Chapter 92: A Transcendent Being Came To Greet Us And Went Straight Back
Chapter 92: A Transcendent Being Came To Greet Us And Went Straight Back
“Well, I’m sorry I was so upset earlier. I’m Shiro, the larva of the Heavenly Dragon.”
Shiro said in a much more mature tone than before.
For some reason, she was sitting sideways on my lap.
***
Cecile and I took her down from the attic and dressed her.
She didn’t seem hostile, so I decided to introduce her to everyone.
We were in the living room of the villa.
Cecile, Rita, Iris and Rafilia sat in their chairs and watched her with interest.
Aine was making tea for everyone.
She was completely unfazed by the sudden appearance of a girl she didn’t know. As a former Guildmaster’s apprentice, she was calm even at a time like that. She was probably trying on a swimsuit, as she was wearing one.
But it looked really good on her. It was a one-piece swimsuit orange in color
‘I see, Aine liked the one with the fluttering decoration. It’s a little different from her usual atmosphere, but it’s cute.
‘If I start praising her too much here, we won’t get anywhere, so I’ll just give her a thumbs up for now.’
“Is this … tea? It smells good. It’s warm. …”
Shiro patted the cup - she was about to stick her finger in it, but I stopped her in a hurry.
She looked disgruntled and irritated.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to interfere with a newborn me’s curiosity.”
Then, Shiro puffed out her chest.
“Of course, you can satisfy your curiosity in exchange for mine.”
“Very well.”
“Okay, let me ask you something. Shiro, you are a Heavenly Dragon, right?”
“Yes, a larva to be exact.”
“How could a Heavenly Dragon be born in human form?”
“I don’t know what to say. It’s because I was born, but I am not real.”
“Not real?”
“My body is a make-believe thing that wakes up when there’s a problem with the Heavenly Dragon Egg.”
Shiro said, opening and closing her thin hands in front of me.
She called herself make-believe, but she had a physical body.
“You mean, like, a ghost you can touch?”
“That’s it. But this body is for emergencies only, and when mana runs out, I will turn back into an Egg!”
After saying that, Shirou hurriedly shook her head, perhaps realizing that her tone had become childish.
“I am Heavenly Dragon’s ‘pseudo form”, and I am just a part of the whole ‘personality’, so…”
“You don’t have to make it sound so adult.”
“I can’t talk like a little kid in front of people, the authority of the Heavenly Dragon…”
“It’s a little late for that.”
‘There’s no such thing as authority when you come out of the Egg with a soppy smile and a sweet hug.’
“Pseudo form? Does that mean that Shiro’s body is still inside the Egg, and the current Shiro is just a temporary form created with mana?”
“That’s right.”
‘So that’s why Shiro has a chain around her waist with the Heavenly Dragon Egg hanging from it.’
Shiro showed up to greet everyone who woke her up.
She looked around at Cecile, Rita, Aine, Iris, and Rafilia in turn, and bowed politely.
“It’s me again, Shiro. Thanks to all of you, I was able to get out.”
All the slaves bowed back to the little girl who thanked them earnestly.
Shiro then turned to me.
“I will return to my Egg form sooner or later, so I won’t cause you any trouble. Please let me stay with you.”
Then she looked at me.
“You know, Shiro. I’ve got a lot to say too. …” ƒ𝘳𝗲𝑒𝒘𝐞𝚋𝚗𝐨v𝘦l.𝒄o𝐦
Rita got up from her chair and walked over to us.
“… Can I nudge you for now?”
“I’d be happy to, but don’t huff and puff, Rita.”
Rita waggled her hands and twitched her animal ears as she looked at Shiro.
Shiro smiled like the sun at Rita.
“I don’t mind. You are like a mother to me.”
“Mother?”
“I was born in response to everyone’s ‘I love you, Master’ wishes. That’s why Rita is my mother.”
“Aah!”
Rita held her chest and squirmed.
“What the hell is this? What is this destructive power? It’s just a little girl calling me ‘mother’…
“Shiro, what did you hear when you were an Egg?”
I asked.
“…?”
“No matter how strong she gets, Rita’s loyalty will never waver, and even if I like Nagi, I’ll never be able to match Rita’s feelings, right?”
“Woooooooooooo!”
Oh, she ran away.
‘I see, Rita was talking to the Heavenly Dragon Egg …
‘So why is Aine also quietly moving away with Rita?
‘What did you both say to the Heavenly Dragon Egg?’
“You know, I could feel the mana of everyone here. They were kind and warm.”
Shiro clasped her hands together in prayer and looked at Cecile, Rafilia and Iris.
The Heavenly Dragon Egg had been with us all along.
The Egg was also present, when I was ‘stabilizing’ Iris and Rafilia.
“Can you tell me more, Shiro?”
“Of course.”
Shiro sat down next to me.
Her limbs were thin and pure white. Her platinum blonde hair was so long that it almost reached her waist, so Cecile lightly pulled it into a bun. She looked a little younger than Cecile.
The only thing Dragon-like about her was the short horns behind her ears.
“How much do you know about yourself, Shiro?”
“The only thing I know is that I’m a makeshift body for emergencies.”
Shiro put her hands on her knees and nodded towards me.
“A Heavenly Dragon Egg absorbs the mana from its predecessor Heavenly Dragon. But for some reason, the Egg is unable to absorb it’s predecessor’s mana. That’s why I was born.”
According to Shiro, after a Heavenly Dragon dies, they pass on all their mana to the next generation.
‘First, the Heavenly Dragon, realizing that he is dying, chooses just the right land and dies there.
‘After they die, their mana and power dissolve into the ground around them, waiting for the next Heavenly Dragon to be born.
‘The Egg then slowly absorbs the mana from the land and does so in the form of a Heavenly Dragon.
‘That’s how the Egg gives birth to the next Heavenly Dragon, a Guardian Deity for people and Dragons.
‘But for some reason, the Egg is unable to absorb the mana.’
“Whoa!” “Splat!” It was very difficult to understand, though, because Shiro was using gestures like “Whoa!” “Splat!”.
“That’s what this is all about, Nagi.”
Cecile explained it for me, Iris, and Rafilia.
“The mana of the previous Heavenly Dragon is necessary to maintain the body of a Dragon. But now, for some reason, the Egg is unable to absorb it. So, I was born in this form, which consumes less mana.”
“So you’re saying I get more mileage out of your current form?”
“I don’t know what ‘mileage’ means, but I think that’s what it is.”
‘It’s true that it would take a lot of energy to maintain a huge body.’
“Is this supposed to happen in your memory?”
“No.”
“I know, right?”
“In the first place, the Heavenly Dragon is like a God, so it is unexpected that a God would not be born properly. That means that the world is going crazy. It’s possible that the world has already been destroyed and we’re just watching a flashback.”
“No, it’s not.”
I turned to Iris.
“Is Shiro reacting to your [Dragon Empathy LV4]?”
“Yes. There is no doubt that this person is of the Dragon Clan.”
“I see.”
“I feel like we’re friends when we do this. I’d rather be your friend.”
“You are a descendant of the Sea Dragon, so you are kind of related to the Heavenly Dragon.”
Shiro was also glancing at Iris. She seemed to be feeling something.
“Shiro. Can I ask you one more question?”
“Yes, Father! “
Shiro looked at me with her hands outstretched.
‘Yeah. It’s definitely destructive. Father.’
“Putting aside the … ‘Father’ thing, when you were born you said ‘Tell me the world is safe’ and ‘Tell me I don’t have to work so hard…’ .That’s … sorry, you don’t have to answer me! Don’t cry!”
As soon as I asked, tears began to fall from Shiro’s eyes.
Wiping her eyes with the palm of her white hand, she squirmed and squirmed, trying desperately to find the right words.
“…Can I touch you?”
“It’s okay. Come here.”
I rubbed Shiro’s trembling back.
“I had a dream before I was born.”
“… Dream?”
“A big stake was driven into a White Dragon’s body, and it was stuck. A scary person said, ‘If you are a Guardian Deity of people, I will make you work more efficiently. Now go to work.’ Whenever I try to regain the mana of my predecessor, I dream about it. Something scary is trying to come into me.
“It could be a kind of ‘seal’.
“I actually want to absorb my predecessor’s mana. But if I get too close to him, I am afraid that I’ll be sealed away too. … I was born … afraid of a world with such things…”
“Shiro?”
But when I heard Rita and Aine say “I love you”, I became a little less scared and wanted to meet everyone… I wanted to meet you all…”
Her little body started to shake.
I put my hand on Shiro’s forehead. It was warm as usual.
Her eyes were kind of glazed over and it felt like she was about to fall asleep.
“It’s just a suggestion.”
“… yash. Fatheer.”
“Would you like to get your mana back if you can manage that ‘scary thing’?”
“… yeah.”
Shiro gave a small nod.
“The mana of my previous Heavenly Dragon that gave birth to … me, so regardless of … mission or not… …I want it back. …”
Suu.
Shiro closed her eyes and fell asleep.
A white light enveloped her thin body - and when it disappeared, Shiro was back to being an Egg.
According to Shiro…
She took on a human form to greet us.
And to ask if she could stay with us.
“It’s because of the lack of mana. When the larvae run out of mana, they turn back into Egg.”
Cecile told me.
I translated the situation and to my knowledge, Shiro was in safe mode with no basic OS running, and also lacking power.
If we didn’t help, she would never gain the power of the Heavenly Dragon, and would never be fully born.
“And she is scared because she had a bad dream.
“I’m going to make it so you can work more efficiently. What kind of dream is that?”
Come to think of it, I saw it too, in my previous world.
On a night when I was exhausted from my black job.
“More efficient customer service. And resolve all complaints,” he said.
‘That’s why I was answering phones, serving customers, and handling complaints in my dreams at night too.
‘When I woke up the next day, I didn’t feel like I had slept at all, and my voice was dry from talking in my sleep.
‘Is Shiro dreaming like that in her Egg state?
‘That’s nasty. I don’t like it.
‘And I’m also curious about what Shiro is dreaming about.’
‘The voice that said “work efficiently” and the “seal” goes hand in hand with the “bad luck” skill that Raphilia had. It was also a kind of curse to make Raphilia fulfill her mission.
‘Maybe I will be able to find something about it by helping Shiro.’
“Let’s try it.”
In any case, resurrecting Dragons and Ancient races was kind of a hobby of mine.
I didn’t want to make Shiro work unnecessarily, but I could at least manage her nightmares.
“I need to talk with everyone. Rita and Aine, come here.”
I gathered everyone in the living room.
Rita and Aine were still red-faced, but they sat down in the chairs.
“I want to use cheat skills to find out about the seal that’s been placed on Shiro. I need you all to help me.”
“Well, you’ve thought of it, big brother.”
Iris giggled and smiled.
“By helping Shiro with her nightmares, you intend to make the Heavenly Dragon your complete ally in the future, correct?”
“What?”
“… huh?”
“Oh, yeah. Yes, yes. It’s important to make Heavenly Dragon our ally. Very important.”
“Oh, um, brother?”
“You’re right, Iris. If we save the larva of the Heavenly Dragon, we may be able to obtain the Dragon’s legacy. It would also help us to ‘live without working’. Since everyone is on vacation, I’ll be the main one to take care of this, but I could use a little help from …”
‘Huh? Why is everyone looking at me with such warm eyes?’
Cecile and Rita looked at each other and nodded, and Aine silently placed the tea in front of me. Iris and Rafilia were stroking the Heavenly Dragon Egg and looking kind.
“I understand. As a Demon Race with ancient blood, I’ll cooperate.”
“There’s no way Rita Melpheus is going to miss this little crisis.”
“Taking care of Shiro is a good way for Aine to practice for her future.”
“I will help my fellow Dragon.”
“You’ll need my knowledge, too.”
Everyone unanimously agreed.
But to make sense of it, I was going to call it a quest that I asked everyone to do.
The goal was to resolve the trauma of Heavenly Dragon and determine the cause.
“Heavenly Dragon Larva, Rescue Quest
Objective: To determine the cause of Shiro’s bad dreams.
Expiration date: Until we are with the Heavenly Dragon Egg.
Person in charge: Someone who has the skills to enact any countermeasures we come up with.
Reward: The right to ask Souma Nagi for a favor (once for each slave).
‘I remember Shiro saying that when she was with us, she was less scared.
‘If that is the case, carrying around the Heavenly Dragon Egg should be enough to fight the nightmare. 𝐟𝗿𝚎𝐞𝓌e𝒃𝑛𝒐ѵ𝒆𝑙.c𝚘𝓶
‘In the meantime, let’s try to identify what Shiro’s fear is.’
“Right off the bat, Iris, can you start helping me tomorrow?”
“Yes! I understand, big brother!”
With a bang, Iris stood up and raised her hand.
“So, what should I do?”
“Sleep with me.”
“Yes, my pleasure. … What?”
“This is a job only Iris can do. I want you to cuddle, snuggle, and sleep with me.”
‘I don’t know what effect Shiro’s dream will have on Iris, so it’s best to increase the area of contact with me as much as possible. It’s best to sleep in each other’s arms.’
Iris had the ability to communicate with Dragons, and I wanted to borrow that.
“Yes, I understand. I will obey the words of the Sea Dragon Hero.”
As if she had made up her mind, Iris thrust her fist toward the ceiling with a gulp.
I felt bad about that. Iris was so tiny. I didn’t want to be too hard on her.
As her Master, I didn’t want to overwork her.
“No recklessness. You won’t do anything you can’t do. That’s the basic premise.”
Shiro said that she felt at home with us.
Maybe our thoughts and mana could weaken the nightmares.
There was a lot I didn’t know about her, but leaving her in that state didn’t leave a good aftertaste.
Besides, I wanted to know more about the Dragon’s biology and legacy.
“Let’s try to do the best we can with our cheat skills.
“Of course, as a Master, I’ll have to balance the ‘Heavenly Dragon Larva Rescue Quest’ and the ‘Slaves’ Vacation’ at the same time.
“Again, I’ll be the main one on this quest.
“You guys just need to help me out a little bit.”