What Does That Evil Dragon Live For?

[What can I do if that is all the fate of that child? After all, he’s not destined to be with us.] 

[Are you saying we should get rid of him?]

[Sounds like a big deal. For the human world and the dragon world to be separated, that child must exist. It will go down in history as the last dragon in the human world.] 

However, the dragon who asked the question could not understand everything the elder said. 

[Isn’t it enough to just bring him here?] 

To separate the human world from the dragon world, it would have been simpler to bring Rabes here, even by using force. What is the reason for leaving the seeds of trouble in the human world?

But the elder had a different opinion.

[It’s not something that can be solved like that. It would have happened when we left the human world, but in the eyes of the evil forces, the human world has become nothing but a communist state.] 

[That’s something humans can handle. Besides, it’s a specialty of humans. They might be able to overcome it unexpectedly.] 

[If the human world is taken over by the ether, do you think the middle world will be safe?] 

[How can they threaten us?] 

[We are not gods. Perhaps our arrogance can destroy us.] 

At that, some dragons seemed uncomfortable.

To the dragon, who had reigned as the strongest being on earth for a very long time, the elder’s warning was a warning that didn’t touch much.

Sensing their moods, the elder looked at the other dragons and said.

[Isn’t that too much of a concern?] 

[Yes.] 

The elder sighed.

Dragons are certainly the most powerful of all life on earth and close to immortality, but they are not omnipotent.

[We are fewer in number than other races, and our strength is gradually weakening. Even if you think of the 12 dragons that died while fighting the etheric monsters when we crossed over to the Middle World, you can see that we shouldn’t be arrogant, saying that we are the strongest in the world.] 

No creature can defeat a dragon if they face each other one-on-one, but if they face each other in race-to-race, the story is different.

Even dragons, who think that humans are like ants, can fight dragons with their power, and it couldn’t be affirmed that if the etheric races united, the dragon could defeat them. 

[It’s hard for us to interfere in the human world since we’ve left it anyway, but it’s hard to just watch the human world get contaminated with ether. Then, shouldn’t someone solve the problem?]

[Are you saying the reason Rabes remains in the human world is to prevent that from happening? That dragon is the one who contaminated his magical power with ether!] 

[Since time has been turned back, isn’t Laves’ magical power freed from the influence of ether?] 

[But…!] 

The vice leader, who was about to get angry, kept his mouth shut at the elder’s tired eyes.

The Elder Dragon, who is said to be the closest to God, probably doesn’t know what he wants to say, so he had no choice but to believe in the Elder’s foresight.

[I hope the elder’s words come true.]

[Me too.] 

Hearing the voice of the vice leader who suppressed his dissatisfaction, the elder looked up at the sky and smiled softly.

* * * 

In the Calais Empire, where religion is important, there were many anniversaries related to religious saints, and among them, the day children waited for the most was St. Nicholas Day.

On this day to honor Nicholas, the saint who protects and blesses children, the elders of the empire prepared gifts for their children and nieces and nephews and gave chocolates or candy to children on the street.

Before their coming-of-age ceremony or their marriage, they are still considered ‘children’ and gave them gifts, so even older boys and girls could be childish to their parents on this day, and parents gave their children the best gifts as much as economic conditions allowed.

One month before St. Nicholas’ Day, 

‘What should I ask for?’ 

The children’s worries deepened about that.

Of course, Elaine had never thought about it like that before. 

“Brother Damon! What are you going to ask for?”

With St. Nicholas Day approaching, Ellie smiled and asked Damon.

“I’m thinking about it. I want new skates, and I want a cape like the one L’Arch is wearing. Ellie, what are you going to ask for?”

“I am…!”

As Ellie blushed and was about to answer, Damon interrupted again. 

“Wait! Shall I guess? It’s a doll again this time, right?”

“That’s not just a doll! Mrs. Pelon’s shop sells 20 Porcelain dolls only! You can even bend their limbs!”

“Are you a kid? Still a doll, tsk tsk.”

Damon shook his head, and Martin came running down from the second floor in excitement. 

“brother? Why are you so excited?”

“Mother said she would buy me a pony for St. Nicholas’ Day this year!”

“Really? You’re getting a horse?”

Even the bad guys in the Newt family couldn’t hide their excitement at this time and made noise. 

Elaine, watching them from the third-floor railing, smiled faintly.

‘I remember. All three of them got what they wanted, and they teased me for a long time because I didn’t get anything…’ 

Elaine, who did not receive a piece of chocolate, had to put up with their teasing, saying, ‘You don’t even have a mother.’ And in the meantime, the porcelain doll Ellie received was so pretty that she was even sad. 

‘That porcelain doll…It was really pretty.’ 

Curled roll hair, a lace-filled bonnet, and a gorgeous dress draped in luxurious fabrics.… 

She remembers looking at the doll and thinking, ‘That doll must be more expensive than me’. 

She even thought that if Newt’s family had to throw away herself or one of the porcelain dolls, Newt would throw her away without even thinking about it.

Because it was such a pretty doll, Elaine had no choice but to glance at the doll even though she knew she would be teased.

The doll seemed like some kind of happiness that she couldn’t reach… 

While she was pondering on those bitter memories, Rabes touched her from the side.

[What are they doing?] 

“They’re thinking about what gift to buy for St. Nicholas’ Day.”

[Humans are good at making anniversaries. So, what kind of a human is Nicholas, who even has a day named after him?] 

“He is a saint who protects children. And on St. Nicholas Day, it’s customary to give gifts and chocolates to underage children.”

[gift?] 

Rabes tilted his head.

[Did you get it too?] 

“No. Because when I was with my mom, she wasn’t in a position to go out and buy me gifts, and after she died, I didn’t have anyone to give me gifts…” 

[Hmm…]

Elaine glanced at Rabes as he thought about something else, then smiled. 

Dragons have known a lot since they were born, but Rabes was a bit weak to be called a ‘divine beast’. Because he didn’t even know about St. Nicholas’ Day.

But to Rabes, none of that mattered. As long as he continues to be a bad dragon, he doesn’t need to know about human anniversaries.

“Have you ever received a gift, Lord Rabes?”

[huh? me? Do you think I would want something from a human?] 

“Even if it’s not a human. I mean, maybe from your mother…”

[I don’t know my mother. I believe that there is a being who gave birth to me, but since I became conscious, I have never felt my mother’s presence by my side.] 

“What? really?”

Elaine was surprised to know that Rabes didn’t have a mother either. 

“May I ask, how did you end up like that…?” 

[The shape of the egg was deformed, so I guess that’s why she abandoned me.] 

“No way.”

[What’s wrong with throwing away an egg that might never be born? It’s a reasonable choice.] 

Elaine felt a little sorry for Rabes, who casually said that he would have been abandoned.

“The dragon…Do they lay a lot of eggs?”

[No. Usually, they lay eggs only once in their lifetime, and they give birth to one or two eggs.] 

At that, Elaine was sure of one thing.

“I…I don’t think your mother abandoned you. There must have been some unavoidable circumstances or accidents.”

[How do you know?] 

“Because no mother would give up a child she could only have once in her lifetime.”

[Abandoning offspring to be culled is a natural way for animals to survive.] 

“A dragon is a divine beast. There is no threat to survival.”

[Maybe she thought it would be deformed enough to be ostracized by her fellow dragons, or maybe it looked like it would never hatch.] 

In fact, it was through the dragon that Rabes had known such a thing, 500 years ago, when they had come to try to take him away.

They spoke to him in a haughty manner.

[You go to the Middle World with us. It’s the decision of the elders, so you have to follow it.] 

[When did you leave me alone? Why are you looking for me now?] 

[The reason we left you was because your eggs were so deformed. But you hatched here, and you’re causing some unexpected trouble…]

The words were the same as saying, ‘We thought you would never be able to be born, so we threw you away’. 

‘At that time, I tried to ask about my mother, but I stopped. I wanted to confirm twice that my mother had abandoned me.’

But he was always curious.

What kind of dragon his parents must have been, what the hell happened when they created him, whether because he was born as a deformed egg, or whether they really had to abandon him…

Rabes stared at the empty place without speaking for a long time, and Elaine gently brushed Rabes’ side.

“Your mother must have loved you. Maybe she misses Rabes even now.”

[well. Is that so?] 

“Sure! And until Lord Rabes meets his mother again, I will love Lord Rabes.”

At that, Rabes snorted.

[You will love me? you cheeky human subject…You’re lucky you can take what I give you…] 

Rabes grunted in disbelief. But even as he did so, he couldn’t make eye contact with Elaine, and he seemed to feel embarrassed somehow.

Elaine thought Rabes was really cute.

* * *