It had already been about ten days since I started staying at Chloe's house.
And if I were to look back on those ten days…….
They had been very leisurely.
Even though I was teaching the children, it wasn’t as if I made them study or train all day long.
When it came to studying, Chloe and I took turns teaching these days, so there were days off.
On top of that, since we made sure to have rest days at least once every three or four days, I had time to spare.
Today was also a day when Chloe was teaching, so I had very little to do.
I was playing with Rutina in the yard; she had made it routine to hole herself up in a corner of the room and sleep all day every day.
“Kyiiiiit!! Kyiit!! Kyiit!!”
Though she usually lazed around as if everything were too bothersome, the moment she started moving her body, she would hop and jump around.
When I moved the mana light this way, she would hop this way; when I sent it that way, she would run over and hop.
If she seemed to get bored for a moment, I would gather mana to make a ball and play fetch.
As I threw the mana ball far away, Rutina quickly ran and snatched it, then rolled across the lawn.
“She’s full of energy.”
Just then, perhaps because it was break time, Chloe came out to the yard with Cassian and Iliana behind her.
Then, even though Rutina couldn’t fly yet, she flapped her wings and ran to Iliana before climbing onto her body.
Next, lightly wrapping around Iliana’s neck from behind, she settled onto Iliana’s shoulder and rubbed her head against Iliana’s cheek.
“Ahaha, that tickles~.”
“You can’t even feel any mana, so it’s surprising she follows you so well?”
“The first thing she saw when she hatched was Iliana.”
It wasn’t some kind of imprinting effect like with birds, but since Iliana was the first living creature she had seen since birth, it was almost goodwill without any real reason.
Rutina liked me too, but in my case, it was because I was the person who fed her mana.
Even a fierce dog will wag its tail at the person who feeds it, at least.
Of course, Rutina probably liked me as a person too, but that was the fundamental reason.
“But she barely spares me a glance.”
Cassian grumbled with the tone of someone who had half given up on getting close to Rutina by now.
“Really? How fascinating. A dragon raised by people is usually like this…….”
When Chloe smoothly extended her hand to Rutina, who had been perched on Iliana’s shoulder, Rutina briefly poked her head out, sniffed, and flicked her tongue.
Without hesitation, she stepped forward and climbed up Chloe’s arm.
“They usually follow people well.”
Chloe spoke, showing off Rutina perched on her arm.
While Cassian deliberately averted his gaze, pretending not to care at that sight, Rutina very naturally climbed up and settled on Chloe’s shoulder.
Chloe gently stroked Rutina’s chin with her fingers, then lightly lifted her and held her out to Cassian.
“Here, try reaching out your hand once.”
At those words, Cassian waved his hands as if to refuse, but in the end, unable to give up, he cautiously extended his hand.
Then, Rutina carefully placed both feet on top of Cassian’s hand and—
“Khehk, kehk!!”
With her mouth open, she stretched her head forward and let out several coughs in a row—something she had never done once since birth.
And Cassian, who witnessed that sight, which could only be seen as retching, up close.
Cassian pulled his hand away with an expression of *I knew it*, then went inside the house first with a slightly tearful face.
“Ahaha……. This is a bit problematic.”
“Still, he does seem a little pitiful…….”
Though that very Rutina had been staring at his back the entire time until Cassian went inside the house.
It was a bit different, but maybe it was similar to a situation where the person you’re crushing on actually likes you, but you yourself don’t know it.
Anyway, more than that, Chloe had never raised a dragon before so she hadn’t noticed, but that coughing just now was quite an important sign.
I approached Chloe, lightly grasped Rutina’s head, and lifted it to feel her neck area.
“Why are you doing that? Is there a problem?”
“It’s not a big problem.”
When I gently stroked the lower part of her neck with my hand, I could feel mana slowly refluxing without being controlled.
She’s growing faster than I thought.
Since she hadn’t even been born for a year yet, I had thought it would take at least four or five more months even at the earliest.
But looking at her again now, it might happen within a few days at the latest, or even today if it were early.
“I was thinking she’ll probably let out a breath soon.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not like it’s some incredibly powerful thing—just a small-scale mana discharge.”
If I were to describe the scale, it would be about the fire Iliana could make without concentrating.
At this level, rather than calling it a breath, it was highly likely to be nothing more than a small torch.
Still, the problem was that since she wouldn’t know the sensation until she released it once, it would be impossible to control and we wouldn’t know when it would come out.
“No, that’s a big problem. What if there’s a fire……?!”
“It won’t come out to that extent. I told you not to worry.”
Probably.
◇
After the brain-busting study session that made the kids feel like their heads would explode.
With still quite a bit of time remaining before sunset, and even before dinner.
We were sitting around a table in the living room, spending time eating snacks with tea.
Rutina must have taken quite a liking to Chloe, because since earlier she hadn’t shown any intention of leaving Chloe’s lap.
“Kyoot, kyiit!”
Seeing Rutina acting cute, rubbing her head against Chloe’s finger, the changes in Cassian’s expression were quite a sight to behold.
“She’s cute, this child. The one you brought back long ago was already quite grown, so I didn’t really know, but dragons are quite cute when they’re babies.”
Indeed, the child I had brought back then didn’t have a single cute thing about him.
Well, since he was already as tall as Chloe when sitting, it was an ambiguous age to call cute, and an ambiguous age to call cool too.
“Did you raise a dragon a long time ago too?”
Iliana asked, biting into a round snack.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t told this story to Iliana. I don’t think I had explained it in detail to Cassian either.
Well, it wasn’t a story with a good ending, so I might have unconsciously avoided it.
“Yeah. One named Kaizer.”
He was a child characterized by pitch-black scales that felt deeper than the night sky.
Since he was the first dragon I had raised, I poured as much affection into him as when I raised my disciples…….
No, because we were together for so long, I had probably poured an amount of affection that even I couldn’t deny was greater.
I hadn’t expected such a thing, but when he rose to the position of Dragon King for a time, I had rejoiced with him too.
If I think of his end, he wasn’t a very good child, and the ending was even less good.
To the extent that it had become one of the main recurring themes whenever I had occasional long nightmares.
Because it was quite a shock to me as well, I had vaguely glossed it over and never told Chloe in detail.
……Let’s stop the gloomy thoughts here.
“Well, anyway. That’s why I know a lot about dragons.”
There was no one else besides the dragons themselves who had hatched a dragon from an egg and raised it to adulthood.
As such, I could confidently say I knew more about dragons, especially young dragons, than anyone else.
In that sense.
“Cassian, there’s no need to be so disappointed.”
“Huh? Ah, no. I’m not particularly…….”
Even as he said that, the way his eyes occasionally darted toward Rutina made his words unconvincing.
“That girl doesn’t particularly hate you. If she really hated you, she wouldn’t even make eye contact.”
Though right after she hatched, she had truly been like that except when lured with food, so back then she really had hated Cassian.
These past few months, she’d approach then change direction, or stare and then turn her head away when Cassian looked.
And she’d stick close when she felt like it, then dodge only when Cassian approached—seeing that, it was clear.
It wasn’t that she hated him; Rutina herself didn’t know how to gauge the distance.
And in the process, Cassian’s reactions of expecting and then getting disappointed on his own were amusing, so she enjoyed watching that too.
“Hey, aren’t you forcing it too much?”
Cassian denied it, but a faint hint of expectation showed on his face.
Well, I had been thinking that the time was slowly coming.
If they kept missing chances to get close while passing each other on both sides, there would come a point where it would no longer be easy to become friends.
Luckily, Rutina didn’t seem like she would refuse strongly anymore, so I should take care of it quickly while he still had lingering attachment.
They would be together for several more years, so it wouldn’t be good if they remained awkward.
“Not right now. But she does stick to you sometimes, doesn’t she? When she does, grab her firmly and pet her or something. She probably won’t run away.”
Cassian slowly nodded as he listened.
Whether he was impatient or had forgotten the first part, I didn’t know, but he reached his hand straight toward Rutina.
I said not right now…….
As expected, Rutina whipped her head away and looked at Cassian’s hand.
Then, with a fluid movement, she opened her mouth and chomped down on Cassian’s index finger.
“Argh!!”
Naturally, she hadn’t bitten that hard, but it was enough to make him pay the price for ignoring my advice.
Still, well, it would get better soon.
I decided to think so.