It was a language the imugi had never heard before.
Even so, for some reason, there were words he could catch here and there, so fortunately it was not difficult to roughly infer the meaning.
“Kkyuuk.”
He shook his head in affirmation.
Then, gesturing with his hands and feet, he began trying his hardest to convey something. ‘It’s true that I came out from inside that. I didn’t hatch; I was trapped. I am a Black what……
No, I am a black dragon’s imugi.’ The other party’s expression went blank when she saw him. [Good heavens…….] ‘A child who should barely be able to babble, at most……?’ No matter how much he was a dragon’s child, it was impossible for him to communicate as soon as he was born.
And yet, even if their words did not get through, the fact that he was attempting to communicate by reading her expression and gaze was astonishing.
Christina looked down at the child anew and thought, ‘Could he be a genius?’ As she merely stared at the child in surprise, the child stared straight back at her, as if trying to challenge her to a staring contest. ‘Pfft.’ The way he looked at her with such bright, clear eyes was rather cute. [Little one■.]
The enormous head of the gold dragon descended toward the imugi with a whoosh.
She had merely leaned in, but the pressure was considerable. ‘Get a hold of yourself. I, too, lived nine hundred and ninety-nine years as a divine beast! I am not one to be swayed so easily by this paltry intimidation!’ The imugi opened his eyes wide and clenched his tiny hands tightly.
However. ‘Wh-what is this?’ No matter how mature his mind was, his body was that of a child.
With such immense pressure right before his eyes, there was nothing he could do about trembling. ‘U-ugh.’ Clear tears welled up in his large eyes, then soon fell in fat droplets.
At that moment, the gold dragon flinched as she looked at him, then drew her head back. [I’m sorry■. Little one■.]
It was a noble voice, yet very soft and warm. A golden light as warm as her voice spread over the gold dragon’s body as if flowers were blooming.
Flash. The gold dragon’s entire body was wrapped in light, and her size gradually shrank until she was human-sized.
When the light vanished, she had taken the form of a woman in her mid-twenties, with golden hair and blue eyes.
The oppressive feeling had also diminished considerably, and she approached while giving off a fresh charm.
“If I look like this■, is it not scary■?”
“Kkyuuk-kkuuk!” ‘Who said I was scared!’ The imugi bared his teeth and growled.
Of course, even then…… they were baby teeth. ‘He’s tiny, but he has more backbone than expected.’ The gold dragon, Christina, smiled in satisfaction.
“I■ am called Christina.”
Christina drew her knees together and sat down in front of him, who was on guard. ‘A hatchling of the extinct Black Dragon clan, whom I thought I would never see again.’ She looked down at the wary black hatchling with wistful eyes.
Christina, head of the gold dragons.
In accordance with her duty, she had long kept the last egg left behind by the Black Dragon clan in her lair.
At first, she had held some hope that perhaps the final child they had left behind might awaken.
But even after a hundred years, two hundred years, five hundred years, the egg remained cold.
It was, in effect, a dead egg. ‘That egg…… was alive.’ The reason she had come here was not because she expected a hatchling to be born, but because it was the day she periodically maintained the relics the black dragons had entrusted to her.
She felt terribly sorry for having given up.
And so, though there was guilt, the child who had awakened as if by a miracle was precious and lovable to her.
Christina cautiously reached out a hand.
“You must not have eaten anything■…… are you all right■?”
At her worried words, the imugi also became aware of his hunger. ‘Come to think of it…… I do need to fill my stomach.’ Growl.
“……
Kkyuk.”
Once he became conscious of it, his starving belly revealed its hunger all too plainly.
He stared quietly, alternating between his own stomach and Christina’s outstretched hand. ‘Even if she gives me food…… I don’t know whether I can trust what she gives me and eat it.’ Hugging the jewel, the imugi subtly drew back.
It was an unmistakable gesture of wariness. Chapter 3: Kkyuu? Kkyu!
Christina let out a shallow sigh at the sight. ‘As I thought…… even if he was inside the egg, did the scars of war and the experience of nearly dying remain?’ Since it was only natural, she moved as slowly and harmlessly as possible so the newborn child would not be afraid.
“Now, look.”
Christina took a leather pouch from her waist.
“How about this■?”
What she drew out in her hand was a milky-white bottle.
“This is not ordinary milk■. It is milk from ■■ that live on ■ Mountain and graze on grass of ■ power.”
Pop.
When she opened the luxurious bottle cap normally used for top-grade mana potions, the scent of fresh milk wafted out and tickled his nose. ‘It smells delicious.’ Before he knew it, the imugi’s nose twitched as he looked back and forth between the bottle of milk and Christina. ‘For now, I don’t sense any malice from this one. Besides.’ A soft scent of milk, rich in flavor and freshness, drifted out along with the swaying of the white liquid. ‘Why does it look so delicious……?’ Normally, no matter how hungry he was, he would never have been captivated by a single bottle of milk like this.
But the instinct of his young body, trying to survive, reacted more strongly than his ability to hold on to reason.
He was about to stretch out a forefoot, but in that instant, he came to his senses and stopped.
Even then, his eyes kept creeping toward the milk bottle, and his toes wriggled again. ‘Ugh. Get a grip!’ The imugi shook his head and steadied his mind.
It was reason’s victory. In the end, he clenched his fist and withdrew the forefoot he had extended as if bewitched.
Growl. ‘Ugh.’ Since he could not silence his stomach through willpower alone, the imugi grimaced.
The one who grew anxious at that was Christina. ‘What should I do? He seems very hungry, but he simply won’t eat.’ Newborn hatchlings were originally tremendous eaters.
Even if the nutrients inside the egg had been sufficient, it was because their instinctive urge for survival acted strongly.
He looked no different from a sick chick refusing grain and stubbornly enduring without strength.
“Little one……”
Looking at her distressed expression, he felt his conscience prick him slightly. ‘She doesn’t seem like a bad sort.’ Though he had rarely gone out into the outside world, there was still an intuition that came from nine hundred and ninety-nine years of life.
The imugi glared at the milk bottle again and fell into thought. ‘In any case, as long as that one is the owner of this place, I’ll have to leave through her. Then I need to build trust.’ He did not know whether there might be some scheme, but if she intended to harm him, there was no need to use such a troublesome method.
He thought he had no choice but to accept the possible danger, but his prudence made him hesitate to take the milk bottle.
Seeing the imugi’s face scrunched up with conflict, Christina shook the bottle.
“Do you dislike it that■ much?”
“……”
The imugi, having steeled himself, rolled his eyes and was just about to raise his hand.
“If you dislike it, then it can’t be helped■.”
Worried that forcing milk on the tense young life might only raise his wariness, Christina quietly tried to take the bottle back. ‘No!’ “Kkyu—!”
In desperation, he spread his short, plump hands, snatched the bottle, put its mouth to his lips, and began gulping it down.
Then his eyes flew open. ‘For mere milk…… to be this delicious?’ It was not even simple milk; faintly, it restored his vitality as well.
Having already exhausted all his strength, he licked his snout, turned the bottle upside down, and shook it out until he had drained every last drop.
Christina was taken aback by the sudden way he grabbed the milk bottle and drank, but she smiled in relief.
“Is it good■?”
“Kkyu. Kkyuuk.”
He was so embarrassed he nearly hiccupped.
As he carefully pushed the empty bottle aside while nodding, Christina swallowed a laugh. ‘I had stored it to put in my tea, but this worked out perfectly.’ Adult dragons did not particularly need to eat.
However, they often enjoyed meals for pleasure.
What Christina preferred were desserts such as cookies, tea, and cake.
“Kkyua!”
After completely emptying one bottle, he caught his breath and set the empty bottle down on the floor.
Her golden hair shining in the sunlight, Christina crouched on her knees before the hatchling and gently suggested,
“Come ■■ with me. In this world■, there are tastier ■, and many interesting ■ for you to ■■ try.”
The black hatchling, once again holding the black magic stone in his forefeet, looked up at her. ‘She’s saying I should go with her, is it?’ He realized he had achieved the purpose for which he had risked drinking the milk. ‘Good. She doesn’t seem to have any intention of harming me, and I can’t exactly stay here forever.’ In his current state, he was lacking in many ways when it came to doing anything alone.
When his young body was hungry, it paid no heed to reason and coveted whatever was before its eyes, and he did not have the strength he had gained through cultivation either. ‘An instinct that makes nearly a thousand years of cultivation meaningless.’ It was so pathetic that he was on the verge of clicking his tongue at himself. ‘With this body that can barely endure even hunger, it’s impossible to rise again on my own.’ Coldly assessing the situation, the imugi rubbed the corner of his mouth with his hand. ‘For now, following this one is the right thing to do.’ The imugi cleared his throat inwardly and thought again. ‘It is absolutely not because the milk was delicious.’ Having made up his mind, he hugged the black magic stone he was holding to his chest.
“Kkyuu.” ‘All right. Let us go.’ To show that he was ready, the imugi plopped one forefoot onto Christina’s hand.
Christina smiled with her eyes curved and lifted the imugi into her arms.
At the unexpected embrace, the imugi’s eyes went wide. ‘Uh, uh.’ “Welcome, little one.”
Christina quietly stroked his back.
By feel, his body was a little smaller than that of a hatchling his age. ‘Originally, this child should have absorbed sufficient nutrients inside the egg and been born under the protection of adult dragons.’ She thought that perhaps, because he was a hatchling awakened from an abandoned egg, he was smaller and thinner than other hatchlings his age. ‘Is it because he endured hardships he should never have had to suffer before he was even born?’ The sight of him raising all his wariness, yet gobbling down a bottle of milk in a rush, lingered before her eyes.
He was adorable and pitiful.
And on the other hand, she was grateful.