Chapter 31
Dylan, Addleton, and the other knights were in despair.
Truly, this divine beast, despite its cute appearance, was an utterly vicious lizard.
How could it so precisely target their most painful spots with such accuracy?
Still, thanks to that, their skills were improving at an astonishing rate. They could now dodge most attacks with ease.
Some time passed like this.
“Pippiyat!”
“Hahaha, did you think I’d fall for the same trick twice?!”
Even though they were no match for Asil in terms of strength, the knights had significantly improved their ability to evade attacks and use their opponent’s strength against them.
Dylan, in particular, had completely overcome his reptile phobia.
And so, two days before the friendly match:
“Well done, everyone!”
“Pippiya!”
Asil and the knights finished their training.
A single black dragon and several humans exchanged looks filled with camaraderie.
Now, all that was left was to rest well for the remaining day and head to the friendly match.
“Thank you for everything, lady Asil.”
Dylan, bowing deeply on behalf of the knights, presented a gift.
It was a box containing a cat fishing rod, a cat toy ball, a cat box, a mini cat tower, and more.
Addleton, who raised cats, had even personally prepared expensive cat treats.
“Pippiii!”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Asil covered her mouth.
‘ How wonderful, I feel like I’ve gotten so much closer to these knight humans!’
“Pippit! Pippiyap!” (Yap! Iyaaap!)
As a memento, Asil smashed all the knights’ practice logs to pieces.
The knights, equally moved, wiped away tears.
“Finally, she acknowledges us like she did Dylan.”
“We’ve graduated! Now we can stand on the same battlefield as the divine beast!”
“But we mustn’t slack off in training. Let’s strive harder for self-improvement.”
For a while, waves of heartfelt emotion crashed through the training ground.
* * *
After the warm conclusion with the knights,
Asil returned to the divine beast’s room, soaking in warm water to relax. Outside the window, a round full moon was visible.
Looking at the moon, Asil calculated how long it had been in the human world.
Then, it realized something astonishing and widened its eyes.
*Not long ago, it was my birthday!*
The past few days, Asil had been so focused on the knight humans that it had completely forgotten.
Asil’s ears drooped sadly.
‘On my birthday, I was supposed to wear a pretty party hat, sing songs, blow out candles, and eat birthday cake.’
It hadn’t done a single one of those four things.
‘No, it’s not too late to do it now.’
Asil hurriedly stepped out of the bathtub. For today, even the ferocious dragon was at peace.
By chance, the late-night snack was a sweet, fluffy strawberry cream cake. Though it was just one slice…
There were no candles to place on it.
Instead, Asil draped a black cloth over its head to mimic the feel of a party hat and sat across from a baby rabbit with the cake between them.
To avoid feeling lonely with just the two of them, Asil propped up cushions to fill the empty spaces where friends would have been.
Standing on its hind legs with her front paws confidently on her hips, Asil declared boldly:
“Pippiyatppi pippiya! Pippiya pippi!” (Welcome to Asil’s birthday party! Let’s all have fun!)
“Kkyuuu!”
The baby rabbit let out a cheer and clapped its front paws enthusiastically.
Asil clapped along, then sat down and began singing a birthday song.
“Pippiya pippiya pippiyaa—” (Happy birthday to Asil—)
“Kkyu!”
“Pippiya pippiya pippiyaa—” (Happy birthday to Asil—)
“Kkyu!”
“Pippiya pippii pippiyaa— pippiya pippiyaa—!” (Dear beloved Asil— Happy birthday to you—!)
“Kkyuuuu!”
Clap clap clap clap clap!
Amid the thunderous applause from the baby rabbit, Asil made a *ppihyuu* sound, pretending to blow out candles.
But in doing so, the cloth it was using as a party hat slipped down over her face.
With its vision obscured, Asil suddenly felt a wave of sadness. ‘What am I even doing right now?’
Lifting the cloth from its face, Asil let out a ‘ppihyu’ sigh.
The dragon that had been bravely holding a birthday party alone was gone, leaving only a baby dragon missing her family and friends.
“Pippii…”
Thinking back to this time last year, her eyes welled up.
There had been a feast of delicious food, with family and friends setting off fireworks and singing birthday songs.
The memory brought tears to her eyes.
‘If only I had a scarf that smelled like Mom right now.’
Asil took out a piece of scarf carefully stored in its subspace, but the scent of jer mother had long faded.
Pearly tears rolled down her face.
“Pippii… Pippihuk… Pippii…”
Asil hugged the scarf tightly and began to sob.
‘Mom, when are you coming back?’
Not even half of the 100 nights it had set for itself had passed, yet it already missed her mother.
She missed her snow leopard brother, her dads, and all her friends from the beastman kindergarten.
As these thoughts flooded in, tears gushed out. Asil rubbed her eyes furiously with her front paws and shook its head.
‘I can’t cry.’
Here, she was a ferocious dragon beastman. Crying was something weak beastmen did.
Besides, Mom had said that Santa Claus wouldn’t bring gifts to crying beastmen.
Asil wasn’t sure if Santa Claus would come to the human world, but to get gifts, she had to hold back.
Resolving itself, Asil blew its nose into the cloth.
“Pippihung!”
Then, it scrubbed its face vigorously with the clean side of the cloth.
Her cheeks turned slightly red, but she was quite effective in lifting her spirits.
Regaining energy in an instant, Asil raised a fork triumphantly.
“Pippiyatppi!” (Let’s eat the strawberry cake!)
“Kkyuu.”
The baby rabbit, who had been looking at the crying Asil with pity, pushed the plate toward her.
It was a gesture to say, ‘I’m fine, you eat it all.’
“Pippiya, pippi. Pippiyaa.” (No, Mom said to share even a single bean with a friend.)
Asil split the cake in half.
She even carefully divided the beloved strawberries in half, placing them neatly on the baby rabbit’s piece.
Then, it happily ate its own share.
“Pippiyapppi.” (It’s delicious, isn’t it?)
“Kkyu.”
The baby rabbit, with a mouthful of cake, nodded.
Though it was a modest birthday party, having the baby rabbit there kept the loneliness at bay.
With cream smeared around its mouth, Asil munched on the cake and gazed out at the full moon through the window.
‘Next year, I’ll definitely have an even grander birthday party.’
Just then:
“Um…”
“Pippit?!”
Startled by the sudden voice, Asil turned around.
Edenber stood at the doorway, holding a small box.
* * *
Edenber couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“Pippiya pippii pippiyaa— pippiya pippiyaa—!” (Dear beloved Asil— Happy birthday to you—!)
…Was today her birthday?
When he opened the door, he saw Asil holding a birthday party alone.
After singing the song, Asil hugged a tattered scarf and sobbed.
‘Why is it crying so sadly? Is there some story behind that scarf?’
‘It must be so precious to someone so dear that she’s clinging to it and crying like that.”
Edenber fiddled with the box in his hands.
‘I hope it cherishes my gift too.’
No, even if it didn’t cherish her, he just hoped she wouldn’t be sad anymore.
Meanwhile, Asil stopped sobbing and began sharing the cake with the rabbit.
Seeing her mood lift slightly, Edenber cautiously stepped inside.
“Um…”
“Pippit?!”
Asil, completely unaware of his presence, jumped in surprise.
Edenber hesitated before holding out the box.
“A birthday gift.”
“…Pippiyappi pippiya?” (…Asil’s birthday already passed?)
“…Sorry. I couldn’t prepare it earlier.”
His voice softened with a tinge of regret.
Asil, caught off guard, accepted the box and thanked him.
“Pippiyaa.” (Thank you.)
Unexpected though it was, gifts were always welcome.
Unaware of the cream on her face, Asil plopped down on the floor.
With an excited heart, she eagerly untied the ribbon.
‘What could be inside?’
Soon, the contents were revealed.
Asil’s jaw dropped at the unexpected gift.
“Pippi…”
From the long box emerged a pure white scarf, similar to the one its mother had made.
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By Anna 💓
