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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Hero is My Father
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“My goodness, look at the young lady.”
“Sitting there so pitifully…”
The maids spoke about me as I sat with my back to them, looking sullen.
They were trying to whisper amongst themselves, but there was no way their words wouldn't reach the ears of a great dragon like me.
“My heart just aches whenever I see her.”
“I know, right? I wish there was some way to show her affection, but…”
Get lost.
I don’t need it.
“Her temper is just so foul.”
“She starts screaming the moment you get close.”
That’s right. I have a foul tem—wait, that sounds like an insult.
I whipped my head around to glare at the maids who had been talking.
“You two.”
I pointed two fingers at my own eyes, then at them.
“You’d do well to shut your mouths. I can hear everything.”
“Gasp!”
The chattering maids clamped their mouths shut, their shoulders hunched.
Still, they continued to whisper, saying things like, ‘How did she hear that?’ and ‘Her hearing must be incredible.’
Humans. Do not underestimate the hearing of a dragon.
I am a great Black Dragon! As if I couldn't hear the whispers of insignificant humans!
‘…is what I’d like to say.’
But right now, I wasn’t a dragon. I was a five-year-old child.
Saying anything more wouldn't solve a thing, so I just snorted and turned my head away. I stared intently out the window. It was about time for ‘him’ to arrive.
“Oh my!”
“My lady! The master has arrived!”
As if on cue, everyone announced that he was here. I shot up from my seat and hurried over to the window.
Even from a distance, his brilliant blond hair was unmistakable. A man with a chiseled, handsome face and a sturdy build entered the estate, leaning on a cane with his left side.
He limped slightly on his left leg, but it was barely noticeable unless one’s senses were exceptionally sharp.
My eyes glinted as I watched him, determined not to miss a single move he made.
“My lady… To think she already adores her father so much.”
I don’t adore him. I despise him with every fiber of my being.
“The poor thing…”
Don’t pity me.
My rage meter is about to max out.
Why am I so angry, you ask?
Because, obviously…!
“My lady, the Hero has arrived!”
That man is the very Hero who sealed me away!
And that’s not all.
“Shall we go greet him now? Your father is here.”
As fate would have it, the Hero was this body’s father.
“I won’t go! I’d rather die! I hate iiiit!”
I’m so angry, so very angry!
***
I am a dragon.
There are only five of us in the entire world. Surprising, isn't it?
But the surprises don’t end there.
For I am not one of those five dragons. I am a dragon beyond measure.
Dragons, believed to be shards of a god, are each guardians of an empire.
But I am no shard, and I don’t even know how I came to be. Thus, I was no guardian.
I was a calamity.
A calamity that no one could stop.
Seluseu, the Great Calamity.
That is the name they called me.
Not a single blade of grass was left where I passed, and nothing could stand in my way.
Humans, non-humans, even the five other dragons tried to stop me, but it was all in vain. Just as my name suggested, I was a calamity.
I thought I would live that way forever.
That is, until the Hero, Heros Akion, appeared.
—Die, Calamity.
—Die, Calamity.
What nonsense was this weak human spouting?
I figured if I fought him half-heartedly, as I had with all the others, he would give up and scram on his own. But…
—Ugh!
—Ugh!
The Hero was stronger than I expected.
—Hey, wait, just a moment, Hero!
—Hey, wait, just a moment, Hero!
—Die.
—Die.
The Hero stabbed my left eye.
My left eye, where my core, my only weakness, was located.
How did the Hero know about this? No one was supposed to know…!
I knew I had to stop him somehow, but I couldn't control my crumbling body. My knees slowly gave way, and my mouth was forced shut. My wings were riddled with holes, rendering me unable to fly.
—…It was a difficult battle.
—…It was a difficult battle.
The Hero said, pointing his sword at me.
—It ends now.
—It ends now.
I cannot die here.
I cannot die like this!
—Screeeech!
—Screeeech!
I thrashed about with all my remaining strength.
The Hero, likely exhausted from our long battle, didn't kill me. Instead, he chose the next best thing.
—You will not awaken for a thousand years.
—You will not awaken for a thousand years.
He sealed me away.
—When you awaken, my descendant will be there to end you.
—I’ll kill you, Hero! I will kill you! I will kill you without fail!
—I’ll kill you, Hero! I will kill you! I will kill you without fail!
But my cries never reached him. I was sealed away completely.
Why?
What did I do wrong?
Because I was a calamity?
Because of a divine prophecy that I would bring about the world's destruction?
I was simply born this way. What more was I supposed to have done?
It's unfair, so unfair! Unfair, I tell you…!
My cries became mere echoes, and finally, my eyes closed.
I thought I was doomed to be sealed for a thousand years.
But then…
“…”
“M-My lady?”
When I opened my eyes, I was at what looked like a funeral.
And I was a small child, lying in a coffin.
“T-T-The young lady is alive!”
“Call a physician, now!”
I had entered the body of a dead child.
“Your Excellency! The young lady is alive!”
And not just any child, but the youngest daughter of the Hero who had sealed me away.
