Chapter 34

VOLUME 2 CHAPTER 1: Dragon-san Is doing Alright

Let us continue our adventure with Dragon-san!

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I am a dragon.

I have a thin, beautiful body with a long neck and tail, covered from head to toe with shiny black scales.

I have long talons that plow through the earth with ease.

The reddish wings that grow on my back not only allow me to fly through the sky, but I can also dive underwater and swim at very high velocity.

My eyes have a color of pure gold and my mouth is filled to the brim with sharp, pointy fangs.

I am your typical dragon-sama, the one who rules both the earth below and the skies above.

‘I’ used to be your typical run-of-the-mill college student back in my old world, but due to some circumstances I ended up dead and reincarnated as a dragon into this world right here.

I used to despise my new draconic form at first, and hated the responsibilities of attending to the magical leylines that run through this world that came together with my new form. But then I learned that dragons – or the Ancient Dragon Tribe, as a matter of fact – are one of the strongest creatures in this world, and so with time I came to accept my new reality.

But the thing is, dragons are not very family-oriented creatures and tend to keep mostly to themselves, and so my new life started as that of a loner, with me having little to no contact with any other living creature.

Even if dragons are standing atop the food chain here, it was simply hard for me to accept having been reincarnated into one after my freshly started college life ended abruptly by something as stupid as slipping on a banana peel.

It would be no exaggeration to say that I got reincarnated as something equally anti-social as I was during my life.

The role of a dragon in this world is that of the guardian of all the magic. That one fact is indisputable.

Still, I didn’t wanted to give up on the idea of wanting to make friends! And my determination to make them could be compared to nothing short of force of the erupting volcano!

Even when Tree Spirit Gramps taught me the language, it turned out I was still pretty much unable to communicate with anyone, not to mention that thanks to my intimidating appearance people tend to run away from me first thing they see me –––––– No, even though it was really hard at first, I still managed to make some friends thanks to good fortune and lucky coincidences.

As well as to meet some dear, irreplaceable people.

…… I wonder if there ever was something like that in the past, one of the strongest creatures in the entire world being moved to tears?

Overcoming my own weaknesses and strengthening the bonds with my friends, I continued to work on repairing and readjusting the leylines all over the place.

Now that I managed to overcome the language barrier, I was ready for new encounters with new people.

For example right now……

「Good mor––––––……」

「UUUUUUWWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!」

Friendly, approach……

「It’s the dragon! The dragon has coooooome!!」

「It’s over! This village is done for!!!」

「Hurry, the women and children still have a chance to get away safely!!」

Ahh ––– Well shoot, who would have known that there were Dwarves living in the vicinity of this particular mountain?

It looks like I am still unable to understand the languages of the Western part of the continent.

…… It is a real pain when some countries speak different language like that.

For the time being I wasn’t going to run away, since I did not come here to fight.

「If we manage to defeat the beast, we can make some high quality magic tools out of it! Stand your ground and fight, the lot of you!」

「「OOOOOHHHHH!!!」」

Oooh, another group came out, but this time they were carrying weapons and their eyes were strangely bloodshot.

Hm, are they perhaps going hunting? Huh, what’s that now? Ehh, they are trying to hunt me down!? Say what!?

「Have a taste of ––––」

「Guys, please! Just…… Just give me some time so that I can change into my human form, will you!!!」

As I was crying magical jewels I panic, things like stones and spears began to fly in my general direction.

Us dragons can live for a very long time.

So, getting used to reactions like that, I steel my resolve and get ready to work hard today as well.

*********

Using the teleportation magic, I somehow managed to escape from the Dwarves domain and arrive back at our house.

I chose the hall as my arrival point, and when I transitioned there, upon my arrival I was greeted by Nectar wearing an apron.

「I’m home.」

「Welcome home, Lava. Thanks for all of your hard work.」

This young man with fair hair and gentle facial expression that only the adjective ‘elegant’ would suit used to be human, but as a result of his training managed to turn himself into a demi-spirit.

And I know I might be boasting by saying this, but he is also my dear husband.

「How was your business trip?」

「…… Somehow, there was a Dwarven village in the vicinity, and I ended up being chased down by the little guys as they tried to salvage me for materials.」

I squatted down on the spot and related that in an empty voice. Understanding how I must have felt, Nectar stroked my back lovingly.

「As a race, Dwarves are rather thick-skulled and prominent for making various kinds of magical tools. Thanks to that, wyverns and other dragonids are perceived by them as nothing short of a rare treasures. I’m sorry, if I was there with you, I could have done something.」

「Don’t be sorry, it may have been sudden, but it was also kind of fun. Besides, you have your pharmacy to take care of, not to mention all of the household chores. Now that I say that outloud, I think I should’ve help you more around the house.」

I turn towards Nectar and say to him that I’m sorry.

Having Nectar in mind, we set out to make our very own house in a town called Hibernia, that was give or take one day away from the capital city. There, Nectar was taking care of the house while also running his very own drug store.

I tried to help him with his work whenever I can, but I know just how much work he has on his shoulders, and for that, I apologize deeply to him.

This time I went there in my dragon form, but if I approached them in my human form, things would have played out differently for sure.

However, while feeling sorry for Nectar, something from his previous statement made me think really hard.

「Nectar, do you happen to know the language of the Dwarves?」

「At first I only knew a few basic phrases, but I managed to pick it up when I was travelling there with Kyle in the past, learning how to make magical tools. Now it is even easier, thanks to all of the cultural exchanges done in between countries. Would you like to learn it?」

「Thank you so much, Nectar!」

「You’re welcome.」

I’m quite ashamed of the face that I made when I heard him say ‘together’.

Since he became a demi-spirit, it is only natural that Nectar is going to live far longer than your average human being, but even after 100 years have passed, I am still going to look exactly the same.

While thinking just happy I was to have someone like him to depend on, I borrowed Nectar’s hand and stood up. Just then, the door to the hall opened and a small figure was standing in them.

「Mommy, welcome back!」

「I’m home, Aru!」

I grasped the small child with flame coloured strands hair in my arms who came running towards me.

This child’s name is Aru. Our child from both Nectar and I, born about ten years ago.

I rock Aru in my arms, and when I look at the linen coloured hair and his smiling face full of happiness I just can’t stop thinking just how much Aru resembles Nectar. Coincidentally, Nectar would never stop saying just how much Aru resembles me.

I think that there may be some similarities between us, like Aru’s golden irises, but aside from that this child is way cuter than I am.

After hugging for a while, Aru backs away from me for a bit, looking in between Nectar and I for a while.

「Daddy, I know that you are happy that Mommy just got back, but you shouldn’t just leave the pan on fire like that. It’s dangerous!」

「I’m sorry, Aru.」

「I know that you are happy to see Mommy for the first time in a month, but you must handle cooking with care, or else something bad might happen.」

「Okay, thank you.」

Nectar blushed in reaction to being scolded like that. I put my arms around his neck, and he put his hands on my waist.

Hmm, while we display our affection towards one another like that, Aru is looking closely at what we are doing.

But still, it was really nice to be held in Nectar’s arms like that.

I also gaze upon scolded Nectar and couldn’t help myself but laugh.

「Thank you, Nectar.」

「Umm, this is…… Thanks.」

「Hey, Mommy! Hurry up and come here! Today I helped to prepare dinner!」

「Oh, I see. I’m looking forward to it.」

Aru began to urge me to come into the kitchen, all the while smiling happily and pulling onto my sleeve and casting Nectar excited glances.

We sit at the table in the kitchen, ready to eat what Nectar and Aru managed to fix together.

Being together as family at a time like this, we could not only fully enjoy the delicious meal, but also our hearts could enjoy the warmth and joy of being together like that.

Although it may be nothing more but a mockery of a human lifestyle, for us this house is something similar to a magician’s study, a place where you can always come back to and where all the ‘roads’ of your life are going to lead you back here eventually.

For us, Aru is also an example of just what it means to be human.

「Mmn! It’s delicious!」

「Really!?」

「Umu, it really surprised me. You’re amazing, Aru!」

It was a simple poultry with tomato sauce, but it was so good that it made me open my eyes wide in amazement. That seemed to make Aru extremely happy.

「Ehehe, when I was helping Daddy with herbs gathering, we saw a few wild birds so I managed to catch them!」

Ooh, so by ‘help’ you meant not cooking, but material procurement, is that it?

「Eeeh, he was onto it before I even realized. I was surprised as well, but thanks to that we didn’t have to go to the market and but the poultry ourselves.」

「…… That’s just wonderful!」

I was genuinely impressed by Nectar’s addition to the story, and so I gently stroked Aru’s hair, and saw a look of happiness.

The birds they procured – the Luk birds – are said to be ranked third on the list of the most dangerous bird species. They weren’t using any magic themselves, but were rather big. So big, in fact, that one such bird could easily feed five people or more.

Does this perhaps have something to do with Aru’s Draconic heritage?

To be precise, Aru is a half-spirit and half-dragon.

Basically Aru is mostly spirit, but thanks to having a dragon mother the child seemed to have inherited some of the traits that are signature to dragonkind.

In the first place, I didn’t really think it would be possible for me to be able to bear children, but when the child was actually born, it became a sort of a precedence that caused quite the stir with every other dragon out there.

Well, as soon as the child was safely born, Aru’s existence was quickly accepted by the world itself, and what’s more, it looks like Aru was also able to access the dragon archives, a collective knowledge of every other dragon that came in the past. Only real dragons and those allowed by them are able to do that. That’s what happened, the gist of it.

Aru may still be a child, but thanks to Draconic heritage Aru would have no problem beating monsters and demons alike. This child is still quite active and resembles myself in some aspects.