Poison dragons had been inseparable from loneliness since birth. Though her parents had not abandoned her because of her species, they had raised her the same way as any other dragon. Dragons placed little value on family affection; most parents simply guarded their own hoards and slept.
Even a father and son who had not seen each other for centuries would only ask, "Have you eaten?" after running into each other by chance on the continent, then go their separate ways again once they got an answer.
They might even fight over some trivial matter. There was an old amusing tale in the Dragon Nest: one day, a dragon father and dragon son both set their sights on a noble family's treasure vault. When they met, they argued over who it belonged to, and naturally started fighting after just a few words. In the end, the dragon son knocked out one of his father's fangs and won, successfully claiming the noble's vault. The poor noble had long since been scared into foaming at the mouth by the two dragons' brawl.
Since they could not rely on their parents, lively young dragons could only find companions to play with themselves. Gradually, they formed small social circles, which became their circles of friends after adulthood.
Naturally, Felosys had no place in such a circle. She could not control her toxins, and dragons' normally exceptional poison resistance was like paper before her. Back then, amusing stories often spread through the Dragon Nest about another dragon hatchling being poisoned unconscious by Felosys.
So aside from bathing, Felosys's greatest hobby was sleeping. She often curled up in her cave and slept for decades at a time. In the end, unable to find a suitable bathhouse in the Dragon Nest, she went out to plague humans instead.
Not long after leaving home, Felosys made a name for herself as the Poison Dragon—though it was an infamous name. Any slightly advanced mage who saw her would relentlessly pursue and attack her. The Poison Dragon knew she had not done good things, so she generally did not take lives. If she was discovered, she simply ran.
Until one day, when she came to an unremarkable little Mountain. The lake there immediately captivated her. It was so clean that, beneath the sunlight, it gleamed like gold and made it impossible for a dragon to look away. Just as she was about to go in and enjoy herself, a human discovered her.
Felosys clearly remembered searching for a long time before she spotted that tiny human. It was already impressive enough for an ordinary person not to run at the sight of her, yet this human actually forbade her from entering the lake. The Poison Dragon found it amusing and asked how he intended to stop her. The human kept exchanging information with her until they finally agreed that he would bathe the Poison Dragon from then on.
The Poison Dragon's body smelled wonderful, but that scent was naturally nothing good. It was poisonous gas from the toxins inside her body evaporating through her skin. The human fainted the moment they reached an agreement, and afterward, a mermaid leaped out of the lake and cast detoxification magic on him.
What happened next was rather astonishing. That human, who had no magic power, actually blocked the Poison Dragon's toxic gas with a strange mask. He even worked hard to dig a pit beside his home and build a bath.
The idea that all humans were bad existed only in young dragons' minds. Adult dragons naturally understood that every race had both good and bad people. The one before her was probably a good person. Whenever she thought of Ruben meticulously and earnestly washing her body, warmth filled the Poison Dragon's heart. Even after returning to the Dragon Nest, she often missed that frail human.
However, she also understood that dragons lived far longer than humans. Even if she merely overslept once, she might miss that human's funeral. So, to remember him, she kept shortening the intervals between her baths, from once every half year to once every three months, then once every month.
"It's really been a long time since I fell asleep in human form."
Felosys opened her eyes and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling with a sigh. It had already been late after yesterday's bath, so she had simply stayed the night at Ruben's suggestion. Normally, she would leave during the night after bathing. The only reason she made an exception this time was because of that little female Magic God by Ruben's side.
"Why exactly is a dignified Magic God living here?"
With that question in mind, Felosys skillfully opened the passage leading underground. Mayuna certainly would not grant her the right to live downstairs, and there were no extra beds below anyway, though Miss Poison Dragon would not have minded squeezing in with Ruben.
"You're up. Here's your breakfast."
Ruben took the last steak from the frying pan and placed it on top of the meat already piled on the plate. There were already quite a few steaks on it; with this one, there were exactly twenty.
"Thank you. I feel like I owe you more and more."
An amount that would stuff an ordinary person to death was merely breakfast to Felosys. But while she ate, the little female Magic God kept hugging her glass of milk and staring at her, making the Poison Dragon nervous when she should have been enjoying the food. The taste suffered greatly as a result.
"You lied to me!"
The moment Felosys finished breakfast without changing expression, Mayuna immediately grabbed Ruben and questioned him.
"How did I lie to you?"
"You said her stomach was structured like a human's, didn't you? Tell me, what human in the world can finish all that in two minutes?!"
Mayuna was furious. That was so much meat—she wanted to eat it too. But she also knew that if she finished all of it, she would probably either burst to death or get fat to death.
"I can't explain something so unscientific either. This is a world of magic, after all."
Ruben could only shrug helplessly at Mayuna's question. The knowledge in his head could not provide an answer.
"Hehe, the way you two get along is really interesting. I'm relieved now."
Felosys suddenly covered her mouth and laughed. She had thought Mayuna was staying beside Ruben because she had some scheme in mind, but now that idea had completely vanished. Just watching the two interact made her feel warm, let alone the two people radiating that warmth.
"Relieved? Relieved about what? Why haven't you left yet?"
Mayuna glared at the Poison Dragon irritably. Before Felosys, the little female Magic God constantly gave off hostility, though she herself did not know where it came from.
"I'm leaving now. But before that—Poison Magic: Poison Gas Entanglement."
Felosys had not intended to stay long. As she cast the spell, visibly purple poisonous gas flowed from her hand, condensed into a large purple hand in the air, and drifted up the stairs toward the upper floor.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
Not long afterward, the hand of poisonous gas returned with a little boy in its grip. Mers struggled desperately, but it was useless.
"Mers? Come to think of it, you've been nowhere to be seen since yesterday."
Only then did Mayuna remember that something seemed to be missing here. Still, Mers's disappearance had not made her feel uncomfortable in the slightest.
"He naturally had to hide when he knew I was here. If you hid far away, I would not have caught you. What did you mean by hiding nearby? Are you really such a stupid dragon?"
"I have to stay by my wife's side and protect her. What if she gets hurt by you?"
"Is that so? She's the human fiancée you keep talking about? If dragons could marry a Magic God for a wife, that would be quite a nice thing. I support you."
Felosys knew a little about Mers's situation. After this young dragon returned from the continent once, something had apparently gone wrong with him, and he kept talking about marrying a human. Not long afterward, Douglas found out that the human was a Magic God. Thinking about it, there was only one Magic God in the human world. Who else could it be but Mayuna? If she got together with Mers, Miss Poison Dragon would be delighted to see it.
"Really? You're the first dragon to support me!"
Mers said in delight. When he said he wanted to marry a Magic God, not a single dragon had thought highly of him. His father had even locked him up directly and told him to calm down. Was a Magic God something a dragon could touch? Killing a young dragon would be effortless for her. Luckily, Mers had cleverly slipped out.
"That's enough joking. I'm taking this brat away. Uncle Douglas has been looking for you for a long time. 'When you see that hatchling, beat him half to death and bring him back'—those were his exact words."
Seeing that Mayuna was about to lose patience and slaughter a dragon, Felosys finally stopped smiling. Pinching her nose, she imitated the voice of a certain middle-aged man.
"No, I don't want to go back! The Dragon Nest is so boring!"
"That isn't something I can do anything about."
"Go on, hurry up and leave."
Mayuna happily urged the two of them on. Both were people she disliked. This was where the little female Magic God's advantage showed: she was all alone and could stay here as long as she wanted.
"Mers, this is for you."
Seeing Mers look as if he were about to cry, Ruben stepped in. He took a translucent sphere from his pocket, about the size of a steamed bun, with a little silver ball embedded in its center.
"What is this?"
"A little toy I made. I could only make it thanks to that copper ore Mayuna found. If you throw it onto the ground, it will glow. Like this."
As Ruben threw the bouncy ball to the ground, the little silver ball inside sensed the vibration and began glowing as if it had received a command. Golden light shone out through the sphere, making it as beautiful as a tiny sun.
Everyone on Earth knew that copper was one of the best conductors. With Dragon's help, refining copper ore was not difficult either. Using the information in his mind, Ruben made a toy called a bouncy ball. Since dragons liked shiny things, he placed a sphere inside that would light up when shaken.
"..."
Sure enough, both dragons were so dazzled by the glowing ball before them that they could not look away. For a moment, they even forgot to speak.
"Based on my reasoning, dragons do not like gold coins because they are greedy for money. Human currency is useless to you, after all. You probably rob them because the shine of gold coins looks nice. If all you want is something that glows, this can do that too. Still, I was surprised that you like White Stone. Mers hides my plates every time he finishes eating."
"The White Stone you mean is porcelain, right? We really do like those beautiful, smooth utensils. You can even see your own face reflected in them."
Felosys wanted to ask Ruben for one too, but she did not know how valuable such a thing was. If it was precious, she would feel embarrassed asking. Distracted, she answered Ruben's question absentmindedly.
"Is this a gift of love from my wife? I'll treasure it properly."
Mers happily accepted the toy Ruben had made. He automatically filtered out Ruben's other words and heard only that Mayuna had provided the material.
"No, I mean, I made it entirely myself..."
"What's this? You say no, but your body is completely honest. Is this what they call being tsundere? Hehehe..."
Mers continued speaking without any regard for his life. The Poison Dragon sensed the fluctuations of magic power around Mayuna, and her expression changed drastically. She immediately ran upstairs from the basement. Without even having time to say goodbye to Ruben, she fled in panic with Mers. That was how they escaped being slaughtered. After the two troublesome dragons left, the little wooden house returned to the quiet peace of only two people.
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PS: I could use this title a hundred times in one book! It's ridiculously versatile.
PS: It was a toy I often played with as a child, but now it has been phased out.
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