Chapter 66

Shirahoshi was in a bad mood.

He had talked to the noisy dragon leader at Kura's request.

Yet, on the way back, he first sensed an unfamiliar smell near Kura.

And as Kura's figure came into view, he was indeed holding an unfamiliar creature affectionately.

Though he didn't quite understand it, he didn't like it.

Shirahoshi glared at Kura with a sullen look.

But Kura did something that Shirahoshi had never imagined.

He placed something he held in his hand casually on Shirahoshi's head.

Shirahoshi, forgetting his anger, was taken aback.

Kura said nonchalantly,

"I sometimes go to the city. I can't take that young dragon with me when I do. In other words, I need you, Shirahoshi, to take care of it. If you don't like it, you can either abandon it or eat it. The decision is up to you. I can see that I'll have to rely on you for various things."

With that, Kura headed straight for the cave-like nest.

When Shirahoshi hurried to follow, the chick on his head rolled down.

It was light, so it didn't get hurt.

It didn't even cry but tried to move forward, probably trying to follow Kura, wriggling around.

Despite the predator in front of it, it showed no fear, as if it believed that following Kura was the only way to survive.

Upon closer inspection, it had only one eye and no legs.

It had only four wings that couldn't fly.

Shirahoshi turned his gaze away from the dragon chick, thinking it wouldn't survive.

If he abandoned it, Kura wouldn't say anything.

Since he had said it was up to him, he wouldn't hold a grudge or drag it out, no matter what decision he made.

Shirahoshi seemed to think for a while but decided to follow Kura.

He had to brush his fur.

He felt the smell of the dragon's nest clinging to his body.

He wanted to take a bath, no, a hot spring bath.

Shirahoshi dived into the cave-like hole where Kura had disappeared, wrapping the one-eyed blue dragon chick firmly with his long tail.

Before Shirahoshi returned, Kura tried to pet the dragon chick, but no other dragons came for a while.

It seemed to have been abandoned.

Kura felt sorry for the abandoned dragon chick.

Seeing it abandoned reminded him of his own childhood, when he was, in a sense, left behind, though not abandoned.

It was difficult to obtain a high-level magical beast at the chick stage.

In the case of a dragon, it would require a national-level egg raiding team or a group of high-rank hunters. Artificial breeding had not yet been successful.

Moreover, while dragon taming techniques were established, many high-level magical beasts lacked such techniques. Even if they were taken at the chick stage, there was a possibility they wouldn't become tame, and it was difficult to keep them alive.

For these reasons, not many people used high-level magical beasts as hunting beasts.

Kura was determined to raise the dragon chick.

Of course, it would be a problem if it was useless, but it would be fine if it could carry him on its back when it grew up.

It could fly or float on the sea. If it didn't grow large, it could be used for reconnaissance during hunts.

Kura, like anyone else, had the desire to fly.

Shirahoshi could fly, but it was gliding. When he moved from the Kumecia Republic to the Rattana Kingdom, he repeatedly jumped and glided.

It wasn't free flying.

However, first, he had to get Shirahoshi's approval.

If Shirahoshi didn't like it, that would be the end of it.

If it came down to the dragon chick and Shirahoshi, he would prioritize Shirahoshi.

Kura lifted the green-maned dragon chick, a mutant, with its single eye, and looked at it closely.

Surprisingly, it didn't struggle.

It seemed to be observing Kura with its small body.

Well, it would probably work out.

If it didn't, so be it.

Kura, already looking somewhat displeased, went to meet Shirahoshi, who was returning.

Kura named the dragon chick Azurona.

The reason was that its color resembled the blue moon he had seen in the snow.

As usual, Kura couldn't tell the gender, so he chose a name that could be used for either gender.

In Yurifranz, the blue moon was called Azurona, but in Elroduria, it was called Siluna, and in Rattana, it was called Shifujia. If he were in Elroduria, it would be Siluna, and in Rattana, it would be Shifujia.

Kura's naming sense was just like that.

A white liquid in an earthen pot bubbled, heated by a fire spirit.

Under the red moonlight, the dragon mountain's night was chilly.

The steam rising from the earthen pot seemed warm.

Kura, Shirahoshi, and Azurona, whom Kura held, were eating dinner outside the cave Kura had dug. The hiding nest was just a hole big enough for Kura and Shirahoshi to sleep in, and they avoided making a fire there.

Behind Kura, Shirahoshi was gnawing on a piece of meat.

However, his gaze was occasionally directed at Kura's back.

Kura scooped up the melted portable food with his fingers, cooled it slightly, and brought it to Azurona's mouth.

Azurona bit Kura's fingers as if to chew.

Feeling the sensation of its small teeth, Kura pulled his fingers out and scooped up more melted portable food to give to Azurona. During this time, he subtly activated life essence magic in Azurona's body.

It seemed that meat softened by chewing would be good, but Kura had a concern.

As far as Kura knew, mutants had weak vitality and often died quickly.

Indeed, the palm-sized Azurona was light, and its wings and breastbone felt fragile.

Therefore, according to Dianthia, the attendant of the Moon Goddess, who primarily fed on water, Kura decided to give this portable food, which could slightly recover magic power.

Magic power is surplus vitality.

If Azurona's magic power, which couldn't even make it fly, were to be depleted by the life essence magic, it might die. However, if it could recover its magic power while the magic was being activated, there would be no problem.

Kura considered the mutant's body to be a structure that put a strain on survival.

Therefore, if a mutant could grow, it had a high possibility of becoming a stronger individual than a normal one. In this world, the difference between a mutant and a mutant was whether it could grow to adulthood.

However, many mutants couldn't maintain their body structure and died, resulting in a low survival rate and, consequently, a low number of mutants.

How could he keep Azurona alive?

He couldn't change the structure because it was determined by the life essence, which is like the blueprint of a living organism.

Therefore, he decided to increase the strength of Azurona's body structure to a level where it could survive.

In Japan, it might have been impossible, but in this world, there was magic.

By using life essence magic to heal and strengthen from the outside, he could influence Azurona's life essence to improve the body structure to a level where it could live normally. That was Kura's hypothesis.

Or rather, as a non-expert, that was all Kura could do.

He couldn't do any detailed calculations and had to rely on imagination and intuition.

Since Azurona seemed to be eating energetically and not reacting negatively, it was probably up to luck. There was nothing more he could do.

After eating about half of the melted portable food, Azurona, with a more swollen belly, fell asleep contentedly on its back.

The portable food was almost gone. Kura hoped it would last until Azurona's growth stabilized. While stroking Azurona's already fully grown blue mane on his palm, Kura thought.

The hard fur, unlike Shirahoshi's fluffy fur, was smooth.

Azurona wriggled as if tickled.

Kura placed Azurona on a pile of cloth bags and covered it with more cloth.

Then, he turned to the source of the gaze that had been piercing his back, which was probably at the peak of its bad mood.

Shirahoshi, lying on his side, turned his head away.

He had already finished eating the meat and was inside the cave.

Kura took out three brushes.

Shirahoshi, twitching his small ears and glancing at Kura for a moment, didn't move.

Kura sighed and stood behind Shirahoshi.

Shirahoshi turned his head away in the opposite direction. However, his small ears twitched, and his tail was restless.

Kura silently started brushing Shirahoshi's fur.

Shirahoshi, as if to say, "Don