Principal is a quack?

As I was entering the cabin my mind started wandering towards my earlier conversation.

'-I'll just leave you here for now and pick you up afterward. The principal made sure to tell me he intended to talk to you in isolation. Make sure to be respectful to the principal though, he might look like a geezer but he is genuinely a dragon'

As Mike brought up what seemed to be yet another excuse to escape my mind was occupied with the newfound information.

'Dragon? Is the principal really that strong? I guess we'll find out...'

The insides of the cabin looked just as one would expect from the outside. Completely made out of wood, with most of the furniture carved or sculpted of the same material. Accompanied by the sound of a small fire, I made my way through the small corridor leading into a living room. With a cozy fireplace, surrounded by a couple of armchairs and a sofa, on one side and a small kitchen area on the other I was met by the 'dragon'. Sitting in the innermost middle of the room by a small desk littered with papers he angled his head down to meet my gaze and started chuckling.

"Hohoho, seems like the hare has finally left his hole to traverse the vast world. Come on now, let's sit down and talk for a bit".

Signaling me to follow him to the fireplace he sat down on one of the armchairs while I awkwardly occupied a chair opposite of him. With the demeanor of a friendly grandpa, the principal had bright white hair falling down the sides of his head and wrinkly skin surrounding his clear blue eyes. Although hidden under his white mage robe his body still bore signs of being at least somewhat athletic and strong. Holding a wooden cane in his left hand he rang a bell which seemingly came out of a hidden pocket of his robe.

"Yes sir?"

Out of the shadows, a black-dressed butler with a monocle and dark brown hair arrived to answer his call.

"Would you be a dear and bring us some tea? I think it might take a while for me and my guest to familiarize ourselves with each other."

"Certainly."

"Thank you."

'What was that? Some sort of technique out of some assassin battle art?'

Just as quickly as he arrived, the butler was once again gone in the shadows.

"So you are Miren. How are you getting on with your new life at the academy? I heard you arrived yesterday without any problems."

With a lighthearted smile and clear eyes without any semblance of judgment, he asked me.

"To be honest I have no idea what I'm doing here. According to everyone else here, this doesn't seem like a place for someone like me. I don't even know who made the arrangements for me to be forcefully placed in this academy. What do you want to accomplish by bringing me here, although it might look like you are just another friendly old man, that can't honestly be the case can it?"

As I started talking my mind was revving up once again, starting to explore dozens of possibilities and explanations but it seemed like although my thinking speed was fast I wasn't intelligent enough to draw the complete picture. Without having the time to think about my actions I had already asked the principal quite the accusatory question.

....

The air froze. Time seemed to stop and my back got cold from sweat. My body reacted on its own, my legs starting to accumulate power to run away, but to no avail. I couldn't move a muscle. The only thing in my vision was a pair of clear blue eyes, piercing through to my very core. Leaning forward the dragon in front of me exuded an enormous amount of pressure just by stimulating his mana reserves. My already sped-up mind was accelerating to yet another level, but all the multiple thoughts were the same. Forcing my eyes down my head was full of incoherent ramblings.

'That's not a person, that's a monster...'

'RUN! I NEED TO RUN AWAY! I WILL DIE IF I DON'T RUN!

Right as it felt like my head would start to melt from the ever-increasing heat my mind cooled off. My brain started to slow down, just like during the first night of being in the academy. Instead of feeling the pressure of mana surrounding the principal, rational thoughts started to appear.

'He wouldn't force me to attend the academy just to kill me the first day. With his age, there is also no way he would get offended just by me asking a question, even if it might have been a bit rude'

As these thoughts started to bubble up, my body was getting released from the pressure. It was as if my brain had turned off the ability to feel as if it had run away from the feelings that restricted it. I can't say it wasn't uncomfortable. The mana in the air still felt like I had heavyweights put on my limbs as well as on my chest, restricting my ability to breathe to some extent. Staring back at the monster in front of me, I met his gaze once more with a sense of serenity. Then all of a sudden the pressure stopped.

*Bock!*

Tapping his cane on the floor the principal started to laugh.

"Hahahaha! Interesting, interesting."

As he was straightening his back the eyes turned back into the shallow, lighthearted ones I had earlier gotten to witness. As if it was all a fever dream the monster had turned back into an old man who was sitting and laughing in front of me.

'Crazy..'

Thinking back at the words of Mike I finally understood what he meant. The principal wasn't just strong... He was a complete monster.

"So little hare, you are interested in knowing the truth, are you? Well, all is in your favor then, I was planning on telling you the entirety of the truth with this conversation."

'Huh..?'

He was gonna tell me the truth right away? Isn't this the part where he should say '-You aren't strong enough to handle the truth!', or something along those lines? Maybe the story wasn't as complicated as I first thought?

"So you are just gonna tell me the truth right away? Even after that reaction when I first asked you?"

"That's right."

....

'THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF MAKING ME ENDURE THAT HELL?!'

Although I was retorting loudly internally, I didn't dare to express my thoughts in front of the dragon pretending to be an old man.

*Step, step*

From the shadows, the butler emerged with a tray of tea as well as a small assortment of biscuits. It did seem like the principal thought it was gonna be a long conversation. Putting down the tea and biscuits on the wooden table beside us the butler once again left.

"Seems like you have a lot on your mind young hare. So here you have it, ask me anything you want and I will answer to the best of my abilities."

'Anything huh..'

Compiling my thoughts and reflecting on my situation my mind began to spin. There were so many questions I wanted to ask. I doubt that even the principal could answer how I managed to reincarnate into this world and fuse with another person. In the end, there was only a single question that seemed to be relevant enough for the time being.

"Why am I here? Why do I have to attend this academy?

"Now that's the million-dollar question, isn't it? Why is the young hare forced to attend an academy, made for only the uppermost elites of society who are supposed to protect our world from danger encroaching?"

Smiling brightly the principal started talking.

"Now, to answer this question there is something you must know about me first. I have a very unique kind of Inherent Disposition. It's called Sleepwalker."

'Inherent Disposition, I wonder how that could possibly have anything to do with me?'

"My special talent is quite simple really. When I sleep, my spirit walks around the spans of time. In other words, I get to see glimpses of the future. Although this might seem like quite the gift, oftentimes it is just as much of a curse."

'Figures, what if one were to be presented knowledge of an impossible to prevent tragedy or death of a loved one? It must be hard to bear such burden'

"Yes, as you seem to have figured out it can be quite painful to get to know the future. I can't count all the spoilers of shows I love to watch that I have been shown. Everything ranging from 'Desperate housemen' to 'Breaking Badly'...'

....

*Pok*

'What... This old fucker... Are you fucking kidding me?! Who cares about your silly old shows?!'

With my good old vein popping up to say hello again I couldn't help but almost shout out loud.

"Well, enough of that. To answer your question from before the answer is simple. I don't actually know. Hehe, most of the time I just fulfill the prophecies I see as that seem to be the most reliable way to live on. I just had a vision of a baby in a crib outside an orphanage and I got to know that the baby was supposed to attend this academy. So I made it so."

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!"