The Black Dragon Miss Refuses to Be a Mount

Miss Black Dragon Refuses to Be a Mount — Author: Ye Xingmeng

The frail boy never made it to adulthood. Before he died, he made a desperate wish: if he got another life, he wanted a strong, healthy body.

When he regained consciousness, he had become a black dragon egg.

His wish had come true, all right. It was just that the egg was female. Well...

Who cared!

Miss Black Dragon believed she was invincible, until fate brought her face-to-face with her nemesis: a brave young girl who dreamed of becoming a great knight.

Oh, wait. Now the girl wanted to become a great Dragon Knight.

001: A New Life Begins in an Egg

The line on the heart monitor jumped erratically. The boy lay with his eyes closed, his family and friends gathered around his hospital bed.

Everyone knew what was about to happen. Grief spread among them.

The boy was still conscious. He wanted to tell them to stay positive, but by now he could no longer speak. He knew he was nearing the end.

He had never resented his parents. As a child, he had resented fate for being so unfair. Why had he been born so frail that even the gentlest touch could injure him?

But as he grew older, he gradually came to terms with it and began to enjoy the time he had left. The doctor had once said he wouldn't live to adulthood, and it seemed they had been right. His life would end today, at seventeen.

What a shame... Tomorrow was his eighteenth birthday. Why couldn't he have died just one day later?

From the moment he was born, his organs had been destined to fail early. Today, they would stop working along with his brief life.

He could no longer open his eyes. He wouldn't get to see his family and friends one last time before leaving this world. But perhaps it was better this way. He knew they must be crying, and even though he couldn't see them, he could hear them sobbing.

Goodbye, everyone. Thank you for being with me all these years. I hope you won't be sad, and that you can stay as optimistic as I was...

The boy thought this to himself. Slowly, he felt the world around him grow quiet. The crying stopped, the pain gradually faded, and his body began to feel light.

So this was what dying felt like. Too bad he couldn't tell anyone about it.

If he got another life, he hoped he could have a strong, healthy body. Then he could do all the things he'd envied others for doing.

With that final wish, the boy's consciousness sank into deep darkness...

"Mm...?"

The boy regained consciousness. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't. He tried to control his body, but couldn't feel it.

It was as if his body no longer existed and all that remained was his consciousness.

What was going on? Was this the world after death? Could anyone hear him?

After a while, the boy suddenly began to feel tired.

Was he sleepy? Could you really feel sleepy in the afterlife?

His consciousness began to grow hazy again.

The heavy rain had lasted for a long time, sweeping away the stuffy heat and leaving the air damp. The farmers were glad they wouldn't have to water their fields for a while. The rainfall was just right, sparing them the trouble of irrigation and leaving them a few days to take care of other things.

Edafalon was an eastern province of the Empire and its most important agricultural region. Its fertile land had attracted a large number of imperial citizens, making it one of the most prosperous provinces in the Empire.

Edafalon was the fief of Duke Wilfen Adefalon. Under imperial law, a family granted a fief had to change its surname to match the name of the corresponding province. Thus, Wilfen's family had taken the surname Adefalon.

The duke had followed the emperor on campaigns across the south in his early years and won great renown. That was how he had been granted the fertile province of Edafalon. And aside from his military achievements, he was also an excellent administrator. His arrival had been just what the province needed, boosting its economy until it nearly rivaled that of the central province, which was directly ruled by His Majesty the Emperor.

The duke had two sons and a daughter. His sons were both adults and now held important posts in the imperial army. His daughter had been born to his new wife after his first wife died, so she and her two brothers were half-siblings.

What imperial nobleman didn't have plenty of women around him? Duke Wilfen was different. He had always had only one wife. After his first wife died, he hadn't even wanted to remarry, but eventually gave in to the people around him and took a new wife.

His new wife had given him a lovely daughter, which made Wilfen very happy. Still, his daughter's personality often gave him a headache.

After the rain, the people of Edafalon City began to stir. It was only a little past noon, and the merchants had already opened for business. Unlike the adults, the commoner children were running through the streets and alleys as usual.

A group of children had gathered beneath a large tree to discuss something. No one would have believed that their "leader" was a little blonde girl dressed in ordinary commoner's clothes.

But no one should underestimate her. The children didn't know where she lived, but at only eight years old, she could easily beat the "tough guys" of thirteen or fourteen. Before long, she'd become the "big sister" of the neighborhood.

The girl was outgoing and lively, with a bit of a tomboyish streak. If not for her adorable looks, people might really have mistaken her for a boy.

The girl was named Likaro. At that moment, she was eagerly sharing her adventure plan with the other children: she wanted to explore the forest outside the city and search for possible treasures.

To make sure the expedition went smoothly, Likaro had even packed a huge adventurer's backpack. It hung so low on her back that it nearly dragged along the ground.

Unfortunately, not one of her friends joined in. Their parents had absolutely forbidden them from leaving the city.

At last, Likaro puffed out her cheeks and stamped her foot. She wasn't playing with those little brats anymore. She would go by herself.

It was just a forest. What was there to be afraid of? The area around Edafalon was peaceful, and there were no dangerous large or medium-sized monsters in the forest.

With her backpack on, Likaro walked alone to the city gate. Taking advantage of her small size, she slipped out of the city among the crowds.

The guards would certainly question a little girl leaving the city alone. Likaro was already an expert at sneaking past them.

Likaro had always enjoyed adventures—or, more precisely, doing challenging things. She was lively and active, and there was no way she could sit quietly at home. As a result, she had caused her father no end of trouble, though he was open-minded and rarely scolded her.

Likaro had once seen knights wearing handsome, well-made armor and riding tall warhorses. She had envied them and dreamed of becoming a knight herself one day.

Few women wanted to become knights, but there were some. History even had many famous female knights, and they were Likaro's idols.

Swordsmanship interested Likaro more than magic.

This wasn't Likaro's first time in the forest outside the city, so she knew all the unusual spots: oddly shaped rocks, trees bearing delicious fruit, sweet forest springs, and more...

But the forest was vast, and Likaro stuck to a familiar area. She knew that if she wandered too far, she could get lost.

Today's adventure was going to be a success because Likaro had made a major discovery. When she reached the old tree where she usually rested, she spotted something strange in the bushes beside it.

"What's this...?"

Likaro walked over curiously and parted the bushes. Inside was an egg belonging to some unknown creature.

The egg was several times larger than Likaro herself...

A New Life That Began in an Egg

Since she'd come out on an adventure, Likaro had naturally come prepared. Besides food and water, her backpack also contained things that might come in handy.

She took a book from her backpack, opened it, and pointed it at the enormous egg.

It was an Appraisal Book, filled with knowledge recorded using magic. Whenever you came across something unfamiliar, you could appraise it with the book, and information about the object would appear on its blank pages.

But when the magical glow faded, the Appraisal Book was still empty. Likaro flipped through every page but couldn't find a single word.

The book couldn't appraise this egg at all!

Likaro immediately decided she had found a treasure. It was probably the egg of some kind of magical beast, since an ordinary creature's egg couldn't be this big.

Likaro was only eight, but she wasn't stupid. She began to consider possible dangers. Could the egg's "mother" be nearby? Or would the magical beast that hatched from it be dangerous?

Since the egg was so huge, she could only go home, tell her father, and ask him to send more people.

Just as Likaro was curiously studying the egg of the unknown creature, it suddenly moved right in front of her.

Rumble, rumble~

As if something were pushing it, the egg began rolling across the uneven ground, moving farther and farther away.

"Hey! Don't run away!"

Likaro stared in shock. It was the first time she'd ever seen an egg move on its own. But she didn't have time to think about it. If she didn't catch up, the egg would disappear before her eyes.

Today's discovery was a huge deal!

And so, a very strange sight appeared in the forest: a giant egg rolled forward as a little girl chased after it.

"Huff, huff~ I'm really good at long-distance running!"

Likaro noticed that the egg was much slower than she was. She would catch up soon. But how could she make it stop?

Thud!

The chase only ended when the egg crashed into a tree trunk.

"..."

The egg didn't move. Likaro curiously walked up to it and poked it with her finger.

Still nothing.

The boy didn't know how long he had slept. When he woke up, one name kept repeating in his muddled mind: Ailolin.

"My name is... Ailolin?"

The name made her feel incredibly close to it, as though it truly had belonged to her from birth.

"Ailolin Furnoscott."

Ailolin repeated the name in her mind, this time with her surname as well.

But hadn't she died? What was going on now?

A jumble of information flooded Ailolin's mind. She soon figured out where it came from.

It was the knowledge passed down by Dragonkind.

At that moment, Ailolin's understanding of her own body was like a blank sheet of paper, and the inherited knowledge was like ink, filling it with information.

There wasn't much to the inheritance. It included Ailolin's name, the ability to speak, and other basic knowledge, as well as the traits of Dragonkind. But one thing was clear to Ailolin: this wasn't Earth, the world she knew.

So transmigration really was possible. Ailolin had experienced it firsthand.

But who had made her transmigrate? That was beyond her understanding. Only a god could probably do such a thing.

For now, Ailolin had more important things to think about. She could feel that it was time for her to hatch.

Just then, she heard a sound outside the egg. It sounded like shoes stepping on the ground, and the footsteps were getting closer.

Danger!

Ailolin couldn't see anything just then. Her instincts told her to avoid any possible danger. The footsteps clearly belonged to a humanoid creature, so it couldn't be her mother or father—or any of her dragon family.

Even though she couldn't see what was happening outside, she couldn't just sit and wait. Ailolin was fragile inside the egg, so she had to protect herself.

The moment she realized she could make the "Ailolin egg" roll, she immediately put all her strength into running away.

But which way should she go? Never mind. She'd just get moving first!

The sound of running footsteps convinced Ailolin that someone really was chasing her. She made the "Ailolin egg" roll even faster.

"Hey, don't run away!" Likaro shouted as she chased after it.

The childish voice surprised Ailolin. It seemed to belong to a very young girl.

As Ailolin made the egg roll, she tried to think of a plan. But she forgot that she couldn't see where she was going and crashed straight into a tree trunk, coming to a stop.

I'm so dizzy!

"Um, are you okay? Did it crack?"

After catching up, Likaro examined the egg. As far as she knew, creature eggs were very fragile. A little bump could break them, let alone a collision with a hard tree trunk at speed.

Luckily, Likaro couldn't see any cracks in the shell, and she finally relaxed. No matter what, a life was growing inside the egg.

Come to think of it, an egg that could move on its own... How rare. She had to write down what she'd seen today.

But just moments after Likaro relaxed, she heard a sharp crack.

Oh no!

Likaro's heart gave a thump. Looking closer, she saw several cracks appear across the eggshell.