Chapter 250 - Another Beginning — Face to Face

A perfectly ordinary afternoon.

I made my usual trip to Nanahoshi's laboratory.

Knock knock.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in."

I walked in.

Nanahoshi was holding a stack of documents. She handed them directly to me.

So thick...

"What's this?"

"Experiment report."

"...What do you want me to do with it?"

Nanahoshi's face was expressionless.

"Just take a look."

"? No thanks..."

I walked to the desk and set the documents down. They landed with a thud.

"Any progress on the Dragonoid potion?"

Nanahoshi nodded, then sat down beside me.

"Yeah."

In recent years, she'd tried practically every method she could think of. The potion's effects kept improving, but something was always missing, like a puzzle forever short one piece, never quite complete.

"I reorganized all the data from these years," Nanahoshi said. "I finally found a problem."

"What problem?"

"The sample."

I blinked.

"The sample?"

"Right."

Nanahoshi flipped open the documents and pointed to a few pages.

"I've always used my own blood."

"Mm... Huh? You've been using your own blood this whole time?"

"Relax, I'm perfectly fine."

"Alright then..."

Nanahoshi cleared her throat.

"I overlooked one thing."

"What?"

"I'm not a true dragon."

The room went quiet.

Nanahoshi continued. "A Dragonoid is ultimately a hybrid of dragon and human. On top of that, I became a Dragonoid by drinking a potion — the essence is too different. And we don't even know which dragon's blood went into making this so-called Dragonoid potion in the first place."

She drew a circle on the paper with her pen.

"If the key factor exists only in true dragon blood, then I'll never be able to find it."

I rubbed my chin.

"So what you're saying is..."

Nanahoshi looked up.

"I need dragon blood."

"Oh."

"Blood from all kinds of dragons."

"Hm?"

"Every species."

"..."

It finally clicked.

"Every single one?"

"Every single one."

"Do you have any idea how many dragon species exist in this world?"

"That's why you have to help me."

Nanahoshi said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. As if this were perfectly normal.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm not exactly free these days."

"What do you have going on?"

"Spending every day with my wives and kids."

"Heh... Don't worry, it won't take that long."

"Why do you say that?"

"We have Teleportation Magic. You can go home every day. It's just that the time you used to spend fooling around with me in the lab will go toward hunting dragons instead."

"..."

Nanahoshi spread a map across the desk. It was already covered in markings.

"Azure Dragon, Frost Dragon, Crimson Dragon, Thunder Dragon, Earth Dragon, and other known species."

"Whoa... What are these down here?"

"Legendary dragons. I asked Orsted — he confirmed they exist."

"They exist? Then why are they legendary?"

"If even Orsted can't find them, what else would you call them?"

"...Where's your first stop?"

Nanahoshi pointed at the map.

I leaned in. The Demon Continent, huh. We could get there instantly with Teleportation Magic, there was a teleportation circle there.

"When do we leave?"

Nanahoshi visibly froze for a moment.

"You agreed?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because it's a hassle."

"True."

"And we'll have to run all over the world."

"Also true."

"Then why did you agree?"

I thought about it for a moment.

"Because you rarely ask me for help. And you're doing this for me. Besides, what you said earlier is right — it's just taking the time I used to spend in the lab and using it to go find dragons with you. The time I spend with my family won't change."

Nanahoshi was quiet for a moment.

Then she gave a soft laugh. "Mm. Then it's settled. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. You're doing this research for me."

"Heh~ Don't flatter yourself. I'm very selfish."

I know Nanahoshi too well. If I didn't help, she'd find a way on her own. And that would only cause more trouble. Better to just go with her directly. There wasn't any real danger, anyway. At my current level, no dragon could threaten me. They might be dragons, but in my eyes they were no different from wild beasts.

The only concern was time with my family. But just like Nanahoshi said, I was only swapping lab time for dragon-hunting time. Nothing would change.

So that was that.

--------

Evening.

At the dinner table, I spoke up.

"For the next while, I'll be going out with Nanahoshi in the afternoons to search for dragons."

The room went quiet.

Sylphiette blinked. "Is it a trip?"

"It's work."

Roxy took a sip of tea. "The Dragonoid potion?"

"Mm."

Aisha laughed. "With Miss Nanahoshi, huh~"

"...Your tone is weird, Aisha."

"It's nothing, Brother~"

"It's definitely something."

Eris, for her part, didn't care at all. "When will you be back?"

"Every day, same as always. The only difference is that lab time becomes dragon-hunting time."

"Oh! That's fine then! Hey, Rudeus, once you find a dragon, what do you do with it? Do you cut it down? I want to come too!"

As Eris said that, Windsor's eyes lit up as well.

Not a bad idea, honestly.

I nodded. "Let me find them first. Once I do, I'll bring Eris along."

"Oh!"

Windsor glanced left, then right. Finally, she couldn't hold back.

"Dad, I want to try fighting a dragon too."

"Of course. Once we find one, Red Mama and Windsor can come together."

Windsor nodded, satisfied, and went back to eating.

Just then, Tina raised her hand.

"Dad!"

"Hm?"

"Are you going to fight dragons?"

"That's right."

"Then bring me back a dragon fang!"

"Why?"

"It just feels really cool! I want to bring it to school and show Cleyb. I heard boys love that kind of thing!"

"...I'm not bringing you one."

"Whyyy~ Please, Dad~"

"Fine, fine..."

Cliff... your son is way too much...

I was already thinking about when I'd need to sit down with Cliff and have a talk about the kids, when Lucy spoke up, her voice serious.

"Dad. Stay safe."

"Don't worry."

Windsor nodded along. "Dad is the strongest mage."

For some reason, being trusted that much by my eleven-year-old daughter made the pressure worse, not better.

And Lara...

Lara was wearing that familiar, odd little smile.

"Have fun~"

"...Why do you say that?"

"Ah~ It just feels like it'll be interesting~ And Dad will bring me along someday."

"You saw it?"

"Mm. But it's still a ways off~"

Never mind. I won't ask.

After filling in Lily and Sieg as well, the dragon-hunting journey with Nanahoshi was officially settled.

➤ Next: The Dragon Hunt Arc, Part One