Vol. 4 Ch. 68

Noa felt herself being held by someone.

“Is it Dad…?”

No, that didn’t seem right.

There was a faint, unfamiliar fragrance coming from this person.

“Is it Mom?”

That didn’t seem right either. Her mother’s embrace was soft and comforting. But this person’s hold, though not exactly hard, didn’t feel like her mother’s at all.

“Who is it…”

Noa tried to open her eyes to see, but her strength seemed to have been entirely drained, making it impossible.

Luckily, she didn’t sense any malice from the person holding her.

Perhaps someone from the academy had come to rescue her?

In her groggy state, she caught the sound of a voice.

“We can’t rush straight in. The place is crawling with dragons.”

It was a girl’s voice, youthful and clear.

“Alright, there’s a stone cave ahead. Let’s bring the two of them there.”

The reply came from a young man’s voice.

“Got it.”

Noa struggled to piece together the girl’s words.

“Crawling with dragons?”

Why did she use that tone to refer to dragons?

In the perilous situation with that hammer-wielding monster, it seemed she didn’t want help from her kind?

Or perhaps…

As her thoughts swirled, her head rang with a sharp buzzing noise, and she slipped back into unconsciousness.

---

When Noa came to again, she felt a little better. Weakly opening her eyes, she found herself in a secluded stone cave.

In the distance, she could hear thunder and dragon roars echoing.

After a brief moment of disorientation, Noa’s tired face softened into a small smile of relief.

“Dad is here.”

She didn’t know why that man had shown up here, but he always had a knack for arriving at the most dangerous moments. It had practically become his signature move.

“Oh-hoho~! The captain’s little dragon girl is even cuter than in the photos! Poke poke! Ooh, so soft!”

In her half-awake state, Noa felt something lightly poke her cheek. The touch was gentle, almost playful, filled with curiosity.

“So cute! Let me poke her again!”

“Why are you calling me cute…”

Noa wanted to protest, but her body refused to cooperate, leaving her completely at their mercy. Even the Ancestor in her mind seemed unresponsive. Was she dead too? No, she probably wasn’t (hopefully).

With no strength to resist, Noa let the mischievous voice continue poking her cheek.

“Rebecca, be careful. Don’t wake her up.”

“She’s sleeping like a rock. I just want to touch her tail!”

Noa: ?

Oh no. It seemed she’d been abducted by some strange people.

If she were given the choice, she’d rather fight the Dragon King for three hundred rounds than be treated like some kind of pet.

But in her current state, there was nothing she could do but accept her fate.

Moments later, she felt a light touch at the tip of her tail.

She clenched her tiny fists but remained silent. Who knew what these two were capable of? What if waking up led to a fight?

Fine, let them touch the tail. She’d endure it!

Strangely, the sensation wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, the girl’s cautious and gentle touch felt much softer than the times she and Moon had playfully tugged at each other’s tails.

“Ahhh, I want to kiss her. Her soft cheeks must feel amazing to kiss.”

“Why don’t you just take her home for the captain to raise?”

“Martin, no comments.”

“I don’t care! I’m kissing her.”

Perhaps it was the dragon girl’s natural charm or the allure of her delicate, tender features, but Rebecca found herself utterly captivated by Noa. Unable to resist, she leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Noa’s cheek.

“Help! Some lunatic is treating me like a doll! Get her off me!”

“Rebecca, enough. Come help me keep watch. I can’t cover the whole perimeter by myself.”

Reluctantly, Rebecca tore herself away from Noa, running to the cave entrance to join Martin in standing guard.

Finally, Noa was left in peace. She could now process what the girl had said earlier.

She had mentioned the captain’s “little dragon girl.”

Could she have been referring to Dad…?

Mom once said he was the last survivor of a disbanded clan.

And based on their comments about tails and other dragon features, it seemed these people had never been this close to a dragon before. Especially not a young one.

That would explain why the girl had been so fascinated.

The faint scent of gunpowder lingered in the air.

It wasn’t the overwhelming smell of explosives but rather a subtle trace, almost like… bullets?

Dragons didn’t use firearms. Weapons like that belonged to other cultures, the kind used in those balloon-popping games at Sky City.

But Noa remembered her lessons. On Samael Continent, there were certain races whose lack of inherent power led them to rely on tools and firearms to compensate.

If the scent was strong enough to cling to someone and linger in the air, it had to be tied to some kind of artillery.

“Gunners…”

Noa recalled reading about this unique profession in her textbooks.

Like mages with their specialized branches, gunners were a distinct faction formed by those adept with tools.

And among all the races that adopted this profession, only one trained gunners as a proper system:

Humans.

With that clue and the girl’s earlier comment about “dragons up ahead,” Noa began to piece things together.

If the captain she mentioned was indeed her father, then this could only mean—

Memories and details fell into place like a puzzle in Noa’s mind, forming a clear picture.

“So that’s it… Dad.”

“Mm…”

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft groan beside her.

“Noa, where are we?”

“We’re…”

“There’s movement outside. Rebecca, we need to go.”

“Who’s there? The people at the cave entrance—why haven’t they—ah!”

Helena barely finished speaking before her vision went dark. Within seconds, she fainted again.

Noa gently steadied her, letting Helena lean against her for support.

“Sorry, Helena. Rest a little longer.”

With that, Noa closed her eyes again.

“Wait! Before we leave, let me kiss the little dragon girl one more time!”

“No, we’re leaving now.”

Martin swiftly hoisted Rebecca over his shoulder.

She kicked her legs like a disgruntled fish out of water.

“Little dragon girl~! I haven’t kissed you enough! When you grow up, come find me—I’ll be your godmother!”

Noa thought to herself: Adults are so childish.

Shortly after Rebecca and Martin departed, Noa heard the sound of voices outside the cave.

“Professor, over here! I heard noises coming from this direction!”

“Quiet!”

It was Christina’s voice.

Before venturing into the inner circle of the Demonic Moon Forest, Helena had shared a lead on a dangerous creature she had spotted with Christina.

“Noa! Helena! Where are you?”

“Helena!”

“Noa!”

“…”

Their professor and classmates were calling out.

Moments later, someone shouted in joy.

“Look! They’re over here!”