Dragon Life - Chapter 14

The Left Arm and the Color Black. Greed and Confusion.

※Grotesque scene warning※

While biting into the Captain’s left arm, I flew to the cave that I used to call home.

I had originally bared my fangs with the plan to eat him whole. Thinking that I could easily eat the captain in two to three bites I opened my mouth wide, but he guarded himself at the last second and I only managed to bite his left arm.

Since I missed, I had planned on just eating him from the head first but the sweet blood seeping from the arm in my mouth stopped all thought process.

It was my first time tasting a human with such high quality magic. It wasn’t blessed by the earth spirit nor wind or fire or water. I’ve never felt such a thing before. My chest throbbed and an overwhelming sense of elation.

When I realized how much of a waste it would be if I ate him whole, I flew away.

When I opened my mouth and pulling my fangs out of his arm and rolled the captain to the back of the cave, he slowly stood, covering his left arm. Before he could attack me, I pinned him down and held him there.

“Ngh…”

The captain let out a small pained noise because I was on his injured left arm.

Eh, it’s fine. I’m going to eat him anyways.

Where should I eat him from, his arm? Leg? Or maybe from his head? Okay, since I already started eating his left arm, let’s start from there. Oh no, the drool.

I suck on his left arm, which is currently trailing blood. Since I bit pretty deep earlier, I had cut the nerves and tendons. The arm can’t be used now. An idea came to mind, so the arm from just above the elbow and downwards ―― was bitten off. Without any hesitation, the left arm is cut off.

Blood spilled into my mouth.

“――Ua, gh・・・！？”

He was holding back his cries to the point that his teeth had cut his lip, blood trailing from them. *

Due to the extreme pain of having his arm severed while alive, his body twitched and trembled and sweat ran down his skin, his face distorted in pain. His breathing is also rough.

While watching the captain hold his cut left arm to his chest with his shaking shoulders with large red eyes, I chewed on the left arm in my mouth. Savor it, stuff yourself on the taste of the blood and meat.

I swallow with a gulp and I can feel my heart and stomach being filled. Something is overflowing.

―――I’ve never eaten magic so satisfying. Something strong yet gentle flows from deep within my body. With this elation, I am satisfied. I could eat any man in this world, but they could never beat this.

The idea that the right arm, both legs, the body and head still remains makes me excited. Even I think I’m being quite disgraceful. And cruel.

But to the me who was driven purely to fulfill this instinctual greed, human reasoning was just blown off. My desire to eat was just that strong.

Now where should I eat next? The right arm? Or the legs to prevent him from escaping? Or maybe the head from mercy? I jerked my face close to the captain, who was about to faint from pain, and licked the blood that was dripping from his lips, causing him to become stiff.

I’ll eat the head next. Yeah, let’s do that.

I open my mouth to a size that I can easily fit he captain’s head into. I open and――― I froze, my mouth still open.

The long bangs had been brushed aside, and his previously hidden eyes were visible.

His eyes are narrowed in pain and filled with unshed tears, but the light deep within them are bright and clear.

Uwah, how long as it been?

―――Black, the eyes are black.

I haven’t seen a living being with black eyes in a long time. Since I haven’t seen a single human with black eyes, I was overjoyed as well as hesitant. I was going to eat that. I want to eat, but then I would eat the eye too, ・・・I was afraid I would never see a black eye again.

While I was hesitating with an open mouth, the captain weakly placed his right hand on my nose. He wasn’t trying to push me back or to hit me, he just placed his on my nose.

What does this mean?

I was pretty certain that even the normally patient and calm captain would fight back at this point. Or maybe that he would surrender to his rising anger and bellow at me. Or that he would give me an expression of fear and cry out. But, on the contrary, he began to gently pet my nose with his right hand. Like he was soothing a child.

Even though he was trembling and his face was contorted in pain, his movements was awfully gentle.

Suddenly, he smiled gently. It was a joyful face.

―――Whats making him so happy? How can he become that happy?

I mean, I’m trying to eat the captain you know? I even ate your left arm, and was about to eat your head.

Nevertheless.

How can you smile like that?

I’ve never seen anything like it. Even while his eyes are wet with painful tears, he can still smile like he’s the happiest person in the world.

I’ve never seen an expression like this before.

With a more childlike expression, with a kinder expression than I thought possible, he smiled at me.

He had smiled faintly before, and he had also acted shy before but something like, like this――――

“You, can eat me.”

He looked up at me with obsidian, yearning, wistful eyes.

They were pretty eyes, with no hesitation.

――what, what did he say just now?

“But, in exchange,”

Something he wants to ask of me, even at the cost of his flesh and bones―― what is it?

I blinked, confused.

He softly reached out with his right hand, and brushed it against my cheek. I paused, confused of the comfortable warmth I felt in his touch.

He smiled.

He smiled in a way I have never seen before. This might have been the brightest smile he ever expressed in his entire life.

「”I want, you”」

This――

Thats unfair, Mr.Captain.

＊＊＊

I won’t be able to eat you if you make such a face. You’re telling me to let the luxurious food item that’s right in front of me go? But either way, my mood had changed and I had already let him go. But the urge to eat was still there. But for some reason the impulse to eat is refused.

I’m feeling more inclined to let him live, rather than to eat him. I wonder why. But the arm I had torn off and eaten won’t return. Actually, it’s quite likely for him to die from blood loss any moment now.

After considering for a bit, I broke off the smallest of my four horns and I pierced the exposed surface of the Captain’s wound.

“Ah, ouch.” Even though it should be pretty painful, the captain spoke in a carefree tone. After fixing it to the body by pressing on it, I put the remaining left arm into my mouth. I soak the stump in saliva, imaging the captain’s arm.

―――Since it’s a part of me, it should be able to transform into what I ate. I don’t know if it works on others though.

Pale and delicate, but has muscle definition because it’s been trained.

Zuzu, a human arm was pulled out of my mouth, more specifically it was the captain’s arm that I ate earlier. It seems that it went well.

The captain stared at his left arm that had suddenly returned to its original condition, and cautiously moved it.

He has an incredulous look on his face.

I can’t believe it went well either.

I did it while thinking that it would be good if it worked. Since it went so well, I’m starting to think that I could even make a whole entire body. Since its moving properly, that must mean that there are nerves in it too. I guess a dragon’s body can do anything. It’s a tad late, but I think this body is amazing.

But it isn’t an actual human arm but a dragon’s replacement. As an experiment, when I tried to bite it scales appeared and deflected my teeth. The scales immediately disappeared, but the captain who saw the scales looked really surprised. I was also surprised.

“thi… this is”

One horn is cheap compared to his life.

Besides, if I can replace limbs like this, I could eat him little by little. But that also means that the captain is being eaten alive, little by little. ・・・my horn would also be sacrificed.

Meanwhile, my will to eat has been chipped away. So I’ll leave the eating for another day. I convince myself that today is just not that kind of day. Until then―― I bring my face next to the Captain’s head and I grab one of his three braids by the base near his ear, and tear it off.

―――Ah, just as I thought, the hair is overflowing with magic energy as well. Its kind of dry and hard to eat, but I put it in my mouth hairpiece and all, and slurp it up like noodles.

This is definitely going to become a habit.

I think I’ll try eating people with long hair from now on. Its texture is like eating rope, but it’ll definitely become a habit.**

After I finish eating, I head to the exit of the cave and open my wings.

If I don’t go back now, I won’t make in time for roll call. If that happens, I’ll end up causing trouble chiffon who shares a room with me.

I flapped hard and lifted myself off the ground. From there, I flew directly way from Vizannu Mountain.

Even just eating the left arm was a big harvest. While thinking that in a good mood, I flew gracefully to a higher altitude.

　・・・・Wait, what exactly did he ‘want’?

Vito probably thought (at least in the beginning) that when the captain said ‘I want you’ he meant something of a ‘I die you die’ kind of thing? I’m not so sure, but at the very least she understood that she should keep him alive. Even if for a little bit,

This chapter was pretty confusing.

*TN: He was biting his lip to stop himself from crying out, but he ended up cutting/biting through his lip. Ouch.

**TN: she’s using habit in not necessarily a bad connotation, but as something that she’ll be doing often.