I Raised A Black Dragon

“Muell is not lonely. I have Noah and Mister Kyle.”

[Child, you still don’t know. That human life is ridiculously short. That’s what it means.]

Dragons are more like immortals, and humans are completely mortal. The gap between thousands and as many as tens of thousands of years was doomed to be insurmountable by any surreal force

[That there is inevitable.]

So he just had to let go of one side. The dead lost all of their memories and left for the world of souls, but the living must continue to live with only longing and painful memories. Dragons were always the latter.

That\'s why they would always return to their own world without staying long in the royalties

But it was very hard for Muell to understand everything now.

“..what you said is right. I am not sure.”

The boy placed one cheek on his knee as he shifted his gaze down. There were square sections, tightly intertwined roads, thousands of glittering electronic boards and traffic lights, and in the middle of the land covered with headlights was a red hat with beautifully shiny brown hair underneath.

Muell could hear the imprinter calling his name.

“Muell, where are you?”

At that voice, Muell unhooked his arms from his knees and stood straight up. Recalling her request to grow slowly, he shrunk his body in half and immediately went down.

As soon as the crying Noah saw him she hugged him tightly in her arms. He didn\'t like Noah crying, so he wanted to hug her like Kyle did, but this time he was hugged.

“Stay with me from now on.”

Muell thought while being embraced in Noah’s arms. He could understand roughly in his head what the fairy had said.

That he would just stay with Noah, but Noah couldn’t always stay with him; that went the same for his second parent Kyle.

If so, he would be lonely someday just like they’d said he would.

[That there is inevitable.]

In fact, Muell had not yet understood exactly the pain that ‘someday’ caused. He didn’t know what loss was and didn’t know what loneliness was like. He was still way too young to imagine the pain.

But he had decided on one thing.

To make this sort of relationship with another human if Noah disappeared sometime.

Because he didn’t want another name. Because he liked his name Muell, his nickname Mu.

So, Noah would be his only imprinter. That fact rekindled the child\'s mood.

Instead of painting a bad future, Muell embraced with his tiny hands his first and only imprinter, and whispered affectionately,

“I am going to stay by your side forever, Noah. Because Noah is the best in the world!”

Noah cried for a long time instead of replying. Mu thought as he felt her tears wetting his shoulders and Kyle\'s hand on his head.

I am not going back now. Not while I am with Noah and Mister Kyle.

The yellow fairy flew into the sunset sky. Muell stared for a long time at the powdery lights trailing from its flight path. Until Noah stopped sniffling and crying at last.

In a world where there was no going back, it happened behind the back of the two humans who knew the dragon best.

***

If you go down the steep mountain path from the two-story house located halfway up the mountain outside Sorrent, you will find a large lake called Fairy Lake.

Normally, it was supposed to consist of cold valley water pouring from the valley, but recently, it was emitting hot steam everywhere. Despite there being no generators around to supply that much heat.

But the bizarre phenomenon in Sorrent had to do with people living in two-story houses with white yellow roofs. And considering their nature, it was not surprising that the cold lake suddenly had turned into a boiling hot spring bath.

Kyle whispered cautiously after seeing the steam covering the entire lake.

“The water seems a bit hot.”

“Hot springs are normally supposed to be hot. You have to immerse yourself to see.”

Noah, hugging a thick towel, answered determinedly. There was a look in her eyes that showed her willingness to take a hot spring bath today.

“There is a reason why I asked Muell to heat up this place. It’s going to relieve all my fatigue that may accumulate in the future.”

Kyle laughed sarcastically at Noah’s brazen words. After returning to Sorrent she just rolled around the house for a month and ate whatever he cooked, so what fatigue did she have?

Of course, Kyle didn\'t realize that he was the one who did everything she asked for and didn\'t ask for and helped her laziness soar.

Anyway, Noah had no cause for her fatigue. She really wasn’t so weak that she needed to be complimented every time she opened her eyes in the morning.

Kyle thought that, but something else came out of his mouth.

“…can I ask why you feel so fatigued? Have you done something arduous recently, or…”

Noah glanced at him with pointy eyes.

“You should know more than I do why I am so tired.”

“What do I…”

Kyle\'s voice, which responded reflexively, faded away. Noah had recently caught one case that could very effectively shut down his nagging.