Chapter 756: The Dragon King's Memory (1)
Honestly, compared to how much trouble I thought I'd have getting it, I obtained it rather smoothly.
But ironically, now that I had it so easily, I felt somewhat reluctant to read it.
Yet despite that rational hesitation, emotionally my heart was pounding as if urging me to read this book right away.
"...Well, I came here to read it anyway."
"Will you be alright?"
"Will you be alright?"
Just as I made my decision and looked at the book, the Emperor and the Doctor spoke in perfect unison, suddenly reminding me of the people waiting for me back at the Academy.
"Yes, please help me if anything happens."
Drawing courage from their presence, I opened the first page of the book.
What greeted me was a childish drawing and text in a language I'd never seen before.
Yet strangely, I could read it without difficulty.
"The Life Story of Dragon Mister! Volume One!"
...Volume One? Does that mean there's a second volume?
Wait, why can I even read this text...?
-Mister!
"Ugh...!"
Again.
Again that girl who looked exactly like a young Seoha was calling "me" Dragon Mister.
-Mister! Look at this! I drew it myself!
Right, this book was something that child drew...?
So what did "I" say in response...?
-That's some ugly drawing.
...Huh? W-wait, what?
I tried to question my own memory, but sadly my consciousness was pulled into the memory faster than I could resist.
*
When it first opened its eyes, the emotion it felt was displeasure.
Its head was filled with knowledge it had never learned, ideologies, wisdom needed to survive in the world, information about what it could do—all of it was overwhelming.
Was the throbbing headache due to the discrepancy between the information in its knowledge about newborn creatures and its current state?
Of course, that was undeniably part of the reason.
But it wasn't the fundamental cause.
The essential reason for its displeasure was none other than the beings looking down at it from above.
"Oh, it has finally opened its eyes."
"This is the birth of the most perfect creature we have created."
The numerous eyes that seemed to be appraising it—the knowledge in its head informed it that they were beings called "gods."
It knew they were the creators of everything in this world, something like the masters of the world.
Yet strangely, despite being newly born, it didn't feel they were particularly impressive or deserving of respect.
"What should we name it?"
"It should be a name befitting the king of the most powerful race, distinct from other species."
Knowledge told it to respect them, but instinct suggested it could crush them if it wanted to.
"What do you think, Lord Adonis?"
"...Hmm."
During the fierce battle between knowledge and instinct, the tide turned in favor of instinct when it met one particular god who was looking at it indifferently from the highest seat.
It disliked the man with eyes like burnt ashes.
[Don't you dare.]
"Huh...? It's speaking already?"
"No, wait, what did it just say...?"
[Don't presume to judge me.]
It wasn't difficult at all.
Growing larger and swinging its massive front paws was enough.
Five of the gods watching it turned into chunks of meat from that simple motion.
Only then did a flicker of interest pass through the eyes of the man sitting indifferently in the highest seat.
Well, the other gods raised their voices, calling it an error, a flawed species, saying it should be deleted and remade even now.
"Dragon."
The king of gods.
The man called Adonis overruled all their opinions and bestowed that name upon me and my species.
"From now on, you shall be called Dragons."
That was my first meeting with Adonis.
*
Among all things created on the primordial day, the last to be made and the most error-ridden species.
The king of dragons.
That was "me."
Unlike other species who respected and worshipped the gods, our species was born with a temperament far removed from such reverence or worship.
According to Adonis, perhaps as a balance maintenance mechanism, during the process of injecting too many things into "me,"
Some error occurred, causing the entire species to follow the king's personality?
[Then why not fix the error quickly, why leave it as is?]
"Haha! Leave it as is? What strange words! If anything, I've made you even stronger since then!"
[I told you I have no intention of being whatever guardian you mentioned.]
"Oh come now, that position is neither one you can take because you want it, nor refuse because you don't! Do you know how much I'm counting on you!"
We dragons were a species seemingly created with no consideration for power balance, yet simultaneously a species suffering from terrible powerlessness.
Of course, among those created after me, there were some who wanted to break free from that powerlessness and run wild.
But even those dragons would become docile with just a word from me telling them not to cause trouble.
"Perhaps this time it might be possible. A species that doesn't listen to the gods' commands—others call you an error, but that's nonsense! I believe you are possibility!"
A blasphemous species that holds no reverence for gods—for whatever reason he liked that, he spared no support for us... or rather, for me.
Before long, dragons gained the title of both the strongest species and the most arrogant species.
Time crawled excruciatingly slowly from the beginning.
Unlike us, other species seemed to be born with less, so they had to develop, learn techniques, and so on.
They complained about not having enough time as they needed to put in effort, but for dragons, time was something we had in excess.
Most dragons spent that time sleeping or occasionally crushing other species that challenged them.
"Haha! Why don't you manage your subordinates? Why do they hoard all the world's treasures when they don't even use them?"
...Well, that's just how most dragons were.
As for me, thanks to catching the eye of that damn foolish Creator, I couldn't enjoy such a peaceful and ordinary(?) dragon's daily life.
[If you don't like it, just delete us now. We're an error-ridden species, aren't we?]
"Hey! Don't talk like that! Do you know how long I've been waiting for an irregular like you?"
It's not that I hadn't tried killing Adonis because his constant visits were annoying, but Creators are more troublesome than you'd think.
It seems they can resurrect after being killed by paying a small price, so rather than pondering how to permanently dispose of him,
I decided it would be easier to just humor his nonsense and treat him like a crazy old man who visits once every few months or years.
"Come now! Aren't you curious about what's happening in the outside world!?"
[I'm not. I already know everything that's happening anyway.]
Yes, regardless of my will, all events occurring in the world were transmitted to me.
On the day I was created, among the numerous authorities and abilities I received, would the ability to grasp the flow of the world be missing?
Even while staying still, if I wanted to, it wasn't difficult to understand all the world's currents or, conversely, to intervene.
"...Still, isn't there anything you want to do?"
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that I had nothing I wanted to do.
Every king of every species except me had a self-determined purpose.
The tiger king was a fool who went around trying to prove he was the strongest in the world.
The bird king prioritized the safety of his kind above all else, but was a fool who sacrificed his family for it.
The insect king desired his power to grow larger than anyone else's.
In the sea, which originally had several kings, the whales eventually unified all species.
Well, I was aware of various news.
Ah, there was one stupid fellow that caught my eye.
Among the various species, the fox clan was born quite weak and had no particular talents.
I remember watching the antics of the fox king for quite some time because they were quite amusing.
Born completely opposite to me, that one tried to imitate the specialties of other species.
He would attach bird feathers to his arms and jump off cliffs trying to fly, or weave leaves onto his feet like fins and try to swim.
Well, that didn't last very long either.
After trying for just about a hundred years, he seemed to realize it wouldn't work and gave up.
"...Most wouldn't call a hundred years 'just about'..."
Anyway, the world didn't hold much value for me or for dragons.
While other species desperately struggled to grasp something, for us, those things were already in our hands.
"Heh, you. I made you the best in the world, yet you have so many complaints..."
[I never asked for it.]
"Because you're not doing your job as guardian, the gods are becoming more arrogant. If you just disciplined them once like before..."
[As long as they don't bother me, whatever they do is none of my business.]
"Ah, are you going to keep being like that!? I'm even preparing gifts for you all!"
[Gifts...?]
"Yes, it's still incomplete so it will take a bit longer, but soon we'll entrust each king of your species with a newly created race as a gift."
[...That just sounds troublesome.]
"Not at all! This new species is modeled after gods, if you can believe it. Yet they'll be created like blank slates, so there will be joy in raising them."
At that time, I saw a strange madness gleaming in Adonis's eyes, but I thought it was normal and ignored it.
That god wasn't quite right in the head to begin with, so I thought this was just his usual bout of mania.
"Just think of it as a competition to see which of your species can properly guide and raise the new species. Isn't that interesting?"
[Not at all.]
"Kuh, still so cold! That's why I like you! That's why I can't help but have expectations for you!"
[...Come any closer and I'll make you spend another 300 years resurrecting.]
"That would be problematic. It's finally time for humans to be created in 'this' world too, and if the Creator is absent, what would happen if problems arose!"
[Humans...? Is that the species you're creating this time?]
"Yes, a race very similar to gods, but unable to wield divine powers and with much weaker bodies."
[...What's the point of creating such things? Food for other species?]
"Haha, you might not understand now, but you will when you see them in person."
Adonis just laughed as he said this, and since I had no interest at the time, I ignored his attitude.
"I really, truly have expectations for you. You might be the ideal guardian I've been thinking of."
[I told you I have no intention of doing such a thing.]
Adonis ignored my words and laughed, and since he didn't visit me for another long period after that, I tucked the existence of humans into a corner of my memory.
And this day's events also became hazy.
The tiger king who wanted to prove himself the strongest came to challenge me, and I crushed him.
The bird king brought tributes asking for protection, but I refused.
Wolves and insects waged war, and in the process, one of our youngsters caused a commotion saying it was too noisy.
Gods came to complain to me, so I roasted the gods who came, but other than that, a generally peaceful time passed.
...Ah, and there was also a time when a little fox came asking if he could have some scales.
Well, that wasn't a particularly important matter.
Anyway, after quite some time had passed.
The king of gods, Adonis, ordered each species' king to take care of the newly created species.
[What is this...?]
"Dab..."
That was the first time I saw humans.