There’s No Way I Can Raise a Dragon Daughter

I couldn’t move at all.

When I hugged him, his shoulders weren’t particularly wide, and his build wasn’t that big, but his strength completely sealed off my movements.

Taking a moment to feel, his chest muscles weren’t that firm either.

The so-called former hero seemed to live without proper exercise.

On top of that, the voice that whined was so pitiful that it made all the last remnants of masculinity I had left flee away.

“I’m not going. I won’t leave again. Never again…”

There was no emotion to fall from me that wasn’t already absent.

I felt nothing but pity.

What in the world happened that made him throw such a fit over one word asking him to leave?

Despite having such strong arms, the way he shook and his voice that quivered with fear was strangely pathetic.

What can I say?

Should I say I want to pet and hold him?

Damn it. The fact that he’s a guy made this sound like something a gay person would say.

“Ugh. Haah. Ah.”

“Are you coming to your senses now, you little gay?”

“…”

His trembling stopped.

The leopard, holding me for a moment, stood there stiffly, suddenly releasing me and stepping back.

His face, flushed like a ripe radish, showed he was still trying to comprehend the situation and was rolling his eyes incessantly.

“What… what did I just do?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? You whined like a girl. Don’t you remember? Should I recite every word you said?”

“No…”

Eventually, he turned his back to me.

His face turned scarlet, as if it was painfully embarrassing.

I finally caught one of his weaknesses.

Although it’s debatable if it could even be called a weakness…

He took a deep breath for a while before returning to his usual stern expression and spoke.

“Forget what you just saw and heard.”

“Just from your mouth?”

“Why? Should I give you a kiss or something?”

“W-what!”

Suddenly approaching and sticking his face towards me startled me.

I stepped back in surprise to escape, and he just chuckled at my reaction.

It seemed his embarrassment had passed.

What an annoying guy.

My thoughts changed.

It might be better for this bastard to just drop dead than to leave the city.

With a smile returning to his face, the leopard asked with a serious expression.

“Aerial.”

“I don’t know that person.”

“Julia.”

“What?”

“Do you really not remember anything? If not, where does your memory start to fade?”

It was a difficult question to answer.

The more I answered about my memory, the more it revealed my weakness.

Of course, he wasn’t the kind to easily give up just because I delayed answering.

I determined that it would be in my best interest to answer neatly here.

“That’s something I’m not sure about either…”

“Is that so? Well, that’s fine.”

“Huh…?”

He casually waved his hand and turned around, going away just like that.

Seeing his back, I could only sigh.

He dragged me here, said what he wanted, and then vanished.

If a hero who saved the world was my acquaintance, life’s supposed to be normal.

So why does my life keep getting more twisted?

‘This is so frustrating that I must succeed for sure.’

Whether I learn magic or whatever, I will rise to a position that no one can reach.

No one would dare say I’m a virgin who got knocked up by a dragon.

Once that happens, I’ll catch that hero who thinks I’m easy to toy with and give him a piece of my mind.

I gritted my teeth and once again resolved to that end.

“Ah.”

When I returned to the chapel, I found it empty, without a single person inside.

For a moment, I looked around, startled when a nun approached me slowly.

She was the nun who called me a disgusting girl on the first day I came to this city.

I couldn’t help but avert my gaze, fearing she would recognize me if she got closer.

“Is that you, Julia?”

“…?!”

I almost sat down in surprise.

What scared me the most was when someone I didn’t know called out Julia’s name.

Each time I heard my name in an unfamiliar voice, it brought back the horrifying gazes of those who looked at me back in the town that burned that day.

“Y-yes. How did you know?”

“Earlier, your companions left a message for you. They said your daughter would be out snacking, so you should come to the plaza.”

“Oh. I see. Thank you.”

I released a sigh of relief.

I had to suppress my wildly racing heartbeat with great difficulty.

So she didn’t actually recognize me.

At this point, could it be paranoia?

I started to worry about my mental state.

Maybe I should consult Irina about it.

‘The old hag seemed to have her mental state in question, too.’

I decided to give up.

Sometimes I see her sobbing, calling her kids’ names in the waiting room.

Irina wasn’t in a position to give consultations either.

By the way, that nun should just stay calmly in the chapel; why did she need to take someone else’s child to go snack?

I started to worry about Tia’s bad habits.

If she tried the street food, she would probably go insane.

I was concerned about her refusing to eat the meals I made later.

“Hmm…”

I exited the church and headed toward the nearby plaza.

Even on a Sunday, there were many people out selling from stalls since the morning.

Navigating through the massive crowd was not an ordinary task.

I found myself colliding with people several times, even just moving a bit forward.

Maybe it was because my body was significantly larger than others.

“I found her.”

I finally located Tia.

She was sitting on a bench, devouring some skewers while smearing sauce all over her mouth.

So she had begun to know that flavor.

The thought of her throwing a tantrum asking for some every time we passed a skewered food stall made me dizzy.

Irina was starting to be a hassle.

“Tia…!”

I raised my voice to call Tia but then covered my own mouth.

For an instant, I thought about calling her name aloud, but what if everyone recognized me from that.

If they laughed at me, saying a so-called ‘writer’ was acting like a celebrity, I wouldn’t have any comeback, but it couldn’t be helped.

It wasn’t something that was in my control…

I felt as if my vocal cords had completely stiffened, and no sounds came out.

I found myself feeling pathetic but decided to take a deep breath and calm down.

Time would solve everything.

Holding onto that belief, I quietly approached from the back of Tia to surprise her.

I was trying to sneak up on her while she was lost in her skewers, but Irina, sitting next to her, remained still with her head bowed.

Was she asleep?

“Mmm! Mommy!”

“Ah…”

Before I could get within ten meters, Tia suddenly turned around and caught me.

Seeing her with sauce all over her mouth and grinning made me smile involuntarily.

No matter how much I hated her, I couldn’t help but feel good every time I saw her because she was so adorable.

I wish she wouldn’t grow up forever.

If she grew up, she might act spoiled and say mom was annoying…

I was worried that I might have been the same during my teenage years, digging into my mom’s heart.

“Did Irina buy that for you?”

“Mmm! It’s delicious! Mom should have some too!”

“No, you eat it. But look at how much you’ve smeared on your face…”

“Mmm…”

I was about to wipe the red sauce from her mouth but gave up.

There seemed to be way too much for just a cloth.

Sucking my fingers revealed that it was a rather spicy sauce. No, it was very spicy.

How could she eat something so spicy without batting an eye?

I was slightly surprised.

“Irina, how could you give Tia something this spicy? It’s nice that she likes it, but… Irina, Irina?”

“…”

As I shook Irina’s shoulder to wake her, her body tipped sideways.

Until that moment, I thought she was just tired and dozing off.

But after hugging Irina’s waist to check her complexion, I realized the situation was clearly abnormal.

“Hey? Irina, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Ugh… Hah… ugh…”

Her breathing sounded strange.

It was more like air was leaking through her throat than actual breathing.

Additionally, her complexion was pale, and her lips had turned blue.

After pulling back her bangs and touching her forehead, I felt a high fever was burning.

Even when I called her name and shook her, she remained unresponsive, indicating her condition was quite severe.

Was it asthma? No.

Then a cold or the flu?

That too wasn’t it.

After all, Irina had no fever until this morning.

Then what could it possibly be?

“Ah.”

I locked eyes with Tia, who tilted her head with a strange expression as she looked at us.

In that moment, a sense of foreboding filled me, and I quickly examined Irina’s fingertip.

There were traces of red sauce slightly smeared.

The marks showed where she had sucked her finger.

In an instant, what had happened earlier played out in my mind like a video.

Just as I had done moments ago, Irina had wiped Tia’s mouth and then licked the sauce.

Then I recalled a fact that I had forgotten for a moment.

Tia’s bodily fluids were extremely poisonous.

So strong that it could nullify the Holy Maiden’s regeneration ability.

What would happen if an ordinary person consumed even a minuscule amount of something like that?

It was obvious.

Just like Irina right now, she’d be rapidly succumbing to death.

“Hey…!”

I tried to yell for help.

I really did.

But even in this urgent situation, my unobservant throat was completely choked up, and I couldn’t make a sound.

Since I couldn’t speak, I had no other way but to point at Irina and grab whoever passed by.

But no one paid attention to my silent, desperate attempts, as if I was a mute.

I simply gave up and looked back at Irina’s condition again.

“Ah, no…”

Irina was dying.

Because of my damn panic disorder.

I felt anxious as I couldn’t think of a way to save Irina.

At that moment, I caught sight of the church cross shining far across the plaza.

Surely, the church priest could use some recovery magic, even if it was just a little.

I needed to carry Irina and head toward the church.

“Ahh!”

But every time I tried, I ended up throwing Irina onto the ground.

For a moment, the thought of seeking help from Tia crossed my mind.

But there was no way that little girl could lift Irina.

Even when I struggled with all my might, lifting Irina was impossible.

I thought I might end up dragging her away.

But if I did that, by the time we arrived, Irina would probably already be a cold corpse.

Even at that moment, Irina’s forehead was getting hotter and hotter.

I was really scared, thinking she might die soon.

That fear made my mind race.

And soon, I found a way to save Irina.

“Ah, ugh…”

I bit my lip and let the blood flow.

Tia’s bodily fluid was extremely poisonous.

If so, could my own bodily fluid, which had infinite regenerative abilities, not function as a healing remedy?

There was no time to hesitate.

I tilted my head and pressed my bleeding lips against Irina’s.

Soon, blood dripped into Irina’s mouth, and I could see her throat move as she swallowed.

I didn’t have to wait long.

As I held Irina’s hand tightly and lifted my head, I immediately noticed the change in her complexion.

When I touched her forehead, the fever was rapidly subsiding.

Before long, Irina’s breath stabilized, and she opened her eyes to look up at me.

“Haa…”

She’s back to life.

When I met Irina’s gaze, relief washed over me, prompting a smile.

Yet, as tension melted away, other matters that I had temporarily set aside resurfaced.

Before I knew it, I was up on my feet, marching towards Tia, who was still sitting on the bench, staring blankly at us.

“Because of you…!”

A sound I had never made before erupted from my throat.

Once I came to my senses, I found my hand gripping Tia’s collar with a firm hold.

Startled, half-eaten skewers fell from her hand onto the ground.

Tia’s face was still one of confusion.

You wouldn’t know.

How you almost killed someone.

You nearly turned a mother with two kids into a cold corpse, without even realizing.

That utterly innocent gaze annoyed me for the first time.

Tia’s face began to twist.

“I-I’m sorry… Huh… Ugh! I’m sorry…”

Tears welled up in Tia’s eyes and started to pour out.

And she kept apologizing, saying she was sorry.

What did she even think she was sorry for?

The strength left my grip.

“Ah…”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Mommy! I’m so sorry…”

Only then did I realize the actions I had just taken.

I felt like dying.

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