Chapter 167

I was dreaming.

A dream where my Eomma left me behind.

“Eomma has to earn money, so you have to wait here nicely. Understand?”

It was a lie.

“I’ll earn lots of money and make our daughter live like a princess. I will definitely… come back for you….”

You liar.

“So, listen well to the priest and stay healthy. Understand?”

The dream of the day Eomma left me in the small mountain village and went away. For 10 years, a not-so-short time, she never sent a single letter.

Perhaps, she had forgotten about me.

As I watched her leaving figure, I cried.

Because I instinctively knew I would never see her again.

Unable to bear the sight of my only family leaving, I cried like a little child.

And that’s because I was just a little child.

When her figure disappeared from view, I turned around and opened the temple’s gate.

Because the only person I could rely on, being too young to survive alone, was the priest at the temple.

And what greeted my eyes as I opened the temple’s door was…

「Grrrrrrr….」

A huge silver dragon. Just its head.

My feet froze like stone upon seeing it, unable to move.

Not even a sound escaped my throat.

Like a frightened mouse before a great predator, I was paralyzed with fear.

The silver dragon slowly opened its eyes and stared at me with golden irises.

Its gaze pierced through me as if reading every weakness—how I shivered despite hating this small countryside but couldn’t leave it.

With an almost disdainful look, the dragon slowly spoke.

And then everything around me began to be sucked into the dragon’s pitch-black mouth—the trees, the temple, the sky, the ground, and even me.

And just like that, I woke up from the dream.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Hmm? Oh, you’ve woken up.”

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the giant dragon.

“D, D, D, DRAGON…!”

“Indeed. A dragon. Lately, I’ve rarely been in my true form, so I almost forgot myself, but yes, I’m a dragon.”

The dragon said something incomprehensible. Trying to distance myself, I scrambled backward on all fours.

But then…

“Don’t run. After waiting for you to wake up, it’d be rude to run now.”

“HIIIIIIEK?!”

In an instant, silvery chains wrapped around my hands and feet, immobilizing me completely.

“Are you going to eat me?!”

“Eat you? You?”

The dragon stared directly into my face and chuckled.

“Ho ho. What amusing talk. Eating someone as small as you wouldn’t even fill my stomach.”

“But… but, in stories, dragons…”

“I don’t know what kind of story you’ve read, but I won’t eat you.”

After saying that, the dragon continued to stare intently at me.

Is this really okay? But in stories, dragons are ferocious monsters who destroy villages with their massive size and deadly poison, killing many people. Yet this enormous dragon before me hasn’t swallowed me whole yet—it’s talking to me instead.

Can I trust it?

“Uh, um, do dragons… not eat people?”

“No need to worry. I don’t eat humans anyway. Besides, I can survive using magical power. Eating is more of a hobby than necessity.”

Is this real? Can I trust it? Is it luring me in just to gobble me up later?

No, probably not. If it wanted to eat me, it would’ve already done so by now.

After all, compared to this colossal dragon, I’m nothing but a tiny rat beastman.

“And by the way, how did you get in here? I sealed the entrance carefully; nothing should have been able to enter.”

“The entrance? Uh… there was a cave, and I squeezed through a small crack inside. Then the ground collapsed suddenly… I’m not sure exactly.”

“Hmm… a cave, huh? Did an earthquake create that hole?”

An earthquake?

“Come to think of it… there was a big earthquake a few weeks ago. Luckily no one got hurt, though…”

The hunter uncle complained about his cabin in the woods collapsing. So it must be true.

“Hmm. That makes sense. Let me check… how much time has passed?”

The dragon extended one of its front paws, and suddenly something massive appeared out of nowhere on its paw.

This… is it magic?

Dragons are known to breathe fire, a special kind of magic!

Wow… I’m witnessing real magic right before my eyes!

“Hmm. About 300 years have passed, it seems. Not quite the 500 years I planned for, but enough rest. Time to wake up.”

Saying that, the dragon made the object disappear, unfurled its tail covering its body, stood up on four legs, and spread its enormous wings.

Just spreading its wings created such a powerful gust that it nearly blew me off my feet. No matter how hard I tried to resist, I was tossed around like a leaf in the wind.

“Hmph. I’ve rested long enough. It’s been 300 years; I wonder how the world has changed.”

“Y-yes, sir…”

All I could do was speak as respectfully as possible.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Hmm, sorry about that. It’s been a while since I moved.”

Seeing me with cuts on my arms and knees from being blown by its wing flaps, the dragon looked somewhat troubled.

“I rarely appear in my true form these days. Let me heal your wounds.”

From the tip of the dragon’s front paw emanated a faint light that enveloped my body, and miraculously, the wounds vanished.

This… is it the healing spell the priest used before?

No, dragons aren’t supposed to use divine powers. Maybe it’s just some similar-effect magic.

Still… the effect was undeniable. My wounds healed instantly, faster than the priest’s spells ever did.

“Then let’s start moving. Little beastman, can you return home on your own?”

“Huh? Ah, no. It’s impossible. I barely know the way.”

I slipped down earlier; climbing back up would be impossible.

Even though I’m a rat beastman with a light body and surprising strength, scaling that steep slope again is out of the question!

“Hmm… that’s right!”

The dragon seemed to come up with a good idea and slightly curved its lips upward.

“I’ll send you back home.”

“Really?!”

“In exchange, I want you to guide me. I’ve grown curious to see the world from a human’s point of view.”

Guide…? Guide a dragon? Even the largest house in the village, the chief’s residence, looks smaller than the dragon’s claws! The entire village might fit inside this dragon!

I hesitated for a moment, but there was no other choice.

Without the dragon’s help, I’d never escape this place. Checking around using the light radiating from the dragon’s body, I found only the path I slipped down earlier.

Even if the village turns into chaos when the dragon arrives, I had no choice but to nod.

“If guiding you through my village is fine, I’ll show you around.”

“Hmph. Thank you. Looking down from above has gotten boring lately.”

For a dragon this large… it must observe the world from incredibly high skies.

The heavens where many gods reside and the skies this dragon flies in—where is higher?

Ah, thinking this way invites divine punishment. No, no, no.

“But about guiding you… isn’t your size… problematic?”

If you enter the village like that, it’ll likely be flattened.

Sure, I complain about living in a small rural village, but losing it entirely would be inconvenient!

“Of course there’s a way. Did you think I’d enter the village in this size?”

Yes.

(Though I didn’t say it.)

Didn’t it blow me away with its wing flaps earlier?! It hurt! It really hurt!

Though it healed me afterward…

“Before sleeping, I always took a human form. It’s familiar to me.”

At that moment, a blinding light burst forth from the dragon’s body.

My eyes! My eyes!!! It’s too bright!!!!

Already struggling in the dim cave lit only by the dragon’s faint glow, this sudden brightness was unbearable! My eyes!!! Ackkkk!

The light gradually faded over time.

And then…

“Hmph. This form is indeed more convenient.”

Standing where the dragon once was, a girl with horns on her head and silver hair now stood.

“Ho, uh… Dragon-sama…?”

“Hmm. Yes?”

Is this also a dragon’s magic?

Amazing… shrinking such a massive body like that!

“Well, then… shall we go?”

The dragon, now in human form, flicked her finger, and in an instant, the scenery around us changed.

From the dark cave illuminated only by the dragon’s faint glow to a familiar forest clearing.

This is… the forest behind the mountain?

“Eh, how did you do that?”

“Just teleported us. Now, please guide me. Oh, by the way… what’s your name?”

Oh, right. I haven’t introduced myself yet.

“Maybel. Maybel Sindar. And what should I call you, Dragon-sama?”

“Hmm… I have many names, but… hmm. Call me Tiamat. No one uses this name anymore, and since I am a dragon, it fits.”

Tiamat? Such a strange name.

“Then… I’ll call you Tia. I’ll guide you to the village.”

Thus, I set off toward the village with the dragon in the form of a girl, Tiamat.