One Day I Became a Hatchling: Chapter 18

“Yeah. I can’t keep calling you chick. Did you not even give your minion a name?”
‘I haven’t even known this guy for a week.’
Though that was true, it was also true that he had somewhat neglected it, and he felt that there was some merit to the point.
Glancing at the young phoenix’s white body, the imugi took a moment to think.
The decision came quickly.
“Let’s call it Baekya (White Night).”
“Baekya?”
“Yes. It means white night.”
In fact, since it was born by consuming the dark power of the imugi, it was a name he had in mind.
“It’s an unusual name. Well, it’s more than suitable for that bird.”
“…Is that so.”
It was a somewhat underwhelming response to the name he had carefully thought of, but he didn’t want to argue.
“Tweet?”
On the other hand, Baekya just blinked upon hearing its name.
The imugi told Baekya once again.
“You heard me. Your name is now ‘Baekya’.”
“…Tweet? Tweet-tweet!”
Baekya tilted its head, seeming to have realized something, and its yellow eyes sparkled.
Then, it even began to scurry around with its tiny legs.
‘Does it like the name that much?’
The imugi shrugged. Still, seeing Baekya chirp brightly and flap its wings, it seemed to have taken a liking to it.
“So, you don’t have a name yet?”
“No.”
The imugi gave a short nod.
Since Christina hinted that it was best to decide on his name quickly, he’d been thinking about it, but he hadn’t come to a conclusion yet.
“It would be best to decide soon. Some magic requires you to use your name.”
Although Ferdinand’s tone wasn’t the nicest, he was right, so the imugi nodded obediently.
“Got it.”
Ferdinand crossed his arms, looking at the imugi.
“Speaking of which, you have no parents, do you?”
“…Well, that’s true.”
Though it wasn’t a topic he felt comfortable discussing, he acknowledged it.
“So, you don’t have a guardian to help you with your name. I can help you with that.”
“I’m okay. I’ll think about it slowly.”
“What?”
Ferdinand quickly asked again, frowning.
Even though it seemed like Ferdinand was displeased, the imugi remained resolute.
“There’s no rush anyway.”
The imugi had a pretty good idea why Ferdinand was in such a hurry to name himself.
Even though they were technically junior to each other, they were both dragons destined to become the elders of their respective clans.
When they eventually became dragons, they would gain power representing their clans, and some of that power required knowing the ‘True Name’ of a dragon.
‘For dragons, the True Name is like a proof of existence.’
Knowing a True Name didn’t necessarily mean you could control the dragon at will.
It merely enabled contracts with significant influence and allowed the use of magical scripts that could affect one another.
If a dragon promised to protect a nation with its True Name, the dragon might cease to exist if the nation perished.
Even if the dragon tried to protect it and failed without any fault of its own, the result would be the same.
Some dragons, by recklessly revealing their True Names, ended up enslaved by demons or no longer remained dragons.
‘That’s why there are usually conditions attached or indirect epithets are used. Or methods recognized by the world to nullify the promises.’
Creating a name was like attaching a seal to your contract.
‘Considering that, there’s no need to rush into naming. There’s no need to get his help right now.’
It was inevitable to be cautious as it was an act that unconsciously allowed the other party to deeply involve themselves in his life.
In fact, it was Ferdinand speaking about issues that parents usually dealt with that was overstepping his bounds.
‘Is he trying to understand the meaning of a True Name in advance since he’s young?’
Though there was no definite proof, it wasn’t an impossible assumption.
Looked at positively, he might’ve intended to truly become a solid ally, but negatively, he might covet the power linked to the True Name or the future authority the imugi would possess.
Even if Ferdinand had no such intentions, it might have been Pasius’s instructions.
‘There’s no harm in being cautious. There’s also a solution for the name.’
Since the True Name referred to the full name, it wasn’t necessary to reveal the entire name.
Like Ferdinand or Christina, he could use just the middle name or even a pseudonym.
Ferdinand mentioned that too.
“Then at least think about what I should call you. I can’t keep referring to you as ‘you’.”
Ferdinand looked at the young hatchling for a moment and cleared his throat lightly.
“As you know, my name is ‘Ferdinand’, but my True Name is longer.”
His red eyes glanced at the imugi.
“Sharing a True Name with another dragon means proving that the other is a complete ally. Dragons who know each other’s True Names cannot easily betray one another.”
Ferdinand crossed his arms, looking benevolent towards the imugi staring at him.
“Well… Since you’re like my brother, if the day comes when you tell me your True Name, I’ll share mine too.”
Ferdinand’s offer was impulsive.
The imugi nodded without hesitation.
“Okay.”
Ferdinand, displeased with the simple answer, glared at the imugi.
Though he didn’t express it, he seemed somewhat disappointed.
Ferdinand didn’t quite like the small, cheeky black hatchling.
It was true that Pasius had suggested getting to know the True Name.
But it wasn’t because of that.
Seeing the hatchling innocently calling him ‘brother’, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to have a sibling.
This innocent face, that didn’t realize how good it was to be an oath brother with Ferdinand, the ruler of all fire, irritated him.
‘He probably doesn’t understand the significance of being my brother, an elder of the fire clan.’
He remained displeased, staring at the imugi.
Naturally, the imugi noticed his displeasure.
‘Why is this brat irritated now?’
But he didn’t mention it, making a harmless face, avoiding unnecessary trouble.
The young fire dragon started explaining ‘True Names’ to the imugi.
“True Names are important. They relate to a dragon’s use of magic, so consider it a lesson.”
Though the imugi knew the stories as legend and nodded, he didn’t really understand.
“Dragons are called the origin of the attributes forming the world. That’s why we can use ‘Verbal Magic’, providing the root of our existence and the starting point of our fate.”
Ferdinand’s red eyes squinted slightly before returning to normal.
“The moment you named that bird ‘Baekya’, you opened a path for it in this world. Even more, since that bird is close to the source of the fire attribute, the meaning of its True Name wouldn’t be light.”
“I see.”
Though he mostly knew due to Christina’s knowledge and conversations, hearing it sorted out in Ferdinand’s words gave a different impression.
“Making a promise with your life in your name could create an unexpected, grand fate. I’ll give an example. Mainly, there’s the legendary magic. So…”
While responding appropriately to Ferdinand’s continued explanations, the imugi fell into other thoughts.
‘Creating fate, huh?’
A slight, bitter smile escaped.
Though he had failed, he knew better than anyone how to create fate.
‘The destiny I aimed for as a dragon was never light.’
He reminisced about how he tried to become a soaring dragon with a thousand years of training only to see it collapse in an instant.
‘That madman shattered my 999 years of effort, killing me, an imugi, in a moment.’
Thinking of that horrifying human, he shook his head inwardly.
Eventually, a strange doubt arose.
It rewrote my 999 years of effort in less than 100 years.
‘Fate tends to have equivalent exchange. Could a mere human twist it like that?’
When his thoughts reached there, an odd assumption arose.
‘Was my reincarnation as a dragon really a coincidence?’
If it were between humans, twisting fate might have been more acceptable.
Their lives were finite and short, always evolving, creating countless branching points.
But as a divine beast, the imugi’s life wasn’t like that.
‘On the brink of completing an extraordinary flow after 999 years of effort, adding inevitability upon inevitability, making it natural for me to become a dragon.’
Suddenly, he felt a surge of bitter amusement.
‘Thinking of it now, what’s the use?’
A sense of futility arose.
He knew there was nothing to discover anymore.
But it was a mere month ago that his near-millennium effort became void.
Even though he got a new life, the hardships and humiliations didn’t disappear easily.
“Hey, what are you daydreaming about?”
Ferdinand noticed the imugi’s lack of focus and asked.
The imugi shook his head.
“Nothing. I was listening.”
“Then tell me what I just said.”
“To become an elder, one needs the power and fear to dominate others?”
Having kept his ears open, the imugi replied easily.
While he lost focus for a moment, the words spoke of an old, outdated ideology.
“Yes, you’re listening well. Authority begins from an overwhelming difference in power and fear. You have to manage your subordinates well so that they don’t dare to rise against you.”
The explanation showed what kind of teachings Ferdinand had received.
Feigning ignorance, the imugi asked and pinpointed the flaw.
“But brother, wouldn’t inciting fear actually create enemies?”
An intolerable question made Ferdinand frown.
“Weren’t you listening? That’s why you need to ‘manage’ those insolent ones well.”
To the imugi’s knowledge, there wasn’t a successful nation ruled by fear.
Matching his tone to his childish nature, the imugi said:
“Hmm. But, brother, I think I’d want to follow someone who likes me.”
“Tweet.”
Baekya walked around to agree, lifting one wing.
The imugi watched Baekya suspiciously.
‘Does this bird understand everything we’re saying?’
As he looked at Baekya with growing suspicion, the white chick unfolded its tiny wings, as if asking to be held.
Seemingly wanting some affection, it stretched its arms out.
When the imugi picked up Baekya, Ferdinand replied bluntly.
“You want to follow someone who likes you? You’re still a kid.”
Ferdinand thought, mocking at something only a newborn hatchling would say.
“That kind of story works for street minstrels. The ruler must have control over those under them with just a word.”
Upon hearing that, the imugi thought:
‘Not entirely wrong, but sounds like some fossilized thinking from a thousand years ago.’
What Ferdinand described was a methodology popular during the Dragon War.
In contemporary terms, it seemed like traditions from an old dojo.
‘Back then, wars were fought along racial lines; such thinking was necessary.’
In eras of racial wars, survival, battles, and manipulations laid everywhere.
In a world where a single uncontrollable variable could cost lives, dominance was crucial despite seeming unreasonable at times.
But now, post-war, it was time to comfort and heal the weary and sacrificed.
Had Ferdinand continued the rule marked by control and fear in peaceful times, it would have only compounded the weariness of the ruled.
‘It’d be unfortunate for himself too.’
Despite Ferdinand’s principled Red Dragon elder, Pasius, having a strong tendency to control, Ferdinand was different.
When his ears turned red or he stayed still when Christina stroked him, feeling elation over delicious food, or grumbling over a disliked bird – all were expressions of a rich emotional side.
‘Explaining my perspective will be too sophisticated for a hatchling. How do I handle this?’
Given its complexity and Christina’s hints, discussing high-level insights wasn’t feasible for a newborn.
A misstep might lead to unwanted consequences, as Christina had warned.
Though appearing cold and rigid, Ferdinand had strong emotions, leading him to feel hurt or embarrassed if his pride took a hit.
After a brief thought, the imugi softly asked:
“…Haven’t you ever felt hurt?”
“Hurt?”
“I mean… Brother, you’re strong, aren’t you?”
Ferdinand nodded at the imugi’s question.
“What’s the point?”
“I mean… Isn’t it possible that some loyal followers may want to say they’re scared or struggling but endure silently. Look at Baekya here.”
Bending down to pick up Baekya, the imugi gently cradled it in his hands.
The white bird chirped happily, fluttering its fluffy wings.
“As brother said, he’s my subordinate. He speaks freely if he dislikes something. Look.”
“Tweet!”
“He’s free and honest. But listening to you, brother, I feel you don’t have anyone like Baekya.”
Baekya lifted its head as if understanding the compliments, making the single black feather stand up high.
Watching that, Ferdinand stammered, clenching his eyes.