Chapter 23: Homecoming

「Absolutely not!」
「Eeh, whyyy?」

At Nina’s instant dismissal, Chryse protested.

「Why? Isn’t it obvious? It’s way too dangerous.」
「We’re just going to see Daddy’s mother, right?」

The matter is simple.
Chryse said she wanted to tag along on my trip home, and Nina objected—or rather, flat-out forbade it.

「Daddy…」
「Hmm.」

Chryse looked to me for help, but I was of two minds.

「She’s my mother, so I think it’d be fine…」
「See! Daddy says so!」
「There you go being irresponsible again…!」

The moment I tossed out that lifeline, Nina bared her fangs at me, all but biting. Fair enough, really.

「His parent means a fire dragon. The Embodiment of Ruin, the incarnation of destruction, that which burns all to ash, death given form—the strongest living thing in this world!」

What a pompous string of epithets, I thought, as if it were someone else. But it’s also true that a fully grown fire dragon has power to match.

「But Daddy’s a fire dragon too, right?」

Nina let out a groan at Chryse’s simple retort.

「Yes, but—he’s special! There can’t be many fire dragons this weird in the world!」
「Nina‑san, have you ever seen any fire dragon besides Daddy?」

That counter took all the force out of Nina’s tongue.

「Well… no, but…」
「That said, it really is dangerous.」
「Come on! Whose side are you on, Daddy?!」

When I backed up a tongue‑tied Nina, Chryse puffed out her cheeks.

「I’m not taking sides. I’m just stating facts.」

I soothed her and thought of my mother. I hadn’t seen her in centuries, but she’s still my mother.

「I don’t know what your average fire dragon is like, but my mother’s a very laid‑back, gentle dragon. She doesn’t particularly hate humans or elves.」
「How can you know that? Did she say so?」

I shook my head at Nina.

「To a fire dragon, humans and elves are beneath notice. Do you harbor anger or hatred toward a bug that neither stings nor bites?」
「...But she might casually kill one if she saw it.」

Yes—exactly.

「That’s what scares me most. If we ran into her and she, without malice, blew fire like, ‘Oh my, there’s something weird stuck to you,’ Chryse would be a cinder in an instant.」

Chryse, who’d been smug thinking I was on her side, went stiff‑faced all at once.

「If it’s that dangerous, why aren’t you stopping Chryse?」

As if it had just occurred to her, Nina looked me in the eye.

「Because conversely, if we just manage the first encounter, it shouldn’t be that dangerous. For example, if I go alone first and explain, I don’t think she’d attack. And…」

I hesitated a moment over whether to say it, then did.

「I do want to introduce my family to my mother.」

At that, Nina’s eyes snapped up in anger. She clamped her mouth into a hard line, ground her molars, furrowed her brow, squeezed her eyes shut, and trembled,

「Uuuuu…」

groaning as she clenched her fists. Then, all at once, she went limp and heaved a deep sigh.

「...Fine. Chryse, you can go with him.」

As Chryse threw up both hands with a yay, Nina shot her a sharp look and said,

「However… I’m coming too. That’s the condition.」


* * *


『My, my, my!』

In short—

『What adorable little ones! My, my, I’ve gone and become a grandmother at my age!』

Nina’s fears were completely groundless.
To be safe I set Nina and Chryse down at the foot of the mountain and went to my mother; she asked, ‘Why did you drop your friends off along the way?’ and when I asked her not to attack them if I brought them, she even got mad: ‘As if I would ever do such a thing.’

『So, which one is your wife?』
『Mother, neither. The small one is my daughter, Chryse… and the larger one is my friend Nina.』
『I see. Little folk, unlike dragons, can increase even without being a married pair.』
『No—she’s my daughter, but we’re not related by blood.』

I couldn’t help retorting at my mother’s same old airheaded comment.

「...Hey, what’s your mother saying?」

Even Nina looked pale under the stare of my mother—twice the size of me in dragon form.

「She says you’re both very cute.」
「...Thanks for the compliment.」

I left out the inconvenient bits in translation, and Nina let out a groan.

『So, what did you come to ask today?』

She brought that up out of nowhere, and I blinked in surprise.

『Isn’t the only time you come home when you have something to ask?』

Come to think of it, maybe so. I decided to ask plainly.

『Mother. Does a thing called a soul actually exist?』
『My. What a curious question.』

Perhaps because it was so out of the blue, Mother tilted her head.

『Aren’t you the one who would know best whether it exists?』

But no.

『What… do you mean by that?』
『I don’t know whether one ought to call it a soul, or a heart, or memory. But you… have another one of those, don’t you?』

I caught my breath at her point.

『…You noticed I carry the memories of a previous life.』
『Well, I am your parent, you know.』

Mother said it with a gentle smile.

『That’s why I never gave you a name.』
『I assumed it was a dragon custom.』

Hardly, Mother laughed.

『If I had named you at birth, your original name would surely have been crushed. So I didn’t give you one.』
『But Mother, I don’t know your name either.』

When I said that, Mother looked blank.

『…Oh? Now that you mention it, I never did tell you.』

She really does have a natural airheaded streak.

『My name is Rei Kurusemu Suwei Fura Ruyerudo Fujarurinu. It’s long and unwieldy, isn’t it? I never tell anyone, so I’d completely forgotten.』
『…Mother. Isn’t that perhaps your true name?』
『Yes, it is. Why?』

Mother tilted her head as if to ask what of it.

『If someone knows your true name, won’t they be able to control you?』
『Then you just bite such a thing to pieces.』

Mother answered as if it were obvious. It felt like the first time I’d seen her act befitting the world’s strongest creature.

「Um, excuse me!」

Sensing a lull, Chryse suddenly raised her voice.

「Daddy, will you ask Grandma for me?」
「What is it, Chryse‑chan?」

We were startled when Mother answered in fluent Japanese.

「Grandma, you can speak the Hiiro language!?」
「Yes. It’s the language my son and granddaughter use.」

She’s called the Embodiment of Ruin, after all. You’d think she’d have no dealings with other beings besides as food—where on earth did she learn it?

「...Then you could’ve just used that for your conversation with her in the first place.」
「My, my—now that you say it, you’re right.」

Picking up Nina’s mutter, Mother let out a merry peal of laughter.

「So then, Chryse‑chan—what did you want to ask?」
「Um… I…」

Chryse craned her neck to look up at my mother and asked the dragon tens of times her size,

「What… am I, exactly?」