Chapter 418 - 137: Holy Light: Advent of the Silver Radiance Angel

Chapter 418: Chapter 137: Holy Light: Advent of the Silver Radiance Angel

Dragon Flame pushed the door open and walked in, with a bouncing Esther close behind.

Dragon Flame had grown a bit taller again and was now nearly 1.6 meters tall. Since he had just come from school, he was still in his Lakefront Academy uniform with a massive backpack slung over his shoulders, looking every bit the student.

Esther, on the other hand, was completely listless. Her little wings drooped behind her, and she wore an expression as if she had lost all will to live.

"How was the academy today?" Lynch asked with a smile, ruffling Dragon Flame’s hair before pinching Esther’s cheek.

"It was great! A lot of fun." The moment he heard the question, Dragon Flame began to excitedly recount what he had learned that day. "Today, Dean Albert lectured on the principle of the lever from *Basic Physics*. I think it’s fascinating; it can save so much effort! Then this afternoon, Instructor Kam taught us new combat forms, and I think they gave me some ideas for controlling my Dragon Breath..."

He went on and on, his eyes sparkling, full of a thirst for knowledge.

Esther, however, flopped onto the sofa with a THUMP and buried her face in a cushion. Her muffled voice complained, "It wasn’t fun at all... School is so boring... All those math formulas and history dates, they make my head hurt... Dad, I still think fighting and drinking blood is more fun... Can I stop going to school?"

"No," Lynch said, feigning a stern expression, though a smile played in his eyes. "Knowledge is power, and I won’t allow you to be an uncultured member of the Blood Race."

"Now, let’s get today’s homework done. We can eat after you’re finished."

Lynch clapped his hands, signaling for the two little ones to go to the study.

Dragon Flame obediently agreed and followed Lynch to the study with a spring in his step. He sat down at his own little desk, pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill pen from his backpack, and sat with a posture as proper as a little adult.

Esther, however, dragged her feet behind them and slumped reluctantly onto her own desk. She buried her face in her arms, revealing only her pair of scarlet eyes, which she used to gaze pitifully at Lynch.

"Let’s start with math." Lynch picked up the textbook and glanced at it. "Today’s problem is... hmm. Chickens and rabbits are in the same cage. There are thirty-five heads and ninety-four feet. The question is, how many chickens and how many rabbits are there?"

"That one’s easy." Dragon Flame’s eyes lit up, his golden, slitted pupils flashing with excitement. "Let x be the number of chickens and y be the number of rabbits. That means x + y = 35, and 2x + 4y = 94. Solving the equations gives..."

He picked up his quill and began to write furiously. With a few SCRITCH-SCRATCHES, he had written out the complete steps to the solution, even using two different methods: the algebraic method and the assumption method.

Finally, he added proudly, "Father, I think this problem could also be solved using the counting runes from draconic magic. It would be more efficient."

Lynch ruffled his hair, pleased. "Excellent. Your thinking is clear, and you know how to apply what you’ve learned. Go on, read *Basics of Alchemy* for a bit. I’ll check your work later."

"Yes, sir!" Dragon Flame chirped, happily hugging the book as he ran to a corner and began to read with great interest.

Then, Lynch turned to Esther.

"Esther, your turn." Lynch did his best to make his voice sound gentle. "Did you understand the question?"

"I understood..." Esther replied without any energy, picking up her quill and starting to poke at the parchment. "It’s... um... the chickens and rabbits are locked in a cage together..."

"Right. And then?" Lynch watched her, offering encouragement.

"And then..." Esther tilted her head, blinking as she thought seriously. "Then the chickens will peck the rabbits, and the rabbits will kick the chickens, and they’ll get into a fight! The chickens will win in the end, because chickens have wings and can fly up to peck the rabbits in the eyes!"

Lynch: "..."

"I’m asking how many chickens and how many rabbits there are!" Lynch took a deep breath, forcing himself to keep smiling.

"Oh..." Esther blinked. "Then... all thirty-five are chickens?"

"And what about the rabbits?"

"The rabbits... they were pecked to death by the chickens?"

Lynch rubbed his temples. "That’s not right. Calculate it again. Look, if they were all chickens, there would only be seventy feet, but the question says there are ninety-four. Where did the extra twenty-four feet come from?"

Esther stared at the question for a long while, then had a sudden realization. "I know! It’s spiders! There are spiders in the cage! Spiders have eight legs!"

"Where did spiders come from?!" Lynch’s expression began to look a little dazed.

"Then... centipedes?"

"Esther~!"

"WAAAH... Dad’s being mean to me..." Esther said, her lips trembling in a piteous pout as her eyes reddened. "This question is too hard~~ I’d rather just go drink blood~ Drinking blood is so easy. Find a neck, bite down, GULP, GULP..."

"Quiet! No talk of drinking blood!" Lynch took a deep breath, feeling a vein throbbing at his temple. "Come on, let’s try a different approach. Let’s assume all the animals in the cage are rabbits. Then there should be..."

"One hundred and forty feet, tee-hee~" Esther cut in, answering before he could finish.

"Yes! Very good!" Lynch’s eyes lit up.

’Is this little girl... finally getting it?’

"But rabbits are so cute, why do they have to be in a cage?" Esther suddenly asked. "Can we let them out? I could be friends with the rabbits, and then..."

"And then what?"

"Then, when they aren’t paying attention, I’ll suck them dry," Esther said, excitedly baring her small fangs.

Lynch: "..."

He stood up in silence, walked to the window, and stared out at the setting sun. For some reason, the sight of his back was a bit bleak.

"Lord Father!?" Dragon Flame looked up from his book, his eyes filled with concern. "Sister, is he okay?"

"Dad’s fine," Esther declared with an air of certainty. "He must be stunned by my dazzling intellect, tee-hee~~ WAAAH~~"