“What am I supposed to do with this bundle of cuteness!”
Held tightly in her arms, he breathed shallowly through his nose and felt relieved inside.
He could hardly breathe, but just as he had expected, he had succeeded in making a good impression. ‘My scales are all going to come off. Be a little gentler.’ If anything, the effect had been too good. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t show off carelessly, either.’ Christina kept repeating how proud she was of him before setting him down in the cradle.
He went, “Kkyuu,” and spread both arms again. ‘Milk.’ But no matter how long he waited, she did not take out any milk.
“What should I do? There’s no milk today.”
“……!”
The Imugi, still holding out both arms, widened his eyes into perfect circles and looked utterly devastated. ‘There’s…… no milk?’ He had shown off his growth, only to receive no benefit at all—worse, he was going to starve. At the thought, strength left his legs and he plopped down.
Judging by his expression, it was as though he had lost an entire country. ‘To starve a creature that hasn’t even been born that long. As expected, I shouldn’t trust people so easily.’ With sorrow added to hunger, a creeping sense of exhaustion rose within him.
He stared at Christina with eyes full of distrust.
“Pfft.” ‘You’re laughing?’ When he twitched his lips, unable to hide his displeasure, Christina smiled softly.
“Today, I brought something even better than that.”
Rai, who had been hidden behind Christina, floated up along with her, and the basket concealed by Rai’s light revealed itself.
Having grasped the situation, the Imugi narrowed his eyes and looked at Christina. ‘You wanted to tease me, didn’t you.’ Still, since it seemed she had brought him a gift in return, he let the part that might have offended him slide.
“Here. You can eat this even though all your teeth haven’t come in yet.” ‘An egg?’ The egg in the basket was much larger than an ordinary one.
It was almost the size of a human face, and when Christina handed it to the Imugi, it looked like a full moon cradled in both his hands.
“It’s the egg of an immortal bird, a phoenix. They say it’s a bird that, even if it dies, is reborn from the ashes of its own death.” ‘I feel like I’ve heard of something similar.’ Since it had been a remarkable creature, it had remained in the Imugi’s memory as well.
The Vermilion Bird.
A sacred beast said to come back to life immediately no matter how it died. ‘It does feel familiar, but there’s no way this is a Vermilion Bird’s egg.’ The Vermilion Bird he knew was not born from an egg.
Having at least relieved himself of that lingering unease, he wondered how he was supposed to eat the egg. ‘An egg from a bird with the power of resurrection.’ It was certainly an egg from which he could feel powerful energy.
The shell looked extremely hard, but when he extended his claws and pressed down firmly, it began to break little by little.
He raised his index finger and bored a hole into the top of the egg.
It took effort to pierce because it was so hard, but in return, the shell did not shatter easily; it held its shape without cracking apart. ‘Got it!’ Crack.
When the Imugi peeled away the shell, the milky-white flesh within, already cooked, was revealed.
Without waiting any longer, he opened his mouth wide and took a big bite. ‘……! It’s delicious, isn’t it?’ It tasted like a roasted egg so soft and savory that even gourmets would click their tongues in admiration.
The Imugi devoured the entire egg in an instant, as if it had vanished into thin air.
Seeing that, Christina let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m glad it suits your taste. I heard it was a special delicacy because it was roasted in the flames of a Red Dragon, but I was worried just in case.” ‘Delicious. It’s incredibly delicious. How can an egg like this exist?’ Making kyap-kyap sounds, the Imugi even licked up the egg crumbs around his mouth with his tongue.
The springy white part broke apart and melted like pudding as soon as it entered his mouth, while the yolk carried such a rich nuttiness that he could even feel vitality within it.
Moreover, perhaps because it had been roasted in dragon flame, he could absorb mana from it, and it was seasoned just right, to the point that no salt was needed.
“Kkyuu. Uung!” ‘This is seriously delicious!’ Once he started eating, he could not stop his hands. Chapter 7. Did We Get It!
By the time he came to his senses after eating feverishly, he was already picking up his third roasted egg.
Christina, who had been watching him with satisfaction, spoke gently.
“Hoho. There’s plenty, so don’t eat in such a rush. You should drink some milk with it too, all right? Even if you have a hatchling’s stomach, it’s best to be careful.”
He nodded, but his speed did not decrease all that much.
The texture was so soft that it went down easily, and it was so delicious that even the time spent peeling the shell felt like a waste. ‘Hm? Why is this one so hard?’ He quickly pushed aside the egg with the especially tough shell and went after another roasted egg that peeled more easily.
After chewing with his mouth full and then drinking some milk, he naturally gulped it down and emptied an entire bottle.
Even though the eggs were enormous, he only flopped backward after finishing five or six of them. ‘Urp. I’m full.’ His belly had already been round to begin with, but now it was swollen tight.
He was so full that every breath nearly made a wheezing sound through his nose.
After Christina cleaned up all the shells, she moved the basket of eggs closer to the cradle.
“I didn’t know you’d eat this well. It looks like I’ll have to get some more.”
“Kkyuu! Kkyuu!”
Seeing the hatchling cry out while kicking his feet in delight, Christina laughed pleasantly.
“All right. Since we’re on the subject, I should go right away. Rest here, baby.”
“Kkyuuu.”
Satisfied, the Imugi stroked his own belly and waved a foreleg to see her off. ‘To think I overate like this, unlike me. I’ll need time to digest……’ His digestion was good enough that he would not get an upset stomach, but because his belly was so taut it was hard to breathe, so he needed to rest for a while.
He lay in the cradle, blankly catching his breath, then closed his eyes. ***
‘Did I doze off?’ The Imugi opened his blinking eyes and sat up, then looked around.
It seemed that after confirming he had fallen asleep, Rai had moved away so that his light would not disturb his rest.
The room without Christina or Rai was exceedingly quiet.
When he looked around, the basket of eggs caught his eye.
He smacked his lips and thought, ‘I’m not that hungry, but……
Should I eat just one more?’ Their well-roasted sheen tempted him. ‘Right. It’s not as though anything will happen if I eat one more.’ Smacking his lips, he tensed the muscles in his back and flapped his wings.
Though the wings were small compared to his body, they were enough to lift him.
He fluttered over and landed in front of the basket of eggs, then picked one up with his forepaws, eyes sparkling.
The smoky aroma wafting from it stimulated his appetite.
There was no reason to delay.
Crack. He broke the shell and bit into the egg, filling his mouth. ‘As expected. This is the taste.’ To think a single egg could let him experience the taste of heaven.
It made him curious about the species known as Red Dragons. ‘If they can produce this sort of fire flavor, they may have been born with the greatest culinary talent.’ Though he had decided to eat only one more, that decision became meaningless as he naturally peeled and ate another, until at some point only the last one remained. ‘Hmm.’ It was an unusually large egg with a fine luster.
Unlike the others, it was oddly tinged with a pale red color, and it was the hardest of them all—the egg that had not broken even when the Imugi threw it. ‘So in the end, only this one is left.’ “Kkyu.”
After glaring at the egg, he used it as a support and rose to his feet. ‘It was an opponent I would have had to face head-on at least once anyway.’ A faint aura of mana could be felt in the Imugi’s eyes. ‘I didn’t want to go this far, but if I’m going to break this shell, now is my chance, while no one is here.’ The mana in his heart gathered through training and the energy in his dantian wrapped around his small body, quietly beginning to reveal their power.
“Kyu……
Hoo.”
Taking a deep breath, the Imugi spread his feet and calmly assumed a straight-punch stance.
It was a stable form, hard to believe from someone who had once struggled even to stand on two feet.
“Pya!” ‘Ha!’ The instant his breath and energy aligned perfectly, he thrust his fist toward the egg.
Thwack! ‘Krrgh!’ Even though his mana-filled thrust had landed properly, the fact that he had not managed to make even a hairline crack caused the Imugi to furrow his brow in frustration. ‘Well, if it were going to break from that much, it would’ve broken long ago.’ He opened his right hand and delivered a knife-hand strike.
Thwack! ‘This doesn’t work either?’ His attack, which should have been sharper than most blades, had no effect at all.
Instead, the part of his hand that he had sharpened and slammed into the egg throbbed.
It even felt as if the egg had nullified his mana and, on the contrary, drained his strength away. ‘It’s just a roasted egg, isn’t it?’ At this point, his stubbornness was beginning to flare up. ‘……
I hadn’t intended to go this far.’ The fact that he, whose life had consisted solely of training, needed a target to go all out against also played a part. ‘Just once. I’ll pour in all my strength and break you.’ Killing intent, impossible to believe was emanating from such a tiny hatchling, slowly rose from him.
Since he had eaten plenty of mana-rich food, his energy was also full. ‘This time, for sure!’ He poured in everything he had built up. ‘Huaaaat!’ “Kkyaaaaah!”
The terrifying energy loaded into the sole of the Imugi’s foot stuck fast to the surface of the egg. ‘Break!’ The shock of sending in condensed energy and detonating it focused inside the egg.
As the energy burst at the egg’s center, the egg trembled with a dddddk sound, as if an earthquake had struck it.