The ice dragon circled in the sky, fell back to the hole, folded its wings, and sat there upright, stunned for a moment.

It's been in a daze a lot lately.

It found Ed and Naria, and the elf and the red-haired girl were still with them...... They even brought the stupid big guy who couldn't speak! What the hell were they thinking?! It wasn't a leisurely trip......

It hovered over their heads for a long time, but it still didn't appear in front of them.

What the hell are you afraid of?!—it asked itself angrily.

Every day, it glides silently through the clouds over the heads of adventurers when it goes out hunting. There were times when it even wanted to simply fall in front of them and put an end to it all.

But in the end, every day it flew back to the cave in vain.

It didn't know what to do with them, whether they drew their swords at it or persuaded it to go home again.

Home - the word has been so far away from it that it has almost forgotten what it means.

It also doesn't allow those memories to come back to their minds again. Those false memories, the only real thing is the deception hidden behind gentleness. It had to go through heart-rending pain to break free from it all, and it was impossible for them to bind its wings again.

But Naria's tears ...... It couldn't tell itself that it was fake.

A gust of wind mixed with snowflakes whistled by, and it actually shivered. Annoyed, it brushed the snow off its head, and turned and walked into the cave.

The thin woman was crouching in front of the fire, and when she looked back, she didn't quickly hold the child back into the corner as soon as she saw its shadow as before.

Her eyes widened, confused, surprised, and delighted, and the expressions it had never seen before on her face enlivened her bland face.

"Are you...... Come to our rescue?" her voice sounded like she was dreaming.

The ice dragon was stunned for a moment, lowered its head, and the familiar and unfamiliar outfit made its head buzz - it had unknowingly turned back into a human.

It stared blankly at its hands, completely unaware of what was going on.

"Or ...... You were caught by it, too?" the stupid woman apparently realized that it was unlikely that such a young man would have the ability to get them out of here.

The ice dragon was still staring at his hand in a daze. It was so frightened by itself that it couldn't say a word at all.

"Oh, don't be afraid. The woman came up to him, a little disappointed, but comforted him with great tenderness: "If it catches us here, it doesn't seem to be going to eat us for a while." ”

She shook its hand. The woman's hands were rough but warm, so warm that they were almost hot.

"Your hands are so cold. The woman frowned and pulled it to the fire, sat it down, and shoved a bowl of hot broth into its stiff hand.

It subconsciously held the bowl in its hand, still staring blankly at the shaky, steaming thing, and the surface with a thick layer of oil clearly reflected a human face.

"My name is Matilda. What about you?" the woman asked.

“...... Is. "It didn't know why the name came out of its mouth on its own, no, it must have come out of the mouth of the shadow in the bowl.

"Is, you have to eat something, but not too much, if you gain weight, you may actually be eaten. Matilda said.

This stupid speculation finally made the ice dragon get a little bit of his mind back.

It should have thrown what it was in hand at the stupid woman's face—but it smirked its head down and took a sip, frowning at the fact that it was too hot and greasy.

It was far from Naria's craftsmanship, but it was hot...... And it's cooked.

"You're not a barbarian, where did it get you? Kasdan Forest? I used to live there. Oh, I'm not saying I got caught there too. No, I was caught in the ice by the barbarians, and the dragon got us here from the barbarians......" Matilda babbled, stopping when it had a headache that was about to shut her up, and smiling shyly at it, "Sorry, I talked too much, I guess I haven't had it for too long...... I've talked to people in my own language. ”

It's not called chatting. It didn't say a word at all.

The ice dragon, Is, gradually calmed down helplessly, and since it had become like this, it could only be regarded as another game. It wondered what kind of expression it would have on her face if it turned into an ice dragon in front of this woman.

"Did anyone see you taken away......? Someone is coming to save you?" asked Matilda, with a faint hope. Recently, the ice dragon has become more and more moody, and every day her heart hangs in the air, not knowing when she will disappear into that big mouth.

“...... There's a team of adventurers, and they're looking for an ice dragon. Iss replied softly.

"Adventurers?" Matilda's eyes lit up, "Oh, I've heard of adventurers, are they amazing?

Iss was silent.

"I wish they could come soon...... Matilda cupped her knees and stared at the flames in a daze, "maybe they'll take me home...... I mean, Valland, it's in the Castle Forest. My parents, they probably thought I was dead...... Is, your parents must be worried about you. ”

"I don't have parents. Isis replied coldly.

"That'...... What about brothers and sisters?"

"Nope. The simple, impatient answer, cold and hard like a cube of ice, finally silenced the noisy woman, but her sympathetic gaze was all the more unbearable.

The two little savage girls who had cowered in the corner and slept also woke up, and they gathered around the fire, looking curiously at the new hapless fellow, and whispering about Is's excessively fair skin and light blonde hair, and the younger girl even reached out and touched Is's hair, and when Iss frowned and tried to pick her up and throw her aside, the baby rightly attracted everyone's attention with his cry.

After eating and drinking, the baby quickly calms down. Matilda expertly patted him, swaying, and suddenly looked at Isis thoughtfully, and the smile on her face made the ice dragon suddenly feel like a catastrophe was coming.

Before he could react, Matilda had already shoved the baby into its arms.

"Do you want to hug it?" she asked softly.

――Is this a little too late?!

Isis stared at the heavy and strange stench in his arms, and those dark eyes made even a dragon creepy. The baby also instinctively felt that the embrace was neither warm nor safe, and he did not hesitate to open his mouth and cry loudly.

With a shake of his hand, Iss threw him out, and for a moment a thought crossed his mind - if Scott Criess really wanted to kill him, he probably had nothing to complain about. He really wanted to pinch that crying guy to death right now, and it was definitely not the first time he had thought like this. He remembers very well that when he was little, he would never cry quieter than this, and Scott always hugged him......

There was a sudden and unbearable throbbing pain in his chest, as if he had been squeezed tightly by someone. The fragile, fragile human heart, beating heavily, brought back to him the memories of scenes he had torn to pieces and burned to ashes.

- He should have dug it up and thrown it into ice in the cold wind outside!

Matilda was able to pick up the baby - she had become very skilled at the game of catching babies with the ice dragon. Instead of getting angry, she laughed.

"Ish, you can't litter a child like that, you look like that dragon. ”

Is's face was gloomy - he could turn into the dragon and show her now.

The woman's smile gradually became a little dazed.

"Those adventurers...... They're going to kill that dragon, aren't they?"

"Why not?" replied Iss coldly, the gold spreading under his frozen eyes.

But Matilda didn't notice.

"You'll think I'm weird, Is," the woman sighed, "but I don't want them to kill the dragon......

Iss glared at her as if he were looking at some monster - how ridiculous, he himself was the biggest monster in the world!

He has been a human for more than ten years, but he doesn't understand what the woman in front of him is thinking. Countless people who have never seen him want him to die, and the people who have raised him for more than ten years want to kill him, but the woman who was caught by him to "fatten up and eat" said that she didn't want him to be killed?

"What's wrong with you?" he asked. If Nalya had been there, she would have slapped him on the head for such a rude question, but the woman only smiled a little embarrassedly.

"I knew you would think I was stupid. Everybody thinks I'm crazy...... Maybe I'm really crazy, maybe I just want it to be like that...... I mean, sometimes that dragon doesn't look bad, at least it didn't really hurt us...... No, forget the stupidity, it must just be because I hope it doesn't really eat us......" she said incoherently, lowering her head, letting her messy brown hair cover her flushed face, but she couldn't help but peek at Is, ashamed and nervous, as if she regretted saying such a stupid thought.

Isis stayed there, unable to figure out what that messy feeling in his heart was. Was it the anger of a dragon being slighted, or the panic of being easily seen through by such an apparently unintelligent woman, or the weakness that he would never admit...... And a glimmer of absolutely ridiculous hope.

"You...... Would you like some more soup?" Matilda asked awkwardly in silence.

Isis silently handed over the empty bowl.