10 - Chapter 10
The Little Dragon Saves the Munrepe Duchy, Episode 10
His lips trembled slightly, but it was such a fleeting moment that Ashil didn't notice.
Looking as though his soul had half departed, he somehow managed to offer his greetings.
"Yes, Ashil-nim. I look forward to working with you."
"Pii."
Ashil quickly replied and placed the rabbit in front of him again.
That human, with his brow furrowed, clearly didn't like me very much.
'Humans are scary.'
I needed a witness, so I accepted, but did I really do the right thing? Ashil swallowed hard.
Meanwhile, around that time.
Dylan, who had subtly distanced himself from Ashil without her noticing, was also trembling and thinking along similar lines.
'Lizards are scary.'
Dylan Phayreunt was the youngest son of the Phayreunt Earldom, known as a prestigious family of swordsmen.
While others played with rattles, he played with swords, so devoted to the art that he received the full expectations of his family.
Befitting this, he was immediately scouted into the Imperial Knights upon reaching adulthood.
His family was overjoyed, believing that a Swordmaster would finally emerge from their lineage.
However, that expectation was shattered during his first monster subjugation mission.
"Ugh!"
Perhaps due to the trauma of being bitten by a lizard in his childhood.
He couldn't stand on the same battlefield as Saint Creatures or monsters in the form of lizards.
Even being near them turned his face pale and made him break out in a cold sweat.
He couldn't dream of achieving merit on the battlefield, and even wielding his sword became difficult.
Dylan tried to overcome his phobia.
However, the symptoms worsened, to the point where he would break out in a cold sweat just from seeing any creature with scales.
Eventually, he had to leave the Imperial Knights.
And he entered the Munrepe Duke's family, the only ducal house without a Divine Beast, becoming the closest aide to the head of the family.
He hid his reptile phobia, not wanting to shatter his family's expectations.
'If I'm here, I won't have to see any reptiles.'
His family was deeply upset that he was wasting his talent.
But from Dylan's perspective, the Munrepe Duke's family was not just good, but the best workplace.
Families with Divine Beasts sometimes brought in Saint Creatures to invigorate their Divine Beast's energy.
However, since the Munrepe Duke's family had no Divine Beast, there was no chance of reptiles entering the household.
Furthermore, within the Munrepe Duke's family, his skills were considered the best.
This was partly because his skills were inherently outstanding, but also because more capable knights avoided the Munrepe Duke's family.
Therefore, when he suddenly received the order to escort Ashil, Dylan was more bewildered than ever.
"Escort a lizard...?"
It was a position escorting a Divine Beast that others would consider an honor, but Dylan was not pleased at all.
A lizard.
Why, of all things, a lizard?
However, since he had been assigned to escort her, Dylan tried to think positively.
Still, that lizard is a Divine Beast, so it must be different, he tried to convince himself.
But the moment he saw her clutching a rabbit that looked like it was for a lunchbox, rubbing her chin and smacking her lips.
Dylan nearly fainted on the spot, forgetting all his resolve.
But he couldn't very well say, 'I'm too scared to escort her,' now.
With a heavy heart, he took on the task of escorting Ashil.
No matter how scary a human is, you have to get close to them to make them a witness.
It would be a disaster to stab a bear friend in the back during a fight.
Ashil, being a clever Beast-man, decided to befriend Dylan to prevent any potential accidents.
'To do that, I need to find out what that human likes and dislikes.'
If I give them something they like and ask to be friends, they'll grant my request unless they're an incredibly bad person.
He always frowns when he looks at me, as if he dislikes me very much, but...
Ashil didn't think her husband would assign a bad person to her.
So, to find out what Dylan liked, she started following him around day and night.
"I feel like someone's watching me."
Whenever Dylan rubbed his arm and looked around, she would hide behind nearby objects.
Because she was so small, Dylan never noticed Ashil.
How many days had passed like that?
"Pii."
Today, too, Ashil woke up early and was secretly watching Dylan.
He was becoming more haggard by the day, for some reason, and was practicing swordsmanship with a wooden sword at the training grounds, as he always did.
'What is he doing?'
It was a scene she had seen several times already, but Ashil couldn't understand his actions at all.
Why is he swinging a wooden stick in the air and hitting that strangely shaped log?
"Haa!"
Crack!
The log, repeatedly struck in the same spot by the wooden sword, broke.
"Hoo."
Dylan wiped his forehead and moved to the next spot.
Then, he cleared away the broken log, replaced it with a new one, and repeated the same actions.
Ashil tilted her head.
What is he doing in this cold weather? Breaking trees?
'Ashil can break trees well too.'
It was then that a fairy tale she had once read came to mind.
"Pbit!?" (Could it be!?)
Ashil covered her mouth in shock.
The story of a poor, filial Beast-man who gathered firewood and bought medicine for his sick mother on a cold winter day flashed through her mind.
Come to think of it, Dylan always woke up early like that Beast-man.
He hit the logs until just before coming to escort her, and then came back late at night to hit the logs again.
Oh my goodness.
'That knight human is in the same situation as that Beast-man!'
And to think he was using a wooden stick instead of an iron axe because he was so poor.
'Ashil didn't see anything.'
Her brother said that males don't like to show their weak side.
That human is also a male, so he must feel the same way.
"Pihik..."
Saddened, Ashil covered her mouth with her front paws and left the training grounds.
Then, she opened her Subspace and took out a shiny gold coin from her treasured pouch.
Soon, Dylan, having finished his training, came to escort her.
Without saying much, Ashil abruptly held out the gold coin.
"Wh-what is this?"
Dylan was so startled by the sudden action that his hair stood on end.
"Piyatpi pii." (Ashil is giving it to you.)
"Ah, th-thank you..."
Dylan, who had accepted it without thinking, flinched.
It looked like a gold coin because it was shiny, but it was too light.
And in the center, there was even a phrase written in the common language of the continent.
"Our child is the best!"
"...?"
It was clearly a toy gold coin made for children.
Why is she giving me this? he wondered, but Ashil, who had been walking ahead, suddenly turned around.
And she firmly scolded him.
"Piyatpi pii!" (You have to save it!)
"Yes..."
What's the point of saving it when I can't even use it?
I don't know why she gave it to me, but I'll just throw it in a corner when I get back, he thought as he followed Ashil.
Soon after, he realized that Ashil was heading to the training grounds.
What's this, why the training grounds all of a sudden?
In an instant, Ashil went to the spot where he trained and broke the limbs of the wooden practice dummy.
"Piyat!" (Iyap!)
"...!"
Dylan was so surprised that his mouth dropped open.
He would have to pay for the broken wooden dummy, so what on earth was she doing?
Is this some new kind of harassment? Was the coin she gave me earlier compensation for the damage?
Meanwhile, Ashil was feeling proud as she looked at Dylan, who was dumbfounded.
'Now the knight human doesn't have to chop wood.'
I gave him a gold coin and chopped wood for him. I think we're a little closer now!
It was a sound that would have horrified Dylan if he had known.
