Chapter 15: Are you kidding? Eh?!
"Amm...Nerinne..."
"Yes, my dear?"
"Who is that girl?"
Five minutes after traversing inside of the surprisingly bigger, and recently expanded, personal space, I find myself back in the main bedroom, where Nerinne is on top of the bed doing the hair of a little girl I have never seen before.
"Would you believe me if I said that she is the product of our love?"
She says so as—
EH?!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?!
"Fufufuhahahahahaha...your face! Hahahahaha that expression you are making is priceless Auros!"
"..."
"Fuh...let...me catch...my...hahaha...breath..."
"..."
"So fun...don't you think so, Ilya?"
Wh-what...?
"Father looks funny..."
Fafafafafafatheeeeeeeeeeer?! Are you serious?! Oi, oi, when the hell did the story change tags to the one with the F for me and Nerinne to have a kid?! We're not even in the fifth volume to introduce the kuudere kid!!!
"Please, no more...fufufu~~ I can't keep laughing..."
"..."
"I mean, she was already introduced dear, but it wasn't in this form."
"Wha-What do you mean with that Nerinne?"
"Her fiery orange hair doesn't ring a bell for you?"
"Ammm noooo?"
"Or her ashen brownish skin? Keyword being, ashen, dear."
I bet I'm making a dumb face right now, but it seriously doesn't ring any bells. Oh, the girl is looking at me intently. You could even see the *staaaaaaaaaaaare* type of onomatopoeia crowning her head.
That, plus her kuudere poker face, and it feels as if she is staring directly at my soul. This ten or something years old girl...
Ah!
She jumped off the bed and is now walking towards me.
She’s here.
"..."
"Amm...hello?"
She took my right hand and took off my gauntlet...huh? Was it that loose for her to take it off that easily?
"Here..."
She shows me the back of my hand where the crest-type mark is, specifically the one that appeared after I claimed the volcano, and then she shows me her own right hand.
"No...way..."
"Fufufu~~."
"..."
This girl...she has the same crest...
That means...no, that is too crazy even for me, but...I... Nerinne?
"Mhm."
She just nodded.
Ahahaha...hahahahahahahaha she is the volcano...the volcano is a kuudere little girl who calls me father even if I'm a woman now. I can't even...
We just went full isekai.
We just went full absurdly long named type of isekai.
HahA.
Ha.
"Hug."
Huh?
I am making another dumb face I know, but I think I just heard something so cute that my mind has lag.
"Hug. Father."
She is extending her arms while asking for a hug.
"..."
I can feel the last shred of my composure fly away after seeing that. Oh well....
HOW THE HECK CAN I RESIST SOMEONE THIS CUTE?!!!!!!!
"OF COURSE, CUTIE!"
I hug her immediately and rub my cheeks with hers. She lets out a really small laugh.
"Ilya is happy..."
"Aww, let mother join too, Ilya!"
"Yes..."
Welp, I have a volcano daughteru now.
What was I doing before this?
_____________________________________________________
Meanwhile, on one of the mountains that cross the Kyrie Kingdom, there lies the fortress of a Dragon Lord and her subordinates.
Her second in command, Bryn, looked at one of her majestic horns with the help of the mirror in her private quarters and what her gaze was so fixated on was the feather-like pattern on it, ruined by a scratch made from a sword.
It was something not so small but also not bigger than an index finger, still, opposite to her flesh, her horns do not heal.
No one judged her, not even her master. After all, it was but a mere scratch. She could tell everyone that it was caused by some sparring training with her fellow Dragon Lords and everyone would just say...
"Ah, yes. That tends to happen all the time."
...and that would be the end of the story.
But not for her.
No, this was done by a human.
She thought of him while passing her finger over it. She remembered. She always remembers.
That dark and rainy night a few years ago, the howls of war flooded the battlefield. It was a battle that would serve as a preview for the Kyrie Kingdom of the siege they would soon face.
A sole knight abandoned by his forces and left to die confronted her. She who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
It was not an epic fight but an overwhelming one, for her power easily surpassed his, yet something bothered Bryn.
The human would not fall.
She would freeze him to death, only for him to break off the ice magic with pure force of will.
She would impale him with her enchanted spear, only for him to just use that as a chance to attack her.
He would just not fall.
Even if she knew the result, until this day she still clenches her fist while remembering his face.
Yes, the face he did after taking on one of her more serious attacks, her [Ice Blade Dance]. Those were the eyes of an unstoppable beast right in front of her. She was caught by surprise. She did not think he would be still standing after that, but he was. And he seized the chance by jumping at her while brandishing his sword, enchanted with what little magic he had left and slashed at her.
She was baffled because for a second, she felt fear. Of a human, no less. That was when she saw that small part of her horn falling slowly like a snowflake. In anger, she quickly turned around looking to finish the lowly human who had done that, but she was surprised once again.
He was already on the ground, as farther as a few feet behind her and on her right flank.
She had missed it. She blinded herself for only an instant and she missed it. Normally, she would have continued walking towards her objective. But not that time. She had been made to feel fear and the one who did it, did not fall in front of her, not by her hands. He fell when he decided to and that made her mad, frustrated even, she wanted to shout at his corpse and urge him to get on his feet so that she may kill him while looking him in the eye.
But she did not do it.
Her master called for her. Her orders are absolute and so she left the battlefield.
"Lady Bryn! I have urgent news!"
She was quickly pulled out from her memories by the voice of a lesser dragon lord who was outside her room.
"Come in."
She said with an icy and almost melancholic voice.
"The bandits you ordered to put under surveillance have disappeared. Not even their camp remains!"
Said the lesser dragon lord nervously. The fear of death could be almost seen coming out from him.
"Calm yourself. That only means that whatever the Goddess did at the burning mountain near the forest is still there. Find it."
"Y-Yes!"
The lesser dragon lord went on his way.
But why would she order to keep an eye on some petty human bandits?
The reason for that was simple. She came to know something. It was something that the air carried one day: a certain scent known only to her.
Yes, indeed. The scent of that man who had shamed her with fear.
She did not know how, and she did not care.
The one who was supposed to be dead, was not. So, she looked for him and found him inside the forest.
But instead of killing him there, she would kill him in the battlefield while the kingdom he protected burned to ash.
She knew that was their fate, even now.
And so, she waits.
To be continued...(cue Nerinne and Auros still hugging Ilya!)
Glossary Entry #12:
Kuudere: Another character archetype popular in anime. This one belongs to those that seem or are emotionless, speak in a monotone, almost robotic, tone. They are usually silent, but when they talk, they do not sugar coat things and are quite blunt, even cold. Some stay there, but others actually care quite deeply about those they love. Of course, they are quite blunt about that too.
Holy Fact: Lesser dragon lords are dragon lords that are not powerful enough to achieve a fully humanoid transformation and end up with pronounced draconic characteristics on their body. These range from pronounced scales on the side of their eyes and neck, extremities more draconic in nature, the permanence of their tail and more. They also lack a personal space to call their own. They can, however, grow to become full-fledged dragon lords if they obtain enough power.