Manowa

◎ Great Dragon Palace, G.o.d Dragon Emperor"s Throne Room

『Good morning, Mother, Father.』

『Mhmm. Tatsuo. You"ve woken up nicely.』

「Yeah, good morning Tatsuo.」

That was the first conversation between Kazane, Naga, and their son Tatsuo.

「He"s polite.」

『Yes. I"ve received various memories from Father. Accordingly, I will exert my best efforts as a son to not cause trouble for Mother.』

That day, Kazane learned there was a big difference between species when it came to child rearing.

The second day after the devil attack.

The egg hatched, and Naga and Kazane"s long-awaited child was born.

His outward appearance was like a Dragonized Kazane with a form slightly more like Naga, a hybrid dragon with almost transparent blue scales, crystals covering the parts like his joints, two crystal horns, and fluttering crystal hair like gla.s.s fiber.

Byaku told her with a full faced smile that based on dragon standards, he took after his beautiful (Dragonized) mother Kazane, though Kazane didn"t know those standards. But since they were being praised, she hugged Tatsuo「I"m so glad, Tatsuo」while rubbing her cheek against his.

「Cute.」

『I"m embarra.s.sed.』

Tatsuo responded to Louise with a straight face. He was currently on Kazane"s shoulder. He was around the size of an eagle.

「Tatsuo is a bit like an old man. It looks like he inherited all of husband"s memories.」

『Should he have been a little younger? Well, this is my first experience. I didn"t know how to adjust it.』

Kazane smiled at the dejected Naga.

「Well, he also has his own personality, though. Right, Tatsuo.」

『If Mother thinks it"s good, I"m also happy.』

So saying, Tatsuo rubbed his face against Kazane"s cheek. His language was certainly aged, but it seemed Tatsuo was a considerably spoiled child. He hadn"t tried to separate from Kazane for even a moment since the time he was born.

「When Jiraid was just born, he looked like a monkey. And he continually cried afterwards.」

Jinrai said. He was a little painful to look at with his missing right arm, but the person himself didn"t seem to mind too much. Since he had mostly recovered due to healing magic, it seemed he had resumed light training today.

「The beginning is the hardest part in child-rearing, but there"s nothing like that with Tatsuo-kun. That"s great.」

It seemed Louise was surprisingly (?) obsessed with properly educating her children until they become adults. It wasn"t clear if the number of children she had raised so far was high or low, but it was nine. That included Hyvern"s previous Archduke and Mishiana"s Guildmaster, so it might be possible to say she was a mama who gave her children a gifted education. There"s no hesitation in a.s.serting she carefully selected good men, so that success might be due to genetics.

「...This is Aneki"s child.」

『Uncle, I"ll be relying on you from now on.』

Tatsuo politely bowed his head to the dumbfounded Naoki.

「O, oh. Leave it to me.」

It seemed Noaki wasn"t sure how he should interact with him.

On the other hand, Yumika, Tiara, Emily, and Lyle were very friendly with Tatsuo. At first he seemed like a pet, but it didn"t take long to understand from Tatsuo"s intelligence and knowledge beyond their imaginations that he was an individual.

「He"s smart, isn"t he.」

Emily was impressed by Tatsuo"s ability to answer her questions about this world"s math calculations.

『I said I gave him my knowledge, didn"t I? That"s child"s play for Tatsuo.』

「That, that"s right, isn"t it.」

Naga just wanted to brag about his child, but as might be expected, he was awe-inspiring to Emily, so she answered timidly. He was the most important figure of her own country and the most important figure among the dragons. Emily was telling herself not to become paralyzed.

「Kazane"s child is the same as my child.」

Tiara was full of enthusiasm, but there was no need to help with diapers or crying at night, so there wasn"t much Tiara could help with. The easy mode rearing cheat infant, Tatsuo, was a heresy to the childcare industry.

『Gen in heaven is surely happy.』

『The lady wife is also wonderful.』

『Today is a good day.』

Suza, Sei and Byaku were also there and expressed their joy. By the way, as might be expected from Tatsuo remaining on her shoulder, Sei had no choice but to acknowledge Kazane"s humanoid appearance. The corners of his mouth had trembled when he said「The lady wife.」Did he not want to admit it that badly? What a rude guy.

And on that day, the debuting Tatsuo party was done in secret. However, it was a private party to the last, and Tatsuo"s birth was being hidden.

The dragons had promised to not stop Kazane from resuming her journey. But Tatsuo"s only current source of energy was Kazane"s Dragon Spirit. For that reason, Tatsuo would naturally accompany them. Byaku and the others opposed, but Naga himself approved, so they were forced to accept.

But naturally, if it was known that the G.o.d Dragon Emperor"s child was born and strolling around somewhere, it would become a huge uproar. After all, while Tatsuo was a hybrid, he was a dragon with a kind of Rainbow Heart like Naga. Even the G.o.d Dragon Emperor, who was famed as the strongest dragon, was still aimed at. Even if the information might leak somewhere eventually, they had to conceal it as much as possible.

「But wouldn"t it be dangerous for Tatsuo-kun to ride on Kazane"s shoulder like now inside a city? Speaking frankly, wouldn"t it be just like openly carrying a super first-rate jewel?」

After Louise"s natural question, Kazane replied「It should be fine?」

「I"ll protect him. Besides, it seems this child has inherited some of my Skills. He can use Invisible and Optical Camouflage.」

The surroundings stirred after those words. At this point, only Kazane, Naga, and Tatsuo knew that fact, so it was understandable.

「No way, can Killing Leg be used as well?」

『Yes. It seems that if I fire myself up, my legs turn red and I can release a powerful kick.』

Tatsuo answered Yumika"s question. Everyone"s stirring increased.

『It"s not that powerful right now because he"s still young. In the future when Tatsuo has grown, he might become a dragon with tremendous power.』

It had fearsome attack power even with Kazane"s small build, but thinking about it being used with a dragon"s size,「might become」was out of the question. He would probably become a dragon possessing a brutal power that no one could deal with.

「Straying off the right path is absolutely no good.」

「?  Naturally. Right, Tatsuo?」

『Yes, it"s impossible, Mother.』

Kazane and Tatsuo carefreely replied to Louise"s serious words.

『Even just when it comes to Breath, he can blow three different types: Fire, Ice, and Crystal. Would calling Nagsama and Kazane-sama"s child an evident wonder dragon be fitting?』

Byaku lavishly praised. Although Kazane didn"t understand the meaning of evident wonder dragon, it seemed Byaku was helplessly happy, exactly as if her own child was born, and Kazane was also happy with Byaku"s reaction. They were blessed with Tatsuo, so being happy couldn"t be helped.

「Your teeth are st.u.r.dy, so you probably don"t have to worry about tooth decay. That"s good, isn"t it, Tatsuo.」

『Yes, Mother!』

Tatsuo happily closed his eyes and cried out as Kazane stroked his head. He was a spoiled child-san. By the way, a white scarf was wrapped around Tatsuo"s neck. That Indestructible Scarf was proof of Tatsuo entering the White Party.

Since Tatsuo had just woken up, he was tired and fell asleep immediately after that, so the modest party broke up just after noon.

Then Kazane hugged the sleeping Tatsuo close and spent the day with Naga. It was a quiet time, with the two sometimes smiling at each other as if they recalled something, and for what might be the first time since Kazane came to this world, it was a truly calm time.

However, the next day Kazane, Tatsuo, and Ao would fly away from the East Dragon Village. Since they had to return to Minshiana to undo Yuuko-nee"s Curse.

Since it was covert action this time, the other members would be remaining in the village.

And on the day of departure, the White Party was in front of a certain place. Kazane and the others were in front of the Grimoire Field room to receive their reward for delivering Hagasu"s Heart.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Eating Ogre King"s Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator

Level : 32

Health: 124

Magic Power: 235+420

Strength: 55+20

Agility: 50+14

Endurance: 32

Wisdom : 62

Dexterity : 39

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior"s Memory』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog"s Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』

Yumika:「No experience with diapers or night crying. Kazane is the weakest of the Four Child Raising Heavenly Kings...」

Kazane:「Who are the other three? Louise-san seems to be a considerable child-raising mama, though.」

Yumika:「Her partners were all important people, and it seems her children are also big shots and celebrities.」