Leave a comment

The next time ■■■■■ opened his eyes, his body felt heavy as a stone, and he felt like his life would fade away and he’d actually turn into a stone if he lost his concentration even for a second. But still, he was certainly alive still.

■■■■■ was lying on a natural bed made up of dry branches that could probably fit twenty people.

The skies were clear and a tranquil wind was blowing.

This weather-beaten bed was like a bed of birds and animals if you ignored its sheer size.

■■■■■ was too weakened to think properly, but he still desperately tried to grasp his current situation.

But there was no need to even think about it—he just needed to turn around to be hit with the overwhelming reality.

Right next to him, a giant body that was dozens of times bigger than a human’s, was squatting down while balled up in a skillful way.

Its graceful and strong body was covered with red, glossy scales, which were arranged as if melted together, forming a thick carapace.

Its long neck and tail looked like flexible whips and even appeared somewhat sensual.

It had an angular head, with a pair of eyes that blazed like the sun, and horns that stood tall as if to pierce the heavens.

On its back were mighty membrane wings that were currently folded…

—A dragon…!

It looked so dignified he forgot to breathe from fear and wonder.

■■■■■ came to an understanding.

In short, he was currently lying in the dragon’s nest.

This was Mount Kuguse. A mountain where a dragon lived.

A place that humans couldn’t approach.

He was on death’s door in a place like that, so it wasn’t hard to figure out what would happen next.

—Will I become the feed…?

He remembered that the dragon living on Mount Kuguse was raising an egg.

A weakened, dying human… it probably planned to feed him to the newborn dragon as its first meal.

The dragon noticed ■■■■■’s awakening and stretched its long neck, drawing its gigantic face closer.

And then, it started sniffing him.

Its fangs, thicker than an adult’s arm, neared him, making him think that a bite would be enough to kill him.

However, the dragon didn’t try to bite him at all.

Instead, it lifted something large with its mouth and dropped it next to ■■■■■.

That something was like a strange, black-skinned beast that looked like a mix of a bear and a boar.

■■■■■ had never seen a monster like this. It was probably a monster that mutated due to the aura that the dragon emitted.

It had a large wound in its abdomen and was already dead. It was undoubtedly the dragon’s doing.

The dragon placed the monster’s corpse before ■■■■■’s eyes and pushed it with its nose.

“Grrr…rrr….”

The dragon growled as if rolling its breath in its throat.

It didn’t sound threatening at all. Rather, it sounded like a coaxing voice in human terms.

■■■■■ didn’t understand what it wanted.

As he stared at the corpse in dumbfoundedness, the dragon moved its head as if tilting it, and then bit into the monster’s abdomen.

Its giant fangs easily pierced through the monster’s thick skin which would repel most arrows, and tore it off while holding the body down its strong forefoot.

The monster’s blood-dripping flesh got exposed.

But the dragon didn’t eat it, but instead pushed it toward ■■■■■.

—W-What the? What does it…?”

■■■■■ wondered whether it was trying to fatten him up and then eat him.

But what was the point of doing that when it already had the monster’s meat?

Either way, ■■■■■ knew that he had to eat something or he would die.

He had bled too much. His body lacked energy. He could feel a stomach-piercing hunger. He had to eat something… even if that something was the raw flesh of an unknown monster.

■■■■■ lifted his head a little and crawled to the flesh, and bit into it.

The flowing blood spread a metallic taste in his mouth. But then, he ran out of strength right away. It was too hard. A human’s biting strength was far too lacking compared to carnivores that lived by eating raw flesh.

And now that he was so weakened, eating it was simply impossible.

“….Rrrr….ooo…”

For some reason, the dragon was making a sound above the fallen ■■■■■’s head.

This time, the dragon bit into the corpse. It tore part of the flesh and chewed it down, then spit it out instead of swallowing it. Minced meat piled up in front of ■■■■■.

It was mixed with blood and the dragon’s saliva, but it was now far softer than its original state.

Now he could indeed eat it.

He didn’t know why the dragon was going to such lengths to feed him, but before pondering on that he first needed to eat the meat before his consciousness faded, or this time he would die for sure.

■■■■■ took a bite of the minced meat.

But then, he choked on it as he tried to swallow and vomited it out.

“Bleh! Bleeeh! Bwah!”

The swallowed flesh and the gastric juices mixed with the dark blood spilled out from his mouth.

Raw flesh that reeked of blood wasn’t something a human’s body could take in from the start.

“A-Aaghh…”

■■■■■ once again collapsed with gasping breaths.

He felt like he vomited the little life he had left in him and could no longer move.

“…Uu? Uu? Uu?”

The dragon raised a strange voice and started fidgeting restlessly, poking ■■■■■ who lay feebly with its nose, and then once again chewing the minced meat.

“…Uugrrrr!”

Suddenly, a wave of momentary heat brushed ■■■■■’s cheeks and hair.

The dragon seemed to have spewed flames toward the monster’s corpse as a way to vent its frustration.

The foliage dyed in the monster’s blood started to smoke, and the pitiful lump of flesh…

Gave off a good smell of burnt oils.

—Could it be…?!

The smell of life ticked his nostrils.

■■■■■ mustered all his remaining strength and moved his body.

The minced meat that was showered in the dragon’s breath was half-roasted, and the flames more or less penetrated it, boiling the oils on its surface.

■■■■■ reached out for the meat and desperately stuffed it into his mouth.

It still had the strength of blood, and it was quite rare.

But still, even a little scorching managed to transform it into something that humans could eat.

“Ruu?”

The dragon groaned a little and carefully observed ■■■■■’s behavior.

■■■■■ was only grabbing the roasted pieces of meat and thrusting them into his mouth.

The heat spread through his body which was growing cold.

As he was too desperate to eat he ended up choking on it and finally stopped at that. His abdomen felt heavy, and his fatigue ultimately won over his hunger.

—Wait a second… Didn’t I have a hole in my stomach…?

As he was worrying that the food would spill out of his wound, he finally noticed that the wound was gone.

It was a wound that would normally be fatal, certainly not something that could heal so easily.

If it was a magical drug or some high-ranking recovery magic, it would be possible to patch it up right away, however.

“Rrrrrrr….Grrrr….”

The dragon rubbed its rugged nose on ■■■■■. It was panicking earlier, but it had regained its calm now.

■■■■■ had no energy to move, so he offered no resistance.

“Ruu….uruuu…”

The dragon gently murmured something.

He didn’t understand it at all, but the moment he heard it, his heart thumped as if being set ablaze, and a word appeared in his mind as if it was forcibly carved into it with a branding iron.

“Lucella”

He also somehow understood through nuance that it was a woman’s, or more accurately, a female’s name.

The dragon addressed ■■■■■ as such.

—Lucella? Who’s that supposed to be? I’m… my name’s………?

■■■■■ noticed something.

He should have spent over twenty years of his life as a person. But he just couldn’t remember the name he used during that time.

“Lucella.”

That name had painted over everything like oil paint.

Then, Lucella finally noticed one more thing.

“………Huh…?”

His voice was small and high-pitched.

The sleeves and size of the clothes he wore were now too large for him.

The belt barely hanging on his bony waist was too long, and it would no longer serve its function to keep the pants in place no matter how much he tightened it.

Lucella definitely used to be a man, but how he was turned into a child.

Moreover… his certain thing was no longer there, and he had turned into a girl.