Chapter 57 - Howl (8) (2/2)

Things and people you don’t want to lose.

Such a daunting image ran through my mind in an instant.

I wasn’t sure how long had passed.

When I realized it, I was lying on the ground.

I was on top of Aoi, who had returned to human form for some time. I think I blacked out for a bit.

“Gah, uuhhh….?”

I picked my body up.

The burnt areas were stiff and it was physically hard to move.

It took a few seconds to remember that I fell down.

“Uuuhh… Kunpe…sa…”

Aoi groaned with a frail voice.

Black burn marks covered her body, it was extremely painful to look at.

The wounds were slowly healing while emitting red smoke.

“I’m alive?”

You’re kidding.

Even though I already thought I was done for.

Why am I alive?

I opened my hands and stared at them.

The countless wounds on my palms were slowly healing.

The red smoke that I thought was coming out of Aoi’s body seems to be mixing with me.

Was this because I became a dragon?

“A-Ai…?”

A sorrowful voice.

When I looked up, Yule was standing still in a daze.

“Huh? What did I… do…?”

Light was lost from Yule’s eyes, who was looking at the unconscious Aoi.

I forcibly turned my neck to see the situation at the nest.

I was relieved to find my father hugging the twins with a blue face.

Did that Alba guy properly protect them?

I heard crying.

The sound that echoed from far away reverberated in both my ears.

Jaja and Nana were crying.

That’s no good.

At this rate, we will all be unhappy.

That cry was a fearful cry.

It was not the usual hungry cry.

It was not a call for warmth.

That was a voice that was crying for fear of losing, a little heart that was afraid.

Think.

What should I do?

I am not doing anything.

I came all this way because I didn’t want to heart that cry, didn’t I?

That’s right.

I still haven’t told Yule anything.

I have to tell her my true intentions.

I forcibly moved my aching body and got up, and staggered towards Yule.

“… what in the… Ai…”

A trickle of tears ran down her cheeks from her eyes that were wide open.

The ‘mother’ is crying because she cannot accept what she did.

This person is surely thinking too much.

Dragon King of the Sky.

Arbitrator of the skies.

What is it?

This person is a “mother”.

It was only a ‘mother’ who thought of a child, no matter what their title, no matter how long they live, and if he had the power to transcend living creatures.

“Yule…san”

She slowly looked at me.

“…Ah, I just wanted to protect Ai and those children … even though I just wanted to protect them.”

The dignity of the king of the sky was nowhere to be found in that frail figure.

“Why… this kind of thing…”

“Mother…”

Aoi spoke from behind me.

“Mother… I’m fine… so please. Don’t make that face.”

I stopped and looked back.

Aoi stood up holding her body.

The wounds on her body were mostly healed.

My wounds still haven’t healed yet, so that’s the resilience of a real dragon.

“Calm down an listen.”

Aoi looked at Yule with a strong gaze.

“Ai…”

Yule was flustered and took a step back.

“… It would have been over if it wasn’t you.”

“Uuu..”

Yule silently trembled from my words.

“If we were driven this far by someone other than you, not only me and Aoi, but Jaja and Nana would be done for as well.”

That’s right.

Being afraid of that scenario is what we have in common with Yule.

“We’re weak. We can’t win against you even when you’re riddled with wounds and can’t make rational judgments, so it’s normal for you to worry.”

“…that’s why!”

“That’s why!!!”

I cut Yule off and continued speaking.

The only thing I can do right now is to tell you.

“… We’ll receive help. There are still a lot of things that we’re lacking, so I can’t fill it right away and have to get help. So I’ll bow as many times as I have to. You can laugh at me. I want to stay with them, so it doesn’t matter even if I’m laughed at.”

I slowly got down on my knees.

“I look very tiny and unreliable to you. I know. I’m aware. That’s why…”

I placed my hands on the ground.

“Please help.”

And then I put my head on the ground.

“Y-you…”

“Kunpei-san…”

I could hear Yule’s confused voice and Aoi’s trembling voice.

“When we make a mistake, when all is hopeless, when we have no way forward or back. At that time, please help us.”

I kept my head down.

I can hear footsteps.

I heard crying.

My father seems to have brought the kids.

“Please help your daughter and your grandchildren. I don’t mind if you abandon me. Please somehow protect your ‘jewels’.”

I don’t know if this figure is something the twins would be proud of.