The Red Dragon Just Wants To Do As It Pleases

"Tania, slow down! Don't panic! Don't rush! Slow down! AH! Dad is bleeding again!"

In the midst of darkness, Attilicia seemed to hear the voice of his son, David Uthos, frantic but with a touch of annoyance.

"Does this thing really work, Brother David? Dad... Dad isn't going to just die like this, is she? Tania's scared."

Tania... Is that my daughter's voice? Don't be afraid... Dad isn't going to die so easily. I've got a... what's it called? Anyway, no matter what kind of trivial fatal injury I suffer, as long as I'm still breathing, I can save myself.

He just couldn't quite remember what that thing was.

It was as if half his brain was lost, and he couldn't consolidate the information from different areas.

Then he heard David say:

"Don't be afraid, Tania. Nifadora said she has a Resurrection Stone on her that's maintaining her vital signs, but we must hurry and take her to the Katjana volcano to find..."

Ah, that's right! It's called the Resurrection Stone.

Attilicia vaguely remembered that it was one of the parting gifts his parents gave him when they sent him off from Dragon Island to travel.

It was said to be a reward given to the Swietlanden clan by His Majesty, the Silver Dragon King.

It was seemingly crafted by celestial beings from the Heaven of Seven Hills.

Wait! My Resurrection Stone, it's been used just like that?!

Could it be that I've "died" once already without knowing it?

But how can I not remember how I died?

Gradually, Attilicia finally started to remember.

He recalled the astonishing scene he saw 'just before dying,' like a meteor streaking across the sky.

Then, an absurd idea surfaced:

Did I just get killed by my own children reuniting and embracing each other with joy?

That's just too ridiculous!!!

Is a Drow's body really that fragile?

After much difficult thought, Attilicia could only think of that one culprit.

Yes, the Silver Dragon's Shape Manipulation had the same disadvantage that most Shape-Shifting Magic possessed.

A fatal disadvantage.

That is, one temporarily lost most of the 'strength' of being a Dragon, which of course included its powerful defensive ability.

This was why, apart from gold and silver Dragons, other Dragons generally held an attitude of rejection, resistance, and even contempt towards Shape-Shifting Magic.

Because, over time, accidents were bound to happen.

Like now, for instance.

If he had retained his Silver Dragon form, he would have suffered at most some broken bones from such a collision... not ended up like this.

It's over... I'm not going to just die like this, am I!

Although the Resurrection Stone was so named, it didn't have the ability to directly revive and restore 'dead' beings.

It merely sustained life, giving one time to avert crises and recover from fatal injuries.

But even such an ability was incredible.

This was also one of the reasons he'd had the courage to go alone to Spider Nest City in the Gloomy Region.

But he could never have envisioned a day like this, being completely flattened and incapable of taking any countermeasures...

He distinctly remembered that in his son David Uthos's camp, the most capable individual was probably that young Green Dragon.

And his injuries were so severe they would require the use of a seventh-circle Regeneration Spell!

Moreover, a large number of Regeneration Spells.

It was likely that not a single being capable of saving him could be found on the entire Old Continent.

No, that's not right... There seems to be one.

But just as he tried to recall, it was as if his brain's automatic protection mechanism immediately blocked it.

I'm done for!!!

But just as Attilicia was drifting into panic and Despair, not knowing how much time had passed, he once again heard his son David speaking:

"Quick, quick, quick! Use this Ring of Regeneration, along with these Regeneration Spells and the 'Heal Critical Wounds' Magic Scroll! We should be able to pull him back from the brink."

"Oh, oh, oh, okay... okay..."

His daughter's voice still seemed a bit frantic, then it turned into a sob:

"WAH! Brother, I can't find a single intact finger! Dad... Dad isn't going to be gone, is she?"

Attilicia's heart ached. He felt as if he was in the depths of the Abyss, unable to see anything, hardly able to imagine the terrible predicament and Despair his daughter must be facing.

Fortunately, there was his son David, who spoke up for him:

"What about the toes?" David asked.

"Let me see... I can't find any whole ones either... I'm afraid they'll crumble if I touch them..." Tania sounded distressed.

"Then, Tania, you use the Regeneration Spell scroll. I'll figure something out."

After a moment, David muttered to himself, "Damn, I really can't find a spot. Hell, I'll just pierce a ring through somewhere."

Hearing his son's monologue, Attilicia was a bit stupefied. In his memory, only uncultured Barbarians would do such a thing.

It was originally a method devised to tame cattle and horses.

Fortunately, his spine was broken in so many places that there was no pain as he would have imagined—only numbness, an unsettling void.

But soon enough, whether it was the Ring of Regeneration taking effect or the wave after wave of Regeneration Spells visibly repairing his shattered body, he began to feel a sense of recovery.

Eh, I'm feeling something! Although Attilicia still couldn't see, he felt hope.

It was as though he, who had been lost for so many years, had finally found the silhouette of Tyr, the god of justice.

Attilicia, whose brain felt as if it had regrown, suddenly thought of a question.

Where did David and the others get the Ring of Regeneration and so many healing scrolls from?

Items like the Ring of Regeneration, which could save lives, were just as rare and precious as the Resurrection Stone he had surgically implanted into his own body.

Even a being like him would cherish such an item and keep it close for emergencies.

Anyone who could casually discard such treasures was either crazy or simply didn't care about them.

And those numerous healing scrolls... Scrolls for healing severe injuries were one thing, as High Priests could make them. But Regeneration Spells, being high-level seventh-circle healing magic, were astronomically expensive!

He knew that the mere casting materials for a Regeneration Spell he normally used for others were worth more than a thousand Gold Coins.

With a wealthy client, he could easily charge seven or eight thousand, up to ten thousand Gold Coins, without breaking a sweat.

And the cost of making a scroll...

Take the seventh-circle Regeneration Spell, for example. The base material cost was over two thousand Gold Coins, plus another thousand for casting materials. That made it at least three thousand Gold Coins for the materials alone.

But that wasn't all there was to the cost.

There was also the lengthy production time!

Of course, if one got an Alchemy Grandmaster like him, who could also perform Celestial Manipulation, to make a Regeneration Spell scroll, the price would skyrocket.

The only catch was that this Alchemy Grandmaster, with his knack for bottles and jars, also needed to be skilled at crafting Magic Scrolls—and at a master level, at that.

However, for an individual capable of wielding seventh-circle Regeneration Spells and possessing the skill to create such scrolls, it was quite challenging even for High Priests, unless they had specific expertise in this area.

Usually, only those with the might of bishops, Pastoral Heads, or other High Priests could afford to make them. However, this came at the cost of temporarily losing a seventh-circle spell slot until they completed a long rest.

Therefore, Regeneration Spell scrolls typically started at thirty thousand Gold Coins or more, and they were practically priceless due to their rarity.

After all, having become a bishop or a High Priest, who would bother to bury their head in scroll-making every day without a specific need?

As Attilicia silently counted the number of times a Regeneration Spell scroll was used, he, already bankrupt, felt a pain so acute he was almost suffocating.

There was even a moment when a thought suddenly popped into his head:

He desperately wanted to shout to his son to stop wasting money! Just convert me! Then use your unfathomable divinity to kill me directly and resurrect me afterward! Even if that meant his soul would never reach the Divine Realm of Bahamut, King of the North Wind.

Just then, he heard his daughter Tania voicing a similar concern:

"Using so many life-saving things all at once, when will Dad ever be able to pay off the debt?"

At that moment, Attilicia nearly teared up.

He couldn't really blame his daughter for prioritizing money over her father.

After all, for a Dragon, sensitivity to wealth was almost instinctual.

The fact that his children could overcome their natural Dragon Greed and spend so much on expensive, life-saving items to save him, their bankrupt father, moved him beyond words.

He was prepared.

He just had to pay his son back, that was all.

Excluding the Ring of Regeneration, whose price was difficult to estimate, the cost of those used Regeneration Spell scrolls...

Well, if it came to that, he, the Alchemy Grandmaster, would just work for his son for a few years.

Repaying a debt wasn't beneath a Dragon.

But just then—wait. He suddenly realized a grave problem.

These were Regeneration Spell scrolls they were using!

Even the Drow would have a hard time acquiring them.

Even if they did, they would keep them for life-saving purposes, not just toss them in a treasury.

And his dreadful suspicion was quickly confirmed.

He heard his dutiful son David say nonchalantly,

"Well, that's none of our business anymore. If Mom doesn't care, why should we give a damn?"

At these words, David made a nearly sycophantic sound toward a presence nearby, cooing,

"Right, Mom?"

Mom?

Attilicia was instantly shocked.

My children, who are you calling Mom? Please don't let the Dragon...

"...be... deceived... AH!" Attilicia, as if about to recall some unspeakable horror, was taken aback to realize he had actually made a sound.

"EEK! Was that Dad just now?" Tania asked excitedly.

"Seems like it... maybe?" David, too, sounded uncertain.

"That's him. Just force-feed him some potion. Look at him, so parched he's squawking like a duck," a familiar and domineering voice once more resonated in his ears.

"No... don't... I don't want to remember! AAAAAHHHH!!!"

Attilicia, who could now barely see the light, chose to close his eyes, cover his ears, and scream hysterically, like a Drow virgin devoted to the Lady of Gloom.

"Stop yelling. The kids are still here. Isn't that beneath a Dragon?"

Attilicia then felt his bare buttocks.

Get smacked in midair by the tail tip of this 'Mom' his children spoke of.