As the weather happened to be nice, I went outside the castle for the first time in a while to put Cassian through his paces.
I was a little worried about leaving Iliana alone, but I had set up a barrier around the place, and just in case, I had also cast an automatic interception spell on her, so she should be fine.
Unless the Dragon King suddenly came barging in, that is.
Around here, there were only gentle hills instead of mountains, so even if I worked him hard, there was little chance of him getting seriously hurt.
When I first arrived, I had trained him without worry for that very reason and ended up breaking his arm three times, but that was at least partly his own fault, so it was an exception.
After finishing some light practical training, I brushed off the snow and dust covering him, then pointed out what needed fixing.
“At the stage where you concentrate mana like this, your handling of mana is still too rough. Look. If you do it like this, it gathers smoothly, doesn’t it?”
“No, you’re probably the only person in the world who can do that at that speed, Master. Definitely……”
“What are you talking about? You know Morwen, the one we met a few months ago? A mage of that level should be able to do this much.”
I said “a mage of that level” as if it were nothing, but technically speaking, she was practically on the threshold of being an archmage. Thinking about it, this was indeed still a distant future for Cassian.
Maybe around seven years. If he was fast, perhaps five.
“Take your stance for a moment.”
Experiencing something once was better than watching it a hundred times. Once you felt the sensation for yourself, you could clearly see the direction you needed to move in.
There was a reason excellent mages were produced under archmages.
For that reason, just as I was about to place my hand over Cassian’s where he held his staff and teach him the sensation—
“So, like this…… ……Huh?”
“What is it, Master?”
From the barrier I had cast to fill the entire house, I felt a rather powerful surge of mana. However, the automatic interception spell protecting Iliana reported that there was nothing for it to react to.
Wondering what was going on, I increased the resolution of the information coming from the barrier, and the inside of the house became clear. Naturally, I was able to confirm the cause of the situation as well.
Because it had happened so suddenly, it was a surprising sight, if anything.
“Training is suspended. We’ll continue tomorrow. Let’s get back quickly.”
“Huh? Why? I can still keep going a bit more.”
Cassian sounded a little dissatisfied at the sudden end to training.
When he was being worked over, he made every complaint imaginable, but now that it was ending, he seemed disappointed. However, now was not the time for that.
“It hatched.”
“Hatched? What are you talking about?”
“The dragon. It just hatched.”
◇
I hurriedly restored the terrain that had been gouged out during training and quickly returned home.
Although we had gone quite far, if one were to call it far, I poured mana into my legs with all my might and sprinted, so it only took about as long as it took to fry an egg.
Perhaps because I ran at the maximum speed Cassian could manage, by the time we arrived at the castle gate, Cassian looked like he was on the verge of death.
I grabbed Cassian by the wrist as he declared that he couldn’t walk anymore, slipped through the alleys as smoothly as flowing water, and hurriedly opened the door to the house.
The first thing I saw was Iliana, half out of her mind with tears in her eyes. She was sitting on the floor, unable to do anything, frozen in place.
The reason she was like that was because the newly hatched hatchling was slowly crawling up her body.
Its claws had not yet grown, so it was not wounding her, but a creature as long as her arm and covered in mucus was climbing up her body.
That was more than enough to make Iliana’s thoughts come to a halt.
To rescue Iliana, I emitted a mana wavelength dragons instinctively liked and lured the hatchling over.
Then the hatchling stopped where it was, tilted its head little by little, and slowly approached my hand.
I did not miss that moment and swiftly slipped my arm underneath it, lifting the hatchling up.
“Are you all right?”
“……Ye, yes.”
Once the hatchling was removed from her body, Iliana finally came to her senses and gasped for breath.
Seeing her secretly wipe her tears with her arm, she seemed to have been a little frightened.
—Piiit! Piiiiiit!!
When the hatchling was suddenly lifted, it flailed and cried as if calling for its parents, but when I gently stroked it with mana in my hand, it soon stopped crying and grew quiet.
Since its body was covered in yellow mucus that had tangled all over it right after hatching, I made water with magic and carefully wiped it off. At last, its true appearance was revealed.
From head to tail, it was probably not much different in size from a newborn baby. Its wings were folded, but if spread, they would likely be about the same as its body length.
It had no horns, no claws, and was slender from head to tail, as if it might break if touched the wrong way. However, when I examined its mouth, I saw small but sharp teeth growing there, flaunting the fact that it was a predator.
Scales shining a vivid red, like blood freshly flowing from a wound, covered its body, yet perhaps because it was still a baby, they were soft enough to seem pliant.
When I slowly stroked its neck and head, it did not let out the same high-pitched cry as before, but instead made a rumbling sound from low in its throat.
Seeing this, it was a little like a cat.
In short, it was cute.
“Wow, this is a dragon?”
Cassian, who had recovered his strength before I knew it, approached.
When I had first suggested raising it, he had asked if we were going to be eaten, but now he was watching it with eyes full of wonder, as if he had never said such a thing.
Iliana, who had come back to her senses, also came over and slowly looked at the hatchling, which was nestled comfortably in my arms.
“Try petting it.”
I slowly stroked it from its head down its back, showing them how to do it.
“Still, that’s a little…… What if it bites?”
“Um…… I’ll try.”
Unexpectedly, the one who reached out first was Iliana. She had been frightened earlier, but now that it was in my arms, she seemed to think it was safe.
Iliana slowly brought over her slightly trembling hand, then carefully laid it gently on the hatchling’s head.
She stayed still like that for a moment, and when there was no major reaction, she finally moved her hand and stroked its back toward its wings.
‘……!’
And though Iliana herself seemed completely unaware of it, that hand as she stroked it was wrapped in an extremely faint trace of mana.
To be honest, it was quite a surprising sight. I had never taught her how to use mana.
Perhaps she could be called a natural genius.
Meanwhile, separate from my surprise, the hatchling seemed to like Iliana’s touch. Just as when I stroked it, it rumbled and trembled pleasantly.
Seeing that, Cassian stopped hesitating and reached out.
“Th, then. Me too……”
When Cassian’s hand approached, Iliana hurriedly pulled hers away, but Cassian paid no mind and slowly extended his hand toward the hatchling.
However.
—Chomp!
“Aaagh!!”
Whether it had disliked Cassian from the very beginning, or whether it was angry that he had chased away Iliana’s touch, I did not know.
The hatchling bit Cassian’s finger without the slightest hesitation.
No matter how small it was, its teeth were sharp, so round teeth marks were imprinted on Cassian’s finger, and blood slowly began to well up.
“It bit me, it bit me! I knew this would happen!”
Even though he had suffered worse injuries in real combat, Cassian grabbed his bitten hand and began hopping around as if something terrible had happened.
Suddenly, Iliana seemed to watch him intently, and then, very quietly but unmistakably, she laughed.
Cassian had been making a huge fuss and thrashing about, but upon hearing that small laugh, his face reddened slightly and he glared at Iliana.
“Hey, you laughed, didn’t you!!”
“……I don’t know.”
When Cassian shouted, Iliana immediately hardened her expression and swiftly hid behind me. It was perhaps the fastest movement I had ever seen from Iliana so far.
As if he would not let her get away, Cassian charged toward Iliana hiding behind me, and the startled Iliana fled using my body as a shield.
Before long, Cassian and Iliana were spinning around me, playing a game of tag.
I supposed this was what it meant to be like children.
It was noisy, but it was a lively sight I had not seen in a long time, and it was good to see.
◇
When I checked, the hatchling that had been born was female, so I gave her the name Rutina.
It meant volcano in the ancient imperial language, and since I had found her on a burning mountain, I thought it was a good name.
Rutina actively roamed around from the day she was born, searching here and there all day before eventually making the space under the bed in my room her dwelling.
Normally, she stayed under the bed, and when she got bored or hungry, she came out and clung to either me or Iliana.
Very unfortunately, perhaps because her first impression of him had been bad, she did not try to approach Cassian even a little.
Around twenty days had passed since Rutina was born, and she openly ignored Cassian whenever she saw him, to the point that it was pitiful.
When I had first picked up the egg, half of the reason had been for Cassian’s sake, so how things had ended up this way was beyond me.
Breakfast time. Cassian looked at Rutina accepting the sardines I fed her on top of the table, then clicked his tongue with a “tch” and turned his head slightly away.
“Cheer up. Once enough time passes, she’ll follow you on her own.”
“N, no. I don’t really care, okay?”
Cassian turned his head slightly away once more, but his eyes remained fixed on Rutina, regret practically dripping from them.
And Rutina, after swallowing the sardine tail, seemed to look toward Cassian.
Then she immediately turned her body, leapt toward me, and hung on by wrapping herself around the back of my neck.
When I moved my finger and stroked her chin, Rutina made a pleased rumbling sound.
Cassian watched her and unconsciously reached his hand out a little, only to pull it back.
Poor thing.
Well, until more time passed, there was nothing to be done.