Ch#69
The elephant snorted derisively.
“Chwewoong (This body doesn't trust lowly lizards like you either)!”
Lucarion's eyes narrowed.
Just moments ago, he hadn't understood the creature at all, but now, for some reason, its words were clear.
Reading his expression, the elephant smirked and added,
“Chwewoong, chwerwoong (A provision I made to convey this body's will to a savage like you).”
Lucarion furrowed his brow, then sneered.
[How amusing. I could always read the thoughts of a bug like you if I wanted.]
The elephant clutched the back of its neck and staggered.
Soon, a crack split right between its bean-sized eyes.
“Chwe! Chwerchweut (How insolent! Aren't you afraid of flesh-ripping, bone-shaving pain?!)”
“Both of you, stop it!”
At that moment, Tie stepped in.
The huffing elephant shut its mouth, and Lucarion snorted with a flick of his head.
Tie sighed, eyeing her two already-at-odds retainers.
‘This is trouble…….’
There was a reason Ppuppu and Lucarion couldn't fight from the start.
“If you two keep gwowing up, peopwe wiww bwame Tie!”
Lucarion and Ppuppu stared at Tie.
Tie added gravely, as if announcing a major fact.
“Don't you know if a kid doesn't wisten, the mom gets bwamed? Wike ‘she didn't waiwse it pwopahwy at home.’”
Lucarion's eyes widened round.
[Are you insane? Why would I be your kid?!]
Meanwhile, Ppuppu plopped down right there. It flattened prone on the floor, tears streaming as it apologized.
“Chwerut, chwe!”
Tie shook her head firmly.
Then she scooped up the dazed Lucarion first.
[What are you doing? Put me down!]
Lucarion struggled immediately, but Tie grunted and stuffed him into her bag anyway.
She zipped it all the way up, leaving only his head poking out, and said,
“Bwackie, be quiet fwom now on.”
Lucarion wore a baffled expression.
Ignoring him, Tie next tucked Ppuppu into the front pocket.
Likewise, only its face poked out, then she slung the bag onto her back.
“Now Tie has to tawk with Factowy Chief.”
Lucarion slumped in resignation. Just then, he felt Ppuppu in the front pocket through the fabric.
Lucarion kicked at Ppuppu for no reason.
“……Chwesat (What do you think you're doing, lizard)!”
Ppuppu glared back in instant fury.
Lucarion snapped where Tie couldn't hear.
[You'd better not try anything foolish.]
Ppuppu's eyes narrowed.
[That's exactly what I want to say to you, lizard.]
[What?]
[Stop leeching off Mother's precious blood and crawl back to your tiny, disgusting nest. You're not going to claim you can't feel it, are you?]
Ppuppu eyed Lucarion—or rather, the space faintly warping around him.
[Mother's valuable mana is leaking because of you. And not a small amount.]
Lucarion shut his mouth.
He hated to admit it, but Ppuppu was right.
The longer he stayed manifested, the more mana he had to absorb from Astie.
[What do you plan to do with that leaky body that can't even store mana? The more you insist on manifesting, the more you just waste Mother's essence.]
In truth, Lucarion had been in this state ever since first awakening in the Resting Bed.
His body couldn't properly store mana, making manifestation difficult.
As if mocking him, Ppuppu chuckled darkly.
[I can last ten days on a single allocation from Mother. Looks like I'll get to spend lots of time with her from now on. More than you with your mayfly heart!]
Lucarion glared at the cheeky magic beast, his insides burning.
‘Ppuppu?’
Recalling how Astie called the vile thing made his head throb.
It was surely maintaining that form on purpose.
A creature that rummaged through inner fears would have grasped what Astie liked beforehand.
Not knowing a thing, yet calling that pitch-black, blood-scented abomination cute…….
[How long do you plan to keep this up? You going to let Mother enter depletion from your fault?!]
Already fuming, Ppuppu kept needling without pause.
Of course, Lucarion knew too. That prolonged manifestation would eventually burden Astie.
But Astie had so much mana.
So she wouldn't deplete that easily…….
[No matter how endless Mother's mana spring is, depletion is dangerous. Don't you know the vastest oceans are the hardest to recover once they start drying?]
Lucarion clamped his mouth shut.
Just as expected from a mind-reader.
Ppuppu seemed to grasp perfectly what he feared most.
[If you truly care for Mother, crawl back to your nest right now. Just in case, I'll close the subspace once you're gone. From now on, Mother's safety is this body's—Ppuppu's—responsibility.]
As he scowled at the creature swinging its crude nose and laughing haughtily,
“Battery? So this thing's name is Battery?”
Berugon's voice came from afar.
Turning, he saw Tie with her bag down, and the factory chief holding something in front of her.
Tie nodded.
“Yes! It has zappy ewectwicity about this big~ inside!”
Curiosity lit Berugon's eyes.
“Electricity?”
“Yes! Wike a magic beast cow!”
“Magic beast core? You mean it contains something like mana?”
Tie nodded vigorously.
Then she circled the kindergarten interior and dashed to a large box stuffed with toys.
As Lucarion and Ppuppu exchanged baffled looks, wondering what she was up to,
“Thewe's a pwace to put the battewy hewe.”
Tie lifted a toy from the box and held it out to Berugon.
It was a baby doll that looked quite realistic.
“What is this…….”
Berugon seemed flustered, but Tie casually flipped the doll upside down.
She fiddled with its shiny back and popped open the battery compartment lid.
While Berugon gaped, Tie snatched the two AA batteries from him and shoved them in snugly.
“Wike this, twist hewe and…….”
Tie closed the lid and righted the doll.
Then she pressed the doll's chest right before Berugon's eyes,
“Kakakaka—!”
“Eek!”
Berugon recoiled in alarm at the baby laughter.
Tie, meanwhile, beamed innocently. She quickly found the matching bottle prop and popped it into the doll's mouth.
This time, suckling sounds came from the doll.
“Go to sweep, my baby~”
Absorbed in mom play, Tie cradled the doll sideways and rocked it.
Even breathing sounds soon emanated from it.
Satisfied, Tie flipped the doll again and removed the batteries.
“That's how it wowks.”
Berugon stared incredulously at the batteries in Tie's hand.
Then he picked up a toy train at his feet.
“Can you do this one too?”
“Yesss!”
Tie stuffed batteries into the train snugly.
Setting it on the floor and pressing the button, the train blared its horn and zoomed off.
Curiosity gleaming, Berugon's eyes sparkled as he watched.
