Chapter 73

◇◇◇◇

"Y-You'll get a tummy ache, you'll get a tummy ache..."

I was shaken awake, hearing Sara's voice on the verge of tears.

I felt like I had a sad dream, but I couldn't remember it.

"Mmm? What is it?"

At the same time as I asked Sara, I noticed a strange sensation in my mouth.

I took it out of my mouth.

"This is..."

It was the tail of the red dragon hatchling I had protected yesterday.

"He must have a bad habit..."

It must have moved its tail while I was sleeping and stuck it in my mouth.

What a troublesome child. But that's also what makes it cute.

"If you eat something strange, you'll get a tummy ache."

I stroked Sara's head, who looked worried and on the verge of tears.

"It's okay. I won't eat it."

Hearing this, Sara looked relieved and smiled.

Suddenly, I looked out the window and saw that it was raining heavily.

"Hey, Ruria, what about that one?"

"Hmm..."

As I was wondering how to explain, the dragon hatchling made a "mew" sound.

"Oh, right. Ruria, when you woke up, that one was under Daru's tail..."

"It's okay, this one is a good child."

I sat on the bed and picked up the dragon hatchling on my lap.

"Did I wake it up?"

The dragon hatchling opened its eyes and said, "Mew," pressing its body against me affectionately.

I gently stroked the dragon hatchling.

"Did it come in through the window?"

"Hmm..."

How should I explain this?

I can't tell her that I went outside at night and saved it from becoming a cursed one.

Sara would worry.

Also, after this, Sara would have to lie to her mother.

"Hmm, probably?"

"Probably?"

"Hmm..."

I thought for a moment.

"Right! This one is lost! It wandered in at night, so I protected it."

"That's right, it's cute."

When Sara stroked it, the dragon hatchling wagged its tail happily.

It seemed to be a very friendly little one.

"Ruria, why aren't you wearing clothes?"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot."

I went to the place to wash and put on my brother's clothes that were drying.

"I was a bit dirty, so I took them off."

"O-Oh, I see."

Sara looked back and forth between me and the dragon hatchling.

She might have thought that either I or the dragon hatchling had wet the bed.

"Ruria, is this one a baby lizard?"

"Probably."

Dragons are famous, but very few people have actually seen one.

I have only met a few in my previous life.

"A flying lizard is rare, isn't it?"

"Right, it's rare."

I decided to call it a flying lizard to avoid scaring Sara.

I stroked the dragon hatchling while thinking about last night.

Just before I fell asleep, Kuro said something.

In a half-dream state, my memory was hazy.

But I think he said "Roa." Maybe it was just my imagination.

I couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality.

"Kuro, wake up, wake up."

I shook Kuro, who was sleeping nearby.

"......What?"

Kuro replied sleepily.

"Yesterday, did you say this one's name is Roa?"

Sara watched me talking to Kuro with interest.

"Yes... yawn..."

Kuro stretched like a cat, raising his butt and extending his front paws.

His wings flapped with the stretch.

The dragon hatchling reached out to touch the wings.

"Kuro, what does it mean that this one's name is Roa?"

"Hmm..."

As Kuro came closer, the dragon hatchling happily stroked Kuro's wings with both hands.

"What should I say..."

"Take your time."

"Well, I said that spirits reincarnate, remember?"

"I remember."

When a spirit dies, it might reincarnate someday, and you might meet it again.

When Kuro told me that Roa had passed away, he said this to comfort me.

"Did it reincarnate?"

"Yes, the late Lord Roa has reincarnated."

It seems the dragon hatchling is really Roa.

It's not just because it looks like Roa that Kuro is calling it Roa.

"Mew~"

Roa pressed its face against my stomach and snuggled.

"But it's not a spirit, right?"

"Lord Roa reincarnated as a guardian beast."

"Wow."

"Because it changed from a spirit to a guardian beast, it lost its memory."

That explains why it seems like a baby.

The Roa from my previous life was very knowledgeable, wise, and reliable.

My reincarnation was from human to human, so my memory remained because the species was the same.

"Right, it's a baby. Roa, Ruria will take good care of you, okay?"

"Mew mew."

Roa chirped happily.

"Hey, Kuro, does Roa have a mother?"

"Probably not, I think."

"Probably not?"

"Guardian beasts can be born from animal, guardian beast, or magical beast parents, or they can be born from nature."

"Hmm? That's a mysterious story."

Being born without parents is like a spirit—

"Oh! So it's the same as a spirit?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Wow."

Kuro licked Roa.

It was like a mother cat grooming her kitten.

"Dragons are very protective of their young, so parent dragons take good care of them. They won't be taken by cursed ones."

"Huh, taken... What do you mean?"

I glanced at Sara. She was tilting her head in confusion.

I told Sara that Roa wandered in last night, so I couldn't say anything about it being taken.

"Well, yesterday's Roa looked like a cursed one."

"I understand."

Yesterday's Roa had a body like mercury.

"Cursed ones have the ability to turn living things into cursed ones."

"That's scary."

Kuro then prefaced his explanation with "I'm not sure, but..."

It seems cursed ones have the ability to turn living things and guardian beasts into cursed ones.

This is very difficult, especially for guardian beasts, which is very challenging.

"I'm worried."

"There are many necessary procedures, materials, and rituals, so it's not something that can be done often."

"We need to be careful."

"Probably, the spirit barrier from yesterday was to ensure the smooth transformation of Lord Roa into a cursed one."

"That's suspicious."

As Kuro and I talked, Roa flew from my hand to the window.

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Sara chased after Roa, so I followed.

"Magistrates can't do that. There must be a larger organization behind it."

"Organization?"

"I'm not sure, but the Church of the One God might be involved."

"Hmm~. I should subtly tell Father. I'll write a letter."

Fighting an organization is too much for me.

After all, I'm just a five-year-old, I can't go out freely, and I don't understand much.

"For now, what I can do is take good care of Roa!"

I'll leave the investigation of the organization and the magistrates to Father.

I have the important task of raising Roa, who doesn't have a parent dragon.

Roa, who had moved to the window, chirped and scratched the window with its claws.

"It's raining, so you can't go out."

"...Mew."

Roa looked at the lake, looking sad.

Sara, stroking Roa, tilted her head.

"Ruria, what did Kuro say?"

"Well, this one is named Roa and doesn't have a parent."

I only told her the important things, as I don't understand much about cursed ones and cursed ones, and neither does Sara.

"Without a mother, it must be lonely."

Sara might have overlapped her own loneliness of not seeing her mother for a while with Roa's.

She stroked Roa gently.

"Hey, Ruria, is Roa Kuro's friend?"

"Seems like it."

Sara and I stroked Roa together.

Roa tilted its head and licked my finger.

That gesture was exactly like the Roa from my previous life.

When I saw it, I suddenly understood and felt that this child really is Roa.

"...Roa."

"Mew?"

"Thank you for coming to see Ruria."

"Mew~?"

Roa looked puzzled and tilted its head.

In my heart, I said,

(Thank you. Roa, thanks to you, Ruisa was saved. Thank you.)

I hugged Roa gratefully.

I'm really happy to have met Roa. Even if Roa doesn't have its memory, it's fine.

"Ruria, are you crying?"

"No, I'm not crying."

"Uh-huh. I understand."

Sara nodded, understanding something.

"I was lonely because I couldn't see my mom, so I understand."

It seems Sara thought I was crying because Roa doesn't have parents.

I didn't deny it and hugged Roa.

Roa chirped happily.

Caro was on guard as usual on the headboard, and Korko was patrolling the room.

On the other hand, Daru was sleeping with his belly facing the ceiling.

Despite the loud conversation, he showed no signs of waking up.

Daru is a baby, so it can't be helped.

Volume 1 is now on sale! We will announce the comic adaptation information later!