That night, most of the people in Raya Lucaria Academy heard a series of high-pitched, furious cries from the southwest.
There was no doubt they belonged to a dragon. They sounded like the rumbling thunder of a spring storm, and left many people unable to fall back asleep for a long while.
Anyone who heard the cries knew without having to guess: someone had gone and provoked the "Glintstone Dragon" Smarag south of the Crystal Forest in Liurnia.
As for who had provoked the dragon, they didn't care.
They all knew that anyone who dared challenge the dragon—whether a glintstone sorcerer or someone else—had only one possible fate: either becoming the dragon's next meal or ending up as an unnamed, rotting corpse near its lair!
So when they heard the "Glintstone Dragon" Smarag roar, they silently began counting down the last moments of some fool's life.
About ten minutes later...
The dragon's thunderous roars and cries finally began to fade, and everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The end of the "Glintstone Dragon" Smarag's cries proved that some foolhardy soul who had dared to "slay" or "disturb" the dragon had ceased to exist in this world.
"Phew!"
"Thank goodness, it's finally quiet. Looks like another unlucky soul died tonight!"
"That sound was torture."
"Yeah!"
"Thank goodness it stopped. Otherwise, plenty of people wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight."
Inside the main gate of the academy, on either side of the fortress entrance at the top of the steps, two glintstone sorcerers had been listening intently to the distant dragon cries. Only after the rolling thunder of its roars had completely died down did the guards finally relax.
"But..."
"You might be wrong about that unlucky soul. There may have been more than one."
After listening for