Dragon Bloodline

Chapter 45 The Dragon

What were Dragons? The strongest existences.

Not living things. Existences. In other words, they had power that exceeded spirits and gods.
Created from the world itself, they overthrew the gods that ruled over everyone. Beings that could destroy the world.
And yet, those beings protected the world.

Originally, those beings sided with neither humans nor the demon tribe. That was the Dragons.
When they rarely appeared in history, they were pests that destroyed human countries.
In most cases, though they were problems for humans…

However.
Vargas doubted if something that strong could really exist.
He’d fought Sub-Dragons like Flying Dragons and Earth Dragons many times. And nowadays, excepting very old Sub-Dragons, he could defeat them without much trouble.
In addition, he had reliable comrades. The comrades he’d fought together with for ten years, as well as the newbies, they were very reliable.
No matter what kind of demon it was, he believed that with his comrades, they would be able to win by fighting.

Their opponent was a very young Dragon.
Ten meters long, it was even smaller than a still-growing Earth Dragon.
Therefore, he made light of it.
Not killing each other. Even its condition to fight was that.

He didn’t take it seriously. He was foolish.

“Oooo~w!”
Receiving Vargas’ greatsword, the Dragon counterattacked with its tail.
The counter was a reflex from the pain. Therefore, it wasn’t able to hold back.
Vargas, who had properly strengthened himself to the limit with magic and Skills, was hit by the blow and went flying.
His armor creaked, his bones broke, and his internal organs were shredded.

“Ouch~! That hurt~!”
The Dragon noisily rolled around as it raged, flicking away all of the surrounding warriors.
Their magical defenses disappeared from the movements that looked pretty much like a temper tantrum.
Their physical defenses, strengthened by Skills, were like sheets of paper.
No one died, though that was likely due to luck.

The ones left safe were the mages, Shar, Mal, and Shizuna. Rudolph too.
It the members weren’t wearing strong metal armor, they would have died instantly.

Recovery magic was sent to the warriors that sustained severe injuries.
As for those who stood up after recovering, it was only Vargas.

“Uuu~, ooow~”
Likely due to subsiding the pain from raging around for a while, the Dragon plopped its belly on the ground.
Then, it finally noticed the situation around it. It spoke with an embarrassed voice.
“I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
The mages who were giving treatment were amazed at how worried its voice sounded.
Ria was the only person fired up.
“As expected, want to fight with me?”
“Don’t wanna. Too painful.”
If you looked at the place Vargas drove his whole body’s strength into, the scales were cracked. But that was all. He hadn’t reached flesh at all.
“It really was an accident, no one died right?”
Kyoro? The Dragon tilted its head. Seriously, such a human action. It was pretty cute. Even though it was large, it seemed like a small animal.
While Ria also helped out recovering the warriors, it kept peeping on the situation.

Everyone finally regained their senses, lining up in front of the Dragon.
The fight was left as completed. Mainly because it didn’t look like they’d be able to win.
“Hey, Dragon-san. Are all Dragons as strong as you?”
“I’m the same as a growing Dragon. Dragon children are usually weaker.”
Its tone was friendly. Maybe due to the fight?
Taking a good look, it really was a cute Dragon. Its nose was round and had button eyes.
“And you’re not the usual?”
The Dragon nodded at Vargas’ question.
“Since my father is Clarice-chan and my mother is Valis-chan, I was born strong.”
They hear a marvelous thing.
Who was Clarice? The Golden Dragon, Clarice. Who was Valis? Undoubtedly the Dark Dragon, Valis.
Dark Dragon Valis was its mother.

Mother?

That incongruency threw off all of them, forgetting they were in the presence of a Dragon of elite lineage.
Casalia Kingdom’s Founder Leyte Anaia was a woman. There was no doubt about that. Portraits and sculptures remain.
She became Dark Dragon Valis’ wife, giving birth to the child who became the king of the second generation. It wasn’t a legend, it was written in the history books. The person in question had left words about it, too.
“Valis-sama was my only husband.”
It had properly remained in the public records.

Ria was the one to ask.
“Can I have a moment?”
“Ah— yes.”
Maybe it was still afraid? The Dragon used polite speech for Ria.
“The Dragon named Valis is beyond here?”
“Dragons don’t generally have names. To associate with humans, we do accepts names though.”
The answer differed a little from the question.
“Well, the Dragon that is called the Dark Dragon Valis by humans, that is your mother?”
“That is correct.”
“But my ancestor’s father was Dark Dragon Valis.”
“What’s strange about that?”
The Dragon once again tilted its head. Was it aiming for something? Being so cute.
“Because, if that’s how it is, the Dark Dragon Valis is both a father and a mother.”
“So your ancestor was produced as a father, then I was given birth as a father.”
The Dragon said something odd in a tone that seemed natural.
Then, Serge came up.
“You know, Nee-chan.”
Despite having the smallest body, he was probably the brightest of them. His way of thinking could leap ahead.
“Maybe Dragons are hermaphroditic creatures?”
“””Ooh!”””
Everyone called out in amazement.
Hermaphroditic. In other words, it had both a penis and a vagina.
“Is that it!?”
“Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
They didn’t get the Dragon’s approval.
“So in order to get the Golden Dragon’s bloodline to make me, he turned from a man into a woman to be a mother and father.”
“Are you a clown fish!?”
Though it was Serge’s turn to shout this time, only Ria understood what he was talking about.
Ria, who had seen government broadcasts from her previous life, knew about it.
Clown fish changed genders depending on their environment to make children. That much be it.
“Aaaaaah!”
Then, Ria understood.
She cried out involuntarily.
“I see, so it was something like that…”
She fell to her knees. She understood. Why had she reincarnated as a woman?
Why had she reached fourteen years old without menstruating? She understood.
This body that looked like a woman wasn’t actually female.
“Kuaaah!”
She stood up. Even the members who were accustomed to Ria’s eccentric actions hadn’t seen her like this up to now.
Ria turned towards the Dragon, looking at it with a serious expression.
“Hey, by some chance, are all Dragons usually female?”
“Of course that’s—… ah, are humans different? Looks different.”
Dragon-sans were all female.
“H-how do they become male!?”
“Eh, I don’t know. I still can’t breed.”
Ria fell to her knees again. However, it seemed an answer was near.
A faint laugh leaked from her lips.
“Let’s go! A little more! I can do it!”
She vigorously stood up. Her ups and downs couldn’t be followed by anyone else.
“I want to talk to Dark Dragon Valis! Now! Open the gate!”
“Ah— yes.”
While overawed, the Dragon uttered an incantation.