It was a language he had never heard before.
Nevertheless, for some reason, he could make out a few words here and there, so fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to infer the general meaning.
“Kkyuuk.”
He nodded affirmatively.
Then he started to communicate something earnestly with gestures.
‘I indeed came out from inside there. I wasn’t hatched; I was trapped. I’m not a Black whatever… but a Wyrm of the Black Dragon.’
The other person’s expression went blank upon hearing that.
[Oh my…]
‘A child who can barely babble is…?’
No matter how adept a dragon child is, communicating right after birth is not normal.
Despite the lack of language, the attempt to communicate by reading expressions and gestures was surprising.
Christina looked down at the child anew and thought.
‘Could this be a genius?’
Seeing how the child looked up at her so intently, she found it rather cute.
[Child■.]
The gigantic head of a Gold Dragon lowered towards the wyrm with a whoosh.
She merely leaned in, yet the sense of pressure was immense.
‘Get a grip. I’ve lived 999 years as a divine beast! I won’t be easily swayed by such intimidation!’
The wyrm clenched its tiny hands tightly with wide-open eyes.
But.
‘What, what is this?’
No matter how mature the mind, it was still a child’s body.
Nothing could be done about the trembling in the face of overwhelming pressure.
‘Ugh.’
Tears welled up in his big eyes and soon trickled down as drops.
At that moment, the Gold Dragon hesitated and turned her head away.
[Sorry■. Child■.]
Her voice was noble yet incredibly gentle and warm. The warmth spread over her body like golden blooms.
Fiat
As her body was wrapped in light, the immense size of the Gold Dragon shrunk gradually to a human scale.
When the light faded, she turned into a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman in her mid-twenties.
The sense of intimidation greatly diminished, and she exuded a fresh charm as she approached him.
“In this form■ it’s not scary■, right■?”
“Kyuuukk!”
‘Who’s scared now!’
The wyrm bared its teeth and growled.
Of course, it was just childish.
‘A small one with quite some spirit?’
Gold Dragon Christina smiled contentedly.
“My name■ is Christina.”
Christina sat on her knees in front of the wary little one.
‘A hatchling of the extinct Black Dragons, which I thought I’d never see again.’
She looked down affectionately at the wary black hatchling.
Christina, the head of the Gold Dragons.
As part of her duties, she had safeguarded the last egg left by the Black Dragons in her lair.
Initially, she had hoped that the last child they left might wake up.
But as centuries—one hundred, two hundred, five hundred years—passed, the egg remained cold.
It had, practically speaking, been a dead egg.
‘That egg… was alive.’
She had come here not because she expected the hatchling to be born, but because it was the day to periodically manage the heirlooms the Black Dragons trusted to her.
She felt sorry for giving up.
Thus, she felt a sense of guilt, but the child born like a miracle was precious and lovable.
Christina reached out cautiously.
“You must be hungry■… Will you be alright■?”
At her concerned words, the wyrm also realized its hunger.
‘Come to think of it… I need to eat.’
Grrr.
“…Kkyuk.”
Once he became aware, his hungry stomach naively revealed its need.
He alternately stared at his stomach and Christina’s outstretched hand.
‘Even if she gives me food… Can I trust her enough to eat it?’
The wyrm hugged the gem closer and gingerly moved back.
It was a clear gesture of caution.
[Episode 3: Kyuu? Kyuu!]
Christina sighed shallowly, feeling pity for that sight.
‘Could it be that he still harbors the scars and near-death experience from the upheaval, even if he was in the egg?’
It wasn’t unreasonable; she moved slowly, attempting to appear as harmless as possible to avoid scaring the newborn any further.
“Look here.”
Christina took a leather pouch from her waist.
“How about this■?”
What she held was a pure-white milk bottle.
“This isn’t just regular milk■; it’s the milk of a■ that eats the magical herbs growing on the■.”
Pop.
When she opened the luxurious cap, usually used for top-grade mana potions, the fresh scent of milk teased his nose.
‘It smells delicious.’
Unconsciously, the wyrm alternated his gaze between the milk bottle and Christina.
‘I don’t sense any malice from her right now. Besides.’
The rich and refreshing scent of the creamy milk tickled his senses.
‘Why does it look so appetizing…?’
Normally, no matter how hungry he was, he wouldn’t be so captivated by mere milk.
But instinct to survive overpowered rationality in his young body.
As he hesitated to stretch out a paw, he suddenly regained his sense and stopped.
Still, his eyes would sneak towards the milk bottle, and his toes would wiggle.
‘Ugh. Get a grip!’
The wyrm shook his head, trying to pull himself together.
It was a victory of reason. In the end, he clenched his fist and withdrew the paw he almost stretched out.
Grrr.
‘Ugh.’
The growling of his stomach couldn’t be silenced by sheer willpower, and the wyrm grimaced.
This distressed Christina even more.
‘What to do? He must be really hungry, but he won’t eat.’
Normally, a newborn hatchling would have a voracious appetite.
Even with enough nutrients from the egg, their survival instinct worked strongly by nature.
He looked like a weak chick struggling to survive.
“Little one…”
His conscience pricked seeing her pitiful expression.
‘She doesn’t seem like a bad person.’
Though he seldom ventured out, living 999 years had given him a certain sense.
The wyrm eyed the milk bottle thoughtfully.
‘Since she’s the master of this place, I’ll have to go through her to leave. I should build trust.’
There might be an ulterior motive, but if she wanted to harm him, there would be no need for such troublesome methods.
Despite the risk, he thought he had no choice but to trust her, although his caution made him hesitate to take the milk bottle.
Seeing the conflicted expression on the wyrm’s face, Christina shook the bottle.
“Do you dislike it■ that much?”
“…”
When he finally prepared himself to take it.
“If you really don’t want it, there’s nothing I can do.”
Christina, concerned that forcing the milk on the tense little one might heighten his wariness, started to take the bottle back.
‘No way!’
“Kyuu-!”
In his haste, he reached out with his short, plump hand and grabbed the bottle. He then began gulping it down, putting the bottle to his lips.
His eyes widened with surprise.
‘For mere milk… to taste this good?’
Moreover, it wasn’t just simple milk; it even slightly restored his vitality.
Having spent all his energy, he eagerly tilted the bottle and drained it dry.
Christina, though initially startled by his sudden movement, was relieved and laughed.
“Is it good■?”
“Kyuu. Kyuuuk.”
He nearly hiccupped from the embarrassment.
While carefully setting aside the empty bottle, he nodded, making Christina stifle a laugh.
‘I was saving this to put in my tea, but this turned out well.’
Adult dragons usually didn’t need food.
But they enjoyed eating for pleasure.
Christina preferred cookies, tea, and cakes as desserts.
“Kyu-ah!”
Having completely finished a bottle, he placed the empty bottle on the ground, breathing heavily.
His golden hair shining in the sunlight, Christina, who knelt before the hatchling, gently suggested.
“Let’s go■ together■. In this world■, there are even more delicious■ things and fun■ things to do.”
The black hatchling, holding the black mana stone again, looked up at her.
‘She’s saying to come with her, right?’
He realized that he had achieved the purpose of taking the risk of drinking the milk.
‘Great. She doesn’t seem to have any harmful intentions, and staying here isn’t an option.’
His current state wasn’t sufficient to do anything on his own.
In a young body, hunger overpowered reason, driving him to covet whatever was right in front of him, without the power gained from training.
‘Instincts that render near-thousand-year training futile.’
He felt so pathetic that he nearly clicked his tongue at himself.
‘Rebuilding on my own with this body that can’t endure hunger is impossible.’
Assessing the situation coldly, the wyrm wiped his mouth with his hand.
‘For now, it makes sense to follow her.’
The wyrm cleared his throat as if to himself and reaffirmed his thoughts.
‘It’s not because the milk was delicious.’
Having resolved himself, he embraced the black mana stone.
“Kyuuu.”
‘Alright. Let’s go.’
As a sign that he was ready, the wyrm placed a paw on Christina’s hand.
Christina smiled, her eyes curved in a happy smile, and hugged the wyrm to her chest.
The unexpected hug made the wyrm’s eyes widen.
‘O-oh.’
“Come here, little one.”
Christina quietly stroked his back.
Compared to other hatchlings, he felt somewhat smaller.
‘Originally, he should have absorbed enough nutrients within the egg and been born under the protection of adult dragons.’
She assumed he seemed smaller and thinner than his peers possibly due to hatching from a neglected egg.
‘Did he undergo hardships he shouldn’t have even before being born?’
His memory of frantically seeking a milk bottle kept lingering in her mind.
It was cute and made her feel compassion.
She also felt grateful, in a way.
