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The Baby Dragon Saves the Duke's Family, Episode 3
A fluffy-looking white whipped cream cake.
With an enormously large strawberry decorating it.
Ashil, who loved strawberries more than anything in the world after his mother, slowly opened his mouth.
"Ppiya ppi......"
His determination not to let his guard down was rendered useless as his body moved towards the cake.
He didn't even mind getting white whipped cream on his black paws as he plucked out the strawberry.
The color was red, and it looked very appetizing as it filled both of his front paws.
As he took a big bite, the sweet and sour taste spread throughout his mouth, and fireworks exploded in his head.
"Ppiya ppit!!!!" (Delicious!!!!)
There were strawberries in the Beast-man's forest, but they weren't as juicy as this one. He couldn't believe such strawberries existed!
Tears welled up in Ashil's big eyes.
Ashil hurriedly stuffed the strawberry into his mouth as if someone would steal it from him.
His round, black face bulged on both sides like a squirrel storing acorns.
"Is it good?"
"Ppib."
He tried to say it was delicious, but his mouth was so full of strawberries that he couldn't speak.
Ashil hurriedly nodded his head and took another strawberry from the cake.
As he shoved it into his mouth again, a wave of emotion washed over his eyes.
It was so delicious that his short tail wagged like a windmill.
That day, Ashil ate his fill of delicious strawberries.
Edenber watched Ashil with a gloomy expression.
Strawberries were delicious, but he still had to go home.
It was a dark night, with the sound of insects chirping.
Ashil, who was pretending to sleep while hugging a rabbit tightly on a fluffy cushion, slowly opened his eyes.
Ashil gently shook the sleeping baby rabbit with his fern-like paws.
"Ppiya, ppiyaa!" (Rabbit, rabbit!)
"Ggyuu-"
"Ppi!" (Shhh!)
Ashil, startled, covered the baby rabbit's mouth.
"Ppiya ppi!" (We have to get out of here!)
Then, being careful not to make any rustling noises, he carefully slipped out of the cushion.
Now, when everyone was asleep, was the perfect opportunity to escape from this place.
He was grateful to the husband who gave him the delicious strawberries, but...
Remembering that he had tried to eat the baby rabbit, he couldn't let his guard down. He might end up in the same situation at any time.
"Ppi! Ppiya!" (Follow Ashil quietly!)
Ashil began to tiptoe across the huge room.
The baby rabbit, half-asleep, followed behind him.
But.
"Ppi?"
Something caught his eye from behind.
What was it? Ashil flinched and turned around.
Then, lo and behold, he saw a mountain of strawberries piled high on a white plate.
It was a late-night snack prepared by Edenber, who had not yet given up on Ashil's ferocity, to prepare for a rampage.
No wonder he smelled something fragrant!
"Ppiyaaaaa!"
Ashil, who had cheered with happiness, covered his mouth.
He looked towards the door in case someone came, and when no one came in, he went to the strawberries and picked them up with his trembling paws.
The strawberries smelled very delicious.
"Ppii......"
He couldn't help but drool.
Ashil pulled out the scarf he was wearing and wrapped two strawberries, one for himself and one for the rabbit, and carried them like a peddler.
He wanted to take some for his mother, but his body was too small, so two was the limit.
Then, when he turned around, the rabbit was asleep, tired of waiting.
"Ppiya ppiya ppiya!" (Wake up! Don't sleep here!)
"Ggyuu......"
Ashil took care of his friend even though the strawberries were heavy.
He held the cushion as a shield in case a human suddenly came in, and carefully crossed the wide room.
How long had it been?
Finally, he saw the door that led to the hallway.
'Now I can go outside.'
He had checked earlier and found that this room had a Barrier set up to prevent him from using magic properly.
'As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to use Return magic to go to the Beast-man's forest.'
Even though his mother had said, 'I'll go find you as soon as I break the Barrier surrounding the Beast-man's forest, so don't worry.'
It wasn't in his nature to sit still and wait for someone to come and pick him up.
Ashil, who had a strong sense of independence, decided to go home on his own.
However.
"Ppiyat!"
He was faced with a huge problem.
He was too short to reach the doorknob.
"Ppiyaaaaa!"
He hadn't learned how to fly yet, so he had no choice but to run hard.
His small body jumped into the air one after another.
But no matter how hard he jumped, he only got farther and farther away from the doorknob. It was because he was running out of energy.
"Ppihya. Ppihya. Ppihyaaa......"
Ashil, panting, slumped down on the cushion, feeling dejected. Was this the end of his dream of escape?
No. There was his dozing rabbit friend next to him.
'If we work together, we can open the door.'
Ashil, his eyes shining, shook his rabbit friend's body wildly.
"Ppiya, ppiyaaaa!" (Rabbit, rabbit!)
"Ggyuu......"
"Ppiyat ppit, ppiya. Ppiyaaat!" (Ashil will lift you up. Go turn the doorknob!)
Ashil, shouting bravely, lifted the rabbit's butt.
But his rabbit friend was still fast asleep.
"Ppiyaaaa!" (Rabbit!)
"......"
The rabbit didn't wake up, unaware of Ashil's desperate heart.
In fact, even if he woke up, it wouldn't make a difference, because even if you combined the height of the tiny baby dragon and the baby rabbit, it would be about the same.
"Ppi......"
Ashil, saddened, put the rabbit down.
If only my arms were a little longer... He imagined a Dragon beast-man opening the door leisurely with long arms.
'I'm going to become that kind of Dragon beast-man.'
He sniffled his nose in frustration when his stomach growled. He was hungry because he had been exercising in the moonlight.
In the end, he untied the scarf he was carrying like a bundle and munched on a strawberry.
In the meantime, the strawberry was so delicious that he felt even sadder.
Just then.
He heard whispering from beyond the door.
"The Duke is wrong, there's no way that tiny monster has any useful abilities."
"If we bring in such a weak Divine Beast, the authority of the Moonrepe family will be greatly damaged. I wonder what he was thinking when he accepted it."
"He's young, so he can't tell right from wrong."
"Let's kill it first and make it look like a sudden death."
Ashil, who couldn't hear the conversation properly because of the thickness of the iron door, lit up his eyes.
He was going to ask someone outside to open the door.
"Ppitt keum. Ppitt keum."
Ashil, who had put down the half-eaten strawberry, cleared his throat.
Then, he knocked as hard as he could so that the humans outside could hear him.
"Ppiya-!" (Open the door-!)
But.
Bang!!!
The door, which was designed not to break even if a large explosion occurred in preparation for the Divine Beast's monstrous power, flew off the hinges.
Ashil, who had inadvertently broken the door, blinked his eyes. Huh?
"......Ppi?"
Where did the door go?
Ashil tilted his head with a bewildered look.
He looked down at his fern-like paws and blinked his eyes.
Then, he belatedly discovered the humans outside who were frozen in place.
They were so shocked by the unimaginable power that they couldn't move rashly.
In the meantime, one of them was groaning under the fallen door.
Ashil's pink eyes widened when he belatedly saw the fallen human.
'The human is hurt.'
He had learned that human bodies were weaker than Beast-men! Ashil, flustered, ran over and lifted the door.
"Ppiya ppi ppiya?" (Human, are you okay?)
He didn't forget to ask how they were doing, as befitting a polite dragon.
Only then did the humans, who had come to their senses, exchange glances.
'What should we do? Isn't this an Orichalcum door?'
'It is... Is it defective?'
'It's either defective, or the door must be broken. There's no way that tiny thing could have broken it.'
It was the vassal who had argued for Edenber's re-summoning earlier who made that suggestion.
With his misguided loyalty, he often tried to teach the young Duke by mentioning Edenber's age.
Eventually, he ended up making a mess of things.
A cold light flashed in his eyes.
'The Duke will take care of it in the morning.'
