Volume 4 - CH 10

The third day after entering the mountain.

The sun has fully risen and it is already noon.

I stretched as hard as I could and exhaled heavily.

“I’m tired…….”

Shortly after that, the dragon that took off yesterday grabbed a beast-shaped monster with its hind limbs and returned.

She munched on it, and soon after, she fell asleep by the nest.

When I woke up in the evening, it took off again, this time looking around the surrounding sky as if to warn me, and then it came back at night. Then I went right back to sleep again.

Morning after night, and then mid-day. The dragon is still not awake.

It’s not dead.

It’s just sleeping.

I think as I look at the sleeping dragon.

I’m sure it was tired.

Raising a child is hard, not only for humans, but for animals as well. This guy was a monster, but probably the same. It was obvious that the magic of the land was not enough to keep her strong.

I guess she was having a hard time because she didn’t have a mate.

However……,

“When will I be released …?”

While the dragon ate, strolled in the air, and slept, I spent all my time tending to the nest, rolling eggs, heating rocks, and so on.

I got fed up enough and tried to leave once, but she got mad and growled at me a lot. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere because if I ran away, she might chase me all the way to the city.

Maybe eggs are fine if left alone to some extent, but I don’t know how much …… is safe. It kept me up all night.

Yuki, too, says, as if disgusted.

“You’re such a brazen monster, asking …… people to raise your pups for you!”

“……The kuda-gitsune  is also like that.”

“Ugh, no, the kuda-gitsune  is, well, let’s just say that it’s a demon, so ……”

“Haa……Well, maybe this is the only one like this, even if it’s a dragon.”

This individual is special.

No, you could say that the dragon itself has such qualities…….

“So what are you going to do?　Seika-sama.”

Yuki asks.

I can’t possibly be the nanny of a monster.

“… I’m going home. I’m running out of food.”

I have to convince the dragon somehow.

“Hey!　Wake up!　It’s almost noon!”

I yelled loudly at the coasting dragon, and its craggy eyelids opened slightly.

He clearly looks like a pain in the ass.

I say, pointing toward the city in frustration.

“I’m leaving now!”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

“I’m not Grrruu, for God’s sake!　I’m not your mate, and I have nothing to do with this!”

The dragon growled in frustration and then stood up with a sigh.

Then she steps toward me and lowers her big head and rests her chin on the ground.

“?”

“Grrrrrrr ……”

I saw the way she flapped her wings, and I guessed it.

“Maybe, you want to give me a ride…..?”

“Grrrr.”

“’Yeah, I appreciate the sentiment, but ………… no, wait.”

I see the possibilities.

I thought it was impossible to fly on a winged creature, but …… she might be able to do it.

I put my feet up on the scales and climb on top of the head.

It has hard bristles seemingly custom-made and is not uncomfortable to sit on.

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

The dragon spread its wings and flapped its wings.

The magic of atmospheric pressure is activated, and the huge body floats in the air with me on top of it.

A fierce wind blows around me.

But it’s not so fierce that I cannot ride it.

Most importantly, —- there is less shaking. Just as I thought.

As I held onto the protruding scales, I was alone in my excitement and cheering.

Once circling in the sky, the dragon glides leisurely toward the city at the foot of the foothills.