When Baiyi saw the way Aya had divided the students, he began to doubt if Aya really was from the prestigious dragon knights. Maybe she was actually produced from a file factory in Minsk, Belarus… 1
‘The bias you are showing to Mordred is too obvious! Fine, let’s say Mia and the owl contribute nothing to this competition of strength. That fox is huge and muscular, and that’s physical fitness on display right there; Laeticia is a Saintess Candidate who specializes in physical melee, making her proficient enough to fight with heavy spears; she’s obviously stronger than most girls! Most importantly, even if Mordred is just a brat, she’s still a bloody dragon!’
‘Now, we turn to their group’s opponents. Former noble lady Tisdale? She’s about as strong as Little Mia; the fairy, Nota, doesn’t even have the strength to speak louder than an ASMR video; former noble lady Vidomina — I’ll bet she possesses another manner of strength, which was quite different from physical prowess, to a certain degree; Attie — without the War God Sword, she’s just a dispenser of moe-ness! Lastly, the sunflower — oh come on — what possible contribution could it, a flower in a pot, make?’
Baiyi hurried forward, making to put a stop to this incredibly imbalanced fight. However, before he could reach the students, Aya had blown the whistle, causing the game to start.
A stunning scene unfolded. Instead of the mark being easily pulled towards one side, it remained steady in the middle, indicating that both sides were apparently equal in strength, contrary to Baiyi’s prediction.
A closer look revealed that their version of tug-o-war was not the same as tug-o-war that was played on Earth, where two groups of people pull one end of the rope to their side, sporting crimson faces and necks. Here, the participants stood beside their ends of the rope, in a crisscrossed formation, and they had their eyes closed; even the owl and the sunflower had squeezed their eyes shut. The participants all placed their palms underneath them without touching it, and light began to glow out of their palms.
Most students were sporting pale blue lights that symbolized mana. On the other hand, Attie’s palm was emitting a bright marigold light of her combat chi, while Laeticia’s palm was emitting light that had the holy color of white.
‘Playing by using their powers? Interesting,’ Baiyi muttered in his head and drew closer. He scanned the rope used for this strange tug-o-war.
It was as thick as any normal hemp rope, with a typical red ribbon tied at the middle. However, upon scanning it using his psychic energy, Baiyi realized that the rope was more than its run-of-the-mill look. The rope hovered in the air on its own and spun slowly as it reacted to different forces. The red ribbon spun along with the rope, and it slowly moved along the rope, teetering to the left side first, and then to the right side.
That only lasted for a while until Mordred suddenly furrowed her eyebrows and gave a low whimper. The rope spun faster and faster, and with a sudden burst, the red ribbon was pulled towards Mia’s team’s side of the rope, quickly crossing the designated boundary, which was marked with a cat-shaped tin can.
‘So victory still favors them,’ Baiyi thought. The way the teams were divided was still imbalanced. If their competition required them to exhaust their powers, then Mia would technically be cheating because she had access to unlimited mana. Of course, Aya did not know about that, so Baiyi would not hold it against her.
However, as soon as the little girl opened her eyes, her expression became one of disappointment and dismay. Even the great fox’s big bushy tail sagged because they had been defeated.
Mordred was extremely apologetic. “I’m so sorry! I lost control…” She turned to Aya, who came over to console them, and added, “Sorry, Mama, I didn’t do it on purpo— owww!”
Aya did not wait for Mordred to finish before giving her Baiyi’s signature forehead-flick. “Didn’t I tell you before? When we’re in class, you don’t refer to me as your mother, but as your teacher!” She said sternly.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. G-got it.” Mordred cupped her tiny hands around the spot Aya had hit, feeling aggrieved.
“Now, as per Mr. Hope’s rules, the winners get to enjoy delicious cakes and desserts, while the losers would be punished accordingly,” Aya declared to a burst of triumphant cries from Tisdale’s team.
The winners dashed towards a table that had been set on the side, where five plates had already been set. On each plate was a dome-shaped lid, with a fork and knife laying neatly at its side.
“The losers, well…” Aya had already drawn herself closer to Little Mia. Without caring that Mia was Baiyi’s favorite daughter, Aya’s hand grasped Mia’s cheeks matter-of-factly, then as if the girl was a fun toy, Aya pinched and pulled her soft cheeks.
“Ooh, Miss Aya… N-not so h-hard! Or I’ll turn u-ugly…” Little Mia pleaded in a low voice.
Aya smiled gently. “Oh my, Mia’s skin is very healthy! Soft and smooth; no wonder Mr. Hope likes to pinch your cheeks.”
Although she had to punish the losers, Aya did not dare to really mess Mia up. After a quick pinch, Aya rubbed her own face on Mia’s gently, signaling an end to her punishment. Then, Aya quickly turned her attention to the great kitsune’s face, and she mirthfully pinched its cheeks. “Oh! This is some first-class soft fur. If I turned it into a nice, warm scarf…”
The fox shuddered in fright, shivering as though Aya was just about to skin it to make herself a fox-hide cardigan.
At that moment, Just as Aya was lifting the fox’s arm, Tisdale’s voice rang out from behind her. “Miss Aya? Why are there only four pieces of cake 2 ?”
“Oh yes. There are only four of them. While you were competing, I couldn’t help myself and ate one,” Aya replied, with a smile, as she let go of the fox and turned to face her own daughter.
“B-but! If we only have four of them, what we supposed to do…?” Tisdale muttered under her breath as she returned to her team.
Sunny the sunflower twisted itself a little, to write using its veins: “It’s alright. Take mine. Cake is not my thing anyway. ”
“No!” Nota the fairy opposed it immediately. “This isn’t just any ordinary treat. It’s the reward for us working together as one. So, we should enjoy it as one!”
“I’ll share mine with you!” The Kitty Cat Maid said, and she stood up and cut her own piece of cake in half, with her knife. She offered half to the Sunflower. “I’m the weakest one out of us. I’m sure I contributed the least.”
“That’s not true. That wasn’t a test of might; it was a test of teamwork. We all contributed equally!” Tisdale interjected. She sliced her own cake in half and added, “I’m the team leader, so I should be the one sharing my cake with Sunny.”
After much hassle, the four beautiful pieces of cake had been reduced smaller chunks, which had been piled together into a small, less-appealing hill. However, although the cakes were no longer looking as good as they originally did, the team members managed to divide the piles squarely into five sets. That way, every member got to enjoy the rewards of their victory earned through their teamwork.
Aya was still having fun, trying to pinch the Owl into the shape of a dragon, and she had her back turned away from the winners, who had just reached their conclusion. However, judging from their conversation, Aya could tell that they had made the best choice, causing her to nod in satisfaction.
Baiyi, too, found himself nodding quietly at them. He even raised his hand to give the dragon-lady a thumbs-up. She had proven herself to be more than capable of teaching the students. Perhaps, the lesson which the winning team learned was the real objective for that class.
Baiyi rid himself of his invisibility and gave Aya a round of applause.
“Gah!” Aya jumped, loosening her grip on the Owl. The misshapen glob wriggled on its own for a while before returning to its original, round-faced self.
“Splendid lesson, Miss Aya,” Baiyi said in earnest.
“D-don’t just appear out of nowhere!” Aya snapped coquettishly. Then, she looked at him again with questioning and expectant eyes. “You watched the whole thing?”
“Yes; all of it. It was very splendid!” Baiyi restated.
“Phew! That’s good. I was worried that you might not accept my technique.” Aya grinned cheerfully and placed her hands on her own chest in relief.
It was true that Aya’s method was pretty progressive. A lesson on teamwork was not a theory-themed lesson; after all, one could not teach teamwork by having students sit in class and listen to lectures. By opting for a more practical approach to this lesson, Aya had proven herself to be a professional educator.
Baiyi managed to know a bit more about the strange rope the game had utilized, too. It was weaved out of an interesting plant called the ‘Windmill Grass’. The plant looked exactly like a paper windmill, and its three leaves rotated to the billow of the wind, just like a windmill. In addition to being given a rather obvious name, the plant was also a popular toy for kids.
However, the more significant feature of this plant was that it had a hyperacute sensitivity to all kinds of forces. A small wisp of mana or combat chi would be enough to stimulate the leaves into rotating. The dragon knights, upon observing this fact, used the plant to weave hemp ropes, which were to function as special teaching tools. Aya, of course, had brought one with her.
Members from both sides of a tug-o-war game would then use an agreed amount of force and vibration to stimulate the rope. If everyone adhered to agreed exertions, the rope would remain visually unmoving, showing no discernible response.
However, should a member of either side deviate from the agreed vibrating force, or lose control of their force, the rope would start to spin; then, the red ribbon would start moving towards the offending member’s team’s side of the rope. This was what happened with Baiyi’s students. Mordred lost control of her own power, causing the rope to spin rapidly, causing her team to lose.
It was quite an intriguing little game. However, why would the dragon knights model such an advanced tool — which was used to teach teamwork and refine an individual’s power control — after a common hemp rope?
Maybe they were just quite kinky; or maybe, Windmill Grass was strong enough to work as an actual rope for an ordinary tug-o-war between dragon knights.
“This is a really fascinating tool. You can use it to refine synergy within a team, and it doesn’t have to be five on a team. It can be used by two, or even three individuals,” Baiyi commented after observing the rope.
“Well, if there are only two individuals, you wouldn’t need something like the hemp rope in the first place. Just using this would be enough,” Aya replied, producing a tuft of dried Windmill Grass from her storage pouch. The grass seemed to have undergone some form of magical strengthening process.
She held it in her hand and emitted a little of her mana. The leaves started spinning on cue.
“Do you… want to have a go at it with me?” Aya asked in a low voice, brimming with anticipation.