The Baby Isn’t Yours

Chapter 51



 

The voice on the other side of the communication link fell silent.

After a moment of surprised silence, the other party spoke with a voice filled with suspicion.

-Are you sure… that it’s a dragon egg?

At the sound of a slightly trembling voice, the lord’s gaze shifted to the translucent egg held in Hemmie’s arms.

Inside the clearly visible egg, a white hatchling rested with its head nestled beneath its wings, fast asleep.

It might be a misconception, but Hemmie noticed that the hatchling inside the egg seemed less energetic than when she first saw it.

As if asserting its presence, it emitted a faint, radiant light.

The lord observed this with amazement before responding.

“In truth, I have never seen anything like a dragon egg before, so it’s difficult to say with certainty… but yes, I believe that it is undoubtedly a dragon egg.”

-I see. How large is it? Have you checked the temperature and shell strength?

Allen, this time, responded to the voice on the other side, which sounded a bit more urgent.

“It’s roughly the size of a small baby, about 61 cm in height and 27 cm in diameter. The shell’s strength is approximately 3 Herpies and appears to be gradually thinning. The hatchling has fully developed. The main concern is that the egg’s temperature is dropping. The morning temperature was 59, and it’s currently 58 degrees.”

The magician on the other side of the communication link let out a faint moan in response to Allen’s calm and professional explanation.

The hatchling had grown to the extent that it could hatch at any moment, according to Allen’s description. 

Had there ever been an egg that had grown this much in this world?

Even if they discovered a dragon egg, nurturing an egg of this size was no easy feat. Most eggs found were fragile, and the frailer the egg, the more refined magic was required.

-If it goes as you explained, there is no time to waste.

If the temperature drops to 49 degrees or lower, petrification begins. An egg that has fully turned to stone disintegrates into dust with even the slightest impact. Countless hatchlings had disappeared like that.

The magician on the other side of the communication port knew better than anyone that. He muttered in a resigned tone as he swallowed his saliva.

-Even if we rush from the capital, it will take at least two weeks.

“We can’t afford to wait that long. We need to act within three days, and if we’re not lucky, petrification could progress by tomorrow.”

-Three days? That’s impossible… Ah! Please wait a moment.

The other party fell into thought and remained silent for a while.

Then, after a brief pause, sounds of hushed conversation came through the communication port.

-Maybe… somewhere nearby…

-To the southeast… it would take about a day…

-Will we be able to establish contact…

-At least… not impossible… let’s try to make contact first.

-Who?

The magicians exchanged opinions busily until they reached a conclusion.

Out of nowhere, voices louder than before came through the communication port.

-…rek!

-…Derek?

-Derek… contacted Barco… to inform the Lord…

-Even if I’ll die…

-A decoy…

-Oh, good… yes, someone’s… sacrifice is necessary…

The voices of those who had determined the sacrificial lamb were tinged with hope. Their voices were filled with resolve as they discussed the sacrifice.

-I apologize for the delay. One of my colleagues can reach a place that takes a day to travel to. It will take about two days at the longest, so I will instruct my colleague to head to that location.

Lord smiled as if relieved, looking at Allen.

The lord, who was advanced in age, didn’t look like a nobleman; he had a modest and unassuming appearance.

As he was about to answer, Allen interrupted.

“Forgive me for being presumptuous, but apprentices or junior magicians won’t do. As you may know, this fellow is on the verge, and he requires a considerable amount of magic.”

-Oh, don’t worry about that.

The magician laughed heartily and responded with a hopeful tone.

-A senior-class magician will be sent. A very, very senior-class… I hope this time the hatchling absorbs all of their magic. Ahahaha! But that won’t happen… damn.

The magician muttered, his voice tinged with bitterness, and abruptly cut off the communication port due to a sudden explosion.

In any case, the senior-class magician from the imperial family could reach this place within two days.

“Thank goodness he will arrive in two days. In truth, it’s quite daunting for me as well to come across something like this. If rumors spread, it’s possible that someone wicked will attack from somewhere.”

Lord spoke calmly, as if relieved, and showed a gentle demeanor.

Allen also nodded and hesitated to speak.

“There is something I would like to inform you about, my lord.”

With a look as if asking what it was, Allen hesitated before speaking.

“In fact… we discovered this dragon egg a few days ago while my sister and I were exploring near the fairy forest.”

“Haha, near the fairy forest, you say?”

“Yes. By chance, I was studying medicine, and I had seen it in a book, so it wasn’t too difficult to guess that it was a dragon egg.”

“Luckily, luckily.”

Lord added with kindness.

Looking at the lord with a content expression, Allen sighed dramatically.

“But… it seems that the children entered through the wall we demolished back then.”

His face was filled with a drawn guilt.

‘Hmm. Allen is quite good at acting, isn’t he?’

Hemmie, who had been watching from the side, raised her eyebrows as her eyes sparkled.

Fortunately, no one paid attention to her expression.

“I’m glad I came back safely… Nevertheless, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy about what happened because of us.”

“That’s right, so that’s what happened…”

Seeing Lord’s confusion, Allen quickly added:

“It might sound audacious, but I hope you could consider that lord Shelton discovered this egg. We can’t show our faces to the people in the village at all. Instead, we’d like to offer you all the rewards for finding and reporting the egg.”

The Lord of Lua, Viscount Shelton, widened his eyes in amazement. 

When such a valuable treasure was found, the imperial family typically offered a substantial reward. It was certain that a substantial sum of money would be given, which most minor nobles would never touch in their lifetime. 

“…Ah, no, but how can I do it?”

Allen and Hemmie sighed inwardly at the look on the lord’s helpless expression.

If it were other nobles, they would naturally think of stealing the reward money, but the lord here was not like other nobles in this respect, as he was exceedingly modest and unassuming.

Kalia was very fond of this kind and simple lord.

Of course, the lord didn’t accept it just because he liked it.

‘When the imperial magicians come down, they will undoubtedly want to speak with the discoverer. To avoid any unnecessary complications, it’s better not to identify ourselves as the discoverers in the first place. So we’ll just redirect the conversation with the right words.’

Since they didn’t need the reward, they only needed to hand over the egg to the magicians safely.

“Please, consider our request, my lord.”

“Hehe.”

The lord, who looked flustered as he turned his gaze here and there, nodded subtly.

“I understand. Then, let’s use that reward for the village.”

“Thank you very much.”

In response to Allen and Hemmie’s expressions of gratitude, lord Shelton smiled, his face filled with a mysterious look.

The matter seemed to be almost concluded, so Allen began to prepare to leave, and Hemmie, who had been cradling the egg in her arms, intended to place the egg on the cushion the lord had prepared. 

At that moment, a crackling electrical discharge shot out from the dragon egg.

“Huh?”

Startled, Hemmie almost dropped the egg. Fortunately, she didn’t get shocked while holding it.

The lord asked in surprise:

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I was trying to place it here, and suddenly, there was an electrical discharge from the egg.”

Tilting her head, Hemmie tried to lay the eggs on the soft cushion again… The moment she tried-

Buzzz! 

The burst of electricity was much bigger this time, making a loud zapping sound as the people around them got struck by the current. 

Thankfully, it only seemed to shock them a little. 

“Huh?”

Only Hemmie, who was holding the egg, and Allen, who was standing next to her, were not touched by the current and were completely fine.

“…What?”

“I think it might be refusing to sit here.”

“Haha, is the egg choosing where to sit?” 

The lord laughed as if he couldn’t believe this ridiculous statement.

He asked someone to bring another cushion, but it didn’t change anything. Everyone around, except Hemmie and Allen, got a shock from the electric discharges.

“It seems like it doesn’t want to come down from your arms. Give the egg to me, and I’ll hold it.”

Hemmie hesitated for a moment, feeling an inexplicable unease. Nonetheless, she handed the egg to the lord.

Or, at least, she intended to.

Just before the egg could reach the lord’s hand, there was a spark even larger than before, startling Hemmie and those around her.

“Eek!”

Reflectively, she only had time to take a quick breath and shout in surprise.

“No!”

As quickly as she could Hemmie pulled back the egg out of the lord’s reach, but the current had already passed on to the lord’s fingertips.

Fortunately, due to Hemmie quickly clutching the egg again, only a part of the electricity was transferred.

Despite this, the elderly lord’s body fell backward.

At that moment, something strange happened, which only Hemmie noticed.

‘His shadow has separated.’

While holding the collapsing lord and preventing others from witnessing the unusual phenomenon, Hemmie saw something strange.

A darkness as if it were pinned there, remained as a shadow. It seemed to be unable to move due to the electricity flowing through it. 

As soon as the current disappeared, the shadow instantly crawled under the lord’s feet.

‘…What is that?’

Even though it happened in a blink of an eye, an eerie sensation lingered.

Another strange thing was that even though it was indoors, the room suddenly became incredibly dark, causing the dense shadow to appear even more pronounced.

Hemmie quickly glanced around, keeping an eye on her surroundings.

It was clear that aside from the lord’s surroundings, there was no visible heavy shadow. 

Hemmie noticed that this was rather disturbing.

‘…What should I do?’

Could they leave the egg here like this?

 


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