It would be useless trying to stop him. He could tolerate suffering losses himself, but when it came to Grace, when it came to me, he would never let it slide.
He’ll try to restore me as the head of House Ellesia first.
...Yeah, absolutely not. Ceres unconsciously shook her head. Taking the position of head of the Ellesia family again was something she truly wanted no part of.
You expect me to go through that all over again?
Her life was short, all things considered. She hadn’t even made it past thirty. Even so, she had no regrets. She had lived her life as Grace Ellesia to the fullest, without leaving anything behind.
That was why she didn’t want to go back to that life. What she had now was enough.
Even if I’m dirt poor.
Every morning, it felt like her debt had multiplied overnight. But despite that, this life was happier than she ever expected. So...
“Who’s that?”
In the end, Ceres had no choice but to answer Kainel, her old friend, like this.
“Grace? Artia?”
Sorry for leaving you alone, Kai. I really am. But just for a little longer... I want to stay this way a little longer.
“...I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Was I supposed to?”
“......”
Ceres held Kainel’s gaze without flinching. After a long moment, he let out a quiet sigh.
“So that’s your answer.”
“Yeah.”
“You really are...”
Crack.
“...Crack?”
Just as Kainel was about to continue, an odd sound echoed out. Both he and Ceres looked down toward its source.
The box sitting at Ceres’s feet. Something inside it was breaking.
Tok... crack...
Tok, tok... craaack.
“That’s...”
The sound was coming from the black egg inside. It was the very egg Artia had brought with him 300 years ago before they buried it underground.
...Can you even call that thing an object?
“Are you seriously putting that in there?”
“Mhm!”
“Isn’t that the egg you found in the Black Forest?”
“Yep.”
“So why are you burying it?”
“Because it’s exhausting staring at it every day.”
“Then stop staring at it.”
“I can’t help it! My eyes keep drifting back to it! If I bury it here, I’ll eventually forget and stop checking on it.”
“And you’re burying it without even knowing what inside? What if something dangerous hatches out? Are you trying to blow up the Academy?”
“Relax, relax. Someone found an egg like this in the Black Forest once before. Apparently, it took more than thirty years to hatch. There’s no way it’ll hatch before we come back for it.”
“And what came out of that egg after thirty years?”
“An S-rank monster.”
“...Kai, kill him.”
“Alright.”
“Ah, come on, I said it’s fine! I’m serious! It’s completely harmless! They said it imprints on the first person it sees and treats them like its mother, so it’s super docile!”
It was an egg they had found in the first S-rank Black Forest the three of them conquered together.
S-rank Black Forests were on a very different level from ordinary ones. It wasn’t just the trees that turned black. The entire environment changed into something strange and unnatural.
The forest where they found that egg was exactly like that. A world dyed entirely in black. And within it lay a black egg.
Why is that thing only hatching now?
Not thirty years, but three hundred years had passed! Shouldn’t it have rotted away long ago?
No, wait!
Shouldn’t he have dug it back up before thirty years passed in the first place?! Arti, you dimwit!
Tap. Craaack!
Meanwhile, the black egg continued cracking apart at an alarming rate. Soft knocking sounds echoed from inside, as though whatever was trapped within was enthusiastically smashing against the shell.
“Kai! Get in front!”
Fwoosh!
At Ceres’s shout, Kainel instinctively stepped forward before shooting her a baffled look.
“I moved in front, so why are you backing away?”
“I don’t want to end up becoming some monster’s mother. You do it! You raise it!”
“......”
Kainel clicked his tongue inwardly.
You claim you don’t know who Grace is, but you keep saying things only the three of us would know.
Good grief...
Shaking his head slightly, he quietly took a few steps backward instead.
“W-Why are you moving back?”
At Ceres’s bewildered stare, he answered coolly as if the answer were obvious.
“I’ll pass too. I have no desire to become a monster’s mother.”
Even then, he kept his eyes fixed on the egg, ready to draw his sword at any moment. If the situation took a dangerous turn, he would move immediately.
Ceres frowned and jabbed him in the back.
“Don’t come back here. Stay in front of me.”
“No.”
“Come on, an actual S-rank monster could come out of that thing. Do your best raising it.”
Even while the two bickered, the cracking only grew louder.
Craaack! Crack!
This time, the sound was strangely different. Almost cheerful. Both Ceres and Kainel froze.
Soon, the black egg shattered into pieces. Something small popped right out of it.
[Buoo?]
“...What is that?”
What the hell is that little black blob?!
Ceres immediately ducked behind Kainel as she peeked at the creature that had emerged from the egg.
It was a tiny black creature, only slightly bigger than an adult’s palm. Small wings fluttered rapidly on its back.
No matter how I look at it...
...No. There’s no way.
Ceres hurriedly shook her head.
Arti, you idiot. What the hell did you bury?!
[Buoo?]
The little black creature blinked several times, seemingly unaccustomed to the suddenly bright surroundings.
After looking around for a while, its gaze landed directly on Ceres. Then, it flapped its tiny wings and flew straight toward her.
“What now?!”
Ceres shoved Kainel forward, trying to put some distance between herself and the creature. However, the little black merely circled through the air before settling on top of her head.
“I think Artia got it wrong.”
Kainel stared at the creature perched comfortably atop Ceres’s head.
“It doesn’t choose the first person it sees. It just picks whoever it likes.”
Kainel snorted and took a step away from Ceres.
Still, it seemed that idiot was right about one thing. He said it wouldn’t be dangerous, and surprisingly enough, it really wasn’t.
While Ceres frowned deeply, the creature sprawled across her head purred away in contentment.
“No matter how I look at it...”
“It looks like a dragon, right?”
“Have you ever seen a dragon this small?”
“No.”
Not even hatchlings were supposed to be this tiny. Ceres grabbed the creature sitting atop her head and placed it in her palm.
[Buoo!]
The black dragon immediately threw a fit, clearly unhappy about being removed. Watching it grumble, Ceres laughed incredulously.
“Well, I guess it really is S-rank.”
Though she wasn’t entirely sure whether a legendary creature like a dragon counted as a monster in the first place.
[Buoo?]
The dragon was small enough to fit perfectly in her hand. Like any newborn, it brimmed with curiosity. What made it more absurd was how such a tiny thing could have such a terrible temper.
Ceres lightly poked it on the forehead. The little dragon teetered like a roly-poly toy before straightening itself again.
[Buoo?]
Then, as if it had never thrown a tantrum at all, it obediently settled down in the center of her palm. Using its stubby little arms, it clung tightly to her thumb and struggled to shove it into its mouth.
Seeing the tiny creature wrestle with her finger, Ceres sighed.
What exactly are you?
.
.
.
Chapter 22: Sooty
“Big sis, what’s that?”
“A freeloader.”
Flap flap.
“A parasite.”
[Buoo!]
The black dragon perched quietly on her shoulder suddenly flew up in protest and started yanking on Ceres’s hair.
“I guess that’s what you’d expect from an S-rank monster.”
The thing understood human speech suspiciously well. Ceres scoffed and pulled the dragon off her hair, plopping it back into her palm.
“A monster?”
“Well, something like that.”
The moment Ceres sternly warned it not to pull her hair, the little dragon visibly drooped, its tiny wings hanging limply at its sides.
That only made Julia’s eyes sparkle brighter. Completely enchanted, the little girl couldn’t stop staring at the black dragon.
“It’s so small and cute... Is it gonna live with us now?”
“Probably.”
Ceres had tried dumping it on Kainel and telling him to take it away earlier.
[Buoo!! Buooooo!]
However, the thing had chased after her while bawling its eyes out.
“Is it gonna stay with us forever?”
“Why? You don’t like it? Want me to send it somewhere else?”
[Buooooo!]
“No! I like it!”
What’s there to like so much?
Apparently upset by the thought of being sent away, the little dragon flew up again and burrowed itself into Ceres’s hair.
Maybe because it was already scolded once, it stopped pulling this time. Instead, it just whimpered pitifully while chewing on it, which was hardly any less annoying.
Ceres pinched the back of its neck between her fingers and plucked it right back into her palm.
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