Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Vol 9. Chapter 16: Isha’s Elder-Sister Warning: Don’t Waste My Time (2)

Rosvisser had known that with Leon’s connections behind him, Kaiser’s onboarding would move quickly.

But she hadn’t expected it to be this fast.

He finished the tests in the day and reported to his post that night.

“Saint Heath Academy? You all searched for ages to get those slots!”

The Tower Lord recognized Kaiser at a glance—Sky City’s ally who had helped them resist Atos long ago.

And before Kaiser arrived, Saint Heath Academy had already given the Tower Lord advance notice, so he was mentally prepared.

“Since the Red Dragon Queen is satisfied, Kaiser, your first assignment is to escort these two until they leave Sky City.”

The Tower Lord laid out the duties on the spot.

“During that time you must guarantee their safety and eliminate every potential risk. If you encounter anything suspicious, report to me immediately. That’s the gist of the job. Any questions?”

Kaiser was still in a daze.

The plan had been to rest one night after reaching the Sky City and only then begin work.

How had he been put straight on duty the moment he touched down?

This was getting roped in by acquaintances and pushed to the front line!

Seeing Kaiser at a loss for words, Isha let out a humming laugh and said on purpose:

“Tower Lord, it looks like your new hire doesn’t much care for taking my assignment.”

That snapped Kaiser out of his fog at once. He hurried to say:

“Ah, no... no, I...”

Arms folded, Isha glanced sidelong at the straightforward boy, suddenly in the mood to tease:

“No? Then you mean you like taking my assignment?”

The instant she looked straight at him, Kaiser felt as if sunlight had made others open their eyes; he didn’t dare meet her gaze again. He raised a hand to scratch his hair, stared awkwardly at the ground, and pressed his lips together.

“Uh...”

“Don’t ‘uh’ me. Say it clearly, Kaiser.” Isha pressed him step by step.

Kaiser secretly clenched the hem of his clothes. His throat bobbed. He took a drink of water and choked it down with a gurgle.

“I’m willing to take it. This assignment—I’m willing, Miss Isha.”

Once he’d said it, he let out a breath, relieved.

He seemed to think that stating it fully—doing as Isha demanded—would earn him some reward.

Surely she would let him off now?

But reality proved the pure-hearted boy from the Void was thinking too simply.

“I didn’t ask whether you were willing, Kaiser. I asked... Whether you like it.”

Isha walked up to him, tilted her head slightly. Her long red hair fell forward. With a slight tug in her brows and eyes, she fixed on Kaiser’s steadily reddening face and said with a smiling lilt:

“Do you like it.”

This time Kaiser’s brain crashed completely.

He couldn’t even process “shy” and “embarrassed” anymore.

He could only stand there, stupefied, at a total loss.

In the end, it was Rosvisser who rescued him.

“Sis, don’t tease him. There’s a fireworks show at Sky City Square in a bit. Let’s go watch.”

Isha hummed a laugh. Her gaze lingered on Kaiser a moment before she finally looked away.

She turned, reached for her sister, and switched to taking Rosvisser’s arm.

“Sure. It’s been a while since I watched fireworks.”

Arm in arm, the sisters took a few steps. Isha half-turned her head toward Kaiser.

“How long are you planning to stand there? Weren’t you going to protect me?”

Only then did Kaiser come back to himself.

“Ah—coming!”

He answered, raised his voice slightly to the Tower Lord.

The Tower Lord nodded back with a smile.

Then Kaiser jogged to catch up with the sisters.

Watching Kaiser’s retreating back, the Tower Lord couldn’t help sighing.

“Kid, don’t let a bad woman get you in her grip...”

...

...

Seven fifty in the evening—ten minutes until the fireworks show.

A good number of Sky City residents had already gathered in the square, most of them couples.

Traditional Dragons seldom seek a partner for life, and most separate mating from forming a bond, but Sky City’s atmosphere is centered on peace and inclusion. Add to that the many Dragons homeless for all sorts of reasons.

Compared to traditional Dragons, their inner emotions run richer, and they place greater weight on relationships.

So Dragons living here, after a certain time, all go in search of a partner.

Rosvisser had even seen a kind of “matchmaking corner” while they shopped.

Leon had said that in their Empire, to address the problem of single men and women, the cities set up similar “matchmaking corners” too.

If they hit it off, they just clasp hands and marry.

“But it just won’t be you.”

Couples leaned together on the steps of the square, resting against each other’s shoulders, telling stories that belonged only to them.

Rosvisser, Isha, and Kaiser went to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} a spot near the top of the square.

The view was better here; they’d be able to take in the fireworks to be launched in a moment.

“Do they have fireworks shows in the Void?”

Isha opened the conversation.

Kaiser blinked, thought carefully, then answered earnestly:

“Occasionally.”

Isha arched a brow, interest piqued. She hadn’t expected that barren nowhere of the Void to have fireworks shows, and pressed on:

“What are they like?”

Kaiser lifted his face to the sky and said slowly:

“When Atos is in a bad mood, he blows up a mountain or two. When I was a kid, I always took that for fireworks.”

“...”

What decent person blows up mountains for fun when he’s in a mood?

Isha suddenly felt the Void was really an abstract psychiatric ward.

His sister had gone to that damned place and still turned out remarkably normal, but that only underscored how firm Kaiser’s inner core must be.

Growing up in such an environment and still not being warped.

Of course, Safina’s discipline played a large role as well.

“What are they doing?”

Kaiser pointed to the couples sitting on the steps around the square.

“Falling in love,” Isha said.

“So falling in love means finding a step and sitting down?”

Isha straightened, at a loss for words as she looked at the kid.

Judging by that earnest expression, it seemed he truly wasn’t joking just now, nor being snide.

He genuinely took “falling in love is sitting on the steps” as a concept, and was trying to file that utterly absurd idea into his head.

“No, no—of course not. Nestling together and chatting is just one behavior. It doesn’t stand for the thing itself—falling in love.” Isha hurried to correct him.

Kaiser learned fast and corrected fast. After hearing Isha’s explanation, he suddenly nodded.

“I see...”

“You don’t have a concept of falling in love in the Void?” Isha asked again.

Kaiser shook his head.

“We do, but it differs from yours here.

And whether in the Void or here, I’ve never really been involved in it...

I haven’t had much contact with girls either, so a lot of things I... don’t quite understand.”

Isha’s eyes flickered, then she showed a little fox’s wicked smile.

“Anything you don’t understand, you can ask me.”

Kaiser turned his head to look at her, thought a moment, and said:

“But Miss Isha, you’re single yourself... you probably aren’t much better than me, right?”

Isha choked.

“That’s not right at all. I know a lot.

I can even make a female animal that looks at me with dislike perform a behavior for the sake of her offspring.

Tell me I don’t understand.”

Kaiser was stunned.

“Make a female animal that finds you disagreeable reproduce, ...Miss Isha, your hobbies are, well... a little unique.”

After a pause, Kaiser looked to Rosvisser, who had been quiet for a while.

“Miss Rosvisser, do you know...”

The queen lifted both hands at once.

“I don’t know. I know nothing. Don’t ask me. For tonight, pretend I’m not here.”

Rosvisser burst out laughing.

“Would Her Majesty tell you that those two ‘endangered animals’ were me and my husband?”

At Rosvisser’s self-exposure, Kaiser’s psychological pressure ticked up again.

He’d tried to rope Rosvisser into the conversation because talking to Isha alone was too much pressure, so he’d hoped Rosvisser would join in.

It did ease the pressure when Rosvisser spoke, but he still didn’t understand why talking with Isha felt so suffocating.

He kept trying to make every answer perfect, to satisfy Isha as much as possible.

In other words, he cared a lot about Isha’s opinion of him.

His mannerisms, the content of the conversation—even when he was nervous, he would consider whether the amplitude of his deep breaths might make Isha notice something.

Even if he was socially anxious, he had never been this stiff talking to anyone else, including his own sister.

“No...”

Isha’s voice cut off Kaiser’s thoughts. He refocused and looked at her.

“But I really don’t have much experience with love.”

Arms folded, Isha looked toward the center of the square. The first firework was about to be lit.

“My first—and only—relationship ended in a very awful way.”

A red streak rose into the sky, and under everyone’s expectant eyes, it fell and died.

A dud.

The staff in charge quickly switched in the first set of fireworks.

Before long, the new shells shot toward the night, blossoming in the sky into a gorgeous purple rose.

Couples around the square gasped and cheered.

The light of the fireworks reflected in Isha’s red pupils. Kaiser looked at her perfect profile and heard her go on, softly:

“And that very incident made me a steadfast non-marriage person.”

She drew her gaze back and looked at Kaiser.

In the instant their eyes met, Kaiser hurriedly looked away.

Isha let out a gentle hum of laughter and asked, teasing:

“Do you know what ‘non-marriage’ means?”

Eyes lowered to the ground, Kaiser pressed his dry lips together, fell silent for a moment, and then said:

“I do.”

Then Isha saw him let out a heavy sigh.

”Wait...  What do you know? Do you really know!”