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“Go there, study, then graduate.”

“Wait, hold on a second!” How can she say that so casually? Is that kind of top-notch academy supposed to be a place I can attend just because I want to?? Plus… “Why do I have to go to that place? Are you trying to teach me how to live?”

“No, I’m just giving you a clear path to follow, that’s all.”

“A clear path? You’re talking as if I’m in an extremely perilous situation or something…”

“Not quite that bad, but not too far off.”

“What do you mean?”

“The City of the Sky was conferred with the laws of the ancient Ya Ting Empire, and all dragons currently reside within its domains, including Qian Bai Yu. So, in name, dragons are also a species under the protection of the Goddess Sera, but that was thousands of years ago, and the Ya Ting Empire has long perished. What do you think will happen when the humans of today encounter a lone dragon? Especially a baby dragon that can’t even defend itself.”

Receiving Elsa’s admonition, a cold chill instantly ran down Mo Li’s spine. She had never thought about the issue from this perspective before. She had been viewing her current dilemma solely from a human point of view. Now, as she considered it from the perspective of a dragon, even the mere thought of walking the streets as anything other than a human terrified her.

There’s a saying that a dragon’s body is a treasure, and this phrase is very accurate. Armor crafted from dragon scales is renowned as the continent’s ultimate source of physical defense, often deemed impervious. Weapons forged from dragon claws or fangs hold the status of divine weaponry. Additionally, dragon organs are all highly coveted materials among alchemists. Although dragons are undoubtedly a powerful race, each year, many people still form alliances to send out parties of adventurers in search of dragons hidden deep within the mountains. Why?

Because once they successfully hunt down and kill a dragon, even if it’s a wingless subspecies, the gains far outweigh the danger and risk involved. With how huge a dragon is, once all the parts are cut up and divided, it’s easily more than enough for three adventurer parties to share. To a seasoned and well-prepared dragon-hunting party, not many things are more exhilarating than encountering a dragon. The dragon they encounter, on the other hand, better hope it’s strong enough if it wants to survive. As for a subspecies, they can forget the matter of survival altogether; they’re better off thinking about what type of dish they’ll end up becoming. Elsa’s tone gradually chilled as she spoke. “You have to listen to me.”

“Hey, whose fault do you think it is that this happened to me?” Mo Li questioned, fuming. ¹First, turn Mo Li into a dragon, then use that fact to threaten her. This entire operation was really well planned out. Did you think she would give in? Did you think she would be afraid of this?… Well, you thought right; she really is scared. Mo Li could ignore the thought of having her tendons pulled out and being skinned! But to have her own body taken and used as a weapon, that was too much to accept, at least for Mo Li, who still conceived herself as a human.

After going through so much, I get a chance to be reborn, and now I have to die again, possibly dying a worse death than last time, with my arms, thighs, and head all probably going their separate ways. Who could possibly accept this? No, a smart person adapts to the times, and arguing with this unreasonable old dragon will only cause me more suffering. It’d be better to calm down and listen to what she has to say.

“Don’t look at me with that stinking face, as if I owe you a few hundred million or something. I already told you I’m here to give you a clear path.”

“Hmf, a clear path or whatnot, if you never came, nothing would’ve happened to me in the first place.”

“Really,” Elsa spoke, followed with an inexplicable sneer. “If I didn’t come, did you plan to stay at the ²orphanage for the rest of your life?”

“What do you mean the rest of my life? I have my ways to support myself, alright! Like…”

“Like farming?” Elsa questioned, furrowing her brows. “Or are you going to graduate from that backwater school of yours and wave around its useless certificate while looking for a job before inevitably becoming a farmer?… Oh, that’s right, I almost forgot you probably don’t have the money to even pay tuition anymore, right?” Mo Li stood in silence as Elsa’s piercing words tore into her. She never expected Elsa to have investigated her situation so meticulously. “If you really want to be a poor farmer, I won’t stop you, but the prerequisites of being a farmer are to have your own house and a plot of land. Do you have that? Or are you just planning to wait for those things to drop out of the sky for you? Ha, you don’t even have the qualifications to be a farmer.”

Mo Li already knew that she was poor, but she never thought that there would come a day when a dragon would be mocking her for it, with her unable to do anything but stand there in silence.

“If I didn’t come to find you, you’d be even worse off. Give it ten, twenty years; eventually, the dragon blood in your body will awaken by itself anyway. Me awakening it early for you is much better than if it suddenly awakens and is exposed to the masses.”

“But in my last life, the bloodline never awakened even at my time of death…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing… I mean, this shouldn’t be a big problem. If I live frugally, it should be enough to get by…” Mo Li murmured quietly with her head down. Regardless of what happens in this life, she didn’t want to engage in perilous jobs like being an assassin again.

“Live frugally? Pft.”

“What are you laughing at?”

“The consumption needs of a dragon are twenty times or higher than that of a human,” Elsa’s plainly spoken words were like a critical strike to Mo Li, who was the definition of poverty. “And that’s just the needs of a juvenile dragon. Since the bloodline in your body has awakened, your needs will grow as you age. Living frugally will only lead you to one result, that result being starving to death.” Hearing these words, Mo Li’s knees gave out, and she fell to the ground in despair with a splat.

Twenty times or higher… My god, by human terms, I’m already struggling to get enough to eat, not to mention a dragon’s consumption. How am I supposed to survive like this… Unless someone can raise me. With this thought in mind, Mo Li raised her head and, with clasped hands, looked pitifully towards Elsa, the definition of being pitiful, weak, and helpless, with an extremely large appetite. “… What are you doing?”

“Raise me.” Likely because of an excess amount of estrogen secretion combined with the fact that Mo Li is currently in the imprinting phase of a young dragon, she did something very out of character. Looking utterly forlorn, she crawled up to Elsa, seized her fair, supple thigh, and fervently rubbed it with her baby-like face. “You made my body like this, so you have to take responsibility!”

“I’ve already told you, even if I didn’t do anything, the dragon blood in your body awakening was only a matter of time… The only thing I can do for you is to help come up with a plan for the future of your survival.”

“I’m really easy to raise…” As she spoke, the cherry-white-haired dragon loli’s eyes pooled with star-like tears sparkling under the moonlight. Regardless of race, their birth is a being’s weakest and most insecure moment; a newborn will subconsciously seek help from its blood-related relatives because their subconsciousness will naturally think that only those related by blood will protect them.

“You…” Elsa, who had originally planned to steel her heart, instantly cracked when she looked at the endearing, teary-eyed dragon loli in front of her. This face is really too similar… “Sister…” Elsa quietly murmured to herself and closed her eyes, a trace of doubt flashing across her face. “Listen, Mo Li.” Elsa took a deep breath, then lowered herself to meet Mo Li with an unprecedented gentleness in her voice, as if she was speaking to her own child. “Your identity is too sensitive. If you stay by my side, something bad is bound to happen… Remember, don’t reveal yourself as a dragon to anyone. You need to be wary of humans as well as your fellow clansmen, that is, Qian Bai Yu, especially if you meet another Qian Bai Yu, you must be extra wary, understand? Should they catch you, you’ll have to stay a dragon forever.”

1. this entire part is really weird to translate because it’s kinda like Mo Li’s thoughts but the author isn’t really directly making it Mo Li thoughts it’s more supposed to be the funny author indirectly talking to reader kinda dialogue but but also Mo Li’s thoughts soo like I just gave it a more direct translation in case anyone wonders why I use you here
2. Yes author uses orphanage her instead of almshouse no idea why either