Why Did You Summon Me?

“Godfather? If the house is such a big deal for everyone, well…” Vidomina wrapped her arms around Baiyi’s neck as she continued.

Her invitation sounded forced, most likely because she was reluctant to visit any places her father, Duke Wright, had bought for her. It was very likely that she had never visited the place before herself.

“Nah, it’s fine. Let’s just walk outside,” Baiyi replied, and he reached for her head to give her a comforting pat.

Suddenly, as if a wild thought had crossed her mind, Little Mia jumped right into the scene, and she pulled Vidomina into a forceful embrace and asked pointedly, “Vidomina, why are you hugging Mr. Hope like that?”

The girl in question had not expected the boorish tackle, and her hands slipped. With a soft, girly “Ah!” Vidomina fell backward onto Mia’s body. The latter had not expected to pull Vidomina off Baiyi so easily, either; both girls immediately hugged each other in mid-fall, fell to the ground and began to roll down.

No one knew what happened during the roll, but when both girls finally came to a stop, they were in quite an awkward position: Little Mia’s face was completely buried into Vidomina’s bosom because she was laying below the latter.

Yet, for some very obvious reasons, unlike the time when she crashed onto Attie’s chest, Little Mia did not feel a stingy pain on her head from this fall. Instead, she seemed to have been cushioned by something soft and bouncy; it was very comfortable.

“Owww!” Little Mia could only let out a low growl of powerlessness.

Just as Little Mia’s lips parted to say more, she heard Vidomina, who was looking up at the sky, suddenly ask, “Is that… Is that something huge in the sky?”

The others followed her gaze and looked up. Sure enough, amidst the clouds, they saw a gigantic silhouette zipping through the skyline. As it drew closer to them, the silhouette revealed itself to belong to a soaring white dragon.

Unlike normal White Dragons, this particular dragon had a smaller waistline than its fellow members. Aided by that feature, the White Dragon they were staring at had a special sense of feminity to it; however, the dragonkin’s’ original mien of puissance was not abandoned, either.

These contrasting countenances mixed with each other beautifully, creating an odd combination that displayed a particular sort of personalized beauty.

The White Dragon hovered above them for a while before slowly landing close by. The yellow rays of light from the sun bounced on its scales, causing a dazzling aura of colors to reflect back into the sky, making this dragon look it was one of the precious and rare Gilded Dragon from legends.

When the large white dragon set its eyes on Mia and Vidomina, it leaned in closer and seemed to watch them with a curiosity that would make someone think it saw them as a tasty dessert. The dragon leaned in so close, the girls could see its large, animated-like eyes.

Vidomina was unprepared for such a close encounter; she quickly got to her feet and hid behind Little Mia’s body in fright. The latter, however, had the experience of interacting with dragons, some of which she had met back in Gouve, so instead of being afraid, Little Mia spread her arms wide open like a human shield in front of Vidomina; she could feel Vidomina shivering behind her.

The dragon was taken aback by Mia’s action and retracted its head.

Then, suddenly, it began to make a ton of unintelligible sounds — which were actually strings of words in Dovahzul, dragon language — that made it seem like it was guffawing. Could the dragon be laughing at Mia’s foolhardiness?

It proceeded to open its mouth wide and leaned its head toward Mia, acting as if it was about to swallow both girls whole.

Suddenly, a blurred line whacked its head. The Saint Quartz staff struck the dragon’s scaly head so hard that sparks were generated on impact.

The White Dragon quickly lifted its head and bellowed at the sudden jolt of pain. When its gaze finally landed on Baiyi, it began to utter a string of unintelligent sounds, speaking again in Dovahzul.

Baiyi stood between Little Mia and the upset dragon, muttering in Dovahzul as well. A rough translation of what Baiyi said was: “Speak in human tongue, would you?”

He turned around and saw that Little Mia had dropped her bravado and was gripping his cape tightly, while the other girls hid behind her. The other students were not too calm either. The great fox had long since been subdued by the draconic aura, and it was in a kneeling position. The owl was missing, possibly already hidden or fled, and the sunflower had curled itself into a ball. The only one who did not look alarmed was Laeticia, who was shielding Nota the fairy.

“Don’t be scared,” Baiyi said reassuringly. “It’s just Mordred.”

“W-what?!”

“Huhhhh?!”

“W-wait wha—?”

The girls, who had all played with Mordred before, all cried out in surprise.

At the same time, the dragon, whose head had just been struck, somehow seemed to remember how to speak like a human, and from its mouth, a sweet, childlike voice suddenly boomed, “Papaaaaa!”

‘So, how does it feel like to be called “Papaaaa!” by a muscular, leviathan dragon with a stereotypical little girl voice?’

This was Mordred’s first time calling Baiyi “papa” right in front of the other students. Therefore, the gazes that were boring through Baiyi’s body contained bewilderment, bemusement, suspicion, and speculations.

Baiyi suddenly had the urge to slay a dragon.

‘Those who bear the name ‘Mordred’, are they all daddy’s girls by default? Even if the answer is yes, why must it be me?!?!’

Just when Baiyi was about to clear the air, a frantic, yet undeniably familiar, female voice rang from far, “Esteemed guests! P-please, do not harm my child!”

Aya was sprinting towards them with all her might. Both her hands were lifting the draping long hemline of her noble dress as her fair legs looked blurred in their panicked sprint.

Then, because the field they were in was not exactly suited for sprints, Aya cried out a feminine “Oh noo!” before she slipped and hit the ground flat, and the inertia slid her towards Baiyi’s feet.

Baiyi looked at Aya with a little concern. ‘She…she’s not gonna be chiseled into a smaller-sized Aya, right?’

“Pffft pfftt!” The dragon-lady spat out the grass that had accumulated in her mouth and wiped her face. When she raised her head, her eyes met Baiyi’s.

“—Aaaaaeeeiiii! Mister H-H-Hope?! Why…W-w-why are you here?!”

‘H-hey! What was it that made these two recognize me this easily? Didn’t I just change my armor?’ Baiyi thought in wonder as he helped Aya up.

“I should be the one sounding surprised! Why are you two here?”

‘Wait. Don’t tell me… that this dragon has… become someone else’s mistress?!’ Baiyi thought with worry.

Aya did not reply him immediately, though. She looked at her dress — which was now covered with blades of grass and mud — and winced, “Awww. I just bought this…”

‘Just bought this? Using her own money? Good, that means she hasn’t gotten tricked by some sugar daddy,’ Baiyi answered his own question reassuringly.

“Okay, first thing first. Turn her back into a human, please.” Baiyi pointed at dragon-Mordred, seeing as the beast was gazing at the two of them with a very peculiar expression. Her eyes were even narrowed into two crescents.

After a while, with Aya’s help, Mordred transformed back into her familiar, adorable blue-eyed, blonde human form, and her fangs were barred when she grinned. She did not even wait a millisecond after her magic subsided before throwing herself at Mia, screaming, “Mia! I miss you soooooo much!”

“I, um, m-m-miss you too.” Mia smiled stiffly — and suddenly, a ‘bong’ sound echoed. Modred had jumped at Mia for a hug and bonked her little dragon head against Mia’s flat chest.

Mordred rubbed her forehead. “G-g-gah… That… h-h-urts…”

Mia’s smile froze.

At that moment, she finally understood how Attie’s felt back then. Um… karma?

Baiyi eyed the two for a brief second before turning his head away; he did not intend to watch anymore. He looked at Aya and asked, “Did you bring any clothes for her?”

“Uh… I was in a hurry, so…?” the dragon-girl trailed off.

‘Excuse me, shouldn’t you always prepare a set of clothing for occasions like these?’Baiyi thought, feeling unimpressed, before pulling out a new blanket from his own storage pouch.

“Thanks.” Aya took the blanket and pulled Modred, who had been eagerly rubbing against Mia, and wrapped her with the blanket, covering her birthday suit from view.

That’s right. When dragons in human form transformed back into their dragon forms, their clothes would get destroyed. That was probably the reason why Aya did not want Baiyi to ride atop her; ride — the literal meaning, not the other one.

“Long time no see. Wanna find a place to talk?” Baiyi gazed at the covered Mordred, who managed to wriggle around Aya somehow, before extending his invitation.

“Our place is just right ahead. Come over,” she replied with a smile.

After a while, Baiyi managed to piece out the reason why the dragons were here.

Dragon knights were the crowned jewel of Gouve — an irreplaceable and most quintessential Gouvian heritage that easily dominated the sky. The worth of these knights was far beyond mere aristocrats; therefore, to show his appreciation, Emperor Walthart the Third randomly chose an unlucky scion and awarded his property in Cloud City to him.

Quite obviously, the emperor may be young, but he was no miser in terms of gifts.

The house here was not exactly suitable for living, but Mordred had just turned 30 years old a few months before. According to the custom of dragons, a dragon around this age should be allowed to turn back to their original form as much as possible to prevent them from forgetting their nature.

The dragon knights’ current aerial territory was not a playing field for this feisty dragon because it was too close to the cities; however, on the other hand, the Eol Mountains were just as ill-fitting for Modred because there were wild dragons there — whose eyes would definitely shine if they spotted a young, beautiful dragon in their territory. There were also barbarians who would gladly hurl their javelins at any passing beast.

Aya was very worried for her child’s safety, so in the end, the elderly dragon Yosef suggested bringing Mordred to a place like this: a scenic environment that reminded the dragons of their time in Gouve — a location that also happened to be minimally-populated.

The pair had been staying in Cloud City for about a month; it was by chance that they met Baiyi and his students while on their trip.

As it was, if fate insisted, one could meet just about anyone else in this big, wide world.