Jjak-jjaki
I woke up in the early hours of the morning.
For a split second I panicked because I couldn't see Tia anywhere — until I found her clinging to my waist, wrapped around me like a koala.
Her face had been buried in my lower chest, which was why I'd missed her.
Careful not to wake her, I gently pried her arms loose from around my waist.
Then, quite naturally, I turned her onto her back, lifted her skirt, and peeked underneath.
"It grew again..."
Tears welled up before I could stop them.
Just yesterday, all that had been near Tia's tailbone was a scattering of millet-sized bumps.
But in the span of a single night, her tail had grown to the size of a finger.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before it grew long enough to drag along the floor behind her.
"Could you at least take after me a little? Just a little..."
What else could I expect from a dragon's spawn?
First the horns, and now a tail ambushing me in delayed succession — I felt faint enough to pass out.
Would wings sprout from her back tomorrow? The mere thought made me dizzy.
'What about the rest? Is there more?'
Alarmed, I began examining Tia from head to toe.
Hands first.
I ran my fingers over each tiny, delicate, unfairly pretty digit, inspecting them closely.
Thankfully, her nails weren't growing unnaturally hard and sharp.
Her hands, at least, were unmistakably human.
Just in case, I checked her feet too.
Pretty little feet that squirmed whenever I touched them, apparently ticklish.
Aside from the faintly addictive smell of baby powder, they were perfectly normal.
I really do need to wash Tia's feet more often.
"Mmm."
Next, I probed every corner of the inside of her mouth with my finger.
No burning throat, no telltale heat.
But a few of her teeth were wobbling loose — they'd be coming out any day now.
I should borrow some thread from Irina in advance.
After that, I ran my hands over every inch of her body without missing a spot.
Not a single dragon scale to be found anywhere.
A sigh of relief escaped me.
I'd been terrified that Tia might grow up to be covered in scales from head to toe, turning into some hideous lizard — but it seemed I could put that worry to rest.
"Couldn't she just stay like this forever?"
How wonderful would it be if she stayed exactly as she is now?
How wonderful would it be if this adorable little girl lasted forever?
Then her tail would never grow into that ghastly thing, and her horns would never get any bigger.
Just imagining it made me happy.
It was simply a shame that it would remain nothing more than imagination.
"So cute..."
"Mmuuu."
Without thinking, I gave Tia a tight squeeze.
A moment later, she groaned sleepily and squirmed.
I'd hugged her so hard she'd woken up.
Ignoring her flailing, I held her even tighter, until Tia finally gave up and went limp in my arms.
"Mommmy..."
Still half asleep, Tia let her eyes drift shut again and reached up to hug me back.
Her arms were so short that her hands fell just barely short of meeting behind my back, and it was unbearably adorable.
How much time passed like that?
By the time I'd sweated through my clothes from the warmth, I finally set Tia free.
Soft, squishy, and equipped with a heating function — she was the perfect cuddle doll for a cold day like this one.
I worried she'd be far too hot in summer, though.
If only she came with an air-conditioning option too.
"If you're up, get dressed. Let's go out."
"Mm-heh-heh. Okay!"
Watching Tia strip off her pajamas and change into her outdoor clothes all by herself left me with a faintly bittersweet feeling.
She ate by herself now. Went to the bathroom by herself. Dressed herself.
My role in her life was disappearing, one task at a time.
Someday, I thought, I might become completely unnecessary to her.
"Hey. You have to put your dirty clothes in the basket."
"I don't know how..."
"Come here. I'll show you."
"N-No! I'll go outside first!"
"Hey!"
Tia shuffled backward stealthily, then bolted.
A snort of laughter escaped me.
She was still just a little kid after all.
The day Tia stopped needing me was a long way off yet, and that thought brought me a measure of relief.
Whether I should actually be relieved by something like this was another question entirely.
"Mommy, you're not dressed yet!"
"I'm at the door! Mm-heh-heh."
Tia's laughter drifted in from beyond the door.
Surely it was fine to leave her out there alone for a minute.
She had her hat on, after all.
Still, just to be safe, I hurried a little.
"There. Done..."
I'd gotten quite adept at tying the drawstring of my skirt by myself now.
Fully dressed, coat cinched at the waist, I looked in the mirror and found I looked rather pretty — there wasn't much of a medieval feel to the outfit at all.
If the me from my old world had passed this woman on the street, I'd have asked for her number without a second thought.
Irina's fashion sense truly transcended both era and worldview.
"Ugh..."
Then I caught sight of myself twirling in front of the mirror, checking my outfit from every angle.
Self-loathing flooded in, and my face flared crimson in an instant.
God, this was humiliating.
I should not be this pleased about finding myself pretty.
I'm a man, damn it.
"Tia! You still there?"
"Mm-hm!"
I called out loudly as I jammed my feet into my heels.
There was a time when I'd twisted my ankle every other day, but I'd gotten fairly used to high heels now.
In fact, I wore them so often that flat shoes felt strange on my feet anymore.
"Tia! Still there?"
"..."
No answer.
She'd answered full of energy just a second ago.
Knowing her, she was probably crouched beside the door right now, waiting to jump out and scare me.
Predictable.
I flung the door open.
"Hiding again!"
"..."
"Huh?"
Nobody was there.
No Tia behind the door, either.
Startled, I scanned my surroundings — nothing.
Tia, who had been kicking pebbles around the front of the house moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
The ground seemed to tilt beneath me.
"Tia! Tiaaa!"
I screamed her name, near wailing.
Just as I was about to spiral into full-blown panic, unable to see her anywhere—
"Mommy?"
"ACK! You scared me!"
The voice behind me nearly knocked me off my feet.
I whipped around to find Tia poking her head out from atop the roof of the house.
How on earth did she get up there without a sound...
I let out a long breath, my pounding heart slowly settling.
So she hadn't been kidnapped, after all.
"What are you doing up there..."
"Jjak-jjaki!"
"..."
Tia beamed brightly and held out her right hand.
Clutched inside that tiny fist was a bird of some unknown species, turning its head this way and that in evident bewilderment.
Covered in downy fluff, all puffed up and rumpled — it looked like a chick, still too young to fly.
What was she, a cat?
Climbing onto the roof out of nowhere and catching birds.
"There's a jjak-jjaki house here!"
"Put it down. You're scaring it poor."
"Mmuu. But the jjak-jjaki says it likes Tia?"
"..."
Likes her, my foot.
The thing was trembling all over, darting nervous glances at Tia — it had clearly been scared out of its wits.
"I'm gonna raise a jjak-jjaki!"
"No. Put it back in its house — its nest — and come down."
"Mmuuu..."
Cut off flatly, Tia pouted her lips and released the bird.
It landed on the roof and managed to stand upright for all of a second before toppling over sideways, stiff as a board.
It had apparently recognized the apex predator and frozen solid in terror.
"Wh-what?!"
Tia leapt off the roof without a moment's hesitation, and I lunged forward in a panic.
The instant I twisted my ankle and pitched face-first into the dirt, Tia touched down solidly on both feet, steady as could be.
I stared blankly at her as she came running over, worry written across her little face.
Wait — how had Tia gotten onto the roof in the first place?
A toddler who could scale a two-story wall in silence and leap right back down in a single bound.
Apparently, what she'd inherited from her father wasn't limited to those bizarre horns and tail.
She might even have been born with a dragon's monstrous strength.
If she was already this sturdy and powerful, what on earth would she be like once she was fully grown?
"Mommy, you okay? You fall down?"
"Yeah. I fell down..."
Tia crouched in front of me and began patiently stroking my hair.
And in that moment, a faint chill ran through me.
I finally grasped, truly grasped, what kind of being stood before me.
A human weapon: superhuman physical abilities coupled with a venom potent enough to neutralize even the Curse of Immortality.
What if she had a talent for magic on top of all that?
'That's it.'
My mind snapped into focus.
Magical aptitude.
If she had that, I could enroll Tia in school.
This country suffered from a chronic shortage of mage labor thanks to its endless wars.
Which meant that anyone with magical talent — noble or commoner, rich or poor — was hunted down relentlessly, court after court, academy after academy, desperate to cultivate them into mages.
"Tia!"
"Mmuu?"
"Try casting magic! Anything!"
"Magic...?"
"Yes, so, um. Stick your hand out at the air and shout Fireball!"
"Fiyerbal?"
"Wait... never mind."
A sudden wave of self-loathing made me stop.
I'd have to ask that Hero bastard whether Tia had any magical talent.
Asking for his help made my skin crawl, but I had no other options.
"Hnngh..."
I rose, brushing the dirt from my skirt.
My ankle was red and swollen, and I was covered head to toe in grime.
Tia was plastered with down feathers besides — apparently she'd had her face buried right in the bird's nest.
"Let's head to the shop and give us both a good wash."
"I hate baths..."
"Wash anyway. You smell."
"Mmuu. But Tia likes Mommy's smell..."
"I like your stinky baby feet too, but you still need a wash. Your clothes need a wash too."
"Mm..."
I grabbed the hand of my grumbling daughter and dragged her along.
She seemed to resist a little at first, but let herself be pulled along anyway.
It occurred to me that she could easily hold her ground if she wanted to, and that thought unsettled me.
Tia, for her part, quickly forgot the whole matter and skipped along, giggling with delight.
"Mmuu? Jjak-jjaki!"
"Stop catching birds!"
The entire walk to the shop, Tia kept lunging at every bird that flew past, until my head throbbed.
I really had raised a tiger cub.
No — a dragon cub.