Settling the Pecking Order

“Do I look like a monster to you, Professor?”

Though I wondered if I ought to protest vehemently, I understood where he was coming from, so I kept my temper in check and asked back.

Only then did Professor Sword clear his throat and release the collar he had been gripping.

“Hehehe... Honey.... He says you're a monster....”

Beside me, Kara clutched her stomach and tightly covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling as she struggled not to laugh.

Even Kairen turned his head away, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“Ahem! Ahem! I-I misunderstood. You’re so... broad and powerfully built that I mistook you for a combat dummy. An excellent physique, worthy of a warrior of the North.”

Having cleared up the misunderstanding, Professor Sword began imposing discipline with his usual shameless affability.

“Anyway! My noble young masters and ladies, after listening to that unbearably boring Professor Mess’s number-crunching lecture on your first day, your asses must be asleep, right?”

It was an open insult to Professor Mess, but like noble scions who knew the importance of honor, the students chorused the conventional answer expected of them, empty though it was...