279 — Together With New Life (1)

The next day, Rurin still hadn’t regained consciousness. Her body was still hot.

They said she wasn’t sick. That it was natural. But is that really so? What if she never wakes up like this?

It’s true I had many doubts, but since it was my daughter’s word, I waited a day for now.

The one from the future said it would be better to go tomorrow, so I had no choice but to follow.

Thus passed a sleepless night.

At dawn, I carried the still unwell Rurin and barged into the clinic.

“Sereina! Let’s teleport.”

Since Rurin was unconscious, Sereina was naturally the only way to get to the Sanctuary.

Going overland to the Dragon Sanctuary would take over a month.

“Mr. El! How is Lady Rurin? I searched all night but found no relevant literature or similar disease…”

Elena looked at me with a drained face. She looked apologetic.

“What, what is this…! First thing in the morning!”

Sereina rubbed her tired eyes. Because I made such a fuss, she did get up.

“Please!”

I shouted desperately. I wasn’t sure if it was a plea or a threat.

“Alright, alright. We can go now, right? By the way, did you meet that suspicious woman? Did you find out anything?”

“Ah, I did meet her. Now she can’t come back after going.”

“Really? She’s your daughter, so she must be very strong…”

“What? How do you know?”

“I heard it myself! And very violently!”

So this future stuff is okay to tell Sereina?

“She’s just like her mom and bullied me first. A funny one. What’s with ‘I like my sister unlike Mom’? Seriously.”

Sereina shook her head at the nonsense.

Ignoring Sereina for now, I spoke to Elena whose face was a mix of confusion at our words and worry for Rurin.

“Ms. Elena, luckily it seems Rurin can recover. So I’ll visit the Black Dragon Sanctuary. They say the way is there.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So don’t worry. Now, let’s go Sereina.”

I urged Sereina again, and she sighed, placing her hand on my shoulder while I princess-carried Rurin.

And then teleport.

Darkness came briefly, dizziness swirled in my head, and soon we arrived at the Sanctuary’s entrance.

Come to think of it, Sereina had taken me like this before. Though grumbling, she was helpful in many ways.

“I’ll leave from here. Black Dragons and Red Dragons… Well, almost destroyed, but considering relations, this place isn’t good.”

“Alright, you go back first.”

Sereina said the same words as before and disappeared.

The Sanctuary is full of dragons, so there must be dragons to take her home. No worries. Of course, the best is if Rurin recovers and returns on her own.

Holding Rurin’s body, I naturally felt like I was inside a hot sauna’s kiln room.

But it didn’t matter.

If I could share Rurin’s pain even like this.

With that thought, I walked toward the Sanctuary. Soon a dragon fluttered its wings and flew down from the sky.

“Human. This place is not for humans to enter…”

I feel it every time—they really are consistent gatekeepers.

“Where is the Elder?”

So I ignored that and asked.

Fortunately, the dragon said “humans can enter…” then suddenly realized who I was and shouted in surprise.

“He, he is over there!”

Even the pronunciation was messed up.

“I can’t fly like you guys, so could you deliver the news?”

“Ah, understood!”

The Black Dragon flew up with a flustered face. Shortly after, Black Dragon Medidana flew in with a questioning expression.

My arrival meant there was a problem with Rurin. Otherwise, she would have teleported inside the sanctuary herself. Realizing this, his face contorted.

“Why is Rurin collapsed!”

“That’s why I came. Please come down and check her condition. It’s urgent!”

“What?”

Medidana looked surprised, then immediately cast Polymorph. Shrinking himself, he approached and placed a hand on Rurin’s forehead, then started feeling her hand.

It felt like measuring body temperature.

Then at that moment, he started making a puzzled face.

A puzzled face?

I hoped the Elder would laugh it off as nothing.

My daughter from the future said it was nothing and the Elder would explain once at the Sanctuary.

But the Elder’s face now looked strange.

That expression made me uneasy. The situation differed from what my daughter said, so the anxiety was natural.

“Elder? Why is Rurin like this? She suddenly collapsed yesterday and hasn’t woken up. This is…”

“Hm, let’s move inside the Sanctuary first. This isn’t the place to talk. It’s better to lay Rurin down.”

That was true. I nodded, and the Elder appeared, took Rurin, and teleported us.

We entered the Sanctuary.

The Elder laid Rurin on a stone bed.

And I asked the Elder again. I was desperate.

“If you know the cause, please tell me quickly! I’m dying of frustration.”

“The primary cause is probably…”

“Probably?”

“You, in the end, definitely, definitely our Rurin!”

Why did this Elder suddenly lose his composure?

“What are you talking about? Rurin what?”

“Damned one! Anyway, the primary cause is pregnancy. Rurin is pregnant now.”

“I knew it!”

“Did you know?”

“Ah, yeah, roughly. But then why hasn’t she woken up? Is this normal?”

My daughter from the future said it’s normal. That she’s not sick. But earlier the Elder looked puzzled.

That made me very uneasy.

It is a happy thing. But before Rurin wakes up, I can’t just be happy.

“Ummm.”

The Elder started pondering my question.

He stroked his chin. His chin. Again and again.

It was frustrating.

The frustrating time passed.

Rurin still didn’t move. The more so, the more anger rose inside me.

Unable to bear the frustration, I opened my mouth, and the Elder finally spoke.

“Probably.”

“Yes?”

“It’s true that a fever usually occurs. Black Dragons get a fever some time after pregnancy.”

“I see.”

“Yes, all Black Dragons are like that. It’s a sign they’re carrying their own child.”

“So Rurin is fine then?”

“But.”

The Elder crushed my hopes at that moment. The word ‘but’ contains negation.

“Usually the fever goes down in a day or two.”

“A day or two?”

Then Rurin is on her second day now.

“So today is the second day; will she get better soon?”

“That’s wrong.”

The Elder kept shattering my hopes.

“What?”

What the daughter from the future said was exactly this. Black Dragons have a fever for a day or two after pregnancy.

So if she said it’s nothing.

Maybe she didn’t know the truth either? Perhaps I hadn’t told her this much?

Or maybe the future and present have changed? No, that would be the worst case.

Since it’s the past, it was easier to think she only knew fragments of the truth.

No, putting all that aside, her existence itself was proof that Rurin could recover.

“Gah, you brat, you’re breaking this old man’s arm!”

Before I knew it, I was gripping the Elder’s arm tightly. That’s how frustrating it was.

“Please tell me clearly. What’s different?”

“The problem is losing consciousness. A dragon losing consciousness. Usually they just get a fever and that’s it. I’ve never seen a dragon lose consciousness in my life.”

Medidana explained it’s impossible for a dragon, a being full of mental strength, to lose consciousness for this long.

I felt dizzy.

“So maybe this happened because natural law was defied?”

“Natural law?”

“There was a runaway dragon. It went out to play and affected countless humans. Over 1000 children were born from that. If all 1000 were dragons, the world’s balance would be disrupted. But all 1000 were normal humans. That’s natural law. The law that keeps the world balanced. Dragons are born only from dragons. Half-breeds like elves or dwarves don’t occur. But this natural law was defied. As I said before, the child of you and Rurin will be a dragon… So this current condition may be because of that. When a being defies natural law, and if that being has great power, nature tries to nullify it. That’s the purification ability.”

“Is there really such a thing? The Dragon Heart just makes my blood the same as a dragon’s and gives the same power, so dragons are born… Besides, actually in the future…”

I stopped talking mid-sentence. I almost said things I shouldn’t because I was excited.

“What?”

“No. So there must be a solution? If an ancient dragon living for thousands of years doesn’t know, then I think it can’t be done.”

“…That guy. How noisy. Rurin is my granddaughter! Do you think I’ll leave her like that? But…”

“I’m sick of the ‘but’ word. If there’s a way, please tell me clearly.”

“The method is simple! We just need to wake her up. The problem is losing consciousness. She lost consciousness while having a fever and can’t wake up. Her spirit has flown somewhere else. It’s natural law that did this… We just need to take it back from that natural law.”

“…If there’s a way, I’ll do whatever it takes to oppose that natural law. I cherish Rurin more than anything in this world. You must know that without me emphasizing it again.”

Even if it’s the world I once tried to protect.

Nothing is more precious than Rurin.

If that world is the price, then so be it.

I would do anything for Rurin. Especially since Rurin isn’t alone anymore.

That means my wife and daughter.

So I could do anything for both of them.

The elder who had been looking steadily at me finally opened his mouth.

“There is a way. And it’s not as grand as you think. We just need to connect to Rurin’s mind and wake her up.”

“Rurin’s mind? Entering her mind—is that even possible?”

“There is also a method. A method long passed down among our dragons.”

The Elder nodded again and explained.