‘...! This is Lizé’s...?’
After calmly surveying her surroundings, Christina sensed Lizé’s wind lingering like an afterimage.
‘Though still young, among the Green Dragons, she was the most outstanding child in the field of healing.’
Christina let out a sigh. It was because she felt both relief and dismay.
‘I see... Lizé came by. Lord Isha has noticed the birth of the Black Dragon hatchling.’
She had intended to hide it for as long as possible, but if Lizé, who was on Isha’s side, knew, then it was safe to assume the Dragon Lord knew as well.
‘And thanks to that, the Black Dragon hatchling’s life was saved... Should I call this fortunate?’
For the moment, it was fortunate, but Christina blamed herself.
‘It was my mistake. I thought Rai alone would be enough, since he wouldn’t be able to leave the lair.’
Teleportation magic was, by nature, magic that spanned the domain of space-time.
If it failed, it could bring about terrifying results: being trapped between one space and another and never returning, or only part of one’s body being transported.
It was not magic one should attempt alone for the first time.
‘To think he would actually try teleportation magic, succeed, and come out of the lair.’
He was not yet a perfect adult, but the fact that he had both the courage and skill to use teleportation was commendable.
Though the result had been absurd.
‘And what he did after coming out was chew up a mandragora raw.’
Of all things, not some other fruit or medicinal herb, he had picked out an herb that could be poisonous to a still-young hatchling.
The child lay limp and wheezing, looking mature and well-behaved, but she had a feeling that he would undoubtedly become an extraordinary troublemaker.
It was then.
“...
Kku, ugh. Keh.”
Imugi, who had barely regained consciousness, blinked his eyes and coughed weakly.
“Little one, really... What in the world happened?”
Seeing the expressions on the spirit and Christina’s faces, Imugi quietly averted his gaze.
She was left speechless, while at the same time her chest tightened at the thought that Imugi had done something that nearly killed him.
‘I should have been more careful so he wouldn’t touch anything reckless.’
The fact that her own complacency had nearly killed the child left her throat dry and rough.
Even so, she did not lose the tenderness with which she held him, making sure his body was comfortable.
Though his body was in tatters, Imugi too realized he had made a mistake when he saw how pale her face had turned.
‘I suppose I really did something I should apologize for.’
Perhaps that was why.
Feeling awkward toward her for worrying over him, Imugi could not bring himself to meet her eyes.
“Kyuu...
Kyu.”
‘I’m sorry for acting on my own.’
Originally, he had intended to lower his head and apologize.
But because he was so close to Christina, thump—his head ended up leaning against her chest.
‘...?’
Embarrassed, he wriggled his hands.
Without a doubt, he looked like a child who instinctively knew he had done wrong.
Just as he was about to quietly lift his head, Christina gathered Imugi into her arms.
“Let’s go back first. Your body has been badly harmed.”
With his ear close to her chest, Imugi could hear Christina’s heartbeat especially loudly.
‘...
Christina was quite startled too.’
Tightly. As if afraid she might drop him, Christina held him even closer.
Normally, he would have pushed her away to a reasonable distance out of embarrassment, but this time he could not do that, and he remained quietly in her arms until they entered his room.
‘Internal injuries, and my energy is a complete mess too.’
Lying in his cradle and examining his own body, Imugi clicked his tongue inwardly.
The medicinal energy had been too strong, causing his body to suffer an immediate reaction.
Hadn’t they said that too much medicine became poison?
Since his own desire to become stronger had brought about this disaster, he had no one to blame.
‘Well... As long as I’m alive, that’s enough for now.’
Thinking he would come up with a way to handle this situation later, he concluded the mandragora incident with a suitable amount of reflection and a little embarrassment.
‘I’ll have to be more cautious from now on.’
He had finally received a new life; the thought of how absurdly futile it would have been to die from gnawing on some plant root was so ridiculous he could not even laugh.
‘At least it’s a good thing I’ve been training all this time.’
As he lay still, Christina said she would go find something that might serve as medicine and left the room, leaving Rai behind.
Imugi, looking sullen, secretly circulated his qi and regulated his breathing while Rai glowed in the corner, healing his internal injuries.
Perhaps thanks to the medicine the green-haired boy had given him, he was able to sufficiently control the mandragora’s energy that had entered his body.
‘Nearly dying is one thing, but since the medicinal energy has already entered me, I should absorb all of it.’
He immediately began using his qi circulation to devour the mandragora’s energy and make it his own.
At some point, the white baby bird, tear stains on its face, came near Imugi’s head with chirping cries and rubbed its cheek against him.
Feeling the teardrops rolling over his smooth scales, he sank into a strange sensation.
‘This feels odd.’
It was not even the bird that had been hurt, and yet seeing it cry as if the world had ended because the body of a complete stranger had been harmed made his heart stir.
Imugi stretched out his hand and stroked the white chick’s head.
‘Don’t cry. At most, it’s an upset stomach.’
“Piyak. Pii. Piyaaaak!”
The tiny white wing stroked Imugi’s cheek, and the bird burst into even more sorrowful tears.
It was then.
Pong.
The tears gathering at the baby bird’s eyes took on a clear light.
‘What is this?’
Droplets of water without a single impurity slid down Imugi’s smooth cheek, sparkling like jewels.
Drip.
A purifying energy that burned away harmful things seeped in through his cheek.
Sensitive to mana, Imugi instinctively realized something and inwardly exclaimed.
‘Could this be?’
He immediately wiped the baby bird’s tears with his index finger.
Chapter 12: Inheritance
When he licked the tear that was as clear as a jewel, a faint salty taste spread through his mouth.
‘It’s pure.’
Gulp. The small amount of tears he swallowed began healing his internal injuries.
‘As I thought! It was water effective against poison.’
Phoenix tears.
Though it was not yet an adult, the tears of the divine bird that burned away impurity perfectly healed wounds and restored those with severe internal injuries.
‘On top of that, a hot energy has seeped into my dantian.’
At this unexpected fortune, he bared his teeth in a broad grin.
‘This chick is more useful than I thought.’
“Kyu. Kyukkyuk.”
“Pyak?”
It was the smile of a hatchling who looked pleased, yet somehow sinister.
That was when he sensed someone approaching.
“You’re awake. Did you rest well?”
Christina was entering the room with some simple food.
‘You’re back.’
“Kku.”
Imugi answered briefly and nodded.
Secretly relieved to see him looking much healthier than she had expected, Christina continued.
“You must have been startled. It’s all right now. You suffered because you’re still such a young hatchling, but once you grow a little, something like a mandragora won’t be much of a problem.”
Her gentle hand stroked Imugi’s smooth head.
To show that he was perfectly fine now, Imugi raised his upper body and looked at her.
“Kyuu. Kyu!”
‘Something like this will get better in no time.’
Christina felt surprised once again.
When she had brought him in, he had been weak and gasping, but apart from looking a little tired, he showed no sign of being injured at all.
‘It was hard to believe even when I heard the circumstances from Rai. Not only did he use teleportation magic, but even after suffering severe internal damage, he recovered so quickly.’
Even if he had received help from Lizé, a Green Dragon, this degree of recovery was astonishing.
‘He has too much talent to grow up as an ordinary hatchling. Perhaps this child may become greater than anyone else.’
Sensing that the atmosphere was unusual, Imugi looked at Christina.
‘She isn’t suspecting me of being a suspicious little brat, is she? If things get dicey, I can give her this guy as a hint.’
As he stayed still with the baby bird in mind, her hand gently took the beast’s tiny forepaw.
“Little one.”
“Kyu?”
“I intend to cast ‘Inheritance Magic’ on you.”
“...
Kku?”
‘What is that?’
As if answering Imugi’s thoughts, Christina continued.
“Through Inheritance Magic, you can gain or awaken knowledge and abilities such as our culture, magic, and ancient languages. You also won’t unknowingly eat dangerous medicinal herbs like you did this time.”
‘Does that mean I can receive knowledge of this world?’
Imugi’s eyes shone.
The thought that if he received this thing called Inheritance Magic, he could take a step beyond the confines of being a baby filled him with anticipation.
“Originally, this would be something to discuss only after your body had matured to some extent, but I believe you possess enough potential to undergo the rite.”
‘More than enough. I’m definitely doing it.’
Imugi nodded eagerly, but Christina shook her head with a worried expression and smiled.
“Even thinking about it again, it really... makes no sense.”
No dragon received an inheritance only one month after being born.
It was partly a matter of the body maturing, but this Inheritance Magic planted the roots of the knowledge possessed by dragons.
The information and abilities injected into the unconscious would be absorbed and awakened accordingly as the mental body matured.
However, due to the nature of the magic, it was a heavy burden for a newborn hatchling to accept.
‘It’s a vast conceptual magic, so if anything goes wrong, it could cause problems instead. But...’
It was magic that required the utmost caution, but because of this mandragora incident, she judged that giving the child the knowledge and concepts needed to handle his own power would actually be safer.
‘It isn’t just the mandragora. The Dragon Lord has learned of this child’s existence. Helping him build a foundation to live on his own will be far more useful.’
If she could, she wanted to help him always, but protecting him by staying at his side was not the only answer.
‘To begin with, I can’t keep a child who learns teleportation magic on his own perfectly within my fence.’
It might be harsh, but she was certain it was a method suited to the child’s nature.
“This magic will awaken your abilities, but it is also painful and dangerous. Also, it is something that requires you to trust me completely and leave everything to me.”
Inheritance Magic.
It was ancient word-spirit magic said to have been cast by the gods upon the intelligent beings who would live in the world.
It was magic that planted the culture, knowledge, and concepts known by the bestower into another, and regardless of race, the beings on the continent capable of using it could be counted on ten fingers.
Those who knew how to use it properly were extremely few, and its conditions were strict.
The frightening aspect of this magic was that the bestower might, by mistake, pass on incorrect knowledge or ideology to the recipient.
Thus, even among dragons, it was not cast on hatchlings who were too young.
The mere possibility that it could influence the values of a young hatchling who knew nothing of the world was threat enough.
For that reason, the one who bestowed Inheritance Magic was bound by a restriction.
Inheritance Magic could be passed on only once in a lifetime.
Therefore, it was generally performed by a mate, by someone especially cherished by the dragon who became the parent, or like a coming-of-age ceremony for the hatchling.
Bringing up such a heavy matter for a young hatchling to decide, she gazed at him calmly.
“Little one. Can you trust me?”
Imugi’s eyes reflected Christina.
Rai, seeming worried about Christina, circled around them.
She smiled as if to say there was no need to worry, lightly tapping the spirit’s light with her index finger, but then her face suddenly darkened a little.
“...
The truth is, I wanted to let you spend your childhood more normally, like a child. Children who grow too quickly end up learning things they shouldn’t know too early.”
The fact that he was the only Black Dragon.
And about those who had annihilated his race.
She could not be certain whether learning those things at a time when he could still remain innocent would truly be good for him.
Looking at Christina, Imugi thought,
‘What a pointless worry. This body has already lived 999 years. Well... I am grateful that she cares.’
Even at a brief listen, it was not an ability to use lightly. Imugi expected that this magic would have some sort of restriction or difficult condition attached to it.
‘She must have made a difficult decision. I should remember this debt and repay it.’
Being considered because one was a child was something that should have been natural, yet actually receiving that consideration was rarer than one might think.
There were many cases where, rather than being taught warmth, one was taught how to beg alone; and before learning how to be considerate of others, one first learned how to step on others to stand at the top.
He had seen a world where it was common to be told to form a group suited to one’s level rather than make comrades.
To someone like him, the things Christina taught him were rare and precious beyond price.
‘She said there would be pain. I can endure that much.’