"Come, come! Won"t you show me the fair dragon child?!"
"Uwaaah, a r-rat!"
I was surprised! h.e.l.l was I surprised!
A rat climbed onto my right shoulder without me noticing!
Wearing a three-cornered hat like that of a magician, covered in dense fur, and holding a staff even bigger than its body, it was lying down on its back on my right shoulder all chilled!
"Oops, I was rude! I"ve surprised you, haven"t I! Well, pray forgive me, after all, I can"t quite look at the dragon child"s face with my height!"
"W-who are you?! Also, you"re way too loud!"
Can"t you turn down the volume a bit?!
"Mwahahaha! If you mind minor details, you"ll go bald!"
They aren"t minor details!
"Rat uncle!" [TL/N: I a.s.sure it actually sounds (more) normal in j.a.panese…]
Still hugging the disgruntled older sister, Aoinoun got up.
"Yes! My pride is as tall as a mountain, but my height is nil! It"s me, from the fluffy long-haired rat race! The [Busybody] Alba Gelman! Aoi!"
No, well, just who are you…
"Impossible…"
Officer Doge was looking at my shoulder with eyes open wide.
"T-the rat sage? He really existed…"
"Officer Doge? Do you know him?" Officer Inoue asked Officer Doge with a curious expression.
"I think there"s no beastman who hasn"t heard of him… even though he"s like an existence from a fairy tale… the story of a phantom rat beastman and sage. I"ve been told about him when I was little…"
"Yep, I"m that rat sage! I bear no intention to act smart, though!"
[TL/N: He"s making a pun here… basically, 賢(い) in 賢者 (sage) means smart, clever, and it often has a hint of not quite positive accent to it.]What"s up with this midget. Is he so famous?
Shouhei, who stood beside me, was looking at the rat with sparkling eyes.
"Woow, so cute…"
Now that I think about it, this guy was into such mascot-like stuff.
When he was small, he could watch a cartoon with mice all day long. I mean the one with that kinda tasty restaurant. [TL/N: Ratatouille reference it seems.]
"That stuff aside, the dragon child! Aoi! Won"t you show me your child?!"
"Y-yes!"
Holding firmly the still crying older sister, Aoinoun rushed towards me in small steps.
The younger sister was still crying cutely in my arms.
"Hmm… quite unusual, huh. Aoi, did you hatch twins? Let"s see, pray show your face to this Alba Gelman."
The rat peered down my shoulder toward the twins.
This time, his voice was no longer as loud as before, but gentle instead.
"Indeed. Strong children. They"re properly beloved by the sky. Is this one the younger sister?"
"Y-yes. She hatched just recently."
"Oh ho… excuse me for a bit."
Hopping off my shoulder lightly, he moved onto Aoinoun"s shoulder.
Walking along her shoulder nimbly with small steps, he arrived right next to the older sister"s face. With his small hands, he touched her cheek.
"Yep. Exactly like Aoi. She"s clad in the aura of a thunder dragon, huh. Yep."
After stroking her cheeks softly thrice, he turned around and moved back onto my shoulder.
He approached the younger sister"s face in the same manner, and also touched her cheek.
"Aah, this one is similar to you, huh."
"Me?"
"Of course. Eh? Even though she"s a sky dragon, she"s also beloved by the wind. Ooh, how fantastic. As I thought, I"ll never get tired of looking at dragons~"
Oi, why me?
"Are you curious? If you want to ask me something, I shall tell you. After all, there"s no one whose knowledge of dragons is deeper than mine."
"Rat Uncle, those children… those kids wouldn"t hatch for a whole month. I was worried about this…" Aoinoun asked him before I had the time to.
Well, she was the mother, so she was bound to have more things she wanted to ask about than me.
"Yep. Well then, let me explain. But, before that… it seems like they"re hungry. Feed them some breast milk. After all, they"d be too pitiful if we left them to cry like this."
I also think so.
"U-Uncle. I, how should I give them breast milk…"
"Don"t worry. Dragons are a race with strong instincts. There"s a lot you can naturally become capable of. Your b.r.e.a.s.t.s, didn"t they swell somewhat recently?"
Subconsciously, I looked at Aoinoun"s bosom.
You can"t even compliment it as big.
"Bro. You shouldn"t stare at a girl"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s like this."
c.r.a.p, I ended up being taught common sense by my younger brother.
"S-speaking of that, they did start to kind of hurt after I laid the eggs."
"Yep. Your body"s working properly. Look, your kids are hungry."
"Ah, Dragoline-san. I"ll prepare a chair behind the folding screen there."
"I"ll carry it there."
Officer Doge and Shouhei started moving.
"…Did you see, Kunpei? Consideration or lack thereof makes the fine difference between a popular and an unpopular man, you know?"
"…Old Man, don"t say such stuff right into my ear."
After all, I was also impressed just now.
"Hey, bring the younger sister too, will you?"
Aoinoun beckoned at the younger sister who was still crying in a frail voice in my arms.
"What are you talking about? You"re going too, no?"
Excuse me?
This rat, what nonsense is it spouting?
"You have to come to breast-feed too."
Like I said, just what the h.e.l.l is he talking about…