HSB Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Dragons were a very proud and powerful race, possessing a long lifespan and great powers. They lived together on a separate planet. The reason why they aligned themselves with the Terrans and became one of the four noble clans was that dragons had one of the most fatal weaknesses—reproduction.

Ninety percent of dragons were unable to have children in their lifetime, which was a side effect of their great power.

By now, the entirety of the Dragon race only amounted to 100 people. 

The second was that the previous emperor and the Dragon King became friends by happenstance. The Terran emperor wanted to unify the Astra Empire and the Dragon King helped in the process. Finally, when the Astra Empire was unified, the Dragons naturally became the leader of the four noble clans. 

Although allied to the Terrans, the Dragons didn’t serve the Astra Empire. The Dragons would not help the Terrans unless the Astra Empire encountered a detrimental crisis. 

To put it bluntly, the four noble clans merely served as a good luck charm for the Astra Empire. 

Dragons were such a proud race that they would never intermarry with foreign races, but there were only a few dozen of dragons, and female dragons were even fewer in number, thus, most of the dragons were still bachelors.

Besides, even if two dragons in the Dragon Clan took a fancy to each other, there was a high chance that they would not be able to give birth to children of their own.

In the end, the Dragon King had no choice but to decree that members of the Dragon Clan could intermarry with foreign races to increase the chance of giving birth to children, otherwise after long enough time had passed, Dragons would eventually go extinct. 

The Dragon King had always wanted Jellal, as the only nine-clawed azure dragon in the Dragon Clan, to continue his bloodline. If Jellal married, maybe a new nine-clawed azure dragon would be added to the Dragon Clan.

According to the seniority in the family hierarchy, Jellal was a generation higher than the Dragon King, equivalent to the Dragon King’s uncle. When the Dragon King made his suggestion known, the Dragon King was actually a little concerned for himself, and sure enough, Jellal rejected his suggestion and beat up the Dragon King. 

After the Dragon King reaped the result of a bruised nose and a swollen face, he cried and did not dare to mention it again.

To Jellal, no female in the universe could interest him.

Not because of his orientation, of course, but because of his pride that was above all else.

As the only nine-clawed Azure Dragon, if he were to get married, then his marriage partner must be at least a nine-clawed Azure Dragon.

The Dragon King hoped to get another dragon with the bloodline of the nine-clawed Azure Dragon after Jellal got married, so where was he to find Jellal a nine-clawed Azure Dragon to mate with?

Hence, this ended inconclusively.

Jellal, a thousand-year-old bachelor, didn’t care if he had an heir, nor had he ever thought about it.

He had seen cubs of other races, and they were so weak when they were born. It would be so trouble to try to raise them well.

If he had this time, it would be better to get in some sleep and “pick” more crystals to decorate his palace. 

Therefore, he had no interest in the so-called cub-raising game. If it were not for the projection of the game screen, as if it were real, plus the little one was too pitiful, touching him with a little compassion, he would have simply ignored it.

Jellal didn’t dislike children. He simply thought kids were troublesome and didn’t want to touch them. It didn’t mean that he would be indifferent when he saw a pitiful child.

Until this moment when the soft “daddy” floated into his ears brought him a strange, indescribable, throbbing for the first time in a thousand years. The blood flowing in his blood vessels gave a jolt, which seemed to resonate within him, making him miraculously have a feeling of “becoming a father for the first time.” 

It was a remarkable feeling.

Jellal lowered his long eyelashes, his gaze fell on the little girl who was soaking in the water. After the soft “Daddy,” she had quieted down, closed her eyes, and quietly leaned against the basin, supported only by a finger that Jellal held against her back, like a sleeping little princess. 

A moment later, Jellal’s other hand tentatively poked her red little face, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. The touch through his fingers seemed to feel through a layer of things, blocking the feedback from the skin. 

At this time, Jellal suddenly remembered that this little one was a character in the game, not a real existence, and of course, he couldn’t touch the real her. 

However, the strange feeling in his heart still didn’t disappear. His ice-blue pupils dilated slightly, and Jellal was silent from the thought that suddenly came to him.

What if she became real?

The little child was created by programming and data. If her program was stripped out separately and a real body was recreated, her program could then be implanted into the body, similar to the existence of AI robotics.

Wouldn’t the little one be “real” then?

Unexpectedly, as soon as the thought flashed through his mind, the System bombarded him with a warning in capital and bold print: [Don’t even think about it!]

Jellal raised an eyebrow.

The System also noticed its inappropriate wording and immediately remedied itself: [Of course, you can try.] It would be useless anyway.

[Lowering her fever worked, but Bambi is too small. After being soaked in water for too long, even if her fever has come down, it will still cause irreversible damage to her body. Please use other means to lower her temperature.]

[Note, please use other means to lower her temperature.] 

“What a hassle.” Jellal pulled the little one out, and this time, his movements were more experienced and a little more gentle.

The room was too dark. Though he could see in the dark, a dragon’s nature made him like everything “bright” including lights. 

However, there was no electricity in the house, only candles.

Jellal suppressed the discomfort in his heart and expressionlessly entered the bedroom. After breaking the invisible barrier with a punch, the rest of the location automatically became unobstructed, which lightened his mood.

Peeling off Bambi’s wet clothes, Jellal tucked the little one into bed and opened the closet. 

“……”

He casually picked up a small dress, his eyebrows twisted tightly as if it could kill a fly, and turned to Tobias, who was also admitted into the projection.” “Is this considered clothing?”

Tobias glanced at it, displaying the same disgusted expression as Jellal, but more restrained. He thought about it, and said: “Maybe this is to highlight the misery of the character so that gamers will buy better clothes for the character through spending money.”

Just like how in some holographic games the starting equipment was all at basic-level equipment, if you wanted your equipment to be more impressive, money was naturally indispensable.

Faced with a full cabinet of clothes that pushed his buttons, Jellal couldn’t bear it for a single moment before he clicked into the store. For the little one’s call of “Daddy,” he’ll exchange a few sets of pretty little dresses for her.

“……”

The [Clothing] column was all grayed out.

“What’s up with this?”

The System was silent.

Tobias said, “There may be some restrictions. ”

With that, the System came out: [Your current intimacy with Bambi is 0. Expect the basic laser gun, nothing else can be purchased.]

Tobias also saw this pop-up and commented after a moment of silence, “My lord, this game is…very unique.”

It was the first time he’d seen a game where you couldn’t load with money.

Almost sullenly, Jellal randomly grabbed a dress to change the little one into, his movements very clumsy.

He had never dressed up a child before, especially a human child.

After finally putting her small head through the neckline of the dress, he realized that he couldn’t pull her arm through. Tobias whispered a reminder, “Sire, you seem to have worn it incorrectly.”

Jellal︰“？”

Tobias said, “You put the head through the sleeve part.”

“……”

Once Bambi was finally changed, Jellal tried his best to ignore the ugly dress. Since he couldn’t soak her in water to cool her down, what other physical cooling methods could he use?

Tobias quickly entered the Starnet to search for the information and then said to Jellal, “My lord, the Internet says that you can cool down by forcing sweating.”

Simply put, make the little one sweat it out.

He just soaked her in cold water to cool her down, but now he tells him to warm her up to make her sweat…isn’t the human method of physical cooling a little bizarre?

Jellal said, “Are you sure you won’t overheat her?”

Tobias wasn’t sure. He wasn’t human, so he really didn’t understand.

[Bambi’s real-time body temperature is 39 degrees and is beginning to rise.]

Unable to find any other way, Jellal had to wrap Bambi up in the blanket, wrapping her into a rice dumping.

Within minutes, Bambi’s face became even redder, sweat pouring from her body, drenching her freshly changed dress. 

It was too hot.

The small brush-like eyelashes trembled slightly, her little face wrinkled uncomfortably, and her body instinctively struggled to break free from the scalding temperature that seemed to melt her.

However, no matter how much she struggled, she could not break free of the tightly wrapped covers on her body.

Jellal began to wonder if this method would work. He didn’t want it to aggravate the little one’s current situation. Fortunately, the System squeaked: [Bambi’s temperature is currently lowering.]

Jellal didn’t notice that his body relaxed a bit, but Tobias noticed it. He thought to himself, “It seems that my lord has become interested in the character of this game.”

By the time the System prompted that Bambi’s temperature had dropped to a normal figure, Bambi’s newly changed dress was already soaked and must be changed again. 

Looking at the little one again, she was breathing steadily and slept very soundly.

He was inexperienced the first time but was now familiar with it. Lord Jellal had some experience changing the dress for the second time. To avoid wearing it incorrectly again, Jellal purposefully looked for the neckline before putting the dress on.

When he pulled her furry little head through the neckline of the little dress, he suddenly stopped all movement.

Most of his attention had been fixated on cooling Bambi down, and after the danger had passed, Jellal could now see that the ribs on both sides of the small ribs were already thin and bulging. 

In addition to being thin, there were some bruises that had not yet dissipated, and they were shocking to witness.

These were injuries that were caused by Bambi’s accidental falls and stumbles in the past. Some of the earlier bruises had dissipated, but the recent ones had not completely healed. 

Lifting the small calf again, the two bruises on the knee became more obvious. This injury was caused by going into the kitchen to get cooking oil and running out and falling on the ground.

A child’s skin was tender. It only turned red a little when she first fell, but now it had turned into a huge bruise.

The coldness on Jellal’s face deepened a little.

Directly affected by this was Tobias whose body shook violently as he shivered, stepped back, and exited from the projection.

Lowering the hem of her dress to cover her calves, Jellal sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze moving away from her face and falling onto thin air, thoughtfully. 

No one knew what he was thinking.

After a few minutes, he said, “How do I increase intimacy?”

The System: [The decision belongs to Bambi.] 

Looking around at the candle in the room, if it hadn’t been for Tobias’s previous search on the Starnet, Jellal wouldn’t have known that this thing was a candle, a lighting tool with no merit. 

“Tobias,” He said. 

“My lord. ”

“Bring over the magic ball I brought back last time. ”

Tobias left to fulfill his orders and returned half a minute later, handing Jellal a small ball that flashed with many colors. 

By gently pressing on one of the colors, the magic ball would emit light of the corresponding color.

This was bought by Jellal from someone else. It wasn’t worth much, but Jellal was fascinated by its ability to glow. It was shiny so he didn’t hesitate to buy it.

Pressing on white, the magic ball emitted a soft and bright light, enough to illuminate the bedroom as bright as day. The light shone through the doorway into the living room, lighting up the bedroom a lot.

Watching this scene with satisfaction, Jellal placed the magic ball on the bedside table. 

Some holographic games allowed players to bring real-world objects into the game with the help of special equipment. Although this cub-raising game couldn’t compare to those holographic games, the NR device made up for this shortcoming.

However, as soon as the magic ball was put down, it returned to his hand.

This change made Jellal’s eyes slowly narrow, his slender fingers played with the magic ball, and then his five fingers fisted together. A blue light flashed and without warning, he punched his fist onto the bedside table.

[System meltdown…] 

[System in repair…] 

[System repair successful. ]

Releasing his fingers, the magic ball rolled around on the table, and it took a while for it before it quieted down and it no longer returned to Jellal’s hand.

“Very smart,” he said appreciatively. 

When the words fell from his lips, he paused slightly.

The little one on the bed had woken up at some point, and the bright light made her raise her little hand to cover her eyes.

“Mister, is that you?”

The little one’s voice was timid and a little hoarse.

Lord Jellal’s nonchalant and authoritative demeanor instantly froze.

Why aren’t you saying “daddy” anymore?