I tell Miss Lan and Mister Dongu about Doanea, and Doanea is accepted as a new member of our village.
Doanea was just born, but I guess being a dragon means being able to see and hear spirits right from the start too.
Mister Villa has been coming to me more often now, to see Doanea. Apparently he wants to keep an eye on Doanea because they’re still a baby, even though they’re a dragon.
Doanea has Mister Douroean’s memories but they still do some weird things like digging in the ground just to see what’s there and dropping laundry that was hung out to dry. Doanea has all that knowledge, but they’re still a kid I can’t let out of my sight.
And Doanea is very heavy for a baby too, so Dandonga and Mister Dongu made something to let me carry Doanea on my back.
I’ve been going around with a dragon on my back a lot lately. It still feels a little heavy, but it’s actually great for me to build strength. Doanea is also constantly poking out of the basket and looking around, like everything around us is very interesting, so carrying them like this is nice.
Still, I hope Doanea calms down before getting too big for me to carry. Apparently dragons like Doanea are awake and aware even while they’re still inside their eggs. That probably adds to the sense of curiosity.
Doanea could hear voices and noises from inside the egg, so that interest in the outside world kept building.
Of course, taking care of Doanea is too much for me to do by myself, so all the others contracted to me, the gryphons, Scifo, and Freinet do their best to help me.
“Gurugurururururu! (Don’t fly away!)”
“Ghurururururururururu. (You’ll get hurt if you fall.)”
Say Rema and Ruma as Doanea looks to be trying to get out of the basket.
They’re so cute when they’re doing their best to be a good big brother and big sister, and it’s great that our family is now bigger.
I went to see Miss Wetani’s baby, Enarei earlier today. He’s still a little baby, and when I reached to him with my hand, he grabbed it. I could feel life pulsating inside him, and it made me think about even when people are this small they’re still as alive as everyone else.
There are going to be more new lives born into this village as time goes on, which also means new friends. I’m really happy as I think about that happening in the future.
I go out to take a walk around the village, when I see Miss Lan and Mister Sadda talking.
“…Yes, we should do that.”
“In that case, we…”
I approach them while they’re focused on their conversation, and then Miss Lan notices me and smiles.
“Miss Lan, Mister Sadda, what were you talking about?”
“Ah, Lerunda. There aren’t any stores in this village where you can buy things, right? If stores start popping up it would lead to a lot of confusion, so I was asking Sadda if we could try opening one.”
“Store?”
I’ve never bought something in a store. Grandma and Miss Lan told me that in cities people use money to buy things. But the village where I was born was small, so we didn’t use money, and I never lived in a place that uses money after being abandoned either.
What’s a store like? Can I buy things too if there’s a store? The idea of a new thing gets me excited.
“Yes. We don’t have money yet, but we were talking about maybe opening a store where we could trade things by bartering. Sadda is a merchant, so I know I can count on him when it comes to running a store.”
“I’m happy you feel that way.”
Mister Sadda is smiling. Most of the more recent arrivals are restricted as far as what they can do here in the village, because of all sorts of problems. But Mister Sadda is Miss Lan’s old friend, so he’s more free to do things around the village than the rest.
They get along very well, and I don’t feel like he’s going to do anything bad to the village. Not even a little bit.
Mister Sadda probably expects to be accepted as a part of the village by opening a store.
“Pikiiii? (Store?)”
“Do you know what that is, Doanea?”
“Pikipikipikipiiiiii. (Just a little.)”
Mister Douroean probably knows a little about it, so those memories are inside Doanea too. But I don’t think a dragon has ever bought anything, so I don’t think Doanea’s knowledge is going to help us here.
“There are, lots of types of stores, aren’t there? What kind of store are you opening?”
I heard about it from grandma. I can’t even imagine what they’re like, but apparently there are ones that sell food, and ones that sell clothes for example. I’ve never been in one, so I have no idea what they’re like.
“I think we should start with a general store.”
“General store?”
“Yes. A place where people can buy all sorts of things.”
Says Miss Lan with a smile.
—The girl listens to the educator and the merchant – Part one
(The miko hears about the educator and the merchant wanting to open a store.)
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