The end of the fifth century A.D.
The southern part of the Isle of Britain, the Kingdom of Wales, territory of Sir Ector.
It was late at night, and darkness enveloped the entire village. Along with the distant mountain forests, it was tranquil and serene. Only the moon hung in the sky, round and yellow, like a half-baked barley cake.
"Just a little longer, just a little longer."
In the stables, a blonde-haired girl lying on a pile of hay looked up at the moon, estimating the time bit by bit.
About five or six minutes passed. When the gradually rising moon had surpassed the window frame and disappeared from her sight, the girl, who always appeared very well-behaved in front of others, shot up from the hay pile with a swoosh.
She reached into the hay and took out the three flatbreads she had secretly hidden during the day. Then, she gently pushed open the stable door and, with a furtive air that was both stealthy and joyful, left the sleeping village.
"Little Dragon, I'm coming!"
The girl quietly left the village. And the moment she climbed over the village wall and landed successfully, she took off at her fastest speed, sprinting down the path leading to the mountain forest.
—Her speed was astonishingly fast.
It was not a speed a human should possess... To be precise, even among the beasts known for their agility, few could compare to her current speed. In the poor visibility of the night, her body had almost become a blur. Even the bright moonlight couldn't fully capture her trail; one could only watch her gradually disappear into the distance.
Finally, the girl's figure completely vanished into the mountain forest. This forest, which was already dangerous during the day, was even more perilous at night—besides being wary of fierce predators, one had to be careful of the complex terrain, and the ever-present danger of sudden cliffs or falling rocks.
But the girl didn't seem to mind these things. She moved through the rugged mountain forest as if it were flat ground, treating the dangerous beasts as if they were nothing... No, it should be said that she was the strongest beast in this jungle. Coming here was like coming home.
"I'm here."
Finally, after nearly half an hour of rapid travel, the blonde girl arrived before a cliff. The towering cliff was fifty or sixty meters high—a distance that a human could never hope to climb. But the girl simply stepped onto the rock face, which was perpendicular to the ground, and continued to run upwards.
Atop the cliff was a relatively open platform and a well-hidden cave.
"Hey, Little Dragon," the blonde girl called out into the cave, holding a flatbread in her hand.
Five seconds later, a blue-and-white young dragon, no more than fifty centimeters long and looking quite robust, poked its head out of the narrow cave.
"Awu?"
Seeing the flatbread in the girl's hand, the young dragon let out an excited cry.
"Awu! Awu!"
The excited young dragon flew out of the cave—and it didn't come empty-handed. In its small claws, it carried two dead wild rabbits, each weighing three or four pounds.
"Eh, rabbits? Did you kill them?"
"Awu! Awu!"
"Is that so? Then you're really amazing!"
The young dragon placed its claws on its hips, showing a very proud expression. And the blonde girl didn't let the moment fall flat, clapping and praising its growth... Although, for a pure-blooded dragon, hunting two rabbits was probably not a difficult task, the girl was genuinely happy for every little bit of this young dragon's development.
She couldn't help it. Who else but she had personally "hatched" this little dragon?
It happened three or four years ago. At that time, the twelve-year-old girl was following the villagers up the mountain to dig for stones when she unexpectedly found a pure white, spherical stone in the quarry.
At the time, she didn't think there was anything unusual about the stone, only that it was very beautiful. She took it back to the stables and casually placed it in a corner. But a month ago... when the white stone suddenly cracked open and a blue-and-white young dragon emerged, the girl realized that it wasn't a stone at all.
It was clearly a dragon egg!
"By the way... do dragon eggs really look like stones?"
Such a question arose in the girl's heart, but the urgent matter was clearly how to deal with this newborn little dragon, who was still confused about everything and in a state of needing to be fed.
A cute, but dangerous, little dragon!
She knew that raising a young dragon was a very dangerous affair... The magus who had been teaching her had also warned her that the remaining mystery on this island was not enough to nurture a true dragon.
"Just like an unhatched chick, this world no longer has the nutrients for it to continue developing."
But the girl couldn't bear to watch this young dragon starve to death. Besides, when facing this young dragon, strange feelings would always flash through her heart... familiarity, responsibility, affection, and a little bit of loneliness.
The girl didn't know the reason for these feelings, but she knew she couldn't give up on this young dragon. So, after some careful thought, she decided to hide the little dragon on this cliff far from the village, secretly feeding it with the flatbreads she saved every day.
However, it now seemed that this young dragon no longer needed her "feeding."
Whoosh—
The girl gathered some dry branches and piled them together. The young dragon skillfully opened its mouth and spat out a blue flame the thickness of a finger.
The bonfire burned brightly, roasting the two poor rabbits until they sizzled. The three flatbreads were also heated over the fire. The simple aroma of grain made the girl's stomach growl involuntarily.
"Awu—"
The young dragon tilted its head and used its claw to push a slightly burnt rabbit towards the girl's side.
"Eh? For me?"
The girl was stunned. Clearly, she hadn't expected to receive such high "treatment" from this young dragon. She herself was also a dragon, a red dragon wearing human skin, so she knew very well how much "dragons" valued their food—especially when they were hungry.
But... it didn't seem so bad?
Looking at the young dragon's disdainful eyes, as if to say, "It's just one rabbit, I'll catch more tomorrow," the blonde girl, while feeling a little amused, picked up the roasted rabbit and took a big bite.
"Mmm."
"It's really not bad."