As soon as Naro spoke, the baby dragon scurried over again and stood stuck right next to Naro’s leg. Naro walked along the familiar path with his robe draped over his arm, preparing for the situation where he might encounter people at any time.
The baby dragon walked matching Naro’s stride. Naro walked side by side with the dragon while chattering on and on about things that happened on this mountain or noteworthy spots.
The baby dragon couldn’t speak, but it concentrated on the story with its gaze fixed on Naro. Whether the voice was pleasant to hear or it was just happy to be with Naro, its tail kept moving left and right.
“Alright, this is where I gather medicinal herbs.”
To be precise, it was a place where he could gather the medicinal herbs that had been in the basket the dragon knocked over earlier. Naro familiarly settled in, crouched down in one spot, and carefully dug up the medicinal herbs using the tools he’d brought without damaging the plants.
The baby dragon stuck right next to Naro like that. After looking at the sharp object with a pointed end that Naro was holding in his hand and swinging diligently, it suddenly looked down at its own claws. After alternating between the tool Naro was holding and its own claws about three times, the dragon pressed its claws against the dirt and started digging up the soil with a crunch.
“Huh?”
Perhaps because the speed and strength were quite intense? Clumps of dirt scattered into the air at a tremendous speed, almost like dust was blowing.
“D-dragon. Wait a moment!”
At Naro’s words, the baby dragon stopped what it was doing. Actually, it hadn’t even swung its claws many times, but the dirt hole was deeply dug all the way down, and the medicinal herbs and plants that had been there were torn to the point of being almost unrecognizable.
Seeing that, Naro newly realized the dragon’s strength. He’d thought it was a baby just born from an egg, but he didn’t know it had the strength to dig a hole this deep in an instant.
“Were you trying to help me?”
Naro patted off the dirt on the baby dragon’s claws. There was also a bucket’s worth of dirt splattered on its face, so it took quite a bit of effort. Naro’s clothes also became covered in dirt, but since he could see the intention of what kind of heart the dragon had acted with, rather than getting angry, he just found it cute and was pleased.
“When you grow a bit more later, help me then.”
The baby dragon rubbed its face against Naro’s hand, then tilted its head.
“You’re still a baby. Plus, you were badly hurt recently and in pain too. So I, as an adult, should take care of you. When you become an adult later, then you can help me.”
The dragon blinked its eyes wide as its pupils split vertically for a moment. But Naro, who didn’t notice that, was lost in thought for a moment. When the dragon became an adult, wouldn’t it grow tremendously? Right now he could hold it in his arms, but when it became fully grown, wouldn’t it get incredibly huge?
Naro pondered for a moment, then shook off his thoughts. That was a future matter, and for now he just wanted to think about taking care of this baby dragon well. Because if he worried about even such things, his head would already hurt.
Naro moved his hands busily again and gathered medicinal herbs.
“This should be enough. Should we go home now?”
The dragon nodded its head greatly. As Naro came back out to the mountain path, his head unconsciously turned in another direction. If he went further inside from where he was standing now, there would be the cave he saw that time. That very cave where this baby dragon had been.
“Dragon, do you want to go see the cave where you were?”
The dragon opened its eyes round as if puzzled.
Actually, after picking up the injured dragon, Naro had tried to visit that cave once. Although he could clearly tell by appearance that the species was a dragon, he still wondered if he could obtain more information about this child besides that. But because the baby dragon had been so on guard and had even attempted to escape, he’d been so busy that he’d completely forgotten he’d even had such thoughts.
Naro slowly stepped into the deep part of the mountain. Fortunately, the dragon also followed obediently as if it didn’t dislike it.
At that time, some fox had suddenly stolen his wallet and ran away, so he’d only been busy chasing after it, but still, he’d memorized the path reasonably well. It was thanks to trying to unconsciously remember the way back even while running away.
“Huh?”
However, Naro only let out a surprised breath after arriving at the point where that cave had been.
“Where did it go?”
The cave entrance that should clearly have been in this place had disappeared without a trace. At the unexpected situation, Naro flustered and looked around. But the entrance leading to the cave wasn’t visible anywhere. He wondered if he’d come to the wrong place, but this was definitely the right location.
“It’s not here… What happened?”
The proof that he’d definitely entered the cave was right next to him now. But now he couldn’t even find a trace of that cave, so he couldn’t help but be confused. To borrow words from the place he used to live, it was truly enough to make even ghosts cry.
“Dragon, the cave where you were has disappeared.”
Naro stroked the dragon’s head. He thought the baby dragon might want to see that cave where it had lived. Because when it ran away from home that time, the baby dragon had come to this mountain. Thinking that way, he felt a bit melancholy for no reason.
The baby dragon’s gaze touched Naro’s sunken expression. The dragon, staring intently at that expression, looked around, then suddenly darted out toward a side path to the side.
“Huh? D-dragon!”
Surprised, Naro chased after the baby dragon. As he ran frantically through trees and bushes, before he knew it, the sound of refreshing wind could be heard by his ears.
“Huff… haah…”
Naro gasped for rough breaths while blankly staring at the scene unfolding before his eyes. The sound he heard wasn’t the voice made by wind. It was the sound created by a refreshingly flowing stream.
There was clean, clear stream water there. Naro had come to this mountain quite often for a long time, but he didn’t know there was a stream in such a deep place like this.
While Naro was momentarily distracted by the beautiful scene of the refreshing stream flowing, the baby dragon next to him suddenly jumped into the water.
“Ah!”
Startled, Naro shouted. Naro quickly rolled up his pant legs and prepared to jump in. Just as he was about to step into the water with the single-minded thought that he had to save the dragon, the baby dragon stuck its face up above the water surface and came out with something in its mouth.
“Fi…sh?”
The baby dragon was holding several flapping fish in its mouth. And with an expression that somehow seemed proud, it put down the caught fish in front of Naro as if to show off.
Naro was flustered. He wondered what it was trying to do, then thought that maybe the baby dragon was trying to comfort him in its own way. Because earlier he’d been standing dejectedly at the place where the cave had disappeared.
“Eat this and cheer up?”
The baby dragon nodded its head vigorously. Water droplets that splashed from the dragon’s body wet Naro’s clothes. One side of his heart stung. Actually, he hadn’t been particularly that depressed. Rather, he’d been down because he was worried the baby dragon would be sad that the cave where it stayed had disappeared. But this child was actually thinking of his feelings and even trying to comfort him.
“Dragon, thank you.”
Naro pulled the baby dragon tightly into his arms. Without caring that his clothes were getting wet, he stroked the baby dragon’s head several times. The body warmth he felt was warm. Although they weren’t the same human species, that warmth was enough to touch his heart.
For Naro, who had been lying lonely on a hard hospital bed right before dying, it was truly grateful and affectionate warmth.
“Should we grill this together for dinner today? What do you think?”
The baby dragon licked Naro’s lips. Naro put the fish the dragon had brought in his bag and began preparing to properly descend the mountain.
While holding the baby dragon in his arms and leaving the stream to go back down the path they’d run up, rustling sounds could be heard from a nearby thicket.
Naro stopped his steps abruptly. That presence felt different from something simply created by wind. But it soon became quiet, and even straining his senses, no sound could be heard. Had he heard wrong? Or was it a sound made by an animal like a rabbit?
Naro put strength into the hand holding the baby dragon for no reason. Whatever the reason, it was true that he’d come deep into the mountain, so there would be nothing wrong with going down quickly.
Because he still didn’t know well about things like the paths here or the creatures living here.
Naro quickly made his way through the place overgrown with thickets. Just when the path he’d come up earlier came right into view and he unconsciously felt relieved, the thicket behind shook once more.
“…”
Naro gulped. This time it wasn’t just the sound of grass shaking. He felt the presence of a creature. Goosebumps instinctively rose on the back of his neck.
Naro slowly turned his body.
“…Ah.”
A beast in the shape of a giant wild boar was staring intently at Naro. It was somehow different from an ordinary wild boar. The protruding tusks were very thick and sharp, and the patterns were also unusual. But such things weren’t important.
That beast was looking at Naro while snorting with all its might and stomping its feet. Anyone could see it was a movement targeting prey.
Cold sweat dripped from Naro’s forehead. His heart beat fast and his legs trembled. He knew in his head that he had to run away, but his feet wouldn’t move as if they were stuck in a swamp.
