How to Raise a Dumb Wolf - Chapter 37

Les Wolf.

Aisha had now heard that name from three people.

The first was her mother, who had casually mentioned that the major general’s beast form was also a large wolf and that he had been injured in the war and was probably recuperating in Beast. The second was Pal. He said Les Wolf was his cousin and, according to his description, possessed a beast form identical to Aisha’s gray wolf, Les—which matched what her mother had said. The third… was the student Aisha had just stopped. He had plainly known the name Les Wolf for a long time and took pride in studying at Les’s old school.

Aisha pressed a hand to her burning face, but the strange heat showed no sign of fading. Her heart was beating rather quickly too, and the unfamiliar sensation made her panic.

But she could not spare much attention for her physical condition. She was still trying to absorb what she had just learned about Les Wolf.

Most foreign students came to the Heart of the World for advanced education only after completing their basic schooling. Still, some exceptionally gifted children from families wealthy enough not to worry about Wold’s high cost of living chose to study advanced subjects here at a very young age.

Twelve was considered an early age to enroll. Graduating at fifteen, however… that was astonishingly young. Aisha had already celebrated her seventeenth birthday and had only just come to take the entrance examinations.

And he had needed only three years in total…

As far as Aisha knew, even her mother, Tina Killott—the woman considered the most gifted in military matters—had taken four full years to graduate from Wold Military Academy. It was easy to imagine how staggering and extraordinary three years must have been.

Major General Wolf did not currently seem as famous as Tina, but he had not served in the military for very long. His future could only be described as limitless.

He truly was so…

Far beyond her reach.

For some reason, Aisha felt a trace of disappointment. A warrior so exceptional and promising—and a beastfolk besides—was unlikely ever to cross paths with her again.

Fortunately… she had thanked him earnestly at the time. At least she had no regrets.

“Um… are you all right?”

The Wold Warrior School student Aisha had stopped watched her dazed expression and asked with concern.

“If you feel unwell, I can take you to the infirmary…”

“What? Oh! I’m sorry.”

Aisha finally returned to herself. She tested her cheek with the back of her hand again. The heat had not diminished at all, and now that the student mentioned it, she truly did feel a little dizzy.

Dizziness, panic, a racing heart, burning cheeks. So many symptoms, both familiar and strangely foreign. Could she be—

Running a fever?

Aisha felt slightly dazed. She did not know what was happening, but her cheeks seemed to grow even hotter. She managed a smile.

“Perhaps I really am a little ill. But there’s no need to trouble you. I’ll return to my hotel and check…”

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

“Mm. I don’t feel especially unwell. My face is just hot…”

Under his worried gaze, Aisha quickly left Wold Warrior School and returned to the hotel.

At that moment, she could not help feeling grateful that her parents had booked such an expensive place. After she explained the situation at the front desk, an attendant found her a thermometer.

Aisha took it back to her room and placed it beneath her neck to measure her temperature.

The sudden heat had come on alarmingly and for no apparent reason. Her thoughts remained clear, and she felt no weakness, but there were unmistakable signs of illness. That made the wait feel especially long. The clock seemed to move far too slowly.

At last, enough time passed. Aisha removed the thermometer and breathed a sigh of relief.

Her temperature was normal. She was not ill.

Then… could she have…

Fallen for him…

No, no. That should be impossible.

The instant the thought appeared, Aisha dismissed it.

No matter how she looked at it, she had met the man only once and exchanged very few words with him. His attitude had also been distant and cold. Even if he had saved her life, falling in love like this would be… far too quick, wouldn’t it?

Still, although it was supposedly their first meeting, that man… truly had given her a strange feeling of familiarity…

Aisha frowned faintly and began wondering whether she might have seen him somewhere before.

Just then, the giant wolf walked up and pressed his head against her forehead with a grave expression.

Les had already been worried when he saw Aisha return with a thermometer. On closer inspection, her face truly was flushed. After all the misfortune Aisha had suffered lately, and then seeing her fall silent and stare blankly after reading the thermometer, he could not help coming over to check.

Before he finished, Aisha threw her arms around him and burst into amused laughter.

Les: “…?”

The giant wolf tilted his head in confusion. Smiling, Aisha put away the thermometer and shook her head.

“It’s nothing… I just suddenly understood…”

Of course Major General Wolf of the Empire of Beast felt familiar. It was because of Les.

Pal had told the truth. Les and Major General Wolf must really have almost identical beast forms—the color of their fur, their eyes, even their expressions.

Rather than falling in love with Major General Wolf at first sight, perhaps she had unconsciously projected the affection she already felt for Les onto a beastfolk man who resembled the wolf.

Compared with the beastfolk officer’s coldness, however, Les was unquestionably much more approachable and adorable.

Having untangled the matter, Aisha relaxed. She embraced Les and rubbed the soft fur around his neck into complete disorder. The formerly neat gray coat stuck up at every angle. No matter how imposing the giant wolf’s size and expression might be, even he could no longer look dignified with such fur.

Yet he showed no anger at anything she did and continued watching her with concern.

Aisha laughed, buried herself in his fur, and nuzzled him affectionately.

…

With the forest practical examination resolved, the magical assessments came next. After receiving the notice, Aisha arrived on time at the Tower of Magic across from her hotel.

If the forest examination was the basic entrance requirement proving that a student met the threshold for entering the tower, the magical assessments divided accepted students by level and assigned them to suitable teachers.

This too was a competition. The best mentors always selected especially outstanding students, or students whose ideas about magic matched their own. But since teachers and students had never met, the latter was difficult to judge. Mentors therefore tended to choose, with blunt simplicity, the highest-scoring candidates among those who had named them as a preference.

That made the magical assessments important as well.

Eric Green was the highest-ranked mage accepting students this year. One could imagine how intense the competition would be.

Aisha understood her own level. She knew she was unlikely to earn a miraculous score that overwhelmed everyone else. In a way, that allowed her to relax. She only hoped her second-choice mentor would like her.

The assessments were still held on the first floor of the Tower of Magic’s lower public section. A long line had already formed for the magical-capacity test. Aisha composed herself and joined the end.

What followed was a dull, tedious wait. Nearly an hour and a half passed before the girl ahead of her finally entered the testing room. Another ten minutes or more went by before Aisha’s turn arrived.

She swallowed and walked inside.

The room was kept very dark so the light inside the crystal spheres could be seen clearly. Only one elderly mage sat within, looking rather sinister in the gloom.

He gave Aisha a brief glance and gestured toward two crystal spheres placed side by side on the table, indicating that she should place a hand on each in turn. Then he picked up pen and paper and said nothing more, simply waiting for her to begin.

Aisha hurried over and placed her hand on the first sphere.

One crystal sphere tested magical capacity. The other revealed a mana flower.

Several hundred years ago, a group of mages had modified crystal spheres used to test magical power and invented one that could express a mage’s personality and mental state in the form of a flower. Ever since, the mana-flower test had become an important tool used by mages everywhere to select students. The Tower of Magic was no exception.

If magical power represented quantity, the mana flower represented quality.

The clearer a mana flower appeared, the greater the mage’s comprehension of magic generally was. Its variety could also reflect something of the mage’s character and morals, giving mentors valuable information.

A person’s mana flower usually changed throughout life. It grew and blossomed as the mage matured, and shifted with the mage’s condition. If a mage stayed awake for too many nights or ate improperly for a long period, the mana flower would droop and shrivel. If the mage was seriously injured, it would shed petals. If the mage died… the flower would wither as well.

Once Aisha was formally admitted, the school would use magic to place an image of her mana flower on the cuff of her Tower of Magic uniform. That allowed mages to monitor their condition and make timely adjustments.

For that reason, Aisha was full of anticipation about what her flower might be.

The first sphere was clearly the magical-capacity test. Once Aisha placed her hand upon it, a silver point like a spark quickly appeared at its center. The sphere gradually warmed as the light expanded. It finally stopped after filling two-thirds of the crystal.

Aisha looked toward the old man. He casually wrote something on the paper, then tipped his chin at her.

“Continue.”

Aisha moved to the second sphere.

At first, it did not respond. The old mage had just frowned and started to come over to inspect it when the sphere finally lit—not with one point, but… many!

Aisha froze, assuming something had gone wrong. She instinctively tried to remove her hand, but the old mage stopped her, pushed up his glasses, and leaned closer.

Dozens—hundreds—of tiny lights appeared throughout the crystal sphere, like stars reflected on the surface of dark water. Gradually, every star spread into a small, delicate white flower. Before long, leaves and stems extended from beneath the blossoms and slowly gathered together into a single spray.

Baby’s breath!

The old mage stared at the countless exquisite flowers, concealing his astonishment. The smaller a mana flower was, the harder it was for it to appear clearly. Not only was this girl’s flower baby’s breath, but every petal of every tiny blossom was distinct and immaculate, as lifelike as a real flower, without the slightest blur or overlap.

It was exceptionally rare. Her magical capacity was merely above average, but the quality of her mana flower was extraordinary!

He quickly wrote *Exceptional* in the “Mana-Flower Clarity” field of the record sheet. His face showed nothing, however. He waved Aisha away, plainly meaning, *You may go.*

Aisha desperately wanted to know her results, but there was nothing she could do. She had no choice but to leave for now.

Supposedly, the data from every assessment would be delivered to the candidates’ preferred mentors that night. Results would be announced within a week, followed by a trial period and possible reassignment…

Aisha took an uneasy breath and left the testing room.

…

That evening, on the ninth floor of the Tower of Magic’s upper section.

“Teacher, this year’s candidate files have arrived.”

Thorne stood with a thick stack of papers in his arms and knocked lightly on the open laboratory door.

Although Eric Green threw away the candidates’ files in piles like waste paper every year, an endless stream of students still named him as their first choice, each hoping to become one of the fortunate few. Even with only one sheet per candidate, the stack in Thorne’s arms was considerably thicker than those sent to other mentors.

Honestly, Thorne did not want to handle such menial work. But he was currently Eric Green’s only student and had to serve as his assistant as well. With this troublesome teacher unwilling to leave his laboratory even if the sky collapsed, Thorne had no choice but to do more than his share.

Still… based on what he knew of Eric, all of it would be wasted.

Sure enough, Eric did not turn his head. With his back to Thorne, he said coldly, “Throw them away.”

Then he continued working at the bench. Eric seemed to be researching some kind of magical potion that day. He kept using his wand on measuring beakers filled with different colors, making the liquids within look progressively stranger.

“Yes.”

Thorne obediently turned to leave with the files. But he walked very, very slowly, inching across the floor like a snail.

Then, just as expected—

“Forget it. Come back!”

Eric’s irritated voice sounded from the laboratory. He still did not turn around, but his movements became a little rougher and faster.

“Read their names to me!” he ordered.

“…Yes.”

Thorne silently raised the forms and began reading with some resignation. He knew he would waste several dozen minutes on this meaningless ritual again tonight.

“Ed Mirin.”

“…”

“Renn Droy.”

“…”

“Alice Felic.”

“…”

“Aisha Byrd…”

Crash!

The measuring cup fell from Eric’s hand and shattered on the floor. Red liquid mingled with purple splashed everywhere.