Chapter 7
Meanwhile, the food began to be served.
“Bbi hya.”
The moment Asil spotted a plate piled high with strawberries, her mind went completely blank.
The tantalizing aroma made her swallow hard repeatedly.
On the other hand, Elcai, who hadn’t touched the food and was intently observing Asil, spoke again.
“Indeed, it looks like a pathetic little booger, but it seems worth checking out.”
“Bbi?!”
Asil was so startled that her tail shot up. A pathetic little booger?!
Being called a monster would’ve been better.
To a beast who worshipped strength, being called a booger—what a terrible thing to say. Her mother was right; this person wouldn’t like Asil!
Forgetting that he had called herself a booger first, Asil shouted indignantly.
“Bbi ya bbi!” (Asil isn’t a pathetic little booger!)
“Don’t talk about filthy boogers while we’re eating.”
Then, as if he’d said all he needed to, he turned his head away—unbelievable.
‘Grandpa started the booger talk first!’
Feeling wronged, Asil glared fiercely at Elcai.
‘Grandpa is looking down on Asil.’
She had heard humans act tough toward the weak—this was a big problem. .
Asil needed to quickly become a ferocious dragon beast, like in the books, to overpower him.
Asil shouted even more fiercely than before.
“Bbi ya bbi!” (Asil isn’t a pathetic bo—!)
Even so, they softened the word to avoid sounding too crude.
‘No, this isn’t enough. I need to be more ferocious!’
It was then that Asil’s eyes, scanning the surroundings, landed on the dining table.
‘Yes, that’s it!’
Asil slid down from the chair, half-reclining. Then, with a thud, she propped her hind legs up on the table.
Elcai gave an incredulous look.
“Are you protesting?”
“Bbi ya!” (Asil always eats like this!)
Speaking as cheekily as possible, Asil reached out with her front paws toward the strawberries in front of them.
Just you wait, Grandpa—I’ll eat all your strawberries too!
But…
“…Bbi.”
Due to her body structure, her front paws couldn’t reach the strawberries.
She curled her body into a ball and strained, but the strawberries remained just out of reach.
‘No, if this keeps up, Grandpa will really look down on Asil!’
In a mix of anxiety and frustration, Asil began flailing her front paws as if swimming.
Unable to watch any longer, Elcai spoke up.
“Take your feet off the table.”
“Bbi?!”
Asil, who had been trying to grab the food with her front paws, froze. How could he say something so harsh?
Asil looked at Elcai with the expression of a kingdom lost.
Realizing his mistake belatedly, Elcai muttered under his breath as if groaning.
“It’s a booger with nothing but feet…”
Gurgle gurgle.
At that moment, Asil’s stomach growled loudly, like a cuckoo clock.
‘Asil can’t eat anything now.’
As Asil’s dejected eyes turned misty, Elcai awkwardly averted his gaze.
“Hm, put your feet up as much as you want.”
“Bbi…”
Though she got permission to eat, Asil had failed to become a ferocious dragon beast.
Feeling glum, Asil took her hind legs off the table and started eating the strawberries.
She needed to eat and gain strength to become a ferocious dragon or whatever else.
Chomp chomp chomp. For a while, the dining room was filled only with the sound of Asil glumly eating strawberries.
* * *
After finishing the meal listlessly,
Asil, upon seeing the rabbit eating grass alone in the room, suddenly shouted.
“Bbi ya aaa! Bbi bbi ya ya!” (Roar! Asil is a ferocious dragon beastman!)
“Kyu.”
As if waiting for this moment, the rabbit pretended to faint, munching on a mouthful of grass.
Unaware of this, Asil fell into serious thought.
‘The rabbit friend is so scared, so why doesn’t it work on humans?’
They’d put her feet on the table and glared fiercely, yet all she got was the nickname “booger.”
If this kept up, the man might order them to eat this pathetic little creature quickly.
‘No way.’
Asil couldn’t let herself be eaten by humans.
Since her life was on the line, Asil crossed her arms—though it didn’t work well—and racked their brain.
But even after days of thinking, no good ideas came up.
In the end, Asil pulled out a fairy tale book for young beast that was lying around in her subspace and started reading.
‘They say reading makes you smarter.’
Maybe they could find a way to become ferocious.
It was while reading the fairy tale *The Black Dragon Who Became a Guardian* that it happened.
[In a small village, there lived a black dragon and its family.
One peaceful day, humans invaded.
The black dragon, who disliked killing, tried to resolve things through dialogue, but sadly, they couldn’t communicate.
So, it flew to the human world, kidnapped the king, and scolded him.
Amazed by the black dragon’s power, the king surrendered immediately and revered it as a guardian forever.]
Asil’s eyes lit up. Yes, this was it!
Like the black dragon in the fairy tale, Asil decided to kidnap and scold Elcai.
‘Then not only Grandpa but all humans will fear Asil, right?’
In Asil’s innocent mind, an image of Elcai trembling in fear appeared.
<‘I’m sorry. I’ll never call you a booger again.’>
<‘Bbi yat!’ (From now on, Grandpa’s the booger!)>
<‘Yes, yes. I’m the booger. It’s all my fault…’>
Just thinking about it made Asil smile.
When imagining Elcai calling himself a booger, Asil let out a “Bbi hya hya hya,” laughing.
‘Alright, this time I’ll definitely become a ferocious dragon!’
With a determined expression, clutching their front paws tightly, Asil dashed out of the room to kidnap Elcai.
* * *
Elcai was strolling in the garden with his aide.
His son, the former Duke Munlepe, had rarely smiled since incurring the wrath of a divine beast, but lately, Elcai seemed in good spirits, prompting the aide to speak up.
“You look happy.”
“Happy, you say.”
He curtly dismissed it, but soon a smile spread across his face as if nothing had happened.
“That little girl. At first, I thought she was a wyvern hatchling, but upon closer look, it seemed like a mutant lizard hatchling.”
It was actually a dragon, but her tiny size meant no one thought of Asil as a dragon.
Recalling how Asil had bristled at being called a booger, he nodded to himself.
“It’s got some spunk, I’ll give it that.”
Elcai was a fiery man whose sword spoke before his words.
Even his grown sons still found their father intimidating.
That’s why Asil’s defiance felt refreshing to him.
Unlike his grandson Edenber, who respectfully called him “Lord Elcai,” Asil’s casual “Grandpa!” was intriguing.
“When it eats strawberries, it munches with her mouth. That tiny face, smaller than my hand, munching away—yet it’s so cheeky.”
“Is that so?”
“I knew it from the moment she told me to take her as a daughter-in-law. And what’s with that eggshell dangling on her head? Is it planning to use it for soup later? Anyway, it’s an amusing little thing.”
“Hahaha.”
The aide couldn’t quite keep up with how Elcai, who had once wondered where such a creature came from, had grown so fond of it.
But then, he realized something.
Having spent more than half his life on the battlefield, Elcai wasn’t close with his children.
His only grandson had matured too quickly to be playful.
In other words
‘He’s defenseless against cuteness.’
Elcai thought he was just finding it amusing, but to the aide, it was clear he was already smitten with Asil.
Unaware of this, Elcai, laughing heartily, suddenly grew serious and changed the topic.
“By the way, is Biante still not here?”
Biante was his second son and Edenber’s uncle.
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By Anna 💓
