Christina used teleportation magic to bring Ferdikion, the Imoogi, and the young bird to a room with a cradle before stepping outside.
Left alone with the two others, Ferdikion cleared his throat loudly.
“Hey.”
“Coo?”
‘Hey, out of the blue?’
Ferdikion suddenly grabbed the Imoogi’s cheeks and started fiddling with them.
“Tweet!”
While the Imoogi was bewildered by Ferdikion’s sudden change in demeanor, the white chick, looking startled, perched on Ferdikion’s head and began pecking him.
“Move aside, insolent.”
Unperturbed, Ferdikion casually swept the bird away with one hand and squeezed the Imoogi’s round cheeks with both hands.
“Coo. Coo.”
‘Let go, you jerk.’
As the Imoogi struggled, Ferdikion murmured lowly.
“This guy is supposed to be the younger sibling I have to guide?”
‘Says he’ll lead like a sibling, huh?’
The way he treated the young creature made it clear now, the behavior he showed in front of Christina was just an act. The Imoogi’s eyes sharpened with realization.
Furthermore, it was questionable whether Ferdikion could teach anything to the Imoogi, who had inherited Christina’s knowledge.
Unaware of this, Ferdikion released his grip on the Imoogi’s cheeks and spoke in a high-handed tone.
“Just follow me. Don’t think I’ll go easy on you because you’re young, and don’t even think of slacking off.”
“Coo.”
Displeased, the Imoogi’s scales bristled with irritation.
Sensing his mood, the white chick stiffened its black crown feathers and puffed out its tail.
“Tweet!”
The white chick glared at Ferdikion as if ready to peck at him any moment.
Ferdikion also glared at the bird and growled lowly.
“Don’t act so arrogant to the one who will become the master of fire.”
A hostile flame rose in Ferdikion’s eyes as he stared at the bird.
Was chapter 15 a bit too much?
The sight of the flames licking the young bird was intimidating.
At that moment, the Imoogi extended its forepaw like a shield in front of the baby bird.
“Cheek!?”
The young bird, thinking the Imoogi’s black paw was injured, let out a scream-like sound.
“What are you doing?!”
As the flames disappeared instantly with Ferdikion’s shout, the Imoogi thought to itself.
‘It’s not dangerous. If you have a brain, you wouldn’t harm me in Christina’s lair.’
Even if it’s not just Ferdikion, if someone greater came, they would find themselves in an irretrievable situation if they harmed him under Christina’s protection in the Gold Dragon’s lair.
Christina might seem kind and gentle, but as the Lord of Light and the elder of the Gold Dragon, she was the empress of this region.
Trying to attack the hatchling and divine beast under her protection?
Not only would they be expelled, but they wouldn’t escape her wrath.
‘Christina might be kind, but an immature brat could get seriously hurt if he messes around ignorantly.’
He held the baby bird in his arms and stared coldly at Ferdikion.
Ferdikion, who didn’t flinch a bit, said to the Imoogi.
“Ha, taking care of a subordinate, are you?”
“……”
Tsk, the Imoogi clicked its tongue inwardly.
‘This guy is hopeless. Where should I start fixing him?’
It seemed that it would be the Imoogi who needed to teach.
Just imagining it felt tiring.
‘Should I just ignore him and go along?’
That could be an option. Since he was the next elder of the fire clan, building a proper relationship could later become a valuable connection.
‘No. It still wouldn’t work.’
Thinking about having to know him for thousands of years, the fleeting thought of taking it easy vanished quickly.
Leaving an over-indulgent brat unchecked wasn’t an option.
It was better to correct him while he was young.
‘First, let’s establish the hierarchy.’
The Imoogi fixed its gaze on Ferdikion with a subtle intent to kill.
The weight of his near-thousand-year presence filled the room, making the surrounding air feel momentarily cold.
Instinctively sensing danger, Ferdikion tensed up.
However, soon, he frowned as if angry at himself.
‘Am I… feeling pressured by a hatchling less than a year old?’
Contrary to his emotions of anger, the overwhelming feeling was suffocating.
Then, suddenly, the killing intent vanished.
“Huff!”
Ferdikion let out a breath. Trying to catch his breath, he looked at the Imoogi.
He couldn’t believe that a hatchling not even a year old had decided to ‘let him off’.
‘This should be enough.’
While Ferdikion was still confused, the Imoogi calmly placed the baby bird on its shoulder.
Although he felt angry about being scared, the fact that it was a hatchling less than a month old confused him even more.
“You… what are you? How do you have such an aura?”
“…Coo.”
To the Imoogi, it looked like a beast that felt threatened and barked more to not be harmed recklessly.
Showing obvious signs of tension and wary eyes, the Imoogi shrugged its shoulders and patted the baby bird’s head with its forepaw.
‘…Maybe I overdid it?’
Despite the arrogance, his mental strength was weak.
He wondered if he should have controlled the intensity better.
‘Though younger than me, if he gets that intimidated, what will happen?’
The result was inevitable.
The Imoogi had been secluded for centuries in a harsh environment, devoting himself to training with sincere determination towards ascension.
Not a single day of those arduous efforts had been easy.
In other words, the experience density of Ferdikion’s life was thinner than the Imoogi’s.
‘But seeing him handle fire, his sense isn’t too bad.’
Though used for intimidation, his magic flow was surprisingly smooth and meticulous, contrary to his rough temperament.
‘Though a cowardly lion, he definitely has great skill in handling power.’
Though still insufficient, his potential was quite notable.
If only his unpalatable disposition could be corrected, he could become quite useful.
‘Didn’t he say he was raised solely for elder education by his father after his mother’s death? Pashias didn’t seem like a good father, neither likely fostering decent emotional companionships…’
Suddenly, the Imoogi realized the essence of it all for a moment.
‘Ah. So that’s Christina’s objective.’
To create someone he could bond with.
She must have thought similarly to the Imoogi.
When thinking about it, finding someone for Ferdikion to bond with as equals indeed had strict conditions.
‘Christina couldn’t become his friend. If Peshius allowed Ferdikion to come over, Christina must have received his consent already.’
It was a good strategy. Judging from how he reacted to Christina’s pampering, once he opened up his heart, he was unlikely to easily distance himself.
‘If all goes well, I won’t have any conflicts with the fire clan’s heir. That’s also beneficial for me.’
Since Christina had been a benefactor to the Imoogi, he decided to participate in her intention willingly.
‘Suddenly asking them to relax isn’t feasible. First, I need to create an opening.’
The Imoogi softened its expression, gently embracing the baby bird, and looked at Ferdikion.
To emphasize that the display of killing intent earlier was merely a reflex to protect his friend, the hatchling, and that he was inherently just a youngling, he even tilted his head.
It seemed like he was asking not to touch his friend.
The sight of the hatchling tenderly holding the white, tiny baby bird softened the earlier impression of his intimidating behavior.
Seeing this, Ferdikion slightly lowered his guard.
‘The problem now is how to build camaraderie.’
The first thing that came to mind was to establish the power hierarchy and then get him to follow his orders.
‘This method is not viable.’
The Imoogi immediately rejected the idea.
He couldn’t explain his past life, so to talk about his strength, he would have to refer to the inherited abilities and knowledge granted by Christina.
That was both her request and the Imoogi’s last ace.
Moreover, it wouldn’t fundamentally solve Ferdikion’s problem of mistreating the weak.
‘It would just tether him to listen to someone stronger by force.’
He couldn’t turn him into a cowardly subordinate to a stronger being.
While the Imoogi was organizing his thoughts, Christina returned to the room using teleportation magic.
“Hey, were you guys playing well?”
“Coo.”
With a clueless expression, the Imoogi looked at her.
“What is that?”
Christina answered Ferdikion’s question.
“This is food that this little one particularly likes. Why don’t you try it too?”
“…Thank you.”
With a polite bow, Ferdikion looked into the basket. It contained crispy biscuits, milk bottles, honey, and cheese—a simple snack.
He noticed that these snacks weren’t ordinary.
“This food has magic…”
“You noticed. This one likes this kind of food very much.”
“Magic-infused food?”
“Hehe, interesting, right? This one always eats that.”
Feeling puzzled, Ferdikion looked at the Imoogi.
‘Always eating food infused with magic?’
It was the first time he heard of a hatchling that insisted on eating food with specific ingredients.
For humans, it was like enjoying food sprinkled with supplements or potion syrup.
Unless there was a particular purpose, it was unusual for a dragon hatchling, born with abundant innate magic, to seek out magic-infused food.
‘Was the strong aura I felt earlier because of this diet?’
Ferdikion dismissed that thought.
‘No way. Unless he intentionally seeks it, such a thing wouldn’t happen.’
Unbeknownst to him, the Imoogi dipped a biscuit generously in honey and swallowed it whole.
“Coo.”
‘It’s tasty, indeed.’
Crunch, crunch.
The Imoogi, biting the biscuit with his cheeks puffed out, picked another one and started eating, clearly enjoying its taste.
Then, nonchalant, he took a honey-dipped biscuit from the basket and offered it to Ferdikion, who hadn’t touched any.
“Coo!”
‘Don’t waste your energy pointlessly, just eat some.’
Ferdikion stared at the honey biscuit the Imoogi handed to him.
The sight of offering the sweet-smelling snack was quite cute and friendly, but remembering the earlier menacing aura overlapping with this cute gesture left him confused.
But he couldn’t refuse in front of Christina.
Ferdikion slightly narrowed his eyebrows and took the biscuit, popping it into his mouth.
Crunch.
The moment he tasted it, Ferdikion’s expression turned subtly stiff.
‘It’s… delicious?’
Crunch, crunch!
He quickly chewed the biscuit.
Seeing this, the Imoogi took another biscuit, dunked it in honey, and handed it to Ferdikion again.
After a moment’s hesitation and wariness, Ferdikion took the biscuit and ate it.
Seeing him accept the biscuit readily made it feel like taming a wild cat.
‘Oh, is this it?’
It felt like he had found a clue to refining the fierce temperament.
It’s hard to dislike someone who gives you good food.
Especially the combination of sweet treats and tasty snacks usually has a mood-lifting effect if you have a penchant for them.
If taught to share such treats with others?
‘There’s a saying about sharing meals. It’s a great way to build bonds.’
A good method to teach Ferdikion compassion for others and gain his favor through delicious snacks.
‘This guy is the next elder of the fire clan and the owner of a lair and dungeon. If he learns to be a benevolent ruler, it’ll be good for me too.’
If he could avoid being mistreated and forge a reasonably amicable relationship, success.
If they became even closer, it would be like having the fire clan on his side.
Gulp.
Seeing Ferdikion swallow a sip of sweet honey, the Imoogi pulled out a milk bottle and offered it to him.
‘It’s delicious with milk too.’
Christina, quietly observing, marvelled softly.
“Looks like you two have become friends already.”
“Rather than friends… We just exchanged greetings.”
