There’s No Way I Can Raise a Dragon Daughter

“Ugh… mmm…”

It was a drowsy wake-up.

Tia, who opened her eyes, had trouble breathing because her nose was congested and kept blowing it.

Eventually giving up, Tia sniffed and sat up.

Her eyes hurt so much.

“Ugh…”

Tia looked around and soon made a pouting face.

Mom was gone.

No matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find her.

It was a common occurrence.

Mom was always busy.

And yet, this empty feeling never seemed to get used to.

“Huh…”

Sadness surged up suddenly.

She didn’t know why.

It had long been forgotten in her sleep.

It was a moment when she was about to burst into tears.

Creeeek…

“Mmm?”

The door slowly opened.

A foot from the outside seemed to try to slip in but, sensing the presence, quickly withdrew.

Just from the shadow cast inside, she could tell.

It was Mom.

Just as Tia was about to rush over and hug her, she froze in place.

What peeked through the door wasn’t her mom but a strangely shaped doll.

It had a bird’s beak but a long body that looked very peculiar.

“T-Tia…”

“Mom?”

“Uh, I’m not Mom.”

“Mmm?”

The doll, hiding its face behind it, wobbled in and mimicked the penguin’s walk.

Even in that moment, her face was flushed with embarrassment.

When they bought the doll and arrived home, she had definitely planned to just throw it aside, saying it was old or sometimes found.

But hearing Tia’s sniffles through the door made her unable to do so.

Tia tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why Mom was acting like that.

“Ah, hello. I’m a penguin.”

“……”

The small wings of the penguin doll flapped.

But when Tia didn’t respond for a while, Julia’s face peeked out from behind the doll and quickly hid back.

Tia was just stunned, unable to understand the situation.

“Mom has something to say. Will you listen?”

“Uh, yeah! Yes! I want to listen!”

Only then did Tia realize that the penguin was speaking.

Thinking that if she didn’t respond, Mom might turn around and leave like this, she shouted desperately.

Then the doll slid down, revealing Julia’s face.

Julia’s face had turned so red that it reached her ears, and she couldn’t meet Tia’s gaze.

It was still because she didn’t have enough courage.

“T-Tia, I have something to say.”

“Huh…”

“Um, ah? Ah?”

The moment their eyes met, tears suddenly streamed down Tia’s face.

She remembered everything that had happened before she fell asleep.

Mom had gotten angry.

It wasn’t a playful anger nor exaggerated.

The reason was unknown, but it was clear that she had done something wrong.

Tia could only think that way.

And when she recalled Mom’s tearing voice and the rough hands that clutched at her collar, she could not hold back her tears any longer.

However, no matter how much she cried, the suffocating feeling in a corner of her heart remained.

“Meeeow!”

“……”

Julia threw the doll aside and rushed over to hug Tia.

This time there was no hesitation or reluctance.

Tia buried her nose in Mom’s warm embrace and inhaled her scent.

And then, she let it all out, tears and snot, burying her face in Julia’s chest.

Yet, Julia wordlessly held Tia tightly and stroked her back.

That wasn’t the gaze she remembered.

That wasn’t the face that had been scary.

Mom was still Mom.

She didn’t hate her.

With that sense of relief, tears streamed down endlessly.

“Mom, you don’t hate Tia, right? You don’t, do you?”

“Of course not. How could a mom hate Tia? I love you so much. I would never hate you.”

“Meeow…”

“I’m sorry, Tia. I got scared and yelled at you… and got angry… I’m so sorry. Really sorry.”

Julia seemed to be choking on her breath as well.

Even now, Tia was not resenting Mom but was afraid of being hated by her.

That was everything.

For Tia, Mom, who was the whole world, turning her back was scarier than anything else.

“Here, will you take this?”

“Ugh. What is this…?”

“It’s a penguin, Uncle. How is it? It’s soft, right?”

“Umm… is it Tia’s?”

“Yep. It’s Tia’s.”

“……”

Tia accepted the doll her mom offered and hugged it tightly.

It seemed to faintly smell like Mom.

She liked it very much.

After a while of hugging the doll tightly, Tia looked up again.

Julia was glancing at Tia, as if she had something to say.

“Tia, actually…”

There was something that needed to be explained.

She had to say it to ensure Tia wouldn’t hurt anyone else again.

Before long, Tia stopped crying and focused on Julia’s lips, following their movements.

At that moment, Julia realized.

It was the first time she was having a proper conversation with Tia.

It was the first time they were looking at each other properly.

The moment she felt that Tia was indeed a separate individual, the breath that had been blocked surged forth, and words that she didn’t know how to start flowed smoothly.

.

.

.

Clack, clack.

The sound of shoes echoed in the dark alley.

A figure wearing a fedora abruptly stopped its steps.

From the darkness, something unfamiliar wriggled.

“Hero.”

“……”

The leopard immediately turned around and began to walk in the opposite direction.

What had suddenly emerged from the darkness persistently called out Hero and followed him closely.

A silver cross peeked out from his collar and glimmered with light.

“Hero, where are you going? The shelter is this way.”

“I know. Seeing your face makes me feel uneasy, so I’m going for a stroll before heading back.”

“That’s quite rude. I came to find you because I have something to discuss.”

“Then, wouldn’t it have been better to knock on the door when I was there? Why hide in the shadows?”

“I wasn’t hiding…”

Upon seeing the priest’s aggrieved expression, the leopard couldn’t help but exhale in disbelief.

It seemed that even his habits had settled completely in the shadows.

The leopard took a deep breath.

The dagger raised in the church became quite repulsive and nauseating, but now it was a colleague he was working with.

It was one thing to avoid him, but since that had been happening repeatedly, these days he had been bothering him like a stalker.

“Shall we get going soon?”

“Why would I?”

“Why, you ask? We must find the Holy Maiden.”

“I still have things to deal with here.”

“What exactly are you talking about? Is it because of that writer?”

“That mouth…!”

Unable to hold it in any longer, the leopard’s hand shot out.

His grip pressed against the priest’s mouth, almost crushing his jaw, but then suddenly released its strength.

The corners of the priest’s eyes were smiling.

Feeling suddenly angry, the hero wiped his hand on his clothes and stepped back.

“Watch your mouth. I’ll break it.”

“Hero, I need to clarify something. That woman is not the Holy Maiden. I verified it.”

“Verified? What do you mean by that?”

“I cut her finger, and the wound did not heal. If you’re suspecting that woman, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“……”

The wound didn’t heal.

Whatever sort of trick was involved, it seemed that Julia had successfully deceived this priest.

The leopard let out a scoff, mocking the priest.

It was unlikely that Julia would ever be suspected of being the Holy Maiden again.

“Wait.”

“What is it?”

“You cut Julia’s finger? Why?”

“I just sliced it for verification… It wasn’t a big wound…”

The leopard’s eyes, lost in reason, gradually drew closer.

The priest, cornered against the wall with nowhere to run, tightly shut his eyes.

If he answered that he accidentally cut her here, it would really feel like being beaten like a dog on a hot day.

“What was that woman to make the hero this attached?”

What in the world was so special about a lowly bar girl that the hero couldn’t let go of her?

Indeed, she was a woman of beauty that didn’t fit the lowly bar, with a certain poise and resilience.

But that was all the priest could perceive.

What exactly was special enough to please the hero remained a mystery.

Perhaps 50 years would shift a man’s taste in women considerably.

“Let’s focus on the task at hand, Hero.”

“Hey, you little punk. Are you implying that I’m slacking off?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“I’ll handle everything myself. Got it?”

“……Understood.”

The priest hung his head low, responding weakly.

The hero didn’t seem interested in looking for the Holy Maiden at all.

That was just another confirmation of the fact.

How strange.

When they had initially requested help in searching for the Holy Maiden, he had readily accepted.

Compared to that moment, the hero seemed like a completely different person now.

“Oh. Hero.”

“Hah…”

Just as he was about to pass the priest, a voice called out to him once more, grabbing his attention.

Even after all those hints, were they still trying to rush him?

With clenched fists, the leopard turned back to look.

“I found him. The apprentice priest.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“The apprentice priest who lived in the burnt-out village. He vanished without a trace but was found quite far away. They say he might know the face of the Holy Maiden and the name she’s currently using.”

“Really…?”

The hero pretended to scratch his mouth and subtly covered his lips with his hand.

A man who knew the face of the Holy Maiden.

Before something odd occurred, it might be best to keep his mouth shut.

Thinking that, the leopard bit down on his lip.

“Where is that guy now?”

The corner of the leopard’s eyes momentarily twisted.

And in that fleeting moment, the priest caught on swiftly.

“I will guide you…”

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