Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Descended to the Village
Morning came.
The cold late autumn night air,
was gradually melting away in the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the hole-riddled roof.
The girl,
the rabbit,
were still lost in dreams.
'...Time to head out.'
If I strolled leisurely,
the village market would open, and people would start bustling about.
Before leaving,
I added more firewood to the hearth.
I gently adjusted the blanket draped over the girl.
I carefully tucked in the edges so her small shoulders wouldn't be exposed to the outside air.
'Sleep well.'
I gazed at her sleeping face for a moment before slowly rising.
"I'll be back."
There was no reply.
I knew that, yet I said it anyway.
'Before that, the robe... It's no good anymore.'
I'd need to buy a robe too.
And clothes for the girl.
Rabbit food.
Food for the girl.
Books about children.
And...
'Boards and tools to fix the door.'
I opened the door carefully so it wouldn't break further.
At that moment—
Something grabbed me from behind.
It was the girl.
Her eyes half-closed, clutching tightly to my clothes.
"What is it?"
"......"
Her small hand gripped my clothes even tighter.
The strength was feeble, but
her action carried a clear will.
"Can you let go?"
"......"
The girl shook her head.
Silently, small, but firmly.
"I told you yesterday. I have to go to the village. You're hungry, right?"
"......"
"...No. Even if you shake your head like that, your stomach's still growling."
Careful not to break her slender fingers,
I slowly pried her hand from my clothes.
"You stay here."
"......"
The moment I closed the door and stepped out,
the girl crawled on her knees after me to the outside.
And then,
she grabbed my clothes again.
"......!"
"I said stay here. ...Huh."
From the door to here, small drops of blood trailed along.
I looked down.
The girl's knees and shins were scraped, bleeding.
A sigh escaped me the moment I saw it.
'...She's really fragile. No wonder she'd collapse if I so much as nudged her.'
I'd thought modern humans lacked grit,
but by their standards, this was her best effort.
I slowly knelt down.
Blood drops from the small wounds were soaking into the dry dirt.
The girl's legs were thin and fragile.
Perhaps,
even more breakable than that door on the verge of falling apart.
Yet,
this girl had crawled to grab my clothes.
With that small, fragile body, she had strained with all her might to reach me.
I carefully lifted her into my arms.
Even as she trembled, the girl clung tightly to my top.
I pulled out a handkerchief.
With awkward movements, I slowly wiped her wounds.
"Guess I need to buy some medicine too."
"......"
"I'll be right back. So wait here."
The girl stared at me intently before slowly nodding.
I hurried on my way.
Reminding myself that the girl was waiting.
Maybe that's why.
I'd thought it would take until lunchtime to arrive,
but large and small roofs were already coming into view one by one.
'Made good time.'
I reviewed the shopping list again.
'First, food for the rabbit and the girl.'
I moved quickly.
As I entered the market, all sorts of smells wafted over.
The scent of roasted grains.
Herb aromas.
The smell of people.
Familiar yet strange.
Perhaps because things I'd indifferently passed by now had a purpose for the first time.
I stopped in front of a food stall.
"Welcome, customer."
"I want food for a child. And for a rabbit too."
"A child? How old?"
I tilted my head.
I'm buying food for a child, so why ask the age?
'...She hasn't figured out I'm the Evil Dragon.'
Still, I didn't let my guard down and asked,
"...Whose age?"
"Pardon? You said you're buying food for a child. I need to know the age to give you something suitable."
"......What?"
I was at a loss for words.
Does food suitability change by age?
What kind of inconvenient restriction is this?
'Humans back in the day chewed on rocks.'
Not just rocks.
There were even those who charged at me trying to tear into my tough hide with their teeth.
'And they actually managed to tear some off...'
As my expression darkened,
the stall owner asked curiously,
"What's wrong, sir? Surely you're not the father who doesn't even know his own child's age...?"
"Not the father."
"...Pardon?"
"Picked her up. She was dying."
The stall owner's face stiffened for a moment before relaxing.
"...Ah, you picked up a war orphan, I see. There are lots of poor kids like that right after the war ended. Good deed on your part."
"Good deed..."
That girl
was in the ruins of this village.
'Why didn't you do that good deed?'
I almost asked but held back.
I had no interest in tiring arguments.
Besides,
getting the necessities for the girl quickly was the priority.
"So, how old is she? Roughly."
"Don't know."
"Hmm, then maybe describe her features..."
Features.
Features, huh...
I rested my chin on one hand, thinking.
"She doesn't talk."
"Oh?"
"Crawls around."
"Ah, a baby then. You'll need formula or baby food."
Formula? Baby food?
Words I'd never heard before.
"...What's that?"
"Pardon? You don't know that either?"
"Nope."
I answered indifferently.
The owner stared at me in bewilderment.
"W-Well... Formula is like powdered milk you feed instead of breast milk."
"I see. So feed her that?"
"Yes. If she crawls and can't talk, she still needs formula."
I nodded slowly.
"Then give me that."
"Ah, sorry, we don't sell formula here. Try the ranch over there..."
"Got it. Then give me some grass for the rabbit."
"Sure."
The owner quickly bundled up some rabbit grass.
'Rabbits eat this nowadays, huh.'
I took it and asked,
"How long to the ranch?"
"...Oh, about 20 minutes."
I nodded slowly.
Then handed over some gold from my pocket.
"Thanks."
"P-Pardon? You don't need to give this much..."
"For your trouble."
The stall owner stared blankly at the gold.
Leaving him behind, I set off.
'Next...'
Formula.
Tools to fix the door.
A robe for me and clothes for the girl.
Medicine for the girl.
And...
'...Books.'
To understand the girl,
I needed to learn again.
'How long has it been.'
Long-buried memories suddenly resurfaced.
In the distant past—
Back then,
I spent my given free time immersed in the world.
Observing the creations of the gods,
sometimes appreciating and enjoying what those creations made.
Like old friends.
Marveling at the new,
striving endlessly to learn.
I even advanced it further,
and sometimes intervened directly to correct mistakes.
Yes.
I had those days too.
Days of blending into the world, savoring novelty.
Not anymore.
It had been over thousands of years since I lost interest in such things.
Not because I had to kill cherished creations with my own hands,
nor because they cursed and condemned me,
nor because I had to dismantle what I'd built myself.
Dragons are stoic beings by nature.
I was especially so.
I had no such sensibilities.
What killed my interest was 'disconnection.'
When a prophecy ended,
I always awoke 200 years later.
200 years—a mere instant to me.
But to them,
it was time enough for generations to turn, history to flow,
and everything to vanish.
"This isn't a red jade, sir."
"Not red jade?"
It was when I went to sell a gem now called 'ruby.'
The merfolk looked at me puzzled.
"Yes, sir. This is a ruby. Red jade is this."
He held out a gem I'd never seen.
It was somewhat crude, feeling somehow distant.
"...This is red jade?"
"Yes. What you have is a ruby. They look completely different—why the mix-up?"
I silently gazed at the red jade that had become a ruby.
It was the day I realized my accumulated knowledge no longer applied.
It was fine back then.
I could just build it up again.
Remember again.
I am a dragon.
A being that never forgets what it learns,
absorbing everything seen and heard without omission.
And I
had plenty of time.
It was no trouble at all.
So,
I learned each unknown bit by bit, remembering endlessly.
I relearned altered terms,
updated changed information the moment I learned it.
I dissected advanced tools and magic thoroughly to grasp their structures.
New knowledge.
New races.
New nations.
New cultures.
New rules.
Things changed,
things vanished,
things unchanged,
newly added things.
All of it,
I organized and appended to my ancient memories.
Thus, I accepted the given cycle once more.
I learned new things somehow,
and after finishing the prophecy, slept another 200 years.
And,
when I awoke—
the world had changed.
I had to familiarize myself with the newly altered world again.
Such days
repeated two,
three,
ten times.
And further—
'...How many times has it been now.'
Until I had to dredge through memories for a long while to recall.
Memories didn't fade,
but there were too many to distinguish.
Which era,
which words,
what I did,
what I liked.
All mashed together into a lump,
leaving only the vague sensation of 'there were times like that.'
Thus,
I gradually grew numb to everything.
Still, I continued learning.
Until my identity was exposed
and I was captured by the giants.
It was strange.
My identity had never been discovered before.
Yet they recognized me as the Evil Dragon immediately.
A prison made solely to contain me.
Special restraints on my wrists.
Barrier magic and experimental tools I'd never seen etched everywhere.
Observing it all calmly, I slowly spoke.
"How did you know I'm the Evil Dragon?"
"You're the only one still using such outdated magic."
That single short phrase
shattered my long-accumulated time.
I exterminated the giant clan.
Escaped the prison.
Broke the restraints, and headed back to my lair.
From that day on, I stopped learning.
Cut off exchange with the world.
And so,
I spent thousands of years just sleeping.
'...First time since that day.'
I hadn't read books even while wandering the world.
Just,
I felt like it.
Right then, a sign with a book illustration caught my eye.
"Maybe the bookstore first."
Adjusting my grip on the rabbit grass, I entered the bookstore.