Father, I Won’t Do Anything

“Kweek!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected strike, Yurika staggered, unable to evade Izren’s sword slash across her arm.

“You damned cat!”

Izren shouted:

“Run!”

He swiftly stepped before Jaina, but Yurika’s magic easily severed the sword he held.

Fortunately, it bought them some time.

Free from Yurika’s grip, Jaina unleashed a wind spell to attack her.

Woosh!

“…!”

However, Yurika simply swatted away the wind with her remaining hand, instantly dissipating Jaina’s magic.

Jaina’s specialty wind magic packed tremendous force despite her lack of control. Yet the opponent had casually deflected it.

‘This is…’

Soon, Jaina realized the reason.

‘My magic… My magic power isn’t obeying me… Something artificial is rampaging through my body, disrupting it…’

Jaina winced at the discomfort wracking her body. Instead of retaliating, she chose to flee the enemy.

“Izren!”

Swiftly grasping Izren’s hand, Jaina leapt off into the open air.

In that moment, a shout rang out from somewhere.

“…Fool!”

With neither at the level of simultaneously wielding multiple spells, the aerial advantage heavily favored the attacker over the defender.

A long shadow loomed over Jaina.

Catching the falling Jaina in his arms, Diamid spoke:

“To attempt such an act within my Magic Tower… It seems I have been gravely underestimated.”

His usually impassive gaze had turned icy cold.

* * *

Instead of killing Charlotte, the two dragons had decided to use her to gather information about the Magic Tower.

As a result, they learned that the maid Yurika was close to Jaina, and that a demi-human knight guarded her.

-Hehe, the entire Magic Tower will be busy that day.

-Oh, even the Tower Lord?

-Mikael and Hilvenzia too will be in a frenzy.

Seizing the opportunity when the Magic Tower would be preoccupied with the event, they had concealed themselves amidst the incoming materials to infiltrate.

-Jai…na.

Incapacitating Jaina’s personal maid and impersonating her had proceeded smoothly according to plan. However…

‘All that was left was to kill the half-breed…’

They had never expected the Tower Lord, who was supposed to be too busy and unconcerned about his own daughter, to actually protect the half-breed.

‘But he’s just a mere human male! Does he dare defy our sublime kind?’

Swish swish swish!

Sitail created hundreds of magic arrows, raining them down across the entire tower.

No matter how formidable the Magic Tower’s magicians, they were still paltry humans incapable of living past a hundred years.

“Miss!”

The knight’s face paled with shock as he was held by the mongrel.

But that wasn’t all.

“A dragon! Why is there a dragon here?!”

“We’re all going to die!”

The screams were the least of it.

Most simply froze in horror at the sight of Sitail reverting to his true draconic form, and the hundreds of magic arrows charging at Diamid.

“No one can save you!”

Muttering that he would personally tear apart the wretched half-breed, Sitail rapidly advanced on Diamid while channeling magic – a level only dragons could achieve.

None could stop him, or so Sitail thought…!

“Aaarrgghh!”

Sitail let out an agonized scream, blood gushing from his blazing red eyes.

“Who dares strike me!”

But his words trailed off as his body became utterly paralyzed.

His gaze fell upon one man.

‘Tower Lord Diamid…!’

The hundreds of magic arrows aimed at Diamid vanished in an instant with a mere flick of his wrist.

‘Magic cancellation.’

An exceptionally perilous spell that could severely backfire on the caster unless there was an overwhelming gap in skill.

Hence, it was a magic that most wouldn’t even study, let alone attempt – yet Diamid had executed it effortlessly, without incantation or gesture.

But that wasn’t the extent of the marvel. Diamid had simultaneously cast two spells.

Swish swish swish!

Chains erupted from Diamid’s fingertips, forcing their way into Sitail’s mouth before instantly constricting to bind his entire body, wings included. With his whole form bound, Sitail immediately plummeted downward.

“Uaaarggh!”

It was a precarious situation that could have injured Jaina and the others in the Magic Tower. After glancing down, Diamid flicked his wrist again.

Woosh-

And just like that, Sitail’s massive body vanished.

He had teleported the dragon away.

“The Tower Lord defeated a dragon in battle.”

“And so nonchalantly, without a single wound…”

Many collapsed to the ground, stunned anew by Diamid’s might.

The Magic Tower remained serene, as if nothing had transpired – the only trace being the splattered crimson blood from the dragon’s violent rejection of the canceled magic.

Yet the person behind this tremendous feat wore the most unruffled expression of all.

“…!”

Diamid slowly approached Jaina and inquired, casting a privacy barrier to prevent being overheard.

“Why did the dragon attack you?”

Jaina tilted her head in surprise at Diamid’s consideration before shaking it.

‘Diamid wouldn’t actually be concerned about me.’

She slowly opened her mouth to respond.

“Because I’m a half-breed.”

She didn’t elaborate about being the ‘proof of impurity’ with human blood mixed into the draconic lineage, or about preserving their race’s honor.

Such explanations would be pointless to Diamid, who didn’t believe in Bezrice.

“…”

As Diamid remained silent, the surrounding magicians’ chatter could be heard.

“Oho, did the Tower Lord transport the dragon to a prison?”

“To capture an actual dragon in its entirety is a rare feat. Is he planning another grand undertaking?”

The Magic Tower magicians gossiped noisily, as if having never faced mortal peril from the dragon.

Jaina silently lowered her eyes.

While a half-breed, she too was part dragon. Naturally, the notion of studying a dragon’s body didn’t sit well with her.

‘Though to be fair, magicians have always prioritized power…’

Even as she felt relieved her prediction of Diamid not killing her had been correct, Jaina was disturbed by his willingness to enable the study of dragons.

‘The one who loved dragons enough to give birth to one is now dissecting and violating them…?’

“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll take my leave first.”

With those brief words, Jaina turned away, her emotions in turmoil.

‘Mikael and Hilvenzia would probably approve too. The Magic Tower magicians are obsessed with research…’

Jaina headed back to her room.

“Meow.”

Though expressionless as ever, Izren seemed to sense Jaina’s atypical mood as he quietly curled up beside her.

“Meow. Meow.”

“Izren.”

Swishing his tail before Jaina, it was as if Izren was telling her she could stroke him if she wished.

Jaina gazed at him for a while before running her hand through his soft fur.

And before long, she had drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning.

“Mmm…”

The sunlight filtering through the window teased Jaina’s eyelids. Fully cocooned in her blanket, her groggy mind pondered.

‘I wonder if the Tower Lord will now proclaim to the world that he’s slain a dragon.’

‘Having defeated the Demon King wasn’t enough, he’ll gain the moniker ‘Dragon Slayer’ too, how splendid…’

While he had tried to kill her, the sight of his fallen brethren coughing up blood left a bitter taste.

“I’ve lost my appetite. You can go on without me, Izren.”

“Meow.”

Having decided to skip breakfast, Jaina told Izren to go to the dining hall alone.

However, Izren firmly shook his head in adamant refusal.

Sensing his worried gaze upon her, Jaina tried to reassure him it was nothing serious.

“It’s just…”

But at that moment.

Poof!

Izren reverted to his human form.

“I’m sorry. So sorry.”

“Pardon? For what?”

“For being weak. That’s why you’re sad now, Miss.”

“It’s not that at all.”

How long did their exchange go on?

Knock-knock-knock.

A rapid knock sounded at the door.

“Come…”

Before Jaina could finish, two people entered.

Jaina had naturally expected the impulsive Mikael to barge in first, but surprisingly, Hilvenzia was the one who entered ahead.

“Jaina. You didn’t come to the dining hall today. Have you grown tired of my cooking already?”

Mikael followed behind, his worried expression quite out of character.

“Were you too shaken up by yesterday’s incident? To the point of losing your appetite?”

“No, it’s neither of those reasons…”

Jaina burrowed deeper into her blanket cocoon, the picture of the world’s most adorable caterpillar – yet Hilvenzia and Mikael’s expressions remained stern.

“Jaina, are you truly unwell somewhere?”

“Did you contract some terminal illness?”

By then, Izren had reverted to cat form and hissed menacingly from atop the bed – a warning in his own wayn’t to disturb Jaina’s rest.

“Meow.”

“You mangy kitten, how dare you! You couldn’t even protect the kid yesterday!”

But he soon wilted under Mikael’s rebuke, for it rang true. Even Mikael himself didn’t look particularly satisfied as he uttered those words.

Seeming bothered by something, he dryly cleared his throat.

“But it’s not my place to say that… Damn it.”

“If the Tower Lord hadn’t intervened…”

As the mood grew heavier, Jaina quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, how were those dragons able to infiltrate the Magic Tower?”

“They must have slipped in amidst the incoming materials.”

“I was under the impression the Magic Tower’s security was impregnable. You mean even that was breached? I suppose against dragons…”

“Yeah, being dragons, they could bypass the security. But that’s not the key issue. Those dragons have escaped from confinement.”

No sooner had Hilvenzia finished speaking than Jaina emerged from her blanket cocoon, sitting upright in alarm.