Dragon Life

Chapter 62 – part 2

Oniichan and me.

Although I omitted some parts here and there so that I wouldn"t be speaking for so long, my older brother earnestly listened to everything I said. Although he was surprised when I told him that I was an Earth Dragon, and he kept comparing Hana and I many times with his eyes, he accepted it pretty easily with a ‘such things may happen as well, huh."

“In short; this means that only your spirit went over to that world, in a time when more than 300 years had pa.s.sed since I visited it, and you lived as the Sacred Beast Earth Dragon, then saved the world and died.”

“If you sum it up, then that"s it.”

Although, saying it just as ‘saved the world" sounds too simplistic to me.

I wonder what happened after that. I wonder whether the resurrection of demons could be prevented in the end?

“It was just your spirit, hmm, is there such a thing? No, their contents can actually be so deep, isekai1 trips!”

“I keep telling you that your words lack a sense of reality precisely because you use such vocabulary. To begin with, when was it that you went over there? Moreover, in body and flesh.”

“About two or three years ago.”

I remember that Hana joined our household around that time. I guess he brought her back at that time.

“Maybe as you are now, you can see it.”

As he said so he put out his right arm, and I wondered, ‘When did he get a tattoo there," because a geometric pattern that seemed to me that I had seen it before was rising up.

“This is,”

“The Proof of the contract.”

As expected, that"s what it was. Unlike someone else"s, this one was pink; wrong, he seems to claim that its color is closer to purple, as it wrapped around his arm like a wristband. ‘Ain"t it cool!" No, it ain"t cool to be saying that at this occasion. Oniichan was Oniichan, after all.

“Hey… If Touka was called over, isn"t it strange that they summoned all of us, brothers and sister?”

For such unrealistic thing to happen, the probability should be small. I am thinking about how many people are living in this world. But this happened to both my older brother, me, and to Touka"s body. I can"t help but think that there might be somehing going on here.

“That"d be my fault.”

That was too sudden. While I was thinking what may be the matter, you go and say it"s all your responsibility like, I see, wait wut?

“Wh-What do you mean?”

It was so sudden I can"t even articulate properly.

My brother made a bitter face while hiding his brow. It looks like he was feeling ashamed of his black history, but it"s exactly like that!

“It was something that the me from the past did without thinking; at that time, due to the excitement of achieving my grand dream of an isekai1 trip, and having just saved the world I just couldn"t help it, I went to Taiju and said: “If a crisis occurs again, just summon me! If for some reason you may not be able to call for me, my younger sister and brother can come over!!”, was what I said.“

“…WaWait!! What"d ya just say idiot brother!!! Then ain"t all this your fault!”

How could this be! The cause was all because of this idiot brother!

“Oh no, I also calmed down afterwards and reflected on it, and that"s why I brought with me the book needed to perform the summoning. I couln"t just go over and say, ‘Don"t do that after all", could I? I thought that with that, it would never… but apparently that wasn"t the only book there was, ahahaha!”

“…This is not a laughing matter!! What the h.e.l.l"s with that! Doesn"t this mean you"re the culprit!? I was suffering so much, it was painful and sad; you"re the cause of all of it! Just because of that single word, do you even know how much I suffered?!”

“Oh, I really don"t know.”

Even if you suddenly go all serious, it still bothers me.

While I had grabbed his collar to shout out at him in anger, he placed his hands on my shoulders, and grinned.

“But even so, that"s how it is to live an unexpected life.”

“What…”

“Living a life without trouble is strange, as life also has a difficult side. A life with only fun in it is no life. But going past that and going on on living, that"s what life is. What kind of life did you part with when leaving that world? I don"t know all the details, but there were fun parts too, right?

“Uhm, well.”

There were. Friends and important people who accepted my Dragon self. It lasted only a few years, but that was undoubtely and irreplaceably, a part of my life. Aren"t I the one that knows that the best?

“Then take pride in it, and don"t run away. Whatever you are, you are you, Itoka; both as a Dragon and a human, you are my precious little sister.”

I, am me?

What my brother"s saying is a matter of course. As a Dragon, no matter whatever life I lived in that world, I am myself. As a man-eating Dragon, or as a human.

However, there"s a part of me which doesn"t want to accept that either.

“Although… I ain"t in a position to be giving you such a sermon.”

“…Oniichan?”

“I probably don"t have the qualifications to be called Onii-chan. I should know best how irresponsible it is to dismiss all the suffering my actions caused you with a simple “I don"t know”. I"m sorry, for all the pain I caused you.”

With all the spirit he had earlier gone, my brother suddenly became meek and gently stroked my head. His expression was, unusually, dark.

“Because I have such a character, I was told many things in the other world. For example, that even though I knew nothing, I was living on while hurting and involving a lot of people. That even if the result was a Happy Ending, countless people may be left crying their eyes out in my wake… That"s when I realized, that I wasn"t a protagonist nor a hero, I was just a single human being, but even so there should be a limit to pretending. I"m the worst. Making my dear sister become a man-eating Dragon and causing her to suffer so, and being unable to share that pain with her, I"m disqualified as an older brother.”

“…Really, rather than an older brother, you are disqualified as a human being.”

When I muttered that under my breath, “Ain"t that right,” my older brother said with a weak laugh.

“What do you want to achieve by apologizing now? I will never forgive you, for nothing in the world; what you did was selfish to the extreme, you know.”

All that pain, and all that suffering. The cause was this older brother.

But.

Even if it was Honoknii the one that created that chance, it was me the one who lived that life. I had many choices for my way of life. It is myself who chose that particular way of life. If it was painful, if it was harsh, I should have lived quietly in the forest, not minding the humans. Still, my wanting to get involved with humans was because I wanted to have a connection with people.

“But you know… it wasn"t only unpleasant things, there were things I enjoyed too.”

Still, I do not want to admit it to myself.

When I said so, my older brother"s reply was, “I see. Thank you,” and he caressed my head again.

“Touka is my dear brother too, and it is my fault that they were summoned in the first place. I will take responsibility and return them home.”

“…Onii-chan, I am”

“Coming, too?”

Unwilling to go. I would like to refuse if possible. I wanted to remain snuggly immersed in the warmth of the real world.

But, I"m worried about Touka.

That kid is the most skilful in the family, and he"s kinda caring about people; with a protagonist"s disposition, and most importantly, his soft heart gives him a strong sense of justice. He grumbles but still wears the frillful ap.r.o.n that our brother bought, and he also partic.i.p.ated in the fireworks festival. We could also make it without him cooking for us by buying bentous2 from the convenience store, but he sincerely cooks for us everyday. Even at the accident a few years, he used his body to cover his friend who was about to be hit by a car, and so he got hurt instead; He"s a kid who won"t even spare his own life for the sake of people in trouble.

That"s why I feel afraid. That"s the reason I"m feeling dread. I can see clearly how things would go when such a kid goes to that world.

I seems to be a little tsundere-ish, but he"s my dear little brother.

“You don"t have to push yourself, you know.”

A part of me wants to cling to those words. To just leave it all up to my older brother and Hana, and wait for their return at home. Not as a Dragon, neither with a hero"s disposition; if I go as myself, what would end up happening? I"d just drag them down.

— Oh, jeez, I don"t understand myself anymore.

** Small Talk **

“I"d like to ask you something.”

“What"d that be?”

“…Maybe it was your fault that only my consciousness was whisked away?”

“…”

“Because, wasn"t that too convenient? That I became the Earth Dragon? I eventually made a contract and saved, not only the country but also the world; so I should be right about this.”

“…Sorry. I feel like I may have spoken a little about something like that to Taijuggh!”

As expected, Oniichan was the main culprit behind it all. I can"t even deny the thought that he rounded it all up pretty well.3

I beat him with my fists to my heart"s content. It didn"t make me feel any better.

…But you know, I can"t come to actually hate him.

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Translator"s Lair~☆

FInalLY!!! :"D harsh months for me, harsh months of wait for you :"c sorry! i"m working on next chapter already >w< but="" at="" last="" i="" hope="" you="" enjoyed="" this="">

Also, can we talk about this idiot"s supposed romance with the princess? please? Like, this is the jerk who (supposedly/possibly) flirted with a princess, made her pregnant, then left? never to return? XD this guy"s trash, i tell you XD (i"ll apologize later if this was not true, lol) but d.a.m.n… anyway, i reeeeally wanna read Honoka"s adventure in the past now :c i bet it"d be a great story, too.

See you soon!! o/