The scene unfolds near a two-stories house nestled amidst a potato farm. Three people stand under the house’s shade, conversing while watching a small dragon frolic and chase butterflies across the fields. One of them, a man named Hiro, holds a basket filled with freshly dug potatoes. He watches the lively dragon with a thoughtful gaze.

Beside him are two women, one with long purple hair dressed in a brown wizard’s robe with an oversized pointy witch hat atop her head a tad bit taller than his shoulder, and the other with short pink hair, dressed in hiking gear with a black cloak over her shoulders her height reaches only at his chest.

“So, you really plan on raising that little dragon?” The short-haired woman, Lily, asked Hiro while watching the playful creature.

“Yeah, that dragon, it’s probably the only thing I have left now.” Hiro replied, his eyes fixed on the little black dragon before he turned to look at Lily.

“Really? So that dragon is your pet now?” Lily looked up at Hiro.

“No… Not really, I don’t intend to keep her as a pet. I want to raise it as my child… in place of my child with Terentia.” Hiro quietly responded, revealing the truth to both women. “But you’ve never seen a dragon this tame before either, right, Melania?” Hiro turned slightly to speak to Melania, who stood next to Lily.

“Does it have a name yet?” Melania asked, her gaze never leaving the dragon.

“Yes, Muriel.”

“Muriel? That’s quite an unusual name.” she remarked, finding the name unfamiliar.

“Yeah… it’s an angel’s name from my old world. I thought it would fit well here.” Hiro smiled suddenly, looking at the dragon now chewing on the butterfly it had just caught.

“An angel’s name, huh...” both Lily and Melania echoed in weary unison, glancing at Muriel.

“Haha, well, to a parent, no matter how scary the child may look, they’re still their little angel.” Hiro added with a tone of pride. “Besides, Muriel has never bitten me unless I put my hand in her mouth.”

Hiro continued speaking proudly, but at that moment, Muriel took flight from the field, only to crash a short distance away before running on all fours towards them. Melania and Lily, seeing Muriel charging towards them, quickly hid behind Hiro. As Muriel approached, Hiro knelt down and scratched her chin, gently pushing her cheeks until she toppled over and lay on her back.

“See? Muriel’s adorable. She’s only four months old, but she’s already trying to fly.” Hiro said, moving from scratching her cheeks to rubbing her belly.

“You’re playing with a dragon as if it’s a puppy.” Melania said, stepping forward and knelt down to examine Muriel now that she was subdued.

“From this angle, she does look pretty cute.” Lily admitted, joining to take a closer look at Muriel.

“Hey, thanks so much, both of you. It's only been six months but you still risk coming this far to see me.” Hiro said, still looking down at Muriel, his hand now resting on her belly.

“Peter, what happened to you and Terentia is-”

“You two shouldn’t get involved. If you do, it will only cause more problems. Please, I don’t want to drag you both into this.” Hiro interrupted, his voice bares a hint of bitterness. “They might even be tracking you. And Lily, you’re getting married soon, right? Take care of yourselves, both of you.”

.

.

“You’re just as selfless as you were five years ago.” Lily said, smiling slightly as she moved to stand behind Hiro.

“That’s a bit much to say. You two are my friends.” Hiro turned his head to the side to reply to Lily, smiling back at her.

“But really, is this little dragon supposed to become a demon lord?” Melania crouched down near Muriel, who was lying on her side. Muriel looked up at Melania curiously.

“Yeah, according to her initial unique skills, she has the demon lord skill since she hatched.” Hiro replied, turning back to look at Muriel.

“That’s… pretty sad.” Melania said, offering her hand for Muriel to sniff before gently scratching her neck.

“Melania, aren’t you afraid Muriel might bite you?” Lily asked, squatting down between Hiro and Melania to observe Muriel.

“I don’t sense any evil from this child at all. Maybe it’s because she’s still young.”

“Aren’t black dragons supposed to be the most evil?” Lily questioned.

“Even so, right now, while I’m holding her like this, she seems only curious.” Melania replied.

“……”

“Do you think I should get a sibling for Muriel?” Hiro suddenly asked.

“Huh!? How are you going to do that? Even if you’re other-worlder, when you married Terentia, you knew this world’s custom of lifelong marriage!”

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“I didn’t mean getting another wife, you undead wench. I meant finding someone to be a sibling for Muriel!” Hiro clarified.

Little Muriel, startled by the sudden shouting between her papa and Melania, scrambled to her feet in fear and immediately leaped into Lily’s arms. Despite only being four months old, Muriel was the size of a large dog, and the force of her jump knocked Lily to the ground. Clutching Lily’s shirt with her claws, Muriel trembled in fright.

“Oh, did I scare you, Muriel? I’m sorry.” Hiro said, looking worriedly at Lily, who was now on the ground with Muriel.

“Dragon scales are really heavy…” Lily commented as she slowly sat up, holding Muriel and gently rubbing her back to calm her down. Muriel began to relax under Lily’s soothing touch.

“This is the first time I’ve held a baby dragon like this.” Lily remarked.

“So, Peter, what the hell did you mean when you said you were going to find a sibling for Muriel?” Melania, who was also surprised by Muriel’s leap, asked Hiro once she saw everything was okay.

“Do you know about the living dolls called Lucentail?” Hiro asked.

“Hmm Lucentail… I’ve read about them. They’re powerful magical automatons from the era when tier-10 magic was common, right? But aren’t those mechanical artifacts supposed to be extinct?” Melania replied after thinking for a moment.

“Yes, they might be extinct on the surface of the three continents, but there might be another place where they can be found.” Hiro smiled slightly, pointing upwards.

“The sky—wait, are you thinking of going to the floating islands?” Melania asked, surprised.

“Why not? I have tier-11 magic. I don’t think anything up there can kill me.” Hiro said confidently.

Not knowing what truly lay above, Hiro spoke with optimism. He then stood up and walked away from Lily to talk privately with Melania, gesturing for her to follow. Leaving Lily to play with Muriel, Melania quickly got up and followed Hiro.

“It’s dangerous up there. Haven’t you heard the legends about the floating islands? Explorers who went up there never returned.” Melania warned.

“Melania, do you think a farm boy who lived with just his mom never heard those kinds of stories? What you think I hadn’t lived here until I was 17?” Hiro replied. “Besides, I’ll wait until Muriel is older. I’m not planning on going to those islands anytime soon, especially since they don’t float over this close center of the continent often.”

“No matter how strong you are, what makes you so sure the Lucentails are really up there?” Melania asked.

“Mel… Mel, if I told you I could talk to Syra, would you believe me?” Hiro asked.

“Right…. After everything you did five years ago, I’d believe you could talk to Syra herself.” Melania replied.

“I have enough evidence to believe the Lucentail cores can be found up there.” Hiro said confidently.

“Seriously… well, would you want us to go with you?” Melania asked.

“I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about Lily.” Hiro replied, glancing back at Lily, who was playing with Muriel without any fear of being bitten.

“Not sure if she’s still up for adventuring…” Melania said, looking back at Lily with Hiro.

“I’m not planning to go soon anyway. I don’t want to risk someone who’s about to start a family like Lily,” Hiro explained.

“Oh, so you’re not worried about me at all?” Melania teased, smiling as she turned to Hiro.

“Mel, you’re an undead. No matter how much you try, you can’t have kids.” Hiro replied, grinning mischievously at Melania.

“Hey! Don’t call me undead. My body still grows, you know.” Melania said, her mood shifting quickly to anger.

“Okay, half-undead then?” Hiro teased again.

Melania’s mood shifted to anger immediately. Despite the fact that over the past five years, her body had grown from a small, brownish-purple-haired, smart-mouthed brat to a graceful, dark-purple-haired, highly skilled woman, Hiro still saw her as the same person. Hiro kept his mischievous smile as he turned back to Lily and Muriel and starts to walk toward them, Melania followed suit.

"And you still call me Mel, huh?" Melania remarked.

"Yeah, it's a habit I picked up from Tsutsumi." Hiro responded.

"When we first met, did you know he used to call us by our last names? You other-worlders are so weird."

"Isn't that because you were ladies and it was more formal to use last names?" Hiro asked.

"Only Terentia was noble enough to warrant being called 'Lady'. Lily and I aren't as rich as her." Melania explained.

"And you? When we first met, you called us by our first names. I thought everyone from your world used last names first." she added.

"I left everything from that world behind when I was reborn in that farmhouse. It's been over twenty-three years now. I've forgotten what my friends from that world look like." Hiro admitted.

"That's pretty sad, living like that." Melania said softly.

"It's all in the past now. Thinking about it won't change anything," Hiro concluded as they approached Lily and Muriel. Upon seeing Hiro, Muriel scrambled up his leg and perched on his shoulder.

"Whoa, Muriel, you're getting heavy." Hiro said, trying to balance her weight before looking at Melania and Lily.

"Take care of yourselves, both of you. Once this crazy church business is settled, I'll come visit." Hiro said.

"You take care too. Being a single dad to a dragon isn't easy." Lily replied, standing up and dusting off her clothes. She smiled at Hiro.

"Let me know when your wedding is. I'll make sure to be there." Hiro said with a smile.

"Take care. If I get a break from the magic academy, I'll come by." Melania added, smiling at Hiro.

They walked out of the hidden barrier that protected the potato farm and the house. Hiro and Muriel continued their hidden life. Thirty years later, Hiro rode Muriel to one of the floating islands over the sea that separated the eastern and western continents. Muriel never really knows what happened but when he returned, Hiro held a golden square artifact she had never seen before.

Almost three more years passed. With Melania and Lily's help, Hiro managed to create an intricate interior for Chiaki from porcelain, human-like skin with twin rabbit ears for her exterior, and various parts, including a maid outfit. The most crucial piece was the Lucentail core, which brought her to life as Muriel's little sister.

However, when the core was removed from the doll, it became lifeless.

The once lively Chiaki now stood still, head bowed, leaving Muriel, who always thought of her as a beloved sister, in despair.

"Who?! Who did this to you?!"

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