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Chapter 52
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Dragons have two methods of reproduction.
One is laying eggs after harboring mana for a long period.
The other is sexual reproduction, similar to humans.
Unlike the former, the latter involves mixing with other species’ blood, resulting in offspring that aren’t as powerful as pureblood dragons.
And the beings beyond the heavens had no reason to follow the reckless seed-sowing habits of creatures that couldn’t live even a hundred years.
Love is merely a kind of biochemical reaction triggered to maximize the spread of one’s genes in a short lifespan.
For species not desperate to reproduce, such primitive emotions had no reason to arise.
However, once in a thousand cases, such a thing would happen.
“Waaaah-!”
Lizzy is a hybrid of a dragon and a human—a Half-Dragon.
Lizzy’s mother, Jiriya, was an elder dragon who had lived for over ten thousand years.
She already had one child before Lizzy.
Lizzy was born just before Jiriya’s passing.
“Waaaah! Waaaah!”
“Yes, yes, my sweet child… try destroying it with more force.”
Newborn Lizzy let out adorable breaths in every direction.
It was a common behaviour for baby dragons.
The only difference was that her power was much weaker than that of normal dragon hatchlings.
Additionally, although she hadn’t learned polymorph yet, parts of her body resembled those of a human.
“Yes… my baby…”
In her polymorphed form, Jiriya gently stroked Lizzy with loving eyes.
By dragon standards, Lizzy was exceedingly weak.
But such things didn’t matter to her.
Lizzy was the fruit of her and her husband’s love.
As time passed, Jiriya’s husband aged.
Meanwhile, Lizzy gradually took on the appearance of a dragon.
She learned polymorph and could fully transform into either a human or a dragon.
However, as a dragon, her size was about half that of an average one.
Even accounting for her not being fully grown, she was still far too small.
Among dragons, it was already widely known that Jiriya had given birth to a Half-Dragon.
“I’m sorry… I’m only…”
“It’s fine. This time, I’ll rest by your side too. Just wait a little longer.”
And then Lizzy’s father passed away.
It was an inevitable event for a short-lived human.
But young Lizzy couldn’t comprehend death.
Shortly after, her mother, Jiriya, also passed to rest by his side.
Dragons are inherently solitary beings.
Even as a Half-Dragon, Lizzy was far superior to other species.
Although she lost her parents, like any other dragon, Lizzy didn’t dwell on it and began building her own lair.
As a Red Dragon, she settled inside a volcano.
However,
“So, you’re the half-breed.”
One day, a Gold Dragon came to her.
“Take on the role of the species’ guardian.”
The Gold Dragon offered Lizzy the position of guardian.
Although she didn’t know what a guardian was, Lizzy refused outright.
After all, dragons had no reason to be bound to anyone.
“No thanks. Why would I?”
However, Lizzy was only a Half-Dragon.
Naturally, she couldn’t stand against the Gold Dragon.
Almost forcibly, Lizzy was placed in a temple atop a high mountain.
It was said to have once been a mountain city where humans worshipped dragons.
But that lineage had long since ended, and the lazy dragons had left the place abandoned.
“What? You want me to catch bugs?”
“Yes… they’re bothersome when they crawl around while I’m trying to sleep. Eradicate them from the area.”
“What the…!”
Lizzy became the guardian for the dragons in place of that tribe.
In name, she was a guardian, but in reality, she was just doing the chores assigned by the dragons.
Humans were too short-lived to act as guardians, and maintaining the tribe was too much trouble.
When news spread of a Half-Dragon being born, the dragons figured they could use her as a convenient servant.
“Why don’t you just move if the bugs keep showing up…”
Thus began Lizzy’s life as a guardian.
Over the next thousand years, she grew accustomed to her menial tasks.
Still, her complaints never ceased.
“…Huh?! What?! Noooooooo!!!”
One day, while returning from catching bugs in the Gold Dragon’s lair,
Lizzy found her egg was missing.
Dragons would never leave their eggs unattended,
but Lizzy, constantly dragged around on errands, often left hers alone.
Still, no one could have imagined someone daring to steal it.
Judging by the mana flow, it was a human.
It was an egg she had painstakingly created to produce a being stronger than herself.
Fury boiled within Lizzy, and red scales erupted all over her body.
Transforming into her dragon form, Lizzy descended upon the human city.
“W-What…?”
“It’s a dragon?”
“A dragon? Have you been playing too much Maple Leaf Story? Why would a mythical creature appear in this countryside… huh?”
‘Maple Leaf Story?’
As Lizzy shot through the sky at breakneck speed, people watched her with curiosity.
It was a remote village in a small kingdom.
Considering they had just seen a dragon, their reactions were surprisingly calm.
Everyone was busy talking about Maple Leaf Story or something similar.
It was odd, but Lizzy’s priority was finding her egg.
Screeeeeeeech!
Under Lizzy’s breath, the village was engulfed in flames in an instant.
***
“A village has disappeared.”
“Right. At least they’re not trying to pin the blame on us despite the situation. That’s a relief.”
“It’s just a tiny rural village. Maybe they don’t think it’s a serious issue yet.”
Rain and I stared blankly at the newspaper.
The article reported the news of a dragon suddenly appearing and devastating a small village.
Below that, there were speculations about an adventurer stealing the dragon’s egg.
“But it’ll be fine. It won’t come all the way to Trinity. And even if it does, the Tower Masters can handle one Half-Dragon if they work together.”
Rain forced a calm smile.
“But killing a mother who lost her child is too much. At the very least, they should try to help her find the baby…”
According to the report, the dragon that appeared was a Half-Dragon.
Half-Dragons were significantly weaker than regular dragons, so maybe they could be stopped.
Still, I could understand the dragon’s perspective.
Stealing her baby and then killing her? It’s understandable from a human point of view, but the humans were the ones in the wrong first.
The villagers who died without knowing why were pitiful too, but…
Well, humans hunt magical creatures and always consider them as enemies. That’s the norm.
From their perspective, humans might be the villains.
“But there’s no choice. We have to stop her to prevent more casualties.”
Rain spoke calmly.
The other Tower members seemed to have similar reactions.
Maybe it was because it was just a Half-Dragon and didn’t feel like a big threat.
If it had been a real dragon, the world would’ve been in terror.
But no one thought about the dragon’s feelings after losing her child.
It was like casually slaughtering livestock.
“Sigh… Let’s get back to work. We’ve been resting for too long.”
I put aside my inexplicable discomfort and stood up.
Everyone returned to their duties, and I headed to the top of the tower for server maintenance.
The games were running smoothly.
I was inspecting the server for “Maple Leaf Story.”
Whirrr—
Suddenly, a metallic sound echoed throughout Trinity.
Frowning, I looked around and saw the sky rippling.
“The barrier is…”
The magical barrier surrounding Trinity was under attack.
The barrier, created jointly by all the Magic Towers, enveloped the entire city.
Whaaaaam—
“Ugh…!”
The barrier rippled more violently, and it seemed like parts of it would soon tear.
And then, the Tower Masters began appearing one by one.
“The barrier is suddenly…”
“Ugh~ How annoying! I was in the middle of COL!”
“I was just about to get a Double Kill, but this…”
“It seems a powerful being has arrived.”
Judging by their grumbling, most of them had been gaming.
Even with the barrier under threat, their expressions weren’t particularly urgent.
This meant the threat wasn’t on a massive scale.
The Tower Masters were watching the barrier as if testing how far it would hold.
Crack—
Soon, the barrier tore.
A massive dragon appeared in the sky.
“Half-Dragon…?”
“Why is a dragon here?”
“Did anyone schedule a meeting with a dragon?”
The dragon immediately rushed toward the Illusion Magic Tower.
Before I could even think to run, the dragon closed in.
“Is this ‘Maple Leaf Story’?”
The dragon stopped in front of the “Maple Leaf Story” server.
It had approached so quickly that I hadn’t even had time to escape.
Fortunately, the Tower Masters had erected a protective barrier in front of the Illusion Magic Tower, so I probably wouldn’t die.
“Did you steal my egg?”
The dragon glared at me and spoke.
I hastily shook my head.
“I heard humans talking about something called ‘Maple Leaf Story’… They said dragons are being tamed here…”
The dragon muttered.
I wanted to say something, but no words came out.
The dragon was such an overwhelming presence that just looking at it made my legs feel weak.
“Dragon. Why have you come here?”
The observing Tower Masters approached.
The dragon’s expression stiffened slightly as it sensed the mana of the Tower Masters.
“Return my egg. I clearly heard humans talking about something related to ‘Maple Leaf Story.’”
“‘Maple Leaf Story’ is just an illusionary game. The egg must have been stolen by some other humans. Dragon.”
The Tower Master of the Full Tower spoke.
The dragon gazed deeply at Trinity and sighed.
“If you understand, please leave now.”
“…Hmph.”
The dragon seemed to retreat obediently.
It appeared the dragon had determined it couldn’t handle the power of the Tower Masters.
Its subdued demeanour was unlike the arrogant image typically associated with dragons.
“Wait a moment!”
At my shout, both the Tower Masters and the dragon turned to look at me.
For some reason, I couldn’t ignore the dragon’s slumped shoulders as it turned to leave.
“I’ll find your egg, Dragon.”
“Huh?”
Everyone, including the dragon, let out puzzled sounds.
“Why would you do that?”
Electra asked me.
“If we let the dragon leave like this, she’ll burn down another village. Besides, I bear some responsibility for this situation.”
I went downstairs, grabbed a few artifacts, and handed them to the dragon.
I felt it was right for me to take responsibility for this matter.
“In the meantime, why don’t you try playing the game, Dragon?”
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