The 5 dragons, each Polymorphed into a form they liked, had dumped me in a distant corner and were arguing until the veins stood out in their necks. Should I count them as people or animals? For now, I'd picked the word that came first in Korean alphabetical order. Grandfather's lair was too small for all 5 dragons to remain in their true forms.
First, Grandfather was bellowing, his white hair and long beard flying, having transformed into a dwarf as though to proclaim himself a stubborn old man.
“Rardin! I tell you, Rardin is best!”
Mom looked the same as before, and even her angry face was pretty. Did a pretty face really excuse everything? With her piercing, high-pitched soprano, she was keeping Grandfather firmly in check.
“Dad, what are you talking about?! Niera! Niera is the best!”
And the person I was meeting for the first time as my father had a startling appearance. Rather than a wandering adventurer drifting with the wind and clouds, he brought to mind a certain class at the very bottom of society, struggling from day to day simply to stay fed. For some reason, Father seemed extremely close to his father-in-law.
But now, perhaps making use of that closeness, he was diligently keeping Grandfather in check alongside Mom. Come to think of it, Grandmother was being completely ignored. Father was coaxing(?) his father-in-law by suggesting my name.
“Father-in-law, why don't we just call him Sikrin?”
Grandmother had seemed benevolent when I first saw her, but looking at her now, she felt like an elderly neighborhood grandmother with dementia. Where had that kind, intelligent woman gone? Grandmother was simply shouting the name she'd thought up for me.
“Iryulkin! I tell you, Iryulkin!”
Lastly, the person who was apparently chief of the Red Dragon clan was providing a textbook example of abusing authority. But he looked utterly pitiful, thoroughly ignored by the dragons his authority was aimed at.
“Really, why are you all fighting like this? By my authority as chief of the clan, let's call him Swelten.”
Every one of them was fighting over a different strange name, with nothing in common between them. They'd been at it for 3 hours already.
I sat on the ground, watching their disgraceful fighting. Now, let's take a look at the situation 3 hours earlier.
“Teleport Gate!”
Mom activated magic with only the trigger words, without casting. I didn't know what kinds of magic this world had, but I still assumed there'd be casting. Otherwise, there'd be nothing left exclusively for dragons or archmages, who could activate magic just by calling out the trigger words? Soon, an oval space glowing blue opened. Looking at it reminded me of a game I'd played obsessively in internet cafes in Korea. Hmm, that makes me feel rather nostalgic.
Carrying me, Mom walked briskly forward without so much as a wobble, astonishingly enough. My total body length was about the same as hers. Darkness suddenly swept over my vision for a moment, then the scenery changed in an instant. The place Mom carried me to resembled her lair.
But it was a little larger than Mom's lair. There was one old man who was short all over(?) (Grandfather), a grandmother with a kind, intelligent expression (literally, Grandmother), a man who looked like a complete beggar (Father), and a middle-aged man in very formal clothing (the chief). Mom called out a greeting.
“Hello, everyone!”
The 4 of them had been discussing something or other, but turned toward us when Mom called out her greeting. Their conversation seemed to stop for a moment, then, eeeek? The short(?) old man and the dirty man suddenly came running at the same time?
“Ooooh! Reinaaaaa!”
“Reinaaaaa!”
Both ran toward us, shouting what seemed to be Mom's name. Mom watched them for a moment, then gave them a bright smile. Just as their hands were about to reach her, she murmured a short word, and they slammed headfirst into the wall at their full charging speed. But why were Grandfather and the dirty man moving at the same speed? Their legs were such different lengths! This was the word Mom murmured.
“Teleport.”
After smashing their heads hard against the wall, the 2 dusted themselves off and got up as though nothing had happened. Striking similar poses, they pointed at Mom and me, now beside Grandmother, or rather, at Mom alone, and spoke.
“Heh, you've improved a lot.”
“Heh, you've improved a lot.”
Their remarkably similar words and oily tones froze the atmosphere in an instant. At the sight of them, one expression sprang to mind.
‘Hot-blooded idiots.’
A little later, the mood shattered by the 2 idiots seemed to revive thanks to me. First, Grandmother stroked my head as I lay in Mom's arms, and spoke.
“So you're my grandson! How can you be so adorable......?”
Mom said very proudly.
“Hehe, whose son is he? How could he not be adorable?”
“Yes, yes. Good raw materials make a good product. Child, I'm your grandmother. My name is Shariin.”
That seems to have a strange meaning. Am I some factory-made product?
But it wasn't a bad thing to say.
In fact, when I imagined that dirty-looking father of mine with all the grime scrubbed off, he looked quite handsome too.
Soon, the other 3 dragons introduced themselves.
“Wahahaha! Truly Reina and Jakris's child! How did such a handsome fellow come into the world? I'm your grandfather! The name's Kwaien. Hahahahahaha!”
As his first impression suggested, Grandfather was a remarkably hot-blooded person.
Hahaha! If you keep laughing so strangely like that, you'll make me terribly uncomfortable.
As I stood there awkwardly, I felt the tremendous energy of someone's gaze pouring onto me. I turned my head to find Father looking at me with an expression of emotion squared by emotion.
“Reina finally...... Ahh, to think this child is mine! My son, my son! I'm your father! My name is Michel, Michel Rahatz Jakris.”
With an expression close to tears, Father tried to embrace me, but I frowned and said.
“Daddy......? Daddy, you're dirty.”
Father froze into stone, still wearing the expression and pose he'd had as he approached me. He did nothing and said nothing.
Then, in an instant, Father ran to one side of the lair, crouched down, and seemed to start drawing something on the ground.
Hmm, a kind of withdrawal brought on by psychological shock? That's a little serious. But he seems to be muttering something? Oh, whatever.
Then the chief greeted me very solemnly.
“Hello? I'm Achus, chief of the Red Dragon clan. It's nice to meet you.”
Since I couldn't Polymorph, I bowed my head in greeting as a hatchling. Once everyone had introduced themselves, they chatted about how they'd been and so on, until finally the subject of my name came up.
First, Mom spoke by the authority of her custody over me.
“I thought of this while raising him for the past year. A shining star, ‘Niera’. What do you think? His eyes shine and sparkle so much. Oh, he's adorable!”
At Mom's words, I suddenly felt a cold sweat break out.
Um...... Mom, I've done nothing but eat and sleep for a year. When did you look so closely at my eyes?
I felt a little dumbfounded. While Mom was praising her own proposed name all by herself, Grandfather suddenly spoke.
“No! I've had a name picked out since I heard he was going to be born! Flowing river, ‘Rardin’!”
Grandfather spoke stubbornly, with a somewhat overbearing air. But his suggestion was ignored. Eventually, he glared at Mom in silent intimidation. The one who put the brakes on Grandfather's self-willed, overbearing behavior at times like these was Father.
“Father-in-law, that's good too, but what about moonlight, ‘Sikrin’?”
What connection is there between flowing river and moonlight? No matter how I interpreted or compared them, the names had nothing in common. Offered that suggestion, Grandfather was looking at Father with an expression that said, ‘What's this fellow talking about?’
Then Grandmother, who'd been thinking deeply until then, opened her mouth.
“No. This child should be called joy. How about ‘Iryulkin’? It's wonderful!”
Ahh, I thought you were going to mediate the quarrel...... Grandmother! You're surprisingly simple.
Then the 4 began fighting among themselves.
A shining star is fine, and so are a flowing river, moonlight, and joy! Even a shining star that's the joy of moonlight reflected in a flowing river is fine, so hurry up and name me! Aren't you thinking about your son and grandson waiting for a name?
At that moment, Achus, who'd been quiet, spoke solemnly.
“Instead of fighting like this, by the authority of the clan chief, let's call him the light of the sun, ‘Swelten’.”
All 4 closed their mouths and gave Achus a long look. Then, without anyone leading the way, they started fighting again. Achus, angered at being ignored, joined in, turning the four-way battle into a five-way battle. Had they fought like that for a little over an hour? I was gradually getting hungry, so I spoke quietly to Mom.
“Mom...... I'm hungry!”
“What are you talking about?! It really suits him! Niera! What a wonderful name!”
Mom acted as though she hadn't heard me.
Good grief, is this that urgent?
I decided to try calling Mom once again.
“Mom...... I'm hungry......”
“Aagh! Mom! Don't you start offering strange names too!”
Mom! You're doing that a second time?
Once again, Mom acted as though she hadn't heard me, and my rumbling stomach made me call her yet again.
I cleared my throat again and spoke.
“Mo......”
“Be quiet! Can't you see Mommy's busy?!”
KREEE!
M-Mom, even if it's about a name, even if it's your child's name, even if your pride is at stake, what mother in the world throws her newborn son far away like that?!
I flew several meters and crashed ungracefully to the ground, but nobody paid me any attention. Mom seemed pleased to have her hands free. She rolled up her sleeves, waved her arms, and began fighting with her fighting spirit fiercely ablaze. All I could do was watch them with dumbfounded eyes.
A name....... What would be good? The names they were saying were floating through my head.
Haah, honestly, I say anything's fine, but hearing the meanings, I don't like any of them. Just then, a good name came to mind. Everyone should accept this one.
I spoke softly, but loudly enough for their hearing to catch it.
“Rainisis.”
At my single, quiet word, the 5 dragons stopped fighting at once. Rainisis, a name made from only the opening syllables of the names proposed by Grandfather, Grandmother, Mom, Dad, and the chief.
It's good, isn't it? It rolls nicely off the tongue, and sounds like something special.
The 5 dragons stopped fighting completely and slowly mulled over the name I'd spoken.
“Ra from Rardin......”
“I from Iryulkin......”
“Ni from Niera......”
“Si from Sikrin......”
“S from Swelten......”
They were thinking it over deeply. If they say no, I'll insist. This sounds the best. Rainisis. It's good, isn't it? Easy to pronounce, easy to say. How nice is that? Besides, I absolutely can't cause family discord or cracks in the clan's fellowship. It's obvious that picking just one person's name would upset everyone else.
They seemed to exchange glances. Then, without anyone leading, they spoke.
“Not bad.”
“It's a good name.”
“That's my son. He has a sense for these things.”
“Clever fellow......”
“Why is my name last?”
Hehe, that's approval. They nodded.
Then they hugged me and rubbed against me, saying things like, “Oh, you adorable thing!” and “This fellow's clever, isn't he?” over and over.
Ueeeeegh! I hate this sort of thing!
But I endured it for the sake of my future. At the very least, nothing good would come of getting on their bad side.
And so my name was decided. A name I'd made up myself, hatchling though I was.
My name is Rainisis. Rainisis of the Red Dragon clan.