Whether You Call Me a Guardian Dragon or Not, I’m Going to Sleep

Chapter 14: War of the Dragons (2)

The children, who had been rolling their eyes here and there as they saw me looking very angry, slowly opened their mouths.

"T-That's..."

"It's just that. The children were a bit wild..."

"We couldn't stop the children's rampage from the moment the hatchling died. Sorry, Mother."

"Ah! Erebus! That's mean!!!"

"Sagar and I were neutral, but we couldn't completely stop the children from jumping into the fight on their own."

"Yeah. Yggdrasil too."

"But everyone has experienced an invasion of their territory by the black dragons at least once, right? I think Erebus is largely to blame."

Is the problem the invasion of territory, or is it the killing of the hatchling?

I let out a big sigh, and with that sigh, flames burst forth right in front of where the children were standing.

"So, who is going to take responsibility for this?"

"Well, that's..."

It felt like I could hear their eyeballs rolling.

Do they understand that they did something wrong? Or are they just trying to avoid my anger?

Either way, it doesn't change the fact that I need to scold these children.

"Invading the territory of the black dragon children is wrong, but it is a mistake that can be forgiven and the territory can be returned. However, I think harming the hatchling is an irreversible mistake."

Erebus spoke calmly. Certainly, his words are correct, but why does it feel like he's trying to avoid his own mistakes?

Is he trying to hide a small mistake behind a big one to escape the situation?

However, the other children couldn't make any other excuses to Erebus's words.

"Do you all think so too?"

"That is..."

"Certainly, that might be the case..."

At the point where they couldn't properly refute, the answer was already decided.

So.

"How sad..."

The dragons who waged war, the seven children who couldn't properly control such children, and I, who had been asleep without knowing such things were happening.

Everything was just sad and lamentable.

"When exactly did the hatchling die?"

"That's... about a month ago."

Erebus hesitated before answering my question.

A month... It hasn't been that long.

I took out a pocket watch that could turn back time.

"If we could make all this never have happened, would the war disappear?"

"What? Make it as if it never happened?"

"Mother...? I have a bad feeling about this..."

I pressed the button on the pocket watch and quickly rewound the hands.

One turn for 12 hours. Two turns for a day. After winding and winding, the pocket watch showed a time about a month ago.

"Let's return this world to before the mistake was made. That would be alright, wouldn't it?"

"Mother?!"

I let out a small sigh and closed the lid of the pocket watch.

[Seeking agreement from the past point....

The past point has agreed.

Would you like to rewind time? Y / N]

Unlike when I tested it on myself, I'm rewinding a world with other children and dragons....

But it's better than leaving this detestable war alone.

Thus, the world began to rewind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I forced my body, which was not moving well due to a long hibernation, to move.

My whole body was stiff, not just sore, but I couldn't just stay still.

Why would I have rewound time if not to prevent the mistake before it was made?

"Huuuu..."

I summoned the children while loosening my stiff body.

[Erebus. Shamash. Ifrit. Thetis. Sylphid. Sagarmatha. Yggdrasil. Appear before me.]

Then, the children suddenly appeared in the cave where I was sleeping.

A sudden summoning. Since they had no experience with such an event, all the children looked bewildered.

"Mother?!"

"Mom?! Weren't you asleep?"

"That's what I thought. It seems I can't sleep peacefully."

I said, forcing my stiff body to move.

I had to prevent the war, so I couldn't use my stiff body as an excuse.

"I want to establish one rule for you all."

"What? A rule all of a sudden?"

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"Calling us out of the blue, and now a rule... Mother, you seem different than usual, somewhat strange..."

"There is a reason. A reason."

I can't just say I saw the future and rewound time.

And looking at the children's reactions... it seems their memories from before the rewind are gone.

Well, does it matter?

"It's a rule that should have been established before but before it's too late, before a big problem arises, I think I need to tell you."

"A big problem? What kind of problem are you talking about?"

"It's a rule about hatchlings."

At my words, all the children tilt their heads in confusion.

"Hatchlings?"

"Why suddenly hatchlings, Mom?"

These children don't know what will happen in the future, so they react this way.

So, even if it's a bit forced, I have to establish the rule.

Isn't it better than letting a war happen?

"After my magic changed the dragons, the act of laying eggs and raising hatchlings has not decreased, has it?"

At my words, the children nod their heads. They all must be feeling the drastically reduced birth rate.

So.

"I will establish a rule that harming these hatchlings is prohibited, and if someone injures or takes the life of a hatchling, all dragons, regardless of scale color, must unite to exterminate the perpetrator."

Only by speaking this strongly can we prevent future incidents of harming or killing hatchlings.

"Who would harm a hatchling?"

"If they were in their right mind, they wouldn't do such a thing."

Well, what about that?

If they were in their right mind, would they have killed a hatchling and waged a war before time was rewound?

How deep must the emotional rift between the dragons have been for them to take such irrational actions?

It was difficult for me to understand.

"Anyway, spread the word to the other children. If anyone harms a hatchling, they will not be forgiven."

Even if it's another dragon.

I will not leave any room for war to be used as an excuse.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That's how all the problems were solved.

Or so I thought I had....

"Why would you engage in such a fight..."

A localized fight between black dragons and red dragons. As a result, two black dragons and one red dragon lost their lives, and many others were injured, some severely.

I caught the perpetrators of the fight and asked them why.

"But those black ones were so annoying!"

"The red ones started the fight, how could we not respond? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Attack for an attack."

The red ones and the black ones screaming at each other, each claiming they were right or better. Just shouting and being annoying, it felt like a thousand fires were burning inside me.

"And to engage in a fight like this..."

I rubbed my throbbing head and sighed.

When they killed a hatchling, I could press down on them with rules and such, but stopping these big and small disputes was not easy.

No, to those children, the hatchling was just an excuse for war.

Even without killing a hatchling, dragons were resentful, using various excuses to engage in big and small fights.

Despite my presence as a deterrent, dragons sneakily avoided my warnings, growling and escalating their disputes with each other.

No matter how much I try to stop the fights, these cunning dragons ignite flames where my gaze doesn't reach.

Sigh... I just want to smash everything. Drop a meteor and wipe out everything, dragons and all.

But I can't do that. At least, in my position, responsible for spreading life on this land, I can't do something so irresponsible.

Then, should I rather subjugate all the dragons and oppress them under numerous restrictions?

[The future point wants to rewind time.

Would you like to synchronize with the future point? Y / N]

Eh. What's this now?

Could it be that this appears when I rewind time from the future to the past?

Wait, rewind time again? From this point??

I carefully pressed Y with my finger.

[What is the Creator Dragon! Isn't it rather a dragon that destroys the world!]

[It can't be... Even with all the dragons combining their powers, they can't win...!]

[Mother…]

[How sad. So very sad…]

The memories of the future flow into my mind.

At the end of my attempts to control the arrogant and proud dragons, there was nothing but ruins where no life survived.

The seven children also had their scales taken away and returned to natural phenomena, and a miserable future where all the dragons who tried to resist despaired and took their own lives.

Dinosaurs, lizardmen, small mammals, all disappeared, and I, who had decided on oppression, only shed tears over the devastated land.

That's probably why I turned back time.