Chapter 20

In the morning, I woke up in my room.

Awakened by the sunrise, I sat up in bed and stretched, yawning.

"Whaa... Whoa!"

I had just rubbed my eyes open when I got a huge shock.

Chris was outside the window.

To be more precise, Chris was staring at me from outside the window.

Due to the large body of the medium-sized dragon, Chris's face filled the entire window, making it look like a close-up portrait framed by the window.

Being stared at like that gave me a huge shock.

"Kwahahahaha. Did you sleep well, my dear friend?"

"Good morning. You were there the whole time?"

"Yes, I was bored, so I was counting the hairs on your face."

"What are you doing!?"

I shouted in a voice that almost cracked.

Even after I shouted, Chris showed no sign of remorse.

"Yes, I was bored."

He said it so casually.

"Don't count the hairs on someone's face just because you're bored."

I don't know why, but it made me feel a bit uncomfortable—kind of unpleasant.

I jumped out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"To wash my face."

Saying that, I headed to the bathroom.

I was wary that Chris might follow me and turn the hallway window into another painting, but he didn't go that far.

I safely entered the bathroom.

I splashed water on my face to clear my head, which was already mostly awake from the shock of seeing Chris's face.

"Phew... Here you go."

"Thank you—Whoa!"

I took the towel without thinking, but then I was surprised again.

This time it was Emma.

The small dragon Emma had entered the house and the bathroom normally, holding a towel in her mouth and offering it to me.

"What are you doing, Emma?"

"I thought you might need a towel since Cyril was washing his face."

"Well, I do need it."

"Good. Here you go."

"Ah, thank you."

I took the towel.

The part she had held was a bit wet with drool, so I used the dry part to wipe my face.

"Phew... Thank you. Good morning."

"Ah, good morning."

After wiping my face, I greeted Emma properly.

"Um, next time, let me know before you do something like this. It's a shock."

"Understood."

Leaving the bathroom, I parted ways with Emma and headed to the kitchen.

As my head cleared, I realized I was hungry.

My stomach, which had been quiet until then, suddenly started growling loudly.

I entered the kitchen, searching my memory for something to eat for breakfast.

"Whoa!"

I was surprised again.

This time, I was so shocked that my legs almost gave out.

On the kitchen floor lay a deer.

It wasn't a mistake; it was a deer.

The deer seemed to be dead, with its neck and four legs broken and twisted in strange directions, like a marionette.

"What? What is this?"

As the shock subsided, I looked around to find the cause or the culprit.

I spotted Colette hiding behind something, peeking at me.

"What's going on, Colette?"

"..."

Colette didn't answer.

I thought for a moment and looked at the deer.

"Did you... do this, Colette?"

"Don't get the wrong idea!"

"Huh?"

"I didn't bring it for you! I just happened to swallow it while taking a morning walk and then squeezed it!"

"By chance? You swallowed a deer?"

"So what if I did?"

Colette said this and then turned her face away.

Even though I knew it was impossible, I tried to imagine the situation.

Swallowing a deer by chance.

...

...

...

No, it's impossible.

How could you accidentally swallow a deer?

It was the hardest thing to imagine in my life.

"Since it's a hassle to dispose of it, you can eat it."

"Wait a minute—"

"It was by chance!"

"Ah, okay."

I was intimidated by Colette.

Seeing that I wouldn't argue further, Colette left the kitchen.

Left behind were me, standing there dumbfounded, and the deer with its bones broken.

"Should I eat it?"

I gave up and decided to deal with the deer.

I couldn't imagine how it got into her mouth, but I could imagine how she squeezed it.

The Mushifushu species have four stomachs and can stretch and contract their bodies at will.

So, Colette must have swallowed the deer into one of her non-digestive stomachs and then "contracted" to crush it.

That's why not only its four legs but also its neck were broken, and it met its unfortunate end.

"Definitely the worst way to die."

Being crushed in a dark, sealed space is definitely not how I want to die.

While thinking about this, I took out a knife and started to butcher the deer.

I'm used to butchering this kind of animal.

As a dragon knight, camping and hunting wild beasts are essential skills.

I cut the deer's throat to drain the blood.

After draining the blood, I cut open the belly and removed the organs.

Then I skinned it and cut it into pieces by part.

It took about an hour to turn the whole deer into "meat," and I was exhausted.

Again, my stomach, which had been quiet while I was working, started growling loudly as soon as I finished.

I butchered it, but cooking it was too much trouble.

I thought for a moment, then took some salt in both hands and sprinkled it on the blocks of deer meat.

Holding the meat, I started a fire and put the meat into the flames.

I put it in with my hands.

The fire wasn't hot.

Well, to be precise, I could feel the heat, but I didn't get burned or feel pain.

Even though I was holding it, only the deer meat was sizzling and cooking.

Once the outside was cooked, I took a bite.

I ate the cooked part and then put the raw part back into the fire to cook it.

Cook, eat, cook, eat.

I repeated this until my stomach was full.

I put the remaining deer meat in the storage and went back to my room.

"Whoa!"

Louise was in the bedroom.

Louise was sleeping with her head on my bed.

A human bed is about the size of a pillow for a small dragon.

Louise was using my bed as a pillow.

"Hey, Louise?"

"Mmm..."

"Get up, are you sleepy again?"

"Mmm... The smell of my lord... I like it..."

"This is hopeless."

I gave up completely.

There was no need to force her to wake up, so I decided to let her sleep.

"Ah..."

I noticed that my pillow was soaked with Louise's drool.

There was nothing I could do, so I gave up on that too.