Father, I Won’t Do Anything

“Oh no, a father stabbed his daughter with a knife and set the place on fire before running away!”

“They say only the young brother barely managed to escape?”

Rosian looked around with a concerned expression.

“At this rate, people are in danger… Miss Jaina? Miss Jaina!”

Jaina dashed straight into the flames. Rosian’s loud voice called out from behind, but she paid it no heed.

“Jaina!”

Inside the burning building, thick black smoke obscured her vision, and the incessant coughing made it hard to keep her wits about her. However, Jaina didn’t charge recklessly into the building without any thought.

As soon as she entered the house, Jaina began covering the flames with a veil of darkness. As oxygen was cut off, the fire’s intensity gradually subsided.

“Ugh…”

After repeating this process several times, her body started feeling the strain little by little.

Jaina squeezed her eyes shut tightly and then opened them, muttering to herself.

‘It’s okay. I’m a dragon.’

She tried hypnotizing herself, but Jaina was currently an immature dragon who hadn’t yet awakened her full power, and she was in human form.

Her life was in grave danger, but Jaina stubbornly denied this fact.

‘Even if it was dangerous, I had no choice.’

This was not something her head had commanded. It was simply…

-Oh no, a father stabbed his daughter with a knife and set the place on fire before running away!

The moment she heard about why the fire started and who had collapsed-

Her body moved on its own accord without her realizing it.

Memories of her time as Min Pobae came flooding back.

And the realization that she too was fated to be abandoned by her father and die soon after.

“Sa-save me…”

There was no one on the first floor, but as she climbed upstairs, she sensed signs of human presence.

Fwoosh!

However, just as she was about to go up the stairs, flames flared up. The wooden stairs looked extremely precarious.

The moment she set foot on them, a cracking sound came from below. The wooden stairs seemed to be teetering, ready to collapse at any moment.

After a brief hesitation, Jaina summoned her magic power to reduce her weight as much as possible and carefully ascended.

And when she reached the top floor, Jaina was able to find those who hadn’t managed to escape in time.

“Everybody, come to your senses!”

But no matter how much she shook them, the people showed no signs of waking up.

‘They’ve all lost consciousness.’

It seemed they had inhaled too much smoke.

‘This is an urgent situation.’

She looked around, but no clear solution presented itself.

Aside from this area where the people were drenched with water, everywhere else was engulfed in raging flames.

‘Magic won’t work…’

The reason Jaina hadn’t lost consciousness was all thanks to her magic. However, she couldn’t use that magic to save these people.

Unless it was a special case, the power of healing could only be used by borrowing the power of a god.

“…”

At that moment, Jaina saw a girl bleeding to death within her line of sight.

Craaaash!

And at the same time, a pillar collapsed, blocking the entrance.

‘There’s no way out…’

Jaina bit her lip. Now, there was only one option left.

Jaina took out the sacred relic she had stored in her subspace pocket and placed her hand on top of it.

As she infused it with her magic power, the relic’s energy, reacting to her power, could be seen flowing out of the jar.

With her eyes closed, Jaina kept her hand on the jar for a while. When she felt her body become filled with energy, she stood up.

Then, she approached the fallen people and began infusing them with that energy.

‘Is this the right way to do it…?’

Jaina didn’t know how to properly use the power of healing, as it was a divine ability.

However, the sacred relic, imbued with the aspirations of countless dragons, allowed her to vaguely imitate that power.

Thanks to the relic’s energy, the dragon language, which couldn’t be used unless she awakened her true form, flowed from Jaina’s lips.

Fwooosh!

Next, a brilliant light burst forth from Jaina’s body, enveloping the interior of the burned mansion.

‘It’s my first time using healing magic, but fortunately it seems to be working.’

She didn’t know exactly how, but at least the healing appeared to be successful.

However, due to her lack of control over her magic power, her power consumption was greater than expected. Even with borrowing the relic’s power, a single spell nearly drained her completely.

‘No time, I have to get out before I run out of magic power.’

Jaina bit her lip tightly.

The human form of Jaina began to grow larger. It had been a long time since her last transformation.

Roooaar!

A dragon’s scales were sturdy and tough, unaffected by the flames.

Using her enlarged body, Jaina struggled to scoop up the people. Then, breaking through the building, she took flight into the sky.

* * *

The building was burnt to ashes, but the people in front of it were full of vitality.

“Melisa, you’ve returned safely!”

“I thought my sister was dead…”

Everyone welcomed back family and friends they had thought would never return. And among them was a girl who should have certainly died from being stabbed.

“Oh my, I felt so bad for her, I’m glad she came back alive!”

“Meeting a bad father like that, what is this… Anyway, it’s a relief she’s alive.”

Watching from afar, Izren took in each of these scenes one by one.

‘I didn’t know that tiny girl was a dragon.’

With his keen senses, he was soon able to discover fragments of the sacred relic, traces of draconic energy still lingering on them.

‘Healing magic, huh.’

The power of healing was something only granted to divine beings. Yet the immature young dragon had undoubtedly used healing magic right before his eyes.

‘So she was able to pull off this unbelievable feat, all thanks to that sacred relic.’

As soon as he grasped the situation, Izren returned to the Magic Tower and reported to Diamid.

Although Izren didn’t know the imperial language, Diamid was proficient in many languages and could understand him.

—I’ve known Crown Prince Rosian for a while. It was difficult to track him after he went to the Imperial Palace, but as soon as he left, I was able to find him again with the tool you provided, Tower Lord.

Izren held out the sacred relic fragment he had brought.

—When a fire broke out in the building, Jaina and the Crown Prince had gone to the marketplace. Jaina used the sacred relic to rescue and heal the people trapped inside.

“…She healed the people, you’re certain?”

Diamid was perplexed. The sacred relic was undoubtedly a precious item, even for dragons. Yet she had abandoned the hard-won relic to save human lives?

—Yes, that’s correct.

Of course, even the reporting Izren was taken aback.

A tiny child, appearing younger than his own age, had leapt into the flames to save others.

She may be a dragon, but before awakening her true power, she would only be slightly stronger than an adult human at most.

In a situation where she could have easily lost her own life, she didn’t hesitate for a moment.

She must have been terrified as well.

“…”

Diamid fell silent.

Outwardly, his expression didn’t change at all, but inwardly he was deeply astonished.

Until now, he had believed Jaina to be a spy sent by the dragons, someone who had come to him with a specific agenda.

But to clearly abandon the sacred relic that would have aided the dragons, and risk her life by leaping into the flames to save others… that too, with her bare hands.

Diamid was bewildered.

The dragons he had encountered so far had all looked down upon humans as insignificant ants. But this girl called ‘Jaina’ seemed somewhat different from the typical dragon.

-Whether dragon or human, all life is equally precious. The desire to live must be the same for all.

Before long, Diamid found himself reminded of his lover from long ago whom he had loved, in Jaina’s demeanor.

Bezrice… Even she, before betraying him, had valued humans unlike other dragons.

She had been at the forefront of efforts to protect humans, more ardently than even Diamid himself, a human.

-Bezrice, why did you come representing the dragons to kill the Demon King?

-It was my choice. I thought I didn’t mind dying.

Moreover, Bezrice had always been a woman who seemed detached from the world, indifferent to everything.

Like that child Jaina.

-But after meeting you, the thought of dying became unpleasant.

That day, Bezrice’s smile.

Of course, that must have been a lie. Bezrice had thoroughly toyed with him before discarding him.

However, however… if one were to follow her logic, did that mean this half-dragon too valued others’ lives over her own?

Now that it had become clear she wasn’t a dragon spy, Diamid was conflicted over how to treat Bezrice’s daughter.

‘If she’s not a dragon spy, then why did she come to the Magic Tower?’

Knowing she wouldn’t be accepted, why did she leave her relatives and come here?

After pondering in silence for a long time, Diamid finally spoke.

“Izren. I have an order for you.”

* * *

“Why did you do that!”

After hearing the full story from Rosian, Mikael burst out in anger.

“This time, I can’t take your side. Rushing into the flames just to save a few people?”

“…”

“Are you out of your mind? Even if you’re a dragon, jumping into the fire with your bare body is dangerous, don’t you know?”

“I did it because I knew it was dangerous.”

“What?”

“There were many people trapped inside the burning building.”

Jaina answered softly.

“Isn’t it more efficient if I risk myself to save multiple lives?”

“Are you calling that logic? Don’t pass the danger onto others, why did you, a child, have to sacrifice yourself!”

“…Because I was the strongest one there.”

“…Even so, your own life should be the top priority! Why are you risking yourself to save others?”

“…Why?”

“Huh?”

Jaina hung her head.

If she was going to be torn apart by dragons anyway, wasn’t it better to choose the place of her own death?

It didn’t seem so bad to save a life instead of dying a miserable death.

Jaina couldn’t understand Mikael’s words, but she soon changed her expression and replied.

“I’m sorry. I was too reckless.”

She was grateful that he cared enough to worry about her, despite everything.

“Really, you…”

But Mikael wasn’t going to let it go just because she acknowledged her mistake.

“Did you really understand what I said, or are you just saying that outwardly while still not feeling remorseful?”

Mikael’s anger didn’t seem to be subsiding anytime soon.

“Jaina, was what I heard really true?”

And amid this, Hilvenzia joined them as well.

However, Rosian neither pressed Jaina like Mikael and Hilvenzia, nor did he take Jaina’s side against them.

“…”

He simply gazed intently at Jaina’s quiet profile, her precarious appearance.

It reminded him of the vow he had made before his mother.