There’s No Way I Can Raise a Dragon Daughter

If it comes to it, let’s run away.

Whether we go into the forest or wander aimlessly, let’s just run away and think later.

I thought that.

Of course, looking back now, it was nothing but nonsense.

As the warm liquid flowed out, soaking everything below along with an uncomfortable sensation that surged from my lower abdomen, I froze in place.

“Please, wait just a moment! I’ll get the midwife!”

“A-ah…”

“You need to let go of my hand, Holy Maiden! I’ll be right back!”

Running away? Not a chance.

I hadn’t moved from the bed for over ten minutes while that priest was away.

My limbs weren’t bound, and there wasn’t any pain so severe I couldn’t move.

It felt like I was caught in a loose noose.

Though it wasn’t overly uncomfortable or painful, the heavy, thick noose around my neck made me feel a terrifying pressure, as if it would tighten any moment I tried to escape.

Perhaps my words are a bit vague.

If I were to describe it substituting with a man, it felt like my testicles were being gripped in a hand.

The fear that they could be crushed at any moment made my body tense.

“It’s over.”

I messed up.

What have I been doing for a week?

More than just wandering around that tiny village, searching for a solution that felt as long as eternity, what did I accomplish?

At that moment of overwhelming regret, a sudden twist and cramping sensation in my insides caused me to bite down hard.

“Ugh…!”

I think I’m going crazy.

It feels like the real pain hasn’t even started yet, but I was already short of breath.

By this point, I just wanted it to happen quickly.

“Looks like it’s starting to kick in.”

They say when you mention a tiger, it comes.

With a squirming sensation inside and a growing pressure, it began to feel like contractions were slowly starting.

Though many people die in childbirth every year, I never thought someone like the Holy Maiden, with her optimally shaped hips for giving birth, would suffer this much.

First, I need to push out this dragon baby inside me.

And then, while everyone is in a panic, I’ll sneak out through the back door.

I surveyed the room and devised a plan that seemed somewhat plausible.

“Ahhh!”

Until it all fell apart.

From inside, a terrible sound, one that shouldn’t be heard, vibrated throughout the space.

It was clearly the sound of something tearing.

I didn’t know if it was the uterine wall, the cervix, or the vagina, but it felt as if a knife was being shoved inside, and my body trembled violently.

“Holy Maiden! I brought the midwife!”

“Oh dear. The amniotic fluid is quite a bit… It seems like the baby will come soon.”

“Ah! Ahhh! Something’s torn, no, it’s shredded inside! Ugh…”

“Calm down, Holy Maiden. Shall we take deep breaths together? Hoo. Ha. Hoo. Ha.”

“Hoo, haah. Hoo… Aah, this is bullshit! Ughhh! Something’s wrong!!!”

“It’s okay. Everything’s alright. You feel more pain because you’re too scared. Can you spread your legs a bit? That’s right. Now…”

What a load of nonsense.

This is such a fck up.

Right now, there’s a knife poking into my belly, and it feels like my insides are spilling out, but the midwife seems disturbingly calm.

Approaching my bed with a cheery smile, she pulled back the blanket and began to spread my legs to examine me.

As she reached inside to take a look, her face gradually paled.

“Uh, ah…”

“What? What is it?!”

“Well… it seems there’s a bit of a problem, Holy Maiden.”

“Ha.”

Struggling to turn my head, I found bloodied stains soaking my skirt between my legs.

Ah, see? I told you something was wrong…

Suddenly, strength drained from my body, and a hollow laugh escaped me.

Of course, that laugh quickly vanished with the sensation of something ripping open inside me.

“Ahhhh!!! I’m dying! I’m really dying!”

“Ah, you’re not dying. Calm down, Holy Maiden.”

“Do I look calm? You’re not the one experiencing this! Damn it! Ughhh!”

I felt something pressing down on my lower abdomen as it crawled out.

Normally, with this much pressure, I would be writhing in pain, but the real issue was that this time, I really was being torn apart.

That son of a btch was sliding down with dual knives in his hands, splitting me apart on both sides.

Otherwise, there was no way this excruciating pain, dividing my insides simultaneously, could be explained.

“I-I can see the head! Just a bit more, Holy Maiden!”

“Don’t push, it hurts!!!”

Who is this midwife?

She’s utterly useless.

Honestly, the priest who has been holding my hand by my side is more helpful.

As blood began to spill out enough to soak the bedsheets, darkness crept into my vision, and dizziness washed over me.

No matter how monstrous my regenerative abilities might be, there seemed to be no way to replace the oxygen I had lost.

“Ah. Ugh. Ahhh…”

“It’s almost out! Just a little longer!”

Now, I lacked even the energy to voice my pain.

The dragon baby that had been ripping down inside me was now teasing at the opening, ready to come out.

It felt as if my insides were being pulled out whole.

My mind was in a haze, my abdomen felt completely shredded, my vision darkened, yet somehow I couldn’t faint.

I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and wake up refreshed.

But unfortunately, my consciousness remained intact until the very last moment.

“Waaaah! Waaaah! Waaaaah!”

“You did great, Holy Maiden! I’ll help you with the bleeding in no time… Huh.”

With the head out, the sensation of something stuck inside disappeared, and I felt a blissful release as the baby came forth.

In that moment, breath, which had felt constricted, loosened, and my vision began to return.

However, the moment I heard the midwife’s horrified voice, I instinctively closed my eyes.

It was understandable that I could not process words for some time.

After all, anyone would be shocked to see a black lizard crawling out of a human woman’s private parts.

“H-Holy Maiden. Look at this.”

“…”

However, whatever the midwife presented, it was entirely beyond my expectations.

It was an ugly baby.

Wrinkled, with stubby limbs, it was the most unattractive newborn imaginable.

It was struggling and crying to make sense of breathing.

The moment I saw its face, all my pain suddenly faded away.

My lower abdomen still felt numb, but the excruciating pain I felt before had completely vanished.

I wondered if someone had secretly given me painkillers.

“What is this…”

“Oh.”

When the midwife uncovered the blanket covering the baby’s head, a small black dot appeared on its temple.

No, it wasn’t a dot; it was a horn.

Involuntarily, I reached out and touched it, feeling a hard and rough texture which made me snatch my hand back in shock.

“Why… why this… why…”

Why does it have to look like that?

Not a filthy lizard, nor a perfect human.

Why such an in-between form?

Tears welled up.

“H-Holy Maiden, please, just take the baby. I’ll inform the chief and be right back.”

“No. This isn’t right. I want to wake up now. Someone wake me up…”

Looking down at the life squirming in my arms, I shook my head vigorously.

I wanted it to stop.

I wanted to give up everything.

I just wanted to go home.

In this small rural village, rumors spread quickly.

The story that a child from one house hit a child from another house could spread within half a day, so what do you think would happen when the Holy Maiden gave birth to a child with horns?

It was obvious.

The startled midwife dashed off to the village, and within an hour, it became the hot topic of the night.

In the meantime, I had to escape somehow.

But having just expelled the placenta and suffering from massive blood loss, the aftermath of my deflated lower abdomen was far greater than I expected.

Every time I tried to prop myself up, the prickling sensation in my vagina made it hard to keep my legs steady.

As I collapsed onto the ground, straining to stand, I realized my entire body was trembling as if I were freezing.

At that moment, I understood.

This was not a condition I could possibly overcome with mental strength.

Or perhaps, my mind had already crumbled.

Given my body’s healing prowess, my lower abdomen and vagina should have completely recovered, but I was still tormented by phantom pains.

“Is it true? That the Holy Maiden gave birth to the child of a demon?”

“Let me see! I want a look too!”

“See! I knew this would happen! Just by looking, it seems like it would sleep with a demon!”

The noise outside began to grow louder.

It was already too late.

With that thought, I lost all my strength and collapsed onto the bare ground.

“Get away! We have to capture the demon’s child and burn it!”

“No! It hasn’t even been declared a demon’s child yet!”

“The chief saw the horns of the demon! The midwife said so too! Do you intend to question us older folk, you apprentice priest?”

“You saw it too, right?! Did it have horns or not? Speak!”

“T-that doesn’t… Gah. I can’t let you pass!”

“You bastard!”

The sound of someone getting beaten echoed clearly through the crack of the door.

The priest, apparently determined to guard the door, had started throwing stones through the windows.

“Oh.”

When I regained my senses, I realized I was already curled up on the ground, holding the baby.

In the midst of being stoned, I caught a closer glimpse of the baby’s face, which looked even uglier than it did when I saw it faintly before.

Perhaps tired from all its crying, its eyes were fluttering as it either cried with them open or closed, but even that didn’t elicit any feelings of endearment in me.

If only those black horns on its head weren’t there.

It’s all your fault.

It’s because of you that I entered this body, that I was smothered by a dragon as soon as I got here, that I was trapped in this village.

At that moment, as my still trembling right hand gripped the baby’s neck, I had a profound realization.

“Wait…?”

When the surroundings fell silent, I cautiously tried to stand.

All the noisy insults from people calling me a whore, the groans of the priest being beaten, and the incessant bubbling of the stones had all ceased.

By that time, the pain in my lower abdomen, which had been bending me over backward, had also faded, and I managed to rise unsteadily with weak, trembling legs.

With each step, I placed my hand on my throbbing pelvis as I staggered towards the window.

The sound of glass crunching underfoot echoed, but even that didn’t pain me anymore.

“What is that…?”

In the distance, a huge pillar of fire surged upward, illuminating the night sky as if it were day.

The village was engulfed in fire, spewing out dark smoke.

And amidst it all, a huge shadow, familiar to me, was moving between the burning buildings.

“I found you.”

Damn it.

My body moved instinctively.

In my haste, I stumbled and roughly pulled a shard of glass from my arm, cradling the baby in my arms.

Then I dashed toward the village, charging across the empty meadow.

With the occasional stupid roar echoing and flames erupting around me, I ran with my blood-soaked skirt.

The choking smoke was beginning to press against my lungs, but I didn’t have time to worry about that.

“Hah… Hah…”

Finally, I stood before it.

It turned to me, letting out a strange sound as it crushed houses underfoot while breathing fire.

“Yeah. Here I am, you bastard.”

Seeing its face, the one I hadn’t seen when pinned beneath its claws, all the pent-up resentment welled up inside me.

I didn’t care anymore.

I thrust the baby at it in a fit of rage.

“Hey!!! You piece of shit lizard!”

“Grruh?”

“Do you see this? Huh? This is your child! It’s that child you made me bear!”

“Ghahhh…”

“Why are you backing away? You’re responsible for this! Since it’s your child, you have to take responsibility!”

“Creep!”

Maybe recognizing its father, the baby began to wail loudly, tearing through my eardrums.

As I presented the baby, the lizard couldn’t hide its flustered expression, stepping back until it tripped against the wall and fell.

As I attempted to get closer to hand the baby over, it suddenly unfurled its hidden wings and soared into the sky.

“Damn it…”

It fled.

After raping me and making me give birth, it didn’t want to take responsibility for its child.

I now lacked the strength to be angry or laugh at my own negative stance.

Hugging the blanket close, I trudged out of the village, and at the entrance, I found a crowd of people smeared with ash.

There were just as many bodies lying on the ground, having turned into black charcoal.

The people lined up on both sides stared at me, or perhaps they gazed at the abominable dragon baby in my arms.

“That wicked Black Dragon has fled?”

“The Holy Maiden must have borrowed the power of the gods! It’s certain!”

“Then can’t you put out the fires?”

“Yes! That’s it!”

Their gazes were terrifying.

I couldn’t believe these people, who had just thrown insults and stones at me, now looked at me with eyes longing for salvation.

That made them even more detestable than the monster in my arms.

“Holy Maiden! Please, put out the fire at my house! All the food I saved for a year is about to be burned!”

“At my house too! Please!”

“These people! What good is just asking nicely? Holy Maiden! I’ll pay you whatever you want! So please, put out the flames!”

It repulsed me.

I could no longer see them as human, nor did I want to share a moment of conversation.

I slightly pulled back the blanket to reveal the creature bearing a hideous horn on its temple.

With that, the expressions of the people, who had looked as if I was the embodiment of salvation, stiffened in an instant.

“H-Holy Maiden…”

“…”

Among them was the priest with a swollen, battered face.

He reached out to grab me, but upon catching a glimpse of the inside of the blanket, he pulled back, retreating.

Passing by the priest, no hands reached out to stop me.

A scoff escaped my lips.

I realized that there wasn’t a single person I could trust here.

I walked through the crowd and onto the empty main road.

I walked toward the brightening horizon as dawn began to break.

At this point, I didn’t care.

I decided that whether I collapsed from exhaustion or got attacked by a beast, it was none of my concern.

I simply wanted to leave this detestable village as quickly as possible.

“Damn it.”

Suddenly feeling the small movement in my arms, I yanked the blanket back.

In a situation where I might arrive at the next village alone, was there any reason to carry a burden like this?

Would it be better for me or this small life to just die here?

My grip on the blanket tightened, and my arm began to tremble.

Just as I was about to throw it down, the tiny hand gently gripped my thumb.

As if pleading not to abandon it.

“Hah…!”

What was I about to do?

To take an innocent life into my own hands…

Tears began to fall as I wrapped the blanket back around the baby.

Just because the world felt like shit didn’t mean I had to become a piece of shit myself.

Holding this lump of enmity, I continued to wander aimlessly.

---