Gru, who was in high spirits, failed to notice.
That Mephisto, sitting on the bed, was glaring at Uju with terrifying eyes.
“……?”
Only Uju noticed the fierce gaze directed at him.
“……Ppit!”
When their eyes met, Uju stared at the white bird, who abruptly turned his head away.
“……?”
Uju parted his lips slightly, while Mephisto calmed his boiling insides and looked at his own wings. The sharply angled corners of his eyes soon drooped into a sorrowful expression.
Mephisto let out a deep sigh.
In the meantime, Gru left the room for a moment, saying he would go get some snacks.
Uju searched for and organized a few more photos to show Gru, while Vaylark drooled all over Uju’s shoulder.
Every now and then, as though he could no longer stand it, he would lick Uju and have a taste.
“…….”
Mephisto clicked his tongue. What a vulgar creature.
The reason Vaylark was acting that way was probably the highly pure mana possessed by the child called Uju.
Prey like that greatly amplified one’s power.
That was why monsters followed their instincts and ate humans.
They were drawn in by the power humans could provide.
But Mephisto couldn’t understand it at all. What was so important about that kind of power?
According to Vaylark, Mephisto’s very existence had been reconstructed. Perhaps this was an extension of that process, but…… Mephisto instinctively disliked eating humans.
He didn’t want to.
But……
‘If I gained power, would I be able to become human?’
Mephisto looked at Uju.
Mana pure enough to make even Vaylark covet it.
And it was possessed by a tiny child small enough to fit in a single bite.
It was just as he was thinking that—
“Muy! Myu-myu!” (Mephisto! What do you think you’re doing right now!)
“Ppit?!”
Before he knew it, Mephisto had perched on Uju’s other shoulder and was licking his cheek.
Uju’s face was covered in saliva from the monsters on either side of him, and he raised a puzzled question mark.
“Myu-myumyumyum, myuu, myu-myu?” (You shameless, unfilial wretch. You’re after my prey, too?)
“Ppit! Ppipipipi?” (Ha! You think he’s your prey just because you got some spit on him?)
“Myuu! Myu!” (You really are—!)
Vaylark, huffing furiously, immediately pounced.
“Myuut!”
“Ppiit!”
Mephisto met him head-on without backing down.
As the two rolled around, pecking, biting, and tearing at each other, feathers and fur flew through the air. Uju hurriedly ran out of the room and called for Gru.
“G-Gru!”
“Hmm?”
It took a while before Gru, brought back by Uju, managed to pull the two apart.
The baby bird and baby hamster knelt before Gru with their heads bowed.
Mephisto had feathers missing all over and a curly head, while Vaylark had a bald patch on his back and a scratch by his mouth.
Both were covered in obvious wounds from being torn into by the other, to the point that blood was showing.
Gru hid in one corner and held Luxifer in his arms, gently stroking him.
The little rabbit seemed extremely frightened by the sight of his two older brothers fighting until they bled.
Those two fought every day, so their squabbles were nothing unusual, but it was a little worrying to see them fighting hard enough to pull out every last feather and tuft of fur.
“Mephi, Vay-ee. You gotta get along. What if big brothers fight all the time? The baby’s watching.”
Gru lifted the two front paws of the baby rabbit in his arms.
“Kkyuu……”
Luxifer let out a tiny cry, nervously watching the situation.
Then Vaylark pointed at Mephisto with an aggrieved expression.
“Myu-myu! Myu-myu!”
“Ppit ppi.”
“Myuu! Myu!”
“Ppipip pit!”
For quite some time, the two continued their noisy excuses, each taking aim at the other.
“…….”
But Gru merely narrowed his eyes and let their whining go in one ear and out the other.
Judging by how badly they had fought, there seemed to be some reason behind it……
But I don’t understand what they’re saying!
Besides, he couldn’t turn Vaylark into a human just to hear one side of the story.
‘That wouldn’t be fair to Mephi.’
Since Mephisto couldn’t explain himself, only what Vaylark said would become the truth.
He had to hear both sides and become an impartial owner, like a teacher in the chick class.
So what he needed to do now was……!
Gru took hold of one wing and one bean-sized hand, making the two apologize and reconcile.
It was a method of reconciliation the kindergarten teachers often made them use.
Once they were forced to make up, children would quickly forget the matter and become friends again.
“Apologize.”
“Ppi—”
“Myu-myu-myu!”
Mephisto thrust out his beak and said something, to which Vaylark angrily retorted.
Gru rolled his eyes with a smile.
‘Did that count as an apology?’
Are they fighting?
Judging by all the ppi-ppis and myu-myus, it didn’t seem like they had worked through their feelings yet.
Being a teacher for the chick class really is hard!
While Gru was experiencing the difficulties of childcare, Uju watched with fascination.
Both Mephisto and Vaylark were monsters, not ordinary animals.
And yet Gru seemed so impressive, handling the two of them without the slightest difficulty.
Feeling Uju’s gaze, Gru stole a glance at him.
He couldn’t give up here.
His image as the fair and mature Gru might be destroyed.
‘No. I have to show Uju how cool I am……!’
And so—
“Good job. Now you gotta get along, okay? Got it?”
Gru decided to wrap things up for now, roughly burying the conflict.
Mephisto cried, “Ppit,” then flew up and settled on top of Gru’s head.
Vaylark scurried into the bag and zipped it shut.
Gru groaned as he stroked Luxifer.
The baby rabbit was so wary that he couldn’t stop trembling.
“Per, you don’t have to be scared anymore.”
Jorim had said that fighting was simply what boys did.
Wouldn’t they make up and get along again in a few days?
Yes, surely they would.
With time, things would return to normal.
*
‘They’re not fine at all!’
Several days had passed since Mephisto and Vaylark’s fight.
But contrary to Gru’s hopes, the two hadn’t improved in the slightest with the passage of time.
Before entering the pop-up store advertisement set, Gru opened the bag’s zipper a little.
Vaylark poked his face through the gap and glared at Mephisto with terrifying eyes.
Perched on Gru’s head, Mephisto stood his ground as well.
Zzzzap!
Gru sighed at the two of them, who looked as though sparks might fly between them.
“Are you two gonna keep acting like this?”
“Ppit!”
“Myut!”
Mephisto narrowed his eyes into triangles, while Vaylark bared his teeth with a growl.
No matter how much the two quarreled, they would soon act friendly again as though they had never fought.
But ever since their last argument, all they had done was remain at odds like this.
“Stop, stop.”
Gru waved his hands, blocking the space between them.
“Stop it. If you fight again, you can’t come play at Uju’s filming set later. You know what Uju is filming this time, right?”
“……!”
Vaylark froze.
Uju’s current shoot was *Zombie City 2*, the sequel to *Zombie City*, a film that had drawn an audience of ten million.
As its title suggested, the movie was packed with zombies.
Vaylark, who adored *Zombie City*, hesitated.
“Ppipip!”
Mephisto laughed as though mocking him, and Vaylark clenched his two bean-sized hands and trembled with indignation.
“Mephi, if you keep acting like that, you won’t get any snacks.”
“……!”
“Myu-myumyum!”
This time, it was Vaylark who laughed mockingly.
Mephisto’s eyes flew open, but Vaylark slipped into the bag as though he didn’t want to deal with him.
Apparently, he didn’t want to end up missing the *Zombie City 2* shoot because of another fight.
And perhaps Mephisto wanted to see *Zombie City 2* just as much.
“Ppit!”
Mephisto snorted and simply turned his head away.
“Gru’s gotta film, so Mephi, you stay in here.”
Gru opened the pocket on his chest.
“Ppit.”
Mephisto fluttered into the pocket.
Gru patted the bulging chest pocket and let out a sigh.
“Whew……”
Childcare really was hard.