Chapter 10: Inexplicable Growth

「It’s true… I did think our kid was growing a little slowly…」
「Eh, don’t tell me none of you noticed!?」

At Rin’s words I looked around; both Nina and Yuuka wore grim faces.
Apparently, that was exactly the case.

「What about Yuuka‑sensei? I mean, I can understand Sensei and Nina‑sensei, but…」

At being lumped into the “can’t be helped” group, Nina clutched her head as if in shock.
Or perhaps it was being grouped together with me that stung.

「Uh, well, I don’t really remember what I was like when I was little…」
「I don’t remember mine either, though.」

Rin let out a sigh, clearly exasperated.

「Yeah, that’s right… now that you mention it, human babies start walking in about a year, don’t they?」
「There’s individual variation, but in general after two years they don’t still feel this much like a baby.」

As Rin poked her squishy cheeks, Chryse went kya‑kya with delight and poured on the charm.
I, too, should once have been human, yet lately my sense of time there has faded. Ten or twenty years go by in a flash; one or two years feel scarcely different from a single month.

「And it’s not just humans. Centaurs, giants, lizardmen—even elves. I’ve never seen a race that couldn’t stand on its own after two years.」

Come to think of it, even I—a dragon said to live tens of thousands of years—could walk before a year had passed. Growth speed and lifespan aren’t much related.

「…Then what does that make this child?」

Hugging Chryse tight, Nina glared at Rin.

「No idea. She looks human to me, though—」

We all leaned in to peer at Chryse’s face. Her ears weren’t pointed, and she didn’t have gills. No tail, no coat of fur or scales.

「…Hm?」

Nina was the first to notice.

「Hey. Here… isn’t this pointy?」

She meant the edge of Chryse’s forehead: right above the temple, along the hairline.

「You’re right. Now that you say it… it does feel pointy.」

A bit of skin was raised, and when I touched it there was a hard, bone‑like feel beneath.

「People don’t have anything pointy there, right…?」

I found myself touching my own head. Rin and Yuuka were doing the same, but since none of us here are human, it was a rather pointless check.

「No. Humans, elves, mermaids, giants, pixies—none of them have a protrusion here.」

Nina declared it like a physician. The bumps were a matching pair left and right. Too evenly placed to be a disease or swelling; if they were any bigger, they’d be just like an oni’s horns.

「…Back then, among the people around the huts, was there anyone with horns?」
「I don’t think so…」

Nina furrowed her brow. Our memories are very good, but that doesn’t mean we remember everything. You can’t recall what you never noticed in the first place.

I remembered the faces of the dead, but when it came to faint, bulge‑like horns, I wasn’t confident.

「…It doesn’t matter. This child is this child. Human or not, who cares.」

After worrying it over for a while, Nina reached that conclusion.

「If anything, unless it means dying young, not aging would be better, wouldn’t it?」
「True, you have a point.」

Academically it’s intriguing, but in terms of raising her there’s no problem at all.
If nothing else, we have time in near‑infinite supply.

「All right then, let’s eat. I made stew today.」
「Yay! I’m starving!」

When I lifted the fragrant pot off the magic‑powered device, Yuuka cheered.

We stock plenty of goat’s milk for Chryse’s meals. The amount she drinks varies day by day, so a cream stew that uses up what’s left is my reliable ally. And on days like today when the headcount suddenly grows, you can easily bulk it up—just sauté more ingredients and add them.

「Bread or rice—whichever you prefer.」
「Then I’ll have bread.」
「I want rice!」
「I’ll have rice too, I think.」

Nina took bread, and Yuuka and Rin asked for white rice. I was thinking I’d go with bread too when Chryse smacked my leg pesh‑pesh.

「All right, all right—let’s get you your meal too, Chryse. Yuuka, sorry, could I ask you to do the serving?」
「Okaaay.」
「Ah, I’ll help too.」
「Then could you grab the spoons from that drawer? I’ll get the plates ready.」

Yuuka drops by so often she knows the place like her own home. While they got things ready, I warmed the milk and, copying what Ara did today, fed it to Chryse.

「Oh—what’s that? Where’d you learn to do it like that?」
「Ara showed me.」

While we were talking, Chryse reached from my lap toward the stew on the table.

「Ah, no—you can’t eat this yet.」
「Uuuh…」

When I moved the plate away, Chryse growled in displeasure. I quickly brought the milk to her mouth, and for the moment she backed down.

「If it’s stew, a little should be fine, right?」
「No. Too much salt for a baby. It would strain her organs.」

Nina snapped at Yuuka, who had lifted a spoonful of stew to show.

「Sensei, want me to take over?」
「You will? That helps—thanks, I’ll leave it to you.」

After I’d gotten about half the cup of milk into her, Rin—who had already polished off her stew—took over, and I finally got to eat.

Mm. If I say so myself, it’s turned out well. It had cooled a bit, but the vegetables’ savor had soaked in, and the thick, rich white sauce was truly delicious. The chicken blended in nicely too, while still making its presence felt.

The meat, carrot, potato, onion—and even the wheat and the milk—are all different in flavor and appearance from Earth’s, substitutes that only resemble them; surprisingly, it still works out well.

「Ahh, that was delicious. Sorry for freeloading dinner too.」

Yuuka said it apologetically, but her staying for meals is nothing unusual.

「Since you’re here, why don’t you two just stay the night?」

Nina said that. Maybe she was happy to see Rin again after two years—or perhaps she’d realized it made looking after Chryse easier.

「If you did, Chryse would be happy, and so would I.」

Sensing their eyes on me, I answered, and with a “in that case,” Yuuka and Rin nodded.

* * *

「Bath’s ready—」

After checking the temperature of the water in the tub, I called out to Nina.
Houses with baths are still few and far between.

First, getting water is hard. Water created by magic vanishes the moment its effect ends—at best it lasts a dozen minutes or so. I can’t manage even a single second. So you have to haul real water.
Thanks to technicians led by Ruful, plumbing is gradually being installed, but it only reaches the main parts of the village; it’s not yet at the point of being run to every house.

And even once you have water, heating it is another ordeal. You can heat it with a magic‑powered device, but a person needs roughly two hundred liters to bathe. Turning that much into hot water takes considerable time. Even if you go to all that trouble, once someone’s bathed you have to change the water. You can skim off dirt and reuse it if you ignore a bit of uncleanliness, but if you leave it to the next day, the heating is the same hassle all over again.

So in today’s Hiiro, if you want a bath you generally go to the public bathhouse.

Our house is different. I can heft the whole tub, scoop water, pour it into the boiler, and a puff of fire brings it to a boil right away. Fire dragons practically exist just to make baths. Thanks to that, we can easily enjoy the luxury of a relaxing bath at home every day.

「I’m coming.」
「Eh, wait, Onee‑chan!」
「Nina‑sensei, Sensei’s over there!」

What’s the commotion? I peeked from the bath toward the living room and saw Nina, naked and carrying Chryse, headed my way.

「What’s up?」
「Uh, no, it’s just…」

When I asked, Yuuka and Rin looked at each other, wearing puzzled expressions.

「Ah. Even if it’s Yuuka and Rin, I do feel bad about putting the guests off, but I need to bathe Chryse first, so I’ll go ahead.」
「No, that’s fine, but…」
「Eh, Onii‑chan, you’re going to bathe with Onee‑chan!?」

Being asked point‑blank by Yuuka snapped me to my senses.

「What are you talking about now? We’ve been doing that for nine hundred years.」

While I was hesitating over how to answer, Nina replied matter‑of‑factly.
Right. Now of all times.

For the first hundred, two hundred years, I think I was embarrassed too…
At some point I stopped thinking anything of Nina’s nakedness, and now bathing together doesn’t strike me as odd at all.

「Besides, you two used to bathe with us, too—」

I cut myself off mid‑sentence, and the two tilted their heads.
No. The ones who used to bathe with us were from four hundred years ago.
It was Yuuki, and Rin before she lost her memories.

「Could it be that these days, men and women don’t bathe together…?」
「Usually not, I guess.」

Her words shocked me.
Good grief. I’m sure three hundred years ago public baths didn’t even have separate men’s and women’s sides yet. While I was enjoying home baths all this time, the world had moved on to this…

「Even if he’s a man, it’s him we’re talking about.」

Nina said it without the slightest attempt to cover herself. She’s long since gotten used to my nakedness—and as a clinician, she’s used to bodies in general.

「…Well, when you put it like that, fair enough.」
「Come to think of it, Sensei’s basically a near‑thousand‑year‑old grandpa on the inside, right?」

Yuuka and Rin exchanged glances for a moment, then, apparently satisfied, said as much.
I wasn’t entirely happy about it, but it beat being looked down on. Besides, Chryse would drown if I didn’t hold her, and you can’t wash yourself properly while holding a baby. Not bathing with Nina wasn’t really an option.

「In that case, we can just get in together too, right?」
「Yeah. Let’s just get it over with.」

I hadn’t expected them to say that and start undressing too.

* * *

「Waa, it’s so big!」

Yuuka cried out in delight.
If it’s too small it’s hard to carry in dragon form, and a bigger tub makes it easier to manage the temperature, so our bath is quite large for one that’s usually just for two. It’s about the size of a small public bath.

So fitting four adults and one baby at once was no problem at all…

「Come here, Chryse. I’ll wash you.」
「Ah, then I’ll wash Yuuka‑sensei’s back—」

They truly didn’t seem to mind; the two girls frolicked kya‑kya, and their lithe bodies were frankly poison to the eyes.
Naturally I averted my face and fixed my gaze on the plains more familiar to me than a parent’s face.

「…What?」

Noticing my gaze, Nina half‑covered herself and kicked me. It was probably just the bath’s warmth, but with her cheeks flushed, that little gesture made my heart skip a beat—so I’d really prefer she not do it.

「…Not going to stay this small forever, right?」

Nina let those words slip out, almost under her breath.
To be honest, if it hasn’t changed even after a thousand years, you might as well give up. Light Blue, at around a hundred, was far more voluptuous than Nina is now. Steeling myself, I told her the truth.

「I wouldn’t get your hopes up. But size isn’t everything. I think you’re fine as Nina.」
「I’m talking about Chryse!」

She kicked me harder than before. It honestly hurt.

The truth is… I had a hunch. That Chryse’s development was slow. But I pretended not to notice. There’s nothing abnormal with her body anywhere. She’s energetic, with a good appetite. Perfectly healthy, so I told myself there was no problem. But… I’d overlooked something that simple.

Lowering her eyes, Nina hugged her legs tight.
It had been a while since I’d seen her look this anxious.

「It’s okay.」

I said it in a tone that would probably get me scolded for being too carefree.

「She’s growing, slowly but surely. We know that better than anyone, don’t we? She even managed to crawl today.」
「…You’re right.」

Nina gave a small, relieved smile.
The next instant a huge column of water shot up and drenched Nina and me from head to toe.

「What are you two flirting for—?」

Yuuka had leapt into the tub.

「We’re not flirting. More importantly, stop acting like a little kid.」

Back to her usual self, Nina wiped her face with her palm and scolded Yuuka.

「Ehehe, sorry. Hey, Rin‑chan, come on in too—it’s warm and feels great!」

Yuuka laughed it off and beckoned to Rin.

「’Kay. Here, Sensei.」

Rin passed Chryse to me, then swung a leg over the tub’s edge to lower herself in—and her foot slipped, sending her sliding into the bath.

「Oh come on, you too—what are you doing?」

Shielding her face from the spray, Nina groused.
But Rin didn’t come back up out of the water.

「…Rin?」

Realizing with a start, I hurriedly hauled her up.
Rin had been drowning in the bath.


* * *


Bechi‑bechi—something was slapping my forehead, and I slowly surfaced to consciousness.
My body felt strangely heavy. What had happened again…?

Ah, right. I’d tended to Rin after she nearly drowned in the bath and laid her on the bed.
I’d heard that in exchange for legs she lost the ability to swim, but I hadn’t imagined she might end up drowning in a bathtub. Fortunately it was nothing serious—she’d just swallowed a little water—and since Rin was fine, it was all right.

Our bed is absurdly large, built on the assumption I’d rest in dragon form. If I stay human, we could all roll around on it with room to spare… or so you’d think.

For some reason my left arm was locked by Yuuka, Rin’s head rested on my right, and Nina was sleeping on my chest. We were way too bunched up.

Even in human form my fire‑dragon body runs warm, so in chilly seasons Nina often climbs on me like this. Rin and Yuuka were likely for the same reason. Which meant—who on earth had been slapping my forehead to wake me?

Pechi‑pechi—my forehead was tapped again, and I lifted my eyes.

「My tummy’s empty.」

There sat a little girl with golden hair by my pillow, tiny like a plush toy… and yet clearly too big to call a baby.

「I want to eat.」
「Sh‑she talked!?」

At Chryse’s halting speech, I cried out.