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

Difficult deliveries among dangerous species are especially troublesome.
In the best-case scenario, the offspring perishes. In the worst, the mother dies alongside it.

Nearby, the molten fire deer appeared equally aware of the female deer's distress and panic. Yet, all they could do was anxiously pace and scrape the ground with their hooves, unable to offer any aid.
It seemed to be the female’s first delivery, and her inexperience combined with her overwhelming fear led to complications.
"Not that I’m one for sentimentality, but shouldn’t we help?" Rebecca asked.

Leon nodded without hesitation. "If we can help, we should."
Dangerous species with gentle temperaments and a degree of intelligence deserved better treatment than common livestock.
As a husband and father himself, Leon felt a deeper connection to the situation.

As he said, lending a hand in this case cost them nothing.
"Maite, you know dangerous species better than any of us. How do we help her?" Nacho turned to the team's dangerous-species researcher.
Maite adjusted his glasses and stepped forward.
"First, we need to make it clear that we’re here to help. Otherwise, the male deer might attack us."

"Understood."
"Martin, Captain, I’ll need you both to join me. The rest, stay back to avoid startling them."
"Got it."

Following Maite’s lead, the three approached the laboring female deer slowly.
The molten fire deer turned to face them, lowering its antlers in warning.
They immediately raised their hands and slightly bowed, showing they meant no harm, just as they had done earlier near the deer's nest.

Then Maite began making strange hand gestures.
Leon paused for a moment, surprised. The gestures seemed to mimic communication among the molten fire deer.
In interactions with intelligent but nonverbal creatures, body language played a crucial role.

Under Maite’s direction, the male deer actually stepped aside, clearing a path for them.
Maite exhaled in relief. "Alright, Captain, let’s move in."
"Understood."
The three of them approached the female deer, whose cries were weak. Blood pooled beneath her hindquarters.

"Martin, gently stroke her belly to help her relax."
"On it."
"Captain, I’ll need you to hold down her hind legs while I assist the delivery."

"Got it."
Maite rolled up his sleeves, ready to begin.
Watching his practiced movements, Leon raised an eyebrow.
"I don’t recall the Academy teaching midwifery for dangerous species."

The Academy’s curriculum had always emphasized minimal physical contact with such creatures.
Without looking up, Maite focused on his task.
"They didn’t, Captain."
"Then how are you so good at this?"

"A few years ago, right after I graduated, I couldn’t find work. My knowledge of dangerous species and animals landed me a job as a vet for a while."
As he spoke, Maite carefully grasped the legs of the molten fire deer calf.
"At first, I worked on chickens, cattle, sheep, and horses for farmers like Mr. Lager. Eventually, I picked up midwifery skills too."
He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm and grinned.
"In this line of work, the more skills, the better."

If Leon hadn’t been holding down the deer’s legs, he would’ve clapped.
"A graduate of the Magic Academy becoming a vet—now that’s a job placement program!"
After some effort and seamless cooperation between the three, the molten fire deer calf was successfully delivered.
The mother was safe, too.

They wiped their hands clean on nearby grass, calling it good enough.
The newborn lay beside its mother, who licked it clean.
Meanwhile, several other molten fire deer approached Leon and his team. They lowered their heads and gently pawed at the ground with their forelegs.

Leon blinked. "Is this...?"
"It’s their way of expressing gratitude," Maite explained.
"Oh~ so do we paw the ground back to say ‘you’re welcome’?"

"Let’s not, Captain. Let’s just leave before you come up with something weirder."
Laughing and joking, the three returned to their group.
"Wow, Captain, I can’t believe you guys actually delivered a deer baby!" Rebecca exclaimed.

Leon flicked her forehead.
"Hey, I’m the father of four little dragonlings. Deliveries are second nature to me."
Rebecca tilted her head, her bright eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Was your wife in human form or dragon form when she gave birth?"
"?"

"..."
Leon had no idea what kind of bizarre thought process had led her to that question and decided it was best to ignore her.
Nacho walked over. "While you were off being heroes, we made a discovery."

"Oh? What kind of discovery?"
"Come and see for yourself."
Nacho led the group across the molten fire deer’s territory to the entrance of a stone cave.

The grass and bushes around the entrance had been freshly disturbed, likely uncovered by Nacho and his team just moments ago.
They entered the cave and proceeded deeper until a faint light appeared at the end.
"Simon," Nacho called.

Simon stood near an iron door, holding a torch.
"There’s no energy reaction. We can go in."
Leon approached, peering through the door.
Beyond it was a large room filled with various instruments and tattered notebooks.

It appeared to be an old laboratory.
Leon stepped inside, wiping dust off a desk and checking his fingers.
"Not very thick. This place hasn’t been abandoned for long."
He turned to the others.
"Search the area. See if you can find anything useful."

"Yes, Captain."
The team got to work.
Leon scanned the equipment on the table. Most of it was damaged and unusable.

He picked up a test tube, cautiously sniffing it. No discernible scent.
Setting the tube down, he turned to the notebooks. Opening one, he found it filled with dense experimental records.
Leon squinted, painstakingly reading through the damaged pages. Most of it was complaints about failed experiments, offering no valuable insights.

But then—
"This handwriting... I’ve seen it before."
Frowning, Leon searched his memory. After a moment, his eyes widened.
"Queen Elizabeth!"
During negotiations with the dragons, Nacho had handed him a letter from the queen to the Shadow Lord, filled with praise and flattery.

The handwriting in this notebook matched the queen’s perfectly.
"While I can’t be certain this was one of the Shadow Lord’s labs, it’s definitely related to him."
Leon continued flipping through the pages until he found a critical clue near the end.

"Seventy-third failure. The embryo could not survive longer than ten minutes after birth.
The power of flame remains uncontrollable. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll ask the master about initiating the ‘Cold Flame’ project."
"The master rejected my proposal, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ instructing me not to ignite the ‘Cold Flame.’ I must continue my current experiments.

Eighty-fifth experiment: near success. We felt waves of heat reminiscent of ancient flames."
The remaining pages had been torn out.
"Cold Flame project..." Leon murmured.

Before he could ponder further, Rebecca called out to him.
"Captain! Come quick!"
Leon closed the notebook and hurried over.

"What’s wrong?"
Rebecca and a few others stood before a shattered glass window.
Leon approached and looked inside.

Beyond the window was a dark room. Tubes ran along the floor and walls, converging at the center, where a single object rested—
"An embryo..."