Chapter 70

The red dragon was about two sizes smaller than Loa from its previous life.

Its body length was only about the distance from my elbow to the tip of my fingers.

However, its proportions were exactly like Loa’s.

The two wings sprouting from its back would probably span about its entire body length if spread.
Its tail, like Loa’s, was thick relative to its body.

That small red dragon, which resembled Loa, was covered in wounds.

Several of its scales were shattered or peeling away, with blood seeping out from the flesh beneath.
Its wings were torn, and its bones were broken.

I gently picked up the small red dragon that looked just like Loa.
I thought it might thrash about, but it didn’t.

“…yui,”

The red dragon weakly cried out and looked at my face.

Moving its battered body, it pressed its face against my stomach,
“…yu,”
it let out a faint, almost affectionate sound before closing its eyes.

It wore an expression of peace, as if it were a baby dragon being held by its mother.
However, its breathing was still labored.

Darw, worried, brought its nose close to the red dragon to sniff it.
Kyaro, Koruko, the goats, and the owls all watched over the red dragon with concern.

“…Don’t worry. I’ll heal you soon.”
“W-Wait, Lady Luria! If you use healing magic now when you’re so tired—”

Kuro, who had been staring at the red dragon in a daze, spoke up in alarm.

“Kuro. Luria won’t wait.”

There was no way I could wait when a young red dragon was suffering in pain.

I understood that Kuro was worried about me.
It’s true I didn’t want to risk stunting my growth by using magic.

But I hated seeing this red dragon in pain and distress even more.

“Kuro, thank you for your concern.”
“This child isn’t in a life-threatening state right now. If you overdo it, Lady Luria, you’ll—”
“Even if it’s not life-threatening, it still hurts and is still agonizing.”
“But!”
“Kuro, lend me your power, okay?”
“… …”
“Even if you won’t, Luria will still do it, you know?”

Hearing this, Kuro shut his eyes tightly, looking truly troubled.

“F-Fine! But you don’t have to heal everything at once!”
“Thank you, Kuro.”

Borrowing Kuro’s magical power, I cast a healing spell.

The dragon’s wounds healed in an instant.

Its breathing became quiet, and it began to sleep peacefully.

“Does this do the trick?”
“It’s all fine now,” Kuro said, letting out a sigh of relief.

To keep the dragon from getting rained on further, I tucked it inside my clothes.
My clothes were already soaked, so it probably didn’t help much. I needed to hurry home.

But there was something I needed to do first.

“I’ll heal everyone else’s wounds too, okay?”
“No one else is injured!” Kuro protested.
“That can’t be true.”

Kuro was saying this to stop me from using my healing magic.
But there was no way anyone was unscathed after such a fierce battle.

“I’m telling the truth! Everyone, line up!”
“Baa~,” “Moo,” “Bwoof,” “Hoo,” “Kyuu.”

The goats obediently lined up, followed by Darw, Koruko, and Kyaro.

“If you don’t believe me, go ahead and check if anyone’s hurt!”
“Hmm. Okay, I will.”

One by one, I carefully examined everyone’s condition.
Even though it was late at night and raining, I couldn’t afford to be careless.

“…You’re right. No one’s injured.”
“See, I told you!”
“Everyone is so strong.”
“Baa~.”

The goats looked proud of themselves.

“If anyone starts to feel pain later, come to my room, okay?”
“Baa,” “Moo,” “Bwoof,” “Hoo,” “Kyuu, Kyuu.”

After patting everyone one by one, we started heading home.

Darw ran quietly through the heavy rain, carrying me, Kyaro, and Koruko.

“Thanks to the rain, it’s easier to stay unnoticed, right?”
“Woof.”

I held the small dragon securely with my right hand while gripping Darw’s fur tightly with my left.

“Practicing swordsmanship really paid off, didn’t it?”
“It did. Especially building grip strength.”

Swinging my sword every day had significantly strengthened my grip.
My grip strength was far beyond that of an average five-year-old.

“Ryaa~.”

While we were running, the dragon tucked inside my clothes reached out its hand toward the lake.

“…What is it?”
“Ryamu.”

The dragon stared intently at the lake.

I looked too. Rain was falling onto the dark surface, and the waves were as calm as ever.

“A strange…presence.”

I couldn’t put it into words, but I felt a tinge of fear. It was a presence, like the forewarning of a storm.

“We need to get back quickly.”

If the weather were to worsen, we had to hurry home.
Rushing back to the villa with Darw, we returned to the room without delay.

When I got back, Sara was sleeping peacefully.

“So cute. Oh, Darw, not yet.”
“Woof?”

I stopped Darw as he tried to climb onto the bed.

“You’re all soaked from the rain, right? Sara will get wet and catch a cold.”
“Aw…”

I gently patted Sara’s head and took off the easy-to-move-in clothes borrowed from my brother.
Next, I thoroughly dried off the sleeping baby dragon and placed it next to Sara.

“Sara is warm, so let her keep you warm too.”

After that, I hung up my drenched clothes to dry.

“Darw, Kyaro, Koruko, come here.”
“Woof,” “Kyuu,” “Ko.”

I carefully dried off Darw, Kyaro, and Koruko.

After finishing with everyone else, I dried my own hair and body.

“There, that’s better.”

Once I was thoroughly dried, I crawled into bed wearing just my underwear, snuggling in with Darw and the others.

“Yaaawn. So sleepy.”
“Lady Luria, you should rest,” Kuro said.

As soon as I was under the blankets, a wave of drowsiness hit me.

Lying in bed, I asked Kuro,

“Kuro, this baby…does it have parents?”
“Probably not,” Kuro replied.

“That’s so sad. …Then, when this baby wakes up, I’ll…have to give it a name.”

I felt overwhelmingly sleepy. The unsealing spell seemed to have drained more of my magic and energy than I realized.

Though my eyelids felt like they were about to shut, I struggled to stay awake.
But I was nearing my limit. I’d have to think of a name tomorrow.

Half-asleep, I pondered what kind of name would suit it.

“There’s no need to give it a name,” Kuro’s voice reached me.

“…Why not?”

I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality anymore.

“Because that child’s name is already Loa—”

Before Kuro could finish, I drifted off into the world of dreams.