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It has been ten minutes of getting mobbed by socialites and trying to maintain the facade of interest in whatever they were saying. By now, I was not really listening to what they were saying. I was just reacting to the inflection of their voices when they spoke and replied with "Ya," "mm-hmm," "uh-huh," or "Is that so?" all while zoning out and counting the seconds I will have to suffer this hell of fake social interaction.
Just as I was looking for anything of interest to stave off the boredom, I caught sight of Professor Sageira in her old woman form, wearing her royal academy professor's dress coat, denoting her profession and social status.
I reached inside my pocket and touched the dragon scale. [Help me! Save me from these social parasites!]
In response, she just mentally laughed at me as she continued her conversation with a nobleman. [You are going to need to get used to this kind of situation. Especially since you are now thrust into the limelight. Besides, you are not a timid child hiding behind your mother's skirt, deal with it.]
[I beg to defer. I am legally a child, alone and helpless in the face of these social vultures. What would become of me if they took advantage of little old me?] I said with joking worry in my mental voice.
[Pfft… what are you? In your forties with both your lives combined? If anything, I should be worried for them, especially the ladies that are eyeing you with questionable intentions… extra especially for some of the older ones.] She mentally chuckled at me.
I could not help but act like I was scratching my neck to take a look around to see some women giving me looks I was not comfortable with… especially the older ones who were caked in makeup. Cougars were on the prowl, and I was on the menu.
[That is not funny! Come save me, please, I can feel my innocence at risk from the older ones.] I pleaded with her.
This led to outright mental laughter. [Okay, okay, fine. Keep your pants on, and I will save you from the scary women.] she said as she ended her conversation with the nobleman, using my status as her student as a reason to come over and interact with me.
The social position of a professor of the Royal Academy was an ambiguous one. The professor need not be noble, but attaining the job as a professor of the Royal Academy granted them the informal status of a pseudo-noble. If the professor was a commoner, even high-ranking nobles would think twice before going out of their way to fuck with one. Doing so may invite the indirect institutional wrath of the Royal Academy down on them or any relatives who are or would be in the Royal Academy. That meant the future offspring of the offending noble house would not be able to attend the Royal Academy, causing them disgrace and a lack of networking opportunities.
So when Professor Sageira came to rescue me, the bothering socialites parted like the Red Sea, but I also suspect that there is some kind of dragon fuckery going on that makes them scuttle away like crabs at a beach.
"Luke. Congratulations on getting knighted. How are you feeling? I heard you suffered a rather grievous injury in battle." Professor Sageira as she reached me, cutting off some young nobleman trying to invite me to his estate.
The young nobleman tried to cut back into the conversation, but I ignored him and turned to Professor Sageira and greeted her as if she were my long-lost grandma, "Professor Sageira! Good to see you, how long has it been? Are you well?"
"It has been months, you ungrateful student. You did not even bother writing letters, and to think I let you study in my personal lab all those years, you break an old lady's heart." she said while overdramaticly clutching her chest.
But as sharp as her words were, everyone watching could see the friendly smirk on her face, revealing her cutting words as a joke.
"This student is ashamed of his neglect of his aging teacher. Please, let me escort you to get some fresh air. I hear it is good for the elderly." I bowed as I mockingly replied before offering my arm for her to hold on to.
She gave my shoulder a playful slap, which was anything but playful. The bitch actually injected mana to make it sting, but I played it off as if it did not hurt. She then held my offered elbow as we walked to one of the many balconies.
When we reached the balcony, I used instinctive magic to raise an air barrier to block any sound we may make. "Thanks for the rescue." I said as I took a sip of the juice I was holding.
We then talked about what we have been up to in our free time. Me about my smithing, and her about her latest research. We could have talked about these random topics any other day when we were training, but from the moment she arrived for training, it was all business, and by the end of the training, I was too tired to have small talk. Most days after training, I would fall asleep clutched in her dragon claw while flying back home.
Soon, I brought up a topic I had not checked on in some time. "So, any update on the sword you said had something to do with soul magic?"
"Oh, that. It is definitely soul magic. The type where someone is sacrificed, and their soul is bound to the weapon, the only thing I don't know is if the bound soul is parasitic or symbiotic." she said.
"Wait, hold up, I did not learn about any of this in my studies. I know what the words mean, but what does it mean in regards to these soul weapons?" I asked.
Professor Sageira sighed deeply, "Of course, you would not learn it. That is restricted knowledge." she then summoned two chairs and a small table out of nowhere, "Take a seat. This is going to take a while to explain, but with how long gathering like this last, we are not short on time."