"Huff... huff..."
Zuojian tore through the corridors with Eblana in his arms. The violent motion was so intense that the wound which had only just scabbed over began to split open again, but he had no time to care about that now.
Eblana's complexion was getting worse by the second, red as a fully ripened apple. Combined with her increasingly labored breathing and the sweat pouring steadily from her forehead, it all pointed to one unmistakable fact:
She was seriously ill.
Zuojian had no idea when she had caught the cold. It could have been down in that freezing tunnel. It could have been when she ran through the streets in the middle of the night wearing those torn, flimsy clothes in search of a doctor. Or it could have been from sitting by his bedside for days on end, watching over him.
A lot of the time, he truly didn't understand why this child kept saying such strange things, or why she seemed to harbor such inexplicable hostility toward him.
But...
She was his daughter now.
And on top of that, she had fallen ill because of him.
His fist clenched unconsciously, guilt rising in his chest. And when he saw Eblana's little face twist more and more with discomfort, a sharp ache of distress pierced him.
At that moment, only one thought remained in his mind:
He had to wipe that pained expression off his daughter's face.
Driven by that thought, Zuojian practically charged headfirst into the medicine room in the basement with Eblana in his arms, and in the very next instant, his medical skill activated.
The moment he stepped into the room, it was as though some special mode of perception had opened within him. Like entering a transparent world, every object his eyes passed over immediately displayed tiny floating labels beside it—name, use, properties—and along with that came a flood of medical knowledge pouring straight into his mind.
He laid Eblana flat on the examination bed, grabbed a sterilized thermometer from the table and slipped it into her mouth, then picked up a tongue depressor and stethoscope from nearby, preparing to examine her from head to toe.
But just as he raised the tongue depressor and moved to open her mouth to check her throat, something changed abruptly.
Whoosh!
The sound of flames rising came from the girl's body.
Then, in the next second, Zuojian stared in stunned disbelief as a plume of violet fire rose from Eblana's chest and began spreading over her entire body.
"What... is this...?"
Tongue depressor still in hand, he stood frozen, staring at Eblana as purple flames enveloped her. Even more alarmingly, every ragged breath leaving her flushed lips now carried flickers of that same violet fire.
"What is going on...?"
Watching the fire rise around her, Zuojian took half a step back, utterly at a loss.
How had his adopted daughter suddenly mega-evolved into Charizard X?!
At that moment, the system's voice rang out once more.
It was still that cold, mechanical broadcast tone, but this time the content was noticeably different.
[Affection has risen to 10%. Target: Eblana. Background information for Eblana and Loughshinny unlocked. Species entry updated: "Vouivre" corrected to "Draco." Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the achievement "Daughter of the Red Dragon."]
A torrent of updated information rushed into Zuojian's mind. The sudden overload made his head pound so badly he nearly lost his footing, catching himself against the wall just before he could collapse to the floor.
When the pain finally subsided and he opened his eyes again, the look he directed at Eblana—still sitting there amid the flames—had changed.
So these two children had been living in fear all this time because of their bloodline?
Was that why Eblana had harbored such deep prejudice and hostility toward him from the very beginning?
Zuojian stepped forward. Though violet fire wrapped around her body, nothing nearby showed any sign of catching flame. Slowly, he extended a hand, reaching through the fire to touch her forehead.
But the instant his fingertips brushed those flames, an eerie sensation surged up his spine—a warmth greater than the surrounding air, yet somehow accompanied by an indescribable, bone-deep chill. And then, only a moment later, his fingertips began to burn.
This violet fire gave off no obvious heat.
It didn't ignite other objects.
But it could still burn human flesh.
Zuojian recoiled with a hiss, looking down at the skin on his fingertips, already marked by burns, utterly at a loss.
And yet, when he turned back and saw Eblana lying on the bed, her face growing worse, her breathing becoming more ragged, coughs beginning to shake her body—something in his chest twisted sharply.
That pain cut far deeper than the burns on his fingers.
Whatever she might think of him, she was still his daughter.
Gritting his teeth, Zuojian turned abruptly toward a few white plastic pill bottles sitting in the corner of the medicine cabinet.
Painkillers:Can reduce pain caused by Oripathy flare-ups, or suppress pain arising from nerve-end damage and tissue inflammation.
He strode over, unscrewed the cap, swallowed several of the white tablets dry, then turned back. Without even waiting for the medicine to take effect, he thrust his hands straight through the violet fire again and began examining Eblana's condition.
—
Loughshinny sat at the bottom of the stairs, watching the closed medicine room door below with worried eyes. For a while, she couldn't even tell who she was more worried about—her sister, or Zuojian, who had only just woken up and was already pushing himself this hard again.
But whichever it was, the result seemed the same.
She couldn't help.
Even if she were willing to reveal her own flame, what good would that do?
She had far less control over fire than her sister did, and for years she had done nothing but suppress it. In the past, even when using it with all her strength, she had only ever managed to heal small injuries on little animals. Power at that level was nowhere near enough to save a human being.
And besides, Eblana didn't have a wound.
She was sick, not injured.
Loughshinny's flame was far from omnipotent. For an illness like this, even if she could fully control it, it still wouldn't make anything better.
It seemed...
She really could do nothing at all...
At the thought, Loughshinny lowered her head, her little face sinking into a cloud of self-blame.
And just then, the door to the medicine room finally opened. Zuojian emerged alone, a look of weary relief on his face.
The first thing he saw was a dejected little dragon girl sitting on the steps, head bowed.
The sight drew an involuntary smile from him, and he stepped forward.
"Why are you sitting here looking so down, little Loughshinny?"
"Z-Zuojian!"
The moment she heard her name, the girl jerked her head up and rushed toward him.
"Um... Sister, she...?"
"Luckily, it's only a cold. I gave her some medicine, and she's on an IV inside right now. If all goes well, the symptoms should start easing by tomorrow."
"Really... that's good..."
Hearing the good news, Loughshinny visibly relaxed, though the sadness on her face didn't disappear entirely.
"Your complexion doesn't look too good either. Are you feeling unwell too?"
Clearly, her expression wasn't something Zuojian could miss. But when he asked, Loughshinny only lowered her head further, fingers nervously kneading the hem of her skirt.
"Zuojian... am I really no help at all? Sister said you went into the basement because you were trying to solve our money problems, but I was asleep then. Later, when you were hurt, it was Sister who dragged you back out. And now even Sister has collapsed, and I still can't do anything..."
"I..."
"Can't do anything at all?"
Instead of comforting her directly, Zuojian tossed the question back at her.
Then he slowly raised his hand and pointed toward the jar sitting on the stair beside Loughshinny—the one filled with the black, sticky substance he had glimpsed in her hands when he burst out of the room earlier.
Pointing at it, he asked,
"Then what's that?"
"This... this is... the doctor who treated you told me that there were some unused imported Yanese herbs in your medicine room. She said I could take some of them and boil them down into a salve for burns. She told me the recipe before she left, so... I tried making it..."
At that, a genuine look of delight spread across Zuojian's face. He reached out and gently pinched Loughshinny's cheek.
"See? It's not true at all that you can't do anything, Loughshinny. My wound scabbed over so fast because you helped a lot. I should be thanking you, Loughshinny."
"R-Really?"
A glimmer of hope lit up in the girl's eyes, and Zuojian immediately pressed the advantage, thumping his own chest.
"Of course. Look, it doesn't hurt at all now. That must be thanks to you, Loughshinny."
"I-Is that so...?"
Loughshinny, who had almost never been praised before in her life, immediately ducked her head shyly again under the barrage of compliments.
And clearly, Zuojian had no intention of stopping there.
He went on and on—how the salve looked excellent, how she had obvious talent, how impressive it was to do so well on her first try, how after using it he felt like his neck didn't ache anymore and his back and legs felt better too.
He praised her so thoroughly that even the tips of Loughshinny's ears turned red.
And if not for the sudden interruption of a very untimely sound, Zuojian might well have gone on long enough to declare the little dragon girl a once-in-a-generation medical prodigy.
Grrrrr~
A long, mournful sound came from Loughshinny's stomach.
It was the hollow complaint of an empty belly, like old pipes groaning through an empty building.
The sound stopped Zuojian mid-praise, and the blush that had only reached Loughshinny's ears instantly spread across her whole face.
Before she could even stammer out an excuse, a second, even louder growl echoed through the quiet hall.
Loughshinny froze, then hurriedly waved both hands.
"Th-this time it wasn't me!"
"This time it was me."
Seeing her panic, Zuojian simply pointed openly at his own stomach. Only then did he remember that he hadn't eaten anything at all during the time he'd been unconscious.
Then he extended his hand toward her and said,
"Your sister probably hasn't eaten much either, and her clothes are ruined. Want to come into town with me?"
"I'm thinking of buying some ingredients and letting you two try my cooking."
"And if we pass by a bookstore, we can stop in and buy a few books too."
Loughshinny blinked, then immediately began nodding like a pecking chick.
"Then let's go."
Smiling, the man took his adopted daughter's little hand in his own.
Even as he did, his thoughts were still with the other child downstairs, lying in the medicine room on an IV, as he considered what kind of food would be easiest for a sick patient to swallow and absorb.
He was so preoccupied that he barely even noticed the system notifications continuing to pop up beside him:
[Affection +1%]
As for the newly unlocked information on the sisters, one line from their background description kept echoing in his head:
[Red Dragons. Draco. In Victoria, these are names synonymous with ambition and violence. On this land, few are willing to speak openly of this ancient bloodline.]
[But where some feel fear, others feel the desire to possess. These two sisters are the last remaining Red Dragon bloodline in Victoria. Their very existence is conflict itself.]
Recalling that, Zuojian narrowed his eyes and glanced at Loughshinny beside him—at the eager smile on her face—and then thought of the faint trail left behind in the medicine room by Eblana's frail body dragging his own out of the underground cellar step by step.
Silently, he turned his gaze to the item panel floating in front of him and fixed his eyes on the starting item he had received in this simulation:
Rose Revolver.
His body was frail.
And this simulation was clearly far more dangerous than he had imagined.
The system had also made one thing very clear: what had happened before—when it had intervened directly to help him—was an exception among exceptions. A one-time only situation.
What he could rely on was painfully limited.
But...
Zuojian slipped a hand into his pocket. His burned fingertips were now wrapped in bandages, and within that pocket his hand closed tightly around the crimson revolver.
No matter what happened, he would protect his two daughters with everything he had.
Anyone who tried to lay a hand on them was his enemy.
And whatever such enemies might want to say, he had neither the need nor the interest to listen.
With that thought, Zuojian opened his eyes again.
The system interface flickered slightly, and then a new page suddenly sprang open.
[Affection has risen to 15%. A new item/strategy selection has been unlocked.]
[Please choose carefully. Use with caution.]
I don't care whether they're Red Dragons or little birds. I only want them to grow up like normal children.
————————————
"Of course I care whether they're genuine Red Dragons!"
Somewhere inside a noble manor, in an old-fashioned library lined with books, a man in plain formal robes was angrily berating a spy through a communicator.
"There is no doubt about it! Before the Dublin couple died, they had a pair of twin girls! And now you're telling me their trail has suddenly gone cold?!"
"You know perfectly well what this means! If you can't find them, then you'd better not come back at all!"
With that, the man furiously cut the line.
But the moment he turned around, a faintly seductive voice sounded from behind him.
"Don't be so angry, Count Warwick. You are the lord of a city—how can you afford to lose your composure like this?"
"How about... I go look for them on your behalf?"
Count Warwick was silent for a moment, then gave a dismissive wave.
"Fine. I'll leave it to you."
"No problem."
The voice in the shadows vanished.
Count Warwick, meanwhile, sank back into his reclining chair. After a long pause, he muttered a bitter curse through clenched teeth.
"Stupid, ignorant devil-blooded trash! How could your lowly blood possibly understand what two pure-blooded Draco represent?!"
"They are Red Dragons! Victoria's Red Dragons—symbols of power and strength!"
He murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming with endless greed and fervor.
"I have to find them! I must!"
....
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