It Didn't Seem So Bad

"It's just a name. People have coveted the Dragon Race's powerful bodies since ancient times. Some even devised ways to take them over." The little girl sat on Zheng Yichen's claw, calmly recounting events he could never have known about in this world.

"A group of people researched it together, and they succeeded. Dragons have exceptionally powerful souls with traits unique to their race, so taking over a dragon's body isn't easy."

"But hatchlings are different. Their souls are far weaker than those of adult dragons and can be erased by certain means. That was when large numbers of hatchlings began disappearing in secret."

"When the truth came out, the Dragon Race was furious. Everyone involved was hunted down without mercy. Even when they joined forces to fight back, every last one of them was wiped out."

"Toward the end, some who had taken over dragon bodies tried to hide among the Dragon Race and escape the hunt. But even with a secret art that gave them a dragon's body, their souls remained vastly different."

"Many secret arts could conceal those differences, but one thing couldn't be faked: Dragon Aura. It's tied not only to a dragon's body but even more closely to its soul. Unless soul and body are closely matched, Dragon Aura won't appear."

"Some Cursed Dragons used rare treasures to give themselves a false Dragon Aura, but they couldn't hide how poorly their souls matched their bodies. Certain investigative methods could still uncover them."

"...Like the dream I had earlier?" Zheng Yichen's mouth twitched. The little girl had skimmed over much of what happened, but she had made the Dragon Race's attitude toward Cursed Dragons clear: better to kill by mistake than let one escape.

Otherwise, they would never have wiped out every last one of them.

"That's one method. It was difficult to enter your dreams." The little girl looked up at Zheng Yichen. "What sets you apart from other Cursed Dragons is that your soul is perfectly matched to this body. Unless someone uses a spell that traces a soul to its origin, you can basically ignore it."

"You mean if I find something that can give me a fake Dragon Aura... I'll be completely safe?"

"The Dragon Race collected almost all the treasures that could do that." The little girl glanced at Zheng Yichen and dealt him a crushing blow. "That makes your identity easy to expose. The Dragon Race has an absolute hatred of Cursed Dragons. Even if you avoid fighting so no one notices your lack of Dragon Aura, the slightest suspicion will make them investigate until they know the truth."

"And you have a bigger problem." Lolise fixed her blood-red eyes on Zheng Yichen. "Where did your soul come from? I've visited many planes, but I've never seen anything like the objects in your dreams. Does your soul belong to this world?"

"..." Oh, hell. I'm going to die! Zheng Yichen stared back at her in silence, feeling as though several buckets of ice water had been dumped over him. What did a transmigrator fear most?

Having his identity exposed before he was strong enough, of course!

Not only had his identity been exposed, it had been exposed to a girl who seemed terrifyingly powerful and knew far too much.

"Even without your identity as a Cursed Dragon, your soul's possible origins outside this world would be enough to make many powerful beings do everything they could to wring every scrap of knowledge from you, weak as you are."

"Including you?"

"Knowledge isn't what I seek." Lolise glanced at Zheng Yichen and let the subject drop before his prospects could look any bleaker. "In any case, I've taken a liking to you. Stay by my side."

"Do I have a choice?"

"No," Lolise said flatly.

"My name is Zheng Yichen. Uh, family name first, given name second." Considering this world's customs, Zheng Yichen added the explanation.

"Lolise... No family name." The little girl considered his name for a moment before answering.

No family name... Well, maybe she's some unusual kind of being who doesn't need one. But how was he supposed to feel about a girl who wasn't really a little girl saying she had taken a liking to him?

Thinking back to life before he crossed over and comparing it with now, maybe getting out more really was the secret to meeting women.

Though his current luck with women was strange, and came with a healthy dose of misery.

"We'll live here for now. I'll teach you a few things during this time." Lolise patted Zheng Yichen's claw. "Your soul is unusual, and it's perfectly matched to this body. I'll need you to cooperate with some experiments. They'll benefit you."

"And I can't refuse those either, can I?" Experiments were fine when you were working with lab mice or studying something else. Most people could accept that. But when you were the subject, it was hard not to resist.

"It's for your own good." Lolise hopped down from Zheng Yichen's claw and returned to where she had been sleeping. She pulled his wing over herself. "I'm going to sleep."

"...All right." Zheng Yichen still had plenty of questions, but he shook his head and rested it on his claws again. With so much on his mind, he could hardly be as calm as Lolise. He couldn't sleep!

He didn't know whether he had given too much away or Lolise was simply that formidable. She had seen right through where he came from. There might still be plenty she didn't understand, but that was only because she didn't know what he had learned in another world.

And what had happened not long ago had made something else clear: even if he had no intention of hurting anyone, people wouldn't leave him alone while he had a dragon's body. That would still be true after he grew stronger.

Whenever he faced an even stronger enemy, he might win, but his chances of being exposed as a Cursed Dragon would probably shoot up. Zheng Yichen didn't know whether any other Cursed Dragons still existed in this world.

The tallest blade of grass got cut first. If his identity came out, he would probably face not just hostility from humans but an endless hunt by the Dragon Race... How was he supposed to live like that?

Just thinking about it made his head ache. As a pacifist, he would much rather everyone sit down, chat, and play games. All that fighting and killing was far too violent.

This world really was dangerous. If only there were a way back to his own world. Burdened by worry, Zheng Yichen's eyelids slowly drooped. He would deal with the future one step at a time.

For now, things didn't seem so bad. He even had a cute little girl who wasn't really a little girl as his teacher...