Chapter 25

Dragon-san Becomes a Little Girl Part 4

That almost gave me a heart attack.

I sighed in relief as Chrome and Seram discussed the matter.

Ten or so minutes ago, I left a note for the missus and lightheartedly left for the town. I didn’t know where the children’s school was but keeping my calm, I sharpened my consciousness to the flow of the magic.

When the children were born, I gave them the blessings for good health and good talent so their magic has a hint of my magic mixed into it. Since it’s my own magic, even when I’m in this form, it’s a piece a cake detecting where the presence is coming from. Well, as long they’re somewhere in this town.

So, as I struggled with the disadvantage of the child form, having to take small steps, I decided to go towards the closest presence of my magic. Then, I ended up running into that shady guy and while I was distracted by him, Seram, who I had no intention of running into came in to save me. This was all very unexpected.

Anyway, you want to know what I was planning to do with that perv after I followed him into that alleyway?

Well firstly, I would have fly kicked him, and then crashed his private part but is there a problem?

My current form only limits my magic, but my physical strength is still the same. Breaking his leg or crashing “that” to a point beyond recovery is something that can be easily done.

After that, I’ll run into the nearby police station with tearful eyes and say something like「That old man said he wanted to see under my skirt!!」and mission complete.

I mean, that perv would have been having similar thoughts so it wouldn’t be a lie.

No matter how cute they think the children are, there should be no excuse for harassing minors in such a way. If they do, I will teach them a lesson on a behalf of society ♪

Anyway, as Seram was dragging me by my arm, I was moved to see how much he has grown but was also scared that he might realise who I am. However, I realised that wasn’t possible halfway through.

The children don’t know that I am a shape-shifting dragon and on top of that, they only know my adult form.

Shape-shifting is a high-level spell so I don’t think the children even know about its existence. Also, I think it’s unlikely that Seram would think this child (me) who is younger than himself is actually Lava-neesan.

On top of that, the frill on the brimless bonnet which has a matching accessory with my dress hides my trademark golden iris and my red strands hair. It is all tucked into the bonnet.

As expected, Chrome who has caught up to Seram afterwards also didn’t realise my real identity.

Confirming this, I sighed in relief and pulled down my bonnet even deeper.

For now, I better keep this on.

I really don’t think I can come up with a reasonable explanation for them.

Chrome and Seram decided that although they have lost the whereabouts of the criminal perv, they will report the incident to the police station. Also, while they’re at the police station, they will ask the people there to take care of me. Just as we were about to head off, something like a Gargoyle’s roar echoed through the area. It came from Chrome’s stomach.

Recognising the sound, both Seram and I turned to face Chrome.

「How about we grab some food first? It’s my treat.」

Chrome said it with a smile, but his eyes seemed lifeless from hunger. So, the three of us went to one of the stalls set up at the field and had afternoon tea.

Not even saying his prayers properly, Chrome bit onto his sandwich as he recovered the energy he has lost during his training. I was eating a fruit which they have bought for me as I swung my legs which were too short to reach the ground. There, Seram, who was rolling around his fruit on the palm of his hand and Chrome just stared down at me.

According to the person at the stall, this fruit which looked like a peach has been chilled in the underground water so it was nice and cold.

As I was enjoying the not-too-sweet flavour of the fruit, I noticed that Seram was blankly staring down at the ground.

He has only taken a bite off the peach and his expression seemed somber.

「Seram, are you full? Can I have the rest?」

「….. yeah, sure.」

Chrome who has finished eating his sandwich at a speed of light happily took Seram’s peach. However, he too seemed to have noticed that his brother was feeling down.

Chrome didn’t end up taking a single bite off the peach and looked as if he wanted to say something to Seram. Me, who was puzzled by what Seram has said before put on my best childlike behaviour and asked him.

I wasn’t sure if calling him by a nickname was a good idea but it was an emergency situation and I’m sure he has used up a decent amount of magic to save me.

「Hey Sera, before, why did you say mage craft is something scary ?」

「Well, that is…..」

As Seram’s green eyes shifted away from my golden ones, I felt something lightly zap at my nape.

Turning around, I saw the field reach out for miles behind me. It was filled with ordinary-looking passerby as well as people who were working at the stalls.

Some people walked past us with a gentle gaze but that was about it.

Was I just imagining stuff?

When I turned back to the two boys, Chrome was looking back at Seram with a serious expression.

I noticed that Chrome now possessed a near murderous presence. Maybe this is what I felt.

「Sera, what happened.」

「Nothing…..」

「What did the other kids say to you?」

Not being able to resist Chrome’s powerful tone, Seram answered after a long silence with his head down.

「They said that I think I’m better than them just because I can use magic.」

I don’t know how Seram took it when Chrome and I both fell into silence but he hurriedly added to his response.

「But that’s not why I’m feeling down. I’m pretty quiet so I can’t blame them for thinking of me like that. It’s just, I realised that others really didn’t like me when Bernie’s friends looked at me like that. And that really hurt me.」

I know that Seram is a good child.

He just likes magic.

Even if it’s a silly misunderstanding between children, there’s no reason for anyone to treat him like that.

「I just wanted some friends who I could have a chat with. But I guess I have no choice but to give up on that dream.」

The smile on Seram’s face was so painfully bitter, that deep down in my chest, I felt the area around the dragon sphere tighten.

Suddenly, Chrome grabbed both of Seram’s shoulders and grimly looked at him in the eyes.

「….. Seram, are you okay with that?」

「With what?」

「Aren’t you frustrated that these kids have the wrong idea about you?」

「I am frustrated but if I use a spell against them, then I would be the bad guy.」

I was moved to see that Seram kept his morals with him even in a situation like this.

He’s right. If a professional wrestler intentionally punched a noob wrestler with their full strength, the professional wrestler would be fined. Just like that, if a person who can use mage craft used a spell against another person who can’t use magic, then the criminal charge given to the person who cast the spell will be worse than an assault charge.

However, the judge will take it into consideration if the spell was used for a self-defence purpose. Still, the condition is a lot more strict compared to a non-magic involved self-defence.

For example, when Seram came to save me, he used a spell against an adult male who was clearly stronger than him in order to save me. So, it will be considered a justified action.

But let’s say Seram was an adult and he used a spell against someone who can’t use magic because they provoked him. Even if the fault was in the other person, Seram will be the one to receive the criminal charge.

Kyle has worked hard to get this law comprised. Apparently, he was trying to get rid of the stereotype that most mages are violent.

I was proud to see that Seram, who is just a child already knew the “Conditions of Mage Craft”.

Then, Chrome gave a slightly evil grin.

「Then just don’t use magic.」

「What?」

I nodded in agreement but Seram who was sitting next to me had a confused look on his face.

Chrome’s right, the “Conditions of Mage Craft” is only when spells are involved.

If it’s just kids having a fist fight, there’d be no need to worry about any laws.

There would be no need for an adult to step in.

「Kids like that will end up doing something worse to you if you don’t say anything back. Ignoring them might be the most sensible choice. But sometimes, you just need to fight back and this is the time.」

That’s right Seram! I have trained you under the disguise of playing games. Your physical ability is greater than the physical ability of any ordinary kids!

「Sera, you just need to believe in yourself!」

「Come on, you’re just a little girl.」

「No, she’s right!」

「Brother, not you too!!」

Ignoring the dumbfounded Seram, Chrome and I came to an agreement.

I knew exactly how Seram felt right now. Ignoring the whole matter wasn’t an option for me.

I understand that sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from standing up for themselves.

No one should ever make an excuse to give up their hopes.

To me, Seram is like a precious little brother.

If I don’t give him a little push now, I would be ashamed to refer to myself as the older sister.

Feeling a little pumped up, I fiercely started to eat the remaining of my peach while sensing the shocked gaze of the two boys. I gulped down a mouthful of peach and jumped off the beach.

Then, I turned around to face the boys and smiled.

「Let’s go and beat the hell out of them right now!」

**********

Seram looked at the girl with a startled expression after hearing her shocking statement.

「What did you just ー」

Then, Chrome cut in mid-sentence. Jumping off the bench as if to mimic the girl.

「That’s a great idea! Right now, they should be at the park near the school. Let’s go there right now!」

「Yeah, Let’s go!」

「You, wait! You have food all over your face!」

「What!?」

Hearing what Seram has just said, the girl who was ready to head off turned around and blushed.

Seram, who realised that the girl didn’t have anything like a handkerchief pulled out his own from his pocket. Then, he soaked it with water from the fountain and wiped the food off from the girl’s face.

「Tha, thank you.」

「You’re a girl so you should take care of your appearance okay?」

「…… I’m getting more and more worried about his future.」

The girl mumbled to herself with her face still bright red. Seram couldn’t really hear what the girl has just said so he continued on without questioning it.

「Forget it, they’re already scared of me. There’s nothing we can do now.」

Hearing what Seram has just said, the girl looked back at Seram with a calm gaze. Seeing this, Seram felt his heart skip a beat.

「I think the other children are only acting like that because they have never seen magic before. And when they saw it for the first time, they were really shocked and didn’t know how to approach you.」

「They don’t know how to approach me…..?」

The girl nodded as Seram blinked hesitantly.

「Yeah, it was so new to them that they didn’t know how to react. If they didn’t know anything about magic, it’s only natural that they would feel that way. But Sera, that’s no excuse for you to suffer in silence.」

「…..」

「Now that’s out of the way, let’s stop the chit chat and let’s head off! Chrome, lead the way!」

「At your service!」

As Seram was looking at the girl’s golden iris adoringly, she smiled back at him brightly. Then, she grabbed his wrist and started to run like wind.

He thought she was just an ordinary little girl but he was overwhelmed to learn that her grip was so strong that he could not shake it off, and she ran so swiftly.

He has concentrated his magic at his feet but he was still, just managing to keep up with the girl.

When he looked at her feet, there was no sign of her using the body power up spell.

While Seram was astonished to learn that the girl was running at a such a speed without relying on a spell, the three of them have reached the school which Seram was at only a little while ago. Thanks to Chrome’s precise navigation.