I Became a Forest Witch Who Raises Dragons

Living Together with the Dragon Girl

“Little one. Where are your parents?”
“Parents… Don’t have any!”
Oh dear.
‘I made a mistake….’

As soon as the word ‘parents’ came out, the girl’s expression turned teary.
“…Hey. I’m sorry.”
“Sn…sniff…”

Soon, she started to shed tears like candy beads.
I found myself in an unbelievable situation where I had made a burglar cry.
Just as I was pondering what to do,
Grumble.
“Sha..shaa…”

A slightly cute sound echoed from the girl’s stomach. The girl rubbed her stomach, seeming a bit embarrassed.
‘She must be hungry…’
Well, she did break into someone’s house and devour uncooked ingredients.

“Wait a moment.”
I turned towards the kitchen counter, leaving the girl whose stomach was making grumbling sounds to wait for a bit.
Let’s see. The ingredients….
I took out a small cauldron.

‘Is this much water enough?’
After using fire magic appropriately, the water soon started to boil slightly.
I chopped and added root vegetables, mushrooms, onions, and meat to it.
‘It’s a bit disappointing that there’s no pepper…’
After sprinkling salt to adjust the seasoning, I sprinkled some herbs to enhance the flavor.
Then, if I increase the fire strength a bit… the meat stew is complete.

The girl, who had been struggling to break free from the gravity magic, was now swallowing her saliva, seemingly unable to control herself due to the delicious smell.
‘She must have been quite hungry…’
At times like this, stew is the best. It’s easy to digest and fills you up.

“Let’s eat.”
“….”
The girl blinked her eyes, seemingly unable to grasp the situation.
I place the girl’s portion of stew on the table and release the gravity magic that was holding her down.
“Sha..shaat?”

I was worried she might run away, but fortunately, the dragon girl quietly sat down in front of the bowl containing her portion of stew.
‘Are dragons carnivorous?’
Just as I was starting to worry if she didn’t like it, the girl picked up the hot bowl of stew and drank it.
“It must be hot…”
“Shaa!!!!!”

See? She burned herself.
The girl’s face scrunched up, seemingly because it was very hot. But I’m glad she seems to like the taste.
“Look. For hot stew like this, you blow on it… and eat it with a spoon.”
As she didn’t seem to know what a spoon was, I demonstrated right in front of her.

“Hoo…hoo…”
The girl quickly learned how to use the spoon and started eating slowly, cooling the hot stew with her breath.
‘…How cute.’
After I showed her how to blow on the food, the girl imitated exactly.
Before I knew it, the girl had finished all the stew.

“Want more?”
“Sha..shaa..”
The girl nodded carefully.
In the end, the girl ate up even my portion of stew and was looking at the bowl with an expression that anyone could see was content.
It seems her wariness has eased a bit too..

“Little one. What’s your name?”
“Shaa..?”
“Yes. Your name.”
The girl tilted her head for a moment. Does she not know her name?

Come to think of it, I’ve heard that dragons are only given names by their parents when they reach adulthood.
They say a dragon’s name itself holds power, but the girl in front of me looked like nothing more than a hatchling, in other words, a young child.
Which means she has no name..
“Name…don’t have..”
My guess was right after all.

‘What should I do with this child…?’

If she were an ordinary child, I could just leave her at an orphanage or temple, but this child is a dragon.
A dragon’s heart is an incomparable catalyst, a material coveted by magicians and alchemists across the entire continent.
It’s said, with some exaggeration, that one adult dragon’s heart could buy a small country.
Moreover, a dragon’s horns are also useful materials for making armor and weapons.
Leaving such a child at an orphanage or temple is not only questionable whether they would accept her, but there’s also a very high chance she would be harmed by people aiming for the dragon’s heart.

‘Humans can become crueler than anyone for their own benefit.’
Even in my previous life, wasn’t I killed by a friend just for the position of CEO of a small company?
As I recalled that memory, my breathing started to quicken again.
“Huff….”
‘Calm down… There’s a child in front of you…’
Only after biting my lip hard enough to draw blood did my body finally calm down.

“Are you… okay?”
The girl who had been watching me asked with concern.
To be worried about by such a young child. What am I doing?
“Thank you for worrying about me.”
The child is really kind. To worry about someone she just met.

Anyway, leaving this dragon girl to people would be no different from entrusting a fish to a cat.
Then suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

“…Little one. Do you want to live with me?”
“Shaa?”
It seemed better for me to take care of her. At least until she becomes an adult who can take care of herself.
“If you live with me, you can eat the stew you just had every day. I also have fluffy griffin feather pillows?”

“St..ew..?”
The girl’s eyes sparkled at the mention of stew.
“Live… together..!”
I feel a bit like a bad person luring a child with food, but what does it matter? As long as the child is happy.
Her nodding with a bright smile involuntarily brings a warm smile to my face.

“It doesn’t feel right to keep calling you ‘little one’. From now on, let’s call you Saya. How about it?”
“Saya… my name?”
“…Don’t you like it? How about Elizabeth or Penibrin?”
“Sa…Saya good! My name… Saya!”
Elizabeth doesn’t seem like a bad name either… but it seems she liked the name Saya.

It’s a name I came up with on the spot after hearing her “Shaa” cry. I guess it’s fine if she likes it.

And so, my peculiar cohabitation with the dragon girl began.

A week has passed since I started living with Saya.
There were a few things I learned about Saya.
‘First, Saya was abandoned by her parents.’

I had cautiously brought up the topic of parents to Saya before.
It’s a sensitive topic, but if Saya’s parents were to come looking for their child later, there wouldn’t be a more troublesome situation.
…It would be fortunate if they considered that I had taken her in and raised her, but I’d rather not be treated as a kidnapper.

“Shaa.. abandoned.. because too weak..”
“….”
……Afterwards, I had to work hard to comfort the sniffling Saya.

‘That’s probably why she said she had no parents. It might have been hostility towards the parents who abandoned her.’
It was a sad situation.
I knew that dragons don’t have much affection for parent-child relationships, but to abandon their own child for being weak? That’s too much.
Saya’s parents had carelessly discarded her through transfer magic because she was weak, and by chance, she was transferred to this mountain valley where she met me.

‘It was an incredible coincidence.’
Another thing I learned about Saya was that her intelligence was very high compared to children her age.
She was so smart that the saying “teach one, know ten” seemed to exist just for Saya.
Once, I taught Saya the basics of the Imperial language.
I taught her as a way to pass time while she was idly sitting at home, but… in just a week, she became proficient enough to read magic books.
And not only that, but she even started using the basic magic written in those magic books.
When I first saw that, I was so astonished that my jaw dropped.

‘Is this what it means to be a dragon…?’
I don’t know since I haven’t seen other dragons, but her talent makes me wonder if this is average for dragons.

“Saya. Hungry!”

Saya, who had come to my side at some point, said while tugging at my collar.
“…Wait a little bit.”
I said while gently stroking Saya’s hair.
… Saya’s hair, which was initially unkempt and messy, had now become completely fluffy, making it worth stroking.
The way she closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying my touch, was just like a puppy.
‘I wonder if she’d get angry if I told her she’s like a puppy?’

During the week I’ve spent with Saya, we’ve become quite close.
Considering our not-so-great first meeting, it’s a huge improvement.
“Oh… We’ve already eaten everything.”

When I opened the kitchen pantry to check the ingredients, it was empty except for two potatoes.
I thought I had bought enough last time… Is it because there are two of us now? The ingredients were being consumed faster than I expected.
‘Hmm…’
To go shopping, I need to go quite far. There’s no grocery store in the village at the foot of the mountain.

“Saya. Can you watch the house for a bit?”
“Where… go?”
Saya’s hand gripping me tightened. A silent pressure asking where I’m going without her.
Due to being abandoned by her parents, Saya has a trauma about being abandoned, so she’s afraid of being separated from me.
I could actually take Saya with me, but I can’t keep taking her everywhere forever.

“I’m just going to another village to buy ingredients. I’ll be back soon.”
“Must… go..?”
“Of course. I’ll buy you some delicious skewers too. Remember the ones we ate before?”
Saya swallowed hard, seemingly remembering the meat skewers I bought her before.
“Come back soon..! Promise..!”
“Yes. I’ll be back.”

After changing my appearance with disguise magic, I pulled my robe down low. Just in case someone might recognize me.

The people in the village at the foot of the mountain don’t seem to recognize me, but there are quite a few people who recognize the great magician of the hero’s party.
It was so troublesome when someone recognized me before.
“Transfer. Location… Rain Village.”
After simply deploying a magic circle and setting the destination, I cast the transfer magic.
My vision wavered for a moment, and soon I arrived at Rain Village.
‘Where was the grocery store again… Right. I need to buy meat skewers too..’
While recalling the location of the skewer shop in my mind, I headed towards the grocery store.