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Chapter 73 – For the Egg’s Future

Translator: ranzan

Cruz kept trying to cling to me the whole time, even before ate dinner.

She wouldn’t let go of my arm.

「Al, that egg! Is it a souvenir?! It would make a good omelette!」

「No, it’s not a souvenir.」

I put the egg far away from Cruz.

There was no way I could let this child of a dragon archduke, Sighisoara, be eaten by her.

「Really?」

「Look, I’ll tell you about this egg during dinner too.」

「Okay!」

Cruz put her hand out and touched the egg.

「It’s warm.」

「Don’t EAT IT.」

「I know!」

Luka watched us talking over the egg.

She was a monster specialist. She knew that I had brought home something that wasn’t an ordinary egg.

As we ate dinner, I explained what had happened.

The reason for the change in the ecology of the monsters was because of an ancient dragon.

It was the archduke of the land of ancient dragons, in the very north, and had come to take back a dragon egg.

Upon the dragon’s death, the dragon had entrusted me with the care of this dragon child, Sighisoara.

「Al, could I take a look at this egg?」

「Sure, just be careful with it, Luka.」

「I know already. Who do you think I am, after all?」

「Yeah, I didn’t mean to be rude.」

Luka already knew that this was the egg of an ancient dragon. I’m sure she understood much more about it than I could.

I gave it over to Luka, and she looked at it carefully.

「This is an ancient dragon egg…」

「The first time you’ve seen one?」

「Of course! There’s no one that’s ever seen an ancient dragon’s egg on this planet!」

「I guess that’s true.」

The ancient dragon lived in a place inaccessible to humans.

They also protected their eggs vigilantly. They were careful.

I bet her academic curiosity about it was driving her nuts. Her eyes were glimmering.

Yureena then said, with a serious face,

「Why would a demon steal an ancient dragon’s egg?」

「To eat it?!」

Cruz said, without thinking.

No matter how much of a gourmand a demon was, there was no way it would steal an ancient dragon’s egg for that.

I thought about it a bit, and offered an answer.

「Maybe in order to tame it and use it for its own purposes?」

「No…even an ancient dragon hatchling isn’t that strong.」

「I wonder.」

「And they say that growth to adult size takes hundreds of years.」

「Hm? I heard they leave the nest after only 10 to 20 years.」

「Really?」

Luka looked quite surprised.

Even so, the academia didn’t really know much about ancient dragon life.

「That’s new news to me.」

「Ah, yeah, but they may leave the nest before they become an adult.」

「Well, ancient dragons are strong, so they may live on their own even before fully grown.」

「Yeah.」

Luka pondered it seriously.

「Well, I guess we don’t know until we hatch it.」

「And observe it every day.」

「I have no problem with that.」

While we were talking this over, Collette, Millet, Cruz, and Yureena gazed at the egg.

They touched the egg gently.

Everyone seemed quite interested in it.

As long as they treated it kindly, there was no problem with them touching it.

「Mister Al, what are you going to do with Sighisoara while you’re working?」

「Just bring it with me, I guess. I don’t think some demon is going to steal it away, but you can’t be too careful.」

「So you’re going to hold it like when you brought it here?」

Now that I think of it, it was a bit cumbersome.

While you carry the egg, your arms get tired.

It would be easy while I was sitting and guarding, but a pain while I was gardening.

「But, I can’t put it in my magic bag or leave it in the house.」

「I see, oh yeah!」

Cruz seemed to think of something, and started rustling around in her magic bag.

She took out a wide strap of leather.

「I’ll give you this, Al!」

「What is it?」

「It’s a baby carrier made from hydra skin.」

Cruz looked at me proudly.

I had no idea why she would have something like that on her.

「Why do you have this?」

「I made it in case I ever had to carry a baby while adventuring.」

「Oh…uh…okay.」

She really was prepared for some weird stuff.

Hydra skin was tough and was hard to work, so it was expensive.

Since she was nice enough to give it to me, I tried strapping the egg to myself.

I put it over both shoulders, and tightened the belt about my waist.

It was perfect for holding the dragon egg with around my belly.

「This is actually pretty good.」

「Right? Since I’m not using it, I’m glad you could.」

Of course she’s not using it.

Who the hell carries a baby on an adventure? I’m glad she had no opportunity to use it.

Luka was adjusting the straps on it and said,

「That reminds me, you said you got a treasure from the dragon too?」

「Yeah.」

「What is it?」

「I haven’t looked.」

I put the little bag I got from the dragon on my table.

Inside was a ring.

「What effect does this have?」

「No idea….」

「If an ancient dragon gave it to you, it must be some effect!」

Cruz said as she looked looked in the bag.

「There’s cloth in here.」

「Where?!」

Cruz took out the cloth. It was silk.

There was magic applied to it, and you could tell it was hard to damage.

「Something’s written there.」

There were symbols on the cloth. They were burned in with magic.

The dragon might have burned the words in before it died.

『This ring is sealed by the Archduke of the Ancient Dragons and is also the key to a treasure box.

As long as you wear this ring, the ancient dragons will give you power.

Alfred Lint, I give the contents of the treasure box to you. Use it however you like.

Please care for Sighisoara.』

Since my name was written there, it must have been burned in just before the dragon perished.

I was thankful that it left me the contents of a treasure chest, but I’m sure it was located in some extreme location.

After reading it over, Luka said,

「You got one hell of a thing to have an ancient dragon’s seal…」

「I promised to use it to help raise the dragon. Once the dragon is adult, I’ll give it over.」

「Yeah, that’s probably the best.」

I put the ring on my finger so that it would never be stolen.