Last time, we ended up arriving right at the start of their match.  This time, we should do things properly.  They had graduated from being sewer rats, behavior befitting that was necessary.

What awaited Jill and her students, who had properly arrived before the match time, however, was the aroma of an incredibly delicious-looking curry.

Maybe they hadn’t been able to prepare chairs, but the members of the Gold Dragon Class were standing with plates of curry as they turned to Jill and her students when they entered the adjacent waiting area.  Though called a waiting area, it had had neither walls nor a ceiling, just a rough partition marked by a hemp rope laid on the ground, allowing for the appetite-stimulating aroma to waft around.  Also fully visible were the leftovers of a soup and a fruit salad.

There was no need to even ask who had prepared it.  The apron wearing Dragon Emperor had.

“Hades-sensei, I’ll go and gather the plates here.”
“Thank you.  Everyone, it’s getting to be time.  Once you finish eating, suck on the deodorizing candy and make sure you properly brush your teeth.  Also, sprinkle this on your uniforms.  It works as a deodorizer.  You need to keep your appearances neat and proper.”
“““Yes, sir!”””

“Did he become the mother of the Gold Dragon Class?”

While someone from the Blue Dragon Class was muttering that, Jill shouted out.

“What about my portion!?”

Hades, who had begun to tidy up alongside the students who had finished eating, turned towards her and gave a bright smile.

“Good morning, Jill-sensei.”
“What about my portion!?  I can still fit more in my stomach!”
“Let’s do our best today, the both of us.”
“Impossible, you made this display just for me… was this a psychological attack!?”
“I’ll have you know, this is what it means to make me your enemy.”

“Gunu…” Jill groaned.  She hadn’t expected him to start his offensive before the match actually began.

“Jill-sensei, let’s forget this and go do the weapons check procedures.”
“Lutiya… I completely forgot about food…!”
“No, if you eat more now, you won’t even be able to move…”

“It’s time to start cleaning u—p!  Everyone, I’m off to get changed, so make sure you’re all presentable too.”

The students of the Gold Dragon Class answered with another “Yes, sir.”  With just that, Hades went off somewhere else.  Noin, after giving a few more instructions, came over to greet them.

“Good morning, Jill-sensei.  We will be in your care today.”

The Golden Dragon Class, centered around Noin, had always been a well-organized and well-behaved class.  Jill nodded back.

“We shall also be in your care. —Except, about that, is everything alright?”
“We’ll finish cleaning in time.  We’ve already completed our weapon checks.”
“Is that so?  You’re well prepared.”
“Not at all.  Sewing took up all our time.  We were at it until the very last minute.”

“Sewing,” she repeated.  Noin, however, called by another student from behind, only gave a quick, “Excuse me,” before returning to his class.

“Sewing…  What in the world did His Majesty teach the Gold Dragon Class…?”

Could that meal have been some kind of training too?  But no matter how she looked at it, Noin and the others were simply tidying up briskly.  It looked like nothing more than a regular meal.

Jill could only tilt her head in puzzlement as she watched the students check their weapons before the match.

“I understand that he’s tamed Noin and his classmates through food, but still…”
“You’re the only one who’d be caught like that, Jill-sensei…”
“You even decided your marriage over a cake, after all…”
“Still, the Gold Dragon Class looks calmer than I expected… Does anything about them seem strange or unusual to any of you?”

At Jill’s question, the girls who had been whispering to one another exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Lutiya returned, the first of those who had gone to have his weapons checked.

“Nothing is going to change overnight, right?  You said so yourself, sensei.  To me, it’s not that they look calm, but more like they went back to how they were before.  In other words, same as normal.”
“Hmm, but seeing as how this is His Majesty, it wouldn’t be strange if he had done something.  Not something like harsh training, but still…”
“The fact that they’re behaving like usual is impressive in of itself.  Normally, being led by the Dragon Emperor should be nerve-wracking enough.”

Jill once again looked toward the Gold Dragon Class at Lutiya’s calm observation.

“…True, they don’t look intimidated by His Majesty at all.”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to move from nervousness due to being under the Dragon Emperor’s command.  And this is right after they lost a match, too.  The pressure must be insane.”
“Well, I guess that’s the elite class for you.  They must be used to dealing with high-profile people.”
“Maybe he told them something like, ‘You all are strong,’ to rile them up.  That seems like the sort of thing he’d be good at, he is the Dragon Emperor, after all.  —What?”

Lutiya took a cautious step back upon noticing Jill’s gaze.

“I just had a thought, but Lutiya, you’ve been keeping an eye on your onii-chan.”
“Haa!?  It’s not like that!  I don’t think of him as my aniki and never will!”
“Still, Lutiya is right.  The fact that Noin and the others are acting like usual already makes them formidable opponents.”

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