21 - Chapter 21
Baby Dragon is Raising the Duke's Family 21
With determined steps, Ashil headed towards the shed.
While walking, Ashil ate strawberries one by one, leaving footprints on the still snowy field, setting out to find the culprit.
Soon, Ashil's steps came to a halt in front of the eerie shed.
'What to do.'
Ashil had come with great energy, but it was too scary.
Moreover, there was even an ominous-looking abandoned tower nearby, creating an atmosphere as if ghosts would appear.
Ashil had once overheard the maids saying that Ashil's father, the late Duke, had been confined in that abandoned tower...
"Pii..."
Ashil was more concerned about ghosts than Ashil's father. Ashil was as afraid of ghosts as Ashil was of humans. If Ashil had known it would be like this, Ashil would have come with a knight human.
However, since Ashil's target was a violent Dragon beast-man, Ashil couldn't run away now.
In the end, Ashil turned pale and trembled, saying,
"Pii... Ppiyatppi." (To... Rabbit friend, go first.)
"Kkyuuuoooooo."
The rabbit quickly shuddered and ran behind, pushing Ashil's back.
It meant for Ashil to go in first.
No way! Ashil quickly went behind the rabbit and stuck to its back. Then, Ashil pushed it forward hard.
"Ppiyappiya." (Ashil will protect you.)
"Kkyuuuooooooou!"
"Ppiyatppi, ppiyiya!" (It won't be scary at all, Ashil is behind you!)
"Kkyuaaaaaaaa!"
The baby rabbit, suddenly forced to be a shield, screamed, but Ashil didn't care.
With sweaty paws stuck to the rabbit's body, Ashil stepped into the shed, one step at a time.
The musty, moldy shed was filled with broken furniture, burnt-out pieces of wood, and unidentifiable objects, along with animal fur.
Faint rays of light entered through the gaps in the sparsely collapsed ceiling.
Ashil relied on that light and slowly went inside.
'Now that Ashil's inside, it's not scary at all.'
Ashil suppressed the urge to run away and deliberately only thought that it wasn't scary at all.
'Ashil is a cool Dragon. Something like this can't block Ashil's path!'
Then, the moment something hanging from the ceiling in the darkness tapped Ashil's head, Ashil screamed.
"Ppiyaaaaaaaak!"
"Kkyuaaaaaaaak!"
The rabbit, startled without knowing why, screamed at the top of its lungs.
With their legs giving out, the two animals couldn't move and just screamed while hugging each other.
In the midst of that, they cautiously raised their heads at a ray of light falling from above.
"Ppi...?"
A few strands of straw were hanging from the collapsed ceiling. This was what had just hit Ashil's head.
Hugging the rabbit tightly, Ashil touched the straw with trembling paws and sighed.
"Ppihya."
Hey, it's nothing. It wasn't scary at all.
But that was only for a moment. Sensing something moving like lightning from behind, Ashil screamed again.
"Ppiyaaaaaaaak!"
"Kkyuaaaaaaaak!"
The thing moving behind Ashil was also surprised and screamed along.
"Kyaaaoooooong!"
It was a small brown fox.
Hey, what is it. It was a fox friend! It was even similar in size to Ashil.
Once again, Ashil let out a sigh of relief and spoke while doing a shaky jig.
"Ppiyatppii." (Fox friend, hello.)
However, Ashil tilted Ashil's head, looking puzzled by the faint scent coming from the fox.
'It smells similar to husband.'
This fox seemed to be living with someone from husband's family.
Otherwise, there was no way it would smell like this.
However, it wasn't grandfather's scent. It wasn't husband's uncle's scent either.
Then whose scent is it?
"Kyaaaang."
At that moment, the fox, as if not wanting to deal with Ashil, made an incomprehensible cry and scurried away.
Ashil hugged the rabbit, who was on the verge of fainting, and quickly followed behind.
"Ppiyiya?" (Do you live here?)
"......"
"Ppiyiya ppii? Ppiyappiyappiya." (Have you seen a human woman who was here? She looks like this.)
Ashil recalled the portrait of Family Deity's wife that Dylan had briefly shown and rubbed Ashil's face.
Then, the fox, who had been walking primly, snapped.
"Kyang." (You're ugly.)
"Ppii?" (Have you seen her?)
"Kyaaang."
The fox, making another incomprehensible cry, climbed onto a broken chair and licked its fur.
Judging by the fact that it didn't say it didn't know, it seemed to know something. Ashil waited for the fox friend to tell Ashil.
"Kkaeng?" (Aren't you going?)
The fox whined, looking annoyed to death at Ashil's persistent presence.
Still, when Ashil didn't budge, it curled its tail and asked as if testing Ashil's true intentions.
"Kyaaong?" (Why are you looking for the human woman?)
"Ppiyiya ppii." (To punish her.)
"Kyaang?" (Why?)
"Ppiyiya." (Because she hurt grandfather.)
"Kyang...?" (Grandfather...?)
The fox narrowed its eyes and scanned Ashil up and down.
And then, as if finally understanding, it nodded.
"Kyareureureung." (So you're that rumored Divine Beast. Ugly lizard.)
"Ppiit!" (Ashil is not a lizard!)
"Kyang, kyaaang. Kyaang." (Follow me. I'll take you to where the human woman is.)
The fox, gracefully wagging its abundant tail, guided Ashil.
Going out through the back door of the shed and passing through a deserted path, there was a space where someone seemed to have been camping out.
The familiar scent similar to husband's was so strong that it seemed like they had been here until just a moment ago.
On the ground, a woman who looked exactly like the portrait Dylan had shown was lying unconscious.
She had applied a thick Scented Oil to her neck to prevent being tracked by scent, and judging by the fact that the Scented Oil smell was noticeable even from afar, it seemed like she had been brought here from somewhere else.
The fox nudged the woman's body and said.
"Kyang. Kyaaang." (Take her. If you can take her.)
It seemed confident that Ashil wouldn't be able to take her because Ashil was so small.
But Ashil was not a Dragon who would succumb to something like that.
Ashil easily began to drag the human woman, who was several times bigger than Ashil.
"Kyaaang?!"
The surprised fox jumped.
Regardless, Ashil moved Ashil's feet diligently. The baby rabbit also helped with all its might, though it was lacking.
They passed the stream and the path.
The Family Deity's wife still hadn't woken up.
Judging by the fact that she couldn't wake up even though her whole body was covered in wounds from being dragged around, it seemed like she wasn't just sleeping.
'Ashil should go quickly and show her to husband and grandfather.'
Ashil's whole body was covered in dirt and sweat, but it was okay.
Ashil's stomach, which hadn't eaten anything besides strawberries, was rumbling, but Ashil could endure it.
Ashil moved the woman without even frowning once.
Ashil found an abandoned cart in the middle and thought that Ashil could use this, so Ashil was struggling to lift her onto it.
"Damn it, here! The woman who disappeared is here!"
A voice Ashil had never heard before rang in Ashil's ears.
Turning around to see who it was, Ashil saw a masked thug.
It was an assassin hired by Biante to kill the woman.
"A lizard is moving her?"
"What?"
Other assassins ran over after hearing his shout.
Then, they looked at the tiny Ashil and made dumbfounded expressions.
"I was so scared that she had run away."
"Where did this lizard come from?"
"Who cares. We found her, so let's kill her quickly."
"Ppi......"
Ashil, like a brave Dragon beast-man, put strength in Ashil's eyes and sweated.
Ashil had been nervous the whole time, and Ashil had no strength left because Ashil had dragged a human who was several times bigger than Ashil.
Ashil was hungry and couldn't use Breath, but Ashil had to face scary humans with swords in this state.
The assassins chuckled.
"Look how scared it is. Little one, stealing is bad."
"We'll send you off without pain, so close your eyes tightly."
No, Ashil will fight the bad humans!
"Ppiyiya!"
Ashil put all Ashil's strength into it and made a loud shout, taking a fighting stance.
Then, the assassins, making voices that seemed to be mocking Ashil, adjusted their swords.
"It's quite brave for a lizard."
"It's all the same once you die."
The assassins slowly approached.
