Reincarnated as a Dragon and Raised by a Demon

The dagger murmured endlessly, but no sound could be heard.

My vision darkened, and my head momentarily went blank.

Before I knew it, I was lying on the floor.

As I tried to get up, Aila lightly pressed the tip of the wooden sword against my chest.

“Stay down. It’s better to rest a bit.”

Aila had dragged a chair over and sat down.

“You’re quite strong.”

“Not yet a match for me. Not yet.”

After a brief rest, I got back on my feet.

“I’ll just sit here and rest, so feel free to attack.”

“You might regret it.”

“Yeah.”

Aila took out a book from her belongings and began to read.

My thoughts matched the dagger in my hand.

I rushed forward as if I were going to attack head-on, lightly attempting an attack.

Of course, Aila extended her sword and blocked my move.

The aim was to leap up and head backward.

“Ah!”

Just before the dagger touched Aila’s neck, I stopped my hand on my own.

“Why aren’t you stabbing?”

“Why aren’t you blocking?”

“If you had stabbed, I would have blocked it.”

Though it was training, the dagger in my hand was real.

The question lingered in my mind: Would Aila have really blocked it if I hadn’t stopped?

“If you hesitate, the blade will shake.”

“Could you really have blocked my attack just now?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry; try again properly.”

I took my stance and attacked once more from the front and the sides.

Once again, I seized an opportunity to target her back and this time, I closed my eyes and stabbed.

I felt something solid pierce at the tip of the dagger.

As I gently opened my eyes, I saw Aila’s book lodged on the dagger’s tip.

“I said it was fine, didn’t I?”

“The book. Is it alright that it’s damaged?”

“It’s a book I’ve already read. I have another one just like it.”

Aila gave me some guidance and finished the training.

“Shall we head back?”

“Do we not train anymore?”

“You’ve already stabbed someone, so that’s enough.”

That story about how I had stabbed Juan with a piece of the wooden sword.

“Let’s fill in the gaps with real combat.”

“A dagger doesn’t have a specific swordsmanship style, does it?”

“Sure, it does. But it’s not really practical. If you know how to slash and stab, the rest is applied in real combat.”

All those thousands of practice slashes and stabs with the wooden sword were not in vain.

When we returned to the 12th-floor room, Jema greeted us while leaning against the bed.

The transformation from the potion had worn off, and she was back to her original appearance.

“It’s my first time seeing you like this.”

“What? You’re actually quite cute. Somehow….”

As Aila looked at Jema, she glanced at me.

“So, shall we leave tonight?”

“But Jema just woke up?”

“I’m fine. I feel like my body has gotten much better.”

Solche and Alium followed Aila up to the 13th floor, leaving just Jema and me in the room.

I shared the stories of what had happened during that time with Jema.

“So, if we switch to Roran, we’ll have to return to the Academy again.”

“This time, Ririan will be a formal student, right?”

“That’s how it is.”

I didn’t mention the story about the loan to Jema separately.

It was obvious that bringing it up would make her want to take on that debt too.

Before dinner, we had an early meal in the room and changed into the outfits we had received in advance.

I was dressed completely in black from head to toe. Even the hood was black.

Jema wore slightly darker clothes, with a hint of blue, reminiscent of attire worn by nuns.

“It’ll be hard to hide the horns and wings since the potion transformation has worn off.”

“Can’t you drink it again?”

“Yeah, I can’t drink it right now.”

It seemed that the transformation potion was not omnipotent.

From the perspective of the demon race, I thought it was an incredibly convenient potion.

When we passed through the checkpoint of the Kingdom of Tholis and even changed gender, it felt exhilarating that they couldn’t recognize us at all.

As the sun began to set, I quietly watched the view through the window.

Once we leave here, the real escape begins.

Perhaps this would be the last time I could rest at ease.

The door opened, and Solche and Alium came to get us.

“Let’s go.”

As we descended to the building entrance, Aila was standing with a man.

“Then please contact me when you come again next time.”

The man politely bowed and headed into the building.

“Who was that?”

“The building manager.”

Walking to the back of the building, there was a carriage parked there.

It was slightly bigger than the one we had come in, and the windows were tinted, making the inside invisible.

“Please, go ahead. We’ll do the driving.”

Solche opened the door of the carriage, and as I was about to get in, Jema gently tugged at my shoulder.

“Please, get in first.”

“No, you first.”

Although Jema suggested Aila should get in first, Aila conceded.

“Then I’ll go first….”

Creak.

As I moved to get in, Jema firmly held my shoulder.

“Yeah, go first.”

Aila led me by holding my hand toward the carriage.

“Is this alright?”

I ended up sitting between Aila and Jema.

As a subtle atmosphere flowed between the two, the carriage started moving.

It began to drive away from the city filled with dazzling lights.

“Um, how does Jema transform?”

“Don’t worry. We’re heading to an area in Adelen where many demons live.”

You have to hide a tree in a forest.

They must have discussed the escape route until tonight.

Aila took out a book from her belongings and started reading, while Jema seemed to be concentrating with her eyes closed.

I could feel mana gathering quite densely around Jema.

“The quality of the mana is very good.”

“Do you know magic well?”

When I asked, Aila took her gaze away from her book and looked at me.

“My major is swordsmanship, but my minor is magic.”

“So you’re a magic swordsman?”

“What humans refer to as a magic swordsman actually means a highly trained demon.”

Thinking about it, everyone here was someone who excelled in swordsmanship and magic, except for me.

As we emerged onto a wide road, I began to see a few other carriages around.

There were no checkpoints visible when we entered the kingdom of Adelen.

“There’s no checkpoint.”

“I asked the JS Group to do something about it.”

It seemed the building manager I spoke with had some sort of arrangement.

“It’s comfortable.”

“It’s a big group. If they put their minds to it, they could probably establish a country.”

I was slightly curious about why such a group would help Aila.

“Can I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“What’s your relationship with the JS Group?”

At my question, Alium, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned to look at me.

Alium seemed to think I had asked a good question, with a hint of a smile on their face. Perhaps it was something they were also curious about.

“I saved the heir’s life there.”

“The heir is that Director Choi, right?”

“That’s right. I saved him from being chased by the mercenary guild.”

“How did you do that?”

Alium asked carefully, sounding a bit tense.

“I dismantled the mercenary guild.”

“Truly the leader!”

“It’s not a great memory. I received a disciplinary action because of it.”

As Aila seemed to recall that moment, she crumpled the book she was holding slightly.

We passed through nameless cities outside the window.

In the meantime, Solche and Alium had switched the driving seat three times.

“We’re almost there.”

At Alium’s words, we in the backseat stretched lightly.

After traveling for a whole day, the city we arrived at appeared quiet and peaceful.

It was slightly late in the morning, and I could see people passing by.

Indeed, demons were walking the streets in their true forms.

“We won’t attract attention here.”

“True.”

“No time to wander around. You’re moving straight to the next area.”

“Excuse me?”

The carriage stopped in front of a large building, and everyone got off the carriage.

Solche brought out two bags from the storage space behind the carriage and handed them to us.

“You’ll need to buy tickets to get in.”

“Thanks for your hard work. The rest is up to me.”

The conversation seemed a bit odd.

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

“It’s not good to move around in a group, and we have to stay behind to continue our mission.”

It meant that this was as far as we would go with Solche and Alium.

Having grown fond of them since the Academy of Tholis, I felt a little sad to part ways.

“Then we’ll be going now. What should we do about this carriage?”

“You can use it if you need to, and if you’re returning it to the JS Group, just mention my name.”

“Got it.”

The two gave a polite bow to Aila before getting into the carriage and disappearing.

If it wasn’t for them, I would probably have started my life as a slave back at the Academy of Tholis.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Leaving behind a bittersweet feeling, I followed Aila into the building.

Once inside, I could see at a glance what it was.

It was a train station, bustling with quite a few people in a plaza-like interior.

“From here on, we’ll be traveling by train.”

“I’ve never been on a train before.”

Jema seemed slightly excited and cheerful.

As we waited sitting on the platform chairs, Aila came back with two tickets.

“Why two tickets?”

“Ririan. From now on, you’re a child. Got it?”

“Excuse me?”

“This train doesn’t charge children.”

The effects of the transformation potion were still lingering.

“What if the transformation wears off?”

“You’re a demon, so just drink the potion for demons.”

“I’ll drink it, but that’ll return me to my original form, right?”

The original form I referred to was returning to being a male and slightly taller.

“Tada~”

Aila pulled out three vials of potions from her clothes and showed them to me.

“This is the same one you drank that day. Now, open your mouth.”

“Excuse me?”

“The effects of the potion are nearly expired, so it’s better to drink it in advance.”

Holding the vial, I briefly pondered whether to drink it or not.

“Isn’t it okay not to drink it since we are in an area where it’s fine to show that we’re demons?”

“Drink it.”

“Alright.”

While Aila smiled, I felt an unspoken pressure.

Gulp!

Perhaps because I had tried it once, the taste was fine other than being strange.

Ding dong ding~

[In a moment, train number 15 will arrive.]

As the announcement echoed in the train station, people began to move around busily.

“We need to get on, so let’s get ready.”

At the end of the platform, a train slowly began to approach.

A train with a harmonious blend of red and blue hues.

The train, larger than I had imagined, entered the platform very quietly.

Once on the train, I marveled at the interior view.

Unlike what I saw from the outside, the interior was quite spacious and comfortable.

What particularly surprised me was that each seat had a bed above it.

The famous sleeping train.

“We’ll be traveling on this train for about three days.”

“Isn’t that a bit slow?”

Since I had already been in a carriage, it was a valid question.

Surely, a train would move much faster than a carriage.

I naturally realized that Aila must have purposely chosen a slower train.

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