How to Raise a Dumb Wolf - Chapter 38

“Aisha! Aisha!! You were accepted! Eric Green accepted you!!”

When Pal’s frantic pounding awakened her early in the morning, Aisha was still half asleep. She rubbed her eyes several times before dimly understanding what was happening. But once she made sense of his words, she assumed she must still be dreaming.

“Do you know how many years it’s been since he accepted a student? Aisha, you’re incredible!”

By the time Aisha changed clothes and opened the door, Pal’s entire face was alight with joy. He seized her shoulders and shook her excitedly, looking even happier than Aisha herself.

“The news came out before dawn!! You’re going to be famous! Have you seen the Tower of Magic’s announcement? Oh, right, you only just woke up… You really need to see it!”

Pal’s beast form might not have been as large as a giant wolf, lion, or brown bear, but he was still a tall, powerful beastfolk youth. When he lunged forward, he completely loomed over Aisha. It felt as though a bear had seized her from the front. She instinctively wanted to slam the door and flee, but Pal’s strong arms held her fast. His vigorous shaking made her already confused head spin even more.

“Wold is going to explode when people hear about this! Aisha! Eric Green… heavens! How many candidates must your overall score have beaten for you to catch his eye?!”

Compared with Pal, who looked ready to jump into the air, Aisha felt no sense of reality at all. Dizzy from the shaking, she said uncertainly, “But… I haven’t received an acceptance letter…”

“It will definitely arrive today!” Pal declared. “Acceptance letters always come a few hours after the public notice! The Tower of Magic doesn’t have enough messengers! If you want, I can wait with you!”

“Um… could you let go of me first? My head hurts a little…”

“Ah! Sorry. I got too excited…”

At Aisha’s words, Pal hurriedly released her shoulders and scratched his black hair in embarrassment.

His commotion had been so loud that some guests on the same floor had opened their doors to peek outside. At this time of year, most people staying opposite the Tower of Magic were examination candidates. Mortified, Aisha quickly pulled Pal into her room and shut the door.

Only after they entered did her head gradually clear.

The Tower of Magic required one week after all assessments were completed to announce admissions results. In other words, they truly were due today. The public notice was usually posted at five in the morning, while letters took the day to deliver. Many students deliberately rose early and waited at the Tower of Magic to learn the results as soon as possible.

But once Aisha knew she would certainly enter the tower, she had relaxed completely. She did not particularly mind which of her choices accepted her, so she had planned to wake naturally and check after the crowd thinned—or simply wait for the letter.

She had not expected Pal to care so much that he arrived first.

Still finding it difficult to believe, Aisha quickly fixed her hair, put on her coat, and hurried across the road.

A sea of people still surrounded the Tower of Magic. A crowd of young people dressed as mages packed the notice board. Even on tiptoe, Aisha could see nothing but a dense mass of moving heads.

Pal apparently recognized the problem. After thinking for a moment, he suggested awkwardly, “Um… Aisha, if you don’t mind, perhaps I could—”

Before he finished, Aisha cried out. She had no time to realize that the sound might draw attention and cover her mouth before the giant wolf accompanying them lifted her onto his back with his jaws.

Les used his head to help the flustered Aisha settle into a comfortable position. Then he turned and found many people staring after hearing her cry.

No one had expected to see a giant wolf whose size exceeded common sense. Between the girl’s cry and the beast’s appearance, they could not tell whether he was a beastfolk in animal form, a harmless pet, or something else. Astonished, the crowd instinctively pressed several steps backward, leaving a wide, empty circle around him.

Les: …

Wold was an open-minded place. Ordinarily, walking through the streets in beast form earned him no more than a few extra glances. He had not expected such a dramatic reaction here, and his feelings were complicated.

But most of these candidates were foreign students still unaccustomed to the culture and daily life of the Heart of the World. That thought put Les at ease. Besides, this was more convenient.

After a pause, he carried Aisha directly to the notice board so she could read it clearly.

The wolf’s behavior, her suddenly elevated view, and the crowd’s attention all disoriented Aisha for a moment. But the admissions notice mattered more. She quickly focused on the writing before her.

The results were arranged according to each accepting instructor’s rank in the Tower of Magic. Mages from the upper section came first, followed by ordinary advanced mages, then intermediate mages.

Since Claudia was not accepting students this year, Eric Green appeared first. Aisha quickly found her own name on the first line after *Mentor: Eric Green*.

The words *Aisha Byrd* looked both familiar and foreign.

Aisha pressed her lips together, fighting to suppress the urge to leap up, spin in circles, and shout. If there had been a bonfire and music, she might even have thrown her arms around the giant wolf and danced with him in the style of Philray.

“So who exactly is this Aisha Byrd?”

By then, the people startled by the giant wolf had recovered. They no longer feared the animal, who was clearly a trained pet, and secretly regretted surrendering their excellent positions. But that did not stop their discussion.

“Who knows?” another person said. “If I’d known Eric Green would accept a student this year, I would have named him too!”

“So would I! Do you know how good my magical-capacity test result was? I filled the entire crystal sphere! That old man nearly stared himself blind!”

Most were speaking with the attitude that, had they known there was a chance, there would have been no harm in trying. But Aisha inevitably felt uneasy. She had never expected her first choice to accept her.

According to Pal, she would probably become a subject of discussion for quite some time. Perhaps it would be better to keep a low profile until the attention faded.

With that thought, Aisha patted Les lightly on the back.

“Thank you. I saw it clearly. Shall we leave?”

After several weeks together, Aisha had no doubt that Les had been trained by beastfolk in Beast and could understand simple commands. Sure enough, he did nothing else and silently carried her out of the crowd.

The moment the giant wolf left, the candidates flowed back toward the notice board like water, converging from every direction and ceasing to notice Aisha.

Aisha climbed down from the wolf’s back. Once she realized she was no longer the center of attention, she could no longer suppress her immense joy and threw her arms tightly around Les.

He did not speak, but from the force of her embrace and the faint trembling of her body, Les could feel Aisha’s excitement and boundless happiness.

For some reason, he felt both grateful and secretly delighted that he was the one here to share this moment with her. Even if he was only in wolf form, it still brought him a quiet thread of happiness.

After hesitating, Les lowered his head and rested it gently against the side of Aisha’s face, returning her embrace in the manner of an animal.

And then…

It was far too sappy.

Pal, who understood everything, covered his eyes in agony.

…

The first thing Aisha did after returning to the hotel was write to her parents in Vitas, the capital of Ryan, telling them that she had somehow been accepted by her first-choice mentor, Eric Green.

She had barely posted the letter in a mailbox near the hotel when the Tower of Magic’s acceptance letter arrived.

“Thank you!”

When Aisha accepted it, the brilliant smile on her face made her feelings impossible to hide.

“…You’re welcome.”

The Tower of Magic administrator delivering the letter did not answer quite as readily. With an odd expression, she discreetly studied the girl before her, who was simply delighted to have been accepted by a famous mage and seemed completely unaware of anything else.

In truth, after receiving Aisha’s information, Eric Green had nearly driven the entire Tower of Magic mad.

He was already notorious for being eccentric, but on this matter, his obsession was unbelievable. Eric questioned everyone who had ever crossed paths with the girl called Aisha: the ordinary administrator who accepted her preference form, old Jack who tested her magical power and mana flower, and every advanced mage from the tower’s upper section who had scored her forest practical examination.

Frey, who occupied the eighth floor of the Tower of Magic’s upper section and already disliked Eric, became so irritated that the two nearly came to blows… No, in fact, they did fight. After losing, Frey had to spend several hours telling Eric everything he knew in exhaustive detail, including Aisha’s examination and the issue of her surname.

Once no one in the upper section could tell him anything more, Eric obtained Aisha’s examination records from Claudia and reviewed them an unknown number of times, day and night.

When Eric decided to accept Thorne, he had also caused a considerable stir, but Eric himself had not gone to such extremes. Rumors were now circulating through the tower that Eric Green had found his illegitimate daughter.

But…

The administrator looked at Aisha. Honestly, she too had nearly believed that rumor. Yet the girl before her was lovely and sunny, without the slightest resemblance to that gloomy man Eric Green.

In any case, teacher and student would have a three-month trial period. Hopefully, she could get along with Eric.

And…

Hopefully, Eric Green would not frighten her.

The administrator stopped her complicated thoughts and composed herself.

“Once you are ready, you may report to the ninth floor of the Tower of Magic’s upper section at any time with your acceptance letter. Mr. Eric Green is waiting for you. Please be sure not to miss the deadline.”

“All right!”

Aisha nodded quickly and thanked her again.

After a pause, she asked uneasily, “Um… I have a rather large pet, one with very thick fur…”

“Bring him through the Tower of Magic’s rear entrance. There is a direct passage to the upper section.”

“All… all right. Thank you.”

Since the administrator raised no objection, Aisha finally relaxed.

After she left, Aisha had no intention of making her teacher wait. She quickly packed her relatively few belongings, checked out of the hotel, and left the room where she had unknowingly spent several weeks, taking Les with her.

Carrying her luggage around the back of the Tower of Magic, she found a comparatively concealed entrance—presumably the so-called rear door.

The thought of meeting an advanced mage of Eric Green’s rank, and studying under him from now on, quickened Aisha’s heartbeat. With some apprehension, she took a deep breath and stepped inside.