Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Cabin Roof Collapsed
Right then, a clothing store came into view nearby.
Through the glass window,
clothes hanging quietly caught my eye.
Soft fabric,
shining decorations,
luxurious embroidery.
This wasn't bad at all.
...There are clothes suitable for the child... there.
Small outfits were visible inside the store.
I slowly opened the door.
Ding, the bell rang.
"Welcome."
I gave a slight nod and headed straight to the display shelf I'd spotted earlier.
I reached out carefully.
Soft, thick fabric brushed my fingertips.
Wearing this would keep her nice and warm.
At that moment, the shop clerk approached.
"Looking for children's clothes?"
"Yeah."
"Age by any chance?"
"Dunno. It's a baby."
The clerk blinked, then smiled faintly.
"Baby clothes are over here."
"Isn't this... too small?"
It was an absentminded mutter.
The clerk nodded, a hint of amusement in her smile.
"Baby clothes are supposed to be this small."
"...I see."
It looked awfully tiny for the child to wear.
As I alternated between the outfit I'd first noticed and the clerk's recommendation, it hit me.
...Ah, right.
Thinking back,
there had been a time when clothes automatically adjusted to fit the wearer.
"...Guess this does that too."
"Pardon?"
"Pick out some warm clothes."
"Yes. How many should I get for you?"
"A lot."
The clerk's eyes went wide.
Maybe because I wasn't specific.
After a moment's thought, I spoke up.
"At least enough to last ten years."
"...Pardon? Babies grow so fast, you won't need that many."
"...I see. Then just pick appropriately."
"Yes, got it."
The clerk nodded a beat late, smiling.
I turned away from the bustling clerk and shifted my gaze.
Time to check the robes.
I examined the robes hanging on one side of the store.
Robes in various colors were neatly lined up.
From lightweight, soft materials to thick fabrics specialized for cold weather.
I picked a familiar design and gave it a rough check.
...Ah, it's enchanted with warming magic.
I put it back down,
and picked up a robe with no enchantments at all.
Can't risk mixing it with this world's magic and causing side effects.
Ever since becoming the Evil Dragon,
I'd been enchanting my robes with detection spells.
The robe I'd tossed in the cabin corner after wiping down the child was the same.
Enchanted with detection magic,
it reacted to the slightest changes.
The problem is it's so sensitive it even reacts to falling leaves.
Maybe because I wasn't wearing it.
Every time the child moved, it reacted, making my body twitch even now.
Should have dispelled the magic and thrown it out.
When I got back, I'd dispel the magic on that robe,
and enchant this one with a less sensitive detection spell.
After paying, I slipped on the new robe.
Maybe because I'd worn it throughout my wanderings across the world.
As soon as I put it on, a comforting familiarity washed over me.
Next... found it.
I stopped by the alchemy shop.
The smell of herbs, after so long,
assailed my nose the moment I opened the door.
...This.
Alcohol, dried herbs, mineral powders,
and faint traces of lingering mana.
The mixed aroma was deep yet familiar.
Still this smell.
From ages ago.
Digging up herbs myself,
adjusting ratios with precision,
crafting potions with care. Those memories resurfaced.
Some things don't change.
The tools might have evolved,
but the smell was the same as ever.
From behind the display shelves, a woman with deep wrinkles around her eyes greeted me.
"Welcome. What are you looking for?"
"The child's hurt. Recommend something useful."
"Oh dear. Age group? Extent of the injury?"
"Baby. Scraped her knee and shin while crawling."
The woman nodded lightly,
then bent down under the display to pull out a few small bottles.
"This is an unscented ointment. It promotes skin regeneration and eases pain. Made only with mild herbs, so it's safe for babies."
"Yeah."
"And this is a disinfectant. Low irritation, should be fine."
"...I see. What's that one?"
"Ah, this is a powdered medicine that protects the wounded area. Best sprinkled lightly after the ointment."
I picked up each bottle and sniffed them.
A vaguely familiar scent.
Recalling their effects, I checked them over.
They were mild enough to use on the child.
"Good. I'll take them all."
"Yes."
"And I want some compounding tools and herbs too."
"Which ones?"
"All of them."
The woman's eyes went wide, her mouth falling open.
"...A-all of them?"
"Yeah."
"...Why?"
"Need them."
I pulled a diamond from my pocket.
The same one the bookstore elder had refused.
The woman's eyes widened even more.
"...A-are you planning to buy out the shop?"
"No."
The woman clamped her mouth shut and stared at me blankly.
Normally, I'd wait patiently.
But the child was waiting now.
I tilted my head and prodded her.
"When are you handing them over?"
"Pardon? Uh?! No, I mean..."
"If it's a hassle, just the medicine then."
"...Pardon? Oh, yes!"
The woman hurriedly began packaging the medicine.
I put the diamond away.
Instead, I pulled out a piece of gold the size of my thumbnail.
"This enough?"
"T-this is still too much."
"Yeah? Then..."
I looked around the shop again.
A few familiar herbs and ingredients caught my eye.
...That one.
From very long ago,
a fruit I'd often snack on in the shade of trees.
"That..."
"Yes? You mean that fruit?"
"Yeah. Can a baby eat it?"
"Yes, as long as it's not a newborn..."
"That too. And those herbs and the compounding tools. This covers it?"
The woman nodded frantically.
A short while later,
I exchanged her carefully wrapped packages for the gold.
Already got a full load.
My hands weren't enough to carry it all.
Rabbit grass, books, the child's clothes, medicine, herbs, and compounding tools.
Nails and a hammer to fix the door, even a small saw.
But this was the last stop.
After leaving the general store,
I headed toward the ranch the food merchant had mentioned.
I walked out of the village and kept going for a good while.
No people around.
The only living creatures were flocks of migratory birds flying overhead.
Which was why, perhaps,
the urge to just fly there began to creep up on me.
If it weren't for the child, I'd have waited until night and flown...
The moment I let out a soft sigh—
my scales bristled, my body shuddering violently.
A familiar sensation.
This feeling was definitely...
The detection magic on the robe had activated.
...What is it?
I halted my steps toward the ranch.
The surroundings were peaceful.
The wind blew lazily,
the sunlight still warm.
No presence whatsoever,
so why were my scales prickling like this?
Clearly nothing there... wait.
I realized late because I was wearing the robe.
The enchanted robe was back at the cabin.
The danger wasn't—
to me,
but to the child.
"Stop." The wind ceased.
The flocks of birds flying midair froze in place.
"Warp." Space warped.
The scenery before my eyes changed in an instant.
Right in front of the cabin.
The smell of aged wood and thick, acrid dust filled the air.
I brushed aside the fallen leaves floating in midair and scanned the surroundings.
"...That's..."
The cabin's roof was frozen mid-collapse.
Falling timber,
dropping stone fragments,
spreading clouds of dirt.
And—
I sensed a tiny life inside it.
...Damn.
My reaction had been too slow; the collapse had progressed quite far.
Fortunately, it hadn't reached the floor yet,
but if I went in to pull the child out, the frozen debris might come crashing down.
The backlash from using my power was already making my head throb.
But—
I had to save the child first.
I took a deep breath and gathered power into one hand.
Maybe because it had been so long since I'd used it.
Fuzzy memories sharpened vividly before my eyes.
It was the memory of exterminating the giant clan.
When I made the shackles they'd forged vanish,
and reduced their prison, layered with barrier spells, to nothing...
Their expressions
turned to terror and fear in an instant.
"...Impossible."
"The barriers sealing chaos... all gone..."
"W-we laid down perfect spells to control evil too..."
"How in the world—!"
I didn't hear the rest of their conversation.
I'd erased them all.
The giants' plan was doomed to fail.
What they'd sealed had nothing to do with my true essence.
Dragons are born with innate attributes.
From elements like fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning,
to abstract concepts like light and dark, good and evil, order and chaos.
A dragon's attribute is its very essence,
and that essence is akin to the world's own.
Good...
Feeling the power gathered at my fingertips, I looked around.
Leaves floating in the air.
Half-spread clouds of dust.
The halted world was held fast by my fingertip.
There is one great misconception among this world's creations.
Because I am the Evil Dragon,
they assume my attribute must be 'evil' or 'chaos'.
But—
'Evil' and 'chaos'
were merely impositions the gods placed on me after I became the Evil Dragon.
My primordial essence was none of those.
"Reverse." The collapsing roof rewound as if in reverse, returning to its place.
Cracked walls sealed themselves naturally,
and shattered windows reformed as glass shards clicked back together, perfectly restored.
The vines that had wrapped the walls vanished entirely.
Once the cabin had regained its original built form, I slowly released all the power.
I
am
this world's time.
And—
the only eternity.