Chapter 7: The Truth About Father

“Are you saying I hired someone to patch up my dad?”

When Saer was reborn into this other world, he underestimated the heavy destiny that came with being the last descendant of the dragon race.

According to his Dragon Mother, during her own mother’s time — that is, Saer’s grandmother’s generation — they were lucky enough to occasionally see other dragons flying past their dwelling places.

But ever since the Dragon Mother had matured, apart from the occasional midnight attack by Xiyan, she had never seen another dragon again.

That alone showed how dire the situation was.

The male dragons who once flew tirelessly just for the sake of courtship either died alone without offspring or, after long coexistence with humans, had their thoughts gradually changed.

What once began as “Let’s just try it, it’s no big deal,”
eventually turned into, “So many jewels — I’ll never earn this much in a lifetime!”

To them, once surrounded by riches, everything changed.

“I’ll quit once I’ve saved enough, wash my claws clean, and use my treasure to marry and raise a family!” — the line they once used to justify themselves became a complete joke.

And such dragons, lacking genuine emotion and crossbreeding with humans, could never produce pure-blooded dragon offspring.

At best, they’d give birth to hybrids who either couldn’t transform into dragons at all, or could only maintain dragon form for a short while.

These hybrids inherited most of both species’ flaws, but ironically, also the one advantage humans had in the eyes of dragons — rapid reproduction.

In short, by Saer’s generation, pure-blood dragons might have dwindled down to just him — the sole survivor.

The pressure was overwhelming.

After fully realizing this, Saer felt fear for the first time.

But Saer — no, this dragon — had a rather unique way of thinking.

What scared him wasn’t the loneliness awaiting the last pure-blood dragon.

It was—

[This is your duty: as the last pure-blooded dragon, you must leave behind the seed of continuation for your dying race.]

Didn’t that mean his life’s mission was… pulling gacha cards?

And considering how absurdly low the pure-blood dragon draw rate was, it wasn’t even a one-time thing he could finish with a single blink!

He’d have to keep pulling until he drew a pure-blood offspring?

And to make things worse — the mechanism for conceiving pure-blood children was as metaphysical as gender determination among dragons.

In theory, as long as the partner was powerful enough, and — both sides were truly, sincerely in love — a pure-blood offspring could appear from either parent’s lineage.

That’s where the one-in-two chance came in.

So…

You’re telling me I not only have to pull gacha cards, but must also sincerely fall in love each time, over and over again, until I draw a pure-blooded dragon child from a no-guarantee FGO-style random pool?!

Damn it! Could there be anything more hopeless than this?

At that time, after listening to the Dragon Mother’s careful explanation, Saer was so terrified that his legs went weak for three days straight.

He’d rather have the Dragon-Slaying Spear aimed at his back than… that.

Fortunately, the Dragon Mother understood how cruel this was for Saer.

Throughout his growth, she diligently played the role of a loving mother.

After teaching him transformation magic, she never forced him to take on a female form.

She wanted to give him more freedom, because he’d always shown an unshakable desire to explore the world.

But what she didn’t expect was — her child had grown bold enough to start making deals with humans.

It seemed… some things had to be made clear now.

She had to make Saer utterly disillusioned with the human race.

“Saer, my child.”

After much hesitation, the Dragon Mother finally decided to speak.

“You’ve always asked me who your father was, haven’t you?”

Hearing that, Saer — who was about to turn around to find some healing potion — froze on the spot.

Indeed, he’d always been curious about who his father was.

To be honest, in this bizarre world, the mere fact that he existed at all was already a miracle.

So either the Dragon Mother had a pure-blood dragon lover she didn’t want to mention, or… the other parent wasn’t pure-blooded at all.

But no matter how many times Saer asked — fifteen years of pestering! — the Dragon Mother never revealed a clue.

Eventually, Saer gave up.

After all, compared to having no parents at all, having even one was already a historic improvement in his new life.

…Although, admittedly, it was a little depressing when you said it out loud.

By now, Saer had long given up his daily “family reunion” interrogations.

He was mentally prepared for the Dragon Mother to take that secret to her grave.

And now, suddenly, she was about to tell him who his long-missing father was?

Wait — don’t tell me… you’re dying?

Saer’s mind went straight there.

“Dragon Mother, are you… feeling unwell?”

The Dragon Mother blinked in confusion — or rather, in black dragon question marks.

She had only meant to use her embarrassing past as a warning to stop Saer from mingling with humans.

How did this turn into her son looking like she was about to drop dead any moment?

Though… to be fair, she wasn’t that far off from it either.

Shaking her head, she reminded herself not to get sidetracked.

What needed to be said — must be said.

“Don’t change the subject… I asked you, my child — do you really want to know who your father is, and why she wasn’t with you since birth?”

Seeing her frown, Saer straightened up and nodded solemnly toward the enormous golden dragon head towering two circles above his own.

Knowing one’s origins was never a bad thing, after all.

And in Saer’s mind, his father had to be a pure-blooded dragon.

As for being a powerful human — given his mother’s hatred for them, he couldn’t imagine her ever being with one.

Then again… maybe?

After all, people abandoned in love could easily turn from passion to hatred — just like those old melodramas.

While Saer was still running wild in his thoughts, his mother was hesitating.

What she was about to say would completely shatter young Saer’s worldview.

Still, she had to say it.

“Your father…”

“Who? Who is it?” Saer was practically bouncing with impatience.

“It’s Xiyan.”

“Xiyan? That sounds like a woman’s name!”

…

(Wait — Xiyan? That name sounds familiar—)

“No, hold up! Who?! Xiyan?!”