Even a Cicada Becomes a Dragon If Reborn

Children can be described with one word.

Pure, purity, innocence. (純粋、無垢、無邪気)

Though there are various adjectives to describe young people but all of them contained yearning, nostalgia and only a little envy.

What the eyes of children reflect, we will never know how our appearance is seen by them.

One’s appearance was full of possibilities. The you back then.

You wished that those days would never come back.

To get to love children.

Their futures not dirtied by adult’s conveniences and circumstances. To arbitrarily dye them gray.

Children steadily grow up and watching them become a soft sun or a gentle rain.

And if you do so you might be able to learn to love yourself.

Children are lovely.

It’s a warm feeling that shakes the heart like the joy of greeting spring.

The heart that can love spring, even if it isn’t here yet, wasn’t that proof that it stayed in our heart?

Ahh, spring. To grow big and bloom. For the coming summer, for the future.

And once summer ends, autumn passed and we greet winter than surely spring will stay in our hearts.

The existence of children can teach us this.

Even when old, spring is here.

I approach the child and slowly turn her around.

She might be hungry because children’s nature is such and they demand food.

I quietly pat the lovely child.

Pure white skin and small bulges, though a little damp but it was a soft feeling.

It was the size of my palm, not to break it, not to hurt it, twice, thrice, I traced the ridge line from the nape to the back

「Mokyu?」

Umu. It’s a lovely thing after all. The larva.

(TLN: He is a cicada why would he talk about humans!)

That was enough, so as not to further obstruct the meat of the infant giant world drone beetle (Rhomborrhina japonica) I quietly left the place.

「Welcome back roommate-san. . . . how was it?」

Yggdrasil greeted me when I came back to the nest.

However, her voice was unusual and somewhat firm.

Her usual voice was like a soft young leave that budded, but today her voice was like something was stuck in her mouth and became stiff with tension.

「You don’t have to worry. There seemed to be no other ship here. Nothing was found.」

「What a relief . . . In truth, I was worried.」

Yggdrasil’s voice returned to her usual tone.

She had a gentle heart. She must have been awfully worried about the creatures on the island.

「Umu, please rest assured. During the fight no one was hurt.」

「But wasn’t roommate-san seriously injured!? . . . really is your body alright already?」

「Ahh. I have said it many times already, it is thanks to your sap. Yggdrasil.」

After the fight with the girl Yggdrasil who had waited at the nest for my return, had lost her composure which you couldn’t imagine from her usual calm self.

Yggdrasil had seen the place where the ancient weapon had pierced my heart and she worried if I had died or if it was an illusion. She kept worrying and worrying for a long time.

I was ashamed to have caused the gentle her so much sorrow and anxiety.

「How is the girl?」

「She is still asleep. Though she occasionally leaks painful sounds but her flame of life keeps getting stronger. . . . the old gods . . ., really, such a cruel thing . . .」

The girl in question was now sleeping in a hollow of Yggdrasil.

No matter how often I repeated that I was alright but she kept worrying about my body and that’s why I told her in my usual powerful singing voice till she finally believed that it was alright.

However Yggdrasil didn’t settle down while shaking her leaves she showed anger towards the girl who was employed this time.

I was puzzled at the passion Yggdrasil had shown for the first time but because of the ancient weapon the girl was blameless and the Yggdrasil’s anger towards the girl turned into affection of the same size.

After laying down the girl into a hollow of the world tree Yggdrasil also offered me to also take a rest but I firmly refused because I had to do something.

What I should be doing was to search for the nearby ship where the girl appeared from.

Someone other than the girl might have gone ashore. That ship might scatter poison and curses.

Though it wasn’t any trouble for me who was near invulnerable but that didn’t apply to the creatures living on the island.

After entrusting the girl to Yggdrasil I kept searching the island until the sun went down.

There was no trace that somebody came except of the girl and even the ship was empty except the box like coffin of the girl.

Curses, poison, anchor, paddle not even water or food was there.

The ship was empty except for the girl who was deprived of her mind and future.

And it wasn’t clear if the girl who was the sacrifice to the dragon was really a human sacrifice.

The creature called human could become crueler than any living being at times.

「Th . . . , then roommate-san. N . . . , now that your work is done . . . , then . . . , isn’t it about time to dine?」

Yggdrasil’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

Yggdrasil’s modest suggestion. The sap had already begun to permeate from the crack of the damp bark.

「It’ll be my pleasure Yggdrasil. . . . But before that we should give the girl some food.」

While searching the island I had found a withered Attenborough’s pitcher plant (Nepenthes attenboroughii). (TLN: It’s a carnivorous pitcher plant)

The Attenborough’s pitcher plant was shaped like a sake bottle. The demi-humans on the island used this plant as a substitute for glass or water bottles.

– Joboboobobo –

I produced elixir in it. The Attenborough’s pitcher plant was big. The elixir was thoroughly caught in it.

「 . . . .Eetto, . . . is that the elixir? Roommate-san?

「Umu, this is the elixir. Yggdrasil.」

I entered the hollow. The girl had her eyelids shut and released a heavy and painful voice.

「Poor thing . . .」

I quietly lifted the head of the girl who seemed to have a nightmare with my nail and brought the elixir to her lips.

「Miin min min min.」 (TL: Now, drink)

I poured the refined elixir into the throat of the fainted girl but she coughed because it entered the wrong pipe and she spit out the liquid that entered her mouth.

Her eyebrows wrinkled and her lovely face warped like a walnut.

「Miin min min min.」 (TL: Rest assured. There is nothing to worry about. Now, open your mouth, and drink well)

And matching the breathing of the girl I slowly poured in the elixir.

The girl had a coughing fit whenever she drank but only half of it was spilled.

However, the Attenborough’s pitcher plant was big. There was enough elixir to pour into her throat.

The elixir definitely worked because the skin of the girl flushed and I understood that her light of life grew stronger.

Though she still had a nightmare but her breathing gradually calmed down.

I sincerely wished that the girl would have a nice dream and then I left.

Because the girl was sleeping in the hollow I decided to sleep outside while entrusting my body to the trunk of Yggdrasil.

「The stars are in clear view today, Yggdrasil.」

「Yes, the sky is very clear today. The small stars that couldn’t be seen all the time shine so much.

In the sky we look up to a sea of stars spread out.

On a moonless night the stars the stars didn’t have to be reserved and insisted their existence to their heart’s content.

Without exchanging words between Yggdrasil and me we just looked up at the stars.

And nameless stars swiftly fell.

「Do you know the constellation? Yggdrasil.」

I thought incidentally and asked Yggdrasil.

「Constellation was it? About that I don’t know much . . . Does roommate-san know about it?」

「Ahh, it’s in the inherited knowledge. It’s an interesting thing. The gathered stars are made into shapes and each has its story.」

「I had neither father, mother nor teacher. . . . that’s why, if it’s alright, will you teach me about the constellation?」

Yggdrasil asked me modestly. My answer had already been decided.

「Of course, Yggdrasil.」

While pointing at the constellation one by one I recited the related story to Yggdrasil.

The line of stars that stretched out wide in the sky like the shape of a swan’s wing and the story about the serial cheating god.

The hero killed by poison and the story of the lone small scorpion that climbed the sky. The heart of the scorpion, the wise man and the horse that aims with its bow.

The names of the constellation I talked about Yggdrasil 「I will never forget them」 while thinking over them and each of those stories brought sympathy and surprise.

My knowledge about constellation was from the person who got along with the dragon, they were told by the young man who had refined the elixir.

The names given to the innumerable stars, the stories they were given, the power of human’s dreams was immeasurable.

The sky hadn’t changed for several thousand years.

The life of stars was over several thousands of years but they only show a little twinkling.

. . . No, there was something that differed from my memory in the sky.

「 . . . fumu, what’s that?」

「What is it?」

「There is a star in the sky I don’t know. At the center of the great summer triangle I can see a small red star. What is that. Do you know? Yggdrasil.」

What am I asking the woman who didn’t even know the name of the stars.

Yggdrasil didn’t answer.