"What in the world~~!?"
After Israphel, confirmed that the young girl was her new form, she shouted in great surprise.
Of course, if such a gigantic dragon were to suddenly transform into a girl, anyone will be surprised. Gabriel coldly looked at Israphel who was panicking.
"Israphel, what an unsightly appearance. Not your current form. Your current form is the manifestation of disdained. I am calling your heart that considers that current appearance of yous to be disdained to be unsightly."
"The manifestation of disdained?"
Gabriel explained her current abnormal situation to me after I tilted my head in confusion.
"That"s right, manifestation of disdained. When a dragon from the dragon race cannot continue being a dragon it will transform into something that it considers to be the weakest and most foolish."
I see, then the current Israphel"s appearance that of a young girl is her manifestation of disdained. Indeed, there is such a big contrast between that heroic holy dragon and the small and feeble young girl. But even then, I couldn"t understan"t why she would disdain the young girl.
"From a young age, I"ve always taught you that as a holy dragon, we must respect the weak and help them as we live. However, what is your current appearance?"
"Gununununu~"
Israphel nodded with her teary eyes towards Gabriel"s additional blow to an already unfortunate situation.
"Israphel, if you ever want to return back to the dragon race, than you must deal with your arrogance. If you can"t even do that you are eternally stuck in that appearance"
"No! I can"t live with a form like this!"
"That is why. With your current form you should learn to be humble,tolerant, and affectionate heart."
"...but what should I do? With such a weak body, I wouldn"t even be able to hunt ..."
"That is something you should think for yourself. You are already 500 year old"
While Gabriel said some cold words, she lightly glanced at my side as if asking for help. Aa~, I see. Roger, Roger.
"How about we take her to our care?"
"Oh my! Are you sure?"
I bitterly smiled at Gabriel"s obvious acting and nodded.
"Right. We will take proper care for her"
"Oh~. What a benevolent heart. Israphel were you listening? Now you don"t have to worry about lacking in necessities to live"
But to that, Israphel shook her head vigorously.
"I don"t want to! For what reason should I be taken under a human"s hand!? I"d rather die than to be under him!"
"Then, just die"
"Fue~!? ...uuu Uwaaaaaaan!"
Israphel started to cry loudly at the words murmured by Gabriela. You really cry a lot… You can"t see any dignity of dragon in her.
Even Gabriel felt exasperated by her and hang her head in shame.
"...how miserable. For my daughter to be grown like this"
"Eh, she was a girl?"
"Of course. She is my daughter. You didn"t know?"
How would I know dragon"s gender! Where do you even judge that!
"No matter what,please take care of this inexperienced daughter of mine"
I hurriedly waved as Gabriel suddenly bowed towards me.
"Please raise your head Gabriel, you don"t have to go this far!"
"No no, this truly incompetent daughter… I worry what would"ve happened to her if it weren"t for you Kaito"
"No no, I was also greatly saved by you for giving me the imperial wrath! So of course, I will take care of her! So don"t worry!"
"I understand. I will leave the rest to you and she is now under your care"
Gabriel bowed once more and left through her magic opening a spatial transfer hole.
Uuum...What a courteous mother, she was. She had the dignity that was desirable of a holy dragon. She thought deeply for her daughter"s future as well.
---wait? I feel like something was wrong with our interaction? There was part of me that answered her question in the heat of the moment…. Oh well, nothing I can do about that.
I extended my arm towards Israphel who was still crying, after walking to her.
"Come, we are leaving"
"...uuuu"
Israphel glared at me reproachfully, but she took my hand in resignation.
As soon as I got back bringing Israphel with me to Toyok.u.mo, I started making the device that would prevent magic impediment from rebounding with the needed resources. Even though I said make, it"s all just throwing in necessary ingredients into the production machine.
While waiting for it to finish production, I decided to make clothes for Israphel. I made a simple blue one-piece for her. It looked really good on her so I complimented her by saying it"s cute, however, unlike what I was expecting she didn"t feel that half bad about being called cute. Honestly, I wanted her to deny it or rebuke it…Which dragon would feel happy being called cute after being forcefully transformed into human. This useless dragon…
We left for the back of Toyok.u.mo with the device as the device was successfully created. Sena welcomed us as we entered the house looking unnatural as it was the only one in the whole plain sight.
"Welcome back Kaito-san!"
How long has it been since someone said "Welcome back" to me. That"s why I was stunned for a moment and didn"t know what to reply but I said "I"m back".
As for Israphel, I told them that I"m currently taking care of my friend"s daughter temporarily. However, Balaina teased me as she asked "Where did you kidnap her from"
I ignored her and I asked Sena on Nao"s condition.
"Sena, is Nao still sleeping?"
"Yes. She is sleeping soundly. However, she seems to be very calm"
"I see. That"s good. Also, can you hang this on Nao"s neck"
The pendant I gave it to Sena is the device that prevents the rebound of mana impediment.
"If she wore this all the time, there should be no worry for mana impediment ever rebounding"
"...I see. Thank you for everything!"
"No, it"s alright, this is something I like to do. Leaving that aside, hows the house? Were there any inconvenience?"
"No there was nothing inconvenient! There are so much water, warm and comfy beds, and even fire is easily lit, everything was convenient!"
"It"s great that there wasn"t any inconvenience"
"But, she screamed when she used the toilet bidet"
Sena blushed as Balaina added onto the conversation.
"Th,that was because Mrs Balaina told me to use! … I would"ve never predicted that it to spray water at my b.u.t.t"
"Balaina, you didn"t tell her what it was before she used it?"
I looked towards Balaina, but she looked the other way. This useless dog…
"I"m sorry Sena, it may be like that but it is really useful function"
"I already know it. A toilet that washed your b.u.t.t is really convenient..."
Perhaps, is she thinking that I installed it with a perverted intention? … Oh well, even if this is unjust, there is no denying that we made her feel discomfort. Hmm, maybe I should"ve stopped at a normal flush toilet. I was also surprised when I used it for the first time, but it truly is a convenient function.
Nevertheless, I"ve experienced too many things today and I felt tired, so I sat on the sofa in the living room.
I looked to my left and saw Shiro and Kuro sleeping. No wonder the place was quiet. This must be the reason why Balaina was getting back her usual demeanor.
Maybe their bad personalities matched well, Balaina and Israphel was in the corner talking merrily to each other even though it was their first time meeting each other.
At first I thought maybe they were planning on pulling a terrible prank but considering that Balaina is a Support AI, there is no way she could betray me or do any harm against me.
Than, I wonder what they are talking about? Really, they are really hard to read.
While I was relaxing, Sena brought me a medicinal herb tea. The medicinal herb was something Sena brought with her. It smelled really good and made me relax as my tiredness went away.
"Thank you very much, this is really tasty tea"
"I"m glad you enjoyed it. Um, can I sit next to you?"
Sena sat next to me after I nodded.
"...This place, how should I say it, it really is a freeing place"
"Well we are above the sky, so we wouldn"t garner any hate or displeasure from other people."
"Hahaha, that is true. Since we are above the sky"
As Sena turned her head, I caught a glimpse of sorrow in her face. It made me feel how much hardship she had faced. It made my chest tighten thinking about how she had no one to rely on as she carried her little sisters and lived their life everyday in a harsh environment. Even being tangled with terrible adventurers, that definitely wasn"t her first time as she must"ve faced numbers of them and each time her life was in grave danger. This is not only true for her but it must be similar for many of the beastmen.
Why can humans discriminate and segregate others just because they look a tad bit different. I know not all humans are bad, I"m sure there is even a segregation among beastmen. But, currently humans are ruling the world, and the beastmen are absolute minority, so they don"t have anywhere to escape.
In such a situation where could freedom be found? Where could they find peace? If this situation goes on, there is no doubt the entirety of beastman will become extinct.
When I think about such, I couldn"t help but feel saddened.
".....U, uuhn"
After a while, I noticed Nao waking up from her sleep. Sena who was about to fall asleep jumped and rushed to her.
"Nao! You are awake! How do you feel?"
"..Big Sister Sena? Where are we?"
Sena explained everything to Nao who just woke up.
Nao was confused at first but maybe she was smart as she was able to digest all the information in short time and understood her current situation. She then, bowed to me.
"Mr Kaito, thank you very much for saving my life"
"There is no need for grat.i.tude. You should sleep more. With that you will soon be able to run as you please"
"...I understand. Thank you very much!"
I smiled to Nao who nodded in understanding. This is great. Now, we can consider the case being closed.
What a long day. I should just take a bath and sleep now. Out of a sudden, Nao said something that I wasn"t expecting at all.
"Um, Mr. Kaito, can we stay here forever?"
".....hm?"
I tilted my head to a sudden proposal, and Sena hurriedly tried to cover for Nao.
"Wha, What are saying Nao. This is too much to ask!"
"But, big sister Nao! In here we don"t have to live while frightened of others!"
"I know that is true… but, Mr Kaito has his own circ.u.mstances..."
"Please Mr Kaito! Please let us stay here! We will work hard!"
Nao frantically shouted. As if she was seeking help while drowning in the sea. Thats why I---
"Oh, It"s alright. You can stay here for as long as you like"
Answered, without much thought.
In reality, it really was just out of my whim at that time. I thought maybe it would be fun to live with Sena and nothing more. However, after this I will be pushed to think about my thinking. To create a city in my back for the suppressed beastman. To such a future, a single house stood alone in my back.