Chapter 4
The Dragon and the Girl
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My name is Victoria Ducharica Ban Vol. I am a water dragon, and I am the sole retainer of water goddess Nebula-sama.
When I first met her, I was just at a young age of 300 years old. I still remembered the first time I saw her.
She was a human, just like the others. However, she was different in a sort of way.
Her face was above average among the other woman I have met before. She had deep blue hair which grew down to her waist. Her small body was fragile-looking, but at the same time showed that she had a healthy body.
She, was given to me as a sacrifice from the humans, in exchange for not harming them.
I felt pity for her.
I roared to signal the villagers who offered her to leave. The forest shook as I did so.
One by one, they left in fear, leaving only me and the girl behind.
Although normally the girls offered to me screamed and panicked in my presence, this little girl here is not even the slightest bit scared, at least that is what it says on her face.
Thinking about her weirdness, I asked her this.
"Are you scared, little girl?"
She tilted her head and looked at me in puzzlement.
"Dragon-san, you can talk?"
"I don't usually do so, but because you intrigue me, I spoke to you."
"I see. Ne, dragon-san, am I going to die?"
This kid...I see, she had resolved herself to her fate.
"Yes, you are going to become my offering."
The girl stood up and spread her hands wide towards me and said,
"Okay then, dragon-san. Eat me while I am still whole!"
This, what is with this girl!?
"Hey, you are going to die you know? How could you accept your fate so easily like that?"
She looked down and said in a sad tone,
"I do not have a father. My mother died when I was four due to sickness. I was then adopted by my aunt, but she and her two sons were always treating me poorly. I was shunned by the villagers for being a good-for-nothing. That's why, if I can be useful as an offering, I'll gladly accept this fate of mine."
Oh god, this child, such a poor thing. I don't think I will be able to eat her anymore with such a sad past...
"Dragon-san, are you crying?"
Eh? I am?
"It's just my eyes sweating, don't mind it."
"Hehe, dragon-san is funny~"
She laughed wholeheartedly, ignoring the current situation she was in.
Arrgh, she's too cute to be eaten!
Damn, now I lost my appetite.
"Sigh, little girl, I'll make an exception for you. I won't eat you, so you are free to go back to the village."
"No!"
Huh?
"No! Don't wanna!"
What is this kid thinking?
"If you don't go back now, I'll change my mind and eat you you know?"
"I rather stay here and get eaten by you than go back to the village! The village is more scary than you!"
Seriously, what did the village do to her!?
Arrgh, now I'm pissed off.
"Little girl, get on my back."
"Why, dragon-san?"
"I'm going to give your village a bit of punishment. So, I need you to tell me where you live."
"O-Okay..."
I bend my body down so that she was able to climb on top of me.
"Hold on tight."
I flapped my wings, once, twice, and took off into the skies from the forest.
"Wahhh!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs, not with fear, but with excitement.
I went to the village and asked her where does she live.
She pointed at a particularly large house in the village.
I landed at the back of the house.
There was a shed with no door right in the house's garden. There was a similar scent as the little girl coming from it.
Oi oi, don't tell me...
I pulled the shed out with my claws, to reveal a bed made of bundled hay, clothes with holes in them and a half-eaten apple, rotting away.
This is terrible. Just plain terrible.
"Ahh! Dragon-san! Don't destroy my home!"
She beat my back with her small fists.
That's it. I can't take this anymore.
I walked to the house which was beside the now broken shed.
Swinging my claws sideways into the house, I destroyed the top half of it, revealing a family of four.
They had shocked faces, like the other villagers when they see me. Oh, the father lost consciousness. What a whimp. No wonder his family treats this girl like that.
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"What the! Why is there a dragon here!"
"Mama, is that a real dragon!"
"Aah, look! Nebu is on the dragon's back!"
"What!? I thought we sent her as an offering!? This is outrageous! Nebula! Come down here from that dragon! You are going to receive punishment for destroying my house!"
It's like my intimidation has faded away...
What is wrong with this family!?
"*Sniff* Yes aunt..."
This lowlife trash, I'm gonna kill you!
I roared at the top of my lungs towards the family's faces.
The two kids fainted. Looks like their fathers trait of fainting is in their blood. Only the woman was left standing, but with wobbly legs and a fearful expression.
I lifted my claws up, wanting to crush her tiny body into even tinier pieces.
Just as I was about to swing down,
"Stop! Dragon-san!"
The little girl jumped from my back and stood in front of the woman, with her arms stretched out.
"Don't kill aunty!"
I was speechless at her actions.
"Move little girl, or you will get caught up in this attack!"
"No!"
This girl... she's annoying. I feel like hitting her as well, but I can't just do that when I said I wouldn't eat her.
"Stupid girl, get out if my sight!"
The woman kicked the little girl's back, her face hit the ground with a loud thump.
You just earned your death wish, woman.
I slashed my claws downward at the woman.
"I said STOP!!!"
Suddenly, a bright light flashed from the little girl.
What's this? I can't move my claws down.
When the light has dimmed down, a water barrier is surrounding the girl and the woman.
A blue box appeared in front of the two of us.
Nebula Ditrupina has been selected to be the successor of the water goddess.
What is this! This is the first time I seen this happen!! Selected to become a successor of the water goddess!?
As I was being speechless about it, the barrier subsided, and the little girl fell to her knees.
This girl, she is lucky to have met me this early.
Why? When I was born, I was told by a voice in my mind.
"In the next few centuries, a successor of the water goddess will be selected by fate. You, as their retainer, will serve that person until your life ends. If she seemed to be unworthy to be a goddess, you have the permission to do whatever you want to her. Until then, you may leave freely as you wish."
That was the mission entrusted to me by the previous water goddess-sama.
I picked up the girl with my claws as gently as possible and place her on my back.
I looked at the woman, who had pissed her pants in terror, and growled deeply at her. Aah, she finally dropped dead.
I flew back to the forest to where I came from, destroying the village's houses along the way.
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After travelling a far distance from the village, I went into cave I found on the side of a mountain.
I gathered some soft grass along the way here for the little girl to sleep on.
I sat next to her and curled around her, as if I was her parent. After knowing that she was a successor of the water goddess, I feel like this is what I should do as her retainer.
After half a day, she woke up sleepily.
"Muu, huh? Where am I?"
"You are in a cave in a mountain."
"Where's the village?"
"You are far from it, as I don't want to expose you to any more danger."
"I see, so that dream was true."
"Hmm? Dream? What are you talking about?"
"When I was unconscious, a person visited me. She called herself the 'Water Goddess' or something."
This, I have to listen.
"Tell me more about this dream."
"Okay. She said that you are my retainer and will take care of me like a parent, so I do not need to return to the village. She also said that you will teach me how to use my powers wisely and learn the ways of the gods."
As expected of the water goddess, she gave such demanding instructions, well I can't fault it as it was unexpected.
Goddesses are not able to choose their successors. But rather, fate plays a role in it. A successor has the goddess's power hidden in them and will not show unless that person experiences something life changing, was what the water goddess-sama when I was born told me.
"I see. Well, best regards from now on, since you will start living with me. Speaking of which, we never introduced ourselves yet huh. I am Victoria Ducharica Ban Vol."
"I am Nebula Ditrupina. Please take care of me."
She bowed her head towards me while holding her hands in a grasp.
Aww... SO CUTE!!!
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In the span of twenty years, I took care of her and taught her the ways of using the goddess's power.
Nebula was timid and worried about using her powers, but after a while she got used to it. As expected of a genius.
She had mentioned she had got a skill called the [Sea of Knowledge].
Because I am not a human, I was unable to appraise her skill. But, at least she told me what was the gist of it. It basically increased her intelligence by a tremendous amount. This was the reason she was able to finish her training as a water goddess in a span of twenty years. According to the water goddess-sama, she took 50 years of training to become a full fledged water goddess.
As a retainer, I was happy that she was able to learn this quickly.
"With that, you have finished the training of the ways of the water goddess," so I declared.
A blue box appeared beside us.
Nebula Ditrupina has been promoted from Water Goddess's Successor to Water Goddess.
"We have finally done the training, huh..."
Nebula was not a little girl anymore. She has become a glamorous beauty which topples the standards of this world.
Her height grew to about the average height of a human woman. Since I am a female, I understand that height plays a major role in beauty.
The only thing that didn't change was her chest, which stayed the same from young, although she doesn't mind it.
When I asked her about it, she said,
"You are the only one I care about, so my looks don't matter. Don't tell me, you like them bigger? Mhm..."
She cast her eyes down while holding her chest.
After twenty years, she's still cute!
I wish that this moment would last forever....
However, it was just the calm before the storm.
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Attention to all goddesses. The demon king has started a war with the other races. To minimize casualties, please stop the Demon King's army from advancing into the other races' territory.
What is this. I never heard anything about a war! This is bad. If Nebula were to go out and fight now, no doubt she would die in the battlefield.
"Nebula, you know what this means right?"
"Umu. I have to go fend off the Demon King's army... but it's for the sake of Ayashi's peace."
She had anxiety building up inside her, although she doesn't show it.
"Don't worry, I'll be by your side. A retainer should do as much as this."
"Thank you, Vickie-san."
Ugh... I still can't get used to that nickname.
"Well then, let's go"
Unlike the first time we met where I have to lower myself down for her to ride me, she jumped to my back straight from the ground.
I flew towards the sound of marching soldiers could be heard.
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When we arrived at the scene, tons of demon soldiers wearing red armour are marching towards the human continent. At the same time, the human army was on standby at the border, preparing for the onslaught of the demon army.
I went to the human's side first and landed in front of the human army.
Nebula jumped from my back and walked towards them.
At first, they were shocked after seeing me and readied their weapons. But after Nebula walked towards them, they had a puzzled look on their faces
"I am the water goddess Nebula! I would like to speak with your commander!"
She shouted in a tone that wasn't like her.
A man in his thirties came out of the hoard of humans.
"I am the commander of the human army, Regolas Widesheen. We are honoured to be in the presence of water goddess-sama."
All the troops bend down on their knees and bowed their heads at her.
"Please lift your heads. I will be going to the demon continent to persuade them to stop advancing. If that doesn't work, I'll try to stop them somehow. If I am somehow unable to hold them back, please stop them at all costs."
"YES, WATER GODDESS-SAMA!"
All the soldiers shouted in unison.
"Okay then, Vickie-san, let's go."
She hopped onto my back, and we headed towards the demon continent.
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Arriving there, we stopped in front of the demon army.
Nebula stood on my back, like a Dragon Knight.
"My name is the water goddess Nebula! Stop your advance towards the human continent right this instant!"
Looks like the training for speaking like a goddess has helped her communicate with a commanding tone.
Suddenly, a blast of heat was shot in our direction.
"Watch out, Nebula!"
I shielded her from the attack.
Oww, it hurts. I guess I'm not compatible with fire.
"Gagahahaha! What is a girl doing here!"
A huge man who was three meters in height walked out of the army. He bad bulging muscles and three horns on his head. His face was disgustingly manly and had red skin. He was topless with trouser-like pants, showing off his eight-pack.
"I plan to stop you from invading the human continent! As the role of the water goddess, I forbid anyone to be killed!"
"Gagahahaha! What is with this girl? Water goddess? Ha! Such a joke!"
This fella, he's starting to piss me off.
"If you want to stop us, you have to defeat me first! For having the honour to battle me, I will tell you my name! I am the Demon King's four great generals, Ravaglia!"
He started to emit a red battle aura around him.
This is bad, this person is of another level. The battle aura around him is dangerous. If she were to battle against him right now, she will lose for sure.
"Nebula, let me take over from here. You are still too inexperienced in fighting to face this monster."
"A-As you say, Vickie-san."
I stepped forward to confront Ravaglia.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I deem that you are unworthy to battle water goddess-sama. Thus, I will be your opponent."
"As you say then, dragon!"
The fight between dragon and demon general started.