Andras answered without hesitation:
"A fire‑element red female lizardfolk."
Carla leaned closer and examined the girl's tail.
"I see.
Now that I look more closely, her tail really does resemble a lizard's.
It was the horns that confused me.
At first I thought she was a demon girl… then a cow‑folk.
And where did you find her? The orphanage?"
"In the Forest of Wolves," Andras replied.
Carla paled.
"Good heavens!
What were you doing in that dangerous forest, child?"
Fireburp lowered her gaze.
"I got lost.
I was looking for fruit, and then…"
Andras took over.
"And then we ran into each other at our swimming spot.
But you'll have plenty of time to talk about that later.
Your reading lessons start tomorrow."
"Now we need to go plan Fireburp's battle‑maid uniform," Noelle said.
"She'll need a custom design too, just like Ironclaw."
Carla nodded with a smile.
"Yes, the tail means the human maid uniform won't fit her.
Then hurry to the tailor before it gets dark, so he can take her measurements."
"Right, we'll head out," Andras said.
Carla called after them,
"We'll meet tomorrow morning for your first reading lesson, Fireburp.
I'm looking forward to it, hehe."
Fireburp bowed politely.
"Yes! Thank you for making me stronger.
I'm looking forward to it too."
The last light of the day washed the garden in red, as if fire itself were guiding the little dragon girl into her new life.
Fireburp's first days in Wolfwood Castle were unlike anything she had ever experienced.
In the dragon nest, no one had ever cared about her.
Among dragons, the weak received no attention — only mockery and contempt.
Here, however… it felt as if everyone cared about her.
At first, it confused her, but the little dragon girl adapted quickly.
The human world was full of things dragons never spoke about — or if they did, only with disdain.
Food that didn't burn your throat.
Clothes that were soft and colorful.
Customs that weren't about survival, but about living together.
And most importantly:
humans helped each other.
This was what amazed Fireburp the most.
Among dragons, the idea of someone caring for another without expecting anything in return was unthinkable.
Here, everyone gave her something: a smile, a kind word, a piece of pastry, or a bit of new knowledge.
Every morning, Lady Carla called Fireburp to the flower garden.
At first, the girl didn't even know how to hold a book, but Carla was patient.
Letters, sounds, words — each one felt like a new kind of magic.
And Fireburp learned quickly.
Much faster than anyone expected.
Carla often said,
"If Ironclaw learned to read with her peanut‑sized brain, then you'll progress at lightning speed."
And Fireburp glowed at every compliment, shining like a tiny fireball.
Master Florian — The Path of Fire
Every afternoon, Master Florian took over.
Things still exploded in the laboratory with suspicious regularity, but at least now there was someone who genuinely enjoyed it.
Fireburp celebrated every tiny success — even when only a single spark popped from her fingertips.
Master Florian behaved like a child who had just received the greatest toy of his life.
"Teaching fire magic to a dragon!"
"This is the dream of my lifetime!"
The castle had already started placing bets on what would blow up first:
the laboratory, or the Master's beard.
Young Wolf — The Proud Commander
Andras could finally say it out loud:
he had a dragon in his battle‑maid unit.
True, Fireburp was only eight years old, and in her human form she barely reached Noelle's shoulder…
but the potential was unmistakable.
Andras often remarked,
"I'll have to wait a good decade before I can use her as a passenger aircraft."
Noelle always elbowed him for that.
"She's a little girl, not an airship, you idiot."
Fireburp only laughed.
She didn't fully understand what a "passenger aircraft" was, but she liked that Andras saw such a big future in her.
A New Life Begins
Everyone in the castle grew fond of her.
The servants snuck her sweets, the knights told her stories, and the maids taught her how to braid her hair.
For the first time in her life, Fireburp felt something she had never known among dragons:
She belonged somewhere.
And though a long road still lay ahead — learning magic, learning to read, learning human customs —
one thing was already certain:
Wolfwood Castle had become her home.
Arc 11 – The Hidden Tomb of the First Wolfwoods
On the Celestial Island
A gentle breeze swept across the Celestial Island, and the clouds drifted slowly beneath the endless sky.
Eli and Sakura Dry stood at the island's edge, watching the world below — a world whose fate kept twisting in unexpected directions, especially whenever Young Wolf had a hand in things.
Eli broke the silence.
"Young Wolf has befriended the magical beast of the Forest of Wolves."
Sakura Dry shook her head in disbelief.
"I never imagined a magical beast could be that tame.
In my time, the moment we saw one, it turned into a fight for our lives."
Eli shrugged.
"Yeah, it wasn't any different in our time either.
Unless you count dragons — since they're intelligent by nature, and you can communicate with them… assuming they're in the mood and don't burn you alive.
But aside from dragons, I've never seen anyone tame a magical beast."
Sakura Dry smiled faintly.
"Speaking of dragons…
Fireburp has become the new member of his team — a dragon hatchling.
If I remember correctly, in the Evil Future, the Hero's party had a frost dragon, and one of the Demon King's Generals was a fire dragon."
Eli nodded.
"Blizzard and Firestorm.
Frost Dragons and Fire Dragons can't stand each other, so it was inevitable: if one joined the Heroes, the other would join their enemies."
Sakura Dry gazed into the distance, thoughtful.
"But now a Fire Dragon has joined Young Wolf.
If Blizzard joins Eris again this time… then technically, both a frost dragon and a fire dragon will be on the same side, won't they?"
Eli grinned.
"Thanks to Young Wolf, a very entertaining—
I mean, a world‑shaping situation might unfold."
Sakura Dry raised an eyebrow.
"You meant entertaining. Don't deny it."
"Well, the Gamer's way of thinking does tend to push things in… entertaining directions," Eli defended herself.
Then she turned toward Uriel.
"By the way, Uriel — in the Evil Future, what happened to the Earth‑Stone Bear Beast and Fireburp?"
Uriel slowly closed her eyes, as if searching through the dark pages of the past.
"Hm? Let me see.
After the Bear Beast killed Andrea Wolf during the Wolfwood Hunting Festival, Arpad immediately wanted to hunt down the magical beast to avenge his granddaughter."
Sakura Dry paled.
Uriel continued, her voice growing heavier.
"Bandorn, however, refused to give permission.
He didn't want to sacrifice an entire company of Wolf Knights.
As a result, Arpad resigned from his position as Captain of the Wolf Knights, and with the hundred knights loyal to him, he set out to hunt the Bear Beast."
Eli lowered her head.
Uriel's tone turned somber.
"Unfortunately, vengeance clouded his judgment completely.
He sent all his knights to their deaths.
All one hundred Wolf Knights perished in the battle against the magical beast: Arpad, Anita, Xaba, Jula… many great Wolf Knights fell."
Sakura Dry's eyes filled with sorrow.
"But their deaths weren't in vain.
They inflicted a fatal wound on the Bear Beast.
After three days of agony, it bled out and died."
Uriel finished quietly:
"Arpad forbade his son, Janos, from joining him.
He wanted the Wolf knightly bloodline to survive."
The wind fell silent, as if the heavens themselves were mourning the heroes of the past.