My body was terribly heavy, and pain ran through my whole body, and when I managed to raise my upper body, I found myself lying on a pile of fallen leaves.

I looked at my body and saw loose bandages wrapped everywhere.

I appreciated that he tried to treat me, but I guessed he was not used to it because the bandage kept unraveling from the edge every time I moved.

The fact that there was some twitching pain on my face means that I must have been injured by the claws earlier, although fortunately, the bleeding seemed to have already stopped…

The kidnapper sat cross-legged a short distance away across the bonfire.

His hair was a strong reddish bronze, it rose up and was wavy like a lion’s mane, reaching over his shoulders.

The man’s face, illuminated by the blazing flames of the bonfire, had strong-willed features on his face, and his masculinity, overflowing with wildness and toughness, would have been attractive under normal circumstances.

Looking at his physique, which was as well-trained as my two spouses, it was very unlikely to win by force.

No, maybe it was a mistake to try to fight the dragon in the first place…

“Uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything, but your guards were strangely tough, and the reinforcements also came, so I was in a hurry.”

The kidnapper told me with a slightly awkward expression while scratching his cheek.

I decided to ask his purpose without letting my guard down.

“Who are you? What is your purpose for kidnapping me?”

At that moment, I felt a strange sensation in my neck and reached out my hand to touch it.

At first, I thought it was a bandage on the nape of my neck, but there was something on it that wasn’t supposed to be there.

It was something that was always there until just a year or so ago…

“I’m sorry that it gave you a bad taste, but I put it on to prevent you from escaping. I’m not going to let you run away, but I heard it can also prevent suicide. Of course, if you listen to my request, I’ll take it off as soon as we’re done, so rest assured.”

There’s no way I could feel reassured by that.

This is a s*ave collar.

As long as this existed, my life, or even the life of the child in my belly, is in the hands of the man in front of me.

I asked the same question again while trying to suppress my trembling body and voice.

“Let me ask you one more time. Who are you? What is your purpose in kidnapping me?”

“Right, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Garris, and as you can see, I’m from the dragon tribe. I was searching for the best healer in the world right now, that is you. There is someone you need to treat. As soon as you’re done, I’ll return you to where you came from.”

“What!? If you need treatment, you can go through the guild, and we’ll accept your request instead of kidnapping me like this! Why do you have to be so rough!?”

“That’s no good. We dragons are strictly forbidden to mingle with other races, with some exceptions. There are various reasons for this. We have no diplomatic relations with other countries, we cannot submit requests for healing to the guild, and we are not allowed to interact with other races that can use healing magic. In the first place, dragons are a race that lives and dies naturally with only their own power. We disapprove of healing magic and are not allowed to use it ourselves.”

Garris’ expression in response to my question was serious.

“Wait a minute. The dragon tribe does not approve of the use of healing magic, and naturally, I’m not allowed to get involved, right? Then why are you doing this?”

“That’s right, this is something I’m doing on my own without their knowledge. I just can’t let them die.”

“I don’t understand. Do you want to say that you want to save someone because of personal circumstances? But you can’t do it publicly, so you resorted to such a reckless act? That means this isn’t an issue between countries, but your own personal wish?”

“Yeah, I actually didn’t want to stand out by turning into a dragon in town. It was also hard to deal with your guards, and it seemed like it would take a lot of time, so I just did it.”

I was a little relieved to hear that it was not a problem between countries.

I remembered I’d been told before that if things went badly, it would lead to war, because it wasn’t without fear for the opposing country called Cattleton.

However, there were too many things I didn’t understand, and I needed to sort them out little by little.

“I kind of understand what is going on, but I’m still not convinced. Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Oh, I’ll answer anything.”

“You mentioned ‘them’ earlier. Are there more than one person who needs treatment?”

“No, only one person. I want you to treat the spouse of my brother, the dragon tribe chief.”

“The dragon tribe chief’s spouse… Wait, you said only one person needs treatment, so why did you use ‘they’ earlier?”

“In fact, I shouldn’t tell anyone outside of the tribe, but I guess it can’t be helped. Among the dragon tribe, we, as the chief’s family, have a special ability. We can choose only one person in our lives to be half of our body. In other words, we can connect our lives with our partner. It’s like becoming a guardian. We can give our partner strength when they are weak or allow us to live the same lifespan if both parties wish for it.”

“Is that different from ‘pair’?”

“It’s different. But even so, the other half we choose often turns out to be our ‘pair’. In fact, my brother’s spouse, whom I want you to treat, is also his ‘pair’.”

The chief of the dragon tribe has turned his ‘pair’ into his other half with the special ability.

That special ability allowed him to share his power with the other half of his body.

But I still didn’t get it.

“How does that relate to the fact that they need treatment?”

“My brother continues to share his magic power and life force to keep ‘pair’, who is now severely weakened, alive. He spares no time to sleep or eat and continues at the cost of his life. However, he will reach his limit soon. It’s been almost five years since his ‘pair’ fell, and if this continues, both my brother and his ‘pair’ will die. No, my brother is planning to die along with his ‘pair’. My brother’s ‘pair’ is not a part of the dragon tribe, but he’s still a stubborn brother who won’t let anyone break the rules.”

“You said you can live the same lifespan, but can’t you use that special ability to cure diseases?”

“Our ability is not the power to heal others. It’s difficult to explain, but our ability is to share our life force and magic power with the other half, so while it can extend the lifespan and keep the other person alive, we can’t cure the disease. Creating a half-body will consume a lot of our power. Besides, our power isn’t infinite.”

Five years…that’s an incredible amount of time.

No matter how special and mighty a dragon is, surely the limits will come.

“So, if I treat that ‘pair’, both of them will be saved.”

”Yeah.”

“What kind of disease does he have?”

“I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“I really don’t know. For almost a year after my brother found his ‘pair’, he lived a normal life even if there were days when he was feeling unwell. But then, one day, he suddenly collapsed and never regained consciousness. He’s been asleep till this day.”

“For five years!? That’s…”

A sudden coma. There are so many causes that it’s difficult to identify the disease, but the fact that he has lived for five years in that state is nothing more than a miracle… No, perhaps that’s the power the dragon tribe possesses. 

In a world with no proper treatment and no life-support instruments, the patient would have died as it is, but they have been kept alive for five years by sharing the magic power and life force?

“I understand why you need my healing skills. But do you really have no time left? If it could last five years, then just one more month…”

“He can’t even last a month. My brother is really at the end of his rope. It’s not surprising if he ran out of energy at any time. Is there anything going on in one month?”

“I’m currently pregnant. The baby in my belly will be born in a month…”

Should I lie here and say I can’t use magic because I’m pregnant?

However, since I had a s*ave collar, in the end, I had no choice but to do what he wanted.

Besides…I can’t give up on a dying life. I don’t care if people say I’m naive even after what I’ve been through.

However, I must protect the life of my unborn child no matter what.

“No way!? When you’re pregnant, your belly will grow, and your magic will disappear. I can still smell the magic from you.”

“Can you smell magic when it’s not your ‘pair’? I think I have this kind of constitution because my magic also didn’t disappear in my previous pregnancy. And my stomach protrudes a little, though…”

“The dragon tribe is very good at sniffing out the scent of magic. Thanks to this, it’s easy to find our ‘pair’. No, it doesn’t matter right now. So you’re pregnant…. I know it’s too late, but… I’m sorry for treating you so roughly…Is the baby in your stomach okay…?”

Garris looked awfully nervous and didn’t dare to meet my gaze.

He might not be a bad person, but that didn’t mean I could forgive him for everything.

I am currently being kidnapped.

“Yes, I don’t think there is any problem at the moment. But from now on, please remember that this child is here. Please.”

“O-oh, okay.”

“I can’t go against you anyway, so I’ll follow what you say. Is this all right?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”

“But the chief doesn’t want to use the healing magic, right? Will he allow me to heal? If I am going to be punished for performing the healing magic without permission, I need to think about this child…”

“My brother has very little power left, so as long as I hold him back, you’ll be fine. I’ll make sure the others don’t find you as well. I am the chief’s younger brother, and I promise you that no harm will come to you.”

“Okay, I understand. I promise to give the best of my ability.”

“Thank you very much.”

Surprisingly, Garris bowed to me without hesitation.

“By the way, this child’s father was the one who came running after me when you kidnapped me. He’s usually a very calm and kind person, but… I don’t know what will happen if he gets so angry. You might get killed.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve broken all the rules of the tribe anyway. At best, I may be exiled, or at worst, I’ll be killed. But before that happens, please heal him, even by force. I beg you. After that, I would give anything, even my life, to your companion.”

I wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but his admirable attitude made me lose my temper.

“We’re heading for Dragnea. That’s about half the distance left. It would be faster if I could fly as a dragon, but I don’t think your body could withstand that. Can’t be helped, we’ve already gone the distance, so we’ll walk from here.”

“I have a name, and it’s ‘Chikayuki’, not ‘you’. Please call me by my name.”

“What’s the matter? You’ve become strangely aggressive, haven’t you? Well, it’s easier for me to do it that way. Then, Chikayuki, I’m sure it will be brief, but I look forward to our cooperation.”

“Yes, please do. I also pray for our short acquaintance.”

“You’re strangely calm for a kid… Well, it doesn’t matter. Eat this and get some sleep today. We’ll have to work hard from tomorrow onwards.”

I took the food that Garris offered me, ate a little, and then lay down again.

I could only think about Licht, Hikaru, Gail-san, and Douglas-san in Leonidas.

I couldn’t hold back my tears because I felt sorry and lonely for how much those two kind people cared about me.

When I looked at the silver bracelet they bought me when I was still in Cattleton, it reminded me once again how important they were to me.

Still, as I began to doze off, something like a warm coat was placed over me.

“Sorry…”

I thought I heard Garris’ small whisper.