Chapter 77 : Entrance Ceremony (2)

The entrance ceremony ended well.

And now, it was time for a real farewell.

“…Sob…”

“Minho, stop crying!”

“…Okay.”

After pulling myself together a little, I looked up at my two older sisters with teary eyes.

They were grinning from ear to ear, clearly happy about something, even though we were about to be separated.

It was annoying.

Anyway, after the entrance ceremony ended completely, I snuggled into my mom’s embrace and dozed off on a quiet bench in the plaza, bathed in the warm sunlight.

“Mom… aren’t we going home?”

“No, not yet~”

“Ugh… don’t do this…”

Mom chuckled, lightly flicking my nose.

At that moment, I saw Dad walking toward us from a distance, bringing along the principal from earlier.

“Wow, it’s been a while!”

“Oh, professor.”

“It’s been a while since someone called me that.”

The principal gave a big, warm smile.

Just earlier, when addressing the new students, they had given off a mischievous, almost bratty vibe.

But now, despite their youthful appearance, I could tell they were an incredibly capable person.

“So, this is Minho?”

“…Yes, Professor.”

“School bullies, shh.”

“…Ugh.”

“Pfft, Professor, are you still teasing Albi about that?”

“Because it’s fun~”

The principal playfully nudged my dad. No matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem like an ordinary human.

…Maybe I should check my status window again after a long time?

Curious, I opened it.

[Due to the vast difference in abilities, not all information is available.]

[Title: ‘The Emperor’s Child’ disables system interferences.]

[You can access all information about the other party.]

[Name: Yunio Lina]

[Race: Human (Apostle of Knowledge)]

[Level: MAX]

[Strength: ]

[Magic: ]

[Intelligence: ]

[Stamina: ]

[Titles: Apostle of Knowledge, Overcomer of Hardship, Mother of Learning, and 13 more.]

The principal’s specs were even more amazing than I had expected.

‘Just like Emilia unnie, they probably borrow power whenever needed…
…!
Wait, so Apostles can do that too?
I thought only Saints could.’

[The King says that certain gods can grant their power.]

[Since Minho is still young, he smiles and says he’ll do it later to avoid burdening your body.]

Hearing those words from the golden unnie, I looked down at my tiny body.

‘Hmm, yeah, I am still too young.’

I wiggled my short fingers, clenching and unclenching them.

Even as a baby, my hands were way too cute.

“…Whoa, so cute.”

“Huh?”

Before I knew it, the principal had lifted me up.

“El! This baby is so adorable!”

“…Uh, hello?”

“Gasp!!”

Not satisfied with just lifting me, they pulled me into a tight hug.

“…Uhh.”

“Kyaa~”

They bounced up and down while holding me, looking just like a teenage girl delighted to receive a doll.

“…Haah… So adorable…”

“Th-Thank you.”

“Such a polite little one! Aww, so cute~”

The principal’s speech had even turned babyish as they gushed over me.

It’s questionable whether this person can truly be called an Apostle of Knowledge.

“El, Albi, you really raised your child well.”

“Our kid is pretty smart, isn’t she?”

Dad chuckled beside the principal.

“Yeah, really. She doesn’t take after her dad, so maybe she takes after her mom?”

“…Ugh.”

The principal teased Dad with a grin.

“How old is the baby?”

“…One year old.”

“One year? Dragons really are on a different level.”

“I’m just special.”

Well, I am special.

At just one year old, I had already become the Apostle of the Moon and Gold.

‘Impressive, right?’

[The GM claps so hard in amazement that they pass out.]

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Aww, how adorable. Alright, you are special~”

The principal chuckled, as if they didn’t really believe me, and rubbed their cheek against mine.

After about five more minutes of this, I was finally released from their embrace.

“Phew… my daily dose of cuteness is recharged.”

“…Why don’t you just have a kid?”

“…I want to marry a human, but they’re all way too young for me.”

The principal plopped down onto the bench with a sigh.

“…I even considered that Archmage, despite the eerie vibes, but he ended up dying. He was a handsome middle-aged man—quite decent, actually.”

Sighing deeply as if the earth itself would sink, the principal finally calmed down, looking utterly exhausted.

“…When will I ever get married…?”

“I’ve still kept my purity! Someone please take m—mmph!!”

Mom hurriedly clamped a hand over the principal’s mouth.

“Shh, shhh! Professor, what if someone hears?!”

“Pfft! How can you just cover my mouth like that all of a sudden?!”

“You really haven’t changed… How did you even become the principal…?”

“…Ahem, I am an Apostle of Knowledge, after all…”

“…Sigh.”

“Sigh?! Hey, how can you say that to your professor?!”

The principal looked deeply offended as they scolded Mom, who just smirked and apologized.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t laugh! I’m being serious—”

“How about I introduce you to a decent dragon?”

“…W-Wouldn’t that be a bit rough? I don’t want my first time to be pa—mmph!!”

Once again, Mom clamped a hand over the principal’s mouth.

She glanced around, checking for passersby, and then looked at me to see if I had heard anything.

…I should probably pretend I didn’t hear that, right?

Maintaining an innocent expression, I tilted my head slightly.

“…Haah…”

“Pfft!”

“Listen, there could be people nearby, so please—”

“…Ahem, my bad.”

The principal dusted off their clothes and stood up.

“I got a little too excited seeing my former students again.”

“I understand.”

“Back then, I was only 33…”

Wait, isn’t that still plenty old?

They looked like a teenager, but on the inside, they were a centuries-old mage.

Do Apostles even die?

‘…Golden Unnie, do Apostles not die?’

[The King says Apostles have infinite lifespans.]

[He explains that from the moment one becomes an Apostle, they stop aging.]

…Wait, stop aging?!

Does that mean I’ll be stuck in this tiny body forever?!

‘W-Wait, does that mean I won’t grow?!’

[The King laughs heartily at your adorable concern.]

[He reassures you that you’ll grow just fine, so don’t worry.]

Oh, thank goodness.

Seriously, that’s a relief. I’ll be able to grow properly.

I glanced at the principal beside me.

…They were pretty short.

The proportions were practically golden, but… the height… was so short…!!

‘…Even among middle schoolers, they’d be on the smaller side.’

How pitiful.

I almost let a sympathetic expression slip.

“Well then, why don’t we have some tea and chat? I don’t have any classes today.”

“…Sounds great!”

“Then let’s go. Let’s consider it a parent-teacher meeting for your first and second children.”

“How dramatic you were during their parent-teacher meetings,” the former king commented.

“…And how much I was scolded afterward, with people saying I wasn’t fit to be the successor…”

“Pfft.”

It seemed the principal had always enjoyed teasing my dad.

Well, since Dad often messed with Mom, he didn’t have much room to complain—he just took it quietly.

And so, listening to the trivial conversation between my parents and the principal, we headed to the principal’s office.

Inside the Principal’s Office

The room was filled with the rich aroma of coffee and packed with fascinating objects.

“Don’t touch anything here carelessly, okay? Listen to the professor, alright?”

“…Yes…!”

Saying it like that made me a little nervous.

Still, I couldn’t help but look around with shining eyes.

A book was floating in midair, flipping through its pages on its own.

Nearby, 15 pens were simultaneously writing research reports.

Even more astonishing was that each pen was writing a different report.

And then, beside all that, something covered with cloth caught my eye.

‘…What’s this?’

Unable to resist my curiosity, I lifted the cloth to take a peek inside.

<Assistant Candidate Lottery>

Beneath it, a machine spun continuously, drawing lots.

[Past Winners: Albinus Laskaris, Erses Odria, and 40 others]

It looked extremely dangerous.

Just as I was about to cover it back up—

[New Winner: Ramir Silvadir.]

“…Oh.”

A friend’s name had just appeared on that ominous-looking machine.

I silently offered my deepest condolences.

Why on earth were they picking graduate assistants with a lottery machine…?

Well, maybe they only put in people who were already top students?

Checking inside, I saw exactly 15 balls.

And this year’s top-performing new students? Also 15.

‘…Let’s stop digging into this.’

I hastily covered the horrifying machine again and decided to pretend I hadn’t seen anything.

Turns out, ignoring adults’ advice isn’t always a great idea, huh?

‘I should just go get some snacks.’

I waddled over and nestled into Mom’s embrace.

At that moment, the principal, who had been chatting and laughing with my parents, stared at me intensely.

“…Hey, don’t you want to try hugging me instead?”

“Huh?”

What do you mean, unnie? You’re more like an aunt.

Seeing my slightly bewildered expression, the principal’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Considering that they still hadn’t found a partner and had no children, this was just too sad to watch.

Sighing internally, I reluctantly left Mom’s arms and snuggled into the principal’s embrace.

“Hehe… so cute.”

The principal hugged me tightly.

Not as cushiony as Mom, but still surprisingly soft.

‘…Warm.’

Despite their ruthless approach to lotto-drawing students into assistant positions, the principal’s arms were just warm and comforting.