Chapter 113-114

Chapter 113 – I was called 'father'!!

"Hmm…huh? Ril?"

When I woke up, Ril was in front of me.

It was hard to tell as I was inside of my room in the cave, but given how quiet it was in the corridors, there was likely still some time before morning.

"What are you doing here at this hour?"

Ril was pointing outside and trying to tell me something.

She would occasionally shiver and then spread her arms wide and bark… Hmm, it was hard to understand. Besides, she was distractingly cute.

"In any case, I guess something happened. Alright, let's go then."

I followed after Ril and left the cave. Shiel and Number 15 came as well.

As I expected, it was still dark outside. But I could see the glow of the sunrise in the distance, so it was just before the break of dawn.

What could have happened at a time like this?

It was with such thoughts that I hurried to the base of the World Tree.

Ril entered a small house that was made of stone.

This house…

When I went inside, I saw that Rienna and Mel were inside.

"Morning, Rienna. Ah, I see…"

In front of them, was the dragon eggs that we had previously bought from an Earth Dragon merchant.

This house was kept warm in order for the eggs to hatch.

There was a fire burning inside at all times.

So Ril had been trying to tell me that the eggs were shaking. In other words, the dragons were about to hatch.

"Good morning, Lord Heal. I'm sorry to have awakened you so early in the morning."

"No, thanks for calling me. I've really been looking forward to this day."

There were thirty-one eggs in all.

One was a Fire Dragon egg.

And the other thirty were wyverns.

On closer inspection, I saw that all of them were moving.

It seemed like they could hatch at any moment.

Among them, the Fire Dragon egg was the largest, and was moving the most.

After we watched it for a while, a crack suddenly appeared in the shell.

It quickly began to spread…and then it cracked open.

"Cheep!!"

"Oh!"

There was a red dragon inside.

Even though it was small, it was very easy to tell that it was a dragon.

However, in spite of its strong-looking eyes, it was shaking like a leaf.

And so Rienna picked up the scared dragon.

"There, there. Don't worry."

Rienna held the dragon close to her chest.

However, it still looked like it was frightened.

Then Rienna tried showing me the dragon, but it would keep hiding its face.

This one was very different from Ril and Mel. Perhaps it was more shy.

Then Ril and Mel looked at each other and nodded.

They closed their eyes tightly and put their hands together.

"What are you two doing? …Huh?"

Suddenly, a light enveloped Ril and Mel.

"What is this light!?"

I could detect the magic. They were trying to use some kind of spell.

The light quickly died away.

And what was there…

"Dragons!?"

There were now two little dragons there. They looked just like the one that had hatched a moment ago.

"Ril and Mel?"

I asked, and the two dragons nodded. So it was them after all.

"You didn't use the Ryukin, right?"

I asked, and they shook their heads.

Then they pointed at Shiel.

"Could it be…the book you found. So Shiel has been teaching you transformation magic."

The two nodded eagerly.

"That's amazing… You both look like real dragons."

The two dragons looked at me bashfully and then they headed towards Rienna.

Apparently, they were going to try and comfort the newborn dragon.

At first, the dragon looked suspicious at these two that resembled it so much.

However, it quickly let down its guard, and extended its arms towards them.

Perhaps it really had been worried about there being none of its own kind around.

After that, the dragon dozed off to sleep.

"Thank you. Both of you."

Rienna praised Ril and Mel.

And then she turned to me.

"What will you name it?"

"Name? Oh, right… Do you have any ideas?"

"Let me see… It's a Fire Dragon, so what about Fal?"

"Oh, that sounds like a sibling of Ril and Mel. I think that's great, Fal."

I said, and then the Advisor's voice echoed in my head.

<<Naming complete. You have tamed Fal.>>

Apparently, dragons were categorized as monsters as well.

"So from today on, this little one is Fal! Ah…"

Rienna's eyes dropped to the other eggs.

Cracks were appearing in the shells one after another.

By the looks of it, the wyverns would also be hatching very soon.

"I won't be able to deal with them all by myself. Number 15, can you call the others from the kitchen?"

Number 15 was in its usual form.

It bowed deeply and then ran off to the kitchen.

"Ah, I'll help you too!"

"L-lord Heal… Well, if you could just take Little Fal for now."

"Uh, sure. Leave it to me."

And so Rienna entrusted the dragon to me, and I tried carrying it.

It was quite heavy. More than twice as heavy as Ril and Mel.

And I heard that they grew quickly. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before it was bigger than me and even Taran.

As I thought such things, Ril and Mel closed their eyes again.

And then they used the transformation magic.

"Thi-this time…you're human?"

What I saw in front of me, were small children.

One was a little girl with short white hair. And the other was a girl with long silver hair.

The one with short hair had dog ears coming out of her head.

The one with long silver hair had fluffy white wings.

They were both wearing white clothes, similar to Rienna's.

Then the one with short hair said,

"Huh? But you still have wings, Mel?"

"Really? …Oh, I do. And you still have ears, Ril!"

"Huh? I practiced so much…"

Apparently, the one with short hair was Ril.

And the one with silver hair was Mel…

"Uh, umm… You really are Ril and Mel then?"

"Yes, father! Ehehe. Isn't this amazing?"

Said Ril. Both her and Mel smiled smugly as they put their hands on their hips.

Fa-father… Since when was I father?

Well, perhaps it wasn't a stretch for Ril and Mel to see me that way.

In any case, this was my first time hearing them talk, and it was quite strange.

However, there was suddenly a popping noise and a familiar, fluffy white tail appeared behind Ril.

In the next instant, a tail appeared behind Mel as well.

"Ah, Ril…your tail…"

"Yours is out too, Mel…oh, it didn't work."

Their shoulders dropped.

I could hear them muttering about how they wanted to impress me.

"Well, now. You two. You did your best. Right, Shiel?"

I turned to Shiel and she nodded vigorously.

Then she pulled the two by the sleeves and made them turn their attention to the wyverns that were about to hatch.

"That's right. We have to help mother! Mel, let's do our best!"

"Okay, Ril!"

The two had turned into humans so that they could help comfort the babies.

Indeed, they would not be able to hold the wyverns in their original form.

Still, Ril and Mel were not familiar with holding dragon babies, and so they looked a little awkward as they picked them up.

However, the wyverns seemed to be very curious about their tails, and so they started using them to pet the wyverns.

"…It hasn't even been a year since they were born, but they can already use magic. Huh?"

I noticed that someone was looking up at me from my chest.

It was Fal, who was teary-eyed.

"Ah, I'm sorry! There, there, Fal!"

I was also not used to this, but did my best to take care of Fal after that.

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Chapter 114 – A mysterious voice echoed!?

"They sure eat a lot…"

I said as I watched the dragons chomping on some fish.

It hadn't even been half a day since they hatched, but they were swallowing the fish whole.

Rienna nodded.

"Since they cried at first, I thought they were no different than any other babies… But it seems like they'll grow even faster than Ril and Mel. Ah…"

After finishing its fish, the Fire Dragon, Fal, suddenly began to beat its wings.

Like that, Fal rose into the air and flew into Rienna's arms.

I called out to Fal after seeing this.

"You can fly already? How clever."

"Hehe. Since they are likely to grow so fast, I won't be able to carry them for long."

Rienna said as she patted Fal on the head.

"That's true. Still, while Mel was like that too, being able to fly on the first day… Oh."

Ril and Mel had also just finished eating, and they came running to my arms.

"You two were a great help back there."

They were back to being a puppy and little bird, and I patted their heads.

Rienna also praised them.

"Yes, you two were so helpful. But I didn't realize you were able to transform already."

"I was shocked too. They must be very passionate about studying."

I scratched Ril and Mel's heads, and they made gestures that suggested they were embarrassed.

Just then, the wyverns started to jump out from behind us.

They were flying around Rienna and the other monsters, who they now recognized as their parents.

Rienna picked up one of the wyverns and said,

"These littles ones too. Hehe. I look forward to seeing them grow."

"Ah, that's right… Ril and Mel. Can you help take care of Fal and the others for a while? You could tell them what they can't eat, or where they shouldn't go. That would be really helpful."

They beat their chests with their paws and wings as if to say that I could count on them.

And so with that settled, I set off once again to the underground city.

Once I reached the lowest level through the railroad, I found that the usual team was waiting for me.

Taran, Fule, Aries, and Mappa.

Shiel and Number 15 had come down with me.

"Alright then, we have another day ahead of us! …Uh, is there something wrong?"

As I spoke, I noticed that all of them had worried expressions.

Fule traded looks with the others and then opened her mouth.

"I-I'm sorry, Lord Heal. But, um…can you hear that voice?"

"Voice? Hmmm…"

I put a hand to my ear and listened carefully.

And then, I heard a low murmur like, 'Oooo…' and 'Uuuhhhh…'

It sounded sad. Almost like someone was crying.

"You're right…it sounds like some old man is moaning… Uh, that has to be Mappa, right?"

I turned to Mappa.

However, Mappa waved his hands in front of him as if to deny this.

"Really? Well, it does kind of sound like it's echoing through the entire city."

And perhaps it was my imagination, but it also seemed like the spiders were being very quiet towards the ceiling.

"Taran. Have you asked the other Cave Spiders about what is making that sound?"

Taran shook its body vertically.

Then Fule continued.

"Taran asked them earlier. But they didn't know what it was. But apparently, these kinds of sounds will occasionally echo throughout the city."

"Huh… Maybe it's the Chimera leader. In any case, it will be necessary to investigate it."

Shiel nodded.

"So you don't know either, Shiel. Yes, we must be very careful then…"

And so we started to make our way through the city, in order to find and repair the control device.

However, after we had walked for about five minutes, I noticed something strange.

"Now that I think of it…there are no Chimeras around today."

"We can usually hear their cries. Do you think it's because of that old man's voice?"

Like Fule said, no one seemed to know what it was.

And so it was no wonder that everyone seemed to be afraid of it.

"Even the Cave Spiders are scared… Huh!?"

I suddenly realized that magic energy was charging towards us at a great speed.

"What the hell!? Is it a Chimera!?"

I had never felt anything move this quickly before, and I was afraid.

As I cast Shield and waited, something huge and red appeared from the darkness.

It had a very sad face… And this huge face was that of an old man.

He had a shiny bald head and a great beard.

And as the old man charged towards us, we all let out screams of horror.