Miss Black Dragon Refuses to Be a Mount

The matter of her appearance was set aside for now. A new problem now lay before Ailolin: would that little girl reveal her existence? Or perhaps she had already done so, considering this was not the first time she had met the girl.

To be safe, Ailolin decided she could no longer live in her original nest. Better safe than sorry. The forest was so vast anyway, so she might as well find another place.

But Ailolin hesitated again. Would that bold little girl come back?

She still hoped to see the girl again. During these boring days, the little girl was the only creature she had met that could "talk."

Should she hide somewhere nearby first? If the little girl brought a group of people to subdue her, it would not be too late to run then.

Every choice came with risks. Ailolin did not choose the safest option because she truly wanted someone to keep her company right now, even if they could not understand each other.

At the very least, seeing that little human girl gave Ailolin the feeling of meeting one of her own kind, and made her feel less lonely.

"Books, books... books related to Dragonkind..."

Likaro stood on a chair and searched through the enormous bookshelf. Several books already lay piled on the floor beside her, all of them related to Dragonkind.

Unfortunately, the contents of those books were not much help to Likaro. What mattered most now was finding a way to communicate with Dragonkind, such as books recording the Dragonkind language, but she found nothing.

In the end, she could only learn a few traits of Dragonkind from the books, and those records might not even have been true. They clearly stated that they included speculation.

"Ugh, there's barely anything useful."

Likaro flopped onto the floor, only to be jabbed by the Recording Crystal in her bag. That was when she remembered that she had preserved an image of the dragon. If she showed it to her father, he would definitely believe what she had told him before.

But Likaro fell into hesitation.

The books said that most dragons did not actively harass humans, so they could be considered lawful neutral beings. Many of them were good dragons, but to other races, every part of a dragon was treasure.

If the people of Edafalon truly learned there was a dragon, and it was even a young dragon that posed little threat, then...

Likaro could already imagine the young dragon's fate.

She struggled inwardly for a moment. Then she remembered that the young dragon had not hurt her in the forest, and decided not to tell anyone about it for now.

The library in Edafalon City was enormous. Likaro decided to look there. Maybe she would find a useful book.

At the same time, the scouting party Duke Wilfen had dispatched entered the forest, following the duke's orders to search for an "unknown large magical beast."

This was an easy assignment for the scouts, since this was what they did. Every year, they patrolled the forest many times to ensure that no high-risk magical beasts existed in or around Edafalon City.

One experienced hunter in the group noticed something unusual. He discovered that there were clearly more animal skeletons in the forest. Having hunted there since childhood, he naturally spotted the signs.

However, hunters only hunted along the forest's outskirts and rarely ventured inside. The villages and towns nearby all had legends claiming that the depths of the forest were dangerous. Of course, many people did not believe them and thought they were merely stories made up to scare children.

The hunters did not avoid hunting in the depths because of those legends. It was simply because the prey around the outskirts was enough. There was no need to travel so far, and they might even get lost.

"Captain, we've searched for an entire day and still haven't found anything," one team member said.

The scouting party consisted of all kinds of people: soldiers responsible for combat, hunters who served as guides, doctors who provided support, and more. The one in charge was the captain personally appointed by the duke.

"Then we'll search deeper in the forest." The captain surveyed the surroundings and decided they would find nothing on the forest's outskirts.

"But the sun is about to set..."

"What are you afraid of? Don't tell me you're scared of camping outdoors?" The captain looked at the team member with amusement. Suddenly, the man before him dropped to his knees, his eyes vacant, as though he had become a lifeless object.

Looking around, he saw that every other team member had become the same way.

Even the experienced scouting captain, who had seen much in his life, was frightened.

Under a tree in the distance seemed to stand someone dressed in a black robe. The captain could not make out the person's face.

"Forget. You should not disturb the peace of this place."

It sounded like a woman's voice. Before the captain could think of anything, he too fell to his knees, and his consciousness began to blur.

The surroundings sank into deathly silence, and the mysterious person vanished from beneath the tree.

The sun set at the horizon. The scouting party members who had been kneeling on the ground began to move mechanically. Like puppets controlled by strings, they started setting up a temporary camp nearby.

That Winter Day: The Eight-Year-Old Little Teacher

The scouting party did not return to Edafalon City until the next day.

"Your Grace, we searched the depths of the forest and camped there for the night. We found nothing," the captain reported to Wilfen.

"Is that so? Then go get some rest."

Wilfen waved his hand, signaling that the scouting captain could leave, then lowered his head and continued handling official business.

After the captain left, Wilfen stopped writing and rubbed his slightly dizzy head.

He was still troubled by Likaro's situation. His daughter stubbornly refused to learn magic, and his current hands-off approach to raising her would eventually cause problems. It would be better to find her a teacher and have her attend lessons at home every day. Even if it was not basic magic, learning some common knowledge would be good.

His daughter might lack patience, but this was something that had to be done. When the time came, he could only be a bad father and put some pressure on her.

Meanwhile, Likaro was preparing to head into the forest again. Although she had not found any useful books, she had come up with a way to communicate with Ailolin.

In the forest, Ailolin was still sleeping in her old nest. However, she remained alert to the surrounding environment, wondering whether that little girl would come again.

Near noon, Ailolin sensed someone approaching. She recognized Likaro because she had already become familiar with her scent.

However, in order to learn Likaro's true intentions, Ailolin chose to lie in the cave and pretend to be asleep.

"Hello?" Likaro poked her head in. Upon seeing Ailolin, she quickly covered her mouth. So the Little Black Dragon was sleeping. She absolutely could not wake her.

Little Black Dragon was a nickname Likaro had come up with. She had previously read about Dragonkind's stages of growth in a book. Since Ailolin was a young Black Dragon, calling her Little Black Dragon was not a problem.

With her eyes closed, Ailolin felt Likaro approaching her. This little girl was truly bold.

But rather than bold, it was more that Likaro believed the Little Black Dragon would not hurt her. This was a rare chance to observe the Little Black Dragon up close. She had never examined her appearance so carefully before.

"She looks so cool..." Likaro murmured.

Although Ailolin could not understand Likaro's words, she could clearly tell that the girl was speaking softly. Was she afraid of disturbing her sleep? What an adorable child.

Likaro continued forward until she stood before Ailolin. Then she hesitated for a moment before reaching out and gently stroking Ailolin's black dragon scales.

"..."

Ailolin could feel herself being touched, though only faintly. She could not feel the texture of Likaro's small, tender hand at all. In contrast, the feel of the dragon scales was fully conveyed to Likaro's hand.

"Wow, so these are dragon scales... They feel so smooth..."

The scales were slick and comfortable to the touch. Likaro felt incredibly excited. She might have been the only person to ever observe and touch Dragonkind from such close range.

Come to think of it, the Little Black Dragon really did look cool. She would probably look even cooler flying, right?

A powerful desire to become friends with the Little Black Dragon arose in Likaro's heart. She would definitely work hard for it. Since she could become friends with the forest animals, she believed that if she spent enough time with the Little Black Dragon, they would form a bond too.

"She's really so cool~" Likaro's eyes turned into sparkling stars.

Ailolin, who was pretending to sleep, felt very awkward. She knew the little girl was touching her, but she could not understand what the girl was muttering about. Blindly guessing might not be right either...

In the end, Ailolin decided to "wake up."

"Wah! You're awake? You scared me!"

Seeing Ailolin open her eyes, Likaro hurriedly backed away several steps.

Ailolin glanced at her and found the cave a little dark, so she left it and came to the open grassland.

It was close to noon, and the sun was already scorching. Likaro ran beneath a patch of shade beside Ailolin and sat down, then opened her backpack and took out food. Under Ailolin's gaze, she began eating lunch.

"..."

Was this child really so familiar with her already? And was she truly not afraid of her?

Seeing the Little Black Dragon looking this way, Likaro picked up a piece of bread and held it out to her. Ailolin shook her head.

Though she could not understand the language, she could still understand what Likaro meant to convey.

Likaro began enjoying her lunch, while Ailolin sprawled limply beside her, treating it as sunbathing.

What would the little girl do after she finished lunch? Ailolin could not help but look forward to it.

Ailolin's usual days were far too boring. Likaro's appearance, on the other hand, made her life more interesting.

Ailolin also guessed that the little girl probably had not told anyone about her existence. Still, she would observe for now. If anything went wrong, she would flee immediately.

Likaro observed Ailolin while eating. She noticed that the Little Black Dragon had grown much bigger than the last time. She had not expected Dragonkind to develop so quickly...

Likaro did not care about table manners at all, so after wolfing down her food, she moved on to today's main task.

She pulled a drawing board and a stack of paper from her large backpack. The drawing board was quite large and could barely fit inside.

This was the method Likaro had come up with. She decided to teach the Little Black Dragon how to speak the Human language. Of course, she did not expect the Little Black Dragon to master it completely. She merely wanted to teach her the simplest words.

As the daughter of a noble family, eight-year-old Likaro had long since learned to read and write. She could even write quite good compositions, so she was capable of teaching the Little Black Dragon.

First, she had to make the Little Black Dragon understand that she wanted to teach her the Human language. So she used what was nearby, casually plucking a blade of grass and writing the character for "grass" on the drawing board in the Human language.

Ailolin was a little confused. She looked at the blade of grass in Likaro's hand, then at the unfamiliar symbol on the drawing board. She seemed to guess what Likaro was trying to do.

Likaro pointed at the word on the drawing board, then at the grass in her hand, and said to Ailolin, "Repeat after me, grass." (Human language)

Ailolin fell silent for several seconds, then recalled the pronunciation she had just heard and repeated, "Repeat after me, grass." (Imitation)

"No, no! You don't need to say the first part. Just say the last part!" (Human language)

Ailolin froze. How could a single word have such a long pronunciation? Still, she recalled the pronunciation and said, "No, no! You don't need to say the first part. Just say the last part!" (Imitation)

"Ah!" Likaro covered her face. She should not have said that first sentence. The Little Black Dragon's pronunciation was strange, but the sounds she imitated were still barely understandable.

So Likaro repeatedly shook her head, pointed at the grass again, and said, "Grass." (Human language)

To reinforce her meaning, Likaro pointed back and forth between the blade of grass in her hand and the writing on the drawing board, repeating the pronunciation of grass over and over. "Grass, grass, grass, grass, grass." (Human language)

This time, Ailolin understood. Perhaps there was only one pronunciation. Likaro had simply said other things before.

At last, Ailolin learned her first Human language word. She understood the pronunciation of the grass Likaro held in her hand and, based on the writing on the drawing board, remembered how to write it.

With her excellent memory and learning ability, Ailolin would hardly ever forget words she had learned.

This made Likaro cheer with delight. She happily clapped her hands, then picked up a stone from the ground and continued teaching Ailolin more words.

PS: Feel free to share any suggestions~

That Winter Day: Learning to Speak from Scratch

Likaro had never expected to become a "teacher" of language, and Ailolin had never expected to be taught how to speak by a little girl. It was strange, but it really was effective.

However, not every word was easy. Many difficulties arose during Likaro's lessons.

Likaro now pointed at herself and said, "Me, me, me, me." (Human language), but from Ailolin's perspective, did she mean "me," "mine," "human," or something else?

Ailolin's head was spinning. She could only choose what seemed reasonable based on her own judgment. If there were mistakes later, she would correct them then.

Likaro also realized where the difficulty lay, but she would not give up so easily. Language required understanding. She believed that given enough time, the Little Black Dragon would definitely understand.

Before they knew it, afternoon had arrived. Likaro was very patient. If Ailolin did not understand something, she would repeat it again and again. Sometimes, she even drew pictures to help her understand. Still, she was astonished by Ailolin's learning ability. She was incredibly smart, able to fully remember many words after only a few repetitions.

Of course, Likaro's teaching was not rigorous. If Ailolin wanted to learn properly, she would still need systematic lessons and books. The words Likaro taught her could only be used for the most basic communication.

When they finally finished, Likaro carefully counted. The Little Black Dragon could now say simple words such as "flower," "grass," "tree," "hello," "goodbye," "yes," and "no." That was great progress.

Likaro used drawings for more difficult words. For example, she drew ten little figures of different heights and appearances on the drawing board, then wrote "human" behind each one and taught Ailolin how to pronounce it.

Afterward, Likaro drew a little figure that looked much like herself. It had to be said that she was quite good at drawing. Then she wrote "Likaro" behind the figure, which was her own name.

Likaro crossed out the little figures associated with the word "human," pointed at herself, then pointed at the only remaining figure on the drawing board, the one dressed and sized similarly to herself. "Likaro." (Human language)

This time, Ailolin understood. This was probably the little girl's name.

"Likaro." (Strangely pronounced imitation)

Ailolin imitated Likaro's earlier pronunciation and said her name. Hearing it, Likaro happily clapped her hands.

"Wonderful, wonderful!"

Perhaps joy was contagious, or perhaps Ailolin herself simply felt happy. Today, she had truly learned something. Though it was only simple Human language writing, it was still more meaningful than her usual routine of eating and sleeping.

It was getting late. Likaro packed the drawing board and everything else into her backpack. Seeing this, Ailolin knew that she was probably going home.

"Hehehe..." Likaro smiled at Ailolin. Smiles did not need language, and Ailolin understood what Likaro wanted to express.

Ailolin thought to herself, after what happened today, did that mean she and Likaro had become friends?

She rather liked this adorable, clever, and bold child.

"I'll come again tomorrow. I'll teach you numbers then~"