Even If I’m Reborn as a Cute Dragon Girl, I Will Still Make a Harem

Even If I’m Reborn as a Cute Dragon Girl, I Will Still Make a Harem

Maplefall Town, Blackwater Forest.

The dense jungle blocked out the sunlight. In the stifling air lingered the scent of rotting leaves, and from time to time, one or two bird calls echoed from the dim depths, making the atmosphere feel all the more eerie.

The young girl walked alone through the gloomy forest, as though searching for something. Her gaze repeatedly swept over the low shrubs near her feet.

“Moonfall Flower… Moonfall Flower. Didn’t they say this flower grows in the Blackwater Forest? Why can’t I find it?” She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. Her delicate, willow-like brows knit together slightly, revealing a hint of irritation.

“Could it be that Father lied to me? No… even if he dislikes me no matter what, he wouldn’t lie about something like this.” The girl’s name was Liana, the third daughter of the Ye family of Maplefall Town.

She had entered the Blackwater Forest alone this time in order to search for an important medicinal ingredient needed to treat her ailing mother, the Moonfall Flower. Yet she had wandered through this forest for an entire day. Forget the Moonfall Flower. She had not even seen a single wild bloom.

In a jungle this dense, where the canopy of leaves completely blocked out the light, very few flowers could bloom to begin with. Moreover, it was already deep autumn, hardly a season of flourishing blossoms.

Aside from the few old daisies in the Ye family courtyard, Liana could not think of any flowers that would still be in bloom at this time.

And yet, her father, who had always been extremely cold toward her, had firmly insisted that Moonfall Flowers would be blooming in the Blackwater Forest right now. Coincidentally, her mother’s condition could no longer afford any delay. Left with no other choice, Liana had steeled herself and entered the forest alone.

The dignified third young miss of the Ye family, running into the depths of the mountains by herself to look for some worthless flower. If word got out, it would surely make passersby laugh themselves senseless.

But that was the truth. She, Liana, was the most unwanted person in the entire Ye family. Because she was a waste. A waste incapable of containing spiritual energy.

Five years ago, she had still been the pride of the Ye family, the exceptionally gifted eldest miss Liana, radiant and outstanding. But after a sudden, severe fever, she lost all of her spiritual power.

Not only that, she could no longer reabsorb spiritual energy at all. Any spiritual energy she managed to draw into her body would completely dissipate by the next day. For a martial family like the Ye clan, this was utterly intolerable.

At first, the family had exhausted every possible means to treat her. But after discovering that all methods were futile, they gradually gave up. She was cast down into the abyss, never to recover.

Now, her father already regarded her as the shame of the Ye family. Her siblings treated her as a harbinger of misfortune, deliberately avoiding her whenever they saw her.

Without spiritual power, she did not even qualify to be used as a political marriage bargaining chip. Her best possible outcome would be to rely on her decent looks and be married off into an ordinary merchant family, where she would live like other women who had nothing but beauty, exhausting themselves fawning and competing for favor.

Perhaps one day, she might even be poisoned to death by another woman.

She had long since accepted her fate, quietly living at home, waiting for the day she would be “sold” for a good price. But at this very moment, her mother fell ill. According to the physician, it was an extremely difficult illness to treat, requiring a medicinal ingredient called the Moonfall Flower as a catalyst for even the slightest chance of recovery.1

Yet after visiting every medical hall in the city, all she received was the same answer. None of them had such an ingredient. Only after pleading with her father for a long time did she finally obtain the information that the Blackwater Forest supposedly had Moonfall Flowers.

And now, even that information seemed uncertain as to whether it was true. Perhaps, in her father’s eyes, it would be best if a disgrace like her were to die by accident in the forest.

“Now is not the time to give up.” Liana clenched her fists, encouraging herself. “Stay strong, Liana. Mother ended up like this because of you. If even you give up on her now, then she really will be finished.”

That was easy enough to say, but where was she supposed to find a flower when she only knew its name and did not even know what it looked like? After all, she had already been inside the Blackwater Forest for quite some time, yet she had not seen a single thing that could truly be called a flower.

“Go home and look for another way… or…” Liana looked off in a certain direction.

As the forest closest to Maplefall Town, the Blackwater Forest had been marked with boundary steles set up by the Immortal Cloud Pavilion. Because of this, there were no demonic beasts within a hundred kilometers, and even fierce animals were rare.

That was precisely why Liana, who possessed no spiritual energy at all, dared to enter alone.

Yet even in such a forest that could be considered safe, there existed a legend.

The Mountain Ghost.

According to legend, deep within the Blackwater Forest lived a Mountain Ghost. He stood over thirty meters tall, with a gaping, bloodstained mouth and fangs. His claws could easily cleave through mountain stone, and merely glaring was enough to frighten invading demons to death.

The Mountain Ghost loved nothing more than feeding on children, especially those who cried and wailed. Once he heard the sound of a child crying, he would seize the cover of night to snatch the child away and devour them in just a few bites.

There was also another version of the tale. Some said the Mountain Ghost was actually a beautiful woman. Because her own child had been taken by hateful demons, she particularly favored crying children. Whenever she heard a child’s sobs, she would come under the cover of night to take the child away and raise them as her own.

And once she grew tired of them, she would eat them all the same.

Because of this, all the mothers in town would use the Mountain Ghost story to frighten their children at night, all so they would not cry and be secretly taken away by the Mountain Ghost.

At the thought of this, Liana could not help but feel her heart race as she patted her well-endowed chest in lingering fear. Thankfully, she had heard this legend earlier from the household servants during idle chatter. Otherwise, what if she had unknowingly wandered into the Mountain Ghost’s territory?

Although the legend said the Mountain Ghost only preyed on children, what if he suddenly decided to change his tastes today? Just thinking about it was terrifying. But… Liana could not help but pull a bitter expression, her gaze drifting once more toward the depths of the forest.

If there was anywhere most likely to hold the Moonfall Flower, it could only be that place.

……

The jungle grew darker and darker, until gradually she could no longer even make out the path ahead.

Liana had already begun to regret this foolish decision. No matter what, she should have returned home to rest and prepare before coming back. Staying in a jungle like this at night was no different from stripping naked and dancing in the middle of the street.

Especially when she had not brought a single tool to deal with the night.

Fortunately, it was deep autumn, and there were hardly any mosquitoes, ants, snakes, or insects. Otherwise, she felt she might not even survive a single night.

“I should light a fire and camp here for now.” She casually gathered some dry branches and lit a campfire. The trees in deep autumn were extremely dry, and the fire caught easily without costing her much effort.

What she had to worry about instead was whether she might end up setting the entire forest ablaze. But compared to freezing to death tonight, the risk seemed far more acceptable.

People often spoke of the autumn heat spell, but the chill of the night here was far more frightening.

After hastily putting together a simple shelter and warming the dry rations she carried over the fire before eating them, Liana, exhausted from an entire day of wandering, did not bother with the airs of a young lady. She lay down directly on a crude bed of branches and slowly drifted into sleep.

In her hazy slumber, she heard a distant, lingering song echoing through the forest.