic scales.
Two very different bloodlines.
Yet somehow the same pride.
The same attachment.
The same refusal to hide what we were.
Enel: "You know."
Benjamin: "That statement worries me."
Enel: "I think we're going to get along."
I stared at her.
Unfortunately.
She was probably right.
And somehow—
That felt like the beginning of a problem.
A very large problem.
With wings.