Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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Kashpa, who had been staring down at my tail for a while, turned his gaze toward Kaiman, who was maintaining his silence without a word.

“Kaiman, where did you bring this child from?”

“Yes, yes? Lord Ronavest said to the Dragon’s Cradle…”

Kaiman, startled by Kashpa’s question, seemed flustered. It was evident that Kashpa held a significant status among the dragons.

“Hmm… Alright. Just go.”

“But…”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

As Kashpa’s cold voice echoed, the warmth in the surroundings continued to diminish. A white frost settled upon Kaiman’s scales. Though Kaiman desperately tried to shield himself with mana, Kashpa’s chill froze even that mana solid.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Just as the voice began to freeze, Kaiman’s massive body soaring in the sky plummeted down.

It was the moment when he stood there, dumbfounded, with his mouth agape from the impact of Kashpa’s cruel grip. As he fell, Kaiman seemed to regain his senses, shook off the frost clinging to him, and flew away without looking back.

And so, Kashpa and I were left alone.

I looked up at Kashpa again with a smile.

“Humans definitely don’t seem like it. But are they dragons? At a glance, it might fit… but this isn’t the time for that.”

I swallowed hard, gazing at the white mana cascading down. Though Kashpa’s chill enveloped the area, it had no effect on me. Since my belongings and the Nightmare in my bag were unharmed, it meant Kashpa was intentionally regulating his chill.

At least for now, Kashpa didn’t seem to have any intention of killing me. Wiggling my tail around, I spoke up to Kashpa.

“Oh, hello.”

“Hello?”

Thank goodness, he returned my greeting. It seemed she might have some fondness for me as well. I pointed to my tail, continuing the conversation.

“Could you let go of this?”

Kashpa didn’t grant my request. Instead, she began to shake my tail around, inspecting me with keen interest. As I was lifted up from below, my body spun around like a top.

The emotions reflected in Kashpa’s eyes were of slight fondness mixed with deep curiosity. She gestured with her hands, demanding to see various aspects of me as if I were a mere object.

I followed her requests by spreading my arms and opening my mouth to display the inside. I even tried to show off my dexterous tail by making it wave around.

Once she finished her examination, Kashpa dropped me into the empty air. As I landed, a white frost gathered around my feet, forming a pristine ice platform.

“Are you perhaps my child?”

Kashpa said this with a chuckle as if she found it ridiculous herself. It seemed she didn’t expect an answer. With a faint smile, she continued.

“Want to return to your real form?”

“T-This is my real form…”

I replied, still tense. The “real form” Kashpa was referring to was undoubtedly that of a massive dragon. But how could I meet her expectations? A mere human like me could not transform into a giant dragon.

“Hmm…”

Kashpa furrowed her brows and leaned in closer, her cold, crystal-like eyes analyzing my body closely. Her gaze fixated precisely on my chest, peering inside.

“Did you create that?”

Even Haiven, who imitated a dragon’s gaze, found my mana circle. If Kashpa was a true dragon, she would inevitably discover the mana circle dwelling within me.

I nodded.

“It’s a mana I’m utterly familiar with. Although it’s changed a bit, I can’t mistake it. It’s my mana.”

Kashpa nodded, continuing her thoughts.

“Adding that ominous red color… it’s definitely that madman’s mana… How is this possible?”

Kashpa tilted her head, genuinely puzzled. She seemed to have figured out whose mana constituted the circle within me.

I wondered how much time had passed. Lost in thought, Kashpa suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm, then opened her mouth.

“It’s hard to decide alone….”

Before she could finish her sentence, our location shifted. Kashpa had successfully completed her statement; it was just that the sudden change left her words behind.

The place Kashpa took me to was the center of a gigantic temple, wide-open on all sides.

The scene of clouds flowing outside the temple and the massive currents of mana swirling around created a striking picture.

At the far end of the temple, there sat an elderly man with long white hair, reading a book in a chair. If he hadn’t turned the pages of the book, I would have mistaken him for a mere statue. No energy radiated from him at all.

Kashpa led me closer to the statue-like elderly man. As we drew nearer, Kashpa posed a question to him.

“What should we do?”

The question burst forth without any prior explanation. Yet the old man displayed no reaction, simply continuing to read his enormous book in silence.

I shifted my gaze, gauging Kashpa’s demeanor as she held my arm. The cold-featured beauty waited calmly for the old man’s answer, as though accustomed to such a wait.

It was quite a while before the old man finally spoke.

“Interesting… However, the established numbers do not change. When one increases, another decreases; this is the principle of the world. There must be someone nearing the end of their lifespan.”

“So that’s why you still look like this?”

The old man and Kashpa engaged in a conversation I couldn’t quite grasp. At that moment, the old man shifted his gaze from the book to Kashpa.

The two of them stared at each other in silence, as if communicating through their eyes. Time passed, and the old man frowned before opening his mouth.

“He’s a child that cannot be kept in one place. It would be best to give up the thought of binding him.”

At the old man’s words, Kashpa’s brow furrowed. She tightened her grip on my arm and replied.

“Just because I didn’t give birth to him doesn’t mean he isn’t my child, right?”

I was confident I wasn’t oblivious. I could discern from Kashpa’s response what kind of feelings she harbored toward me.

The obsession of a dragon towards a specific target. It seemed that in that brief moment, Kashpa’s dragon characteristics had affected me.

The old man continued, as if soothing a child.

“How you treat that child is your freedom. However, this is his natural disposition. When a star ceases to move, it loses its light. If you forcefully stop that journey, only broken pieces will remain.”

With those words, the old man redirected his gaze back to the book, as if he had no desire to continue the conversation. Kashpa let out a sigh, seemingly familiar with his demeanor.

“Um…”

Having ended the conversation, I was about to ask about the old man’s true identity when, much like before we arrived at the temple, the location shifted without any warning.

This time, we found ourselves in a world where everything was frozen white. The white world was adorned with transparent ice.

As if time had stopped, the figures of humans, dwarves, and elves, all frozen in screams, sparkled white.

The scene I witnessed long ago at Kashpa’s Snowy Mountain came to mind. It appeared I had been transported to Kashpa’s lair.

Just as Kashpa had, Kashpa herself filled her lair with “decorations” she had created.

Creatures from different time periods, frozen in time, now mixed together in this place. Kashpa led me through the massive ice structures, opening her mouth.

“Isn’t it a wonderful place? I hope you like it. No, you will definitely like it; it carries my mana.”

With conviction, Kashpa spoke, certain her thoughts were correct. She seemed proud of what she had amassed.

I smiled as brightly as I could while looking up at Kashpa. I could feel cold sweat trickling down my back.

The obsession of a dragon, not just anyone, was directed towards me. Like the creatures encased in ice here, I too might become a decoration and be displayed somewhere.

I needed to find a way to avoid agitating Kashpa’s mood.

“Uh, it’s really magnificent…”

Kashpa led me around her lair. Unlike a place designed for human size, everything was tailored for a dragon’s massive form, making everything seem excessively large.

“Would you like to try this on?”

Kashpa presented me with a cloak frozen white. It seemed to be made from high-quality leather, but the moment it touched my hand, it shattered with a loud crash. The leather couldn’t withstand Kashpa’s chill.

While handing me gifts and showing me around the lair, Kashpa began asking me questions.

“What’s your name?”

“C-Ceris…”

“What a lovely name. If it had been a strange name, I would have given you one… Do you need a new name?”

“No… I like this one…”

Questions and answers flowed about names, favorite foods, and dislikes. As Kashpa listened to my responses, she suddenly seemed to remember something and her eyes sparkled as she asked.

“Oh, can you do that too?”

“What do you mean…?”

“It’s firing pure mana from your mouth…”

I nodded at Kashpa’s question. She was likely referring to the breath dragons commonly used.

“Really? Can you show me?”

Showing it wouldn’t be a problem. However, it would surely turn into a comically absurd spectacle.

“I can show you, but…”

Kashpa’s eyes brightened as she looked at me. With a sigh, I started to position myself.

I lay down on the ground, stretching out my tail. With my claws, I gripped the ice tightly and raised my head.

Kashpa likely wanted the white chill to burst forth from my mouth. To meet her expectations, I began to rotate my mana circle.

Kiiiiiing-!

With a fierce rotation, the cold mana surged toward my chest. As the chilling frost quickly gathered into a massive force, I expelled it from my mouth.

Pyaaaah-!

The white frost burst forth with vigor but didn’t travel more than three meters. The frozen mana scattered, losing control of its form.

I remained in the position of expelling my breath, stealing glances at Kashpa.

“Hehe…”

While she might have expected a splendid display, this was the best I could show at the moment.

Kashpa didn’t say a word. She seemed stunned.