“Shall here do?”

The Dragon Emperor, who had been walking briskly, stopped his feet at a classroom in the school building.  The ceiling and walls had half-collapsed, but it still maintained the form of a building.

“Sit where you like, everyone.  On the floor or a chair but be mindful of the rubble.”

The Dragon Emperor raised a fallen chair, placed it atop the teacher’s platform, and sat down himself. Noin, sensing that everyone was hesitating over whether to take his words at face value or not, turned to them.

“This is our instructor’s order.  Everyone should make themselves comfortable.”
“Right, right, being lined up stiffly like that is something only necessary in the Imperial Capital.  It’s just stifling.”

Although he had expressed himself roughly, he was likely referring to a sight only an Emperor can see, that of gazing from the castle balcony down at the Rave Empire’s military filling the plaza.  Noin, having such a thought, couldn’t let go of his tension either.

The Dragon Empress— Jill-sensei— was trusted by the Gold Dragon Class, even if not to the extent of the Blue Dragon Class.  Many of them had been taken care of by her and protected during the uprising.  The Dragon Emperor, however, was different.

Still, nothing would begin if they only trembled in fear.

“To start, might I be permitted to introduce myself?”
“You truly are outstanding.”

Although he had intended to take the lead as the class representative, he was bewildered by the unexpected reply.  The Dragon Emperor, however, wore a smile.

“You are polite, and you have a sense of responsibility.  That you are able to put in effort to maintain your composure before me at your age is admirable.  For Lutiya to have such an excellent counterpart like you within his generation, it must be hard for him.  It’s no surprise he doesn’t want to lose.  Please continue getting along with him.  I believe that having friends of the same generation is a good thing.”
“—Th-thank you… very much.”
“Introductions won’t be necessary.  Everyone, I have already matched your names with your faces.  Ever since the matter of my serving as your temporary instructor was decided, I have reviewed your class roster and grades.”

Noin’s eyes widened from astonishment, but the Dragon Emperor looked away and crossed his long legs.

“I also watched the inter-class competition.  Later, I’d like to check a few things with you and perhaps work out group divisions and strategies.  However, before that, the main issue.  —Why do you think you lost to the Blue Dragon Class?”

Tension ran through everyone.

“Gunter-sensei’s thinking was biased, but from what I see, everyone here has the ability worthy of being chosen for the Gold Dragon Class.  The Blue Dragon Class should have been inferior in ability. So then why did you lose?  If you’re not fools, I assume you’ve been talking it over among yourselves.  Well?”

Noin, consciously loosening the fist he had unknowingly clenched, answered as the class representative.

“Given the circumstances, we didn’t have any opportunity to analyze the cause of our defeat as a whole, but we discussed it a few times individually.  These are more like impressions, thought.”
“That is fine.  Will you tell me?”
“We all misjudged the strength of the Blue Dragon Class, and in our arrogance assumed that we would surely win if we could use dragons.  We didn’t not question Gunter-sensei’s strategy.”

The Dragon Emperor listened in silence with his hand against his chin.  Noin, re-clenching the fist he had relaxed, continued.

“Countermeasures against anti-air magic are essential for those who ride dragons.  That is the most basic of the basics, even written in textbooks.  Yet we did not take any countermeasures, thinking there was no way they could manage such.”
“Originally, you were supposed to face the Purple Dragon Class, weren’t you?  Did you also assume that the Purple Dragon Class would not utilize anti-air magic?”
“No, we had considered countermeasures for them.  Against them we would have deployed a unit on the ground for that purpose, but against the Blue Dragon Class, we were all mounted on dragons…”
“So when the Blue Dragon Class actually fired, you lacked the adaptability to immediately dismount and switch over to anti-air magic countermeasures.  Is that it?”
“…That is correct.  There are countless other reasons, but all of them stem from our underestimating the Blue Dragon Class.”
“Good, good, you analyzed it properly.  Well done.  Everyone.  Is that understanding acceptable?”

No one raised an objection as the Dragon Emperor swept his gaze all around them.

“The Blue Dragon Class had trained solely with the expectation of facing the Gold Dragon Class, in order to defeat you who would use dragons.  Simply stated, they were specialized for the sole purpose of defeating you.  Furthermore, Jill-sensei’s lineage is that of dragon-slayers.  We could say that you had already lose during the preliminary phase, during the stage of information warfare.”
“…I have no excuses to offer.”
“You have learned a very good lesson.  When you’re at the command of a worthless commander and strategy, you will lose.”

The Dragon Emperor’s manner of speaking was casual, and his voice carried very well.  It had a pleasantness that made one want to unconsciously nod.

“However, the greatest cause of your loss doesn’t come from there.  The cause was you, the class leader.”

As Noin’s eyes widened in surprise, a stir arose behind him.  The one who reflexively objected was the earnest vice-class leader.

“Class Leader Noin gave accurate instruction, such as the organization of the ground unit!  We were the ones who failed to respond promptly—”
“Enough.”

The one before them was the Dragon Emperor.  Though he was being called an instructor, how serious he was taking the role was unclear.  Foolish defiance would cause trouble later— or rather, it’s certain to cause trouble.  Lutiya could argue back to this Emperor without concern, but that was because he was Lutiya and was thus allowed.

“If you find it agreeable, might we receive you instruction?”
“Then, to begin with, let’s confirm your awareness.  Why did you choose to face Lutiya?”
“Eh?”

The question was self-evident, hardly worth asking anew.  Even those who had tensed upon hearing his responsibility questioned furrowed their brows. Yet surely there was some meaning behind it. Noin, pondering, gave his answer.

“At that time, I was the only one who could restrain Lutiya.  Therefore—”
“Shall I phrase it another way?  Why did you take part in that foolish one-on-one fight?”

Before Noin could answer, a chill ran down his spine at the smile that played at the corner of the Dragon Emperor’s mouth.

“Why did you dismount from your dragon?  Why did you not continue to burn up their magic from the sky atop your dragon until Lutiya’s, the Blue Dragon Class’, magic was exhausted?  You could have avoided those immature anti-air spells and kept flying.  If you had sacrificed all the other Gold Dragon Class students, you could have prevented the Blue Dragon Class’ plan to seize a dragon and topple your flag.”

The answer, his voice, had dried up and would not come out.

“You should have tormented them to death.”

Several students, including Noin, flinched at that whisper.

“Had you done so, you would have won.”
“A victory like that…!”

Someone cried out, unable to bear it.  The Dragon Emperor, however, laughed through his nose.

“Were you unable to abandon your comrades as they were being killed?  Or did you think running away from Lutiya would be cowardly?  Ridiculous.”

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