4 - Chapter 4
The Dragon Cub Saves the Duke's Family, Episode 4
Just in case, I watched Edenber leave for the meeting.
Now, there was only a tiny monster here.
Clang!
He drew the sword from his waist. As a signal, the other humans also drew their swords.
Startled by the chilling sound, Ashil raised his head.
"Bbit?!"
"Don't blame me, little one!"
The retainer rushed in fiercely.
Bbiyaat! Terrified, Ashil darted between his legs, dodging the sword.
Kang!
The sword missed its target and struck the floor. Following that, the man next to him swung his sword.
"Haat!"
"Bbiya!"
Ashil, who was running around in a fluster, flattened himself on the ground.
The sharply honed sword narrowly grazed over his head.
In the midst of the urgent situation, the words he had heard from the Beast Kindergarten teacher flickered in his mind.
"If you meet humans, let's wave a white handkerchief to show that we have no intention of attacking."
Ashil's eyes lit up. Where is the scarf?
Fortunately, it was lying not far away.
Although it was stained red with strawberry juice, it would be enough to signal surrender.
"Bbiyaaaa!"
Ashil slid and grabbed the scarf. And just as he was about to grab it with both front paws and shake it wildly.
"All you can do is wave a piece of cloth!"
The retainer who had attacked Ashil first stepped on the corner of the scarf.
Tear! The thin scarf tore right away.
"……!"
Ashil froze at the death of his cherished scarf.
The retainer sneered at Ashil.
"To think that such a stupid monster is Munrepe's Divine Beast. Unacceptable, absolutely!"
The sharp sword was brought down from above.
Even in the desperate situation, Ashil blankly stared down at the scrap of scarf.
The words the kindergarten teacher had told him echoed quickly in his head.
"But sometimes, there will be human bastards who try to attack us even if we wave a white handkerchief."
"Die, monster!"
"In that case, you must show them what you're made of. Show the rude human bastards how scary we can be!"
The frozen Ashil took a deep breath, whoop. His belly, plump with strawberries, swelled up like a balloon.
Ashil breathed out Breath with all his might.
Kwang!!!
Meanwhile, at that time.
Edenber was continuing the meeting with his key retainers.
Due to the serious agenda, their expressions were all grim.
"Now that we've succeeded in the summoning, we need to announce it as the Divine Beast..."
The retainer who spoke glanced at Edenber.
"Is it really true that it has no abilities at all?"
"I heard it's good at climbing trees."
Edenber replied dryly.
"It's also good at swimming, and good at singing."
The retainers fell silent.
They had barely managed to summon the monster by offering all sorts of bribes, but if they established something like this as the Divine Beast, they would only be ridiculed.
Edenber, who had been thinking about something with his eyes closed, opened his mouth.
"Can that thing overwhelm my uncle's Saint Creatures?"
Saint Creatures were intelligent animals that those who envied the Divine Beast trained through Magic Tools, in other words, fake Divine Beasts.
Of course, they couldn't be easily underestimated just because they were fake. As they were fake, a huge amount of money was invested in creating them.
There was even a saying that a well-raised Saint Creature was equal to a line of knights.
Edenber had also tried to cultivate a strong Saint Creature to replace the Divine Beast when he first took over the dukedom.
But he couldn't because of his uncle's interference.
His uncle was a greedy man who had extended his hand into the family under the pretext of helping his young nephew after the previous duke was ousted.
He seemed to be enticing the gullible retainers and dividing the family, and now he was not hiding his desire to become the head of the family.
The retainers, who were watching Edenber's expression, hesitated and answered.
"To be honest..."
"If its abilities are only that, I think it will be difficult."
As expected, the same opinions. Edenber, whose expression darkened, was lost in thought again.
'If my uncle's Saint Creature defeats that thing, he'll use that as an excuse to question my qualifications.'
Saying that he had too little discernment to establish a monster that was even subdued by a Saint Creature as the Divine Beast.
His support base was already precarious because of his young age, but if he was driven further to the edge here...
Edenber closed his eyes tightly.
'It would have been nice if a strong monster had been summoned.'
Even if it just looked ferocious, it would have been fine. Because he could package it as a dangerous thing.
But short, stubby limbs, and pink eyes that looked like they would cry if you poked them.
Even the fact that it was carrying an eggshell on its head made it seem like it hadn't been born long ago.
'Far from using it as a Divine Beast, I just want to protect it.'
He couldn't establish such a thing as the Divine Beast.
Edenber bit his lip and opened his mouth.
"Let's pretend this summoning never happened, and summon a new monster."
"Yes? But I thought the finances were no longer available..."
"I'll take care of it, so you don't have to worry about that part."
Recently, the Third Princess had secretly sent a letter.
'She proposed a political marriage on the condition of helping with the family's affairs.'
It was obvious that she wanted to get her hands on the Munrepe Dukedom, so he immediately refused-
'But that's the only way to re-summon.'
If he had to marry someone for the sake of saving the family anyway.
What did it matter who the other party was?
'I'll have to send a letter as soon as it dawns.'
Edenber clenched his fist tightly as he made that decision. His heart throbbed with stress.
It was then.
Kwang!!!
The ground shook at the same time as the loud noise.
What's going on? Surprised, Edenber turned his head.
Kwakwang!!
The sound of something breaking and the vibration were felt again.
"What is this..."
The retainers, sensing that something was unusual, buzzed.
Edenber reflexively ran out of the conference room.
"Duke!"
The surprised retainers shouted, but he didn't look back.
'It was towards the Divine Creature's Room.'
He had been careless because his uncle was away. He had been suspicious of one of the retainers earlier, so he had finally done something.
Kwang!
When he arrived near the Divine Creature's Room, the third vibration rang out. A scorching heat that seemed to prick the skin also blew in.
'He must have used a Magic Tool.'
It must be to kill the monster for sure.
To dare to use a Magic Tool in the Duke's family without the permission of the head of the family.
It was a stark demonstration of how much his authority had fallen.
Edenber put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He ran as hard as he could and turned the last corner.
And he had no choice but to stop at the scene that unfolded.
The outer wall had a hole in it, and the winter wind was blowing in, and the retainers, presumed to be the attackers, were rolling on the floor with severe burns.
And over there, Ashil was hugging a rabbit tightly and drooping.
It seemed that there was a problem with the Magic Tool and they were all caught up in it.
'Did it die……'
Edenber felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
It was the first time in his life that he had seen such a pure child, completely untouched by the world.
It was the first being that made him want to protect it.
…But it died before he could even spend a day with it.
'Could there be another duke in the empire as pathetic as this?'
It was then that the retainers and knights arrived.
They looked at the ruined scene and gasped as if they had made a promise.
Edenber, hiding his deep sense of loss, said in a dry tone.
"They are the ones who killed the ancient creature. I will investigate them myself, so take them to the underground prison."
And he looked at Ashil with gloomy eyes and instructed again.
"Bury it in a sunny place. With the rabbit too."
"Yes."
The knights who received the order moved.
At that sight, Ashil, who was pretending to be dead, was startled inside.
He was pretending to be dead because he thought another human with a knife had appeared when he heard the footsteps.
'My husband is trying to bury Ashil and the rabbit!'
How could he be so barbaric!
Beast-men were simply left deep in the forest when they died, so he was going to run away when he had the chance, but he didn't know they would bury him in the ground.
He was so surprised that all the blood drained from his body.
Thinking that he couldn't go into the ground like this, Ashil jumped up just before the knight's hand reached him.
Shouting loudly to let them know he was alive.
"Bbiyaaaaa!"
"Uwaaaak!"
"The monster is alive! Heuaaaaa!"
"Bbiyaaaaaaaa!"
The knights and retainers were shocked and screamed.
Ashil, startled by their voices, also screamed sincerely.
