13 - Baby Yong's Housekeeping
Episode 13 of The Baby Dragon Saves the Duchy
As Ashil pressed his face with his front paws to explain, Elkai's eyes filled with anger as he immediately recognized who it was.
It was a vassal who followed Biante.
"How did you know?"
"Piiya." (Ashil saw it.)
Since being a tattletale was bad, Ashil lied slightly to protect his bear friend.
Dylan, who was mistaken that Ashil's eyesight was incredibly good, intervened with an astonished face.
"You saw that from that distance?"
"Pii." (Yes.)
As Ashil nodded vigorously, Elkai, who had barely been holding back, finally exploded.
He shouted thunderously.
"Biante, tell him to come here right now if he wants to die!"
* * *
That night, Biante arrived at the Duke's castle.
Pressured by his father's words to come immediately if he didn't want to die, he hurriedly came through the expensive warp gate.
"Are you really out of your mind!!!"
Elkai's roar seemed to echo throughout the castle.
Biante pleaded that he didn't know anything, but it didn't work at all.
Meanwhile, at that time, Ashil was hugging a rabbit and lying in bed early.
But he couldn't fall asleep particularly tonight.
He kept thinking about his mom and brother in the Beast-man's forest.
"Piiya..."
Even though he had scolded his bear friend without getting hurt, it was still a big deal.
There was no way they could laugh and move on after fighting with someone.
Ashil quietly got up so as not to wake the rabbit and opened the Subspace.
Then, he took out the scarf fragment that the bad human had torn before and hugged it tightly.
The fragment had a faint scent of his mom.
It was because his mom had made it herself.
But that scent was slowly disappearing.
Ashil held back the tears that were about to come out.
'I miss Mom.'
He rubbed his eyes with his front paws and comforted himself.
'Mom will come to pick me up soon.'
Then, startled by the sudden knock, he turned around.
Edenber, who had gently opened the door, was looking at him.
He was dressed formally because of the meeting with Biante.
"Can I come in?"
"Piiya." (Yes.)
Ashil quickly hid the scarf fragment behind him.
But Edenber had already seen everything. As well as the fact that Ashil's eyes were slightly red.
He hesitated and opened his mouth.
"I'll just go if you're tired."
"Piiya." (No.)
He couldn't sleep anyway, so it would be okay to talk to her husband.
Ashil hugged his favorite cushion tightly and sat down.
Edenber knelt down and met Ashil's eyes.
"Sorry for coming late at night. I came because I wanted to ask you something."
"Pii?"
"You... you breathe fire and fought with the Bear Holy Beast, so you seem very strong... why did you say that?"
"Piiya?"
"You said you're only good at climbing trees, swimming, and singing."
Ashil tilted his head, puzzled. When did Ashil say that?
Edenber, seeing his uncomprehending reaction, explained specifically.
"You said no when I asked if you could destroy the castle."
Ah, that was it.
He didn't know how that turned into only being good at climbing trees, swimming, and singing-
Ashil said with a serious expression.
"Piiya ppi piiya. Pii." (Ashil has never destroyed a castle.)
"...Ah."
It wasn't that he lied, but that the question was wrong.
Edenber thought that Ashil had been deliberately hiding his strength until now.
So he had been suffering alone, but that wasn't the case.
He looked deflated.
"Then, why did you pretend to be weak when you were first summoned? With that much power, you could have easily defeated me or the knights."
Ashil's eyes widened. Were her husband and the humans that weak?
That couldn't be. The teachers said that humans were savages who ate Beast-man in one bite...
...Maybe this was a new strategy to catch Ashil off guard and eat him.
'Ashil is a smart dragon. I won't be fooled by such words!'
He swallowed hard from the tension.
But as he was acting like a ferocious dragon, he put his front paws on his waist and stuck out his stomach.
"Ppi, ppiyatppi ppiya. Ppiyapiyapiya." (Y, humans are weak, so Ashil let them off. Ashil is a very strong and ferocious dragon.)
But after saying that, he was afraid that her husband would say, 'Really? Then let's fight without letting us off.'
'Ashil is a ferocious dragon. I'm not afraid of humans. Ashil is a ferocious dragon. I'm not afraid of humans.'
Even as he repeated it in his mind, his short hind legs were trembling.
Fortunately, Edenber, who was distracted by something else, didn't see it.
"I see, you let us off. Then did you perhaps break the Orichalcum door too?"
"Piiyaa." (Yes. Ashil broke it.)
At the answer that popped out as if he had been waiting for it, disbelief flashed in Edenber's eyes for a moment.
Orichalcum was something that wouldn't even get a scratch even if you shot it with a cannon, but he did it with those delicate front paws.
"Pii." (It's true.)
He couldn't be looked down on by her husband, even if it meant not becoming a baby dragon roast.
Having put himself in a state of self-hypnosis, Ashil, who was full of self-esteem, walked to the door and swung his small front paw.
Bang!
"Hiek!"
The knight guarding the front of the Divine Creature's Room gasped.
Unfortunately, however, the door to the 2nd Divine Creature's Room was made of wood, not Orichalcum.
Unlike before when the entire door flew off, his front paw went in and made a round hole.
Edenber, who was watching the scene with shaking eyes, said to himself.
"Is it rotten wood?"
Then he punched the door himself. Bang!
"Duke! Are you okay? I'm coming in!"
The knight, who mistook that a fight had broken out with two fists coming out in a row, shouted in horror.
Edenber calmly replied.
"No, don't come in."
Then he stared at the wood fragments on his fist for a long time.
He didn't know if this decision he was about to make was right.
He couldn't tell if he was making the right judgment, or if he was just grasping at straws because he was cornered.
'Maybe I'll regret today's decision for the rest of my life.'
He might beat his chest, saying why did he do that, if he hadn't made that choice back then, things wouldn't have gotten this bad.
But...
"Ppiyat, ppiyapiiya?" (Look, I broke it, right?)
Looking at those clear pink eyes that were shining brightly with only him in them, he felt that he would never regret it even if things went wrong.
He was the head of a family.
He was also the one who had to judge everything based on accurate evidence.
Originally, he would have thoroughly tested Ashil's strength before making a decision.
But he didn't want to do that this time. He felt that now was enough.
To be more precise, he didn't want to act as neatly as he had to others.
He had killed his emotions and handled everything objectively since he became the head of Munrepe.
So, shouldn't he be able to act as he pleased this time?
It was his Divine Beast who would be with him for the rest of his life, not anything else.
As soon as he thought that, his mind was completely made up.
'Everyday life with this child will soon become my everyday life and life.'
Edenber, who had finished thinking, knelt down in front of Ashil.
And he whispered softly.
"Do not cry because the night sky is dark, for there is the grace of moonlight to illuminate your path. Edenber Munrepe, the head of Munrepe, asks you to become a new Divine Beast."
"Ppit?!"
Ashil's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected action. Was breaking the wooden door that great?
Edenber said with a more serious face.
"If you become Munrepe's Divine Beast, I'll grant you anything you want."
"...Ppiyapiya?" ("...What is a Divine Beast?")
"The symbol and power of each family. A being who lives with the head of the family and becomes the idol of everyone."
"Ppi...?"
It was too difficult for a baby dragon who hadn't even shed his eggshell yet.
When he just blinked his eyes, Edenber explained as easily as possible.
"It means the best in a family."
