When Jeanne saw Fafnir—who had spent the past few days holed up in her room, protecting her fresh gold bars like a dragon guarding a clutch of unhatched eggs—actually step out of her quarters to seek her out, her immediate, frantic thought was: Did someone actually manage to steal the child's wealth?
Surely not. Given the fierce, unyielding protectiveness the girl had shown, Jeanne couldn't conceive of anyone brave or foolish enough to raid the hoard of a primordial dragon. Such a thief would practically be begging for total annihilation!
But if her stash was safe, what could possibly drive the gold-loving child away from her beloved treasure to look for her? As Fafnir trotted closer, Jeanne reached down and scooped her up into a warm, reassuring embrace.
Wait... she feels notably heavier today! Jeanne blinked, realizing the girl weighed significantly more than she had just yesterday afternoon. Had she devoured an entire prime sheep for breakfast to put on that much weight in a single morning?
Fafnir, however, was visibly vibrating with an immense surge of excitement that completely surpassed her recent gloomy mood. Her small dragon tail was wagging furiously behind her from side to side, a clear indicator of pure delight. Jeanne's curiosity was instantly piqued by the sudden transformation.
"Jeanne, Jeanne! I figured out how to solve it!" Before the Saintess could even ask a question, the young dragon blurted out her triumph, practically bouncing in her arms like a proud student presenting a prize.
"You figured out how to solve it? Solve what exactly?" Jeanne blinked, completely mystified by the sudden declaration. What on earth was the child talking about? She needed her to elaborate so she could actually make sense of the situation.
Under Jeanne's bewildered gaze, Fafnir began gesturing wildly, her hands waving through the air as she tumbled out a massive stream of disjointed words that made zero sense. Her explanations were so incoherent that Jeanne briefly wondered if Warfarin had snuck into their quarters and fed the child something entirely bizarre.
But instead of continuing her tangled explanation, Fafnir decided to demonstrate her newfound triumph through direct action. She reached a tiny hand toward the center of her chest, fumbled for a brief second, and smoothly pulled out... a solid bar of rose-gold!
Jeanne froze, her jaw dropping in sheer disbelief.
She immediately held Fafnir up at arm's length, thoroughly inspecting the child to see if this was some elaborate sleight-of-hand trick. She scanned her left and right, yet found absolutely no hidden pockets or secret pouches where a heavy bar of refined ore could have been stashed.
The girl was wearing nothing but a simple, lightweight summer dress that possessed zero capacity to conceal heavy metal bullion. How had she pulled off such a feat? Jeanne went as far as gently patting down the child's chest, everything felt entirely normal.
"Ahem... Jeanne?"
The Doctor's muffled voice finally broke through Jeanne's daze. The strategist had been standing quietly nearby and could no longer restrain herself from offering a polite, coughing reminder.
While the affectionate scene between the two was undeniably heartwarming to witness, the commander couldn't help but feel they should remember there was an entire third person standing less than three paces away. Did they truly possess such a low opinion of the great Rhodes Island Doctor that they could ignore her existence so casually?
In reality, the Doctor was throwing a massive, silent tantrum in the privacy of her own thoughts. Her underlying grievance wasn't actually driven by propriety; she was simply filled with a profound envy because she desperately wanted to cradle and pet the adorable dragon herself, but feared the fierce child would deliver a severe thrashing if she tried.
Jeanne snapped back to her senses, though the mystical occurrence completely defied her understanding of standard physics, it wasn't entirely impossible to accept. After all, the bizarre anomalies she carried within her own soul were far more numerous and inexplicable than anything the young dragon could display.
Before she could speak, Fafnir reached into her chest once more and pulled out a second bar of heavy rose-gold. The motion was so fluid and natural it looked as though her skin contained an invisible, bottomless pocket.
"Fafnir, when did you discover this ability? Where exactly are you keeping those bars?" Jeanne asked, leaning in close to study the tiny creature. How had a single night's sleep unlocked a brand-new supernatural skill?
Had the intense skirmishes from their journey allowed the child to magically accumulate experience points and level up like a digital pet in a Columbia video game? But she was a legendary dragon, not an electronic toy; gaining fresh powers from defeating enemies would be an entirely absurd concept.
"I tucked them all away inside the large box and placed it right over my heart!" the child explained, though a trace of confusion lingered in her own large eyes. "When I woke up this morning, I suddenly felt that the heart-box could hold a mountain of things! As for why... I don't know!"
The young dragon's understanding of her own magical biology was entirely blank. She harbored zero comprehension of how the bizarre space had manifested; it had simply appeared out of nowhere during her slumber, arriving with absolute suddenness.
Great...I understood nothing. Jeanne felt a wave of profound speechlessness wash over her as she looked at the carefree child, who had accepted this strange, logic-defying gift without a single care in the world. Did this girl not possess a shred of healthy fear regarding potential internal injuries or foreign hexes?
Yet, when Jeanne quietly focused her mind, her omnipotent Revelation offered zero warnings of danger. There was no hidden curse, no malicious hex, and no shadowy mastermind manipulating the girl's soul. It was simply an elegant, pristine pocket of spatial magic granted to ease her worries.
To possess that level of cosmic authority, to exert such incredible power without a hint of malice, and to do so purely to comfort a child—only one entity in the entire universe fit the description. Jeanne immediately recognized the unmistakable work of her own beloved deity.
Recalling how she had spent the past few days constantly stressing over the child's anxious behavior, she remembered offering a quiet, heartfelt prayer the previous evening, expressing her deep worries regarding how the young dragon would cope with her fears.
For the first time in her young life, Jeanne had experienced the exhausting challenge of managing a stubborn child's anxieties, even if her companion was normally a sweet, obedient little thing.
It appeared her Lord had taken those prayers to heart and personally engineered this supernatural solution to ease the burden. (And who else could have done it? Do you truly believe anyone else wields such grace? Hmph!) The divine intervention must have required a delicate touch, and Jeanne felt a wave of profound gratitude toward the heavens.
With the mystery resolved, Jeanne's lingering anxieties vanished entirely. She looked down at the proud dragon in her arms, a warm, affectionate smile spreading across her face as she gently ruffed her hair.
"Well, look at that. Now you never have to worry about a clever thief sneaking off with your hoard again, do you?" Jeanne said, her voice filled with a gentle tease. "You should know I've spent an immense amount of energy worrying over your restless pacing these past few days."
Whether the young dragon fully grasped the depth of Jeanne's care remained unclear, but the greedy child was utterly ecstatic to possess a personal, unraidable vault for her treasures and sweet treats. With this boundless storage space active, Jeanne would no longer have to suffer from massive headaches trying to logistically transport her daily rations.
Standing to the side, the Doctor felt entirely excluded from the pristine, glowing bubble surrounding the two. She could only watch in silence as the pair—whose dynamic sat somewhere between an affectionate older sister and a doting mother—radiated a joyful aura so blindingly bright it almost stung her eyes.
Incredible. I desperately want a soft, precious child to cradle in my arms too! the commander grumbled internally. Would Amiya fit the description? No, she's growing a bit too old for that role now, though she still clears the passing threshold in a pinch. As for the lynx...
What she truly desired was a soft, squishy toddler who possessed Kal'tsit's perpetually stern face. Why did Jeanne's fierce companion get to transform into an adorable, pint-sized version of her childhood friend while her own ancient lynx remained a terrifying instructor?
In that quiet moment, the Doctor felt the crushing weight of the absolute disparity that existed between different individuals in this world! Yet, despite her intense jealousy, she remained anchored to the spot, enjoying the sight of their harmonious bond.
As she watched the peaceful interaction, the wireless radio clipped to her coat suddenly crackled to life, emitting Closure's frantic voice. The vampire technician was actively calling her channel.
After a brief, hushed exchange with the engineer, a look of immense complexity settled over the Doctor's features. It was one thing for Closure to deduce she was visiting Jeanne's sector, but why did the engineering department need to route their urgent requests through her personal channel just to summon a guest? Was there some severe flaw in their internal directory?
"Cough... I realize interrupting a family gathering is terribly bad manners," the Doctor spoke up, clearing her throat to draw Jeanne's attention away from petting the purring dragon. "But Jeanne, Closure just reached out from the lower decks. She mentioned a minor complication has surfaced in her workshop and she's desperately hoping you can spare a few minutes to lend a hand. Are you available right now?"
Underneath her specialized visor, the Doctor's expression had devolved into pure, unadulterated envy. She was a single step away from grabbing Jeanne's sleeve and begging for secret tactical advice on how to acquire an equally obedient, combat-ready daughter. She would gladly offer Terra's most formidable medical mind—the invincible Kal'tsit—in a direct trade!
Jeanne paused her rhythmic petting upon hearing the summon. If Closure was actively requesting her presence, she figured she ought to investigate. What kind of engineering crisis could possibly require her specific intervention to resolve?
Don't tell me she accidentally triggered some hidden self-destruct mechanism within the fortress? Jeanne wondered. She had heard rumors that certain eccentric inventors loved installing catastrophic payloads inside their creations, ready to blow the entire structure to pieces over a single bad mood.
When she casually voiced this dark theory aloud, the Doctor could only offer a long, weary sigh, staring at her with the exact look an adult gives a child possessing an overactive imagination.
"Going forward, you should seriously limit your consumption of Columbian action movies," the strategist muttered dryly. "Those high-budget explosions are clearly rotting your cognitive functions. In reality, Closure and Theresa are simply attempting to repair an automated electronic gate, and they've managed to completely botch the process seven or eight times in a row..."
Hearing the explanation, the pieces instantly clicked for Jeanne. Now that the landship had safely docked and the borders were stable, Theresa had finally been unable to restrain her deep, hidden urge to tinker. The monarch had undoubtedly gone to war with that stubborn electronic door she had been eyeing for months.
Now, the two engineers had driven themselves into absolute exhaustion and desperately needed an external miracle. They were looking for the multi-talented Saintess to guide them out of their technical nightmare.