Vol 1 Chapter 2 (2/2)

Three people were lying in beds

One male birdkin and two male beastkins The birdkin’s foot had started to become necrotic, but thankfully it hadn’t been torn off

(… Noric should be fine)

Checking the three men’s injuries, Ilya determined so

Though it was iic even if it caused others to becorateful for this miscalculation

“Ria, please clear everyone out of here”

“Un, leave it to me!”

Entrusting it to her to usher everyone from the second floor’s hallway and into the eatery, Ilya closed all of the room’s curtains and concentrated on their treatment

Taking down the [God King Barrier], she began the recovery ic’s chant

“—Light of recovery, sweep away the darkness of destruction—”

Interchangeable with the top ranked fire-type healing ic–

“—Healing Light”

Ato the bodies of the three people

Light concentrated on the parts where they ounded The sphere of light disappearing before long and the light covering the three softened

With not even a single scar able to be found in the places the light disappeared, the treatment ended successfully

Putting off restoring their physical and ic for now, Ilya went down to the first floor after putting the barrier back up to explain the situation

“What did that…”

It was unusual for her to directly speak her thoughts

“Ilya, did it go well!?”

“Ah, un It’s alright”

Not just Ria, but everyone gathered in the hall appeared relieved

Usually, she would find so ht now she was far fro about that

“That, there… how…?”

Following her gaze, it was the large egg about the size of a basketball

Ria answered her question while stroking the egg

“Ah, this egg? Those three froht it I wonder if they were attacked by this thing’s parents whileit…”

“That’s… I don’t think so…”

Due to her skill, she knew the egg’s naon God]

Who was the Dragon God? It was the alias held by the ruler of the skies, a descendant of God with a dragon element What was a divine beast that was a Godlike beast? It itself was a special God, soainst

Then, given the ability of those three from before, they would have easily been turned to cinders the moment they tried to steal it

Stifling a sigh that was about to come out at the evident trouble, Ilya turned to Ria

“Those three’s registration cards?”

“I’ve held on to them Here”

“Thanks”

That the three belonged to the uild was marked on them

She saw that they had accepted a deation commission, as well as the aation they’d achieved

(They happened to just find the egg by chance… maybe?)

Though that was the greatest possibility, in that case, how did a Dragon God that should have been in the Heaven Palace drop the egg? It was a complete mystery

At any rate, although it was unfortunate for the three that carried it to the point they were injured, they couldn’t afford to sell off the egg

(If things go poorly a city could perish Ahaha…)

Now that she’d decided to deal with the egg, she noticed the gazes froement, Ilya informed them

“PostponeDesiree-san”

“Yes~”

“The coistered for, could you look into it please?”

“Goooot it”

“Ria, since I’ for me?”

“Got it!”

Ilya i on Frank’s private room

“Branch Manager, please wake up”

The door opened before long with Frank appearing, not wearing his uniform and still afflicted by bedhead

His appearance irl, or maybe have made her heart throb, but with her previous life’s memories she would never be perturbed by it

“… What is it?”

“I need to consult so with you”

In order to explain the current circumstances with Frank, she opened her mouth

Just then

“Ilya—!”

Ria’s shout echoed through the Branch

Apologizing to Frank, she immediately headed downstairs

“What’s wrong?”

Ria looked around in silence towards Ilya’s question

On the Dragon God Egg

Tiny cracks ran along the rainbow-reflecting oval-shaped egg

It shook Each time it did so, the cracks would extend and the shell would peel off little by little

“Pi”

“Hiii-!”

Surprised, Ria clung to Ilya

Though she would have separated her froht now she didn’t have the composure to do so

In order for eggs of naons to hatch, they needed to absorb the appropriate elements

For Flaons, the Fire Drake for exaons the eleantic translucent stone called a Crystal Pillar for each eleet the wind element fro in the sky After that, the Heavenly Palace would absorb each of the other ele around the world

Towards dragons whose upper li all attributes syon God

Consequently, though the Dragon God’s egg was finally hatching after absorbing enough elements of all attributes, there weren’t any Crystal Pillars of any attribute near Lunéville either Although fragments of Crystal Pillars exist everywhere as buildups ofelements from those buildups wasn’t as effective

That’s why Ilya couldn’t

(Theelements… main cause?)

While thinking, she came up with a possibility

“Sorry Ria, I need to return to my room for a moment”

“D-don’t go, Ilya!”

“It’s alright It’s a Dragon’s egg, not a demon’s You won’t suddenly be attacked, unless maybe its parents see you and misunderstand”

Several people becaons

Many Flying Dragons and Land Dragons accompanied animal trainers, so people were relatively fas, not ons other than Flying Dragons and Land Dragons was difficult, requiring e

(Only since it’ll be troublesome this time, I should probably stop it)

In order to prevent confusion, she didn’t speak her thoughts Having now returned to her room, Ilya suddenly threw open the

Then, she looked towards the sky and used [Clairvoyance]

However, she didn’t see the Heavenly Palace’s landmark or a mass of cumulonimbus clouds at Rondéville

Continuing to look search after that, she found the Heavenly Palace about four countries away in the skies above Tekyareru Desert She thought that the cause of it hatching was due to the Heavenly Palace or cuuess was off

Now that it cas that couldn’t absorb enough ele midway

If its child suffered on God would naturally be in a rage

(I wonder if it can be stopped without killing it… No, it’s no good to abandon hope)

It h elements

However, when her eyes looked at the egg with [Clairvoyance] again, there was soe

The [Presence Isolation] skill was used Two figures were secretly hiding by the building

Her eyes saw the [assassin] in their occupation columns

(It’d be fine if it turned out to not be so troublesome, but…)

As she headed down to the first floor while clinging to a shred of hope–

“Pi”

There was a hatchling Dragon with blue eyes and a pure white body when she returned

The current Dragon God that Ilya knew had jet black horns on its scarlet body, and since the Dragon had deep blue eyes, she couldn’t see any similarities However, it was clearly described in the occupation coluhtly surpassed other Dragons

“Ah, Ilya”

The hatchling, being gently patted by Ria, turned to face her at the same time

Then, an unexpected situation for her happened

“Pi!”

“Ah”

“Eh?”

The hatchling Dragon totteringly ran, ju into Ilya’s chest

Standing still so that she wouldn’t avoid it, she caught the hatchling head-on

It was a confusing turn of events, but the hatchling snuggled up to her with its whole body Its underdeveloped scales were smooth

(Its tongue is quite rough… wait, don’t lick me!)

Watching the pleasant scene, Ria spoke to Ilya

“Looks like you were just ion’s child”

“No way so like that…”

Dragons had the trait to ion God, but she heard that infore Ria as its parent, it appeared that it didn’t imprint on her

(… Is it because of the Dragon element?)

Since she possessed a higher rank of the Dragon ele probably mistook her for a comrade

Ilya, who inclined her head while thinking so, wasthat also inclined its head The surroundings rapped in a gentle atmosphere

“Ilya… you’ve settled down”

“Oh?”

You could say that, thought Ilya

Most things no longer surprised her since traveling throughout the world, and except being surprised at seeing insects she would never be flustered Above all, although this ti hatched safely She found that even its current status was stronger than the weaker species of Dragons

With its initial level and aood latent potential, it wasn’t underdeveloped at all Its potential seemed to be even better than its parent’s

(The Dragon God should be satisfied with this! That’s good, good)

With that, the immediate problem could be avoided

While stroking the curled up hatchling in her ar that lifted its head

“How about a meal for now?”

Ilya returned to her roo down the barrier

Dragons eat pure ical power

There were tays to send it ical poith body fluids like blood (this is what Dragon’s ic

Though she would i blood so she chose the latter

“—Red spirits of power, rage from the abyss Sharpen what is hard, deepen what is soft Give power to this person—”

Physical ability (brute strength, leg strength, and explosive strength’s overall value) were strengthened by this fire-type support ic

“—Reinforce”

“Pi!?”

Fed ’s body coical power Then, the eleic

(Nn? … Ah, I see)

Ilya had cootten

The cause for the hatchling to hatch It was—

(Probably because I used the healing ht)

The aht was probably enough for the hatchling to have absorbed

Still, the Tekyrareru Desert that the Heavenly Palace drifted to here the Crystal Pillar of Fire was Guessing by that, the Heavenly Palace likely went there to absorb elements of fire

“Kepu-”

The hatchling, unable to continue eating the ainst her Just then, there was a knock at her door

“Ilya, are you good for a moment?”

“Ah, Branch Manager By all means”

Restoring her barrier and opening the door, she invited Frank inside

“I roughly heard about it froon’s child”

“Though it’s hard to talk about, there’s so I need to tell you”

“I don’t mind”

“This child is the Dragon God’s offspring”

“…”

(Ah, he’s holding his head)

Understanding the situation the Branch was in froence became his enemy

Ilya decided to wait for hi, but it didn’t take him much time to recover

“… You’re certain?”

“Yes A hundred percent”

“I see… What should we do?”

H

Should she go to the Dragon God’s Heavenly Palace and return it after all? There was only tays to get there though

The first would be to fly there ind-type th of summoners or animal trainers

If it were the latter she’d have no choice but to hold a ritual at the Dragon King’s shrine Since perfor for rain, it wouldn’t give a good ion God In that case—

“There’s no choice but to go and return it”

“Put out a couild?”

“That’s right… I’d want the people who found it to bring it there since they are the ones responsible, but…”

“They’re still unconscious, huh”

“Yes There’s also the possibility that they brought it without knowing it was the Dragon God’s egg, too I can’t say anything without hearing their side of the story”

While they were having a serious conversation, the hatchling snuggled up to her while playing with its tail Atteripped her firo

“… It looks like it’s a good idea to leave the proble care of the child to Ilya”

“… It seems that way I understand”

When she gently stroked its head, it narrowed its eyes in comfort

Ilya stared outside the , letting out a single sigh

A horse was dancing in the air, with scale-like fur and a single heroic horn

In order to take care of the hatchling, Ilya was temporarily exempted from reception and kitchen duties

(… Ah, what a pure-white working environment)

Though Ilya was iiven leave for child-care, she braced herself and opened the door to the office

In order to avoid excessive risks, she avoided falling behind on developments

Desiree called out to her before Ilya even asked

“Ah, Ilya-chan I figured out where those three accepted the commission”

“Thank you very much As expected of Desiree-san You work quickly”

“I’m happy to be praised by Ilya-chan Well, those three accepted the commission from the shi+varémis Branch The town to the southeast of Filéamis”

“Do you knoho the client was?”

“Of course The couild in the shi+varémis Branch The contents of the commission was a Filéahound in the forest to the east of shi+varémis”

Speaking of the forest to the east of shi+varé its heat resistant special product, oranges It was no wonder that the trade guild sent out a coriculture guild

What Ilya thought incomprehensible hy those three purposely went to Lunéville with that commission

(… In the end, there’s no progress to beto the people in question, huh?)

“Pi~…”

Turning her gaze to the tiny voice, the hatchling’s legs were paddling in the air

(Sleeping?)

Holding the hatchling in her arms, Ilya bowed her head to Desiree

“Desiree-san, thank you for helping me with your precious time”

“No, no I’ to help you whenever”

Though Ilya’s hierarchical relationshi+p to her in the workplace was lower, Desiree didn’t appear to care about such things as she waved her hands Ilya let out a sigh for her workplace that was filled with such tolerant people, returning to her room on the third floor

As she was gently brushi+ng the hatchling laid on the bed, a knock sounded at the door Considering the speed and strength of the knocks, she guessed it wasn’t anything urgent

In fact, she didn’t see anything like impatience or discomfort in Elizah’s expression when she opened the door at like

“Ilya, they’re waking up”

“Un, I understand I’ll be there soon”

Standing up while holding the hatchling in her arms, she bent down to let it onto the bed However, the hatchling still held on, absolutely refusing to separate from Ilya

Reluctantly heading to the private roo, the otter beastkin was the only one awake

When Ilya entered the roo

“Do you hurt anywhere?”

“… No… where is—”

“This is Lunéville”

“Lunéville…?”

The beastkin knit his brows in puzzlement

“Aren’t you the one that came here?”

“Yes, I… r-right! Gaul and Ruben!?”

The otter beastkin, Teemo, raised his body in order to jump up

“Please be at ease Their wounds have also been healed They’re just resting right now”

“Is that… so… Thank you”

His strength left him when he heard they were safe Frank shook his head towards Tee his head deeply

“Don’t worry about it I want to hear so?”

“Dragon…? That was a Dragon egg!?”

Teemo’s eyes widened in surprise

“Did you ?”

Teely nodded towards Frank’s somewhat puzzled question

“… Yeah… After finding it, ere going to try and return to Willville to co we hadn’t seen before, we thought it h price”

“What was its surroundings like?”

“Surroundings, huh…?”

Teeht for Ilya’s question

Since he was overthinking it, she helped him out

“Soround, the weather… anything that you can remember”

“… The area, I don’t think there was anything in particular about it… ah, no, since it fell in a place that didn’t look like a nest, we thought it was strange As for the weather… sunny, no, maybe a little cloudy…”

“That’s enough Thank you for the help”

When Ilya bowed her head, Frank resu

“It ht be painful to remember… but were you attacked after that?”

“Yeah…”

“Did you see what it looked like?”

“Yes It was a horse that grew a horn Its fur was distinctive… it looked like scales”

Teemo’s words troubled Ilya, but she didn’t act on it since she was holding the hatchling

A horse that had scales and a horn could only be a Qilin [2]

(What is it doing in a place like this)

She knew one was in the skies above Rondéville, but she thought it was here to look for the hatchling However, hearing Teemo’s story, there were many contradictions

“Did the horse do this to all of you?”

She continued to listen in

“No Though it chased us, ere able to escape while barely dodging its attacks We got injured after that”

“Were you attacked by another horse?”

“No… it was a person”

Frank’s tension increased If so to anger the Dragon God Being stressed was natural

“Did you see the person?”

“… No, it was a surprise attack, so I couldn’t see much”

“… You did well to not lose the egg”

“That’s because we barely understood that the ene…”

Taking advantage of their opponent’s intentions, they successfully lead the attacks Making such a wise decision in a situation of life and death, Ilya sincerely admired them

“After that, ere only able to run towards the walls …”

“Is that so You worked hard”

Though Frank sent a glance to Ilya as he replied to hi

“Sorry you had to wake up so soon Take care of yourself”

“Ah, yeah… Really, thank you so much”

“No, you’re the one to thank Defending the Dragon God’s egg, I give you ratitude”

Hearing that it was the Dragon God’s egg, Teemo’s face paled

Even if they didn’t want to be involved in so, it was decent consideration

If the three people were thinking about the egg’s protection, they likely would have conveyed their intentions first

Even so, a respectable person wouldn’t have released the egg and place themselves above all else

(I don’t know if it’s too sudden… but with those three attacked, oal?)

Ilya sorted through the inforained

“Take care of yourself”

“Pi”

The hatchlingwith Ilya’s bow

Not that the hatchling understood it had received his protection However, thinking that the hatchling gave its thanks, even though Teehten up

Meanwhile, Frank and Ilya left the room and moved to the parlor on the third floor

“It looks like we escaped the worst-case scenario”

“It does, doesn’t it”

Ilya gave Frank’s weighty murmur the affiron God’s angerupon everyone

“What are your thoughts”

“It ht take a little while I’ll prepare some tea”

“Ah, alright”

Her leisurely behavior helped to ease Frank’s tension

As for Ilya, it was neither resignation nor bravado that she was taking her time She knew that it wouldn’t help to rush

Pouring the tea from the teapot into a cup, she placed it on a saucer and passed it to Frank

Seeing Frank settle down fro

“Does Branch Manager knohere the Dragon God lives?”

“No, I don’t”

“The Dragon God lives in an island that floats in the sky, called the Heavenly Palace”

“An island that floats…?”

“In the center of the island is a gigantic Crystal Pillar of Wind”

That the Crystal Pillar fell and was stolen, with Ilya becoon God when she retrieved it for her deed, she left out, continuing to speak without adding such a superfluous thing

“So,fell from the Heavenly Palace”

“Then how did the egg end up safe? … Ah, did you hear about the area?”

“Yes Even if some power came into play, I don’t believe it would be able to land safely without exerting sos”

Even if it didn’tsimilar should have happened Still, the possibility that the Heavenly Palance was related after hearing about the weather was low

“When the Heavenly Palace is in the sky overhead, it just looks like a huge rain cloud from the outside and can’t be seen It’s not weather that could be mistaken for sunny or cloudy”

“Then there’s no possibility that it fell…”

“Correct It’s likely that it was carried to that ground

Thus, Ilya had an idea of who the perpetrator was

“Why would they bring the egg to the ground?”

“Though I don’t knohy, at the very least I don’t think it holds any ill intent towards the egg”

“Why?”

“Though they mentioned a horned horse with scales, that horse is called a Qilin”

“Keerin…?”

“Yes It’s called a Mythical Beast, the Dragon God’s kin”

What was a Mythical Beast? The kin of a God Their existences weren’t entirely confirenerally descendants of Gods like the Dragon God and De between difference species

As for the Qilin, it was the child produced froon God and a horse beastkin Possessing the saical power due to its dragon eleon God and beastkin

“Due to it having a benevolent disposition, so long as it doesn’t get driven into a dangerous situation, it will not try to harm others Rather, it would sooner hurt itself than injure an enemy”

“Then ere they attacked by a Mythical Beast like that?”

“It was probably just pretending to attack”

Frank’s expression was saying he didn’t understand However, see to realize it by himself immediately after, his brows furrowed deeply

“… Why in Lunéville…”

Not even Ilya knew if it guided it here No, it was more correct to say that she didn’t want to know

Surely the Dragon God didn’t want an outsider like Ilya to raise his child She didn’t want to think he was the saon

“However, ere those people that attacked them afterwards…?”

“I don’t knoever, I’ on different intentions than the Qilin”

There was the possibility it was bringing the egg to Lunéville in order for Ilya to protect the egg from its enemies as well

However, in that case, as the egg taken away from the Heavenly Palace in the first place? She couldn’t understand itshappen in the Heavenly Palace?

Considering how the Dragon God doted on the Qilin and his other kin, she didn’t think the Dragon God would be disgusted at the hatchling But considering that there could be eneon God wouldn’t leave so like that alone

(… Not enough information as expected, then?)

With her current information, she couldn’t determine the truth

“In any case, if we assuround, we can’t just return it to the Heavenly Palace”

“Right It’d be easy if we could get the truth froh”

“It won’t go so well as that huh?”

“But, ”

“Is that so? … Got it Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Well…”

Ilya thought for a moment for Frank’s offer

“This evening, is Rachelle taking the reception desk?”

“Yeah, she is”

“Then, could you tell her to bring a ? I alo anywhere at that ti”

“That’s all?”

“Yes”

Nodding while gently petting the hatchling, she was stared at by its clear blue eyes The stifling at rolled about, causing Ilya to smile

“Well then, how about going for a walk?”

“Pi!”

Still acting in an easygoing y fro out of the Branch with the hatchling

[Hunt the horse with theEli’s existence without exception]

Those were the instructions they’d received this time

Though finding that horse with the inforoing well, the wind changed when they encountered a human man on the way

That’s because in the next moment, that le horn and attacked them

Though its powerful body and water ave it the slip However, being unable to find Catoh, it would take theain

When they finally found the egg, instead of seeing the horse in its surroundings there were instead three beastk